The bell atop the tower of the city gate broke the silence of dawn again after a new wave of enemy was spotted. The citizens of Midlake had become so used to the piercing sound of the bell that the heavy sleepers slept through it, the commuters carried on with their chores.
The battle of life and death of the city was breaking out just outside the city but the people of Midlake no longer felt anxious when they heard the bell. The reaction to the bell was completely between the people inside the city and the soldiers at the wall.
It had been weeks that the city was under siege. The soldiers had experienced what an all-out war meant but each new day brought a new fear to their hearts. They could never adapt to the sound of the bell.
"How can we ever be accustomed to death?" Ethan replied to his manservant who asked him why he jumped off the chair when he heard the bell while having breakfast. "To you, it is just a bell to mark another day. To us, it is the call of death. Who has to go, no one knows?"
After filling his belly with a delightful meal, Ethan offed to the wall again just like any other day. At the castle gate, he found Cleo standing outside fighting the cold with the help of a blazer. He saw her waiting for him.
The scene was also seen by spectators at the tower. "She is at it again. Waiting for Champion to send him off." Maria relayed the scene she saw through the window to Louise. "What a vile vixen," remarked Maria, "I didn't know the princess would use her cooch to take the champion away from you."
Louise nonchalantly bit an apple and acted like he anticipated it. "Why? What was your impression of my cousin before?" Asked Louise.
Maria thought about it for a moment, "In the past, she always wore black garments even to the royal balls, and she always hid herself in the corner or at the tower so I thought she was an atoner. Then, she came out as a warrior princess with armour and blades. Now, she becomes a lady who only dreams of marriage and childbirth."
Louise scoffed. "What? Do You think she won't spread her leg because she is in armour? And your last impression about her is wrong. It is only acting. I doubt she even likes him. She is a freak who only eyes on the throne. In Revenant, she assumed the leadership position over me or Jonah. That's who she is."
"Don't wait for me here in the cold every day," Ethan told Cleo. He was worried that she would catch a cold so he acted like he hated it. But he was not able to conceal his smile. He liked it, that there was someone who prayed for his safety and anticipated his return. It gave him a sense of belonging. Cleo was the second person who gave him after Leila.
"But I want to," Cleo replied in a naughty tone. "Don't you think your armour is too tight here in the shoulder? Let me fix it for you." She showed her affection in front of the curious eyes. The servants and the guards who supported the princess enjoyed the scene bashfully meanwhile those who stood by the King's side turned their look away in discontent.
Ethan took Cleo's hands when she finished. He rubbed her icy cold fingers, "Don't let your hands cold. Wear gloves next time."
Ethan, fully energised by Cleo, rode off in full armour to the wall where the battle was raging. When he reached the battle, the enemy had already stepped foot onto the wall. A squire came and quickly relayed an urgent message from the commander, "The enemy has come in bulk today, sir champion. The commander asked you to join anywhere immediately."
Without delay, Ethan gave Ring, his mount, to the squire and joined the battle. A bastion with a mounted ballista was nearly overrun with the enemy. Two templers had led a special unit to destroy the ballista. Ethan would be late if he used the stairs so he conjured multiple vines horizontally against the wall and used them as stairs. He reached the bastion before it was completely overrun. With divine reinforcement on his body and the claymore, Ethan's attacks were unstoppable. Armours were cut, blades were shattered, and axes were broken as if all of them were made of paper.
Ten soldiers of the Crown were on their last legs protecting the ballista at the bastion. They were surrounded. Their teammates at the outer ring could not push the enemy back and reunite with them. When they saw their champion come to save them, their eyes re-glowed with hope. Together with Ethan, they started to push the enemy back.
The two Templers noticed the sudden change of tide. They had never met Ethan but they could feel that the armoured knight in front of them was highly regarded by peers. They shot a fireball into the air to alert their commander that the person of interest was at their location. Upon notice, the commander of the Retribution Army sent off a rain of arrows toward the spot.
The arrows attacked anyone on the bastion indiscriminately, and both soldiers of the Crown and Retribution Army were shot down. Ethan conjured a blast of wind and protected his men near him but he failed to save those in the middle near the ballista. When the Templers found out no amount of arrows could take down Ethan, they charged toward him. Ethan was pressured from both left and right. He deflected the attack from the right with his claymore while he stopped the left with the arm guard. Then, he moved his blade toward his left and drove it into the enemy's chest while his left hand blasted a fireball straight at another's face. Ethan's swift movements were hard to defend even for Templers. Crown regained control of the bastion instantly with the help of Ethan.
