Ronan and the Knights under his command joining the battle stabilized the situation somewhat, but another group of Valantis elite troops suddenly surged out from the siege ladder, led by an officer.
He knew the man was an officer because his equipment was completely different from the others'. He also wore a cuirass and armored skirt, but unlike the smooth armor of ordinary soldiers, his cuirass had distinct imitation muscle contours. He wore no chainmail on his arms, leaving his entire upper arms bare, with only vambraces protecting the backs of his hands and forearms, extending up to his elbows.
The helmet on his head was also vastly different from those of ordinary soldiers. Its faceplate was an eagle-faced mask that exposed only his eyes. He carried no shield, only a short sword with exquisite engravings and a fuller in his hand, while a large crimson cloak was fastened behind him, strikingly conspicuous in the night.
The moment he arrived, he leaped forward and stabbed a militiaman to death. After tossing the corpse off the wall, he did not hesitate to lead several soldiers down from the city wall under the desperate cover of his subordinates, heading straight for the western gate.
Seeing them break through the defenses and reach the foot of the wall, Ronan's eyelid twitched. After ordering his other men to seal the breach, he led five Templar Knights down toward the base of the wall.
Several enemy soldiers saw that Ronan was going to stop the Masked Man from opening the gate and rushed forward to block him. Ronan used his bracer to block a short sword, then grabbed the man's arm, spun around, hoisted him up, and hurled him off the wall. The other enemy soldiers were swiftly dealt with by the Templar Knights. The Knights had already discarded their two-handed swords, which were of little use against heavy armor, and switched to slimmer, sharper cross swords to deal with these soldiers.
After deflecting the enemy attacks, the Templar Knights precisely drove their cross swords through gaps in the armor and into their bodies. At this moment, they displayed their battlefield experience to the fullest.
By the time Ronan reached the foot of the wall, inside the gatehouse, the Masked Man and several soldiers who had broken through the blockade with him were holding back the charging militiamen. Behind them, two soldiers were using large axes to try to chop through the iron lock on the gate.
Opening Taiwei Four's gate required three stages. First, the iron lock had to be removed. Then, the three barricade beams had to be taken down. Finally, the cranks on both sides of the gate had to be turned before the gate could slowly open.
At that moment, the Masked Man grabbed one militiaman and used him to block another militiaman's incoming longsword. While the other man's weapon was lodged in his ally's body, he gripped his short sword and stabbed through the neck of the man he held, piercing straight into the head of the man behind him.
He pulled out the short sword and wiped it on the clothes of the militiaman in his grasp. Then he threw away the corpse, spun the short sword in his hand, and slashed at a newly charging militiaman beside him.
Several Valantis soldiers formed a battle formation with the Masked Man, blocking the way and covering the soldiers behind them as they worked on the lock. For the moment, the militiamen could not force their way through.
"Move aside, let us handle this!" Ronan roared, telling the militiamen to make way. Then he charged at the Masked Man and his squad with the Templar Knights. The system promptly issued a quest.
"Kill Son of Harpy Centurion—Japa Brando
Reward: 3,000 experience, 10 Honor."
This was Ronan's first time receiving a quest that could grant Honor Points. Ten Honor was no small amount; a squad of Nord Royal Guards cost only fifteen points in the Honor Store.
During this period of fighting, Ronan had also gained quite a bit of reputation and Honor from the Xinteland troops and the Terra militia villagers. His troop limit had increased, but he had no opportunity to recruit new soldiers. Back in Teldrasil, he could still claim they were mercenaries recruited from the city, but if he suddenly recruited more than a dozen soldiers at a time like this, it could only be described as either seeing ghosts or witnessing a miracle. That would inevitably cause a great deal of trouble.
As for Honor Points, Ronan had not spent a single one. He was very interested in the Vampire Count from the Age of War New Era MOD, which required one hundred Honor to recruit per person. These pale nobles from the Empire of Silvania wore splendid armor and wielded vicious greatswords, ruthlessly harvesting their enemies' souls on the battlefield.
Vampire Counts were not particularly high-tier troops in the Age of War New Era MOD. That MOD had an extremely high fantasy level, with even dragons, demons, and angels within it. However, those high-tier troops generally required thousands of Honor to recruit, so Ronan could only dream about them for now.
Vampire Counts were the most representative troop type Ronan could think of that could also conceal his identity well. Furthermore, these cold-hearted warriors could use magic. If he could recruit them, it would be an enormous boost to his forces. However, there was one prerequisite for recruiting these fantasy troops: the system had to upgrade once first.
Pushing aside the few thoughts that had flashed through his mind, Ronan steadied himself and prepared to seriously deal with this Son of Harpy centurion. Judging by the man's previous performance, he should be a troublesome opponent.
Soldier against soldier, general against general. Ronan was the first to engage Japa, while the soldiers attempting to come to his aid were stopped by the Templar Knights. After leaving behind a dozen men, all remaining Terra militia reinforcements were sent up onto the city wall.
Facing Ronan's attack, Japa remained extremely calm. He leaped backward to evade Ronan's strike, then leaned forward and thrust his short sword. But Ronan shifted slightly to the side, and the blade struck the edge of his shoulder armor and slid away.
Ronan immediately spun his greatsword, switched to gripping the middle of the blade with his right hand, and swung it at Japa with the sharp crossguard. Japa turned and blocked with his short sword, but he had underestimated Ronan's strength. He assumed Ronan's one-handed swing would not be particularly powerful, unaware that the Ape Arm trait allowed Ronan to wield the sword one-handed with force no weaker than an ordinary man's two-handed swing.
Ronan loosened and tightened his grip, shifting the hand holding the blade farther upward. He swung the greatsword with his right hand, using the crossguard and pommel to attack Japa, while his left hand kept reaching out in an attempt to seize Japa's cloak.
Japa dodged left and right while trying to counterattack with his short sword, but Ronan merely gave a light block with his left bracer and deflected the blade. Japa, on the other hand, failed to evade in time, and Ronan cut a gash across the unarmored part of his right upper arm.
Ronan pressed his advantage, grabbing Japa's left arm and pulling him close, intending to stab him in the throat with the greatsword's crossguard. But Japa reacted quickly, directly abandoning his short sword, twisting his wrist free from Ronan's grasp, then kicking Ronan hard in the abdomen.
As he sent Ronan stumbling back several steps, Japa used the recoil to leap backward and open the distance. But his short sword had fallen to the ground, leaving him unarmed. Ronan was just about to mock him when he saw Japa pull out an iron rod roughly half a meter long from his lower back.
With a twist and a forceful flick, both ends instantly extended, transforming it into an iron spear about one and a half meters long. After twisting it again to lock the shaft in place, Japa swung the spear a few times, then took a bounding step and leaped forward, raising the spear as he thrust it at Ronan.
Looking at the sharp spearhead, Ronan had no interest in testing whether his plate armor could withstand it. He quickly sidestepped out of the way while swinging his greatsword down at Japa.
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