The City Falls

When an elven vanguard entered the city of Valentan through the underground passage and pushed open the door to a cellar, the elven soldiers breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The fifty elite soldiers, who had come with the determination to die, cautiously stepped out of the deserted room and found no ambushes or soldiers around them. In the distance came the fierce shouts of battle, and nearby they could even hear the low sobs of civilians. This small town, which had held off the Dusk Warband for several days, was finally exposed to the elves.

The leading officer whispered, "Send the signal so the follow-up troops can move out."

The messenger responded and left.

Then the officer drew his twin swords, twirling them. "Gentlemen, for the glory of the battle group, to wash away the shame of these past few days... let the slaughter be unrestrained, let the fires be set, let the destruction be rampant!"

Their mission was to create chaos, to add a final note to the war's final act.

The soldiers unbuckled two bottles of flaming glue from their belts, pulled off the safety pins, and threw them with all their might. The bottles shattered, Flame exploded, and the fire instantly raged. They began to run wildly along the street.

The archers immediately drew a special arrow from their quiver, slashed it along the side of their boots, and Flame burst forth from the arrowhead. They drew their bows, nocked the arrows, and unleashed a torrent of fire towards the wooden structure of the house.

The civilians who heard the commotion peeked out in surprise and saw a group of people in silver armor roaring and howling along the street. Then an arrow shot into his throat, causing him to fall backward. Immediately afterward, a woman's scream rang out from the house, followed by a series of screams.

"The elves have arrived--"

Fear exploded instantly.

The patrol team that was patrolling the area was swiftly and decisively slaughtered.

Bloodshed and screams dominated the street.

At the same time, silver armor appeared from houses all over the city. Near the armory, near the upper granary, near the lower granary, in the city center, the courthouse, the arena... squads of elves suddenly rushed out, setting fires on all sides, creating chaos, and shouting rumors that the city had fallen.

They set fire to important locations such as granaries and armories, they killed municipal officials, burned houses, and drove civilians into chaos. The fortified city was breached from within, and unprecedented fear and chaos spread. Screams, bloodshed, and death filled the air. Valentan had begun to collapse.

The news reached Selendron outside the city.

After a moment's hesitation, the legion commander resolutely ordered, "Move out the follow-up troops!"

The success of the vanguard has proven that Nick Valentan was not lying. The map provided by the enemy marked all the strategic locations in the city, and now it seems to be accurate. The granaries have been destroyed, the armory has been wiped out, and many important departments have been destroyed and attacked. The city has lost all its war potential.

Hmph, as expected of despicable and ugly humans.

Indeed, one's own life and the continuation of one's family are more important than the country.

But that's alright, this Valentan will become an excellent example.

Fifteen hundred elven infantrymen entered the underground passages and headed towards the city of Valentan.

Selendron gazed at the fiercely besieged city walls. The enemy's will and strength of resistance were weaker than yesterday, but a combined attack from both inside and outside would result in fewer casualties. This battle had been fought so arduously, and the losses were already considerable. He had to find a way to preserve as much of the Dusk Warband's strength as possible, after all...

He sighed softly.

"I hope my decision was right..." He closed his eyes, his wounds still throbbing with pain. Even with the elves' top-notch medical system, that unheard-of attack method still caused him great harm.

"Kang De... Kang De..."

He clenched his fists and muttered, "How can I catch you...?"

From the watchtower of the city hall, Nick looked down over the entire city, which was ablaze everywhere. The patrol force composed of young soldiers was fighting against the vanguard of the elves. They had only been trained for a short time and were no match for the elite elven soldiers. Squad after squad was being wiped out, flames soared into the sky, and chaos reigned.

"Sura, I am willing to pay any price for my sins, even if my soul is plunged into endless Blazing Flame and tormented forever after death. I ask for nothing more than to kill a few more elves."

He closed his eyes and offered what was perhaps the last prayer of his life.

He whispered, "I only wish that these innocent souls, after death, will ascend to Your kingdom, far from all evil and cruelty, and find eternal peace in Your warm embrace."

The chief mage beside him said, "That's about enough."

Nick opened his eyes. "Then let's launch it... It's a pity the elves are cautious and won't send many people."

A deafening roar.

The mage accompanying the army, who had ventured deep into the tunnel, suddenly changed color. His protective barrier abruptly opened, and he desperately tried to communicate with the surrounding earth elementals, shouting sharply, "Quickly..."

The next moment, muffled explosions came from all over the tunnel, shockwaves reverberated back and forth, and bits of soil fell down, then more and more, followed by a series of huge roars, and the tunnel collapsed!

Thousands of elven soldiers fled in all directions, but how could living beings withstand the wrath of nature? Sections of the tunnels collapsed like toppled dominoes. No matter how strong or valiant the elven army was, they were helpless against the immense pressure and suffocation. Moreover, human mages above were adding fuel to the fire.

