Chapter 249: Chapter 250: The Players’ Madness, Artificial Epic Quest (11,000-word Mega Chapter)

After experimenting with the two magics, Lide did not hesitate; he returned to the Mage Tower and immediately taught the spells to Emi and Harrison,

and drew all the magic model nodes on a huge blackboard, while explaining to them the thought process behind constructing the magic nodes in detail.

Emi and Harrison, feeling as if they had acquired a treasure, absorbed the knowledge voraciously, especially struck by Lide’s ingenious approach to magic nodes.

So this is how magic nodes can operate, and the magic they thought was perfect was just the most basic structural model…

Grote, who was watching on the side, was eager to learn the powerful Dragon Scale Shield magic, but…

His origins as a Northern Warrior made him abandon the thought; even after becoming a member of the Bloodline and acquiring the talent for casting, learning the cryptic magic models was like asking for his life.

It was as hard as asking a student skilled in physical education to learn advanced mathematics…

Thus, this Northern Warrior, despite his envy, could do nothing about it; it wasn’t the lack of talent, but rather his mind was his own and he didn’t want to learn…

Though the magic nodes of both spells had reached the boundary of Three Circle Magic—one being 500, the other 550—they were still considered Second Circle Magic.

Emi, as a level 15 Shadow High Priest with mastery of Dual Casting at the top level, took no extra time to learn a Second Circle Magic, and Harrison took slightly longer, but still successfully constructed it in just over ten Sunshine Hours.

Lide ignored the two studying the magic nodes on the blackboard intently, and during their construction of the magic model, he took Grote down to the ground floor hall of the Mage Tower.

When he had seen Grote at the City Hall, he sensed that Grote seemed to have something to say, but since he was about to experiment with the magic, Lide didn’t bother to inquire.

After all, if it were an urgent matter, the other party would have reported directly to him; not being rushed to report meant it wasn’t so urgent that it couldn’t wait after a session of magic experimentation.

“Grote, have you received any news upon your return to Dawn City?”

Grote nodded. “Your Highness, we have gathered information about the goblins.”

Oh??

Lide immediately became interested. The news was set up only a few days ago; how could there be news so quickly?

“That quickly?”

Grote nodded again. “This was a targeted investigation of Risier City, so the progress was much quicker than the previous inquiry into Dwarf Valley.”

Dwarf Valley was like casting a wide net to catch fish indiscriminately; this time it was precision targeting with a specific plan.

The efficiency was completely different.

With the support of the Crimson Mage Tower in the Dark Contract, they had enough Gold Puck on hand, offering a price that mercenaries could hardly refuse, so they recklessly infiltrated Risier City, naturally bringing more news.

“Three days ago, Risier City had already officially engaged in battle with the Beastmen, but because the news was forcibly locked down by the Beastmen, we were not able to confirm it.

This news came from a group of adventurers from the Lost Plane, resurrected in the Life Temple.”

Three days ago, the war had started??

Lide’s eyes slightly narrowed, realizing that the Beastmen’s plan was getting closer to their estimations.

As for the players, he hadn’t paid much attention to them; they still lacked enough power to influence the bigger picture, and in a border war between tens of thousands of troops, their impact was limited.

After all, knights like those broken by the sword were still in the minority.

The analysis department of “Glory” had set up a specialized data collection team, so he was aware of the cause of the undead invasion.

But since he had been stationed in Dawn City to oversee the major task of controlling the populace recently, he didn’t have time to oversee it further, and given the distance from the undead invasion, he hadn’t paid it much heed.

Now, forums proclaimed the knight who had been broken as the number one player, and many players who felt oppressed by NPCs felt a release of their grudge, with many reportedly flocking to this now level 4 Undead Emperor.

“The battle situation between the two sides was incredibly tense; the Beastmen deployed over two hundred thousand troops to besiege Risier City and launched a strong offensive, and most critically, the alchemy explosives warehouse in Risier City was raided by the Beastmen.

This plan put Risier City in great difficulty, especially since in past years Risier City had relied on alchemy bombs to resist the Beastmen attacks…”

Grote’s eyes showed a hint of amazement, “As a former southern hub city, Risier City’s capacity is alarming.

