This round of counterattack has caused massive casualties to the enemy forces.

Nevertheless, the army of the great nation still displayed resilient combat power, launching fierce attacks one after another in unwavering determination.

For them, retreating meant certain death, while advancing still held the possibility of turning the tide!

This time, instead of forming up together, they learned from past lessons and dispersed their forces in a scattered formation; each soldier carried a cloud ladder and charged fiercely towards the city walls.

The commander standing on the city walls furrowed his brows upon seeing this scene; with the enemy forces more spread out now, the effectiveness of their bombardment would surely be greatly reduced.

The enemy roared forward, charging ahead. As the third round of bullets began to rain down, a dusty visual effect followed suit; the sound effects continued to boom, but the impact was not even half as effective as the previous round.

Troubles were not limited to this. With the prolonged bombardment, the final reserve of magic bullets was also running out.

With no other choice left, the soldiers of the kingdom remaining on the walls had to bring out their last arrows and launch a few rounds of shots.

"Archers, be prepared to retreat at any time; fighters and berserkers go forward, ready for close combat!"

Both large and small nations inevitably needed to hire adventurers to strengthen their military power; the fighters and berserkers mentioned by the commander were exactly the fresh reinforcements recruited by the kingdom some time ago.

Originally intended to be the main force in the melee combat against the Dibiles army, these elites now found themselves, due to a failure in planning, engaging with their own allies.

As the commander's orders resounded down, the defenders on the city walls immediately adjusted their formation accordingly.

The archers previously at the battlements retreated a few steps back; following them, thousands of fighters lined up at the battlements while hundreds of berserkers wielding battle axes stood behind the archers.

The remaining archers were divided into three columns: the first column shot, the second prepared, and the last drew strings to shoot, all to achieve the best shooting effects.

In a moment, the archers had already fired their final shots.

Loose!

A volley of ten thousand arrows shot down from the city walls, instantly bringing down hundreds of enemy soldiers charging forward; the first column of archers then fell back as the second column advanced.

One by one, steel crossbows awaiting release immediately targeted the enemy soldiers still charging, sending another rain of arrows pouring down.

In this repeated cycle, the arrows from the city walls continued to rain incessantly, reaping down enemy soldiers like harvested wheat.

The enemies below were not idle; their archers and crossbowmen, upon their targets entering range, began to unleash arrows towards the city walls to suppress the defenders' long-range attacks.

Under the enemy's counterattack, the effectiveness of the defenders' archers was greatly diminished due to the terrain, hardly comparable to the impact from the defenders' side.

Slowly advancing in the midst of continuous casualties, the enemy forces finally, after paying a considerable price, succeeded in pushing a vanguard team to the foot of the city walls.

Soldiers quickly erected ladders, but during this process, two ladders were burned to ashes by the fire bombs thrown down from the walls.

By now, the final batch of enemy soldiers had gathered densely at the foot of the city walls; except for the archers who had depleted their arrows and withdrew from the front lines, other units such as magicians continued to hurl fire bombs with all their might.

Under the relentless assault of the fire bombs, the attacking side suffered heavy losses; however, the enraged enemies disregarded their own casualties and climbed up towards the walls, biting their weapons with teeth, all amid an intense, poignant atmosphere.

Both visible and invisible projectiles continued to rain down from above, demolishing three enemy ladders in quick succession; with two loud bangs, the ladders split into two sections, causing the climbing enemy soldiers to soar into the air like severed kites.

Even under such fierce attacks, the relentless advance of the enemy could not be completely halted; a moment later, they had ascended the city walls step by step using the last two ladders.

At this moment, the mages immediately retreated, and the adventurers formed a defensive line, preparing to meet the attackers head-on.

War, often a numbers game.

Despite having the advantage of the city walls, the total number of defenders, from the beginning, had only slightly exceeded ten thousand; whereas their opponents numbered over forty thousand determined individuals.

Even if one defender could take on two or three enemies single-handedly, they could not achieve a decisive victory independently.

After a series of flashing blades, the defensive line formed by the adventurers caused significant casualties to the enemy before eventually collapsing.

