119: Battle of the Duke's Mansion 1

This intelligence must be immediately relayed to the Kedas City Lord and Kovenreid.

"Depart for the Duke's Mansion." After I gave the order, over forty people quickly prepared and set off towards the North City.

Passing by Bane's Believers' den, the road was littered with trampled flyers and broken weapon handles, and four-wheeled grain carts were converted into temporary barricades across the intersection.

As I led the team through the blockade, I saw Flame Fist Soldiers dragging two Bane's Believers and twelve corpses of rioters into a corpse cart.

Kovenreid had dealt with the hidden danger of Bane's Believers and rioters earlier than I did; he was now commanding nearly 200 Flame Fist officers and soldiers, completely surrounding the Duke's Mansion.

Fuel Flame had set up his command center in a requisitioned civilian house near the Duke's Mansion; on the opposite side, figures moved on the Duke's Mansion walls, already preparing defensive fortifications.

The streets around the Duke's Mansion had been cleared.

"Kovenreid, has Kedas City Lord not arrived yet?" I walked into the command center, where Kovenreid was discussing the battle plan with his subordinates, looking at a hand-drawn map of the Duke's Mansion on the table.

"Their purification ritual still needs some time," Fuel Flame replied. "The City Hall is still searching for the Duke's Mansion's architectural archives."

"Gray Scale was rescued by a mage." I put away my bow and arrows.

"Gray Scale has returned to the Duke's Mansion and is commanding his private army to prepare for resistance." Kovenreid invited me to the desk. "He seems to have been freed from the charm spell."

I nodded and asked, "Is there any information about that mage?"

"No information at all." Kovenreid looked gravely out the window at the Duke's Mansion's gate.

"I suspect his mage level is greater than 5 or 7, or even above 13," I said.

Kovenreid looked at me in astonishment, "Why do you deduce that?"

"My guard saw them teleport away," I explained, "and to teleport with a living person, first, the other party must be willing, which means that before teleportation, Gray Scale had already been freed from the charm spell; second, what I understand about spells that teleport people are several conjuration spells of the third, fourth, and seventh circles, corresponding to minimum mage levels of 5, 7, or 13."

"Mages of levels 5 and 7 don't have much advantage in a human wave tactic," I continued.

"Are you saying it might be a mage above level 13?" Kovenreid's forehead began to sweat.

I nodded and said, "You think so too?"

Sparks flew from the cast-iron fireplace, and a certain staff officer accidentally knocked over the sand table.

Kovenreid's pale knuckles pressed against the table, his Adam's apple bobbing: "Is this his confidence in betraying the city?"

The entire floor suddenly fell into an eerie silence, with only the sound of everyone's breathing.

As I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to break the deadlock, footsteps sounded behind me.

"I heard Gray Scale has returned to the Duke's Mansion. What's the situation now?" Kedas walked into the civilian house, leaning on his holy staff.

"City Lord," Kovenreid and I said in unison.

Kovenreid picked up the latest reconnaissance report with a dagger: "According to cross-verification from three scout teams, the opponent possesses at least a third-circle group protection spell. What's more troublesome is..." He glanced at me, hesitating to speak.

"The person who rescued Gray Scale can cast high-level teleportation magic." I then briefly described the situation and my guess about the opponent's mage level, "I speculate that there might be a mage above level thirteen present..."

"Hmph, don't forget I am a level 10 Dawn Priest." Kedas slammed his holy staff onto the ground with a thud. "Against a mage around level thirteen, I still have the power to fight!"

"Kedas, you've already comprehended 'Divine Intervention'?" Kovenreid asked in surprise.

"'Divine Intervention'?" I said, puzzled.

"It's a priestly ability to summon divine assistance when I urgently need help," Kedas City Lord said. "Although it's not guaranteed to be 100% successful every time, I firmly believe there's a very high chance."

Kedas City Lord's gaze swept over everyone in the room, then he continued: "Moreover, even if the morning light lord doesn't respond to me this time, with the assistance of Priest Plum and Priest Bran, I am confident I can withstand the opponent's magic attacks. You just need to distract the other enemies. As long as we can hold on until there's a gap in his defensive magic, then that squishy mage will get a taste of what my holy staff feels like! Hahaha..."

Amidst Kedas's laughter, the previous gloomy and somber atmosphere dissipated.

The core and important members of the Allied Forces had all arrived, and we continued to discuss the attack plan.

During this time, the logistics team also successively delivered the army's lunch; all officers and soldiers ate until half-full, organized their weapons and equipment, and prepared for battle.

At the same time, the town criers began to widely proclaim the former Duke Gray Scale's treason and various related crimes throughout the city.

The gray-green stone walls of the Duke's Mansion carved a jagged silhouette in the North City, and four twenty-foot-high watchtowers, like iron fangs, pierced the sky.

I squinted, counting the cold glints flickering behind the tower battlements—at least two lightly armored archers were ambushed at each firing port.

A circle of thorny bushes was planted below the high walls.

The iron-clad, massive oak courtyard gate stood in the exact center of the Duke's Mansion's south wall.

From behind, the creaking sound of the battering ram's base grinding over gravel could be heard.

Thirty shirtless Flame Fist strongmen were dragging newly felled oak logs with wet hemp ropes; the un-dried resin on the bark dripped into the cracks of the flagstones with each vibration.

Kedas, Kovenreid, and I exchanged glances, and the Priest City Lord said, "Prepare for battle!"

Everyone filed out to their respective positions.

When Kedas's holy staff tapped three clear sounds on the ground, the bronze signal flare in Kovenreid's hand suddenly spewed sulfur smoke.

The crimson projectile exploded with a roar as it ascended to the height of the tower, startling all the roosting jackdaws within half a mile.

"Chirp... boom..."

As the signal boomed in the sky, protected by heavily shielded Flame Fist Soldiers, four groups of archers, led by me, began to fire upon the enemy forces on the four watchtowers.

My fully drawn short bow emitted the characteristic hum of its string, and with a double shot, two sharp arrows pierced through the chainmail collars of two sentinels in the southwest tower.

From the right, a five-shot bowstring tremor sounded; the mercenary ranger's arrows precisely struck the crenel gaps of the southeast tower, and a hit enemy lost balance and fell, landing in the thorny bushes with a dull thud.

After the remaining sentinels took cover, the other archer teams had no immediate results, but the continuous rain of arrows also kept the enemy forces on the watchtowers from raising their heads.

Flame Fist Soldiers holding massive shields, under the command of Fuel Flame Kovenreid, protected the pushers of the siege ram, slowly advancing towards the Duke's Mansion's gate.

"Acid arrows! Attack the courtyard gate!" I issued a new command.

Couriers John and George loudly relayed my orders to the other archer teams.

While most archers suppressed the watchtowers, specially made arrows with acid packets were shot into the gaps where the large gate met the courtyard walls on both sides.

Dark green corrosive liquid overflowed downwards along the gate hinge grooves.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle..."

The acid corroded the iron plating, emitting bursts of white smoke.

"Maintain steady advance! Shield bearers fill the gap on the left!" Kovenreid's roar echoed from behind the shield formation.

The Flame Fist Soldiers' studded massive shields formed a moving wall; through the shield gaps, the bronze spikes covering the siege ram could be seen already nearing the gate.

Just then, a dazzling white orb suddenly flew out from above the courtyard gate.

The irregularly shaped energy mass continuously expanded during its flight, and the acid white smoke in its path was illuminated orange-red.

The Flame Fist Soldiers responsible for flank cover immediately raised their massive shields, but the orb's speed far exceeded expectations...