Chapter 637 — Defending the City

This was attire that stood out exceptionally on any occasion. From a practical standpoint, appearing on the battlefield in such bright armor would only make one quickly become the enemy's target, but here, only by being conspicuous enough could the defending officers and soldiers clearly see where the King was and maintain their high morale.

Whether it was the new King's coronation, the intelligence of reinforcements, or the Knight Order's iron grip on the various nobles, the fighting spirit and unity brought about by all these measures were temporary. This was a besieged, isolated city, and the enemies outside were endless. Even the most tenacious iron will would be continuously worn down under such a situation of holding out. Therefore, the King had to stand on the city wall, to prolong this "temporary" as much as possible.

A rush of wind sounded, and Boyu Franklin descended beside Wales Moen using flight magic: "Your Majesty, the shield on the western wall section has been recharged, the wall is self-repairing, and the defense line is temporarily stabilized."

Wales nodded lightly: "What are the casualties?"

"Three hundred and twenty soldiers wounded, twenty-seven dead on the spot, but the priest order arrived in time and the casualties did not spread further."

"And the western rampart?"

"Still intact. The shield blocked the strongest blow."

The so-called western rampart referred to the defensive structure comprising part of the main city wall extending forward from the western section, plus the entire western "guard fort." Corresponding to it was the eastern rampart. These two rampart structures were Saint Sunil's greatest reliance when facing attacks from the Holy Spirit Plain.

Wales let out a slight breath of relief, his gaze withdrawing from the direction of the plain: "If we maintain this situation, we can hold."

"But we will exhaust the mage towers' energy by the fifth or sixth day, and the Great Shield will also approach its limit. After that, we can only resist with human lives."

"Seven hundred years ago, our ancestors took this place with human lives. Now, defending it with human lives is no different."

Duke Boyu's gaze rested on Wales's face for a long time, and at last he said softly: "Your Majesty, almost no one has truly seen you clearly."

Wales did not turn his head, but said quietly: "In fact, their judgment was not wrong to begin with."

After two seconds of silence, Bai Yu let out a sigh, faint as a breath, and then said, "Your Majesty, if all goes as hoped, then in seven days Duke Gaoyang Cecil's army will arrive. However they managed it, this army has the strength to cut through these monsters, the power to quell this disaster."

"I know."

"...Then it seems this too was part of your plan."

For a time, silence fell over the city wall, broken only by the distant cries of battle and the shrieking explosions that streaked through the air. It was several minutes before Duke Bai Yu's voice broke that silence once more: "Your Majesty, one must always prepare for the worst. If the reinforcements do not arrive in seven days, are you prepared?"

"Of course," said Welsh Pingxi. "My name is Moen."

"Then Franklin be with you."

...

The dazzling stream of light formed by the "Calibrator" beam gradually dissipated, leaving only a twisted trail lingering in the air to mark where that terrible torrent had once existed. With the crystal cluster swarms on the riverbank that might have threatened the armored freighters eliminated, the entire fleet began to accelerate once more, pressing swiftly onward toward the northern bank of the Gorgon River.

Aboard the Pioneer, an enormous armored griffin landed steadily on the broad deck. A female griffin rider swung down from her mount, handed her partner over to the soldiers waiting to receive it, and then strode toward the bridge not far off.

Several minutes later, Amber came to Gaoyang's side:

"The griffin riders have observed signs of large-scale fighting far to the north, on the western bank of the Gorgon River. It appears someone is organizing a blockade of the riverbank to resist the crystal clusters crossing the river—judging by the magical reactions, the side holding the riverbank has not fallen into a disadvantage."

"It seems the royal capital has not been completely paralyzed... at least they still have the strength to blockade part of the Gorgon River's bank and prevent the contamination from spreading," Gao Yi nodded slightly, speaking with considerable relief. "It must be Duke Franklin's Western Legion that has arrived—the Western Legion's combat strength cannot match the Eastern and Northern Legions, but it is at least one of the national guard legions. Blockading a stretch of riverbank is well within their capability."

Amber nodded as well: "That way, for the time being we need not worry so much about the contamination crossing the river, and we can also link up with the north sooner..."

She had barely spoken half her sentence when she saw an Intelligence Bureau operative come running over in great haste, an odd expression on the operative's face, a sheet of freshly transcribed intelligence clutched tightly in hand.

Amber took the intelligence, glanced over it hurriedly, and then, with surprise, handed it to Gaoyang:

"Two major pieces of intelligence.

"First, likely because the fleet is approaching an intact relay station to the north, we have just restored communications with the Saint Sunil liaison station. The signal is unstable, but we can barely make contact.

"Second, Welsh Moen has been crowned."

:.: