Baruch Rising_Book 3 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  “If we make our way up there, we win!”

  But before their escalades even had a chance to be boarded, on the walls of the east wall, a large number of warriors began throwing casks of oil downwards, pouring those boiling casks of oil directly onto the bodies of the attacking warriors.

  “Ah!!!” Many warriors clutched their faces as their bodies spasmed, and they fell off the escalades.

  “Fire!”

  A cold sound rang out, and not only did those twenty magicite cannons once more unleash the god of death… other warriors also began to shoot fire arrows at the enemies as well. Many people below had been covered with hot oil, and now, with fire arrows shooting down…

  Some of those people who had ‘only’ been scalded by oil but not killed were suddenly turned into human torches.

  The ground below the walls had turned into a sea of flame.

  Many warriors had become human fireballs, all of them emitting tortured screams before collapsing. The soldiers behind them no longer dared to advance, because in front of them was a sea of flame. However, at this moment, those twenty magicite cannons once more attacked, killing thousands more.

  Explosions rocked the enemy camp.

  Rogers and Brian were about to go insane. They howled with fierce rage, “Retreat, retreat, quickly, retreat!” In the blink of an eye, over ten thousand of their warriors had died, and several thousand more were injured.

  The worst thing was, those twenty magicite cannons were continuing to attack.

  The twenty magicite cannons had stripped the attackers of all their courage and morale.

  Five magicite cannons might only be able to kill a thousand soldiers in one blast, but as long as they made it through three blasts, they will be able to close in. But twenty magicite cannons were different… the combined attacks of these cannons were fully capable of killing all the elite vanguard soldiers of the attackers.

  The power of twenty magicite cannons was simply too great.

  Even though they were retreating like mad, the twenty magicite cannons were still able to attack two more times, and thousands more collapsed. Those beautiful, firework-like balls of light were actually heart-shaking, powerful attacks.

  It must be said that the magic attacks were indeed very powerful. For example, the ‘Blazing Rings of Fire’ were like a fiery red ripple.

  Unfortunately, although they were as beautiful as a dream, they were as terrifying as a butcher’s blade.

  “A hundred thousand soldiers… twenty thousand dead. Another ten thousand wounded.” Rogers’ voice was very low. “In a short period of time, our morale has been completely destroyed. The warriors don’t have the courage to charge those twenty magicite cannons again.”

  By relying on their shields, they could block enemy arrows.

  But those shields weren’t able to block magicite cannon blasts, especially large-caliber ones.

  “Twenty. Why are there twenty magicite cannons?” Brian said furiously. “When the Lord Cardinal sent us here, didn’t they say there were only five magicite cannons? If we knew there were twenty, we wouldn’t have sent them to their deaths like that!”

  Magicite cannons were simply too terrifying.

  As long as the enemy were in firing range, their lives would be lost. In addition, the reloading time between each blast was very short. As long as they were charged with sufficient magicite gems, they would be able to constantly attack. They were far more terrifying than even twenty magi of the eighth rank.

  “Go back.” Rogers looked at his surrounding soldiers and immediately issued the order.

  Brian clenched his fists, unwilling to admit what just happened. “Motherfucker. We were tricked. The people of the prefectural city of Cod really are motherfucking bastards. Let’s go back.” They had lost 30% of their attack power. If they were to attack again, they probably wouldn’t be able to muster even half of their earlier attack power.”

  But the enemy hadn’t lost a single warrior.

  Of course, the enemy had spent a huge amount of money. Each time the magicite cannons fired, an enormous amount of gold coins was being spent. How many kingdoms would be willing to afford the cost of twenty magicite cannons constantly blasting nonstop like this?

  What was real was false. What was false was real.

  The Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows had played some tricks, but unfortunately, the prefectural city of Cod had been hiding the true number of magicite cannons. They had a total of thirty-six magicite cannons, but had only taken out fifteen at first.

  According to their plans, the east gate would have twenty magicite cannons, while the south gate would have sixteen.

