Chapter 249 Chapter 246 A Helpless Sigh
The bombardment paused, allowing the battered city of Quinas a slight respite.
The cyclopes lay on the ground resting, their massive bodies covered in tough skin showing multiple bruises. It was the result of a counterattack from the counterweight trebuchets, but the effect was minimal; despite being calibrated beforehand, the only achievement was crushing a single unfortunate cyclops.
After that, there was nothing more. The stones hurled by the counterweight trebuchets were not as accurate as the cyclopes, and their tough skin allowed them to endure several hits while still able to move. However, the counterweight trebuchets could not move and would be shattered to bits if struck.
Even George and his think tank found all their efforts futile. Their strategies included, but were not limited to, setting up more counterweight trebuchets within the city and leading a team of extraordinary individuals in a nighttime raid against the cyclopes, but the results were all disappointing.
Most of the beastmen’s strong warriors had gone to pursue a cunning succubus, but they only needed to gather the cyclopes together to deal with George’s extraordinary team, almost causing them heavy losses.
The only success was killing a single cyclops, and that was under divine protection, an unexpected stroke of luck for George.
Taking advantage of this brief ceasefire, George walked up to the city wall, and the soldiers stationed on the broken wall greeted him one by one. He looked at the cyclopes and sighed to himself.
As long as the cyclopes could not be dealt with, no matter how much effort was exerted, it would only delay the city’s fall.
He had also asked Jima, hoping she might have some brilliant strategy. In his dreams, the succubus fiancée with hidden secrets pondered and said:
“There’s no hope; just wait for death. Uh, I mean you should prepare yourself psychologically to avoid losing control. Also, remember our agreement.”
A group of farmers armed with longbows leaned against the city wall, their eyes filled with a mix of hope and fear as they looked at George in gleaming white armor. Nearly half of them had some light injuries, their bodies wrapped in moldy bandages, with medicine long gone; they could only pray to the goddess that their bodies were resilient enough to withstand the infection.
I am their only hope.
George thought to himself.
Outside the city wall, there was a chaotic camp encircling the beastmen.
Previously, the beastmen had surrounded the city so tightly that not even water could leak through. But after a month of desperate struggle in Quinas, these cunning beasts had purposely opened a gap, specifically towards the direction of Le’an Port.
Many of the defenders knew that on the day the knights escorted Lady Casun to “break through,” they headed towards Le’an Port. They also knew that the legendary invincible Lionheart King would lead his chivalrous army to come to their aid from Le’an Port.
As a result, more deserting soldiers began to hang from the gallows.
Even though George repeatedly proclaimed that this was the enemy’s scheme and that fleeing would only lead to being caught and eaten by the beastmen, it was all in vain.
In a life devoid of hope for victory, it was difficult for anyone to hold on. Only a small number died from fleeing, as most believed George’s words.
Hence, many turned to suicide; women left at home hanged themselves together with their children. In the suicide notes left behind, they begged people to burn their bodies to avoid falling into the mouths of beastmen and becoming food.
In the council, there were even suggestions to have George enact a law to prohibit suicide, so that people could be dispatched to rescue those attempting to take their lives. However, this was vetoed by George himself.
A series of roars came from the beastmen’s camp, each roar louder than the last. Within the roar, the beastmen who had feasted on human flesh became bloodshot-eyed and hysterical. They surged out of their camp like a mudslide, rushing towards Quinas.
The urgent sound of a horn blared, urging the soldiers hiding behind the city wall to climb to the battlements.
The cyclopes heaved up oval-shaped boulders and began bombarding the soldiers on the city walls.
Dozens of massive stones skimmed over the walls, smashing the ruins of the houses behind the walls into even smaller pieces. A boulder that entered at a good angle rolled across the battlements, scattering and crushing the infantry in its path; those unable to run away had their lower bodies crushed, their upper bodies reaching out, trying to crawl away.
The crushing boulders rolled down from the city walls, and the crowd quickly scattered; although there were not many casualties, the survivors trembled, not obeying orders, momentarily too afraid to climb the wall.
The horn blared again, more urgently, indicating that the beastmen carrying ladders were nearing.
The paladin supervising the watch immediately dealt with several hesitant soldiers under military law, shouting, “Anyone disobeying orders, behead them! Once engaged, there will be no more bombardment.”
Only after he took the lead did the soldiers dare to step onto the ladders and climb the wall.
The long ladders leaned against the city wall as the strong horned beasts climbed up.
The soldiers lifted their spears, roaring as they jabbed at the beasts climbing the wall. Occasionally, some of the beasts howled as they fell to the ground below, cursing the city wall in their mouths.
The farmers on the wall pulled back their bows and began shooting arrows at the inferior beasts below; the only consolation was that the farmers’ archery was slightly superior to that of the inferior beasts.
