City of Sin

Book 2, 139

An Attack In The Night(3)

Once the enormous axe was gone, Fontaine instantly jumped back up. His face was pale, but his eyes seemed to be shooting flames as he glowered at the bearguard captain at the castle’s foot. He quickly raised his right hand, sticking out three fingers. This was a command to fire the enchanted ballistae.

Seeing the signal, Richard urgently spoke up, “Three isn’t enough, we need all of them!”

The Baron hesitated for a moment, but quickly clenched his hand into a fist. The surroundings were filled the sharp whistle of arrows once more as four enchanted bolts followed close behind the three that had already been fired. They all adjusted their trajectories after drawing an arc in the air, collectively heading towards the bearguard captain.

The enchanted ballista bolts travelled at high speed. The first three had practically reached the bearguard captain at the same time as his axe. The chief stretched out and retrieved his axe effortlessly, calmly using it to block the bolts whizzing towards him.

“DODGE IT!” Sinclair suddenly screeched from behind him, but he had no intention of retreating in a fight with these inferior locals even if he had heavy defences. He brandished his axe as he roared like thunder, striking the bolts one by one with astonishing skill and speed. The massive impact of the magical bolts caused him to sway, his mount pushed back step by step.

The remaining four bolts were already quite close. He would be able to jump off in time, but his mount would definitely be shot head on. Based off the heavy hits he had just suffered, even a magical steed with reinforced armour would be pierced through by these bolts. Sadly, he didn’t have much time to think of a way to counter them. He raised his axe without much thought, fending them off at the speed of lightning. Cutting one of them apart, he used the momentum to slice horizontally across another arrow that was heading straight for his steed.

Right at that moment, he suddenly felt a light grey flimmer of magical light flash over him, causing the axe in his hands to grow heavier in an instant. He was slowed down greatly, and even his control of his weapon suffered. The axe cut the bolt in two with difficulty, but it couldn’t even slow it down, forget sending it to the ground. The projectile that was supposed to pierce through the mount now brushed past its abdomen, leaving a deep wound in its underside that revealed its organs.

The magical mount let out a sorrowful cry, abruptly leaping upwards and dismounting its rider. Losing control of his horse, it grew extremely difficult for the captain to block the two remaining bolts. He finally realised why his axe had grown so difficult to control— he himself had been crippled.

The bearguard chief had a fleeting thought: was that a weakening spell earlier? His axe finally flew out of his grasp under the impact, one of the arrows shooting through the side of his rib while another pierced through his steed.

He let out an indignant roar, eventually losing his footing and collapsing onto the ground. The wound at his side was big as a basin, the bolt pierced deep into his body and peeking out from the other side. The strong enchantments on the weapon had completely shattered his vulnerable organs.

The captain couldn’t get up. He had been cursing his opponents’ luck from the moment he was shot all the way until he was dismounted. All bearguard knights had decent resistance to magic, and grade 4 spells like the weakening spell earlier were quite unlikely to affect him. He himself was level 14, and with his runes and mount he was comparable to a level 16 individual. However, the weakening spell had still taken effect.

Outside of the two great mages on his side, the only others who could achieve this were those powerful mages from Norland who had a deep understanding of magic. One had to know to supplement a resistance-piercing component into the spell to make it work, but the primitive mages of Faelor hadn’t reached that level yet. Most of them could only foolishly cast their spells, with a mere handful even thinking to boost the effects. Of course, those that thought of it wouldn’t necessarily be able to actually do it.

Right before his death, a stroke of lightning flashed in the bearguard captain’s consciousness. Richard! He was a mage from Norland!

As he watched the bearguard captain collapse with a loud thud, something snapped in Fontaine’s mind. The tension completely dissipated, his thoughts enlivened once more. In that split second, he’d been astounded by the formidable strength that erupted from the bearguard captain. That burly demon clearly emitted the aura of someone at level 13 or 14, but he had the strength of a saint! He wasn’t even the leader of this army, what terrifying powers did Sinclair possess?

If he hadn’t decided to comply with Richard’s advice and fire all the bolts in one go, coupled with that timely weakening spell, this dreadful enemy might already have made it to the main gate. Just looking at his powers, that knight was someone who could siege entire towns. And the arrogance in his arrival suggested he intended to do just that. One could only wonder how many hits from him the refined iron gates could withstand.

If that gigantic axe came flying once more... Fontaine shuddered at that realisation. His morale rose as he lifted his sword up high, commanding the soldiers to reload the ballistae. He pointed the sword at Sinclair who was atop the manticore, about to issue an order to fire.

“Wait!” Richard, who had been observing the battlefield, stopped the Baron. “Shoot the great mages! Focus on one of them!” he said quickly.

The Baron agreed without further thought, shifting his sword to one of the great mages standing behind the troop as he yelled loudly, “Concentrate fire!”

Sinclair had been stuck staring at the corpse of the bearguard captain. The moment the Baron gave his command, her face contracted sinisterly. She suddenly pointed towards Twilight Castle, shrieking hysterically, “KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!”

The manticore growled and got up abruptly, racing towards the castle with Sinclair on its back. Dozens of magical mounts were urged forth, following closely behind their leader as the bearguard knights charged forth.

The two great mages had already buffed the knights with every spell they had, falling back for now. Sinclair and her knights could cover the distance in the blink of an eye, and they could almost see themselves ripping the hateful enemies into pieces. The looming walls and sturdy gate wouldn’t pose an obstacle to them.

However, the castle shone with magical light once more as the seven ballistae produced vibrations that could cause one’s heart to drum with fear. Enchanted ballista bolts shot out like lightning one by one.

The bearguard knights clearly had great battle techniques. The moment the bolts were launched, they immediately retreated. However, the enchanted bolts flew over their heads in no time, landing right behind them and piercing one of the great mages who had just finished his spells and was about to prepare for the next round.