Chapter 38: Raging Fury
The armies of the Church of Light and the Church of Darkness spread across the southern wilderness of Code County City like a deep, boundless ocean. The soldiers of Code County City were on high alert, knowing that this "boundless, deep ocean" beneath the city walls could instantly stir up violent waves and engulf them all.
A small portion of the army split off from the main force. This detachment took a detour and rushed toward the eastern side of Code County City. Given the city's terrain, the Church of Light could only attack the South City and East City; the North City and West City were simply inaccessible for marching. The force arriving at the East City consisted of two small elite legions.
These two small legions came from the Church of Light and the Church of Darkness respectively, both being elite forces of their sides. The legion commander of the one belonging to the Church of Darkness had short blue hair. His expression was stern as he stared at the distant gate tower. Beside him stood a golden-haired man, the legion commander of the elite legion from the Church of Light.
If they could breach the East Gate, they would be the great heroes of this war.
"Just five magic crystal cannons," the blue-haired man said indifferently. "Rogers, here's the plan: our troops will charge first. When we get close to the gate tower, the spearhead units will converge instantly. Using the scaling ladders, we'll blast open a gap in the wall's defenses. The other soldiers will follow up. Once we're on the city wall, Code County City is finished."
Rogers glanced at him. "Prynn, let's see who can be the first to climb up."
"Fine." Prynn's eyes were full of pride.
Time passed. The two elite legions remained silent, waiting patiently. Suddenly, they heard the terrifying sounds of battle—the roar of magic crystal cannons, the furious shouts of warriors, the whistling of arrows—all rising like a tsunami that swept across heaven and earth.
"It's started over there." A hint of a smile appeared on Prynn's lips.
Rogers nodded slightly. "Once we break through the East Gate, we've won for sure."
According to the plan, the battle at the South City would be unprecedentedly fierce... About five minutes after that battle began, Prynn was the first to roar loudly: "Kill!" The subordinate commanders, already aware of the plan, immediately led their soldiers in a charge.
The forty-meter-long scaling ladders were carried forward, rushing swiftly toward the South City. A massive number of soldiers, holding shields, charged at top speed.
The five magic crystal cannons on the East City wall immediately lit up. "Boom!" "Boom!" The cannons roared, and five dazzling beams of light shot down at extreme speed. As they hit the ground, they erupted with terrifying radiance. Instantly, large swaths of surrounding soldiers were killed or wounded, but the others didn't hesitate for a moment.
To hesitate now was to die.
"So fast!" The defending commander on the East City wall also noticed the enemy's incredible speed. The magic crystal cannons had only fired three volleys when the enemy was less than a hundred meters from the city. "Not good, something's wrong!" He suddenly realized that some of the faster-running soldiers in the enemy ranks were converging together with remarkable coordination.
Clearly, these elite warriors were planning to join forces and break open a gap.
"Hmph. Just as I thought." A cold sneer appeared on the defending commander's face.
"All magic crystal cannons, prepare!" the defending commander roared loudly. Immediately... another fifteen magic crystal cannons were mounted on the city wall. Combined with the original five, there were now twenty magic crystal cannons. The barrels of these twenty cannons lit up almost simultaneously.
Seeing the fifteen magic crystal cannons suddenly appear, Prynn and Rogers, the two legion commanders, instantly changed color.
"No!" Prynn's expression twisted as he roared in unwilling fury.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...
The twenty magic crystal cannons simultaneously unleashed their terrifying roars. Their targets were clear: they aimed specifically at the elite warriors, at those spearhead squads. A series of explosions followed.
"No!" Many soldiers cried out in despair as they saw the magic crystal cannon beams shooting toward them at lightning speed.
But the cannon fire was too fast. The beams flashed and struck the ground before the soldiers could escape. In those areas, soldiers were blasted into pieces—some turned into frozen chunks, others burned to charcoal, and still others clutched their severed legs, screaming in agony...
In an instant, over three thousand were dead, and several thousand more were severely wounded.
It was too terrifying.
Many soldiers were paralyzed with fear. And since most of the dead were the elite, a deep dread began to take root in the hearts of the remaining troops.
"Charge! Kill them to avenge our brothers!" Some soldiers roared and continued their assault.
"If we get up there, we win!"
...
But just as their scaling ladders were set up and they were about to climb, the soldiers on the South City wall tipped over large cauldrons of boiling oil, pouring the scalding liquid directly onto the attacking troops below.
"Ahhh!" Many soldiers clutched their faces, their bodies convulsing as they fell from the ladders.
"Fire!"
A cold voice rang out. Not only did the twenty magic crystal cannons once again summon death from above, but other soldiers raised flaming arrows and shot downward. The ground below had already been drenched in large amounts of hot oil. When the flaming arrows struck...
Soldiers who had only been scalded by the oil, not killed, now turned into balls of fire.
The area beneath the wall became a sea of flames.
Countless soldiers became human torches, writhing in agony in the inferno before collapsing. The soldiers behind them dared not advance any further, for everything ahead was ablaze. Meanwhile, the twenty magic crystal cannons fired again, killing several thousand more.
Explosions rang out across the enemy ranks.
Rogers and Prynn were on the verge of madness. They roared in fury: "Retreat! Fall back! Now, retreat!!!" In just a short time, over ten thousand soldiers had died, and several thousand more were wounded.
