City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

An Attack In The Night

Baron Fontaine experienced a fleeting ominous feeling. As one of the Direwolf Duke’s most trusted aides, he knew how much of a mystery Richard’s past was, and that he was linked in some way to the myriad planes. However, the Duke had still elected to work with the mage, so he would also treat him as an ally.

Fontaine didn’t suspect that Richard’s unusual behaviour was directed at himself, even at the start. There wouldn’t have been any need to wake him up if that was the case; Richard could have taken action right away. When he first welcomed Richard to his castle, he naturally had some defences in place as well. However, their interactions made him admire this young mage that was brimming with talent and elegance. Without any inside information, one wouldn’t be able to tell that he was a foreigner, being convinced by his act as a descendant of some ancient family.

However, the news that Richard had disclosed astonished the Baron greatly. News of Sinclair’s deeds had already spread across the human kingdoms like wildfire. Although the rumours had grown more and more exaggerated as they moved around, those who heard them agreed that it would be impossible to collaborate or even compromise with this demonic young lady. She was a complete lunatic, a perverted homicidal maniac.

The few minutes they spent waiting for the chief of guard seemed to take forever. “Perhaps… Should we leave?” Fontaine attempted to suggest.

“No, it’s too late,” Richard shook his head solemnly, “We won’t be able to outrun her and her knights. And once we leave the castle, we won’t even have any defences. It would only quicken our deaths.”

Baron Fontaine was a decisive person as well. Hearing this advice, he immediately decided to hole up and strengthen his defences, waiting for assistance.

Richard had already expressed his willingness to stay, and the mage and his group would be of great assistance. He himself was a level 10 mage, and his followers were no weaker. With such a powerful army agreeing to assist his defense, his confidence undoubtedly grew.

However, that growth was worth very little. The baron doubted his ability to defend against Sinclair, someone who had actually wiped out the allied armies of the Church of Valour, the Sequoia Kingdom, and the Iron Triangle Empire. His only hope was to defend the castle to his death, awaiting the Duke’s assistance. However, this glimmer of hope was also dim; the Duke’s army would take a minimum of three days to reach this place.

The captain quickly arrived, and Fontaine gave out a string of commands. He had someone go notify the army outside the castle to prepare for combat, before having some light cavalry dispatched every ten minutes to scout the direction Richard had pointed them in. Four fast horses and two messengers were prepared, ready to set out at any moment to request the Duke’s aid.

He then had Richard summarised the numbers, capabilities, and military structure of the troops Richard had brought, allocating them different posts to defend. Everything was in order. Finally, the baron sent people to inform his wife and children to get up and prepare to leave. However, he wasn’t so anxious as to sound the alarm that would mobilize everyone. Instead, he waited for news from the soldiers who were out scouting.

Once the initial shock had passed, the Baron had regained his composure. Although he completely believed Richard, he wasn’t about to cause a pandemonium in the castle based on a scant few words. Richard wasn’t worried either, keeping the man company in the study as they drank tea and awaited news.

At the same time, the broodmother transmitted a violent wave of energy to him. She was no longer a fuzzy glimmer of light in his mind, the divine power from the four idols that she had absorbed turning her into a twinkling star. She had managed to level up at this critical moment, completely digesting all the power she obtained and arriving at level 3.

Richard quickly inspected her new abilities, skipping past the options to add new drones and using all the energy to boost her speed. She could now fly short distances through the air, allowing her to cover twenty kilometres an hour, double her previous speed.

As per her previous orders, the broodmother was already hurrying towards Twilight Castle at full speed under the darkness of the night. Twilight Castle was fifty-odd kilometres away from the mountain ranges she was in before, so she would be able to get here fast enough to have a chance of entering the battlefield. Richard changed his orders with a thought, having her pass through the baron’s lands right after reaching the border of the mountain range, heading straight for the castle.

Within the woods on the mountain, more than a dozen wind wolves were gathered to protect two abnormally large eggs. Even though the broodmother had levelled up, she still wasn’t exceptionally fast. She thus decided to lay her eggs where she was, leaving wind wolves to protect them.

Half an hour later, the two eggs started to crack apart. Soon after, two enormous wind wolves crawled out, twice as big as their kin. They finished eating their shells, before shaking themselves dry and howling into the sky.

These wolves’ eyes glowed with intelligence and wit, completely different from the ordinary drone. They communicated with each other for a moment, splitting the wind wolves into two packs. With each leading one of the packs, they sped through the forests and rushed towards Twilight Castle at top speed.

In Twilight Castle, Baron Fontaine was already done arranging appropriate defences. The moment the alarm sounded, all personnel would instantly take their positions. He glanced at the clock atop the fireplace once more, his expression growing more gloomy. It had been an entire hour since the first batch of light cavalry had been dispatched, and not a single one had reported back.

He stood up and grabbed his sword, saying to the chief of guard, “Toll the bell!”

At the same moment, the messengers who were awaiting commands at the stable left stealthily through a sewer behind the lake. They crossed Lake Windermere under the mask of the night, reaching the shore across the baron’s territory. After passing through the forest, they would rush towards Duke Bevry’s lands to seek help.

Richard nodded inwardly as he secretly studied how Baron Fontaine made arrangements. The silence of the night was quickly broken by the low yet resounding alarm, the entire castle instantly awakened from sleep. Troops of soldiers marched out of the barracks, entering the castle in an unending stream. Their roles had already been assigned, and they immediately headed for their posts to stand guard.

On the highest towers of the castle, the soldiers lifted the tarp off the ballistae, twirling the capstans with force. Bolts as big as javelins were inserted into the machine one by one. Each one was enchanted; outside of sheer power, they could automatically lock onto targets and chase them down. These things could fire as far as a kilometre away.

Twilight Castle was originally a vacation home, its construction based on aesthetics and the view. Although the outermost structures could be used as a barrier in battle, there were inevitably some imperfections all over to accommodate the overall beauty of the castle. Its defences were thus quite weak, making these ballistae quite important.

Baron Fontaine had reinforced some of the parts when he acquired the castle, but even he had made sure not to affect its appearance. He had also paid a huge sum to acquire these enchanted ballista bolts. Anyone under the level of a saint would be heavily injured if they were shot.