Xie Zhongxing had guessed right; on the third day after Lu Hong's return, Nathias, pressing down internal dissent after the queen's slumber, took up the heavy burden of leading the sea tribe and launched an attack on the empire's garrison stationed on the island.
Although the sea tribe's attack was sudden, Xie Zhongxing had fully prepared for it. As soon as the sea tribe stepped within ten miles of the isolated island, they were detected and lost the element of surprise. The first magical defense line was established by the empire's mages, who cast spells freely at the approaching sea tribe.
Faced with the empire's barrage of magic, the sea tribe's army, led by a third-transition strongman, donned a deep blue water shield which absorbed much of the damage.
"Cease casting," seeing that the magical attacks were ineffective, Xie Zhongxing made a quick decision to conserve his mages' magic power.
