Read Novel Full Chapter 725 - 405: Battle of the Heirs (Part 2)
Chapter 725 - 405: Battle of the Heirs (Part 2)
More than twenty Grand Mages stood at the nodes of the array, their magic robes fluttering in the wind.
They placed their hands on the guiding magic stones, with magic energy flowing like molten steel along the demonic patterns, pouring into the shield and causing the air to shudder.
Some nobility couldn’t help but exclaim: "Holy Shield... has begun!"
Outside the shield, the air was stirred by high-pressure magic power, continuous thunder lined up like heavenly thunder guarding the Imperial Capital.
The layer of magic was compressed like an invisible giant wall, causing any fighting energy that approached to become chaotic.
Any knight stepping within thirty steps of the shield would cause the outer membrane to violently shake, their breath disorderly, vision darkening, as if being toppled by the roar of a giant beast, completely unable to approach.
Meanwhile, the mechanisms on both sides of the city gate were activated, heavy chains rolled with sounds of metal clashing, sparks flying.
Then, dropping from the top were rock burst stones compressed by alchemy and solid energy.
Engraved with swirling demon patterns on the surface, inside sealed with shock bomb potions.
They were specifically designed to deal with knights shielded by fighting energy, and while ordinary stones couldn’t penetrate fighting energy, these alchemy stones could explode into hundreds of shards containing magic power upon impact.
The sound of breaking wind was like a pack of hungry wolves pouncing, tearing the first knights attempting to approach directly into a blood mist, broken armor and limbs flying chaotically in the mud.
However, the drawback was that they were extremely cumbersome and expensive, but on this city wall, it wasn’t a drawback.
As for what was poured from the battlements, it was not the common boiling oil, which was practically meaningless against fighting spirit knights.
What splashed was a dark green, resin-like sticky alchemy solution: Green Dragon Saliva.
"This stuff... a few barrels could buy a castle..." a young noble’s voice trembled.
The green liquid hit the knight’s fighting energy membrane, making it immediately emit a piercing screech as if being corroded alive.
In the next breath, the green solution penetrated the shield, invaded the armor, with metal melting rapidly as if licked by flames, flesh rotting and sliding off. The knight fell screaming, rolling in the mud, unable to find a place to escape the corrosion.
In front of the shield, the once charging line collapsed within a few breaths.
Fighting energy was restrained, armor corroded, the knights of the Tenth Border Legion seemed to crash into a breathing slaughter machine.
After several probes, the ground was already covered with turbid mud and bloodwater.
Hundreds of knight corpses lay stacked in front of the shield, like layers of harvested wheat.
Finally, amid the chaos, they sounded the retreat horn.
In the rain, rows of dark shadows wobbled backward, pushed, tripped, dragged by their own people, as if invisible fear was pressing toward them from the electricity spilling from the shield.
The retreating figures staggered in the rain, as if torn by some invisible fear.
The city wall erupted in deafening cheers.
The nobility laughed loudly, some even raised their cups in celebration.
Rhine merely sipped his tea lightly, his expression composed as if appreciating an opera.
"War... ultimately, is business." He lifted his cup slightly, letting Simmons see the joy in his eyes. "When the investment is large enough, it’s hard to lose."
He waved his hand, and the commander immediately took the order and left. "Tonight, send roasted meat and ale to each legion, let them eat their fill. Tell them to continue killing beggars tomorrow."
Night fell, Rhine fulfilled his promise, bonfires ignited on the city wall, turning the entire defense line bright as a festivity.
Carts brought up whole roasted cattle, grease sizzling in the firelight.
Barrels of chilled ale were opened, knights ate meat heartily, punched loudly, as though they weren’t guarding the city but on a picnic.
Even more enticing was the gold coins handed to them, each received a substantial amount.
Rhine stood at the peak of the firelight, overlooking it all.
He was in no rush, as long as the wall wasn’t breached and the array kept running, he could hold out for three days, five days, ten days... until other legions around the Imperial Capital arrived for rescue.
"Let them try." His voice was as light as the wind, yet it overshadowed the bonfire noise.
"The Imperial Capital isn’t that easy to invade."
......
Outside the Imperial Capital, the night rain was heavy, yet inside the tent, it was hot as if a fire burned in the darkness.
