By the time that Seth had arrived at the city square, the rest of the soldiers whom had retreated from the eastern, northern, and southern walls, had arrived there as well.Soon after that, the other bandits that had circled around and entered through the opened western gate, also arrived.
Thus, all the soldiers of Haradur city, and all the bandits of the Wolfing gang, went into one final, big, battle.
When everyone is present like this, the advantage naturally went to... the side with greater numbers, the Wolfing gang bandits. In terms of higher level combat power, with the heroic bearing stage soldiers that have been learning martial skills, Haradur city"s forces did not lose out compared to the Wolfing gang"s late heroic bearings stage vice-chiefs. These soldiers are also suffering the side effects of those martial skills, just like Merab Zefer had, but their opponents are not like Ronold Wolf, carrying around healing pills that they could use anytime to heal their b.l.o.o.d.y injuries. By now, many of these bandit vice-chiefs are already near the brink of death.
Unfortunately, in terms of lower level combat forces, Haradur city"s soldiers are greatly outnumbered.
The hastily made wooden fort was not as st.u.r.dy as the stone walls, and was soon torn down. Most of the soldiers would each be fighting at least 2 bandits at once. The male citizens that charged forth were not of much help, as they would die far too quickly.
All of the weaker bandits have already died off against the meat grinder that was the city walls, leaving just ones that are either at the late levels, or at the peak, of the unforgiving mortality stage, along with their superiors. This did not give the soldiers of the city any advantage at all.
When the soldiers of Haradur city saw their lord, Merab Zefer fall to the ground, their morale dropped greatly. Many of them even felt like wanting to surrender, despite knowing that it would be unlikely for them to be spared after they put down their swords.
Luckily, their hope was rekindled when the young master of the Zefer family took over the mantle by sending a violent barrage of fists at the bandit chief, who was unexpectedly forced into defense, blocking with his broken greatsword.
That 11 year old boy had order 2 of his family"s heroic bearings stage soldiers to take his father away to a safe location to let him heal, and then, continued to heroically fight against a man several times larger than he is.
Eventually, all the male citizens whom were brave enough to charge out to fight for the city, to fight to protect their families... were all killed. It could not be helped, as they were just too weak. The majority of them were mere traders, carpenters, performers, cooks, fishers, farmers, common men whom worked daily to earn the money necessary to let their families live good lives. Their combat abilities were only enough for them to serve as meat shields.
Soon, the bandits began getting through the gaps between the lines of soldiers. Their eyes lit up as they got closer to the defenseless citizens behind the lines. Due to the intense battle so far, blood had rushed to their heads, and their bodies felt very hot. They couldn"t endure it any longer, and began throwing themselves at the first attractive women they could spot.
Screams of young women began sounding out from several parts of the city square.
As for the wrinkly old ladies, the ugly-faced or fat women, and the cowardly males that were too scared to go to the front lines and instead tried to hide within the crowds? They let out screams of death as they were slashed and killed the moment any bandit got near to them.
Any children that the bandits met were knocked down crying. There were even some particularly immoral bandits that would force themselves on some terribly immature little girls, and occasionally, some little boys. These children were even more helpless, and suffered more than anyone.
When the lines were first breached, there would at least be some soldiers that would slash at those foolish bandits whom exposed their backs to them, but this quickly stopped. Even ignoring the bandits whom had made it through the gaps in the lines of soldiers, the soldiers were having a hard time dealing with the remaining bandits attacking them.
When Seth heard those painful screams and cries, he did not say anything. His expression did not change. He did not look over. He just continued trading punches with Ronold Wolf. However, deep within his eyes, complex emotions emerged, as if there was some kind of inner conflict going on.
"Your citizens are being ma.s.sacred and violated! And here you are, messing around with me. As a lord of those people, do you not feel any responsibility!?" Ronold Wolf yelled at Seth, but in no way was he trying to act humane. He wanted Seth to turn his back towards him so that he could safely hack at his head.
Although Ronold Wolf does not want to admit it, it is a fact that Seth is currently suppressing him. Compared to the arms of his excessively large body, Seth"s childish arms are much shorter. However, this kid"s punches were ridiculously sharp and accurate, and he stuck to him like glue.
Every time he found an opening and punched the boy, he would do no more than knock him backwards. Ronold Wolf even felt his own fist hurting. It felt as if he was. .h.i.tting something harder than steel.
Every time Seth sent a punch at him, he would dodge with all his might. He dare not underestimate those fists. Unfortunately, every time he escaped from Seth"s punches, he would see a fist flying straight at him right afterwards. It was as if the boy knew exactly where he was going to go, and cut him off beforehand. He would have no choice but to use his battered greatsword to block. At this point, his greatsword has turned into nothing more than a shield. Every time he used it to block, another glaring crack would appear on it, as if it was a large piece of rock being struck by a hammer.
Many a time, his subordinates would rush at Seth, slashing at him with their weapons. ...But Seth would completely ignored them. The kid would even take a slash to the head and not react at all. He just continued pursuing him like some kind of mad beast.
WHAM!! CRASH!!
Suddenly, a loud crashing sound echoed out from within the city square. The sound was different from a grenade, but its impact was just as heavy.
Dust rose into the air as some of the remaining wooden fortifications came tumbling down.
