Cathayan Kang De!

The sun blazed fiercely, blood stained the heavens and earth.

The battle on the city walls had reached a fever pitch.

The five wooden golems, assembled by the elven mage corps overnight at the cost of 30% of their spellcasters being unable to participate in the battle the following day, were destroyed by two of the Valentan city defenses in a desperate attack, while the other three successfully reached their designated positions, thanks to the ranged protection of the mages and the support of the archers.

The bridge was erected, and the two sides clashed fiercely, thus beginning the most brutal battle.

On the command platform, the legion commander's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, watching the battle situation at the three sections of the city wall from afar.

Elves all possess the talent to become archers, an innate advantage. However, not all elves enjoy drawing bows and shooting arrows; this is a matter of acquired temperament. Nevertheless, for the upper elves, archery is a long-standing and glorious art, part of noble etiquette. It is impossible for a soldier or a nobleman to be ignorant of archery. The most powerful ministers of the Dusk Moon Dynasty must also be nationally renowned champion archers, and the legion commanders who lead an elite battle group must also be proficient in shooting skills.

As a master archer, the legion commander naturally possessed terrifying eyesight. He could see the entire battle situation on the city walls with just his eyes. He didn't use a telescope because he could observe the whole situation. He didn't use the mage's Eagle Eye because he wanted to save precious spellcasting power.

As far as he could see, brave warriors fought desperately, elves falling one after another, their blood staining the sky. The key to victory lay in those three small bridges, which drew all the carnage and death there, like three millstones that devoured flesh and blood, whether human or elf.

His gaze was cold, and his heart remained unmoved.

This is the quality of a soldier. Compassion and kindness are not his mission; his mission is to achieve victory at the lowest possible cost, and, if necessary, to pay that cost without hesitation.

He was simply surveying the battlefield.

Examine where the problem lies.

Because quite some time has passed since the first wooden golem climbed the city wall, and Her Majesty's greatest and bravest warriors are still bleeding on the city walls, being held back by the madmen, the Dusk Warband's march to flatten the city has been halted. Things shouldn't be like this.

He had already taken all the necessary precautions when formulating the siege plan last night.

All battlefield Element have been taken into account.

The accelerated creation of wooden golems has caused nearly 30% of the spellcasters to overdraw their Magic Power, making them unable to support the battlefield today. Although the enemy mage group is inferior in both quality and quantity, they have the advantage of terrain, so it can be considered a draw for them.

Human archers were far inferior to elven archers, but with their superior position, they could catch up, and with the aid of war machines, even a slight retreat would allow them to draw.

The spellcasters, ranged units, and legion commanders have excessively exaggerated the power of humans and assumed a balanced battlefield advantage. Even if the infantry's military skills are unwavering and their will to defend their homeland is strong enough to rival the elven warriors' bravery, in terms of combat skills and superior equipment, the elven warriors far surpass the humans—so why are they being held back on the city walls?

The battle situation deviated from expectations, and there must have been unexpected events. Unexpected events are not terrible; after all, war is always full of infinite variables, and there are always things that cannot be considered. Just as he never expected that an orcish master would appear in the city of Valentan.

But that doesn't matter. What's scary isn't the variables, but the failure to discover them.

The legion commander observed the situation while coldly asking, "Has the field scouts not reported any intelligence yet?"

The adjutant, lacking his eyesight, was constantly observing the three battle zones through his monoculars. Upon hearing this, he immediately put down the binoculars and said, "Sir, perhaps I should go myself..."

Before he could finish speaking, the legion commander suddenly snatched the binoculars from him, stared into the distance for a moment, his expression changed abruptly, and he said in a deep voice, "So that's it... the variable has been found!"

"Grown ups?"

The legion commander looked for a moment longer, then handed the binoculars to the other man, his face grim. "In combat zone one, the Silver Cloak Unit have arrived on the battlefield and begun fighting. With their equipment and skills, they should have quickly broken through human defenses and expanded the battlefield, but they suffered heavy losses before even reaching the city walls."

"And it was severely wounded by human arrows and javelins—how could those weak human bows and laughable Javelin penetrate the defenses of Eltharion Rune Armor!?"

