Over a thousand Gnolls stepped forward, carrying a motley assortment of weapons.
The tall, imposing Gnolls wielded sophisticated weapons such as iron flails and chain hammers. The thinner ones carried wooden spiked clubs studded with iron plates, while many more held wooden clubs and stones.
"Attack."
At Rogus's command, over a thousand Gnolls launched their assault.
Their formation was a complete mess, stretched across several kilometers as they charged mightily toward the castle.
At the highest point of the castle, Velin stood with his sword planted before him, calmly watching the attacking Gnolls below.
Twenty Three-Bow Ballistas had been placed upon the inner city wall. They were ready, their crews in position, awaiting their lord's command.
Velin raised his right hand and calculated the distance. When the Gnoll vanguard was only six hundred meters from the Outer City Wall, he decisively lowered it.
Twenty strong soldiers holding wooden mallets slammed down on the triggers. With a sharp whoosh, twenty iron bolts shot forth.
"Awooo—"
Several large Gnolls were pierced through by the iron bolts. The bolts did not lose momentum, piercing several more Gnolls before finally stopping.
Rogus watched the twelve blood-red paths carved through the attacking force without expression, no one knowing what he was thinking.
The smell of blood spread across the battlefield, stirring the violent source of the Gnolls' bloodline. They lost their last scraps of reason and charged faster, heedless of everything else.
Seeing this, Belder, standing atop the Outer City Wall, shouted, "Raise shields!"
More than two hundred soldiers obeyed, raising wooden shields wrapped in iron sheeting. They gripped their Spears tightly, prepared to meet the first wave of attack.
The Three-Bow Ballistas on the inner city wall continued firing, inflicting casualties on the charging Gnolls.
Once they reached the base of the wall, some Gnolls hurled stones in their hands while the others used their sharp claws to climb, preparing to scale the six-meter-high Outer City Wall.
Stones struck the wooden shields with loud bangs. From time to time, chain hammers and flails were thrown onto the wall, smashing the soldiers supporting the shields flying.
Belder could do little about it.
Some of those soldiers were newly conscripted serfs and Freemen. Though they had undergone training for a time, they had failed to cultivate the Warrior Awakening Method and become warriors. Their combat ability naturally could not be as unshakable as that of true warriors.
Seeing some Gnolls already halfway up the wall, Belder immediately shouted, "Drop stones!"
Warriors hiding behind the shields carried enormous rocks to the edge of the wall and hurled down stones weighing over a hundred pounds.
Many Gnolls were struck by the rocks and fell from the wall, letting out agonized howls.
The battle continued from noon until the afternoon. As darkness approached, Rogus ordered his men to sound the retreat.
"Awoo—"
The attacking Gnolls stopped, dragging away their comrades' corpses as they receded like the tide.
Seeing the enemy withdraw, the soldiers defending the Outer City Wall collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath and wiping sweat from their foreheads.
Belder shook the blood from his Knight Longsword, sheathed it once more, and began tallying the casualties so he could report on the defense later.
More than six hundred surviving Gnolls dragged their comrades' corpses back to camp. The Gnoll cooks, who had been waiting for a long time, took the bodies and began building fires to prepare food.
During their march here, they had used the accompanying Goblin and Kobold slaves as food. Whenever they encountered a Goblin tribe, they would raid it and replenish their food stores.
By the time they reached the border of human territory, the Kobolds and Goblins had all been eaten. They had thought they could swiftly seize a human territory and solve their food problem.
They had not expected this situation. With the surroundings utterly barren and not even tree bark to eat, they could only use the corpses of their own kind to stave off hunger.
"Commander, your food."
A large Gnoll respectfully offered Rogus a roasted wolf leg.
"It's yours." Rogus looked at the roasted wolf leg before him with disgust and answered expressionlessly.
"Thank you, Commander."
The Gnoll happily took the roasted wolf leg and left.
Rogus watched the other Gnolls feast on their own kind with joyous expressions, his contempt undisguised. He had never regarded these beasts as his kin in the first place.
"Judging from this afternoon's events, the humans used a crossbow with an extremely long range. I do not know whether it is standard equipment or a technology possessed only by this human noble."
"Ordinary Gnolls will never be able to take this human castle. We must send in the chieftains of the smaller clans."
Tomorrow, Rogus intended to conduct another test. If they could not take the castle in one push, they would bypass it and continue eastward.
He had come here with a reconnaissance mission. There was no need to fight the humans to the death.
Besides, even if the enemy cut off their retreat on the way back, he only needed to abandon these idiots and leave with his trusted followers.
He did not believe the humans could completely seal every route leading to the Graylight Wasteland.
Inside the castle, Velin inspected the defenses while listening to Belder's report.
"My lord, during this afternoon's defensive battle, we expended a total of one hundred and sixty iron bolts and one-fifth of our stone reserves. We suffered eighty-six casualties, including twenty-three deaths. Most of them died fighting the Gnolls."
"Furthermore, under cover of darkness, we went outside the city to collect Gnoll heads. We obtained one hundred and sixty-seven ordinary heads and fifty-seven Bronze-grade heads. The enemy carried away the remaining corpses. According to incomplete estimates, this battle killed or wounded more than four hundred Gnolls."
Velin stopped walking and said gravely, "Today may have been a test. Tomorrow will be the crucial day. Have all knights prepare themselves. Silver Rank Gnolls may enter the battle tomorrow."
"Also, preserve the Gnoll heads with lime. Such hard-earned War Merit must be stored properly. Whether for advancing one's title or selling to other nobles, they are valuable."
"Understood."
After Belder left, Velin wandered around for a while before returning to his room.
Sitting in his chair, Velin closed his eyes to rest and recalled what he had observed during the day.
"The leading Gnoll possesses a certain degree of intelligence. Whether it was bypassing villages to avoid unknown dangers or using cannon fodder during the attack to probe the enemy's strength, it showed a fair level of competence."
This did not match Velin's stereotype of Gnolls as violent creatures without brains.
"I really wish they had no brains." Velin held his head and said helplessly.
To guard against a nighttime Gnoll raid, the entire castle was brightly lit. Every soldier kept their weapon close at hand, resting on the walls with only a blanket. This made changing shifts easier and allowed them to join the battle at any moment.
Belder, the steward of Lake of Star Prayer, patrolled the Outer City Wall every two hours to ensure nothing went wrong.
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