Chapter 173: The Fall of Joyce Fortress (Part 1)
Chapter 173: The Fall of Joyce Fortress (Part 1)
Translator: The Light
Editor: Entelechy
The troops of Steinbeck Fief attacked Joyce Fortress under Princess Natalie’s command. The vanguard of this army was those 20,000 monsters disguised as human troops. The other monsters under Ancient Demon King Andrisno took advantage of the time bought by the messenger to sneak beneath Joyce Fortress via the underground passage to detonate their explosive chemicals.
Due to the explosion, many important sites of Joyce Fortress collapsed, and major gaps appeared in its originally firm wall. The troops of Steinbeck Fief took advantage of this to launch an attack without any hesitation. Now, all the commanding officers of Steinbeck Fief were girls. Noble demeanors and so on had no bearing t0 them.
Facing Steinbeck Fief’s army, Viscount Aaron of Joyce Fortress commanded the defenders to shrink the defense line, withdrawing to the remaining wall and arrow towers to resist. The defensive mangonels they had previously set on the walls had already been set ablaze by the medium-sized mangonels of Steinbeck Fief’s army, turning the defensive installments into scrap. The other side had received Miss Sigrid’s instruction, so from the very beginning, they had focused on the weakest points of Joyce Fortress’s defense, not giving the defending troops any chance to counterattack.
“Your Excellency Viscount Aaron, the perimeter walls have already been breached. The troops of Steinbeck Fief are truly madmen. They don’t even use shields.”
“Aren’t they miscellaneous mobs? Where did they get so many berserker and barbarian warrior?”
Viscount Aaron solemnly looked at the charging troops of Steinbeck Fief. The vanguard charged through the rain of arrows without faltering despite their lack of shields. They didn’t even take any basic defensive maneuvers. However, those 20,000 vanguard troops were all disguised Undead, so they didn’t fear arrows. Not even flaming arrows could stop them. Although their armor was covered in arrows, they still charged forward. Viscount Aaron who didn’t know the situation mistakenly thought that these charging soldiers all had various violent professions like being berserkers or barbarians.
The underground explosions had blasted many gaps in Joyce Fortress’s walls, so the attackers were saved the trouble of setting up siege ladders and could directly rush through those gaps. Nevertheless, the defending troops managed to organize their military strength and block those gaps, leading to several intense battles. No one wanted to step back. Although the troops under Viscount Aaron desperately resisted, their combat power was inferior to those inhuman soldiers. The defense line retreated one step at a time. Blood flowed like a river on the walls of Joyce Fortress from the scattered defenders’ corpses.
Steinbeck Fief had practically no casualties. Undead soldiers were far superior to human soldiers. Such a big disparity in casualty ratios were momentarily missed due to the intense battle. The defending troops unilaterally thought that the attackers only had special professions like berserkers or barbarians. They didn’t notice the serious imbalance in deaths between the enemy and them.
“Your Excellency Viscount Aaron, the outer walls of the fortress have been breached! We cannot persist for much longer.”
“Abandon the outer walls! All the remaining troops are to retreat and defend the inner walls of the fortress.”
After losing over 3,000 soldiers, Viscount Aaron had to make a difficult decision. He ordered the remaining 12,000 or so soldiers to only defend the inner walls and stall for as much time as possible. Those Dark Shamans had truly dug him a pit by arbitrarily giving over 20,000 sets of armor from their equipment warehouse to the underground ratmen soldiers that had eventually fallen into the hands of Steinbeck Fief’s army. After losing this equipment, they had entered a passive state. The defenders of Joyce Fortress lacked heavy armor. Most of the frontline soldiers could only wear light armor while facing troops wearing heavy armor. There was a very big disadvantage in terms of equipment. The worst was that the equipment of the enemy had been their equipment not long ago. Nothing was more depressing than this.
“Ai, I wonder if we can persist until tomorrow!”
Viscount Aaron gazed at the setting sun while emotionally sighing. The disparities in number and equipment was insurmountable. Even if Joyce Fortress had not been destroyed by the explosion, they wouldn’t have lasted long. Those Dark Shamans were basically useless, more of a hindrance than a help. They had armed the enemy troops, and now at the critical moment, they were missing. They had fled on the eve of battle.
The only matter that gratified Viscount Aaron was that his younger sister Yani had already left for Earl Winissa, so he didn’t need to worry about losing her here. Viscount Aaron’s will was firm; he would rather die in battle than surrender. If he hadn’t sent Yani away, she would have accompanied him to hell together with Joyce Fortress. That was the last thing Viscount Aaron was willing to see.
