Chapter 1075 - 512

THUD!

A stone crashed into the city wall, smashing a shallow crater and sending shattered rocks flying in all directions.

Long before the falling rocks hit the ground, some Professionals had already used their keen eyesight to calculate the impact points. Not only did they evade the attack in advance, but they also pulled aside the soldiers nearby who couldn’t react in time. Overall, this first menacing wave of attacks did not cause the terrifying casualties they had anticipated.

Aside from a few people being hit by flying debris and sustaining minor bruises, and a few stray rocks landing in the city and cracking the outer walls of some houses, the attack yielded no further results. Warren Castle was almost entirely built of stone. Coupled with the fact that all the residents were currently hiding in their homes, a simple boulder-throwing attack would struggle to cause any real damage to the city.

ROAR!!!

As the flying Demons dropped their first round of ammunition and prepared to retreat to restock on stones, Hephaestus, who had been ready for a long time, soared into the sky. It spewed roaring flames at the Eagle-men and bats flying through the air. The Demons unable to dodge were quickly reduced to charred corpses in the blazing fire, dropping in swarms like dead mosquitoes. Furthermore, Hephaestus accelerated, chasing after the fleeing aerial Demons.

With a Giant Dragon—the supreme overlord of the sky—present, it was far from their turn to show off. If Gauss hadn’t been worried about scaring them off right from the start, they wouldn’t have even been allowed to get near the airspace of Warren Castle.

The advantage of air superiority was simply too great. If this flock of flying Demons were allowed to continuously harass the army below, even if they didn’t cause many direct casualties, they would prevent the humans from fighting wholeheartedly during close-quarters combat, forcing them to endure immense psychological pressure.

As the others witnessed the Red Dragon Hephaestus reducing numerous small flying Demons to ashes with overwhelming dominance, their initially anxious hearts gradually calmed down. It seemed their side’s combat power was even stronger than they had imagined.

After repelling the Demon army in the sky, an even more massive horde of ground monsters quietly converged from all directions under the cover of night. The first wave to approach was a pack of Giant Jackal-Wolves running on all fours. Their speed was incredibly fast, moving like phantoms in the dark.

"Prepare for a volley!"

"Fire!"

Atop the city wall, the night was cast in flickering light and shadow by the torches. Out on the wasteland beyond the moat, bonfires that had been lit in advance cast an illuminating glow over the barren landscape. Sharp-eyed Rangers had long locked their sights onto this vanguard pack of Jackal-Wolves. The moment the order dropped, a rain of arrows was instantly unleashed in unison.

The arrows sailed over the moat. Most missed and embedded into the ground, but a few struck into the bodies of the Jackal-Wolves. Sharp arrowheads pierced through their thick fur and sank into their relatively soft internal organs. The intense pain caused the sprinting beasts to lose their balance; they slid across the ground for a distance before tumbling into the river ahead.

Meanwhile, the Jackal-Wolves that escaped unharmed only accelerated their sprint. Right before reaching the moat, they leaped with all their might, throwing their bodies high into the air like antelopes trying to clear a canyon.

However, what welcomed them was a second, pre-prepared Spell volley from the Red Dragon Team’s Mage Corps. Compared to the initial arrow volley, these Jackal-Wolves were now much closer to the wall, significantly lowering the difficulty of aiming. Furthermore, since every Caster unleashing Magic was a Professional, their meticulous preparation remarkably increased the hit rate.

BANG!

Flaming Arrow, Acid Splash, Ray of Frost, Shock, Witchcraft Arrow, Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile...

Wave after wave of Magic struck dead center on the Jackal-Wolves at the apex of their leaps—hitting either their heads or their fragile lumbar spines. The Magic Effects rapidly tore apart their mortal flesh. Amidst a chorus of howling wails, the leaping Jackal-Wolves plummeted from mid-air, landing into the moat with heavy SPLASHES.

"Prepare fire arrows!"

"Fire!"

A layer of pre-poured oil was already floating on the surface of the river.

BOOM!

The flaming arrows instantly ignited the river’s surface, and the flames immediately swallowed up the injured monsters that had fallen into the water. The remaining few Jackal-Wolf People who successfully leaped over the moat and reached the base of the city wall were quickly shot and killed by concentrated fire from above.

Gauss nodded in satisfaction. Aside from some inevitable panic and mistakes, the overall performance of the first actual engagement remained up to standard. Of course, this was also because Gauss had broken up the other Adventurers and soldiers, integrating them into his own Red Dragon Team squads and squadrons. With his more experienced members commanding the rest, the newcomers only needed to mimic their actions and follow the Red Dragon Team members in battle. If they were truly useless, no matter how strong Gauss was, his strength was ultimately finite; he couldn’t possibly protect every person and every place.

"Eden, hold the south gate and protect them well," Gauss instructed. He glanced at Baron Valentine’s position. He couldn’t let the local Lord die in action here, otherwise, he would have to bicker with the Baron’s descendants over his war profits.

"Alright, go on and don’t worry." Eden naturally knew that Gauss was heading out to fight again.

It seemed Eden was somewhat used to Gauss’s practice of leaving it here to act as a nanny. Anyway, Gauss had promised to share a portion of the war spoils with it. Once it received the money, it could buy some curious food, drinks, and reading materials for itself.

Gauss activated Wind Walk and quickly flew a half-circle around the perimeter, leaving many Clay Spiders in ambush at the base of the city walls. Then, his gaze swiftly took in the current situation across the wasteland.