  The battle at the east gate concluded quickly, but the battle at the south gate was extremely brutal.

  “Prepare.” A large number of soldiers on the walls of the south side fell to the ground, greatbows at the ready, their arms tensed. Those enormous bows were terrifying to behold. Any of the soldiers here could easily lift several hundred pounds.

  And now, for them to need to use both hands and both feet to draw and fire these bows, one could imagine how powerful they were.

  “Fire!”

  When the order came, countless massive arrows fell down like rain from the city walls, creating a terrifying howl as they descended downwards. Ordinary shields were of no use. These massive arrows punched straight through them, piercing through the shield-bearing soldiers.

  Instantly, a large number of people fell down.

  But although a large number had died, others immediately charged forward to take their place.

  A large number of escalades had already latched onto the city walls, and many soldiers were even preparing to charge onto them. The six previously hidden magicite cannons were pulled out as well, and sixteen magicite cannons roared wildly, spitting brilliant balls of fire onto the ground below, killing men in large swathes.

  However, the forces of the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows were simply too numerous.

  They were like an endless wave!

  “Let’s retreat for now. If we continue to fight like this, all we are doing is fighting a battle of attrition. Too many will die.” Guillermo was frowning. In such a short period of time, they had already lost over a hundred thousand people. But of course, the prefectural city of Cod had lost people as well, at least over ten thousand.”

  The main problem was that those sixteen magicite cannons killed too many people. And also, there were those giant arrows and the falling boulders.

  Those atop the walls always had a great advantage.

  “I have a bad feeling.” Weiss Porter was frowning as he watched those sixteen magicite cannons roar. “There should only have been ten magicite cannons, but when the battle began, six more appeared. I’m worried… about the east gate.”

  Guillermo’s heart trembled.

  “Are you saying that more magicite cannons appeared on that side as well?” Guillermo shook his head. “Not necessarily. Perhaps they simply moved the magicite cannons of the east gate to the south gate.”

  “I hope that’s the case.” Weiss Porter didn’t care about the dead soldiers.

  What he wanted was victory.

  “Lord Cardinal.” A disheveled Brian and Rogers came running at high speed towards Guillermo and Weiss Porter.

  “What is it?” As soon as the Cardinals saw these two, they knew things had not gone well.

  Brian cursed with fury, “Lord Cardinal, who provided the intelligence estimates? They are nothing more than motherfucking bastards. It wasn’t five magicite cannons, it was twenty! Twenty damn magicite cannons! My comrades… with just a few blasts, twenty thousand of them died, and many were injured as well. Our legions only had a total of a hundred thousand men. We’ve instantly lost 30% of our fighting capability. What’s more… the elites of our legion, those who had the courage to charge at the front, died even faster. Our soldiers don’t have any fighting spirit left at all. They are all terrified."

  Weiss Porter
’s face changed.

  He completely understood now.

  Staring at the distant prefectural city of Cod, Weiss Porter ground his teeth. “So you played us. You enticed us to attack the east city, then changed five magicite cannons into twenty?” Weiss Porter’s eyes were red from rage. “Guillermo, forget the plans and schemes. Have all the experts of the ninth rank charge, now!”

  89

  Battle to the Death

  Guillermo was silent for a moment, then said, “Fine. Let them go.”

  Soon, six seemingly ordinary warriors appeared in the headquarters. Weiss Porter and Guillermo glanced at each other, and then Weiss Porter said to those six men, “The six of you, mingle into the center of the army and charge with them towards the city walls. When you reach the city walls, increase your speed and break open the city gates, then lead the army into the city. You must catch them off-guard and make them unable to react in time.”

  “Yes, milord.”

  Three of the men immediately acknowledged, while the other three looked at Guillermo. Guillermo nodded slightly. “Act as Weiss Porter said.”

  “Yes, milord.”

  On the massive, wide ground, locust-like hordes of men were charging wildly against the city. Sixteen magicite cannons were constantly flashing with brilliant light, taking lives away with each flash. On the walls above the prefectural city of Cod, Linley, Barker, Gates, Hazer, Ankh, and Boone, and the others were watching the battle.