“Adjutant, if the inner walls are breached tomorrow, you are to evacuate with some of your trusted subordinates. Remember to give the key to Yani.”
“Your Excellency Viscount Aaron, we still have hope! Perhaps, His Excellency Marquis Charles’s reinforcements will arrive tomorrow. What’s more...”
“Forget it, if they could have arrived on time, they would have already arrived and not stalled until now. This is my last command! Once the inner wall is breached, you must evacuate. It will not count as deserting the battlefield.”
“This subordinate understands.”
While Viscount Aaron made arrangements with his subordinate regarding the aftermath of Joyce Fortress’s fall, he never thought that his beloved younger sister, Sky Knight Yani, was undergoing a difficult trial in the most luxurious inn of York Village some distance away. The door to the prime guest room was locked while the demonic soul of Ancient Demon King Tinas guarded outside the door. Using a Demon King as a guard, only Clyde dared to play like this. Few if any could do this in this world. Now, no one could stop the evil happening inside.
In the room of the luxurious inn, a certain person had dimmed the lighting, imperceptibly increasing the ambiguous atmosphere. On the carpet of the room lay scattered equipment: a female knight’s armor, inner clothes, leather boots, undergarments, silk stockings, and so on. There was everything that one could wish for. Among the clothes was also a set of male armor. From a glance, anyone could discern that an indescribable wicked matter was happening.
On the big soft bed, an incomparably shy Sky Knight Yani lay with a bright red face. Now, this blonde, blue-eyed beauty was in a completely bare, alluring state. She was unable to conceal any secret of hers. Her elastic and soft bosom with its two alluring, bright-red buds swayed with each rapid breath of hers, which greatly increased her temptation.
Her lower body had something that could be counted as a cover. A black ‘chastity belt’ barely maintained her last dignity. However, the moist sheets proved that this wicked erotic item couldn’t help at all. On the contrary, because it increased her indescribable shame, it actually helped Clyde. That strange stimulation further chipped at Yani’s rationality, which was already on the verge of collapse. Honestly speaking, Yani already regretted agreeing to Clyde’s proposal. Now, she was in a dilemma. The drug had already flared up. Even if she had wanted to, she couldn’t don her original clothing. In front of this man, it would actually be more dangerous to take off this wicked erotic item; it would be regarded as a covert hint to the other party, inviting him to do all kinds of things.
Clyde, who was hugging Miss Yani, felt extreme joy upon seeing her complicated expression as reason and emotion struggled on her beautiful face. Although Miss Yani tried her best to restrain herself, under the effects of that mysterious drug, her body was driven by instinct. She stuck close to him and rubbed her body against his, attempting to relieve her dark lust.
Everything was within Clyde’s scheme. The longer she endured, the stronger the eruption would be. Suppression was not an escape; soothing was the sole resolution. However, with her stubborn dignity, if she were left alone, she might very well choose to commit suicide. Since Clyde wouldn’t force her, he could only set up a wicked trap and lure Miss Yani into the erotic pit, step by step.
“Miss Yani, if you cannot bear it, you can use your hands...”
“Don’t speak! I beg you! You are a devil!”
Her complexion was bright red. This man in front of her was too hateful. He took advantage of her and used all kinds of vicious words to take liberties with her. No matter how she looked at this current situation, it had clearly all been intentional. Every word he said was erotic! Wasn’t this covertly stimulating her? But the most dreadful thing was that she couldn’t refuse him. That handsome man wore only his boxer shorts, and both of them were in intimate skin-to-skin contact. She could even vaguely feel the other party’s source of evil poking her. At this moment, if she followed his suggestions, that would simply be seeking death. It wouldn’t be strange if he pushed her down on the spot and bullied her in her powerless state.
“Miss Yani, I forgot to tell you that there is more than one key! The one I gave you was the spare. The original is in my hands.”
“What! You... you... you deliberately...!”
“Right, I never said I was a good person! But, you don’t need to worry. I have some principles. If you don’t want it, I won’t mess around.”
“You... you bastard! Don’t... don’t touch me!”
“That won’t do, Miss Yani. I refuse! Unless you... unless you personally say you don’t want it!”
“I...”
Miss Yani was very embarrassed. On the verge of saying it, she found it hard to speak out. Now, in these circumstances, even if she said that she didn’t want it, a certain bad person wouldn’t give up. With a wicked expression on his face, Clyde eyed her beautiful face with great interest while inwardly calculating how long this stubborn knight beauty would persist. That mysterious drug was too strong. After he captured Antaur Town, he would make sure to capture that gentleman Baron Thomas and interrogate from him the formula of the mysterious drug.
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