The adjutant took the binoculars and looked through them. After a moment, his expression turned to utter astonishment. He murmured, "Could it be...? No, this is impossible..."

"Eliminating all impossible options, what remains is the truth, however absurd it may seem," the legion commander said in a deep voice. "I don't believe that the Royal Forge's management and regulations could forge such inferior runic armor. Therefore, there's only one reasonable explanation left—these arrows and javelins that inflicted such heavy losses on the Silver Cloak Unit are magical weapons! And yet, humans have equipped an entire army with them for intensive use!"

At this point, even the usually calm and collected, iron-willed legion commander couldn't help but swear.

"The Dusk Warband has achieved numerous victories and is the elite of the army. We've shed blood and sweat, endured countless hardships, and even after begging the logistics department, the entire legion never had more than two thousand enchanted arrows! We had to be extremely careful with their use, and every extra one hurt. And now these humans are using these enchanted arrows and javelins so extravagantly. Are we elves, or are they?"

The adjutant was equally bewildered, utterly perplexed. After a moment, he muttered to himself, "Could it be that the enemy city lord knew our army was approaching, and therefore spared no expense in procuring so many enchanted arrows...?"

The legion commander glared at him. "A small town can buy so many enchanted arrows at any cost? Where else can you buy them? I'll empty my pockets to buy them! Let them name their price!"

The adjutant realized his mistake and quickly apologized.

He continued, "Enchanted weapons are so precious that even with our nation's strength and the unparalleled skill of alchemists and enchanters among all nations, the production of enchanted arrows has always been low. After all, alchemists have other missions, and while disposable arrows are powerful enough, they are single-use items with very low cost-effectiveness..."

The adjutant pondered for a moment, then continued, "I'm thinking, even if the humans got these enchanted arrows from somewhere, their numbers must be limited, otherwise they wouldn't be using them against the Silver Cloak only now... This means they're running out of options. All they need to do is continue the attack, and victory is just around the corner."

The legion commander nodded in agreement, but continued pacing back and forth, "That's true, but we still can't let our guard down. So many enchanted arrows appearing in a mere city Valentan is an extremely strange variable. We must not let our guard down; we must investigate the cause. This is a strategic issue."

He raised his head, staring intently at his adjutant, his gaze sharp as lightning. "A city with a weak military and no heavy garrison could not possibly suddenly have so many enchanted weapons. These are extremely valuable military resources... Considering the reasons, there are only two possibilities."

"First, there's an alchemist in the city who made so many enchanted arrows in one go."

Upon hearing this, the adjutant chuckled and said, "Absolutely impossible. I also studied alchemy for ten years. Nearly half of the alchemy masters of the Dusk Moon Dynasty reside there. I have never seen or heard of an alchemy master with such a high output. Besides, no master would be willing to waste their energy on arrows that can only be used once."

"I've never fucking seen it either."

The legion commander cursed again, narrowed his eyes, and slowly said, "There's no such thing as an alchemist... so there's only one possibility left."

The adjutant bowed and listened attentively.

The legion commander turned to look at the city of Valentan, his gaze stern and his face darkening.

He said calmly, "These enchanted weapons were secretly gathered and transported to Valentan City."

The adjutant paused, then said, "But enchanted arrows are extremely rare, priceless and unavailable. Who could possibly..."

He stopped talking, a look of shock on his face.

"Extremely precious, that's true, and there's no market for them, that's true too, but that doesn't mean they're unobtainable. At least, our battle group has over two thousand in stock, right?"

The legion commander calmly stated, "Only a nation-level power can requisition and transport military supplies on a large scale... Goth is, after all, a nation, and it can do it."

The adjutant murmured, "Secretly smuggling precious enchanted arrows into Valentan, along with elite soldiers, all to quietly strengthen Valentan's defenses... just to hold onto this city?"

"Of course not."

The legion commander licked his lips, revealing a bloodthirsty expression. In that instant, he seemed to return to his childhood, to the perilous coming-of-age ceremony, carrying only a small bag of salt, entering the terrifying Forest of Slaughter with the goal of survival. He gripped his homemade wooden bow, carried homemade bone arrows, and traversed the dangerous forest, where the roles of prey and hunter could be switched in an instant.