Though now without alchemy bombs, and under relentless siege by two hundred thousand Beastmen for three days, having their walls breached by the Beastmen several times, the city still remains unyielded.

There are only less than 200,000 professionals in the city, and most of them are low-level professionals below level 4; less than 100,000 have real combat capability.

On the other hand, the Beastmen employed over 5,000 Double-legged Flying Dragons, more than a hundred giant siege towers, and more than 200,000 Beastmen of level higher than 5, including thousands of Wolf Cavalry, and also squads of Shaman Spellcasters.

Even in the Beastmen army appeared a level 19 Golden Life Bimong.”

“Bimong??”

Lide’s eyes narrowed slightly at the mention, such a familiar name, often mentioned in novels and films on Earth.

But what is most famous is still this type of life which is detailed in the Bible’s Book of Job, and it is because of this prestigious reference that this legendary life is continuously invoked in various novels.

Nevertheless, Earth was Earth after all, and though Glory had many mythical beings similar to those in Earth’s literary works, there were still significant differences between them.

If one were to truly face this dangerous and vast world armed only with experiences from Earth’s novels and films, one might end up not even leaving behind remains.

This was why he had always developed Dawn City according to his own ideas instead of relying too much on Earth’s power, for the world here was ultimately a complex one; judgments made without personal experience of the local customs tended to lack referential value.

Groot’s expression grew serious, “Yes, it’s a Bimong that’s just one step away from reaching the Extraordinary Rank.

This life form, capable of rivaling giant dragons, is the Beastmen’s most powerful ultimate creature.

Legend has it that the Beastman Capital has a Legendary Level Bimong, which was why the Nolan Empire, when it reached the Beastman Capital, did not annihilate the Beastmen because of the presence of this Legendary Bimong.”

Lide’s expression turned slightly heavy; now that a creature of the Bimong level had appeared, it was inevitable that the Beastman Prince would seize Risier City, a point no longer in doubt.

But what should be done after the loss of Risier City?

Behind Risier City lay Green City; he did not care about Green City, but he could not overlook the Dark Contract and Crimson Mage Tower within it.

A crisis looms, and it is hard to stay uninvolved unless he is willing to abandon the long-term operations of the Dark Contract and Crimson Mage Tower and shift these two powers.

“What about the news from the goblins?”

Lide shook his head; thinking about these things was still a bit premature. Green City, with its Extraordinary being, couldn’t be said to be entirely safe, but it also wouldn’t be a soft persimmon that could easily be squashed.

For now, he needed to consider the goblins and alchemy bombs, which were his main targets.

However, the biggest problem at the moment was still the strength of the orcs and the forces of Risier City.

When cranes clashing with clams, the fisherman’s primary condition for benefitting is that the former two’s powers are equal, and that the fisherman is qualified to be one. Otherwise, he could only enter as cannon fodder.

Joining a battle involving tens of thousands of troops was still too far a reach for Dawn City at present.

Other methods needed to be operated.

“Because the explosives warehouse was raided, the limited stocks of the alchemy bombs in Risier City could not withstand the endless attacks by orcs.

Unable to restrain themselves, they secretly sent someone to reestablish contact with the goblins hidden in a small Underworld.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be a trap laid by the orcs, specifically to make Risier City initiate contact with the goblins.

However, at the time, the troops of Risier City were decisive enough to use a large-scale Teleportation Scroll to teleport thousands of goblins directly into Risier City.

Now, those goblins are already in Risier City.”

Groot felt somewhat emotional, knowing how covetous Lide was for those goblins knowledgeable in alchemy bombs.

Yet with thousands of orc troops lying in ambush, this wasn’t something anyone could easily get involved in, and by the time he received the news, the event had already passed.

“Small Underworld?” Lide, upon hearing this, was not disappointed but rather interested in another term.

“That’s right, Underworlds are isolated, not interconnected like the surface.

Some Underworlds are exceptionally large, covering an area no less than a major country, but some are even smaller in scale than a normal human city, with very limited resources.

The place where goblins live is such a small Underworld, with its size even less than half of the Moonlight Plain.”

“What about that Underworld now?”

