The first to notice outsiders appearing on the fifth floor were the ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs originally stationed at the entrance to the Elevator Room.
When the violent sounds of doors being kicked came one after another, accompanied by angry roars and excited shouts, these Lake Rats Veteran Thugs, who came from bandit gangs, exchanged glances and drew the Woodland Axes from their waists, each preparing for battle.
They had also noticed that the fighting below was growing increasingly intense and was spreading up through the floors toward their position, so they were about to report it.
The Swadian Footmen and Light Footmen originally stationed in the Stronghold Main House had already gathered there.
They said they had come under Lord Shen Mu's orders to assist with the defense and, incidentally, see what was happening.
It was that phrase, "see what was happening,"
that ultimately made them push open the stairwell fire door and all enter the sixth floor to set up an ambush.
Then, amid a tremendous rumble that shook the earth and mountains,
whether they were Lake Rats Veteran Thugs or Swadian Footmen and Light Footmen, in the instant of a daze or a blink, they found themselves in a... ten-meter-wide corridor!
Before they could react, terrified screams and frantic shouts came from behind them.
"Run! Gnolls! And Wild Goblins!"
"Protect Miss Liu Na first!"
"Someone has to hold back those vicious Gnolls and Wild Goblins! Someone has to make a sacrifice!"
"You protect Grandpa Polo! Young men, come with me!"
"Halflings have warriors too!"
The ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs, fifteen Swadian Footmen, and thirty Swadian Light Footmen blinked, then turned toward the source of the voices.
They naturally saw the Halflings, each about 1.3 meters tall, crowding around a woman in black robes as they fled deeper into the corridor in panic. Yet the farther they ran, the stiffer their legs became, until they slowly stopped in place as though overwhelmed by immense terror.
These Lake Rats thugs and Swadian Soldiers naturally recognized those little people and the black-robed woman. They were the Halflings from the fifth floor and Miss Liu Na.
They were collaborators to whom their Lord Shen Mu had shown goodwill.
But now, the Lake Rats thugs and Swadian Soldiers looked past the Halflings and Liu Na. They too stared dumbfounded at what stood behind them, between the fifth and sixth floors...
A castle!
Built entirely from massive stone blocks, it stood nine meters tall, stretching directly from the floor beneath their feet to the ceiling overhead. Huge stone towers stood on both sides. Even from nearly a hundred meters away, they could see the crenellations atop them and the densely packed arrow slits in the walls.
Even these soldiers, who came from the chaotic world of Calradia where people had fought each other to bloody ruin, could not help but blank out for a moment.
Then they sucked in sharp breaths, their expressions utterly spectacular!
"This... is Lord Shen Mu's divine power!"
That thought arose in the hearts of all the Lake Rats thugs and Swadian Soldiers.
That was right.
They could see these changes.
They could also sense this transformation that was practically divine.
After all, whether they were Lake Rats Veteran Thugs or Swadian Footmen and Light Footmen, they were living, breathing people.
They had their own thoughts and minds.
They had their own emotions.
And naturally, ever since their birth, the Mount & Blade System had deeply instilled in their minds heartfelt worship and reverence for Shen Mu, this mysterious and noble figure whom even kings had to treat with respect.
Now, because of Lord Shen Mu, they had crossed the barriers of time and space to arrive in this other world.
And they had witnessed such an enormous change.
Naturally, they attributed everything to Lord Shen Mu, who possessed power comparable to that of a creator god.
Their hearts were filled with even greater reverence!
They were so excited that even their hearts were pounding rapidly!
Bang!
At that moment, the stairwell fire door not far behind them was violently kicked open.
Then, amid a series of sinister chuckles, a group of Gnolls wielding curved blades and Wild Goblins carrying axes and Spiked Clubs charged excitedly into the ten-meter-wide corridor, howling as they raised their weapons.
But as they ran, they too froze in place. Looking at the decor around them, which was clearly different from that below, even their howls vanished.
The Gnolls and Wild Goblins stared wide-eyed at the fully armed humans before them...
They all swallowed hard, unable to say a word!
"Stop!"
"State your purpose!"
At that moment, the ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs who should have been guarding the stairwell entrance snapped back to their senses.
They grabbed their Woodland Axes and took two steps forward, holding the round shields on their left arms before their chests. Staring at the alien races with either jackal heads or short, vicious forms, they showed no fear as they barked in low voices, "Behave yourselves!"
"Those! Those are bandits! They killed many people! They even killed Geng Jun!!!"
Then, behind them, the Halflings still standing between the castle and the Swadian Soldiers began shouting excitedly.
Those naturally kind-hearted Halflings had tears in their eyes as they pointed at the Gnolls and Wild Goblins, accusing them loudly:
"They're murderers!!! They're the bad guys who came to loot and slaughter everyone in our Apartment Building!!!"
"Hm?!" At that moment, it was not just the ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs.
