Heimarian Odyssey

Chapter 104: Day and Night

The night sky was not as still and quiet as usual. Instead, fireballs streaked across the sky, like a light show accompanied by a chorus of war cries and shrieks.

The battle in Audis was still going on. After Faustian's army filled in two more divisions, the Shalorians who defended the city were not as relaxed and comfortable as before.

As a soldier in position, the soldiers from the four divisions of the two corps of Faustian taught the Shalorians a good lesson, paid for in blood.

"We can't hold the north gate any longer!"

"Reinforcements are needed!"

"Where are the cannons? Fire it up!"

"Reserve unit, move!"

"Stones! Stones! Don't let the Faustians up!"

"Ah! I got hit!"

...

Audis was a mess. The fiercer the battle, the more the actual combat capabilities of a proper army shone.

Obviously, most of the Shalorians were recruits who could not adapt to fighting at night.

Falcon 4th Division had already reached the wall to cooperate with 3rd Division.

Lion was faring better. In addition to the assistance of long-range siege equipment, most of the casters had also been transferred to them.

Lion's soldiers were good in battle. If it weren't for Felippe who was resisting on the front line together with the soldiers and civilians which greatly inflated the numbers of the Shalorians, the gate might have been lost as well.

The siege did not allow the residents of Shalor to sleep well. Everyone secretly prayed that the gate would not be breached.

Betty was one of them. Her husband joined the city garrison four days ago, which allowed their family of four to go three days without going hungry.

But everything changed yesterday. Her husband was dragged to the west gate early in the morning. It was said that the Faustians were preparing to attack.

Damned nobles. Her husband was just a newcomer who had just joined the garrison a few days ago. How could they call for him at this juncture?

It has almost been a day and a night. Betty could only pray that her husband is fine.

Not only Betty, but many families in Audis were also praying for their loved ones.

That night, Faustian's army attacked Audis five times. The Shalorians barely survived.

The Faustian side did not return without success either. Countless fortifications were expended, and the spells that they prided their nation for had also been overused.

At dawn, the four major divisions besieging the city were finally ordered to withdraw by Kenzir. The forceful attack for a day and night drained the soldiers of the four divisions of their mental and physical strength.

But this was not the end, the offensive had just begun.

"Falcon 2nd Division, press on!" A command from Marmen came.

This was discussed in advance between him and Kenzir. Since the ratio of the number of them to the Shalorians was close to 6:1, it was entirely possible to use sheer numbers and wave tactics to crush them.

Audis was a rare and strong city in Shalor. Furthermore, it was located on higher ground. As the offensive side, they had no geographical advantage to borrow, so they could only fight the hard way.

Fortunately, in the five-year war, the last thing Faustian soldiers feared was fighting the hard way. Even 3rd Division, who were the troublemakers, could survive in the first wave, not to mention other more elite units.

It was a pity that the soldiers of 3rd Division suffered the largest loss among the four corps. After all, it was composed of the noble's private armies, and its coordination in the divisions was much worse.josei

The loss of these soldiers reduced the strength of countless nobles, and it had also removed a huge thorn in Marmen's eye.

"Locke! Let's go!" Wyr rode up to him at some point.

Since Locke gave one of strengthening potions to Wyr, they became much closer; there was no separation of hierarchy between them. Locke asked Wyr a lot of basic knowledge about knights, and he answered them one by one, which saved him a lot of trial and error.

"Yes!" Locke grabbed a pike, held a sword in his right hand, and followed Wyr.

Because it was a siege, horses had little to contribute, so they were all placed far away from the battlefield.

The soldiers of Cardoj's battalion began to assemble in an orderly manner. They also belonged to 2nd Division. The troops mentioned by Marmen must include them.

They didn't need to worry about the soldiers who would come here to take over for them. Other troops would be assigned to their position.

The cavalry platoon had always been the most elite unit in their battalion. Even with them dismounted, they were also strong soldiers. Locke estimated that almost all of them had the strength of a third or second-rate soldier. Serf soldiers were never seen here.

Yoshk, Mond, Hans and the others also began to engage their men.

"Locke? Which one is Locke?" A handsome man in a black robe appeared in front of their battalion that was about to march to battle. From the sight of the long staff he was holding, it was not difficult for the soldiers to guess he was a caster. In yesterday's siege, they were the closest to the caster camp, and they saw a lot of mysterious sights of the arcane.