“It has been occupied by orcs,” Groot shook his head, “That Underworld had only goblins as its life forms; it holds no value other than that.”

With no mineral veins or a diversity of life forms, a dark and dreary Underworld truly had little value, as the resources on the surface far outnumbered those below, and the living environment was exponentially better.

A spark of thought flickered through Lide’s eyes, “Is there a way to infiltrate Risier City?”

Infiltrate Risier City? Groot’s face slightly changed. Currently, Risier City was like an explosives warehouse, one that was in the midst of exploding.

A battlefield where tens of thousands of troops clashed was far too dangerous, even for him, a powerful Bloodline who had reached level 17 with the Blood of Fearlessness among his capabilities, he could not guarantee his survival there.

“Your Highness…”

Before Groot could speak, Lide already knew what he was going to say.

He gestured with his hand and smiled.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t say I was going to Risier City right now. Besides, if I really were to go, with Castro and an 18th-level Bone Dragon by my side, as long as I don’t confront Bimong on the frontline, who could stop me?”

These two units with unmatched mobility were his ace in the hole for participating in this war and aspiring to be the benefiting fisherman.

The Extraordinary Armor belonging to Castro had an undeniable feature—Super Agility (after special forging, agility in the air increased by 100%, and flight speed increased by 100%).

The speed increased by 100%, showcasing the power of Extraordinary Equipment.

Castro’s original speed was close to 700 kilometers per hour, and now it had doubled, directly breaking through a thousand kilometers per hour.

1,278 kilometers per hour is supersonic flight; at this point, Castro was even faster, arguably more ferocious than Earth’s fighter jets.

As long as he wished to flee, very few lives could stop him, not to mention he also had a Level 18 Bone Dragon. As long as he avoided direct battlefields, such a creature could dominate anywhere.

Hearing Lide’s words, Groot heaved a slight sigh of relief, unwilling to let his dominator venture into danger.

After a moment of thought, he spoke, “Although Risier City is still under blockade, years of operations by adventurers and mercenaries in Green City have led to many ways to secretly infiltrate the city.

However, the threat there is too great, your highness, your status is so noble, no one can compare with you, there’s no need for you to take risks personally.”

Lide nodded, not responding much, his gaze shifted toward Castro on his shoulder, now back to the size of a palm, his eyes thoughtful.

Go on an adventure myself? I’m not a lone ranger… As the big boss, he had plenty of methods…

——

——

Earth, Shanghai, Crimson Moon, a large conference room filled with people, with Lide sitting alone at the main seat, his gaze fiery as he looked at the crowd below.

His presence was extremely oppressive; perhaps due to the psychological effect, the attendees felt that the collective presence of hundreds of employees was still not as impactful as Lide’s alone.

Lide watched the hundreds of members of the data analysis team below, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

“What I’ve mentioned is the task I want to discuss today.

Our team needs to complete an important mission about goblins in Risier City, I need everyone here to integrate the information and provide me with data support.

This task will be managed by the head of the Data Analysis Department—Liu Fei. Summarize the information and report to me at any time.

Additionally, the analysts in Group Two must stay alert about the undead invasion incident in the Radiant Empire, continue searching for related information, and report to me immediately if there is any activity.”

After finishing his statement, his expression relaxed slightly, lightening the somber atmosphere in the room, and many employees quietly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Lide’s face soften.

Their boss’s presence was overwhelming, every move he made imposed significant pressure on them.

At this time, the leading figure at the front, a balding gentleman in a black suit, slightly raised his hand—this was Liu Fei, the head of the Data Analysis Department.

Although he was half-bald and looked about forty, he was actually just in his early thirties, the prime of his life,

and a major player in the department, who had worked for many years at the Sword and Shield Club, and whose capability Lide greatly appreciated.

“Mr. Li, according to the department’s reports, Risier City should be in great chaos right now.

Given the data you provided, we have already established a significant force in ‘Glory’. Why then do we still need to mobilize and hire other players to join?

We could entirely let our own people investigate the news about goblins and Alchemy Bombs…”

Lide’s expression was subtly complex. Risier City was too dangerous now, after receiving information from Groot, his first thought was of the players.

