Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Brothers, kill them!”

  “Avenge the captain! Kill!!!”

  Countless ferocious howls came from the soldiers, as they wildly charged down the corridors to the walls of the prefectural city of Cod. They had been beaten senseless, and while they were charging, many had been shot to death by arrows or blasted apart by magicite cannons. They hadn’t even had the chance to fight a fair battle with their enemies.

  This sort of frustration and resentment had been building in their hearts.

  And now, they finally had the chance to explode.

  The ten siege escalades represented ten corridors. Large numbers of soldiers swarmed towards the walls, attacking the defenders. The garrison troops of the prefectural city of Cod didn’t budge either. They used boulders to attack, or burning oil…the hundred-meter wide corridors were utterly filled with people.

  One soldier decapitated his opponent, but then someone else rammed a spear through his chest.

  The battle at the walls and the siege escalades was a meat grinder!

  The attackers and defenders fought in pitched, close-quarter battles!

  Large numbers of corpses clotted the area, forming piles so high that they were even higher than the walls themselves as bodies fell downwards. Blood splashed everywhere, causing rivers of blood to form atop the walls and the corridors. Countless soldiers continued to raise their weapons, charging towards their foes.

  For the sake of survival.

  For the sake of avenging their comrades.

  Everyone fought wildly, their eyes red with bloodlust.

  “Bang!” “Bang!” …

  The magicite cannons were aiming their fire against the siege escalades now, because the people atop the siege escalades were very tightly clustered. The density was ten times greater than the ground below! Countless soldiers wanted to use the siege escalades to charge onto the enemy’s walls.

  Indeed, the soldiers moved quickly. Soon, they managed to charge from the siege escalades into the city walls. It was only a distance of a hundred meters from the siege escalade to the city walls! Given the power of these soldiers, it wouldn’t even take them ten seconds to close that sort of distance. They all possessed the hope that during those ten seconds while they were exposed and in the open, the magicite cannons definitely wouldn’t be able to strike them.

  However!

  The magicite cannons continued to fire against the siege escalades, each blast claiming the lives of hundreds of soldiers. Unfortunately, the speed at which the magicite cannons killed people was far slower than the speed at which the soldiers of two sides killed each other in close quarters combat. The soldiers of the prefectural city of Cod began to die in large numbers as well now.

  “In close combat, the death ratio is going to be close to one-to-one.” Barker looked at Linley. “Lord Linley, if this continues, we won’t be able to hold on.”

  Indeed. The enemy had a total of 1.6 million soldiers. Although they had lost some earlier, 1.6 million was an enormous figure, and those losses meant little. The prefectural city of Cod only had 500,000 soldiers. If they were to fight a war of attrition at a one-to-one rate…a loss of three or four hundred thousand to the enemy would result in them still having nearly a million soldiers, but to Cod, they would only have less than a hundred thousand remaining.

  This couldn’t be permitted to continue!

  Of course, this was just the death ratio for the soldiers in close quarters combat. If they factored in the damage caused by the magicite cannons, as well as those who were being shot to death by arrows, the prefectural city of Cod still held a major advantage.

  “Gates, go destroy that corridor for me.” Linley pointed at the thick steel canopy-bridge of one of the siege escalades.

  Once that hundred-meter wide, multiple-meter thick steel bridge was destroyed, then…there would be a distance of nearly ten meters from the siege escalades to the city walls. Only warriors of a certain rank would be able to leap that distance, and in addition, as they leapt, the city garrison would be able to use their spears to welcome them as they landed…

  “Yes, Lord.” Gates acknowledged in his loud voice.

  Boone, Ankh, and Hazer didn’t hesitate at all as they headed out as well. But Barker, since he was now a Saint, couldn’t get involved.

  Gates’ body was blazing with battle-qi, and in his hands, he was wielding that 5300 pound greataxe. With a mighty leap, he flew directly onto the corridor where the fighting was going on. The bridge was filled with people, as many soldiers wanted to charge onto the enemy walls.

  “Bang!” A terrifying axe-shaped blast of battle-qi energy chopped out, splitting several dozen warriors apart at the waist instantly. Body parts flew everywhere, spraying the surrounding area with blood. Instantly, a large gap appeared on the corridor-bridge.

  “Bam!”

  Like a demonic god, Gates wielded his terrifying 5300 pound greataxe as he landed in that empty area. Almost instantly, a large number of enemy soldiers immediately filled up that gap, all of them attacking Gates wildly.

  “Hrmph!” Greataxe in hand, Gates delivered a mighty blow to the bridge beneath him.

  The greataxe fell down, as gently as a falling leaf, striking against the steel bridge. Only a gentle clink was heard, but then…a massive hole appeared in the steel bridge, and a huge amount of steel dust was suddenly picked up and carried away by the wind.

  Wielding something heavy as though it were light!

  “Bang!” Gates’ battle-qi blasted out in all directions like countless arrows, killing all of the surrounding and attacking soldiers.

  “It really is thick.” Gates murmured confidently. This sturdy steel bridge was something which even a peak-stage Undying Warrior of the ninth rank was unable to chop through at a blow. However, the blow from Gates’ greataxe had chopped halfway through it, with only a meter of thickness remaining.

