Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

"My lord," a bloodied soldier fell down on one of his knees at the entrance to Salicious tent. "The Empire took the first floor."

Salicious raised his eyes and looked at the soldier for a moment before turning his head and giving Banjay a quick glance. The old general then stood up and, disregarding his crutch, walked over to the soldier and planted his hand upon the man's shoulder.

"You've done well, soldier," Salicious spoke in a calm, soothing voice. "Now, go get yourself some well-deserved rest," he recommended before raising his eyes looking out into the distance, and adding in a heavy voice, "Gods know we all need it."

"Yes, General!"

Despite several wounds marking his uniform and soft armor, the soldier stood up and straightened up his back while slamming his fist against his solar plexus in a salute.

"So it happened."

Deeper in the tent, Banjay simply sighed.

The old general looked over his head and threw his former student a displeased look.

"It was bound to happen. Their sacrifice was all but a part of your plan, so instead of whining about it, man up and have the decency to meet those carrying your orders face to face."

Continue your saga on empire

Banjay raised his eyes and looked over at his former teacher, only to then roll them and scoff while looking away.

Salicious bit down on his lips, unable to keep up the pretense for all that long.

The first floor of the fortress was down. Despite all the tricks Banjay implemented, all the comebacks those tricks allowed, and small victories wrought from the battle by the courage of his soldiers… it all proved not to be enough to put a stop to the imperial march south.

The first wall of the fortress was now fully and securely in the hands of the empire, and so were all the buildings within the plaza. Out of everything, only the ramp leading up to the second gate was still contested… And it would remain like that as long as the second wall remained within Banjay's hands.

Whether it would fall or not, though, the young general never had any doubts. And just like with the first floor of the whole defense system, he was going to fight the last soldier assigned to it.

"There shall be no retreat so that the imperials will know that every man they see on the walls will stand steadfast."

The tricks Banjay could play were now exhausted.

From hiding the soldiers throughout the buildings on the first floor and having them strike when the enemy first believed they've achieved victory, to maintaining an overnight barrage from the second wall and then releasing the soldiers hidden in a massive tunnel network below the ramp itself, all the way to fully burning down everything between the walls, leaving the imperials with no cover whatsoever…

Banjay did it all.

He ordered all the paths of escape for his soldiers to be closed so that they would have no other choice but to fight to the death.

That was also why, the first line of defense consisted of some of the veteran troops but the majority of just servants and lesser soldiers, soldiers who gained their title just for the benefit of living or working around the area.

From the military point of view, those people were of little to no use. And with their families, all stuck near the third wall, they had the most to fight for, as opposed to the soldiers who mostly came from the parts of the patriarchate much further its interior.

It was those brave souls who instilled the fear of the patriarchate's courage into the imperials, even if their skills were not that great. Then again, it didn't matter if one was the best swordsman in the city or if they sported the heaviest of plate armors imperial smithies could produce if those desperate people would simply pour hot water on them from above.

A well-thrown stone could do as much if not more damage than an elaborate finishing move that comes after a long series of feints, dodges, and counters.

And that's exactly how those poor folks fought, utilizing every means they had on their hand, knowing full well that there would be no escape back to the higher floors. After the brutal fighting started, they soon came to realize that surrendering to the furious imperials only meant a more elaborate and creative death than what one could wish for in a proper fight.

"There is no way for us to hold this fortress," Salicious muttered in a voice silent enough, that it barely reached Banjay's ears. "Not after what our soldiers saw happen on the first floor."

The old general turned around, exhibiting agility much greater than anyone could expect from someone with a wooden peg for half of their left leg.

"I held on for long enough. If you really have some sort of plan, then now it's the time for you to tell me."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The old general looked straight into Banjay's eyes. And his expression said it all.

'He isn't going to buckle on this,' Banjay thought, gritting his teeth as he forced his expression to remain still.

His entire body froze, save for his hands that now tightened so hard, Banjay's nails bit into the skin of his palms to the point of letting out blood.

"If I tell you, you are going to die," Banjay revealed in a silent, restrained voice.

It was one of the hardest sentences he had to utter in his whole, damn life. Even harder than the vile words he threw Isera's way when he had no other choice but to distance himself from her. And that's including hindsight that allowed the relatively young general the knowledge of what those words would result in.

Hearing those words, though, Salicious didn't laugh. He didn't take it for a threat but, judging by his former pupil's face, a simple statement of the only possible result.

"Is it that bad?" The old general couldn't bear to produce a voice any louder than that.

If there was one thing that this young, troubled soldier bested him at, it wasn't his tactical or strategical sense. It was his talent for trickery either.

It would be the ruthless degree to which he was willing to abuse his knowledge of human nature. And from the looks of things, in that regard, Banjay's current plans were nothing short of a masterpiece of the man's career, easily topping over the orchestrated rebellion he fired up all for the sake of putting it down.

"It is."

This time, Banjay didn't bother playing around but opted to look his former teacher straight in the face as he answered.

"It is a soldier's fate to meet their end on the field of a battle," Salicious pointed out after a moment of deep thought, before bringing his eyes back to his former pupil and smiling slightly. "And my term seems to be long overdue."

The old general took a deep breath before moving closer and falling down on one knee before his former disciple.

"I hereby rest all my responsibilities in your hands. And now," Salicious smile peaked as he came to terms with what the future held for him. "Tell me."