NOVEL NEXT Chapter 254: Desperate Situation
The three hurriedly ducked down and dodged in all directions. Fortunately, the flying debris did not take their lives. When Kyle looked up, he found that all three of them were still alive.
He let out a breath of relief and quickly rushed toward the basement. They were already very close to the entrance!
But the captain behind him grabbed him and pointed upward.
Kyle couldn't hear what he was saying, but he saw what he was pointing at—a Banshee. Her heavy armor was tattered and broken. She had just been smashed into the building and now lay unconscious on the stairs, her life or death uncertain.
The captain shouted something, and Kyle understood his meaning: they had to save this Banshee.
The Banshee was covered in blood, and many of the scales on her tail had fallen off. The captain grabbed her arm, trying to pull her down the stairs, but she didn't budge an inch.
When the Banshee stood up, she was over three meters tall. Combined with her heavy armor and weapons weighing several hundred kilograms, her total weight was nearly two tons.
The commissar also came to help. Kyle rushed up and grabbed the Banshee's armor. With a low growl, his muscles bulged, and his strong body exerted all its strength—astonishingly, the unconscious Banshee was dragged a short distance!
The three of them were anxious. Although they had managed to move her, it was far too slow. The monsters' attack was imminent—there was no time!
These people were not in good condition—most were injured. But as long as they could still move, they joined in. With their combined effort, they dragged the unconscious Banshee into the basement, collapsing from exhaustion afterward.
With a few loud crashes, the fortress completely collapsed. The stairs above were entirely blocked by rubble. Seawater had already begun to rise and was slowly flooding into the basement.
From the tunnel behind them came the sounds of commotion. The group turned nervously, only to breathe a sigh of relief when they saw that it was a squad of Holy Guards.
The newly arrived Holy Guards were clearly at a loss, frightened by the miserable state of the survivors, standing dumbfounded.
The captain, dragging his exhausted body, stood up and directed the reinforcements to take the wounded for treatment.
The unconscious Banshee was not easy to carry away. The captain ordered them to administer some emergency bandaging first, then find a cart.
The Holy Guards hesitantly began their work. Though unfamiliar with the battlefield, they were well-organized and quickly started tending to the wounded.
The battlefield logistics at Castel were always timely. The commanders seemed to have an omniscient view of every detail of the battle. Banshees were not strangers to injuries, and reinforcements usually arrived swiftly to aid their kin. Yet today, the tunnels remained eerily quiet—there was no sign of a second team of Holy Guards.
Kyle's heart sank.
A Holy Guard helped Kyle up. "The Lord's order is to abandon all outer fortresses and hold the cathedral!" He then escorted Kyle toward the rear, his eyes filled with curiosity and reverence.
"A recruit?"
"Yes, I was conscripted today. I used to be a stoker on the steam engine casting production line!" He puffed up his chest with pride, then hesitated and cautiously asked, "Is the situation really that bad?"
Kyle glanced at the unconscious Banshee nearby. She was still out cold, and the Holy Guards were bandaging her wounds.
It was said that Banshees could recover quickly, but the bright wounds on her serpentine tail looked grim and terrifying.
"Not great, but we can still hold on. Once we reach the cathedral, everything will be fine. The terrain is high there, and there's no seawater."
Kyle trailed off as he saw the fear on the recruit's face. He couldn't help but soften his tone, attempting to reassure him.
Just yesterday, Kyle had only just arrived on the battlefield. Now, he was already considered a veteran.
The situation had deteriorated too quickly.
Seawater continued to surge into the tunnels. The Holy Guards trudged silently through the water, retreating toward the rear.
At Castel Cathedral, Hughes had moved the command center directly into his office. The room was bustling with people, information continuously flowing in, and orders being issued rapidly.
Yet at this moment, Hughes was lying on a narrow bed, his face pale and voice weak. The people around him carefully avoided his resting area.
"Cough... Alexei, how is the front line?"
Alexei looked at the bedridden Hughes. He hesitated before reporting, "With the rising seawater, the monsters on the outer battlefield have begun to change form. Your orders were timely—most of our forces successfully withdrew."
"But the Banshees..." Alexei's voice lowered.
The Banshees had completely withdrawn from combat.
Hughes understood this better than anyone. When the seawater flooded the battlefield, Castel's Holy Guards were caught off guard, and several fortresses were instantly overrun.
The sea urchin monsters were unimaginably strong. On land, they were just large, slow-moving targets, but once in the water, they became nearly unbeatable in direct combat.
Even reinforced concrete was instantly punctured—and those were permanent fortifications. Hughes estimated that only the walls of Castel Cathedral might withstand their onslaught.
It was at that moment that the Banshees stepped in, holding off the sea urchin monsters for a brief moment, allowing the main force of the Holy Guards to retreat through the tunnels.
But the cost was enormous. The Banshees, despite their heavy armor and the power of the Symbiotic Contract, had not fallen in battle, but their life force had drained to a dangerously low level.
Almost all of them were severely wounded!
Even Hughes, who had not personally fought on the battlefield, was weakened to the point of collapse due to the life force extracted by the Symbiotic Contract. He had to lie down just to listen to Alexei's report.
"Alexei, you've been commanding at the front. Tell me, can the cathedral withstand the monsters' assault?" Hughes struggled to sit up, gripping Alexei's arm with a grave expression.
"If it's just the murlocs and arm monsters, we should be able to hold them off. Our machine gun nests are densely packed and can repel their attacks. But if the seawater keeps rising and the sea urchin monsters appear on the battlefield..."
He swallowed hard, his voice dropping. "Bullets have limited effectiveness against the sea urchins. Only explosive charges can inflict enough damage. But the ones who throw the charges—the Banshees..."
Defending against the sea urchin monsters was nearly impossible, and the seawater kept rising without pause. Eventually, they would all be submerged.
"I see..." Hughes slowly lowered his head.
"My Lord, we still have an airship. If the battle turns dire, please board it. You are the Border Count appointed by the Empress—you can go to the Empire for aid."
Alexei's voice was dry. He had never imagined he would say such words. The humiliation made his body tremble, yet he gritted his teeth and stood firm, his eyes red.
New weapons and factories—these were things beyond his imagination. He was a soldier, a top graduate of the Royal Military Academy. But every year, there was a top graduate. A lord like Hughes, however, might not appear once in centuries.
Alexei was certain—Hughes could change this era, change this world. Alexei had clawed his way up from an orphanage to a seventh-rank official, but Hughes had the power to ensure there would be far fewer orphans in the future.
Castel was a miracle. Every factory and school bore Hughes' vision and leadership. It was the fruit of everyone's labor. If sacrifice could preserve it, Alexei would give his life a thousand times over.
As long as Hughes lived, as long as their lord remained, another Castel would rise, even if this one sank. Islands could be swallowed by the sea, but ideas and beliefs could not. There would be another Chief Clerk, more people standing by Hughes, building one Castel after another.
Alexei's gaze grew resolute.