  “No!” Many people from the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows, upon seeing this, stared with wide eyes.

  “Break apart!” Gates brought his greataxe gently down a second time.

  “Bang!” That thick steel bridge split into two parts, and the part that was lying against the wall fell down. A large number of soldiers fell down as well. The effectiveness of the siege escalade had instantly been halved.

  If they wanted to cross to the walls, the only choice was to jump over.

  But the enemy guards had their weapons pointed towards them, with spear tips and sword tips all aimed in their direction. You want to jump? Then jump! You’ll know what happens if you do…

  “Bang!” “Bang!” One steel bridge after another was broken through as Gates, Boone, Ankh, and Hazer, these four terrifying Undying Warriors of the peak of the ninth rank, moved through all ten of the siege escalades.

  The forces of the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows, who had seen victory within reach, all began to feel bitterness and despair.

  “We almost succeeded. Bastards.” Weiss Porter let out an angry growl.

  If the earlier situation had persisted, even though the enemy continued to attack with magicite cannons and arrows, Weiss Porter was confident…that after sustaining casualties of approximately seven to eight hundred thousand, they would have destroyed the enemies.

  “Weiss Porter, now what?” Guillermo looked at him.

  Weiss Porter looked at him as well. “It’s still early. Wait for five in the morning.” Guillermo and Weiss Porter both tacitly understood.

  “Although the steel bridges were destroyed, the siege escalades still have some effect.” Weiss Porter stared from afar…indeed, many soldiers continued to charge onto the siege escalades, and then, relying on being on the higher ground, shot arrows or slung rocks at the enemies on the walls.

  A large number of soldiers even jumped down onto the city walls.

  Perhaps the initial casualty rate would be horrendous, but once a small safe area was established, they were still able to fight on fairly even footing.

  �
��They’ve gone mad.” Gates had experienced countless battles, but even he felt a sense of pressure.

  Simply too many had died.

  Time passed, one minute and one second at a time.

  Three in the morning…

  Four in the morning…

  As time dragged on, the casualties for the defenders reached nearly two hundred thousand as well. For their casualties to be at such a terrifyingly high number, one could totally imagine how many had died on the side of the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows.

  When five in the morning came, Guillermo and Weiss Porter looked at each other.

  “Weiss Porter, as you said. It is time to use our trump card.” Guillermo spoke.

  Book 10, Baruch – Chapter 41: Trump Card

  “Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!” ….

  Those magicite cannons continued to attack, as though money truly was no obstacle at all. Beneath the prefectural city of Cod, there was a veritable sea of flame, and the night sky was split up by countless beautiful flashes of light.

  From far away, the commanders of the joint forces, Weiss Porter and Guillermo, had shadows cast across their faces.

  “Trump card?”

  Weiss Porter looked at Guillermo. Snickering, he said, “Lord Cardinal Guillermo, I think that these exhausted soldiers of the prefectural city of Cod would be easily defeated once the Sacred Legion of the Radiant Church attacks. There’s no need for my side to join in.”

  The trump card of the Radiant Church – the Sacred Legion!

  The Sacred Legion!

  In this area of the Anarchic Lands, the Radiant Church had spent a tremendous amount of effort and materials to cultivate this mighty legion.

  The Sacred Legion only had a total of thirty thousand people.

  Five thousand of the soldiers in this legion were warriors of the seventh rank, while the other twenty five thousand were at least of the fifth rank in power. In the other legions, a warrior of the fifth rank might be considered an elite soldier, but in this legion, they would only be the weakest of soldiers.

  It must be understood that the jumping abilities of warriors of the seventh rank alone would allow them to flip past those thirty meter tall city walls.

  Such a trump card of a legion, upon entering battle, would definitely be an unbalancing force. However, cultivating such a legion was simply too difficult. The cost of training them was far larger than that of training even the million man army.

  “If Linley’s Saints break our agreement and eradicated our Sacred Legion, that would be terrible.” Guillermo secretly mused. Weiss Porter and him were thinking the same thing. They were both afraid that the Saints would betray the agreement and take part in the battle.

  For example, those Saint-level dragons. For example, Linley and the other Supreme Warriors.

  If a few hundred thousand ordinary soldiers were killed, the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows could easily recruit a few hundred thousand more. All they needed was a year or two of training. But the Sacred Legion…every single soldier represented years worth of training and expenditures. Each lost soldier wouldn’t easily be replenished by money alone.

  “Weiss Porter, are you joking?” Guillermo’s face sank.

  Weiss Porter immediately laughed, “Guillermo, don’t be angry. The Shadow Legion of the Cult of Shadows will attack at the same time.”

  The Shadow Legion was built up by the Cult of Shadows for the express purpose of countering the Sacred Legion. Their power was on par.

  These were two terrifyingly strong legions.

  Although each had only thirty thousand soldiers, and combined they only numbered sixty thousand, to the two sides, the worth of these trump card legions wasn’t any less than that of a million man army.

  Atop the city walls, Linley and Barker were watching the battle as though it had nothing to do with them.