Ethan caught his breath before he moved to the next spot. He saw fireballs soaring to the sky from several spots where the Revenant members were stationed. "They have targeted Spellcasters from our side just like we do to their Templers. Quick! Notify the commander to send shield units to our Revenant members," grabbed Ethan a soldier to relay the message immediately. Not every Spellcaster and Templer were at the same level. There were not many who would be able to thwart massive arrow attacks like Ethan.
After catching a breath, he moved to the adjacent bastion which was also in a dire situation. The ballista there was already destroyed but giving a strong foothold on the wall would be an insurmountable problem for Crown's side so he rushed to the spot. He passed through the gaps between the clashing soldiers like a breeze with wind-steps. When he reached his destination, he twirled like a tornado and swept the enemies. He retook the overrun bastion back to Crown's control. He also burnt the ladders so that the enemy would not be able to climb up for a while.
However, the threat was not finished. He saw a towering structure approaching his position crossing the plain. More and more of those structures appeared in other places too.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"Enemy siege towers sighted! Ready the ballistas!!" An urgent order from the command tower came. Ethan looked for a way to repair the damaged ballista but the bow was broken so there was no way to fix it. Archers used fire arrows to light up the tower but the attempt was futile; even Ethan's fireballs were useless against the big logs of the tower soaked in water. Without having a choice, Ethan waited for the siege tower to come nearer. Under the cover of shield infantry against the enemies' arrows, Ethan picked up a large missile for Ballista and threw it like a javelin. When the metal tip of the missile met the thick wall of the tower, it splintered the log into pieces. Ethan launched another one, and another one relentlessly as if he had gone mad. The missiles broke the tower in the middle causing the upper part to crumble onto the lower one.
The soldiers of Crown cheered, yelling their champion's name in unison. They all thought a human couldn't throw those heavy iron rods but Ethan did the impossible. "He did what only a machine could." They were baffled.
The Crown was, in surprise, withstanding the full force of Coalition army comprised of Templers, and golden cloaks. The Spellcasters of Revenant balanced the tide of battle.
The sun had reached over their heads but the battle of the wall dragged on with no sign of withdrawal from Retribution Army. Waves of soldiers came one after another.
The battle raged on, both sides unyielding to each other. A thousand lives perished within one morning. Spilled blood flowed as a stream and formed a pool at the lowest part of the wall. The plain outside the wall was filled with carcasses of fallen.
Ethan was called back to the command tower over the barrack behind the wall to take a breather. The commander offered a meal. Ethan refused it. He could not even release his right hand which was tightly clenching the sword. He struggled to release his grip. His subconscious was still in battle although his body was not. The blood of the enemies he slew also tightened his grip when they were dried off between the fingers and the grip. He gave up the struggle and sat relaxedly with the sword in his hand.
At that moment, he heard the bell at the palace was rang. He jumped out of the chair and looked toward the town. The commander also joined him. To their surprise, there was a trail of smoke rising from a part of town. "Is that where granaries are?" The commander shockingly muttered, "Our grains are burning! It must be the work of the instigators. The town is under attack!!"
As if going down the long spiral stairs was too time-consuming for him, Ethan jumped out of the window from 24 meters above the ground. He landed on the roof of the barrack. He called his squire to get Ring and meet him at the granary. Without waiting for his squire to come down the stairs and get the mount out of the stable, Ethan hopped over the roofs of the townhouses to get to where the fire was. Like a breeze, Ethan travelled across the town on top of the buildings.
Before he reached the district of warehouses, Ethan heard a commotion from below in a neighbourhood. He stopped to investigate if it was the instigators. What he saw was a dark flying cloud made up of a swarm of black death stingers. The insect monsters were chasing after a group of civilians consisting of women, men, and children.
Two men stayed behind to fight off the swarm so that their families had time to run. They swept with their robes, fending off the swarm in the narrow alley. But three or four insects passed between the gaps and stung the two brave men to death. The rich man panicked when he saw his servants die miserably. The rich man pulled down a woman who was near him so that the insect monsters would mow down her first instead of him. He, then, pushed through the crowd in front of him. He trampled over a boy who fell. The rest also followed him; although they did not step on the boy, they did not help the boy up either. All of them were preoccupied with the instinct of survival. It was utter chaos.
