Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

The siege, where those outside the city want to enter and no one knows what those inside the city desire... but one thing is certain—they do not wish to let those outside in.

After weeks of attrition warfare, Winters set foot within the city walls for the first time.

He encountered no adversaries, nor did he step into any traps. The soil underfoot was exceptionally muddy, saturated with a red liquid.

Limb fragments were strewn everywhere; the six-round barrages had not only shattered the spirits of the Tanilians but also destroyed their bodies.

Venetian soldiers who stormed the breach had slaughtered all the Tanilians still alive—they wouldn't have survived much longer anyway, and a swift death was a special kind of mercy.

As Colonel Volbon had anticipated, the defenders had packed thick mounds of earth behind the city walls. However, not all sections of the wall were reinforced in this way, and it seemed only those targeted by heavy bombardment were buttressed with earth.

Low, crude wooden shacks appeared and disappeared in the sea fog, their familiar construction making Winters feel as though he had returned to his hometown.

The slums here were no different from those in Sea Blue; impoverished miners had erected barely habitable shanties behind the city walls.

Many of the wooden shacks had been dismantled, not hard to imagine being repurposed as timber for the defenders. More shanties must have been outside the walls, but those had been cleared out long before the Venetians arrived.

Some low cottages were set ablaze by other troops that had breached the walls, the damp wood burning and emitting smoke that further reduced visibility.

Winters could no longer see where Lieutenant Juan was, but could vaguely make out the red base of the Golden Lion Flag. Juan's company wasn't advancing towards the city district; instead, they began attacking toward the direction of the city gates, staying close to the base of the walls.

Tang Juan charged at the city walls ferociously, while Major Moritz and the spellcasters could not catch up no matter what, nearly losing sight of the Golden Lion Flag ahead in the dense fog.

"Be careful! Don't get separated! The Tanilians won't surrender that easily!" Moritz warned the spellcasters without looking back, his voice grave.

A few junior officers unsheathed their swords, staying no more than a step away from each other, advancing in the fog with uneven steps. Winters nearly tripped over bodies several times, and the thick sea fog carried with it an unsettling eeriness, hiding who knew how many enemies.

Lieutenant Pisani suggested, "Let's join forces and use the Wind Control Skill to disperse the fog!"

"Conserve your magic power!" came the cool reply from the major.

Then, Winters distinctly heard the sound of disordered footsteps to the front-right, and a peculiar sound... the clashing of armor parts during a run.

"Enemy attack!" Winters immediately bellowed a warning.

The Venetian soldiers ahead also sensed something amiss but couldn't be certain of friend or foe; a few sergeants called out, "Who goes there?! Password?!"

The response was several arrows shot toward the sound, and a small squad of Federation soldiers burst from the dense fog in the narrow slum alleys, crashing into the Venetian line.

"Enemy attack!"

"Tanilians!"

First came shouts, and then the battlefield fell into some kind of terrible silence.

This silence wasn't absolute; intermittent sounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance, the cries of dying warriors nearby. But apart from this white noise, one could only hear the crisp clang of weapons clashing and the horrifying sound of weapons penetrating flesh.

The Venetians and Tanilians locked in a deadly struggle made no sound from their throats; they clenched their teeth tightly, every muscle strained, their brains nearly devoid of the capacity for thought, slashing at each other by instinct.

Without saying a word, Moritz plunged directly into the melee.

It was evident that if they didn't deal with these enemies before them, Moritz's group couldn't extricate themselves. Although this had deviated from their original mission, Winters and the other junior officers had no choice but to eliminate this Tanilian squad first.

With the assistance of this small group of officers with superior combat skills, the Tanilians, despite their initial advantage of surprise, not only failed to rout the rear of Juan's company but were also forced to retreat by the Venetians.

However, the noise of combat attracted more Federation soldiers from the slums. While Tang Juan had yet to turn back to provide support, another enemy squad had already collided head-on with Juan's advancing party.

It was just as the enemies before Moritz and his group fled back into the slums in disarray that another squad of Tanilian soldiers assaulted from behind.

Moritz immediately took command of the rear, shouting, "Join up with Tang Juan!"

The soldiers didn't recognize his identity, but they instinctively obeyed his command. Juan's company fought and retreated, regrouping in the direction of the Golden Lion Flag.

Yet at the same time, numerous figures appeared on the rooftops of the slums, followed by a volley of crossbow bolts. The defending archers climbed atop the shanties, starting to fire at the exposed Venetians.

The Venetians jostled each other to avoid the arrows, their formation on the verge of collapsing.
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Moritz wheeled about and headed back, with steel darts flying from his left hand. It was then that Winters realized the major's displayed combat prowess had never reached its limit; his iron heart trembled when Moritz unleashed his killing intent without reservation.

The Federation crossbowmen atop the shanties were wiped out in the blink of an eye, with Moritz ensuring a kill by shooting two steel darts at each person. The crossbowmen hit right between the eyes met with brains splattering, not even having a moment to scream, dying instantly and painlessly.