Chapter 355

As the signal horn of the Dark Alliance's assault resounded, Blade City slowly transformed into a massive war machine, transitioning into a wartime state.

The entire city was instantly enveloped in a tense atmosphere.

Residents scattered about, with those below the rank of Iron retreating to their homes, while those with strength above it carried bags of supplies and spontaneously formed into various teams to support the war effort.

Chief Brein, the current leader of the Council of Elders, while being accompanied by soldiers, followed the flow of players towards the outer city wall.

As the current acting ruler of Blade City, he had to shoulder the responsibility of command, ensuring the city's defense and coordinating its forces against the impending attack.

However, Firebeard, the dwarven elder, chose not to leave.

Instead, he chose to return to the Death's church in Blade City, wherein under the watchful and relieved eyes of the surrounding clergymen activated the city's defense core...

While others were capable of handling this task, past enemy assaults had well proven that Lord Firebeard, in his role as a Godwarden, was better suited to operate it.

With Firebeard's at the helm, the power of faith stored within the shrine instantly activated the defense system.

Streams of dark gray energy diverged in two directions from the shrine. One flowed along the ground, as it swiftly cloaked the city walls of Blade City, while the other ascended into the skies, forming a protective dome over the entire city like an inverted bowl, encasing Blade City within a translucent barrier.

This was the same method used during the defense of Blackrock City against the Shadow Legion, wherein a large-scale divine spell defense barrier comparable to a banishing curse protected the entire city.

However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that this divine spell barrier did not completely sealed but instead left some gaps on the city walls.

There is nothing that can be done about it...

Should the barrier fully seal the city, the consumption of the power of faith would increase exponentially, depleting the remaining power within the shrine at a rapid rate.

Therefore, the defensive barrier could only protect the most probable ambush points on the surface and underground, while keeping a portion of the city wall open for combat with the enemy in this zone.

As such, this unprotected areas also became the most vulnerable zones where casualties occurred the most.

Here in the land underground, teeming with creatures proficient at climbing, the role of the city walls was far less significant than on the surface, and their value simply lay in directing the battle onto the top of the walls.

At this moment, the Dark-Dwarven warriors and gnome mages stood atop the city walls, their tense demeanor betraying their anticipation as they readied various long-range mechanical contraptions to counter the approaching enemy army, with their eyes darting nervously to the scene below.

Meanwhile, the Dark Alliance army, comprised mostly of monsters, dark dwarves, illithids, undead, and goblins, slowly encircled Blade City...

Looking at it from a bird's eye view, all that could be seen was a dense mass of ominous figures surrounding the city.

Moreover, as the enemy army marches forward, the ground trembled, as the relentless monster roars and howls echoed with a primal fury through the vicinity.

In the dim underground, such presence felt really oppressive and foreboding.

A few defending soldiers in Blade City started to look concerned as they realized the enemy's army size this time was much larger than before.

After days of relentless siege, the Dark Alliance meticulously gauged Blade City's defenses. Guided by the strategic prowess of Lich King Perone, their forces stood ready this time to dismantle the stronghold of the Hermetic Alliance in one decisive strike.

Leading the charge were goblin troops.

They were poorly equipped but numerous, and under the threat of the death knights behind them, they carried along ladders and rushed toward the city walls...

These goblins are clearly cannon fodder, yet they also serve as the vanguard force of the enemy.

"Goblins! Ready your bows!"

Seeing a 'sea' of goblins rushing towards them, the dwarven soldiers on the walls bore grave expressions. They then raised their bows and awaited for the signal before firing their arrows in unison.

With a swishing sound, thousands of arrows fell like rain into the sea of goblins from below, and in the blink of an eye, these weak creatures fell in droves.

Alas... there were just too many goblins.

Driven by the commander of the Dark Alliance army, the goblins, with bloodshot eyes, began brandishing their crudely crafted swords, bearing makeshift ladders, or firing short bows as they surged recklessly ahead.

In response, the dwarven steam cannons installed on the walls resounded with thunderous roars, sending huge steel balls into the goblin army, smashing these unlucky fellows into meat paste.

However, no matter how great the casualties they incurred, these goblins did not retreat, not even a single step.

Alas, this was the fate of the weak.

As one of the affiliated races of the Dark Alliance, the illithids and dark dwarves raised these goblins with the sole purpose of being cannon fodder.

Their fate is doomed and would also endanger their own tribes if they didn't fight desperately.

After suffering huge casualties, these goblins eventually reached the base of the city wall, hastily erecting ladders and commencing their ascent amidst the magical bombardment from the gnome mages...

Moments later, the tide of the battle began to shift from ranged to close-quarter combat.

The dwarven warriors stationed atop the city walls roared, as they wield their axes and giant hammers to either chopped the goblins that managed to climb up in half or pounding them into a pulp.

The goblins, in response, displayed varying degrees of panic, with some screaming madly. Yet, whether gripped by fear, panic, or adrenaline, all those who scaled the city wall opted not to retreat but instead wielded their weapons, slashing at the dwarven warriors as if their very lives depended on it.

Perhaps these goblins generally lacked considerable strength, with the majority of them not even reaching level 10, but their locust-like numbers were enough to overwhelm any dwarven warrior with their reckless swarm tactics.

Curses, screams, and groans filled the air, accompanied by the whizzing of arrows and the crunch of blades piercing bones, all combining into a macabre symphony that transformed the city wall into a nightmarish landscape.

Due to the fact that the city walls was too long and there were just too many goblins, the defending soldiers quickly found themselves surrounded by a sea of green.

Each defending soldier began to accumulate wounds one after another, as their axes gradually dulled with each swing, and their breaths became heavier and more labored.

However, at this moment when the tide seemed to be turning against their favor, the defending soldiers suddenly heard shouts coming from behind them.

"Charge! Strike them down! For the elves! Wait, no, for our partnership with the Hermetic Alliance!"

"Forward, my fellow comrades!"

"Urrah—!"

Accompanied by excited shouts, tall long-eared figures rushed up the city walls one after another.

Amidst the chaos, these figures emerged like a torrential storm, their ranks a blend of genders, adorned in resplendent armor or draped in modified Blade City gear.

Their sudden appearance instantly plunged the chaotic battlefield into an even more frenzied state.

"Damn! So we're fighting goblins! There's so many of them!"

"Haha! No worries, this is what I'm best at!"

With wild laughter and excited expressions, they hacked through the sea of goblins relentlessly, as though slicing melons and vegetables, purposefully driving them back down the walls.

The sudden appearance of these new unfamiliar enemies startled the goblins as they quickly descended into chaos, each instinctively dodging and huddling together for protection.

Yet, their attempts to huddle together offered no refuge, as they soon met their demise, either incinerated by fireballs or pierced like sieves by ice blades in a rhythmic barrage of incantations.

The elves' adept maneuvers, coupled with their precise strikes aimed at each goblin's vulnerabilities, and their seamless coordination, executing the "slaughter-intimidate-disperse-magic resolution" tacrics, gave the impression of seasoned professionals at work.

Witnessing the players abruptly storming the city walls seemingly out of nowhere and launching into a frenzy of killing left the defending dark dwarves and gnomes utterly stunned.

"El-Elves?"

— 355 —

[ URRAH—! ]

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