He recalled that period of time.

Because now... he seems to have become the prey himself.

"Using this city as bait to drag us here," the legion commander grinned menacingly. "The target is the entire Dusk Warband... How should I even begin to describe these humans?"

After the initial shock and horror, the adjutant seemed to realize something and also revealed a mocking smile, "To have such a grand scheme, and to target the entire Dusk Warband, the human commander who orchestrated all of this must not be a fool, and must have considerable confidence and extraordinary power... How pathetic, when he realizes what he's facing, I hope he won't cry."

"I won't give him a chance to cry," the legion commander said. "That would be a disgrace to the Dusk Warband."

"Yes, I misspoke," the adjutant bowed. "We will crush all pathetic enemies."

The legion commander grinned menacingly, "They think a few enchanted arrows can stop us? They're delusional. They underestimate the power of the Children of Nature. As long as these three wooden golems remain standing..."

The next moment, a deafening roar came from the direction of the battlefield. The two elves looked over instinctively and saw a fierce battle raging on the city wall. Half of a wooden golem's body was reduced to nothingness at a visible speed. It even lost its footing and staggered backward before its form collapsed and scattered into a pile of logs. Countless elves fell to the ground from above.

A blank stare appeared on the faces of the two elven officers.

The adjutant hurriedly raised his binoculars. On the city wall, a Cathayan was wielding an axe in his right hand and firing a small crossbow-like weapon in his left, moving at an astonishing speed. Fire flew everywhere, smoke billowed, and the remaining Elven soldiers around him were torn open with bloody holes and fell to the ground screaming.

He even saw the man throw away his weapon and block another elven swordsman's slash. The next moment, the poor soldier's skin became rough and stiff, and new buds even sprouted, as if he had been cursed into becoming a plant, a truly gruesome sight.

In an instant, a realization flashed through his mind.

This Cathayan... must be related to the changes in the wooden puppet!

The next moment, the binoculars were snatched from his hand, and the legion commander shouted, "What's going on!"

He stared for a moment, then his body trembled. "Cathayan! An axe! Short hair! A strange weapon! Unheard-of methods! Lord Ailras, who are you thinking of!"

A flash of inspiration struck him, and the adjutant shouted, "Kang De! Kang De, the Cathayan!"

Since Tina raised her banner in the northern part of the empire, she has amassed a large army and countless followers in less than two months, drawing the world's attention. This little princess of the Taidariel Family has become one of the biggest obstacles to the elves' conquest of Goth.

Intelligence about her was quickly gathered and compiled by the long-established and highly efficient Elven intelligence department, uploaded to the military newspaper, and circulated within the Elf Expeditionary Force. The first item was the story of Glittering Sand, which was one of the reasons for Cathayan Princess Tina's drastic change in temperament. The second item was about Kang De, Cathayan Tina claimed was her husband, and who played an extremely important role in Glittering Sand Town.

Kang De did not specifically target the townspeople of Glittering Sand Town. There were many witnesses, and many things could not be kept secret. The townspeople were so frightened that their defenses were as thin as paper, and many things could be found out with a simple question. Everything that this Cathayan had done was fully exposed to those who were interested.

The elven officers within the expeditionary force even held this Goth's son-in-law in high esteem, marveling that even in the decline and fall of the ancient Eastern dynasty, such a remarkable person still existed.

The news reached the capital of Twilight Moon, naturally becoming the talk of the town for a week. It even reached the ears of the Cathay envoy through the only diplomatic channels available. As for what subsequent changes it would cause, no one knew... The elves didn't care.

But now, things are different.

Even in private, they admired Kang De's heroic actions. One man against an entire viscountry—what a man! Especially Cathayan fought against the Empire, it only highlighted the latter's idiocy and incompetence... But despite this, after recognizing Kang De, the legion commander made the necessary decision.

"Order the Blade of Dusk to move out, order the mage squad to cooperate... capture them alive!"

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PS1: Iron Son and Greenskin are launching tomorrow! Let me tell you, it's going to be super awesome! I can't help but laugh just thinking about it.