On the city walls, the players' initial excitement had given way to sheer boredom. At this moment, they were all leaning against the battlements, yawning.
“What's up with these trolls? Are they just posing? They've been stalling for ages without attacking. My broadsword is about to rust!”
“Sigh... It really is a bit boring.”
“Idiot, can't you just open your background menu and watch some short videos?”
“...Good point.”
On the wall, the players grumbled. If it weren't for the fact that the enemy outnumbered them too heavily to win, they would have already charged down the walls to fight them in the open.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
At the front of the troll army.
A temporary military tent was quickly set up.
In the center of the tent, a waist-high statue of a troll deity wielding a giant axe was enshrined, and Kasal was praying before it in a low voice with a fanatical expression.
“Lord Kasal,” Savagebone's voice came from outside the tent.
“Come in.”
Kasal stopped praying and turned his gaze toward the entrance.
Savagebone's tall, muscular frame lifted the tent flap and walked in. Behind him followed a short, highly tense figure—it was none other than the Kobold Chief, Dogtooth.
Dogtooth quickly took a step forward, bowing with the utmost respect:
“Respected Lord Kasal, I am Dogtooth. I have come on the orders of our tribal Shaman to subjugate the humans of Starfall Forest.”
Kasal's gaze fell upon Dogtooth. He swept his eyes up and down the kobold, his brow furrowed in a deep frown.
“Silver Rank? Your kobold tribe sent a mere Silver Rank like you as their leader? You'll make us a laughingstock if word gets out.”
Dogtooth's face flushed slightly.
It opened its mouth, wanting to say, “The Shaman gave me a divine artifact,” but swallowed the words back down.
That was its trump card; it could not be revealed so easily.
Kasal couldn't be bothered to care about such trivial matters and asked indifferently, “How many troops did you bring?”
Hearing this, Dogtooth felt a bit embarrassed. Looking at the dense army of trolls outside the tent, its voice became as quiet as a mosquito's buzz:
“Se... Seven hundred warriors.”
“How many?!”
Savagebone's eyes instantly widened. “Just seven hundred?! Did you not encounter any human harassment or attacks along the way?”
“At-attacks? No...” Dogtooth looked utterly bewildered. Seeing Savagebone's agitated state, it shrank back in fear.
Its journey had been completely smooth sailing. Let alone a large-scale attack, it hadn't even seen a single human shadow.
Seeing this, Kasal's eyes narrowed slightly. The kobolds hadn't been attacked by humans?
This piece of information made his heart stir slightly.
The kobolds had come from the north, yet they hadn't faced any harassment along the way.
Meanwhile, they, the trolls, had come from the southwest and had been targeted by those humans since their second day in Starfall Forest, enduring two full days of harassment.
Where lay the difference?
He recalled the details carefully and quickly hit upon a key point—they had captured a red-haired human.
It was precisely after that moment that those humans had begun to appear around them in a steady, endless stream.
Could it be because of that human?!
The more Kasal thought about it, the more he felt he was correct. They had indeed only encountered the attacks of other humans after capturing that red-haired human.
“...Did that human carry some kind of magical device used for tracking?”
He pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly, deciding not to dwell on it. Whatever the reason was, it no longer mattered.
“From now on, you will obey our orders and merge your troops with ours.”
Kasal commanded directly, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Dogtooth froze, feeling a bit unwilling. It was a Kobold Chief, after all; why should it have to listen to the trolls? But when it looked up and met Kasal's icy gaze, the words died in its throat, and it could only mutter a sullen, “...Yes.”
Kasal watched Dogtooth's departing back with cold eyes. Only after the tent flap fell shut did he slowly speak: “It is hiding something from us.”
Savagebone was taken aback. “That kobold?”
“Yes.” Kasal did not explain further, merely adding indifferently, “But it doesn't matter anymore.”
“Lord Kasal, should we—”
“No need. It's just a Silver Rank; it can't stir up any trouble.”