Sending someone into Risier City now was akin to sending them to their deaths, even he wouldn’t dare to intervene casually.

But players, they saw this great war as a system plot, a myriad of missions, the holy land for monster fighting, leveling up, and equipment drops.

If not for these silly ones being too dispersed, and most not even having the money to travel to Risier City, these daredevils would have already swarmed there.

“No, it’s too dangerous here, and my studio is currently executing a series of massive chain missions, I can’t spare anyone, so we must hire players.”

“But although we can attract players to Risier City, how do we issue them their tasks?

If we just hire them through the forums, once they find something valuable, I believe these guys will definitely hide it,” Liu Fei continued to question, finding it difficult to operate without clearing up these issues.

Lide smiled slightly, “In Green City, there’s a street called ‘Mysterious Street’ with only one tavern,

inside that tavern is a mysterious NPC, who has been seeking Alchemy Bombs and looking for goblins; our task is to attract players to that NPC, and not to worry about the rest.

And this NPC is also part of the epic quest we are currently undertaking.”

Lide didn’t elaborate further, using a simple excuse.

A mysterious NPC—that was naturally someone Lide had Groot arrange through Dark Contract.

His plan was simple, to use the NPC’s name to draw players to participate in the war in Risier City, promising a reward from the NPC for any player brave enough to go.

Moreover, as long as he heard news about goblins and alchemy bombs, he would give even more.

Although the Beastmen were fiercely attacking Risier City, based on current information, this well-established city with a large population couldn’t be conquered in less than half a month.

And now, during the major undead invasion in the northern Radiant Empire, the northern situation looked bleak, making the Beastmen seem insignificant by comparison.

The main focus of Green City was on the undead, so they didn’t send any troops to assist Risier City, which meant Lide had to send someone in to gather more information himself.

The mercenaries, although tempted by the high rewards, were ultimately surrounded by groups of Beastmen and were not fearless, so more news about the goblins remained unattainable.

Players, compared to these natives, were undoubtedly the most convenient group to utilize at this moment.

Afraid of dying? Just give them Gold Puck and good equipment, and they would even commit suicide if asked.

Disobedient? As long as the final reward is substantial and binding, these players would happily hand over whatever he wanted.

Thus, this group, fearless and easy to utilize, entered his focus; it would be a waste not to use them.

“Understood, if that’s the case, we might not need to appear directly ourselves, just post in the name of players and share this exploration of Risier City to find goblins and alchemy bombs as an ‘epic quest’.”

Liu Fei’s expression gradually became excited, “Maybe we can package this attack on Risier City by the Beastmen as a task specially opened by the system to enhance the player’s level.

And that special NPC in Green City is actually specially arranged by the game officials; participating in this quest will grant them a substantial amount of Gold Puck as compensation…

In the end, players with a high completion level could even switch to a hidden profession and might even covet some rare equipment released…

Rare equipment, hidden professions, Gold Puck, along with substantial experience rewards, we can fabricate everything players need, so even those from far away will definitely try to partake in it.

After all, once they take up the quest and eventually complete it, the rewards will be higher than the benefits they’ve gotten from playing for months; it will definitely attract many players to participate…

As for whether the final quest reward could be this lucrative, by the time we’ve got what we wanted, it won’t matter.” Liu Fei chuckled.

Hearing this, Lide looked at him deeply, impressed. He had indeed learned well from him.

Then, an idea sparked in his mind; who said these things were false? Liu Fei mentioned rewards he could completely fulfill.

He only needed to casually take some armor and weapons seized from the Beastmen and Dwarves in the Dawn City’s warehouse to deal with these players.

And transforming into a hidden profession wasn’t impossible either; Emi was the Shadow High Priest, capable of switching jobs for any Priest.

On that note, this man-made epic quest could indeed become a reality; he could completely turn this falsehood into truth.

As the planner of this epic quest, wouldn’t these silly players, who couldn’t move seeing good equipment and Gold Puck, be at his mercy?

As for the costs, the wealthy Lide didn’t care; if he could acquire the technique for making alchemy bombs or get goblins, he would accept paying ten times the cost.

This action could enhance the military foundation of Dawn City; as long as the goal was achieved, his gains would not be inferior to a Secret Silver Vein.

