Chapter 57: A Gift from the Heavens
Frost Winter City had already appeared three kilometers away. The Holy Emblem Knight Order charged ahead. As agreed beforehand, the Holy Emblem would assault the city, while the Wolf Cavalry would block the enemy's reinforcements.
Su Xiao gave the order, splitting the Wolf Cavalry Legion into five groups, each roughly one hundred thousand strong. They formed a semi-encircling defensive formation, blocking the front of Frost Winter City.
Thump, thump, thump...
A series of dull sounds came from atop the city walls of Frost Winter City. At the very front of the wall's summit, over a thousand ballistae were pushed forward.
Seeing these ballistae, Legion Commander Tuerte's eyelids twitched. As the main city of the Northern Border, Frost Winter City's defensive capabilities were somewhat exaggerated.
Originally, the Heavy Hammer Corps was responsible for guarding Frost Winter City. However, because the Heavy Hammer Corps had been transferred to the Ice Wind Belt, the city was now defended by the troops of the Ice Lord's eldest daughter, the Eldest Daughter Ayana.
This force was called the Iron Wall Legion, a heavy shield infantry unit that claimed to be on par with the Heavy Hammer Corps. In reality, this was not the case.
The strength of the Heavy Hammer Corps was recognized by both the Wolf Cavalry and the Holy Emblem. Aside from their 'questionable intelligence,' they were undeniably the strongest force on the Canglong Continent. As for the Iron Wall Legion, they were stronger than regular troops but weaker than elite forces.
The Iron Wall Legion numbered around four hundred thousand, all stationed on the walls and within the city. Clearly, the Eldest Daughter Ayana still had a good sense of self-awareness.
It was fine to boast in normal times, but in a critical moment, one had to be cautious, lest the Wolf Cavalry and Holy Emblem beat them into questioning their existence. These two forces were the angry lions and hungry wolves of the battlefield; their reputation was earned through bloodshed.
"Warriors, it's time to prove the strength of our Iron Wall Legion!"
A Northern Border officer shouted from atop the city wall. The thousand ballistae on the wall were ready, just waiting for the Holy Emblem Knight Order to launch their assault.
Three kilometers directly in front of Frost Winter City, Tuerte's eyes showed hesitation. The number of ballistae in Frost Winter City was too many. Other major cities in the Northern Border had at most a few dozen giant ballistae. These all-metal structure war machines were exorbitantly expensive. Duoyin had also tried to replicate them but had never achieved any results.
Given the current situation, Tuerte had no chance to back out. He waved his hand, and the Holy Emblem Knight Order began their assault.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Huge fireballs flew out. Before they could travel far, most were shot down by giant crossbow bolts wrapped in ice.
A total of five giant fireballs reached directly above the city wall. These fireballs shattered, turning into a large shower of fire that rained down onto the wall.
Flames immediately erupted on the wall. Seizing this brief chaos, with Tuerte at the lead, the entire Holy Emblem Knight Order charged forward. Tuerte was clearly the type of legion commander who said 'follow me' rather than 'charge,' given his own combat prowess.
During the charge, Tuerte looked up at the black dragon in the sky. He had been observing for a long time. The War Demon never strayed too far from that black dragon, spending most of its time standing on the dragon's back.
This gave Tuerte an important piece of intelligence. First, the War Demon's personal strength was not weak. After breaking its seal in the royal capital's sub-district, it had killed several squad leaders in a row, showing its strength.
But that was all. It didn't dare stray too far from the black dragon, indicating it needed the dragon's protection. Extrapolating from this, its personal combat power was definitely not in the top tier.
Thinking this, Tuerte felt more confident. The Wolf Cavalry Legion would be difficult to deal with, but as long as Kukulin Bai Ye was killed, the Wolf Cavalry Legion would inevitably fall into chaos. Then, they could be annihilated with minimal losses.
The thoughts in Tuerte's mind suddenly became clear. He pointed his longsword forward. With a better mood, his strategy for commanding the assault became clearer.
"Activate the formation."
After a shout from the city wall, the front face of Frost Winter City's wall quickly became covered in a layer of ice, studded with icy spikes.
Several Northern Border officers on the wall watched the charging Tuerte with a hint of pity. How could they, the Northern Border, start a war with Duoyin without being prepared? The defensive formations on Frost Winter City's wall had long been altered by them. The Northern Border had also studied formations for many years.
