Chapter 386: Robbed! Attack and Defense, the Dangerous Man (2)

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Ji Chen’s heart slightly eased at this piece of good news. It seemed that Wilus and the others had followed the emergency plan and successfully evacuated the residents when they sensed the enemy’s attack.

Without wasting a moment, accompanied by the two high-tier heroes, he traversed the ruins of the harbor and made his way directly toward the Lord’s Castle.

The bodies of numerous Crown of the Ocean champions stretched from the harbor all the way to the square. Not only were the ordinary residences along the way set ablaze, but the military recruitment camps also suffered substantial damage. Most of the ordinary arrow towers and watchtowers, along with the five-star defense building, the Elemental Arrow Tower, perched on the southeast cliff, had been destroyed. They collapsed from the middle section, leaving only a lonely tower segment standing.

It appeared that the enemy had prioritized destroying these structures when attacking the harbor.

Passing through the charred and withered woods, they arrived at the stone square, and the scene before them became clear.

More than two thousand unidentified enemy soldiers were gathered on the open space of the Lord’s Castle, deploying various devices and launching a fierce assault.

Field cannons fired shells, pockmarking the Lord’s Castle, while boxy crossbow carts unleashed a rain of arrows, causing casualties among the resilient Crown of the Ocean’s army who were still holding out by the Lord’s Manor.

On top of the castle, Lady Irona directed the remaining troops in a counterattack.

Facing the onslaught of arrows, the bold Lady Irona wielded her greatsword to deflect them like raindrops. Then, she casually picked up a thick crossbow arrow and hurled it as if it were a javelin.

In the blink of an eye, the arrow pierced through the enemy ranks, impaling four enemy soldiers together.

Amidst the enemy ranks, Ferode’s face darkened with frustration. He couldn’t help but curse silently, wondering why this castle was proving to be such a tough nut to crack.

He had previously volunteered to come to the Stormy Sea to eliminate the Lord of Glory here and occupy this place on behalf of the king.

After arriving in this area, they spent several days searching for this island group. Out of caution and safety concerns, they chose to conduct reconnaissance before launching an attack.

The reconnaissance revealed that the defense force of this territory was not strong. Apart from a few somewhat threatening defensive structures, there were only a dozen or so wooden warships, one ironclad merchant ship of unknown origin, and some third and a few fourth-tier soldiers.

For a fleet equipped with six heavily armed steel warships and a specialized naval marine force of over three thousand, this was no significant threat at all.

Once they were certain that there was nothing to pose a threat to them, Ferode decisively gave the order to attack.

However, contrary to his expectations, those seemingly weak soldiers did not choose to flee but instead charged towards them in extremely outdated wooden warships. They didn’t even have a chance to fire their antiquated cannons before they were all shattered by a round of long-range artillery fire.

Despite this, they continued to charge forward, relentlessly, until all the wooden warships had become floating wrecks on the sea surface.

It was only after they successfully landed and discovered that all the residents had disappeared that they understood the intentions of those soldiers. They had sacrificed their lives to buy time for the residents to evacuate.

When Ferode learned of this, he felt not admiration but anger.

Damn it, these weaklings dared to play him like this! They could have just stood there and let him cut off their heads!

In a fit of rage, he personally set the harbor and the water fort on fire and led the soldiers of the naval marine force in an attack.

Although the resistance on the other side was remarkably tenacious, and their soldiers were of diverse kinds, including pirates, merfolk, lizardmen, half-orcs, and even strange creatures like alchemical creations, with the support of the fleet’s artillery fire, they easily broke through one defensive line after another, forcing the remaining majority of the enemy troops back to this castle.

He knew that the Lord of Glory’s castle, under such an assault, would lose most He knew that the Lord of Glory’s castle, under such an assault, would lose most of its resistance, vulnerable to anyone’s exploitation.

In this way, that elusive Lord of Glory, who had remained hidden from the beginning to the end, would have no choice but to come out, and he could then personally put an end to them, cleansing himself of the shame!

With this in mind, Ferod’s mood grew increasingly cheerful, and he shouted fiercely.

“Continue the attack! The first person to breach the castle will be rewarded with 3,000 gold coins and promoted by three ranks!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of all the Marine Corps soldiers turned red. 3,000 gold coins were equivalent to several years’ worth of their salary.

Beneath the weight of heavy gold, brave souls would emerge.

Many soldiers immediately raised their shields and ladders, braving the arrow rain pouring down from the castle, eager to become the first to breach it.

However, it seemed that they had underestimated the defensive capabilities of this Lord’s castle.

Ji Chen had long considered the possibility of a break-in and had been enhancing the castle’s defenses well in advance. This included, but was not limited to, digging a moat several meters deep outside the castle, filled with sharp wooden stakes, and surrounding it with caltrops. Ballistae, falling rocks, Greek fire, and more were set up at the castle’s shooting ports and windows. If it weren’t for size constraints and limited space, he would have even placed several cannons.

It could be said that his Lord’s castle was like a hedgehog, causing harm upon contact.

Arrows flew from the castle’s openings and high walls, piercing enemy archers in the distance like hitting targets at a fair. Large stones tumbled down, crushing the enemy soldiers attempting to scale improvised ladders, their heads splitting open on impact. Meanwhile, a group of Lizardmen warriors cooperatively lifted a hefty bucket of scalding oil, pouring it over the outer walls. The unfortunate ten soldiers carrying siege logs let out painful cries as they were scalded.

The determination of the soldiers of the Crown of the Ocean and the difficulty of the attack far exceeded Ferod’s expectations. Watching Marine Corps soldiers falling outside the castle, his face became unusually grim.

Seeing hundreds of lives already sacrificed without any sign of capturing the castle, Ferod realized that even if they won, it would be a pyrrhic victory.

As a baron of the Kingdom of Bas, he couldn’t accept such an outcome.

He made a tough decision.

“Send my orders to temporarily withdraw our forces and have the fleet bombard the castle directly from a distance!”

The chief of staff nodded in acknowledgment, picking up a peculiar alchemical device and initiating contact with the two escort ships stationed in the eastern harbor. They were the only vessels with a range covering this location.

However, soon his brow furrowed.

No matter how many times he called, there was no response from the other side.

“Commander, there’s no response from that side.”

Ferod began to curse angrily.

“Damn it, are those guys neglecting their duties? Is no one at their posts!?

After the battle, we’ll definitely bring them to military court!”

But the chief of staff’s expression subtly changed.

In a state of wartime readiness, the soldiers on the escort ships couldn’t possibly be off their posts. If that wasn’t the reason, then there was a high probability that something had gone wrong!

In an instant, he thought of a possible scenario.

He quickly said, “Commander, the escort ships might be in trouble, most likely because of that previously unseen Lord of Glory!”

Ferod paused for a moment, realizing the same.

“Send two squads of soldiers back to investigate!”

“No need, I’ve already arrived.”

The voice that suddenly appeared in their ears made them all change their expressions, scanning their surroundings until they fixed their gaze on three figures emerging from the nearby woods.

One man and two women.

The man in the center was the Lord of Glory.

“No need to contact them anymore; those two ships of yours are probably already resting at the bottom of the sea.

The soldiers on board have paid the price for their actions, and now, it’s your turn.”

The Lord of Glory’s chilling words sent shivers down their spines.

Ferod was now completely tense. Years of warfare had taught him to recognize extreme danger emanating from this man.

This Lord of Glory was a formidable adversary!