He slammed the table and immediately made a decision.

“No, Minister Liu, this is already an epic quest, and all the rewards you mentioned are included.”

Liu Fei looked puzzled; why not say so earlier?

But seeing Lide not explaining further, he didn’t dare to ask more; if his boss did something wrong, could it be considered a mistake? It was a test of the subordinate’s ability.

“Just proceed with this plan, and I’ll communicate the details with you later…”

Three hours later.

The forum on the official website of “Glory.”

A post boasting about receiving an epic quest in Green City was quietly released.

Less than two hours later, the post’s authenticity was confirmed, and then the players went crazy.

Just taking the quest ensured that, at a minimum, they could receive a Gold Puck as a reward upon the task’s completion.

They could also choose from rare ★ armor and rare ★ weapons, and if the completion rate was high, they had the opportunity to switch to a hidden profession and could be taught high-level rare skills by the NPC.

A series of rewards directly stupefied players who had been struggling for months.

Was this the springtime for players?

Had the damn planners finally decided to open the back door for them out of goodwill?

Were they hallucinating?

The beleaguered players could hardly believe it was true.

Players in Green City raced to verify the authenticity of the quest, and they indeed saw the quest listed in their attribute panel.

At this point, some posts quietly started to appear on the forum, most of them saying that the officials must have been unable to stand it any longer and started handing out benefits to players, which is why the rewards for this quest were so substantial.

Those players who didn’t want to miss out were urged to hurry as, once the Beastman invasion quest was over, there would be nothing left.

These posts also educated readers a bit about goblins and alchemy bombs and mentioned in passing that Risier City might not hold out much longer.

In summary, this was a welfare-oriented mission created by the officials to accelerate player growth, and the NPCs were “silly rich,” with a time limit; if you didn’t show up soon, you’d be too late.

After a series of messages, many players who could make it got anxious.

This game was damn hard, and finally encountering such a limited-time quest with such rich rewards, they couldn’t help but feel they’d be letting themselves down if they didn’t join in.

Suddenly, considering the time, distance, and transport, players who could make it to Green City almost all set off.

During the short two days of Glory Time, Green City and Risier City suddenly had thousands more players…

An operation targeting Risier City thus began.

————

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Hun Yuan Thunderclap Hand Cheng Kun and two other players happily received the legendary—Epic Quest.

Of course, the quest they received on their attribute panel was merely to explore Risier City, the goblins, and the alchemy bombs, not prefixed with “Epic Quest.”

But that did not stop their enthusiasm for this quest, because the rewards were too substantial!

Among the highest rewards was—for each living goblin taken out of Risier City, the reward was a Gold Puck, with an additional 200 Gold Pucks for every 100, and for every extra hundred goblins, the reward of Gold Pucks would increase by another 200.

If they could find the formula for making alchemy bombs, the rewards were even more generous, not only granting a hidden profession but also five rare skills to learn, 500 Gold Pucks, and a full set of Perfect Level equipment.

The exaggerated quest rewards uttered by the NPC nearly left him breathless.

Shit, after playing the game for so long, he finally encountered such a huge reward, damn those planners!

No player could resist such generous rewards.

Hun Yuan Thunderclap Hand Cheng Kun and the other two were fine, after all, they had the great support of the Dark Contract, so they lacked for nothing.

But other players, who had lived through tough times, were simply ecstatic.

The game was too challenging, and even now, after three or four months, some people had yet to achieve a profession change… Finding such an opportunity, they would be strange not to be excited.

“We need to be careful when we go in and not let the NPCs detect us easily,” Hun Yuan said seriously to the twenty-odd players around him.

“Yes, boss Hun Yuan…”

“Relax, could anyone detect me, the Furry Rat?”

“…”

Hearing the players respond, Hun Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

During the time their super boss Stanley was absent, he finally found a bit of pride as a player.

At least he didn’t have to worry about being rushed by that smarter NPC to open a branch of the Dark Contract on Earth every single day.

Every time he thought about it, Hun Yuan couldn’t help but feel sad. He had played games for so many years and was played so hard by an NPC.

It was simply unbearable.

But, alas, the big shot’s support was too enjoyable to reject.

