Chapter 1074 - 512

The monsters wandering the wilderness seemed smarter than Gauss had anticipated. Before nightfall, they merely continued to mass their forces, making no attempt to charge the stone city.

As the garrison troops on the city walls gazed at the shadowy figures across the wasteland, their chatter died down significantly. As if by prior agreement, they tightened their grips on their weapons or leaned against the walls to take deep breaths, trying to calm themselves down.

In contrast, the members of the Red Dragon Team appeared noticeably calmer than the local Adventurers and soldiers. Not only were they generally more powerful, but they had also experienced far larger battles than these local Adventurers. Their mental fortitude had improved significantly, especially after surviving the frontline war in the canyon outside Barry City.

To boost morale, Gauss summoned the Red Dragon Hephaestus from his creature bag before the battle. When the reddish-brown behemoth, radiating a faint crimson glow, took to the skies and circled above the city, it was as if everyone below—whether garrisoned troops or civilians peering out from the windows of their stone houses—had been given a massive shot of reassurance.

"Mom, come look! There’s a dragon in the sky!"

"I know, it’s the dragon from the Red Dragon Team! It’s here to protect us!"

"May the true dragon bless us! May Lord Gauss protect us! We will win!"

Many had already heard that this adventure group possessed a true dragon, but seeing it with their own eyes still left them staring in awe. Awe quickly turned into relief. They were thankful that such a beast of war was on their side in the impending conflict. Had it been otherwise, it was hard to imagine the innocent lives that would be lost if a flying, fire-breathing behemoth descended upon the city and unleashed its Dragon Breath. Flames would ignite the small town, reducing it to scorched earth.

Hephaestus’s destructive capability against such an enclosed stone town was likely greater than that of many Extraordinary Strong People, even if its actual combat power was inferior to theirs.

Meanwhile, the Slime Eden, sitting silently on Gauss’s shoulder, was much more low-key. At most, the nearby soldiers would cast a few extra glances its way, finding the little thing rather cute. However, they could never have imagined that if this innocent-looking little jelly were to take action, its destructive power would far surpass that of the Red Dragon flaunting its might in the sky.

"Do you want to warm up a bit?" Gauss asked, tilting his head.

"No." Eden had no desire to do anything meaningless.

Baron Valentine finally emerged from the castle just before nightfall. He seemed to have adjusted his mindset. He wore a suit of ancestral armor, his cape gently fluttering in the wind behind him. His appearance brought a slight look of relief to Sir Ferguson’s face. The old man spoke up.

"Lord Cedric, please do not stray too far from my side later."

This war was clearly on an entirely different scale from the skirmishes they had previously encountered at Warren Castle. Although Gauss was powerful, he couldn’t possibly protect everyone.

The Baron looked at the old man who had served his family for a century. Even though his figure was now hunched with age, no longer as robust as in the Baron’s childhood, and his temples were completely white, he still wished to protect him. A sudden pang of sorrow struck the Baron’s heart. As a child born in his father’s old age, he had been endlessly doted upon by the old Baron since birth. Influenced by the old Baron, Sir Ferguson had also taken exceptional care of him. He remembered several instances when turmoil erupted in the territory, and it was this old man who had taken up arms to suppress the uprisings and smooth things over on his behalf.

Thinking back to how he had neglected his training in the past, preferring instead to manage his manor, hunt, and brew wine, he felt a rare sense of regret.

"I, too, have the strength to fight. You need not worry about me, Sir," he replied. As if to prove his determination, Baron Valentine drew his Longsword.

"Good! Good! Excellent!" Sir Ferguson finally laughed out loud.

Watching the duo from a short distance away, Gauss silently withdrew his gaze, deciding not to interrupt the interaction between the Lord and his vassal. He wondered if the others, especially the locals of Warren Castle, were treating this war a bit too seriously.

Although the danger to the city’s residents would undoubtedly be much higher than during his recent expeditions to clear out monsters in the wilderness—since the main battlefield was situated right around the castle—it shouldn’t have reached the point of being a matter of life and death. However, seeing them all gearing up for battle with such high efficiency under pressure, Gauss chose not to speak up and interrupt the process. After all, when facing a war, being over-prepared was always better than being lax.

"Aaliyah, there are relatively fewer monster troops towards the West Gate. I’ll leave you in charge of leading the defense there.

"I’ll have Hephaestus keep watch nearby. If any unexpected situations arise, you can summon it at any time."

"I understand."

Nightfall gradually blanketed the small town.

Only after the soldiers on the city walls had finished eating their rations did the massed monsters on the wasteland launch their first wave of attacks.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! War drums thundered.

Like a tidal wave, monsters surged from all directions, converging on the small town in the center.

The first wave of enemies came from the sky. An aerial legion composed of giant bats, Eagle-men, and other flying Demons circled hundreds of meters up in the air, relentlessly hurling down prepared stones at the town below.

Dozens, then hundreds of stones tumbled through the air, accelerating faster and faster! Pulled by gravity, these ordinary stones reached terrifying speeds of sixty to seventy meters per second. Fortunately, due to their extreme altitude, even if the creatures had tried to aim, the wind and air resistance caused the stones to lose their accuracy, leaving behind only the blunt impact of their descent.