31: Successfully entered the city

Upon hearing Martin's speculation, Butler's eyes immediately widened, and he retorted:

"Magic weapons? Impossible. If those four thousand-plus people were all using magic weapons, how much wealth would that be? Even Arthur's father, Count Abergh, would exhaust his family fortune!

Besides, with that much money, wouldn't it be better to cultivate powerful individuals?"

The power of the gale repeating crossbow was indeed terrifying, but Butler and Martin were both knowledgeable people, and they could see that.

The gale repeating crossbow's attack would at most be effective against Silver Knights; it couldn't threaten Gold Knights.

And the twenty million gold coins needed to purchase four thousand magic crossbows could cultivate several Gold Knights, which was simply not worth it for ordinary people.

Martin heard Butler's rebuttal and wanted to object, but his limited perspective as an ordinary person prevented him from knowing how to argue, so he could only say helplessly:

"There's no point in us arguing here. We can just ask Baron Arthur later!"

"You're right!"

Hearing this, Butler nodded in agreement.

While the two were arguing, David, the Grand Alliance Leader of Northern Bulwark City, was also excitedly shouting after seeing Arthur's army's might:

"Open the city gates immediately!"

Meanwhile, because the gale repeating crossbow required thirty seconds to reload after a triple shot.

So, after Arthur's four thousand crossbowmen eliminated the five thousand Gnolls blocking their way, he didn't linger in battle but continued to issue commands, heading towards Northern Bulwark City.

"Continue the charge!"

At this time, Arthur's army was less than five hundred meters from Northern Bulwark City's South Gate, so after just one minute, they entered Northern Bulwark City through the open city gates.

"Close the gates!"

Seeing that Arthur's army had mostly entered Northern Bulwark City, David also issued the order to close the city gates.

Only two Mountain Giants were left outside the city to continue blocking the Gnolls.

At this point, the Gnolls coming from the east and west for support could be vaguely seen, so the Mountain Giants no longer lingered in battle.

After repelling another wave of Gnoll attacks, they went directly to the city gate, leaped, jumped over the thirty-meter-high city wall, and entered Northern Bulwark City.

This left the remaining Gnolls outside the city to merely stare, even if a few of them were not inferior to Gold Knights, they dared not jump in directly, as that would be walking into a trap.

There were also many human powerhouses in the city.

Finally, they had no choice but to curse in the common language of the continent to relieve their depressed mood.

David, Butler, and others had already accumulated considerable hatred for the Gnolls through the previous day's battle, and now hearing their curses born of resentment, they found it incredibly pleasant!

At the same time, when David and the others looked at Arthur, the source of their pleasant mood, their gazes became exceptionally benevolent.

To express their goodwill and respect for Arthur, David and over a hundred other lords immediately descended the city wall to greet Arthur, who had just entered the city.

The two parties quickly met on the main road below the South City Gate.

David looked at Arthur, whose handsome face still carried a hint of youth, and thought of his army's terrifying achievement of killing ten thousand Gnolls without loss.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly:

"What a terrifying young man. To have such power at such a young age, his future achievements are unimaginable. I must befriend him."

Thinking this, David's smile became even more amiable:

"Baron Arthur, I am David, who communicated with you earlier using the magic communicator.

On behalf of everyone, I express our deepest gratitude for your coming to Northern Bulwark City to fight against the Gnolls with us!"

Arthur saw David speaking so politely and returned the smile:

"Not at all, this is what I, as a human, should do. The threat of the Gnolls is still great, so we must cooperate well in the future!"

"Of course!"

David saw that Arthur, despite his youth and achievements, was neither arrogant nor impetuous, and his smile became even more sincere.

The two were about to continue their pleasantries when a shout came from the city wall:

"The Gnolls from the east and west have all gathered!"

Hearing this shout, a serious expression appeared on David's face:

"There will be plenty of time to gather later. Baron Arthur just inflicted massive casualties on the Gnolls, and we don't know if they will retaliate immediately, so let's go up to the city wall first and observe the situation!"

"Indeed!"

What David said made a lot of sense, and Arthur naturally wouldn't object.

Just like that, David brought his hundred-plus lords.

Arthur, accompanied by Karona and two Gold Knights, including Chris, ascended the South City Wall.

At this time, after the Gnolls from the east and west had converged, the Gnolls outside the South City Wall had reached nearly one hundred thousand.

This was a terrifying number; even though everyone had just experienced a victory, seeing the dense mass of Gnolls, their expressions still couldn't relax.

Arthur glanced around and saw that several leading figures among the Gnolls were gathered, discussing something with agitated expressions.

Arthur guessed they were deciding whether to immediately attack Northern Bulwark City in retaliation.

Northern Bulwark City had always been in a state of readiness, so there was nothing to do now but quietly wait for the Gnolls to make their decision.

Meanwhile, in the Gnoll camp, a Gnoll radiating an Aura not inferior to an Earth Knight was scolding another Gnoll, who was not inferior to a Gold Knight, to no end.

The former was Kenchi, the leader of this fifteen-thousand-strong Gnoll army; the latter was Kree, who had previously commanded the forty thousand Gnolls on the South City Wall.

"Kree, are you trying to get yourself fired? It's been less than ten minutes since we rushed here to support.

But under your command, our tribe has lost as many as ten thousand warriors. If I didn't think you were still somewhat useful, I'd really cleave you in half with one blow!"

Hearing Kenchi say this, Kree felt very wronged. The humans he encountered before were all so weak, so why were the ones he met today so abnormal?

But facing the enraged Kenchi, he still had to explain, feeling wronged.

"Lord Kenchi, the failure of this battle was not my fault!

You didn't see it, but the new humans not only have two Mountain Giants as subordinates.

The crossbow bolts fired by his four thousand crossbowmen are also incredibly powerful. When our Gnoll warriors are hit, there are fist-sized holes in their bodies, and they immediately lose their combat ability.

If you don't believe me, I can have someone bring the bodies of the warriors who just died in battle; that would be proof."

Kenchi was startled when he heard Kree mention Mountain Giants, as they were powerhouses even he couldn't defeat.

Now there were two of them.

As for the crossbow bolts, Kenchi was surprised but not particularly concerned, as they posed no threat to him.

"Then have someone bring up the bodies of the warriors who just sacrificed themselves!"

Soon, two Gnoll corpses were brought up. One of them was no longer recognizable as a wolf, completely pulverized, a result of a Mountain Giant's attack.