"Here! I am!" Hearing someone calling his name, Locke walked out of the crowd curiously.

"Hello, my name is Vegas," the caster did not put on an aura of haughtiness, instead greeting Locke with a smile on his face.

"Hello!" Locke replied.

He, who had been with Angelina for almost a month, could, of course, perceive that this was a very capable caster. He guessed that Vegas was at least a low-rank Lerhling.

"I have been tasked to give this to you." Vegas was still smiling, and he didn't say anything through his mouth, but his voice still reached Locke's ears. Besides that, Locke felt that there was something else in his sleeves.

Locke, startled by the magical phenomenon, stiffened his neck and nodded to express his acknowledgement. He didn't even notice how those items in his sleeves appeared just now as if out of thin air. If that person had used a knife... Locke didn't dare imagine.

Seeing Locke's reaction, the corner of the man's mouth curved into a smile. He then turned and left.

Locke squeezed the items in his sleeves and feigned a calm look. He knew who gave him these things. Angelina had said that she had prepared life-saving items for him a few days ago.

Locke originally refused, but Angelina wanted to give it to him no matter what, and he had no choice but to accept it. Locke, who was a bit of a traditionalist, found it difficult to accept gifts from women.

The mysterious technique the caster used just now surprised him. Only then did he know that besides Angelina's crappy magic, there were other spells beyond his imagination.

Actually, it wasn't that Angelina was not good at magic, it was just that she hadn't reached that stage.

Casters were different from knights, most of them only gained self-defence abilities when they reached the low-rank Lehrling stage. Entry-level Lerhlings would be killed by Knechts without even being able to resist. Low-rank Lerhlings were different, those who had discovered their full mental powers were strong enough to use many spells.

By then, it was no longer a question of whether a low-rank Knecht could compete with a caster. Instead, a low-rank Lehrling could fight several knights of the same level.

With the mysterious method used by the caster just now, it would be no big problem for him to face two or three knights of Locke's strength.

Locke was not dispirited, however. He knew about his own limits. A few months ago, he was an ordinary person. Now, he had an unusual amount of impetus, so he was already very satisfied.

In addition, Locke felt more cautious and careful about the upcoming battle. He had not forgotten that Shalor had thrived on magic.

He saw the beautiful magical fireworks from the gates of Shalor last night and knew that he wouldn't be able to take even a single shot.

Fortunately, Locke was agile. He believed he would have enough space to move and avoid obstacles. After being promoted to a low-rank Knecht, his physical abilities were greatly enhanced. He didn't even need to use impetus and he could deal with three or four second-rate soldiers with his brute strength alone.

After the caster left, Locke followed the soldiers to the frontlines in an orderly manner. The baron's order just came down, and at the turn of the morning, they were to rush up and take over the position of 3rd Division's 5th Company that had just withdrawn.

For nobles like Cardoj, they would not take part personally in the siege of Audis. All they did was control the overall situation from the rear. At this time, the leaders of the troops were the platoon jarls of each platoon. Platoon jarls such as Locke had great power.

Squeezing a ring bracelet in his sleeve, Locke suddenly felt more secure. The discomforting dread of the battlefield from before was mostly mitigated by this small magical item.

When he used his impetus, a two-cubic-metre shield would appear around him. There were not many items like this in the entire Faustian, with most of them belonging to the royal family and the major nobles. He didn't know how Angelina managed to get him one.

In actual fact, this was one of the life-saving items that the Faustian king had given his daughter. If it weren't for the other ones that were too bloated and difficult to hide, she would've given Locke more.

More and more soldiers from 3rd Division were retreating, most of them showing exhaustion and having gained at least one or two spots of injuries on their bodies. The ones who had it worse even lost one of their arms or legs, their skin severely scalded. This struck a certain amount of fear to the soldiers from 2nd Division who were about to head into battle soon.

For Locke's battalion, the mercenaries recruited by Cardoj with a large sum stood at the forefront.

These men who were employed with a huge amount of thalers knew that it was time for them to work hard. Everyone grabbed their own weapons; unlike the standard equipment of the Faustian soldiers, these mercenaries had all kinds of equipment ranging from hooks, chains and other weird weapons.

"All ready, follow me!" The bearded mercenary leader shouted.