  “They are fighting wildly enough,” Gates licked his lips, grinning as he spoke.

  Hazer looked at Linley, his eyes shining. “Lord Linley, let us go and teach them a lesson.” Of the five Barker brothers, only Barker had reached the Saint level in his human form. The other four were at the peak of the ninth rank, about to break through at any moment.

  Linley looked at the battle going down below. Laughing calmly, he said, “No rush. You will have your chance soon. But remember, no matter what, you cannot allow them to seize the magicite mine.”

  Compared to the large amount of magicite gems, Linley actually valued the pocket dimension more.

  That was a precious training place that had to be preserved.

  “Unfortunately, Zassler has reached the Saint level as well. Otherwise, once he acted, he would probably be able to counter a million soldiers at once, all by himself,” Linley sighed as he spoke. Zassler and Linley had reached the Saint level almost at the same time. Zassler was now a Saint-level Grand Magus Necromancer. After becoming a Grand Magus Necromancer, Zassler’s power had reached a terrifying new height.

  What Zassler currently spent his time doing was collecting Saint-level undead.

  A single Grand Magus Necromancer could collect and tame a group of Saint-level undead. One could imagine how terrifyingly powerful they were.

  “That old bastard. He spends all his time hiding inside the mountain and training. He never shows himself these days,” Gates grumbled. “Last time, I went to look for him, and he actually sent a Saint-level undead to battle me for a while. I have to admit… that zombie was really pretty damn powerful.” Gates sighed.

  Linley secretly snickered.

  Zassler was only joking around with Gates. Linley himself knew… if Zassler was really acting in earnest, Gates would probably have been defeated in an instant. This was because necromancers were highly skilled in matters pertaining the soul, and were extremely talented at ‘spiritual attacks’. Upon reaching the Saint level, once Zassler used a spiritual attack…

  Even a powerful Saint probably wouldn’t be able to take it.

  “Bang!”

  Suddenly, Linley and the others felt the city walls suddenly shake violently. Barker’s face changed. “Not good!” Linley’s spiritual energy had also discovered that below, six warriors of the ninth rank had joined forces to smash through the city gates.

  “Charge!” The attacking soldiers found, to their delight, that the city gates were down.

  Immediately, a large number of soldiers began to pour towards the city gates. The leaders of the soldiers were those six warriors of the ninth rank. The garrison guards of the prefectural city of Cod wanted to block them, but they were easily slaughtered by those six warriors of the ninth rank. The commander of the south gate, however, simply watched coldly as this all happened.

  “Boulder, drop!” The commander’s voice rang out without a hint of panic.

  Instantly, dozens of warriors pulled at hidden levers. With clanking sounds, a massive boulder that was over dozens of meters thick began to fall down. The soldiers below wanted to dodge, but most weren’t able to do so and were smashed into meat patties.

  “Bam!”

  The city gates had been sealed!

  The soldiers outside weren’t able to make it in, and the soldiers inside weren’t able to go out either.

  “Six warriors of the ninth rank. They really are going all out,” Gates roared angrily, and then with a flip of his hand, he retrieved his massive greataxe as he charged down from the top of the walls into the inner courtyard. All six of those warriors of the ninth rank had been inside the city already. Gates jumped down, and he was immediately followed by Ankh, Boone, and Hazer as well.

  Within the city.

  The six warriors of the ninth rank were engaged in a wild slaughter, with none of the soldiers around them able to fend them off.

  “Quick, flee!” one of the warriors of the ninth rank shouted loudly as he sent his warblade chopping down towards an officer, who was instantly split into two halves. Wherever these warriors of the ninth rank went, corpses followed in their wake.

  The other warriors of the ninth rank knew that they couldn’t stay here for too long either.

  They didn’t pay any mind to the soldiers who had followed them in either. A golden-haired, one-eyed warrior suddenly launched himself off the ground, easily sending himself over thirty meters into the air, flipping past the wall and arriving outside the city. The other five warriors of the ninth rank immediately also launched off the ground…

  “You want to run?!”

