Chapter 109: See You at the Future Military Tribunal

Three days ago, Satellite City No. 3.

Will stood upon the ramparts, gazing out at the bustling harbor and the river. His expression shifted between gravity and confusion as he murmured, "Rivermouth City is under attack; the enemy is the Grand Duke of the Eastern Border. The lord has fallen. Requesting reinforcements."

How did the Grand Duke of the Eastern Border bypass the vast forests and mountain ranges to strike Rivermouth City? How did they manage to bypass the outer towns and reach the city directly? Had all the settlements been annihilated?

These questions swirled in his mind, and the deeper he thought, the more he felt an ominous premonition. This was why, upon receiving the news, he had only dispatched a portion of the knight order rather than leading the troops himself. He could not move; if he were to leave, a fatal gap would open in the defense of the entire territory.

Unlike the other three cities, which were protected by formidable natural barriers that made troop movement difficult, Will City was situated on a plain. It lacked geographical advantages, yet it served as the gateway to the entire territory and possessed the most formidable military strength outside of Lev City. Once this city was breached, all defensive lines would collapse, making it impossible to support other regions. The worst-case scenario would be the enemy marching directly upon Lev City.

Others might not realize it, but Will knew clearly that Will City was currently at its weakest point in decades. A vast number of towns and villages had been destroyed by green demons, stripping away their original defenses. Years of stability had made everyone else complacent, weak, and foolish.

Until the situation became clear, he should not have been in such a rush to support Rivermouth City, especially since his own city could not be left undefended. Even if Rivermouth City were taken and the enemy secured the waterway, they would not hold a significant advantage. Although that river could accommodate large vessels, the towns along its banks were equipped with ballistae sufficient to repel any waterborne assault.

However, the Lord had lost his composure, gripped by fear of a temporary threat.

Just then, a personal guard approached from a distance. He stepped forward, placed his right hand over his shoulder, bowed slightly, and whispered, "My Lord, the Count has sent another order. He demands that you lead your troops to support Rivermouth City immediately, or you will be stripped of your position."

"Did the Count provide any response to my explanation?" Will asked.

"The Count believes you are overthinking it," the guard replied. "He maintains that because the Lev territory is separated from the Grand Duke's lands by vast forests and hills, it is impossible for the enemy's army to have marched directly here."

"Alas, stability and comfort are the deadliest of poisons," Will sighed deeply, his aging face appearing even more haggard.

He turned, swirling his cape, and commanded, "Order the knight order to prepare. We depart in one hour to support Rivermouth City. We must resolve this within ten days. And ensure the remaining knights increase their vigilance; be ready to repel any potential attacks at any moment."

***

The knight order led by Will reached Rivermouth City in just over a dozen hours. By then, a multitude of knight orders and a vast number of militia had already gathered. From units of a hundred to tens of thousands, there were at least fifty thousand soldiers and five thousand knights. If the logistics personnel were included, over a hundred thousand people were now massed at Rivermouth City.

Upon entering the city, Will immediately took command of all the knight orders and summoned the nobility to assess the situation.

"What is the enemy's strength? How many transcendents do they have?"

The gathered nobles looked at one another, then lowered their heads in silence. Not a single person answered.

Will furrowed his brow, his tone turning severe. "Well? You have been fighting for days, and you don't even know the size of the enemy force?"

Finally, one minor noble stepped forward, steeling his nerves. "My Lord, there are at least three hundred of them."

Three hundred? How could three hundred men hold out for so long against an army of tens of thousands? Did the enemy have a high-level transcendent? If so, that would explain how the castle of Rivermouth City had been captured overnight. But these people had reached their limit; even with a high-level transcendent, they stood no chance against a battle formation of thousands of knights.

"And how many transcendents do they have? What is the specialty of their strongest?"

"This..." The minor noble hesitated again, at a loss for words. The others simply turned their heads away, looking guilty.

Seeing this, Will could no longer contain his fury. He slammed both hands onto the table, shattering it into pieces until it collapsed.

"Speak! With all this fidgeting, do you have any dignity left as nobles?"

"The enemy has no transcendents!" the minor noble blurted out.

This was why no one had dared to answer: they had been unable to breach the defenses for days against a group of ordinary humans. Will stared at the nobles in disbelief, his eyes filled with contempt, as if looking at a group of worthless scum.

"How have you survived until now?"

The minor noble said with a mournful face, "My Lord, it is not that we are useless, but the enemy's weapons are too bizarre. They fire a type of deadly copper projectile that easily pierces the knights' plate armor. We simply cannot get close to the castle."

"The castle moat is piled high with corpses, and the river outside is floating with them."

Originally, they had intended to overwhelm the castle with sheer numbers. They had so many militia that they thought they could crush the enemy with their lives alone. But when the battle truly began, the nobles realized they were wrong—terribly wrong. Their own rate of advance was far slower than the rate at which they were being slaughtered; in fact, the lines were beginning to waver and retreat.

"It's true! Even the knights' battle formations cannot hold for long. A formation of a hundred men is broken in less than a hundred breaths."

"The enemy also possesses a type of fireball spell with immense power; one hit is enough to shatter a battle formation."

Listening to the nobles' laments, Will did not blindly dismiss them. Instead, he began to analyze the situation, his mind filled with speculations.