Now Immortal Soul had become a small team of twenty players.

Hun Yuan and his two brothers had jointly taken over Immortal Soul.

Although they were still only Level 3, relying on their performance during this period, especially Hun Yuan, a player not lacking in intelligence, they had gained respect within the Dark Contract.

“Boss Hun Yuan, is this sewer really a way to sneak into Risier City?

It shouldn’t be, right? Neither the Beastmen nor Risier City would leave such a secret passage unattended.”

Outside Risier City, in the pitch-dark night, a group of twenty-three people sneakily mumbled in front of a rusty manhole cover.

Leveraging the faint light from a torch, Hun Yuan turned his head and glared at the player who spoke,

“This is information I bought from those greedy mercenaries,” he assured. “As for its usefulness…you can rest easy.

“They wouldn’t dare to offend the Dark Contract.”

Hun Yuan spoke those words with a hint of unexplainable pride, although they had already entrusted their fates to the Dark Contract—having signed the Loyalty Contract, where violators would be deleted from the game.

But indeed, it was very enticing.

The training they received was incomparably superior to the miserable lives other players struggled with; they had abundant resources, fine armor, and hand-on-hand instruction in various skills. The perks were simply amazing.

Moreover, now that the Immortal Soul was entirely under his control, not to mention that he had over a hundred NPCs who had reached level 5, he even had 20 players.

This made Hun Yuan change from his initial reluctant participation in the Dark Contract to an active and eager involvement.

At the same time, he grew even more admiring of the NPC who recruited him—Stanley. The latter had clearly perceived their mentality and had crafted plans that forced Hun Yuan to act on Stanley’s thinking, and what was more, he enjoyed it too.

If anyone told him not to develop the Immortal Soul and to break away from the Dark Contract, he would certainly fight that person with all he had.

It was a brazen stratagem; you clearly knew what the other party wanted you to do, yet you couldn’t refuse. This overt scheme profoundly shocked Hun Yuan about that NPC.

Sometimes he even wondered whether an NPC could conceive of such things. Nothing here resembled a mere game world; it felt like a real, living world.

His conclusion was not just his alone; even everyone in the Immortal Soul felt the same way.

Yet when they looked for related information outside, they found they couldn’t find such posts; any posts they made themselves quickly sank out of sight.

Hun Yuan realized something was wrong, yet he couldn’t pinpoint the critical element.

This change increased his curiosity about this fog-enveloped world; he no longer treated it as just a game, but as a real world.

Because of this approach, Hun Yuan was faring even better in the Dark Contract than before.

Since, although it was unspoken, the inherent sense of superiority players felt over NPCs was clear. Naturally, this caused resentment among these original inhabitants.

How dare a bunch of trash act haughty in front of us? This was a significant reason many players lived miserable lives.

Many players, just because they spoke slightly disrespectfully to NPCs, would…go offline for 8 hours waiting to be resurrected, equivalent to a full day of Glory.

After months of relentless thrashing, the defiant arrogance of the players was largely crushed; now those who thrived were mostly those who had integrated into the rules of “Glory.”

“Let’s begin, Big Head; you have a lower level, so you go in first to scout the way. After all, inside Risier City, there’s the Life Temple, where if you die, you can be resurrected.”

The player Hun Yuan called out twitched his mouth slightly in thanks for the ‘blessing’.

Without further ado, he agilely opened the rust-spotted manhole cover and with a torch, climbed down.

And it wasn’t just the Hun Yuan Thunderclap Hand players in action; simultaneously, thousands of other players surged towards Risier City.

Most players didn’t have these secret passages towards Risier City, but it didn’t hinder their approach.

Many players simply charged directly towards the Beastmen besieging Risier City; they’d profit from killing one, and if killed by Beastmen, they’d just be resurrected in the Life Temple of Risier City after the actual 8 hours.

For the sake of earning the rich rewards of the epic quest, these players were throwing caution to the wind.

Nothing would stop them from having their share of this officially rewarded quest; it was too enticing.

————

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Wuu wuu~

The long notes of a horn with a shocking echo reverberated through the battlefield at the main gate of Risier City.

From a bird’s eye view, the Beastman army, a mix of fur and armor, was steadily advancing towards Risier City.