The tremor spread in all directions, causing a slight shaking of the ground both inside and outside the city. At the front of the elven ranks, Selendron was initially stunned, then his face turned deathly pale, and he shouted sharply, "What's going on?"

The guards went to investigate, but soon the corps commander saw an officer rushing towards him, crying, "Sir! Sir! The tunnel has collapsed! Our soldiers are all buried inside!"

Selendron swayed, nearly falling over. His eyes were glazed, his face filled with disbelief, as if he were hallucinating. His hands trembled, his breathing became labored, and then everything turned to rage.

"How dare he... how could he do this!"

Fifteen hundred soldiers, probably all wiped out, died without a sound. This kind of death is very different from dying in a siege - the latter can still be called an honor, but the former is a disgrace and humiliation!

That human, that damned Nick Valentan, how dare he do this!

The map is fine, the vanguard is fine, and his story is fine! With Valentan fallen and his family's wealth and status threatened, what's wrong with betraying the dying Goth for all of this? What's wrong with finding a new master? Human nobles are all like that! Why doesn't this person do the same?

--Isn't he afraid of dying?!

--Does he just want all the family he's inherited?!

--Why do this when the city is about to fall and we're about to lose?!

Feigning surrender, burying their entire families here, and letting the vanguard enter the city to burn and kill—all just to kill these thousand-odd soldiers? The main force of the Dusk Warband is still here! The city will fall again!

Doesn't he know the consequences of his actions?

"... massacre of the city."

Selendron's hands trembled and his teeth chattered, not from fear, but from rage.

It is a raging fury that wants to destroy everything.

He roared, "Intensify the offensive! Tell all the soldiers! Our comrades have died in a human conspiracy! We must avenge them! Take this city! Kill them all! All of them!"

Inside the city, Nick has begun organizing a counterattack to wipe out the elven squads within.

Outside the city, Selendron had lost his mind and no longer cared about preserving his strength. Regardless of casualties or costs, the Dusk Warband launched a fierce and all-out attack.

The Valentan soldiers continued their fierce resistance, but this time, there was no longer Cathayan the Kang De and his companions to help them defend the city. Since the Dusk Warband had given up on preserving their strength and was using all their resources to fight Valentan to the death, the city had no chance of survival.

All precious magical items and enchanted weapons were used without hesitation, and even the soldiers of the supply corps were incorporated into the arrow formation; every elf could draw their bow and shoot arrows.

Finally, elves stormed the city walls.

One, two, three.

The sword-wielding soldiers leaped into the crowd, wielding their heavy swords like windmills to clear the landing area. The soldiers behind them pressed forward swiftly and quickly captured an arrow tower. The archer corps swarmed in, drawing their giant bows.

A firing position has been set up.

The mage contingent launched a full-scale attack, and the human mages, having expended much of their energy recently, finally ran out of Magic Power and collapsed one after another. The elven mages, who still had some energy left, once again built an earthen mound that stretched up to the city walls.

The tactics used in the initial raid on the city were repeated.

The elven cavalry roared as they charged. Some knights charged diagonally up the city wall, hacking and slashing their way through it, while others rode stronger and larger war stags, leaping high over the wall and landing in the city. They quickly gathered together, charging left and right, cutting down soldiers along the way, and then pounced on the city gate, killing the humans defending it.

They all carried large doses of alchemical potions and threw them towards the city gate.

Several mages had already climbed onto the wall and were casting spells together.

Amidst a deafening explosion, cheers erupted. Horns blared outside the city, and hordes of elven cavalry surged toward the collapsed city gate like a silver tide!

Nick, already fully armed, trembled. "The city has fallen."

A single tear slowly slid down his cheek.

"Master..." he said softly to the chief mage beside him, "Do you think that many years from now, anyone will remember our story? How will they judge us?"

The other person remained calm. "Mr. Mayor, I thought you wouldn't care about these things."

Nick gave a desolate and sorrowful smile, murmuring, "No, I still care..."

"Regardless..." the abbot bowed and said, "It's an honor to work with you."

Nick wiped away the last tear and gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Then let us face fate."

More and more elven soldiers rushed onto the walls, while even more warriors surged into the city. Without the protection of the sturdy city walls, the terrifying gap in the quality of the elven and human soldiers was immediately revealed. The mighty armies of the world roared as they stormed into the city, seeking revenge, punishment, and destruction.

"Slaughter the city! Slaughter the city! Slaughter the city!"

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PS1: First update, the second update will be a little later. Ah, I still didn't sleep well. I stayed up until 4 a. m. yesterday. I thought to myself, "Damn, I'd rather be writing." I originally wanted to combine it into one big chapter, but you know why, so I'll split it into two updates.

PS2: Sigh, it's really strange. Even if it's 10,000 words per chapter, it's still short and weak. But if the same 10,000 words are split into five chapters and released, it's considered incredibly powerful, diligent, and awesome. This is one of the most perplexing things I've ever seen in my career.