Section 11 Small victory

"Master, high energy reaction!" reminded Carrie in her head.

From the rear of Paro's army, a ball of light glowing blue emerged from the air, condensed, and flew towards the city.

But there was an invisible shield of energy above the castle, and the ball of light suddenly disappeared like a soap bubble before it touched the wall.

"Master, it is the strength of the prophetess. ”

Eshurufat could feel that the energy that the Paro Wizard had drawn and woven from the wind of magic was unwoven by the prophetess in the opposite direction, and returned to the wind of magic. Unweaving is a higher technique, but it is actually more labor-saving. Eliminating a spell only takes one-third of the effort to weave it.

Another spell appeared, but this time it was also dissolved by the Prophetesses. This swift reaction surprised Ashrufat slightly.

"No need to be surprised, hosts. As long as you practice carefully, you will be able to master this technique sooner or later. Carrie explained.

But the magicians don't seem to be able to do their job. They looked as if they were out of this fight. So far, at least, they've only thrown a spell every now and then. Then he was lifted by the prophetess.

The ladder rested against the city walls. With shouts of killing, Paro's soldiers climbed up the ladder.

The artillery intensified its fire at this time, and a shell hit a battlement very close to the turret. Iron balls struck shards of stone and wood. An unsuspecting archer, whose face was covered with sharp gravel and wood chips, fell screaming. He rolled on the ground, screaming terrible.

Farther away, the enemy was already climbing up the ladder. But they were greeted by hordes of knights, and the Paro soldiers were besieged as soon as their feet landed on the walls, and were killed almost without a chance to resist.

And under the city, the Paro soldiers, who were gathered under the ladder, became better targets. The militia sprinkled the molten tin and lead, and the molten metal exerted terrible lethality, burning the flesh and blood of a person if it touched it. Not even iron armor can stop this kind of thing. The screams of the city came and went.

But the Paros climbed up in spite of everything. Although they were still being killed, shot, and burned, they rushed to the top of the city in desperation. The place where the knights had previously held on to it was already showing signs of loosening. Although the soldiers who jumped up to Paro were still besieged and killed, they also began to occupy small pieces of the city, protecting their new companions with their lives and climbing the walls.

"Lord Ashrufat, we're asking for reinforcements!" a knight said to Ashrufat, running over to him.

William Dale led the reserves and waited for reinforcements. If the signal is given now, his troops will be able to come to his aid immediately.

"Not yet. He replied in a low voice, and then walked out of the tower with his sword in his hand, and went up to the wall.

He rushed to a place where there were the most Paroes, and then ordered the knights, who had been exhausted from the battle, to retreat. Then he himself rushed forward, and swung his sword in a circle, cutting the first two Paro hoplites in four. The other enemies retreated in terror, but Ashrufat pursued them. With a sword in both hands, he slashed with superhuman strength and speed, completely overpowering the resistance of the Paro. When the last Paro man was cut off half of his head with a single sword, that man's eyes still flashed with disbelief.

Then he rushed to the next breach, a wind of death and blood under his sword. One by one, the human body and the armor were separated and shattered under his sword. At the end of the day, some Paros even turned around and jumped off the walls in fear and despair.

The drums of the city sounded again. This was a signal to urge the second wave of troops to attack.

It's time.

"Trumpet, trumpet!" cried out to the trumpeter, who was in the safest position above the tower.

At this time, under the city, several officers, accompanied by magicians, watched the battlefield. To the sound of drums, the second wave of infantry shouted and rushed forward, over the low walls and trenches, and straight for the ladders that had been erected.

"It seems that the knights of St. Jean do not know how to defend the city at all. The officer who looked into the distance commented with a smile. Things turned out to be much better than expected, and the first wave of attacks not only rushed to the top of the city, but also held on to the walls for a long time. Even at this moment, there were shouts of killing on the city wall.

He had reason to be so happy, because it was not Paro's own soldiers who paid the sacrifice. Rather, mercenaries. No one has the luxury of hoping to break the city in one go, so now it's just a matter of temptation and attrition. This kind of task naturally falls to the mercenaries. You know, no one can count on the loyalty of mercenaries in times of crisis. But other times, they're useful.

"For the sake of chivalry, they are reluctant to even touch gunpowder weapons. A magician replied. "They use bows and arrows...... Although bows and arrows are not bad, human physical strength is always limited......"

He wasn't wrong. At this moment, the archers at the head of the city have probably shot dozens of times on average, and their physical strength has been greatly consumed. The rain of arrows fired at the second wave of attacking troops was not only reduced in number, but also much weaker in terms of strength.

And the speed and frequency of cannon fire did not change at all. In addition to the necessary cooling, gunpowder did not require a break.