  The city guards in the area had been dismissed.

  “There’s nobody there.” The enemy soldiers clearly saw an area where only two people were standing.

  “Quick, attack over there.”

  The battle was so frantic that none of the soldiers were thinking clearly. Seeing an ‘opening’ in the walls, they immediately charged over. But just as they ran up the escalade ladders and charged at Linley and Barker with their weapons raised…

  “Slash.”

  Instantly, countless knives of wind formed a wall. The three warriors who had been the first to charge over were instantly turned into meat paste, and even some of the warriors close to the top of the escalade ladders were chopped into ground meat. This scene…replayed itself over and over throughout the battle. Nobody was able to draw near these two.

  “I’m feeling really motherf*cking stifled.” Barker cursed softly.

  Barker looked at Linley. Linley didn’t seem to feel anything at all. Barker couldn’t help but say, “Lord Linley, how can you just keep watching?”

  “Why can’t I?” Linley stared below.

  “Oh?” Barker looked at Linley questioningly.

  Linley laughed calmly. “I now somewhat understand how the War God feels. Let worldly matters develop naturally. People will always die in wars. If I hadn’t founded the Baruch Kingdom, perhaps even more people would have died in those endless, chaotic wars.”

  Linley looked down below. “The mortal world has its rules. And we, we have our rules as well!”

  “I will hold to our agreement. Even if they break through to the magicite mines and seize them, I won’t interfere.” Linley said calmly.

  Barker grew frantic. “But what about that pocket dimension room we discovered?”

  “What are you afraid of?”

  Linley laughed calmly. “It is impossible for non-Saints to enter that secret room. But which Saints would dare trespass on my territory?” Linley was already viewing this battle with a transcendent gaze and mind. It didn’t really matter if they won or they lost…

  And in addition, the pocket dimension was immovable.

  “You speak truth, Lord.” Barker began to understand.

  Upon reaching the Saint-level, they possessed an eternal lifespan. They had transcended past ordinary humans. In truth, worldly battles and affairs no longer belonged to them, and Saints no longer belonged in them either. But although they understood this in their heart, both Barker and Linley had a hint of anticipation…

  The anticipation that their side would prove victorious.

  “Not good.” Barker’s face suddenly changed.

  Beneath the city, a large number of elite warriors charged towards the walls at high speed. They were thickly clustered and definitely numbered in the tens of thousands. This large group of elite warriors ran at an astonishing pace, and with each flicker of their bodies, they moved twenty or thirty meters. In less than a minute, they would arrive at the city walls.

  “Fire!”

  The magicite cannons from the east gate had been shifted over as well. More than twenty magicite cannons fired simultaneously, blasting down balls of light at the soldiers below.

  “Swish!” “Swish!”

  Many elite soldiers immediately dodged at high speed, but the magicite cannon attacks were simply too fast. Despite many of the elite soldiers being able to dodge the center of the blasts, a few unlucky soldiers would still die, while the others are the boundaries of the blasts would be injured as well.

  But there was only time for one blast!

  The magicite cannons only had enough time to fire once before the elite soldiers reached the city walls.

  “There’s so many people. Tens of thousands. Where did all these powerful warriors come from? There’s so many warriors of the seventh rank.” Barker felt a hint of amazement.

  Linley noticed the large number of elite soldiers that had appeared out of nowhere as well. Given Linley and Barker’s current levels of power, they were instantly able to judge the power of these soldiers. “So many are of the seventh rank? They are just like the ace regiments of the Knights of the Radiant Ch
urch that I saw back in the Holy Union.”

  “This must be an elite force built up by the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows, akin to the Eight Ace Regiments. This is their true elite force, here in the Anarchic Lands.” Linley guessed.

  And that was indeed the case.

  “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”

  A large number of warriors reached the city walls, and with a sudden leap, they easily cleared the thirty foot walls. The thickly clustered warriors all arrived atop the walls, and all of them possessed the power of the seventh rank.

  “Bang!” Swords and sabers flashed everywhere, and battle-qi exploded throughout the area.

  Immediately, almost ten or twenty thousand garrison guards died. The garrison troops were only of the second or third ranks in power. The warriors of the fifth rank would be considered elites amongst them. But these warriors who had jumped onto the walls were all of the seventh rank, and there were nearly ten thousand of them.

  A slaughter!

  They couldn’t fight back at all! And at the same time…

  A huge number of warriors of ‘only’ the fifth and sixth ranks began to climb up the escalade ladders at high speed.

  Although there were hundreds of thousand soldiers on the south walls, only twenty or thirty thousand troops could fight against the warriors of the seventh rank at any given time. And when the fifty thousand warriors of the fifth and sixth ranks charged up…

  “We lose.”

  Barker sighed.

  After the sixty thousand elite troops of the Sacred Legion and the Shadow Legion swept upwards, hundreds of thousands of normal troops followed behind them in escalade ladders. The entire length of the south city walls were occupied with countless enemies, who swarmed forward like an endless stream of ants, attacking the inner city of Cod.

  But where Linley and Barker stood, no matter how many warriors charged over, they were all transformed into mincemeat by those countless wind blades.