Even the Swadian Footmen and Light Footmen who had yet to fully react immediately turned in unison upon hearing those words. Grabbing their two-meter-long pikes, they spread out across the ten-meter-wide corridor in almost an instant, forming a dense Pike Square!
"...Enemies!"
The Swadian Footmen and Light Footmen gave a unified shout, their pikes gleaming coldly as they pointed them forward.
Even the ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs at the very front, facing the Gnolls and Wild Goblins on the front line, had their expressions change. Their earlier relaxed air vanished, replaced by the ruthless bearing of Lake Rats thugs who ran wild through the Great Lakes Region!
Seeing the greater number of enemies packed tightly into the ten-meter-wide corridor—
"Switch to harpoons!"
The more combat-experienced Lake Rats Veteran Thugs put away their Woodland Axes and reached behind them, pulling from their packs the ten harpoons each of them carried!
They were throwing weapons even longer, sturdier, sharper, and more armor-piercing than the Fishing Darts used by Lake Rats Recruits.
Naturally, their killing power was even more terrifying!
"Humans! Kill!"
At last, the Gnolls and Wild Goblins came to their senses, and crimson flooded their eyes.
Their eyes were filled with bloodshot veins.
Their eyes were filled with brutality and savagery.
Especially after they had just killed so many humans and eaten so much fresh, sweet human flesh, the madness of the Gnolls and Wild Goblins rapidly surfaced when they saw these Human Soldiers, whom they assumed were humans of the Spiritual Realm Human Race.
"Awoo!"
Then, as the Gnolls raised their curved blades and the Wild Goblins lifted their battle axes, they howled and charged at the humans less than twenty meters away!
They had thirteen Gnolls and thirty-four Wild Goblins, forty-seven in total.
Their numerical advantage filled them with confidence!
Besides, in their experience, throughout the kingdoms' frontier regions of wilderness and desert, even if these human Regular Army troops were troublesome and difficult to fight, once the Gnolls and Wild Goblins held the advantage and surged forward in force—
aside from the mounted humans, who were rather formidable, the rest of those who did not ride horses were not much stronger than them.
Some even wore rough linen clothes and carried spears, their legs turning weak with fright at the sight of them.
As long as the assault was fierce enough,
those cowardly Human Militia would collapse on the spot!
"A bunch of weak Human Militia!"
Gnolls and Wild Goblins were already shouting excitedly, "Kill them! We'll feast well today!"
"A feast!" Upon hearing that, the Gnolls and Wild Goblins grew even more frenzied, the bloodshot veins in their eyes becoming denser.
Their charging steps grew even faster!
Then...
As the ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs made practiced throwing motions, the six or seven Gnolls at the very front suddenly plunged face-first to the ground along with the dark shapes that appeared!
The long, barbed harpoons pierced directly through the bodies of those unlucky Gnolls.
Their sharp tips even burst out through their backs.
Before the fallen Gnolls could cry out in agony,
the ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs before them pulled out fresh harpoons with a backhand motion. Without even looking, they hurled another volley at the Gnolls and Wild Goblins that had already entered the ten-meter range, staring at those fierce faces that were still naïvely adorable!
Throwing harpoons before a charge was one of the Lake Rats Veteran Thugs' specialties.
If their opponents did not change formation,
or did not consider using shields to block the attack and closing in on the Lake Rats Members for melee combat,
then these Lake Rats thugs would be more than happy to do as they were doing now.
They picked up the harpoons in their hands.
As if fishing in the Great Lakes, they aimed at their targets and hurled the harpoons one after another!
Without accounting for aim, a round of javelin throwing took only seven or eight seconds.
Not to mention these Lake Rats Veteran Thugs, who were extremely skilled at throwing.
In less than twenty seconds,
they had already thrown four or five volleys of harpoons.
Before them, among the fiercely charging Gnolls and Wild Goblins packed tightly together with no room to dodge, forced to take the harpoons with their bodies, a third had already fallen to the ground.
One-meter-long harpoons were lodged in their bodies, and the torn wounds caused massive bleeding, instantly sending them into shock or leaving them severely wounded.
Their moans and cries of pain
made the remaining two-thirds of the Gnolls and Wild Goblins, who had nearly reached the Lake Rats Veteran Thugs, hesitate in their steps, panic appearing in their eyes.
Because at that moment, they not only saw the Lake Rats Veteran Thugs drawing their Woodland Axes and preparing for close combat.
They also saw behind the Lake Rats Veteran Thugs—
fifteen Swadian Footmen at the front, supported by thirty Swadian Light Footmen behind them, raising forty-five pikes over two meters long. They passed the Lake Rats Veteran Thugs, leveled their pikes, and began pressing toward them step by step, a forest-like Pike Square!
At that moment, the stairwell's fire door happened to be pushed open.
Zhang Caidong and the Sun Family Brothers emerged.
Seeing the battle before them, which had fallen into an absolute disadvantage in just a few short minutes, they were dumbfounded!
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