The Exiled Lord: My Maid is a Battle Goddess

Chapter 356: The Border Defense(2)

"Using captured civilians as disposable scouts. As expected of the Shadow World Sect. Slaughtering the local population indiscriminately would only devastate the morale of their own troops."

With a faint chuckle, Phield did not even bother ordering the fortress defenses to open fire.

Instead, he dispatched the demi-human cavalry through the hidden gate, circling around the unfortunate civilians before engaging the enemy light cavalry in mobile skirmishes.

Every demi-human rider was an elite horse archer, highly skilled in mounted combat and capable of firing accurately with either hand.

Within moments, they had shot down more than a dozen enemy cavalrymen.

After effortlessly driving off the two enemy light cavalry units, they formed a battle line and charged toward the civilians.

The overwhelming presence of galloping warhorses was something ordinary civilians simply could not withstand.

Long before the cavalry reached them, the thousand terrified commoners completely collapsed in panic, scattering in every direction.

There was no need to pursue them.

The demi-human cavalry immediately wheeled around and returned to the fortress.

"Hmph. Their light cavalry is exceptionally well-trained, and whoever is commanding the fortress has remarkable nerve. They actually dared open the gates under those circumstances."

"Bring me three more Second Tier Divine Chosen along with their lords."

Larson let out a cold snort.

"I’ll show them what a textbook siege looks like. Finish the siege engines as quickly as possible. We’ll launch the assault first thing tomorrow morning. Those defenders are going to hell."

July 21st.

Early morning.

Veronica mounted her warhorse, rested her spiral lance across her shoulder, and shouted,

"Attack!"

"Blood sacrifice to the true god!"

Countless soldiers roared in unison as they pushed crude battering rams hastily constructed overnight or carried long hooked siege ladders, surging toward the border fortress like a tidal wave.

"Miss Clover, please order the undead to begin the assault."

"Alright."

The little girl nodded.

"After all, that’s our road home."

With a single thought, the silent undead simultaneously raised their heads and advanced toward the fortress in chaotic formations.

"Corrupted cavalry, protect the infantry’s flanks!"

Riding an undead warhorse, Mushai loudly issued his orders to the undead before him.

The leading corrupted cavalryman had barely received the command before a massive boulder came screaming down from above.

Boom!

Horse and rider were instantly smashed apart.

Rotting limbs and filthy blood exploded through the air.

The boulder continued rolling forward, crushing another three or four riders before finally coming to a stop.

"Damn it!"

Fury flashed across Mushai’s face as he glared toward the fortress walls.

"The catapults are calibrated, my lord!"

reported the soldier operating the siege weapon.

"Target the densest enemy formations."

"Fire!"

Huge polished stone spheres soared through the air, launched by the catapults’ throwing arms.

Dozens of chaotic arcs streaked across the sky before crashing directly into the packed enemy formations.

Since the rebels occupied nearly the entire battlefield, the catapults achieved astonishing accuracy.

The moment the boulders landed, screams erupted throughout the ranks.

One cultist shivered as he continued chanting prayers while advancing.

Before he could finish, the soldiers directly ahead of him were swept away by an enormous stone.

Intestines and shredded flesh splattered across his face.

His eyes rolled back.

He collapsed unconscious.

Inside such tightly packed formations, losing consciousness was little different from dying.

Countless feet trampled over his body.

"Raise your shields and advance! Anyone who retreats dies!"

After personally executing seven or eight deserters, officers throughout the Shadow World Sect roared at the tops of their lungs, forcing the soldiers to maintain formation.

Though the officers themselves trembled with fear, their combat experience told them one simple truth.

Whether a stone hit you or not was mostly a matter of luck.

Another enormous boulder descended like a meteor.

It bounced repeatedly through the formation, carving a bloody path as dismembered rebel bodies flew in every direction.

"Damn those catapults."

Veronica’s chest heaved with anger.

"Don’t think there’s nothing I can do about them."

"Lady Veronica, please conserve your divine power."

The knight adjutant hurriedly advised,

"We haven’t encountered the enemy’s Divine Chosen yet. Every bit of divine power must be spent carefully in battles between Divine Chosen."

"Hah."

Veronica bared her teeth.

"Since when do I need to explain myself to you?"

She fixed her savage gaze upon the fortress walls.

With a wave of her hand, icy crimson divine power surged forth, gathering around her divine lance.

Veronica shouted,

"Third Tier Divine Skill, Crimson Cataclysm!"

Watching a catapult smash an approaching battering ram into splinters, Ben clapped excitedly.

"Beautifully..."

Before he could finish speaking, a colossal crimson slash descended from the sky across the city wall.

The catapult being reloaded was struck head-on.

The young laborers and soldiers transporting ammunition were swallowed together with it.

Boom!

Veronica’s Divine Skill blasted the catapult into the air, even blowing away a large section of the battlements.

"Damn..."

Ben stood frozen for three full seconds.

The praise stuck in his throat.

For a moment, he had no idea what to say.

"The enemy has a Divine Chosen who specializes in siege warfare."

"That’s a serious threat."

Standing atop the command platform, Ophelia merely glanced at the destruction before calmly issuing her orders.

"Record that ability and report it to my lord. The enemy has reached effective range. Switch the catapults to grapeshot. Prepare the ballistae and magic towers. Archers, ready yourselves!"

The earlier bombardment had dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the rebel human legions.

Even as the overseers forced them forward, their advance noticeably slowed.

The undead, however, knew nothing of morale.

They continued marching at their original pace and quickly became the front line.

And becoming the front line meant facing the full fury of the fortress’s defenses.

"Fire!"

The instant Ben gave the command, countless arrows erupted from the walls.

The sky darkened beneath a swarm of missiles as they saturated the advancing undead formations.

Although the rebel undead had once belonged to the Imperial Army, their equipment had long since decayed.

Their protection was even worse than intact leather armor.

Large numbers of undead collapsed with muffled groans.

The real nightmare arrived immediately afterward.

The grapeshot and blazing magic fireballs.

Under the combined might of physical bombardment and magic, creatures of flesh became nothing more than pathetic jokes.

A mere graze meant death.

A direct hit reduced flesh and bone to fragments.

Whether ordinary undead or ranked undead, all of them were as fragile as paper.

Nearly half of the first undead formation was annihilated.

"Keep advancing, my brethren!"

"Tear my enemies apart!"

Clover let out an unconvinced snort.

"Third Tier Divine Skill, Directed Hyper Evolution!"

The surviving undead within the shattered formation were infused with immense divine power.

Flesh regenerated.

Bones reshaped themselves.

Their limbs twisted into grotesque new forms.

In the blink of an eye, they evolved into specialized Third Tier undead built for climbing.

The climbing undead clung tightly to the fortress walls, scaling upward in grotesquely twisted postures.

Along the way, seven or eight of them were blown apart by powerful defensive ballistae.

The majority, however, continued climbing relentlessly.

"This time it’s the Corruption Divine Chosen’s Divine Skill."

Ophelia frowned.

"This is troublesome. It can actually evolve ordinary undead."

"Crossbowmen!"

"Switch to Holy Light arrows."

Phield immediately gave the order.

"Don’t forget, this is the border fortress. A handful of crawling vermin actually think they can scale these walls?"

"Loose your arrows!"