Chapter 202: Demonized Creature Wave

Feilan City guarded a vital transportation route, an unavoidable waypoint for merchant caravans traveling north and south. Thanks to this prosperous trade, it had become one of the top ten major cities in the Kingdom of Pavlan, with a permanent population of over eighty thousand.

Today, however, Feilan City had lost its bustling atmosphere. Every household had its doors closed and bolted. Occasional low sobs echoed from within, and a heavy air of sorrow and despair shrouded the entire city.

The root cause of this sorrow and despair was the horde of demonized beasts continuously gathering outside the city gates.

Outside the City Wall, more and more demonized beasts, driven by some unknown power, converged on Feilan City from all directions. They stopped just out of crossbow range, standing in the fresh mud and glaring at the soldiers on the City Wall with crimson, malicious eyes.

Atop the City Wall, soldiers in standard armor stood motionless, their hands resting on their weapons. Behind them, logistics crews hurried back and forth, carrying bundles of arrows up to the City Wall. A heavy, solemn atmosphere hung over the ramparts.

Among the many armored soldiers, a massively fat man in ornate noble robes stood out conspicuously.

This flashy, spherical object of a man—so fat his eyes had practically vanished—was the current lord of Feilan City, Count Pedro Ureta.

The pampered great noble now stood nervously on the City Wall. His mung-bean-sized eyes peered through narrow slits, watching the demonized beasts outside the city gates.

Had the laws of the Kingdom of Pavlan not stipulated that nobles who fled before a battle would be stripped of their titles and all their wealth, the city lord would have long ago ordered his private Magic Consultant to teleport him away.

Seeing the sun nearing its zenith, Count Pedro Ureta fanned himself with a feather fan, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and asked the attendant behind him, Muni.

"How much longer until reinforcements arrive?"

The attendant answered cautiously, terrified of angering the already frantic city lord.

"My Lord, Lord Rolando's reinforcements had their path blocked by rivers swollen from the rain. It will take them at least a day to arrive."

Count Pedro Ureta nearly jumped, cursing profusely.

"Rolando, that bastard! He clearly wants to get me killed so he can take my place."

The attendant lowered his head even further.

Cold sweat broke out on Count Pedro Ureta's forehead. He fanned himself furiously, fraught with anxiety. The faint sobbing drifting up from the city only deepened his irritation.

Suddenly, the fat man noticed that the logistics crews responsible for carrying crossbow bolts and other supplies were short-handed.

"Muni, take a squad of men and round up all those commoners hiding in their homes! Make them help carry the supplies. Tell them that if the City Wall falls, not a single one of them will escape."

"Yes!"

Although Count Pedro Ureta was fat, greedy, and terrified of death, it was undeniable that he was a highly capable official. Otherwise, he could never have secured his position as lord of Feilan City.

Under the fat city lord's coordination, the strategic supplies in the warehouses were quickly emptied and transported up to the City Wall.

Count Pedro Ureta looked down at the anxious commoners gathered beneath the City Wall and had his Magic Consultant cast an amplification spell on him.

"Residents of Feilan City! Today! We may very well return to the embrace of the Lord! But no matter what happens in the next moment! Right now! We are still alive! And as long as we live! We must not give up hope!"

Pausing for a moment, Count Pedro Ureta continued his speech.

"In front of you! There are longswords! Broadswords! Spears! Use your hands and pick them up! Only by fighting back, only by slaughtering these damned beasts, will we have any hope of surviving!"

Stirred by Count Pedro Ureta's impassioned speech, the residents began picking up the weapons one after another.

Beside the Count, the general commanding the soldiers looked at the trembling commoners clutching their weapons and scoffed disdainfully.

"Lord Count, even with weapons in hand, these commoners are completely useless. Even if a sheep grows wolf fangs, it remains a sheep."

Count Pedro Ureta replied calmly.

"Even if they cannot kill the demonized beasts, at the very least, they can commit suicide. They won't have to watch helplessly as these demonized creatures eat them piece by piece."

The general felt a bit surprised and gave the Count a deep look, as if meeting this fat man for the first time. He then turned his head away and said no more.

By the afternoon, the number of demonized beasts gathered outside the city gates had exceeded eight hundred. Cold sweat poured continuously from Count Pedro Ureta's forehead.

Bear in mind that these eight hundred demonized beasts all possessed the strength of at least a Low Tier professional, whereas the total number of professionals within Feilan City added up to just over a thousand.

From the numbers alone, it seemed Feilan City still held the advantage, but in terms of actual combat power, they were the weaker side.

Demonized creatures fought without any fear of death. It often took three professionals of the same level just to hold off one of these crazed, bloodthirsty beasts.

Furthermore, demonized beasts had no concept of morale; they would fight continuously until the moment death took them.

Finally, when the demonized beasts' numbers swelled to nine hundred, they became restless and frenzied. They opened their maws and unleashed terrifying roars.

Suddenly, a soldier on the City Wall noticed the trees in the distant forest swaying violently and cried out in alarm.

"Look! What is that?!"

Following the soldier's pointing finger, everyone stared toward the thrashing forest in the distance.

Under their terrified gazes, a herd of demonized bovine creatures, each eight meters long, charged out of the woods.

"Demonized Azure-Horned Brute Bulls?!"

"Damn it!"

Watching the eight Demonized Azure-Horned Brute Bulls charging straight toward Feilan City, the general slammed his fist angrily against the battlements.

Azure-Horned Brute Bulls were a herd-dwelling bovine species of Transcendent Tier creatures, famous for their boundless strength and thick, tough hides. Moreover, even before being demonized, every Azure-Horned Brute Bull possessed Intermediate Tier strength. Now demonized, these behemoths were at least at the High Tier level.

The appearance of the Azure-Horned Brute Bulls acted as a signal, and all the demonized creatures launched a charge against Feilan City.

"Quickly! Loose the arrows!"

On the City Wall, the well-trained soldiers pulled their triggers. The bolts formed a dense curtain of arrows, raining down on the sprinting demonized beasts.

The bolts fired from the crossbows were still highly effective against the demonized beasts that had been transformed from ordinary animals.

And demonized beasts transformed from ordinary animals made up the vast majority of the demonized creature wave.

However, only a small portion of the demonized beasts were struck directly in their vital spots and fell mid-charge; most of the arrows hit non-lethal areas.

With the arrows piercing deep into their bodies, the demonized beasts—feeling no pain—were only enraged further and let out furious roars.

The cries of various animals blended together, sounding like a thousand ducks quacking all at once.