Twenty siege tower cars, each ten blades high with shields made of various Demon Beast furs, were pushed slowly by Beastman laborers towards the thirty-five blades-high black walls of the city.

The ground was swarming with Beastmen like ants, filling the main battlefield, and the blood had already turned the earth a dark red hue.

Bang~

The taut bowstrings snapped, and behind the walls of Risier City, thousands of archers in formations fired volleys over the walls into the air attacking the onrushing Beastmen fiercely.

The charging Beastmen uniformly raised their shields, but many who couldn’t react in time took fatal blows, their helmets pierced, arrow tips with blood emerging from the back of their heads, crashing to the ground thunderously.

Lifeless bodies gradually coldened were trampled over by the Beastmen behind them.

Here, no one cared about the deceased warrior; the surviving Beastmen had only one thing in mind—forward! Further forward!!

There was no way back.

Beastmen carrying grappling hooks faced the deadly rain of arrows as they rushed to the city wall, then fiercely swung the hooks. The immense force sent the octopus-like iron hooks flying several tens of blades before they clanged into the battlements solidly,

The sharp claws even cracked the walls, and the Beastmen below, after giving a few tugs to ensure stability, began to scale the wall using hands and feet.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Beastmen simultaneously flung their hooks, and in an instant, the side of the wall sprouted over a hundred ropes leading straight to the royal walls, with Beastmen climbing up densely like skewered candied hawthorns.

The scene was as if out of an epic.

At this moment, the siege tower vehicles behind the first wave of Beastmen had also neared the city walls. Although there was still a gap of over twenty blades in height, dozens of hooks suddenly shot out from the top of the tower vehicles, clang, clang, clang~

The city wall was tightly bound by the hooks shot from the tower vehicles.

Simultaneously, tens of Beastmen carrying thick wooden planks emerged from the siege tower and started to lay wooden planks on the chains.

In less than a minute, a pathway to the top of the city wall was hastily constructed,

And countless Beastmen began to crawl up from the inner passage of the tower vehicles, wildly swarming the city walls.

The heavily armored human army was also busy; soldiers behind the city walls risked the crossbow bolts shooting from below to chop the chains, sending the climbing Beastmen thundering back down—dozens were killed or wounded in clusters.

The soldiers on the walls largely ignored the siege tower vehicles, as if these terrifying war machines didn’t exist.

Then, as the first wave of Beastmen started to scale the walls, inside the stone towers on the walls, boom, boom, boom~

Dozens of fireballs imbued with scorching energy were shot, their long, flame-tails striking the tower vehicles with terrifying momentum.

Sizzle~

The flames burst open, scattering everywhere. The Beastmen below, gathering to climb up, suffered exaggerated injuries, and their frantic screams momentarily drowned the sound of the long horns.

Many Beastmen were even directly burned into charred corpses.

Twenty siege tower vehicles, after one round of magical attack, only five remained; the rest were ignited by the fireballs and turned to ash, with hundreds of Beastmen on each vehicle burned alive, the stench of charred flesh pervading the battlefield.

Thick smoke billowed.

The troops atop the walls threw down huge stones, logs, and burning oil continuously, using everything they had to barely hold back the frenzied onslaught of the Beastmen.

“Roar~”

Just then, a series of mournful roars came from the sky.

A soldier fighting on the city wall suddenly looked up, despair in his eyes.

In the smoke-filled sky, whoosh~ double-legged flying dragons with fierce wings appeared before everyone.

As if demons were born, an uncountable number of giant creatures flew out from the thick gunpowder smoke.

The soldiers on the walls instantly fell into disarray…

Cheep~

And at that moment, the double-legged dragons appeared, the cries of falcons echoed within Risier City.

The soldier turned his head again, a broad smile emerging on his face.

Their reinforcements had arrived.

A squad of powerful creatures with the bodies of male lions, the sharp beaks of falcons, and double wings on their backs appeared—Griffins, Risier City’s Griffins!!

Behind these creatures with an average wingspan of ten blades were their exclusive Griffin Knights, each human knight equipped with sky lances and longbows ready for the upcoming melee.

