Chapter 138: Prologue
Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
Thinking of this, Han Jin already knew what to do. “Rest a.s.sured. I will have a talk with Reg. He is still having qualms about his ident.i.ty. Under these circ.u.mstances, to be merciful to our enemies is to dig a grave for ourselves,” he said to Ronning.
Hearing this, no matter how worried Ronning still was, he had to nod. “I hope you can persuade Reg. Otherwise, I really don’t know what to do.”
Han Jin smiled and comforted him when he saw his anxious face. “This concerned the survival of the army; Reg will eventually understand. And… regardless of anything else, Sir Guevara and I will support you.”
“How do you think we should fight this war?” Han Jin changed the topic to lift Ronning’s interest and morale.
Sure enough, Ronning immediately felt refreshed. “Zaganide’s plan to take us down with a curse is truly sinister, but it also shows that he has no way of defeating us. We will win this war. It’s just a matter of time.”
Han Jin shook his head. “But the biggest problem is time. Who knows when the curse will break out. Perhaps it will be tomorrow, or a few hours later. We must get that crystal as soon as possible.”
Ronning tightly frowned. “If so, we have to attack by force, but it will cause heavy casualties.”
“No matter how heavy the loss is, it will be better than losing thousands of soldiers to the curse. You weren’t there that night to see for yourself.” Han Jin had seen an opportunity that night. He had deliberately spread the news to let the soldiers know that many of them had been cursed, and that the only way to remove the curse was to invade Black Raven City and obtain the Purifying Crystal.
Just as he had expected, the soldiers were extremely frightened when they heard the news, and then showed great enthusiasm in the coming battle. Had they not been prohibited by the generals, they would already be rus.h.i.+ng to the city gate.
It was easy to understand their feelings. Most of them had been cursed and didn’t know when the curse would break out, which was rather disappointing. But the hope that Han Jin had provided them was like a spark in boiling oil, which thoroughly kindled up their spirits for the battle.
They were all anxiously waiting for the horn of attack. The energy this army contained at present surprised even Guevara, a battle-hardened and seasoned commander. If this army could consistently keep its morale this high, Guevara could forge the Riptide Regiment into an unstoppable steel torrent in no time.
“Full frontal a.s.sault?” Ronning stared at Han Jin.
“What else can we do? We need to launch the attack as soon as Reg arries. Otherwise, the soldiers will be out of our control!” Han Jin cast a nervous glance at the troops.
Minor disturbances had already appeared in the army. They were timely put down by the officers, but in truth, the officers were as anxious as the soldiers. A sword that could take their life constantly hung above their heads, and none of them knew when this sword would drop down. It was like a heavy stone pressing on their hearts, making it hard to breath.
Thousands of armed soldiers standing in formation would make anyone notice, let alone thousands of soldiers with murderous intents in their eyes.
Sherrill, the commander of Black Raven City, peeked over the wall, but immediately felt as if he had slammed into a wall. His heart trembled, and his back was cold as if a wisp of chilly wind had blown past.
“d.a.m.n these soldiers! Who are they? Why do they look more bloodthirsty than those Minotaurs!” Sherrill muttered, shrinking his head to get away from the murderous stares. If you could kill a man by staring, Sherrill would have died a thousand times by now.
As the sun gradually faded from the horizon, the bright moon slowly rose up in the opposite direction.
Defense should have been easy in such highly visible weather, but the officers and soldiers of Black Raven City were all in low spirits. The sea of troops had simply stood there since dusk, and their wordless silence was more intimidating than the usual commotion during a normal siege.
The next noon, Reg finally arrived with his troops, which made the officers of the Riptide Regiment relieved. Han Jin and the others went out to greet him. The first words Reg said were, “How is the situation now?” He didn’t even look at Ronning, who was standing nearby. Han Jin sighed in his heart when he saw Ronning motionlessly standing there. However, he couldn’t say anything. The most important thing at the moment was to occupy the city, and everything else could be handled later.