Icy spikes appeared on the front of the wall. Not only that, but the thousand ballistae on the wall were triggered simultaneously. Nearly ten-meter-long metal bolts shot out, splitting mid-flight into tens of thousands of high-kinetic-energy fragmentation bolts, carrying low temperatures as they hurtled head-on towards the Holy Emblem Knight Order.
Puff, puff, puff...
The dull sounds continued without pause. Each Holy Emblem Knight was wrapped in a layer of golden light film. When the fragmentation bolts reached them, they were deflected by this highly resilient, light-golden film.
Tuerte looked at the wall ahead. He had long anticipated this change. Duoyin could no longer control the formations on Frost Winter City's wall, but Duoyin had another trump card.
Tuerte took an amber stone from his bosom and crushed it. Several black venomous bees flew out, heading straight for the wall ahead.
These black venomous bees turned into streaks of afterimages, all crashing into the front of the wall. Their bodies shattered, turning into pools of black liquid the size of fists, which gradually seeped into the ice layer on the wall's surface.
The black spread at a visible rate, eventually covering the entire wall. The ice on it collapsed with a loud crash, falling downwards.
Duoyin understood formations too well. What outsiders didn't know was that Duoyin had mastered the method of forcibly destroying formations many years ago.
This showed just how ambitious Duoyin was. They installed formations for other factions at low prices. If anyone wanted to strengthen their city wall defenses, they had to go to Duoyin. No other faction had this technology, at least not openly.
Frost Winter City's formation was instantly destroyed. The defenders on the wall fell into some chaos. Only after the roars of several Northern Border officers did they barely stabilize their morale.
A five-hundred-strong unit of Holy Emblem cavalry formed a charge squad, heading straight for the city gate. The flames burning on their bodies became blinding.
Boom!
The entire wall trembled. On the thick metal city gate, cracks appeared that were not very obvious. Most of the gate was glowing red-hot. Around it lay the shattered remains of several hundred Holy Emblem knights, their broken bodies like wooden blocks about to be completely consumed by fire.
"Continue."
Tuerte's eyes were bloodshot as he gave the charge order again. The brutal siege began.
Giant fireballs flew horizontally. Metal crossbow bolts carried a whining sound, shooting down Holy Emblem knights one by one. The battle situation temporarily stalemated. Even without the defensive formation, Frost Winter City's wall was still hard.
After more than half an hour of chaotic fighting, the roar of battle came from the rear. The enemy's main force had arrived to reinforce. The wall had not yet been breached; now was not the time for a decisive battle.
The Wolf Cavalry stood ready. The Holy Emblem Knight Order ahead was assaulting the city, while the enemy's main force arriving from the rear needed to be blocked by the Wolf Cavalry Legion.
Waves of Wolf Cavalry blocked the enemy's main force from the rear. For a time, the battlefield in front of Frost Winter City became extremely chaotic.
This chaotic melee continued for over an hour. A loud crash completely changed the battle situation.
On the front wall of Frost Winter City, rubble scattered like heavenly maidens scattering flowers. A breach about thirty meters wide appeared at the base of the wall. On the other side of the breach stood Ice Descendant warriors holding large shields.
"Kill."
The blood-soaked Legion Commander Tuerte gave the order and led the Holy Emblem knights into the city.
Twenty minutes later, the two distorted metal city gates were pushed open from the inside. The Holy Emblem knights streamed in.
At the same time, on the city wall, flaming longswords cut down enemies one by one. When Tuerte killed the last Ice Descendant warrior on the wall, he looked at the large row of giant ballistae at the front of the wall, a smile appearing on his face.
Frost Winter City was basically captured by Tuerte. Now, they only needed to clear out the defenders inside the city. Compared to the Holy Emblem and Wolf Cavalry, the defenders' combat power was insignificant.
"Ove, pass the order. Have the knights take over these ballistae. Once all the knights outside the city have entered, immediately launch a surprise attack on the Wolf Cavalry Legion. No, first shoot down that black dragon in the sky."
After saying this, Tuerte felt a great weight lifted from his heart. In the end, he had won.
"Give Kukulin Bai Ye a dignified death. After shooting down his dragon, leave his body intact. Even as an enemy, he deserves respect."
As Tuerte spoke, he walked down the city wall to continue commanding the Holy Emblem knights below. But at that moment, he vaguely sensed something above.
Tuerte looked up. In the dense clouds, he saw a blue-white light flickering.