"Launch another assault." The best way to understand an enemy is through combat.

A dozen minutes later, thunderous roars echoed through Rivermouth City, followed by the constant, rapid fire of guns. Driven by the knights, countless militia charged toward the castle. Bullets fell like rain, and lives were extinguished every second.

The entire castle had become a meat grinder. The special operations personnel atop the ramparts were blinded by the bloodlust. Smoke filled the air, thick with the pungent stench of blood and the passage of lives. Death, slaughter, the mechanical act of aiming and pulling the trigger—their dark eyes grew increasingly profound, their expressions increasingly numb.

Some of the vanguard soldiers began to undergo strange changes; their killing intent grew more intense, and eerie red lights flickered in their eyes. In the sky, steel monsters circled, raining down lethal attacks. The nobles' mages joined forces to construct bolts of lightning, striking the steel monsters down. Whether they were attacking or trying to breach the castle, the carnage was absolute.

***

Time turned back. The sky over Rivermouth City today was exceptionally dark, with gloom stretching for ten miles. Dark red clouds hovered faintly above the castle, and the ground below was carpeted with corpses. The six-meter-wide moat had been completely filled in.

On the outer city walls, a group of people with diverse attire stood watching the distant battlefield. Their equipment was eclectic but of extremely high quality. From the badges around their necks, it was clear that these were monster hunters from the Hunter Guild. Wherever large-scale wars occurred, the Hunter Guild would usually be present, though they never participated; they were merely observers.

One hunter remarked as he looked at the filled moat, "These nobles are as ruthless as ever. To achieve their goals, they care nothing for the lives of commoners."

"The barrier that blocked the knight order has vanished. The Grand Duke of the Eastern Border is going to lose," a mage remarked.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the battle in the distance resumed. This time, it was not the militia leading the charge, but knights clad in heavy armor. They were not riding horses; at such close range, horses would have been a hindrance.

Will stood at the very front, his expression solemn. It had taken three days, but he had finally grasped the enemy's weaknesses and cleared the troublesome moat. He had also gathered all his mages to bring down those steel monsters. These people were not as powerful as they had appeared; on the contrary, they were fragile—both the humans and their steel machines.

This battle would be won!

Thousands of knights formed a massive battle formation. A terrifying surge of spiritual energy erupted, and a khaki-colored barrier expanded.

A rain of fire descended, and artillery shells and bullets struck the formation incessantly, yet this time, it did not shatter as it had before. Thousands of knights marched forward slowly; every step they took made the ground tremble, and the aura they exuded grew stronger with every stride.

A hundred paces from the city wall, the overwhelming barrage suddenly ceased, and the enemies on the walls vanished from sight. Will raised his greatsword high, and a massive spectral blade slowly began to form in the sky above.

"Break!"

The giant blade fell, carrying irresistible force, and cleaved the city gate open. The knights surged inside. Victory was within reach.

***

Inside the central castle, the exhausted special operations personnel collapsed, like wounded beasts licking their own sores. Zhang Sheng leaned back against the wall, his eyelids drooping, his face etched with exhaustion.

For the past two days, the enemy had seemed like a different force. Their assault had been ferociously intense, giving them no room to breathe. Most importantly, the enemy had realized the importance of the helicopters, using lightning attacks to bring them down and severing their supply lines.

Suddenly, a faint sobbing sound came from beside him. He turned his head with great difficulty and saw a comrade sitting with his knees hugged to his chest, weeping. Judging by his physique, he was not a vanguard, but a special forces soldier like himself.

He had broken. Zhang Sheng realized he was likely not far behind. A self-deprecating smile touched his lips. He had once thought himself one of the Republic's finest soldiers; now, he saw how little that meant. Compared to the vanguards, they were far too fragile.

The special forces soldiers had all collapsed, yet the vanguards continued to fight. Their emotions remained completely unmoved; if anything, they grew more invigorated the longer they fought.

"I really want to have a bowl of claypot rice one more time..."

Just then, a tall figure cast a shadow over him. He looked up to see a cold, expressionless face: the tactical commander, Fireworks. He had once found them terrifying—their massive physiques and chilling bloodlust—but now, Zhang Sheng only felt a sense of relief.

"Soldier, are you afraid?"

Zhang Sheng opened his mouth, wanting to say he could still fight, but he ultimately bowed his head deeply. His fists clenched, his shoulders trembled, and tears fell uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I..."

He was afraid. He was afraid of dying. *You are a coward, Zhang Sheng! A coward!*

"If you were afraid, why did you join this operation?" Fireworks asked.

Zhang Sheng's tears suddenly stopped. He said blankly, "I was more afraid of seeing my country conquered and my home destroyed."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a gas mask was pressed onto his face.

"Very good. Very good. It was not in vain that so many brothers sacrificed themselves." Fireworks put on his own mask.

At that moment, the tall vanguards were placing gas masks on all the collapsed special forces soldiers.

Zhang Sheng asked in a daze, "Commander, this is..."

The anesthetic gas had already been used up; wearing the masks would only obstruct their vision.

Fireworks grinned, revealing two rows of stark white teeth. "Slaying the city."

The vanguards slowly unscrewed the metal canisters placed throughout the castle, and a lethal gas began to spew forth.

"Brothers, see you in the future military tribunal."