Chapter 153: Siege Towers

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The flaming arrows began descending towards the siege towers.

THUD! THUD!

THUD! THUD!

One after another, they struck the enormous structures.

Within moments, small flames began spreading across their surfaces.

’’YES!’’

’’WE HIT THEM!’’

Each archer’s eyes lit up with excitement.

But unfortunately... it didn’t last long.

Although most of the arrows had struck their targets, the flames on several towers quickly began dying out.

Only one of the six siege towers actually caught fire.

Flames spread rapidly across its wooden frame, forcing several nearby soldiers to scramble away.

’’FIRE!’’

’’PUT IT OUT!’’

The Deres soldiers immediately began shouting.

Some rushed to get water while others tried kicking out the flames.

That was until one of their commanders stepped up and raised a hand.

’’LET IT BURN!’’ he ordered. ’’KEEP MOVING!’’

The soldiers gradually began calming down.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Slowly, the five remaining towers began moving forward again.

Meanwhile, Arthur couldn’t help but frown.

’Only one?’

His gaze swept across the machines.

For a moment, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

But as he squinted his eyes, he suddenly noticed something strange.

The surfaces of the remaining towers were covered in thick, dark animal hides.

That by itself wasn’t something crazy.

But the fur covering them appeared strangely flat, with the individual hairs sticking together.

’That’s it,’ he suddenly realized. ’He soaked them with water.’

Arthur’s expression darkened.

No wonder the flames weren’t spreading.

The wooden frame wasn’t even getting touched by the fire!

’Aldric anticipated this,’ he thought. ’At least we got one of their towers... the hides there must’ve been too dry.’

At the same time, Roderic stared at the towers in confusion.

’Eh? What’s going on here?’ he thought. ’Why aren’t all of ’em catching fire?’

Fire on wood and animal hides.

More flammable materials than those weren’t something you could find!

’I’ve seen houses burn down with just a spark in the pouring rain,’ he complained. ’This is some bullshit!’

His gaze flickered over towards Arthur.

The man seemed more than fine, already issuing another command.

’’ARCHERS!’’ he shouted, raising a hand to the side. ’’PREPARE ANOTHER VOLLEY!’’

Shrugging lightly, Roderic turned his attention back to his own task as well.

He pulled out another short blade.

For a moment, a flicker of aura lit up around his hand.

’Connected,’ he thought, smiling.

His gaze locked onto his targets, who were protecting a ladder beyond three separate Whitemane groups.

Without hesitation, he hurled the blade into the air.

WHOOSH!

It shot forward, just barely flying over the Whitemane soldiers’ heads.

Then Roderic opened his hand for a split second.

In an instant, the blade curved down slightly.

PUCHI!

It plunged into the lower neck of an enemy soldier just a second later.

A wide grin grew on Roderic’s face.

’Isn’t that fun?’ he thought. ’Thanks to that spatial awareness trait, it’s almost like a game now.’

Sure, the weapon recall wasn’t useful against strong opponents.

But these weaklings?

They didn’t stand a chance.

Roderic immediately picked up another short sword.

Without hesitation, he tossed it to his right side.

’Curve, baby, curve,’ he thought, opening his hand.

The sword began spinning through the air, curving around the Whitemane soldiers like a boomerang.

Only two seconds later, it hit its target.

SHHK!

’’F-FUCK!’’

The man’s eyes widened desperately as he glanced at his leg.

A blade had sliced through his thigh, severing a major artery.

Blood was already spilling out at a rapid rate.

For a moment, his gaze fell on the ground, locking onto the short sword lying there.

’’B-but where from?!’’

THUD!

The man collapsed only a few seconds later, his face completely pale.

Roderic’s grin only grew wider.

’That’s another one,’ he thought. ’I am hitting home run after home run, huh.’

He took out the last short sword and made a connection to it right away.

Before he could throw it, however, Arthur’s voice echoed out across the wall.

’’FIRE!’’

THWANG! THWANG! THWANG!

Another volley of flaming arrows streaked through the sky.

Arthur’s gaze followed them intently.

’Let’s see how long those hides can withstand the flames,’ he thought. ’That water will evaporate sooner or later.’

They just had to fire enough before Deres soaked them again.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The arrows struck the towers one after another.

Once more, the small flames quickly died out.

Arthur didn’t hesitate, ordering the same attack once more.

Another rain of flaming arrows descended upon the towers in no time.

And once again, most of the flames died down.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

But most wasn’t all.

A small flame slowly began spreading in the upper section of one tower.

It struggled to get through the hide for a moment.

’’FIRE!’’

’’IT’S SMALL, PUT IT OUT!’’

But before they even had the chance, it reached the wooden layer below.

After that, there simply was no stopping it.

Hearing the shouts, Roderic couldn’t help but pause his throwing too.

’Oh? Would you look at that,’ he thought, grinning widely. ’We’re actually bringing the towers down!’

For a moment, his thoughts halted.

Then he shrugged.

’Anyway, two down. Four more to go.’

As Roderic continued killing soldiers on the wall, volleys of arrows continued soaring through the air.

But by now, Deres had caught on and made sure buckets of water soaked whatever arrows landed.

Just like that, the towers kept getting closer to the wall.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Arthur’s expression darkened.

’We don’t have much time,’ he thought, turning around. ’Forty meters at most.’

His gaze swept across the walls for a moment.

The situation looked better than he’d expected beforehand.

Regardless, there was no time to thank the one responsible at the moment.

’’ARCHERS! FIRE AT WILL!’’ he commanded. ’’THIRD SQUAD! FOURTH SQUAD! REINFORCE THE WALLS NEAR THEIR TOWERS!’’

Several dozen soldiers hurried to their new positions right away.

Just then, a loud cheer rang out beside him.

’’WE GOT ANOTHER!’’

Glancing back, Arthur’s expression brightened slightly.

Another tower had caught fire.

Unfortunately, there was no time to celebrate.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The remaining three towers were mere meters away now.

Luckily, his soldiers had just barely finished forming their formations.

CLICK!

The towers came to a halt.

’’BRACE YOURSELVES!’’ several commanders shouted loudly.

The Whitemane soldiers instantly raised their shields, their gazes locked on the wooden drawbridges.

Not even a moment later, they began lowering.

Arthur’s expression turned serious.

’’HOLD YOUR POSITIONS NO MATTER WHAT!’’ he shouted.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

One after another, the bridges slammed onto the wall.

A deafening roar instantly erupted from within the towers.

’’CHARGEEE!’’

Dozens of heavily armed Deres soldiers surged forward, their weapons raised high.