Defense and Offense (5)

Ronan's and his subordinate knights' arrival stabilized the situation slightly, but a group of Valantis elite troops suddenly rushed out from the siege ladders, led by a general.

He was known to be a general because his equipment was entirely different from everyone else's. He also wore a breastplate and tassets, but unlike the smooth surface of the ordinary soldiers' armor, his breastplate featured distinct, imitation-muscle contours. Furthermore, his arms were not covered by chainmail; his upper arms were completely exposed, with only a vambrace covering his hand and forearm, extending to the elbow.

The helmet he wore also differed greatly from the ordinary soldiers'. The faceplate was a hawk-faced mask that only revealed the eyes. He carried no shield, only a blood-grooved short sword etched with exquisite patterns in his hand. A striking crimson cloak was fastened behind him, making him highly visible in the night.

Upon arrival, he leaped forward and impaled a militiaman, tossing the corpse down the city walls. Without hesitation, under the desperate cover of his subordinates, he led a few soldiers down the city wall, heading straight for the west city gate.

Seeing them break through the defenses and reach the bottom of the city wall, Ronan's eyes twitched. He ordered his other subordinates to block the breach while he, along with five Templar Knights, rushed down towards the bottom of the city wall.

A few enemy soldiers, seeing Ronan heading to stop the masked man from opening the city gate, charged forward to intercept him. Ronan blocked a short sword with his vambrace, then grabbed the soldier's arm, spun him around, and directly hurled him over the city wall. The other enemy soldiers were quickly dealt with by the Templar Knights. The Templar Knights had discarded their two-handed swords, which were not very effective against heavy armor, and were now using more slender and sharp rapiers against these soldiers.

After blocking the enemy's attacks, they precisely utilized their rapiers to pierce through armor gaps, fully displaying their battlefield experience.

Reaching the bottom of the city wall, inside the city gate, the masked man was leading the soldiers who had broken through the blockade, fending off the advancing militiamen. Behind them, two soldiers were attempting to sever the iron lock on the city gate with their great axes.

Opening the city gate of Taiwei Four involved three stages: first, the iron lock had to be undone; then, three panels had to be removed; and finally, levers on both sides of the gate had to be operated to slowly open the massive doors.

The masked man was currently using a militiaman as a shield against a sword thrust from another militiaman. While the other militiaman's weapon was stuck in his comrade's body, he gripped his short sword and thrust it into the side of the neck of the person he was holding, hitting the person behind him in the head.

He pulled out his short sword, wiped it on the clothes of the militiaman he was holding, dropped the corpse, spun his short sword, and attacked the newly arrived militiamen beside him.

Several Valantis soldiers and the masked man formed a battle formation, shielding the soldiers unlocking the gate. The militiamen were unable to break through for the time being.

"Get out of the way, let us handle this!" Ronan roared, ordering the militiamen to clear the path. He then led the Templar Knights towards the masked man and his squad. The system also issued a timely quest.

"Slay the Son of Harpy Centurion – Japa Brando

Reward: 3000 Experience, 10 Honor."

This was the first quest Ronan had received that offered honor points. 10 honor points was not insignificant; a squad of Nord Royal Guards in the Honor Store only cost 15 points.

Ronan had gained considerable reputation and honor from the Xinteland troops and Terra militiamen and villagers during his recent battles, which had increased his troop capacity. However, Ronan hadn't had the opportunity to recruit new soldiers. When he was at Teldrasil, Ronan could still claim to have recruited mercenaries from the city to cope, but recruiting over a dozen soldiers at this moment would be nothing short of a miracle, and would undoubtedly lead to trouble.

As for honor points, Ronan hadn't spent a single one. He was very interested in the Vampire Counts from the Age of War New Era MOD, which required 100 honor points to recruit. These pale nobles from the future Empire of Silvania wore ornate armor, wielded ferocious greatswords, and mercilessly reaped enemy souls on the battlefield.

The Vampire Counts were not particularly high-tier units in the Age of War New Era MOD. That MOD was highly magical, even featuring dragons, demons, and angels. However, those high-tier units generally required thousands of honor points to recruit, which Ronan could only dream of for now.

The Vampire Counts were the most representative unit Ronan could think of that could also effectively conceal his identity. Moreover, these cold warriors could use magic, and recruiting them would significantly boost the strength of Ronan's forces. However, there was another prerequisite for recruiting these magical units: the system had to be upgraded once.

Shaking off the fleeting thoughts, Ronan steadied himself and prepared to seriously face this Son of Harpy Centurion. Based on the opponent's previous performance, this was likely to be a formidable foe.

Man to man, general to general, Ronan went for Japa first. The soldiers who wanted to provide support were intercepted by the Templar Knights, while the Terra militiamen, leaving about a dozen behind, all provided support on the city wall.

Facing Ronan's attack, Japa was very calm. He leaped back to dodge Ronan's strike, then leaned forward and thrust his short sword. However, Ronan slightly shifted his body, and the short sword slid off, hitting the edge of his shoulder guard.

Ronan immediately spun his greatsword, switching to his right hand to grip the middle of the blade and swung the sword, using its sharp handguard to strike Japa. Japa turned to block with his short sword, but he underestimated Ronan's strength. He assumed that Ronan's one-handed swing wouldn't be very powerful, unaware that the Ape Arm trait allowed Ronan's one-handed swings to be no less forceful than a normal person's two-handed grip.

Ronan loosened and re-gripped his hand, moving his grip on the blade higher. Ronan swung his greatsword with his right hand, using the handguard and counterweight to attack Japa, while his left hand continuously swung, attempting to grab Japa's cloak.

Japa dodged left and right, simultaneously trying to counterattack with his short sword. However, Ronan merely blocked his short sword with his left vambrace, causing it to slide away. In his attempt to dodge, Japa was caught off guard, and his unprotected right upper arm was cut by Ronan.

Ronan pressed his advantage, grabbing Japa's left arm and pulling him closer, intending to stab his neck with the greatsword's handguard. But Japa reacted quickly, dropping his short sword, twisting his wrist, and breaking free from Ronan's grasp. He then kicked Ronan forcefully in the abdomen.

As Ronan stumbled back a few steps from the kick, Japa used the momentum to leap into the air, creating distance. However, his short sword had fallen to the ground, and he was disarmed. Just as Ronan was about to mock him, he saw Japa pull a roughly half-meter-long iron rod from his lower back.

With a twist, it instantly elongated at both ends, becoming an iron spear about 1.5 meters long. With another twist, he fixed the shaft. After swinging the spear a few times, Japa lunged forward with a great leap, thrusting the spear.

Looking at the sharp spearhead, Ronan had no interest in testing whether his plate armor could block it. He quickly sidestepped to evade, simultaneously swinging his greatsword to attack.