The enemy soldiers who had climbed the walls could finally regroup with their reinforcements and establish a stronghold on the walls.

Misfortunes never come singly.

As the war dragged on, the city walls eventually cracked under the relentless assault, only a matter of time before being completely breached.

For those enemies who had climbed to the end, their front was undoubtedly where the reward awaited them, named—

A one-way ticket to hell!

At some point, a girl dressed in a maid outfit had already been waiting with a short sword in hand for them.

"Let this new maid take good care of you."

Before the words had even finished, the head of the man in front of Qiuyan soared high after detached from his body.

Just like last time, this place was not bathed in blood, but the terror of death still loomed equally over everyone.

Considering that her master had not given any specific instructions and time was precious now, Qiuyan wasted no time and efficiently eliminated her targets.

*Kacha-Kacha-Kacha-Kacha-Kacha!*

She hurled her short sword, using a dart-like attack to swiftly claim lives of the nearest targets, evading any counterattacks by constantly shifting positions in a "spinning" motion.

Here is the exact sequence:

Qiuyan threw a pair of short swords forward, directing each towards the enemy on the left and right sides respectively;

Then, she advanced from the middle of the two directions.

With her agile movements, Qiuyan executed consecutive sideways somersaults, balancing her inverted body with just one hand each time.

Whenever she used her left hand to support herself on the ground, she reached out with her other hand to catch the falling sword, and then threw that sword forward again.

After her right hand released the sword, she flipped once more, switching tasks between her hands;

She would catch the sword with her left hand, throw it out again, and catch it with her right hand before the next somersault.

By repeating these actions several times, she advanced more than ten meters from her initial position, each sword strike claiming over ten thousand enemy lives.

When Qiuyan finally paused to catch her breath, those enemy soldiers who had struggled to climb the walls were all lying lifeless.

"Whew, did the master anticipate that I would rush to the battlefield and head elsewhere before time?" Qiuyan breathed heavily and looked towards the outskirts of the city.

While she did not believe she could see that figure with her naked eyes, she hoped that in that invisible place, her master could still triumph in the end.

After all,

"I don't want to strain my brain to think about how to take care of a new master anymore. You better extend my contract."

Although Qiuyan was not tired at the moment, the completion of the task reduced her tension considerably, and drowsiness began to creep in.

Sleep when you feel tired!

Following this principle, she lay down directly on the city walls; during her rest, the defense would be left to the remaining forces of the kingdom.

As the faint sounds of her breathing echoed on the battlefield, the eyes of the soldiers focused on the maid's figure became dull and stunned, seemingly unable to comprehend that their reliable comrade preferred to "relax" after completing a mission.

At the same time, outside the city walls, two individuals engaged in tactical warfare.

Le Song, leading the main army, had arrived in time to provide support, as he was informed of the ongoing battle within the city.

He deduced the reason for the kingdom setting up an ambush, as the flags fluttering in the air on the battlefield were still those of the Mielan Kingdom.

At this moment, with enhanced visual magic, those outside the city could clearly see this reality.

The presence of the kingdom's flag was still there, which was quite peculiar.

While it was not strange under normal circumstances, today was different. Lei Song had sent someone to meet with the King of the Kingdom, who happened to be his not-so-normal nephew.

Last night, considering the possibility of an ambush by the kingdom, Lei Song specifically told Yin Yanggang:

"When you meet the King tomorrow, don't rush to bring the Monarchy Emperor back. First, use your fist to sever the kingdom's big flag."

Yin Yanggang was indeed a good nephew and did not doubt this instruction, immediately agreeing to his uncle's request.

This proposal was a precautionary strategy by Lei Song.

In any other time in the Mielan Kingdom, the King would certainly resist fiercely against anyone trying to damage the flag.

However, the current King was different, known for his cowardice and shamelessness, a trait that was now widely known.

Basically, as long as the opposing party did not plan to burn down the palace of the capital, the current King would not resist at all.

Based on this, Lei Song had reason to believe:

If the King truly intended to surrender to the Inran Empire, he would not prevent his nephew from breaking the royal flag.

If the nephew's action succeeded, Lei Song would not have been able to see the flag from outside the city walls that should have been destroyed.