Ethan jumped down the building and stood between the black death stingers and the injured boy. He shot a ball of fire and instantly obliterated a swarm of flying monsters. However, he also set a house ablaze.
"My store!!" A scream came from behind. The source was the rich man from earlier. "My silk robes!! My tunics!! Don't you have eyes!!?" The man blamed Ethan for his loss.
Before things got more heated, Ethan slipped away from the scene and headed toward the granary. When he reached his destination, it was the inner city guards were already engaging with the instigators. The guards were having a hard time fighting the fanatics led by a Templer.
The instigators were a group of fanatics led by a Templer who escaped from the temple when the Revenant attacked the Grand Temple of Midlake. They hid in the vast underground sewer system and waited patiently to carry out their devilish plan.
"This is your punishment for rebelling against the Lord and the Temple. The Temple has been the vanguard of the human against monsters for a century but you took our service for granted. You have prospered under our shade but you forget who you are. You forget our kindness and sacrifices. So, this is a befitting end for you. You all will die miserably, eaten by monsters alive. Only by opening the gate and letting the Lord's army inside, will you be saved and forgiven," preached the Templer.
Ethan was stifled by a burst of laughter when he heard a demon preaching like a holy patron. "Stop being a clown. The monsters would not be in this world without Mordu'. No orphans would lose their parents, and no parents would lose their children to monsters. Mordu brings nothing but pain to this land, and you, Templers, bring nothing but lies. Cut your facade. The people of Midlake have already seen the truth through your lies. But this new low even for you liars. Using monsters in the war. Have you no shame? Have you no honour? You have disgraced the code of warriors."
Templer shrank his face when his lies were seen through. He showed his true face, "so what? Mordu' is the Son of God, the ruler of both worlds: humans, and monsters. It shows his Greatness transcends beyond our knowledge. He commands all and we must live by his mercy. Challenging him is your mistake. He may punish as he sees fit; be it by monsters or by his servants."
"You have been blind. You fail to distinguish greatness and evilness. You have been lied to by Mordu' and you further spread that lie for that devil."
"There is no truth in this world. Are you a truth? It is questionable, don't you think? After all, even you, champion, are a lie made up to believe. Victors make rules and dictate truth. If you want yours to be the truth, try to win. Let me remind you though. Many faithful servants of Mordu' have set free an army of monsters in different parts of the city. They are ravaging the town as we speak. You have already lost. So, stop struggling and let me give you a rest."
The Templer launched a surprise attack amid conversation. Ethan dodged the sudden lunge by Templer easily as if he anticipated it and drove the holy claymore into the foul mouth of Templer so that the Templer could not lie again. "No. Midlake has not lost. Till I lose my breath or lose my grip, I will slay the monsters you set free and protect this city." Ethan swore an oath.
He headed off to the next place where there was screaming and fighting. Ethan tirelessly fought the monsters. Soon, the spellcasters at the wall also joined him and cleared the monsters inside the city.
After investigating, Ethan found one of the hideouts of the fanatics. It was the old couple's bakery in the hidden alleyway(ref. Ch73). He suspected something was off when he visited the bakery. He let it be due to pity toward the old couple. He regretted his decision. If he thoroughly investigated back then, he could have prevented this horrible massacre from happening.
Ethan saw the old couple watching him from inside. The old man was holding a bread cutter, contemplating to release the monster inside the barrel. He saw fear inside their eyes but no remorse for what they did to the people who were killed by the attack. He sighed. In a flash, he killed the old couple in the most painless way possible and sent out the punishment.
Ethan finally defeated all the rats that had been hiding in the sewers. But the damage had been done just as the Templer said. Countless dead bodies of the victims of the attack were lying around the streets and alleys of Midlake. The spellcasters had to call back from the wall to fight against the monsters roaming around the city, swaying the gentle balance of battle at the wall.
The soldiers of Crown without their Spellcasters started to lose their grounds. The bastions were taken over, and the gates were opened. The wall which had stood strong for a century was finally breached. Thousands of enemy troops walked into the city triumphantly; their eyes sighted only to kill, rape, and plunder in the name of retribution for their Lord.