Within the debris, is a bandit who has his pants down. That bandit"s armor is crumbled up, as if it had been rammed by a wrecking ball. The bandit within is, well... all his exposed flesh are covered in red liquid, his eyes have popped all the way out of their sockets, and what look like organs are sprouting out from his open mouth. Basically, he looks more dead than if he were cut apart.
At this time, a young female voice sounded out clearly through the air above the battlefield.
"Seth~! You said that it wouldn"t be b.l.o.o.d.y!"
Hearing this childish complaint, Seth"s expression finally changed. The conflict of emotions deep within his eyes disappeared, and he laughed as if to release those very same emotions. "Hahahaha!"
Ronold Wolf"s eyes narrowed as he looked gloomily over at the direction of the commotion. Exactly what could it be now? Exactly what is it about this city that is making it so hard to conquer?
What he saw next caused him to feel great surprise.
A wide s.p.a.ce was made at the center of the city square. All the people in the crowds were backing away from its center, with terrified expressions on their faces. It was as if they were afraid of something. It was as if they were seeing a demon descend upon mankind.
"Monster!" Someone screamed. Then, altogether, lots of those citizens ran away from the center outwards, not caring about the fact that they would be running into the bandits that see them as prey. The bandits themselves, were also scared silly.
"Monster...? That"s mean!"
Her skin was covered by a layer of water, making it look aqua blue. A long tail constructed from water extended out from the back of her waist. It coiled around her legs and lifted her several meters up into the air. The water was transparent, and if you looked deep enough into it, you would see a pitch black darkness, like the darkness that you would find in the deep sea.
The tail extended even further and slithered on the ground, making motions similar to those of a snake"s. A vague outline of fish scales can be seen on the surface of the tail, and fins are visible at its end. If one were to disregard its excessive length, one might think it is the tail of a mermaid.
It was with her pupils letting out an ominous crimson light, that the little girl complained. She was trying to save them! Why are they bad-mouthing her...
When everyone had retreated to the city square, why wouldn"t the non-combative members of the Zefer family do so as well? Should they have waited at their mansion to be attack? No, they came here too. The only reason that they did not show up until now, was because, as the important family members of the city lord, they were placed at the center of the city square, behind as many rows of meat shields as possible. That was where they would be the safest.
But when Nala saw the people of her city getting attacked and hurt, she could not stand acting helpless anymore. Seth had taught her a spell to hit people with. She decided that now was the time to use it to hit people!
...Though, unexpectedly, the hit was a little too hard, and the result was a little too gruesome. She could not help but complain.
"G-GRAB HER!!! Whomever grabs her will have all the money they can spend for the rest of their lives! Whatever wishes they have, I, Ronold Wolf, will grant them!! Even if you have to chop off her legs, bring her back ALIVE!!!" Ronold Wolf roared. He was able to recognize that for what it is, magic. Not only that, it is a particularly powerful magic, a particularly powerful spell. No matter what, he must get his hands on it!
It is often said, that at the same stage, at the same level, magic cultivators are stronger than martial cultivators, and spellcasters are stronger than martial artists. That is because the explosive powers of spells are devastating enough to decimate a martial artist with a single hit. At the very least, if the spell is above a certain grade, if the caster has high enough accuracy, and if the target does not have a good enough defense or escape technique, that is exactly what will happen. At the unforgiving mortality stage, when martial artists have still yet to develop their eye of forewarning death, the superiority of spellcasters is all the more p.r.o.nounced.
Although spellcasters rely on the magic energy stored in their bodies to power their spells, and thus have limited ammo, their deadliness more than makes up for that. It makes them resemble walking tanks!
Throughout this entire 5 day long battle, Ronold Wolf has never been as excited as he is right now. If he can get his hands on that girl"s magic cultivation technique, and her spells, then his Wolfing gang will be able to quickly surge in power. They will no longer have to flee whenever they catch a glimpse of an immortal city"s forces. They will be able to confront the immortal cities head on! This is a heaven-sent opportunity that he cannot let slip!
He no longer cares for fighting with Seth. He no longer cares about whatever treasure this boy might be carrying on him, since it seems unlikely that he will be able to take it from him anyways. So long as he can catch that girl, nothing else will matter!
Ronold Wolf ditched his greatsword, and tore off the remnants of his body armor. That made him a h.e.l.l of a lot lighter. Ignoring Seth, he ran toward the center of the city square!
But as he was running, Ronold Wolf felt that something was strange. The world seems... oddly sparkly in his eyes.
He is not dumb enough to think that this heaven-sent opportunity made the world look more beautiful. Instead, he felt a odd sense of discomfort, as if everything is falling out of whack again.
His legs felt heavier than usual. He was running, but he was not getting any closer to his goal. When he looked down, he was shocked to see that his boots were sinking into a land of white sand!
The sand was moving backwards, while he was moving forward. This caused him to make no progress at all.
When Ronold Wolf jerked his head around to look behind him, he saw Seth grinning at him.
"All that was born from sand, shall return to sand... Now that Nala has made a move, I no longer need to make a decision. Hold back and watch the people die off, or show off my power and save everyone. Either way, I will have my regrets. In that case, why not choose the choice that is most fun!? I"ll let you have a taste of the Marble Sand Sect"s ancient spells!"