"In short, it seems that Thomas of St. Jean is nothing more than that. He wasn't good at defending the city, and I thought he really could do anything......" the officer said dismissively. The shouts of killing above the city gradually decreased, indicating that the knights of St. Jean still had an advantage in close combat. But how long can this advantage last?

The trumpets sounded on the city wall, woo...... Whining...... Whining...... , low and long, like this winter cold wind, sending the breath of slaughter into everyone's heart, which makes people shudder.

The sky darkened, as if a net had appeared in the sky and fell from the sky. The next moment, people found the stone. Countless stones beckoned to them like hailstones, hundreds, thousands, innumerable in an instant. The crowd in the charge was smashed to the ground by a swarm of stones, and the shouts turned to wailing.

Behind the walls, William Daley was urging the catapults with all his might.

"Quick, quick, reload now!"

A second wave of stones flew in. None of these stones are very large, but they are either dead or injured when they hit a human. Armor does little to protect against it, as a hit is powerful enough to break bones.

It is clear that the ballistics of the catapult were calculated. Because all the stones were over the city walls, and fell right on the heads of the second wave of stormtroopers.

The sudden attack shattered the mercenaries' courage to continue fighting. They turned and fled, leaving behind the remnants of the first wave of attacking troops below the walls, where they were slaughtered by the defenders with falling stones, oil, burnt lead, and bows and arrows. All who climbed to the top of the city were killed, and those who took refuge under the city were not spared.

Honk...... Honk...... Doodoo Doodoo...... , a loud and untamed horn sounded. With this sound, the city gates were opened and the drawbridge was lowered. Under the panicked gaze of the Paro army, a group of knights rushed out, and a banner of the golden chalice fluttered over the heads of the knights.

Although Paro has officially renounced his belief in the gods of nature and instead worships the gods of the star field. But all of them know the power of the Holy Grail Knights. The entire Paro army was in an uproar, and the mere appearance of the Grail Knights was alarming, as no one wanted to confront these fanatical religious knights head-on.

"Quick! magic!" Commander Paro realized his danger.

The mage could no longer care about preserving his strength, and four spells were cast at the same time, directly thrown at the charging Grail Knight. Two of their spells were dissolved by the Prophetess, and the other two hit the Knight of the Grail.

However, the Knights of the Grail are surrounded by a divine light, and the blessings of the gods of nature are with them, protecting them from magic. Not a single one wavered, not one hesitated. The knights shouted praises to the name of the gods, and charged with terrifying force into the defeated army of Paro.

Seeing that there was no hope of escape, the mercenaries gathered in a group and tried to put up the last resistance, but they were trampled by the Grail Knight. Not a single group of improvised gatherings could withstand their heroic charge, not even the slightest retardation.

The rear army of Paro, which had not yet been put into battle, suddenly became chaotic. Although the Paro people have officially declared the gods of the Star Domain as the state religion, there are still many followers of the gods of nature. Half fear of the Grail Knights, half fear of the punishment of the gods of nature, the believers threw down their weapons and turned around and fled while shouting "Divine punishment is coming", ignoring the officers' resistance.

In an instant, the entire Paro army collapsed. Both officers and soldiers fled with their legs. An army of tens of thousands of people completely collapsed in front of three hundred Knights of the Holy Grail. They are no longer armies, but lambs dominated by fear, at the mercy of the enemy, but no one dares to turn back and resist.

More knights rushed out of the city, sweeping away all the routs that remained on the battlefield. Eshuruphat gathered all the knights he could muster as quickly as he could, and rushed out of the east gate to attack the Paro army that was besieging the city to the south.

However, he was still a step late. The Paros are not fools. They had already learned of the collapse of the troops responsible for attacking the eastern wall, so they retreated towards the camp in an orderly manner as quickly as they could.

Faced with this situation, the expeditionary force did not dare to attack head-on, and could only watch the enemy retreat into the camp and return.

The day's siege ended at noon. The entire battlefield was filled with the miserable cries of Paro's wounded soldiers. Incapacitated, abandoned by their comrades, and unable to receive the mercy of the enemy, they can only lie on the ground and wait for death to come. Luckily, most of them were badly injured and the weather was cold. After a few hours, the sound had largely subsided.

......

"We have been defeated by an enemy who is less than a tenth of us!" At the Paro camp, General Rudolph burst into a rage! His officers were silent, and not one of them dared to bear the general's wrath at this time.

"We were careless. Koenig, the chief of the magicians, finally spoke.

"We completely forgot about the Thomas style. He is resourceful, but he is even more courageous! Yesterday he dared to go out of the city and fight alone, which is the best proof of this. We think of our enemies as turtles that can't get out of their heads, but in reality they are red snakes curled up in a ball. Whenever you find an opportunity, you will take a bite. ”