  A furious howl, and then a terrifying greataxe flashed towards them. Gates was the first one to land, and in mid-air, he stopped one of the leaping warriors of the ninth rank. The warrior of the ninth rank actually wanted to use the heavy sword in his hands to block the axe, but as soon as he did…

  “Bam!”

  The warrior’s heavy sword shattered into pieces, and he was smashed back down into the ground, the ground shaking from the collision. Gates howled angrily, “You motherfuckers actually dare to break into the city? Die!” The terrifying greataxe chopped down yet again, and it was as though the surrounding area had suddenly frozen.

  Gates had already reached the ‘impose’ level of understanding!

  There was no place for the warrior of the ninth rank to flee. “Ah!” A miserable, agonized cry could be heard, and then he was eviscerated by the massive greataxe. Blood and splintered organs splashed everywhere, and his body fell heavily to the ground, never to rise again.

  Although they were both warriors of the ninth rank, Gates was at the peak of the ninth rank and an Undying Warrior. The difference was too great.

  The other four warriors also encountered Boone, Ankh, and Hazer. Ankh, all by himself, forced two of them back down. The eyes of Hazer, Boone, and Ankh were filled with savage, murderous delight.

  The battle concluded very quickly.

  “Milord, aside from myself, the other five… were unable to escape.” The golden-haired, one-eyed man clearly seemed unwilling to accept this outcome.

  Weiss Porter and Guillermo’s faces turned ugly to behold.

  “How is that possible? You are warriors of the ninth rank!” Weiss Porter’s face couldn’t help but turn pale as he spoke.

  “I saw Linley and those Undying Warriors on the city walls,” Guillermo suddenly said. At Guilllermo’s level of power, despite being kilometers away, he was still able to see Linley and the others on the city walls.

  Weiss Porter�
��s voice turned low. “Guillermo, could it be that Linley is ignoring our previous agreement and is acting against warriors of the ninth rank?”

  “It shouldn’t be Linley.” Guillermo shook his head. “If it was him, most likely not even a single warrior would have escaped. I expect that it was those Undying Warriors who haven’t reached the Saint level yet in their human forms. Given their power, it shouldn’t be hard for them to deal with an ordinary warrior of the ninth rank.”

  Weiss Porter was beginning to frown.

  “You can go now.” The lucky survivor left.

  Weiss Porter sent out the order. “Let the attacking soldiers retreat for now. Today, we’ll pause for now.”

  “Yes, milord.” The messenger immediately ran out.

  Guillermo looked at Weiss Porter, puzzled. Weiss Porter closed his eyes. After a while, he opened them, then said calmly, “Guillermo, at nightfall, let’s prepare to order our men to attack again, late at night. We have to take down the city before daybreak tomorrow. We’ll pay whatever cost in lives is necessary.”

  “Late night?” Guillermo frowned as he looked at Weiss Porter. “Even if we don’t care about the lives of our warriors, it’ll be hard to break through.”

  Neither Guillermo nor Weiss Porter cared at all about the lives of their ordinary soldiers. They commanded a tremendously high number of soldiers, and it was in fact useful to reduce the population a bit through warfare. Ordinary warriors only required a year or two of training, after all.

  They didn’t care about them.

  What they cared about were elite soldiers.

  For example, the hundred thousand soldiers that had been sent to attack the east gates.

  “Tonight, we will attack the city, no matter the cost. If by five in the morning, we still haven’t broken through, then we will use your final trump card.” Weiss Porter looked at Guillermo. “What say you, Guillermo?”

  “Our final trump card?” Guillermo was silent for a moment.

  He knew what Weiss Porter was talking about. Guillermo nodded slightly. “Fine!”

  Actually, if they were to begin attacking at midnight and fight like wild all the way until five in the morning, even if they weren’t able to break through, they would exhaust the forces of the prefectural city of Cod. At that point, the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows would use their trump cards, making their victory utterly assured.