Quinas once again endured the assault with great difficulty.
After an hour of fierce siege warfare, something began to feel off.
George threw a beastman extraordinary being’s severed goat head over the city wall, and a faint cheer arose from behind him. If not for a powerhouse like George holding the fort, the walls would have long ago fallen.
At this moment, he noticed that the cyclopes were gathering together, making their way towards the east wall. The east wall had several gaps that had been hastily blocked, and one segment still stood firm. A few earthen mounds were piled up a hundred meters away from the wall.
George knew that these so-called “earthen mounds” were entrances for the beastmen to tunnel. This was an ancient trick; they would dig a tunnel beneath the wall, causing it to collapse. He had previously led a few extraordinary individuals to tunnel underground as well to eliminate threats at the base of the wall.
But what were the cyclopes gathering together for?
George quickly raised his knight’s sword and ordered the knights following him to follow him towards the east wall. The east wall was the most critical; it was the wall of the best construction, and it was located at the center of the defense line. Once breached, the consequences would be disastrous.
The cyclopes reached the east wall, and arrows rained down upon them, piercing their skins but only causing superficial injuries, driving the cyclopes into a frenzy.
The rain of arrows could not stop the cyclopes, they advanced a hundred meters, then fifty, then twenty. George shouted, leaping directly off the wall that was slightly higher than the cyclopes, with over a dozen brave knights following him.
The battle beasts immediately blocked their path; Archbishop Gregory conjured a vortex of fire, clearing a path for the group of strong individuals, with flames as high as a person consuming the charred bodies of the cyclopes.
George charged into the crowd of cyclopes, outnumbered but undeterred, his wings unfurled. He fought desperately through the obstacles of the beastmen and their forces, directly heading towards the cyclopes.
One cyclops was killed by his greatsword, and when its body hit the ground, it made a thunderous crash, shaking the earth.
George felt the weight of the cyclops was excessively heavy when.
A cloud of dust surged from behind, causing George’s heart to tighten. He turned to see a wall crumbling, and the horde of beasts surged towards the earthen mounds.
Even though he bore the banner of the sanctuary, forcing the surrounding beastmen to defeat him in order to pass, it would not seal that gap.
At that moment, George stood like a massive rock amidst the mudslide, unmoving yet helpless.
“Crack, crack.”
Arrows from all directions rained down towards George, bouncing off his armor or breaking.
There’s still a chance to hold the line.
George thought, gripping his greatsword tightly, jumping from the body of a cyclops to behead a large beast.
A rain of fire fell from the sky, striking the gap indiscriminately, and each drop of “fire rain” that hit the ground ignited flames as tall as a person, engulfing the dense crowd of beastmen. For a moment, the air filled with the smell of charred flesh, as beastmen lay on the ground, badly burned.
The human defenders withdrew the mortal troops and mobilized the majority of their strong individuals, relying on their armor and supernatural abilities to charge directly into the beast horde. Although the fatalities were low,
Thus, there were fewer human casualties; although these powerful warriors could not entirely block the beast horde, they served to delay them, creating an opportunity for Archbishop Gregory to incinerate the beast horde.
George was set ablaze, as drops of fire rain landed on him, the flames roasting his armor and searing the blood from his body.
But he did not feel much pain; large-scale spells had difficulty breaking through the defenses of an extraordinary being like him, and concentrated magical power was needed to injure his body.
In the eyes of the fear-stricken beastmen, George appeared terrifying at that moment; they hesitated, with only one large beastman raising an axe to charge at him.
“Get out of our city!”
George shouted, cleaving the large beastman in half with his sword as he charged into the horde.
The beast horde shouted, “The fire man is coming! It’s fire!”
They were terrified and fled back.
George chased for fifty meters before returning to hold his ground and catch his breath. This was just a habit; his stamina wouldn’t deplete, and he didn’t need rest.
He watched the retreating beastmen and knew this was only a small victory. Another organized group of beasts would replace them, and those who had fled would regroup and re-enter the next round of battle.
George raised his sword, ready to face the next charge. Suddenly, he realized something important: the cyclopes were leaving under the cover of the army.
We’ve been delayed!
As if to confirm George’s suspicions, the sound of collapsing walls echoed nearby.
George stirred, ready to provide support.
But at that moment, the howls of beasts erupted; the beastmen charged towards George and the few knights who remained steadfast at the gap.
George sighed behind his helmet.
He was being delayed; he knew it, and everyone else knew it.
But so what? This was a ploy.
Could he possibly abandon this gap?
George could only pray.
But prayers were futile, and in the following half an hour, he heard the sounds of two wall collapses. Countless beast hordes surged into the city of Quinas.
