CHAPTER 651: CHAPTER 390: SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE_2

"Fire!" Yan Xiaobao shouted, and moments later, corpses landed in the air above the city walls. Some exploded after being launched separately, while others struck the wall tops, causing blood and gore to cover the guards. All these people became increasingly uneasy.

Wave after wave of corpses were shot into the city. An entire day passed, and the only change was that just as the sun set, the last batch of corpses was sent into the city. Nodding, satisfied, Yan Xiaobao turned to the troops and shouted, "Tonight we camp here! Prepare for the real battle tomorrow!" Hearing their voices, all the beasts let their roars soar to the sky, their voices filled with a thirst for battle. They were so close to success. So close to finally gaining freedom!

....

"How can anyone be so despicable?!" Great Marshall yelled, looking out over the city. He saw the catapults and how they were loaded with bodies, then these bodies flew high into the air and fell on the ground behind the city walls. The citizens heard the sounds of the houses being hit, alerting them, but no roofs were broken, nor were any buildings destroyed, which meant that whatever was raining down wasn’t stones or anything that could demolish a house. At first, they were elated to know it wasn’t stones that could destroy their homes, but their relief quickly turned into horror. As blood and gore rained down onto the streets, everyone fled their homes; broken limbs, decaying bodies, blood, and intestines came down from outside. It was an outrage.

Great Marshall’s face was not green like the others, but as red as a beetroot. His anger burst from within him, causing the entire room to shiver. Great Marshall was located in a small house at the top of the city wall above the city gate. Inside his house was a group of five servants. All were trembling in the corners, not daring to make a sound for fear of drawing Great Marshall’s fury upon them.

Aside from the many servants, four experts were waiting inside the room. None of them seemed bothered, showing no signs of disgust or anger, as multiple bodies were being thrown above the city gate.

One person leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes contained a hint of laughter, a slight smile on his lips as he observed the furious Great Marshall.

Two experts sat at a small table. Each held a small cup in their hands, with a teapot on the table. Steam rose from their cups. Neither of the experts spoke, but every now and then, they would first take a sip and then lock their gaze back on Great Marshall. Neither of them wore a smile, but the polite interest they displayed seemed more like a facade than genuine concern. If anything, their interest seemed focused only on the teacups in their hands.

The last expert standing next to Great Marshall was looking out the window at the many bodies being thrown into their city. Great Marshall was filled with anger and fury, so much so that he was on the brink of an explosion, while this expert beside him bore a sinister smile on his face. His eyes burned with the intention to kill, constantly glancing towards Yan Xiaobao and the Saint behind him. Looking at the many experts, this fourth person couldn’t help but lick his lips as he waited for the order to go out and fight them.

Seeing the sinister expression on the man’s face, Great Marshall finally calmed down. "You will not engage in war yet. Before we dare initiate a conflict of this scale, we need to gather all the Saints. They seem to have about forty Saints with them, but who knows how many they have hiding within their ranks." Great Marshall grumbled as he called for a servant.

Once the gesture was made, a servant immediately appeared before him. He knelt on the floor, his forehead touching his hands, with his whole body deeply bowed. "Go and find the Fifteenth Regiment. After all this chaos, they will be responsible for clearing the ground." He waved dismissively, and the young servant hurried away. He quickly set out to find the experts assigned to this dirty task.

In his foul mood, Great Marshall complained again, but he controlled his emotions. "I swear we will crush those repulsive beasts!" he said with a voice full of fury, "After all, we still have the Crusaders. We cannot lose!" As Yan Xiaobao stood in front of the city walls, out of range of their arrows, the air was fresh. His breath could be seen in the crisp morning air, as he squinted his eyes and looked toward Sunrise. In the camp behind him, the beasts were stirring slowly. This morning, no one called to wake them. Yan Xiaobao decided to let them sleep as long as possible, or if that was what they were doing at all. For today, he needed them at their peak. They were now about to engage with the elite soldiers of the Sioban Empire, and they needed to enter the city somehow.

The city before him was built on one side of a mountain, with his army camped at the only entrance outside the city. Wan Qiao stood by his side. The One-Horned Jasmine Eagle had been flying around the city all night, searching for other exits, but wherever she looked, she found no hidden entrances or tunnels.

Sighing, Yan Xiaobao realized there were probably some tunnels undetectable by her, but these tunnels could only allow a few people through at a time, and they couldn’t provide enough resources. If they were large enough to allow many people or supply trains through, Wan Qiao would surely have noticed them.

Yan Xiaobao stood there, enjoying the fresh air. He was nervous about the war, and he couldn’t understand why everything had been so easy so far. Why had their Great Marshall allowed the beasts to reach the city walls so easily? He expected their army to be waiting for them in front of the walls, making them swarm and weaken the beast tribe, but this hadn’t happened, causing Yan Xiaobao discomfort.

Thinking of this, Yan Xiaobao never turned to look behind him, but he felt one soldier after another fall into place. Soon the army was fully assembled, holding their breath as they awaited Yan Xiaobao’s command to charge forward.

However, this was not what Yan Xiaobao did; instead, he slowly began to step forward. Behind him, he heard the rustling of his army following his every move. The Saints were right behind him, their eyes swiftly observing everything happening. One of the Saints raised his arm, a misty golden energy leaving his hands and enveloping the entire army, deflecting all arrows shot at them. No beast was hit by an arrow.

Even though Yan Xiaobao wished the Saints would conserve their energy, he also approved of the shield. He knew if they hadn’t used the Energy Shield, some beasts would have died. He had already lost too many beasts; before the actual battle began, he had no interest in losing more.

Pointing his finger at the walls, the army behind him charged to both sides, allowing space for the war machines to advance. First came the towers, second the cannons and catapults, followed by springs and crossbow cannons. Finally came the galleries and testudos.

"Ready!" Yan Xiaobao shouted loudly, as he continued to bring the towers up the mountain to the city walls. Seeing the towers reach the top of the walls, Yan Xiaobao’s smile emerged. "Charge!" he yelled as loud as he could, and the beasts immediately rushed into the towers. They climbed up the towers until they reached the top, where they poured onto the enormous city walls. Flying beasts emerged from above, swooping down with claws and wings, forcing opponents to retreat, causing some weaker enemies to fall from the high walls to the ground.

Beasts leaping from the towers onto the walls encountered concentrated soldiers, humans fighting for survival. The soldiers they faced were far superior to those they had encountered before. They knocked down beast after beast one by one, as their numbers surpassed those of the beasts currently charging the walls. Flaming arrows were fired from the walls at the towers, attempting to set the massive towers ablaze so no more beasts could use them to ascend the walls. Yet, before the towers could ignite, the flying beasts managed to handle the flames.

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