The candle flame swayed in and out from the wind, shadows twisting into uneasy shapes on the canvas walls.
Second Prince Kaelin sat beside the chest, his knees apart, slowly wiping his sword with cloth.
The blade reflected candlelight, cold and straight, like his suppressed emotions at the moment.
His actions were calm, yet deep in his eyes lay a hint of disappointment.
Not towards the defeat, but towards the city that should represent the Royal Family’s majesty, now armed like a steel prison by Rhine with money and arrays.
The adjutant lifted the curtain and entered, his voice low: "Your Highness... the Holy Shield array has no solution for now. The Eleventh Legion... lost three hundred and thirty-one knights."
Kaelin paused in his sword wiping, gently exhaling: "I know."
He placed the sword on his knees, lifting his eyes to ask: "Was the message delivered inside?"
The adjutant immediately straightened his body: "Delivered, Your Highness."
Kaelin nodded but didn’t continue to inquire further. Just as he was about to speak, a guard’s announcement came from outside the tent:
"Your Highness! Duke Remont requests an audience!"
Kaelin’s eyebrows twitched slightly, his expression first tense, then relaxed into a smile.
"Let him in."
Duke Remont lifted the curtain and entered, his cloak dripping with continuous raindrops.
He glanced at Kaelin’s face, a trace of insight flashing in his eyes; it wasn’t fear of battle but impatience with the stalemate.
Remont bowed: "Your Highness, the conventional siege methods are indeed useless. Rhine has turned the Imperial Capital into a prison, and without a key... no one can get in."
Kaelin sighed, "We don’t have a key."
The corners of Remont’s mouth slowly curved up: "I have one."
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
A knight pushed in a heavy iron cage, the wheels leaving wet marks on the ground.
The cage was covered with a black cloth, vaguely showing something inside moving slightly.
Kaelin frowned, "What is this?"
Remont stepped forward and uncovered the black cloth.
At the moment the cloth fell to the ground, Kaelin instinctively took a step back.
Kaelin whispered, "What... is this ghostly thing?"
Remont revealed a satisfied smile.
"This is the battering ram I’ve prepared for you."
He took an iron key from his bosom and handed it to Kaelin, his tone respectful yet carrying a bewitching force: "You decide whether to use it or not."
The tent fell silent.
The sound of rain pounded on the tent, like countless chaotic heartbeats.
Kaelin looked down at his once broken right hand.
After a long time, he softly said, "This is war."
He raised that hand, clutched the key, "I’ll bear the sin."
......
In the deep night, the city walls were lined with alchemical candles, their flames misty blue, dispersing moisture but unable to dispel the dense, unyielding darkness outside the city.
Rain and fog swirled in the distance, like the breaths of some giant creature.
A knight leaned on the battlement, his armor open as he idly tossed the Gold Coins handed out last night.
The Gold Coins jumped between his fingers a few times, catching the moonlight, flashing as if alive.
"Want to bet?" he said to a few knights beside him, "Will there be an attack tonight? If they come, this coin is yours."
"His Highness has already filled our bellies; they’d be courting death if they came," someone yawned.
As they were chatting away, a faint noise came from below the city walls.
It was a dense, fine, nerve-grating... rustle.
The Knight Captain frowned, leaned over, and looked down: "What the heck...?"
The thick fog parted slightly in the wind, and in that instant, he saw it clearly.
A dense mass of pale bodies.
Thousands of dragonblood youths with bare upper bodies clung to the base of the city wall, their spines bent like they were broken, limbs twisted in reverse joints, moving bizarrely and swiftly.
Their nails dug deep into the crevices of the dark steel stone like animal claws, each exertion causing a fine cracking sound in the stones.
They were silently wriggling upward.
Like a whole skin of living flesh... climbing up.
The moonlight shone on their eyes; they were not human eyes but strange vertical pupils, blank and cold, staring like a predator.
In their mouths, they all held short daggers, not making a sound.
The knight who had been playing with the Gold Coins dropped it with a "ding" at his feet.
His throat felt stuffed, and he only managed to squeeze out a sentence: "What... is this ghostly thing?"
The Knight Captain suddenly reacted, slamming the stone parapet: "Quick! Quickly call for support!"
But below the city wall, the wave of pale flesh had already climbed halfway up.
Silent, swift, deadly.