Daisy smiled shyly and rose from the cushion before the statue.
"Come on, there are still plenty of lessons today—literature, continental history, mysticism. You still have a lot to learn!" Belicha said with a smile, delivering those cruel words.
Daisy's face fell, but she could only follow Belicha out of the temple and back into the palace. She was no longer a child, so why could she still not escape the sea of learning?
The sea of learning had no shore. Better to put down the books, settle down and build a home; turn back, and there would be land.
As Daisy continued her arduous studies with Belicha, Prince Gaogen paced back and forth inside a room in the Palace of Terra, seemingly deep in thought. His brow was tightly furrowed. Suddenly, as though he had made up his mind, he struck his left palm with his clenched right fist, stomped hard, then turned and pushed open the door.
After leaving the room, Gaogen gave a few instructions to the attendant beside him. He then sent away the guards, put on a hooded robe, and left the palace, heading straight for the military camp.
Inside the siege camp surrounding Taiwei Four, in the central tent on the eastern side, Keno sat on a stool beside the bed, reading the battle reports in his hands. Beside him stood a middle-aged man in leather armor, with a wrapped turban and a small mustache, reporting the situation.
"General, today marks the twentieth day of our siege. Eredar still has not captured Fortress Two. According to the plan, if we cannot take it within a month, our two armies will join forces and concentrate on one point. They have fewer troops than we do, and Terra is unwilling to abandon even one of its satellite cities, so they likely will not withdraw defenders to send reinforcements.
"Moreover, after Terra retreated into its cities, its intelligence-gathering capabilities have fallen far behind ours. To avoid having their movements discovered by us and being defeated piecemeal, they should not dare move their forces recklessly. Overall, Terra is already in a very passive position!"
"But they still have reinforcements."
"Yes. Terra has an alliance with the Kingdom of Xinteland on the Asloth Continent, and Xinteland has sent troops to support them. Half the garrison currently defending Taiwei Four is made up of Xinteland's forces. As for how many follow-up troops Xinteland has, we do not yet know, but there should not be too many, since Xinteland also has enemy nations watching it closely.
"Furthermore, His Majesty has transferred another thousand soldiers from the capital. They should arrive with the next supply convoy, along with two thousand hired High Mountain Clan soldiers. His Majesty promised them that as long as they pledged loyalty to Valantis and helped Valantis conquer Terra, he would grant their clan one of Terra's satellite cities to live in."
"Those barbarians from the High Mountain Clan? For people who were defeated by Seljuk, lost their homeland, and were left wandering, that truly is a hard offer to refuse. How are the siege engines coming along?"
"The slaves are working day and night. They should reach the number you requested in five days."
Keno nodded after hearing this and replied,
"Mm. The reinforcements should arrive in five days as well. Then we will launch one final all-out assault. If we still cannot take it, we will withdraw and join forces with the Eredar."
"Can those snakes really be trusted, General?"
"Snakes cannot be trusted. I have never trusted them either. But they will not give up the benefits already in their grasp. As for what happens after Terra is defeated, it will depend on each side's own abilities."
With a wave of his hand, he signaled for the mustached man to leave. Keno put down the battle report, stood up and stretched his back, then walked over to the enormous map hanging on the tactical board on the right side of the tent and fell into thought.
The situation inside Taiwei Four was not good. Several severely wounded soldiers had died because they could not receive effective treatment, dealing a blow to morale. Quite a few soldiers were pessimistic about the battle. Rexa harshly punished several soldiers who spread negative sentiments, but it had little effect.
During these days without battle, Ronan continued leading his subordinates and the militia in sparring practice. Defeating those militiamen could still earn Ronan a few experience points—better than nothing.
It was worth mentioning that two Vigyan Cavalry had accumulated enough experience in the previous battle to advance into Vigyan Knights. The veteran mercenary soldier had also advanced into a Professional Killer, while the Rhodoks were halfway to filling their experience bar. War truly was the fastest way to level up.
Ronan had also reached Level 15. When choosing a specialty, he selected Night Warfare Expert, which increased his vision brightness at night and granted +1 Strength, Agility, and Endurance during nighttime battles.
Every day consisted of sparring, eating, taking a nap at noon, waking up to spar some more, and occasionally holding a meeting at night. After five days of this routine, the calm was shattered once again.
At midnight, the Valantis camp, like a pitch-black monster sprawled across the earth, began to stir once more. Valantis launched a night raid. Their soldiers used the darkness to rapidly approach the walls, but the guards on the watchtowers still discovered the Valantis army's movements in time.
The horns sounded, and the soldiers inside the city jolted awake. The soldiers on duty quickly climbed the walls to prepare for battle, while those resting in shifts helped one another don their armor and seize their weapons.
Mario woke Ronan as well. After splashing cold water on his face to clear his head, Ronan began putting on his plate armor with the attendant's help. He had a feeling that tonight's battle would not be easy.
That was indeed the case. Valantis had deployed more than three times as many siege engines as before, and this time they attacked all four sides of the city walls. Taiwei Four had a limited number of catapults, and it was difficult to aim under the cover of night. Although the elven archers were far deadlier at night than the Valantis forces, they were badly outnumbered. After suffering a certain number of casualties, the enemy still managed to climb onto the walls.
Siege ladders, scaling ladders—countless Valantis soldiers used every possible means to climb the walls and engage the defenders in close combat. This time, Valantis had deployed all its forces, with the determination of one smashing the cooking pots and sinking the boats. Many well-equipped Valantis main-force soldiers mixed among the slave soldiers and climbed onto the walls.
By the time Ronan had finished putting on his armor and led the Templar Knights onto the walls, a considerable number of Valantis soldiers had already made it up. After lamenting that he had just chosen a night combat specialty only to encounter a Valantis night raid, Ronan drew his two-handed greatsword and cut a slave soldier in half from behind.
The bisected soldier did not die at once. His upper body struggled and writhed, but he was soon trampled into a pulp by the passing soldiers. Ronan then drove a heavy punch into the head of a heavily armored Valantis infantryman wearing a dark golden half-cuirass, an armored skirt and boots of the same color, and a winged helmet. The man held a curved saber in his right hand and carried a damaged crescent-shaped shield with a notch in it on his left.
The blunt force from the iron gauntlet striking his helmet left him dizzy and disoriented. His armor was thick and hard; Ronan's earlier sword strike had failed to cut through it. Ronan could only use his iron-gauntleted fist and the pommel of his sword to batter the man's helmet. When the soldier was too dazed to stand steadily, Ronan gripped the blade with both hands, wedged it into the gap between the helmet and armor at his neck, then viciously shoved and pulled, slicing open his throat.
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