The thousands-strong Griffin Knights charged towards the double-legged dragons in the sky.

Wings flapped, facing the double-legged dragons directly.

These were Risier City’s trump card troops, and formerly, the proudest Sky Cavalry of Risier City.

But now, under the assault of nearly 5000 double-legged dragons, these barely a thousand Griffins seemed somewhat powerless and isolated.

However, there was no way back for them either—only death in battle.

Andabella, in her red cloak, stood on the highest tower of the city wall, overlooking the entire battlefield, a huge Alchemy Cannon with a two-blade wide caliber silently positioned beside her.

This once fearsome weapon that had terrified the Beastmen now seemed like a forsaken pet, helpless and pitiable, with not even a single warrior to operate it.

Andabella’s silver eyes filled with gravity as she looked over the scenes of the battlefield.

Risier City was barely holding on.

Her gaze shifted to the jet-black cannon barrel beside her, her heart slowly sinking; lacking alchemy bombs and alchemy gunpowder, her alchemy cannon had been extinguished for three days.

What had been Risier City’s proudest weapon was now nothing more than a useless iron tube.

Deprived of powerful alchemy weapons, even with thousands of years of heritage and formidable resources, Risier City would inevitably fall, and without reinforcements, the city would turn into souls under the Beastman’s blade.

The Risier family faced obliteration as well.

She had no retreat left; there was no choice but to grit her teeth and persevere.

Andabella turned and looked through the open window at her city, her silver eyes fraught with unspeakable complexity.

“Lady Andabella…”

At that moment, her haggard, hooked-nose adjutant, armored and scarred by swords and even his hair slightly singed, walked in from the door.

He entered carrying his helmet, his face etched with gravity and just as he was about to say something, his eyes suddenly hardened.

Just then, in the frontlines, a huge figure suddenly dove down outside the house—Crash!

Before Andabella could react, the sturdy window had already been smashed by the enormous figure—Crrack!

Wood splinters and feathers scattered—

Blood filled the air.

The room instantly turned chaotic, as the huge figure fiercely crashed onto the other side of the alchemy cannon, with only traces of bloodied flesh left on the ground.

“Lady Andabella, watch out!” The adjutant immediately drew his sword and stepped forward, his eyes full of vigilance.

Andabella showed little emotional fluctuation, but her eyes revealed an unspeakable sorrow.

Moving forward two steps, she walked towards the creature that had visibly suffered severe injuries on the other side of the alchemy cannon, and only then did the adjutant see clearly—it was a Griffin.

His face too bore a hint of sadness; this had been their closest companion…

Andabella approached the Griffin, her eyes growing sadder. The creature was covered in massive wounds, its flesh torn and its organs barely concealed. She recognized it—the work of the claws of a Double-legged Flying Dragon.

Its beautiful light golden feathers were now mostly corroded by the dragon’s toxic saliva, covered in huge gashes; its back riddled with pits and emanating a foul smell.

Chirp—

The Griffin’s sharp beak opened slightly, letting out a painful cry; its eyes wide with deep longing as it gazed one last time at Andabella, tears welling up.

Then, humanity’s closest ally slowly turned its head, lifting it eagerly towards the now-broken window.

Outside the window under a cloud-covered sky, the griffin and dragons still battled.

Then the Griffin with that upward gaze lost all signs of life, its body gradually growing cold.

Andabella watched as the life faded from the Griffin before her, her heart’s anguish and fury reaching their peak.

Suddenly turning, her pale silver eyes fixed sternly on her adjutant, her tone icy with suppressed rage.

“Have the goblins manufactured the alchemy bombs and alchemy gunpowder?!”

The bearded adjutant with a hooked nose shook his head in dejection, throwing the helmet in his hand onto the ground with a clank.

“We’ve run out of materials; the goblins can’t produce the alchemy bombs…”

This cold admission twisted Andabella’s heart.

Unable to produce alchemy bombs…

Had their last hope vanished?

Woo~ The sound of the long horn then filtered through the broken window into the room, adding infinite sadness to the scene.

Andabella turned her head, looking through the window at the griffins falling from the sky like raindrops following a defeat, her face filled with bewilderment.

Risier City, who could save it now?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com