Most importantly, the twenty magic crystal cannons could keep firing relentlessly.
These twenty cannons had shattered all morale.
Five magic crystal cannons might kill less than a thousand per volley, and if you could endure two or three volleys, you could reach the wall. But twenty cannons were different—a single concentrated volley could annihilate an entire legion's elite spearhead.
The deterrent power of twenty magic crystal cannons was immense.
Even as they frantically retreated, they were hit by two more volleys from the cannons, and several thousand more fell. The cannon fire, as brilliant as fireworks, was the most terrifying attack imaginable. The magical assaults were indeed beautiful.
Take the "Blazing Fire Ring," for example—it spread like a fiery red ripple.
But as dreamlike and beautiful as it was, it was more chilling than a butcher's blade.
"One hundred thousand men. Nearly twenty thousand dead. Almost ten thousand wounded," Rogers said in a low voice. "In just a short while, morale has plummeted to rock bottom. The soldiers have no courage left to charge against those twenty magic crystal cannons."
Shields could block arrows.
But shields couldn't block magic crystal cannons, especially these large ones.
"Twenty cannons? How could there be twenty?" Prynn said angrily. "The Bishop sent us here, saying there were only five magic crystal cannons! If we'd known there were twenty, how could we have come to die?"
Magic crystal cannons were too terrifying.
Once the enemy entered their range, their lives were forfeit. And the interval between each volley was very short. As long as there were enough magic crystals, they could keep firing endlessly. These cannons were far more fearsome than twenty eighth-level mages.
"Let's go back." Rogers glanced at the soldiers around him and immediately gave the order.
Prynn clenched his fists in frustration. "Damn it. We've been tricked. Those bastards in Code County City are really something. Let's go." With combat strength already reduced by thirty percent, if they charged again, they might not even have half their forces left.
And the enemy hadn't lost a single soldier.
Of course, the enemy had spent a fortune. Each volley from these large magic crystal cannons was like scattering handfuls of gold coins. Twenty cannons firing without restraint—how could an ordinary kingdom afford such extravagance?
*******
The real is hidden in the false, and the false in the real.
The Church of Light and the Church of Darkness had tried this tactic, but Code County City had concealed the true number of magic crystal cannons. They had a total of thirty-six cannons. At first, they only revealed fifteen for the enemy to discover.
In the plan, the East City actually had twenty magic crystal cannons, while the South City had sixteen.
The battle at the East City ended quickly, but the fight at the South City was extremely brutal.
"Prepare!" On the South City gate tower, a large number of soldiers lay on the ground, bracing their feet against the bow bodies and pulling the strings with both hands. The massive arrows were enough to chill anyone who saw them. Any of these soldiers could easily lift several hundred pounds.
Yet they still used both feet and hands. The power of such arrows was unimaginable.
"Fire!"
At the command, countless massive arrows rained down like droplets from the gate tower, arcing into the sky before plummeting with a terrifying screech. Ordinary shields couldn't defend against them—they were pierced through, along with the soldiers behind them.
Instantly, a huge swath of men fell.
After a large number fell, the next wave immediately surged forward.
By now, many scaling ladders had been set against the wall, and some soldiers had even made it onto the battlements. The five hidden magic crystal cannons were brought out, and all sixteen cannons roared in fury... Dazzling lights flashed across the wilderness beneath the city, and swaths of men fell.
But the forces of the Church of Light and the Church of Darkness were too numerous.
They were packed tight!
"Let's retreat. Killing like this is just a contest of who has more men. Too many have died." Gilmore frowned. How long had it been? Over a hundred thousand soldiers had already perished. Of course, Code County City had also lost many—probably over ten thousand.
The main reason was that the sixteen magic crystal cannons had killed so many, along with the arrows, rolling stones, and other defenses.
On the city wall, they held the advantage.
"I have a bad feeling," Viscount said, frowning as he watched the sixteen roaring cannons. "Originally, there were only ten cannons here. Then, as the battle started, six more suddenly appeared. I'm worried about the East City."
Gilmore's heart trembled.
"You mean there might be more cannons there too?" Gilmore shook his head. "Not necessarily. Maybe they moved the East City's cannons to the South Gate."
"I hope so." Viscount didn't care about the dead soldiers.
He wanted victory.
"Bishop!" The disheveled Prynn and Rogers rushed straight to Gilmore and Viscount.
"What's the matter?" Viscount could tell from their appearance that something was wrong.
Prynn cursed angrily: "Bishop, who gathered the intelligence? They're complete bastards! It wasn't five magic crystal cannons—it was twenty! Twenty cannons! My brothers—just a few volleys killed over twenty thousand, and thousands more were wounded. Our two legions combined were only a hundred thousand, and we've lost thirty percent of our combat strength in one go. And the elite—the bravest ones who charged at the front—died the fastest. The soldiers have no fighting spirit left. They're completely terrified."
Viscount's face changed instantly.
He understood everything.
Staring at Code County City in the distance, Viscount ground his teeth: "They're playing with me. Luring me to attack the East City, turning five cannons into twenty?" Viscount's eyes were bloodshot with rage. "Gilmore, forget about tactics. Send in all the ninth-level experts! Now!"