Savagebone nodded and didn't press further. Instead, he reported the reconnaissance findings: “Lord Kasal, that city isn't very large. From its appearance, housing a few tens of thousands of people would be its absolute limit. There are signs of logging all around the city walls, so it was clearly built in a rush recently.”
“A few tens of thousands...” Kasal shook his head slightly. “It's impossible for there to actually be that many. And—” He paused, his gaze turning steady once more. “Our true objective was never to capture the city in the first place.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our goal is to subjugate the fake god.” Kasal's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable weight. “The mortals in that city are not the focus. When the time is right, I will summon the Demigod serving under our Father God to descend. At that point, everything will naturally resolve itself.”
Savagebone's face instantly lit up with pleasant surprise. “That's wonderful! With the Demigod here to back us, those humans won't be worth mentioning at all!”
Kasal nodded, then instructed, “In addition, have the trolls gather local materials to build siege weapons. We will begin a probing siege in two hours. There's no need to actually scale the walls, but we must at least let those humans witness our strength.”
“Yes!”
...
Soon, two hours passed. The players felt as though these two hours were the longest they had ever spent in the game.
Just as the players were growing impatient, the long, deep sound of a horn finally echoed from the distance.
“Wuuu—”
The continuous blaring of the horn echoed across the sky.
“They're coming, they're coming! They're finally moving!”
“Holy crap! The fight is finally starting! Any longer and I would've fallen asleep!”
The city wall instantly erupted into chaos. Those who had been slacking off, watching videos, or chatting all stood up in a flash. Grabbing their weapons, they crowded around the battlements, their eyes shining with excitement.
On the plain, the troll army began to move.
Out of the three thousand troops, two thousand remained behind to hold the line. A mixed vanguard of one thousand troll warriors and seven hundred kobolds pressed forward in a massive, dark wave toward the city walls.
The ground trembled slightly under their heavy steps, creating a terrifying momentum.
“Ranged classes, in position! Mages and Rangers to the front!”
Nan Cheng stood at the center of the wall, shouting orders. Long before the siege began, he had coordinated with guild players and solo players to deploy their forces, concentrating their ranged damage while keeping melee fighters on standby to fill any gaps.
Seeing the enemy enter their range, he abruptly waved his hand. “Fire!”
The moment the words left his mouth, the city walls burst with brilliant light.
A dense barrage of colorful magic spells, interspersed with a sky full of magical arrows, rained down toward the base of the wall.
At the same time, over a dozen catapults fired in unison, sending massive stones hurtling down from the sky with a fierce whistle.
“Scatter! Quick, scatter!”
Savagebone had not expected there to be so many spellcasters in the city. Shocked, he roared at the top of his lungs.
But it was a step too late.
Just as the spells and boulders were about to crash into the crowd, a thick, earthy-yellow barrier suddenly rose, stretching across the sky above the entire army.
Boom!
Deafening explosions rang out continuously. The vast majority of the attacks were blocked by the barrier, causing only ripples to spread across its surface.
The troll Shaman group in the rear had taken action.
However, the barrier was not invincible.
A significant number of attacks still leaked through the edges, and the kobolds at the very front bore the brunt of it.
This group was the weakest to begin with. Unable to withstand the concentrated fire of the Mages, over two hundred of them fell on the spot, their miserable shrieks echoing one after another.
The trolls, being much stronger, only suffered a dozen or so sporadic casualties.
“The Shamans protect us! Charge! Keep charging!”
Savagebone raised his giant axe and roared, leading his troops to press forward.
On the city wall, Nan Cheng's brow furrowed slightly.
The enemy had spellcasters capable of area defense, making them a tougher nut to crack than anticipated.
Just then, an old, steady voice sounded beside him:
“Let me handle this.”
Schutard stepped forward unhurriedly. Tapping his staff lightly, he began to chant an ancient divine spell.
A sacred golden light gathered at the tip of his staff, growing brighter and brighter.
In the next instant, the Tier 5 divine spell, Sacred Light Judgment, transformed into a massive golden spear of light. Carrying a majestic, overwhelming pressure, it shot straight down toward the barrier below!
Rate on N.U.