The soldiers behind Reg were still in high morale, though their faces revealed a trace of tiredness after the long and arduous journey. Every soldier asked their commanding officer the same question: when do we attack?
“When do we attack?” Reg also asked.
“Right now.” Han Jin narrowed his eyes and looked at the nearby Black Raven City. Once they occupied this city, he would be fully involved in the chaos and wars of this continent.
“Now?” Reg’s travel-stained face looked surprised. “Without a break for the soldiers?”
“We don’t have time to spare. The sooner we take the city, the safer the soldiers will be.” Even if Han Jin was not a militarist, he knew it was unwise to use fatigued soldiers. But there was no other alternative at the moment. Fortunately, the soldiers were in high morale, which could make up for the disadvantages.
The generals also seemed to agree. Ever since Han Jin had single-handedly figured out the source of the curse, none of the generals treated him like an inexperienced young man anymore.
Reg showed no more hesitation and immediately gave the order to a.s.semble the troops.
The generals went back to their own soldiers to pa.s.s down the order. The huge army with nearly tens of thousands of soldiers started to move slowly but surely.
Sherrill sensed something bad was going to happen when Reg arrived. There was no way for him to defend the city against such a large force with what he had. Of course, the soldiers on the other side must be prepared to die as well. Attacking a city was not as simple as fighting with cold steel at a short distance. When fighting a battle on a flat battlefield, those who charged in the forefront might have a chance to survive if they were bold and brave, but when attacking a city, the one in the forefront was doomed to die unless they were exceptionally powerful.
Sherrill was by no means a commander with an unearned reputation. He immediately took corresponding measures when he noticed his enemy’s reinforcement. But just as he was in the middle of giving orders, the enemy moved to attack!
“Are they mad?!” That was his first reaction. Even if they wanted to commit suicide, they wouldn’t be in such a hurry. He tried to comfort himself. They must be trying to intimidate him by feigning an attack, he told his messengers. From experience, the enemy force shouldn’t be attacking at this time either. It was high noon, and the burning sun was high in the sky. No matter how eager the enemies were, they should have waited until the next morning.
However, a few minutes later, the soldiers under the wall had pushed out several siege ladders. Sherrill’s heart thumped. “Are they really launching an attack now?” he thought. But the next moment, he jumped to his feet, fl.u.s.tered and exasperated. “Lunatics! don’t they know they will suffer heavy casualties if they attack now!?” he shouted.
What made him so nervous were the four magic crystal cannons that were being pushed toward the wall!
At this point, no amount of comfort would calm him, and he was likely to tear anyone who tried to calm him down into pieces. Were those four cannons which his enemy had pushed out just supposed to be for show?
Reg handed over command to Ronning. No matter how angry he was before, this was not the time to be petty.
Four beams of light soared in to midair, kicking off the battle. Three infantry formations slowly pushed forward. Ronning stood on a makes.h.i.+ft dais, quietly watching the reaction of Black Raven City.
Boom! Boom! Powerful shock waves spread across the magic barrier of Black Raven City. Zaganide had spent much more energy on Black Raven City than Nuremberg, and thus the first wave of barrages caused almost no reaction. This far exceeded Ronning’s expectations.
The infantry formation kept pus.h.i.+ng forward. Five hundred meters, four hundred meters… When they were only three hundred meters away from the city walls, dozens of light beams shot out from the city walls. Two unfortunate soldiers were struck in the face and immediately fell. The others resisted the attack with their heavy armor, and then raised their large s.h.i.+elds to protect themselves.
Ronning’s eyes immediately lit up. No matter what, the Evil Eyes attacking before they were ordered to indicated that the enemies on the wall were just a third-rate army, regardless of how capable their commanders were! In order to protect his underground city, Zaganide must have sent almost all of the elite forces away from Black Raven City!
Meanwhile, Sherrill was las.h.i.+ng the Evil Eyes with his leather whip in a thundering rage. He knew full well that although the burning sun was a disadvantage for the attackers, it would harm his troops even more. After all, the Abyssal Race hated the summer sun more than anything else.