Offense and Defense (End)

Japa's strike missed, and he reacted quickly. He immediately adjusted his stance, raising his spear to block the greatsword. Ronan's greatsword slid along the spear's shaft, pushing upwards towards Japa's hand. Japa could only release his upper hand, then sidestep and thrust his spear several times with his left hand.

The spear struck the armor at Ronan's waist, but due to his hasty movement and it being his left hand, the sharp spear tip only pierced about half of the armor, failing to injure Ronan's body.

The two sides pulled apart again, slowly circling each other, looking for an opening. But the Valantis soldiers not far away could no longer withstand the assault from the Templar Knights and the militia. Two of them had already been impaled through the neck by the Templar Knights' crusader swords.

Seeing the dire situation, Japa couldn't hold back and attacked first. He charged forward and then suddenly ducked mid-way, sweeping his spear across the ground to trip Ronan. However, Ronan was prepared. His armor was too heavy to jump, so Ronan directly plunged his greatsword into the ground to his left, blocking the sweeping spear.

Ronan then swiftly pulled his greatsword out and forcefully parried. To prevent the spear from slipping from his grasp, Japa had to shift his body to the right to alleviate the force.

"Ding!" A faint sound. Ronan turned his head and saw that the two soldiers had already cut through one side of the iron chain, and the other side was about to break.

Seeing the unfavorable situation and running out of time, Ronan had to take a risky move. He charged at Japa and halfway threw his greatsword with great force. Japa clearly hadn't expected Ronan to have another trick up his sleeve and, in his haste, could only sidestep to dodge.

But Ronan quickly closed in, pressing his advantage. He grabbed Japa's spear with one hand and struck Japa's mask heavily with the other. Then, wrapping his arms around Japa's waist, he forcefully knocked him down, pinning Japa beneath him. Ronan unleashed a barrage of rapid punches at Japa.

Due to the angle and distance, Japa couldn't use his spear tip to attack Ronan. He could only drop his spear and wrestle with Ronan. However, he was quickly at a disadvantage because his strength was no match for Ronan's, and Ronan had gained the initiative. After a few heavy punches, he was already somewhat dazed.

Ronan seized the opportunity, pulling a dagger from his backpack. As he landed another heavy punch on Japa's mask, he pinned Japa's struggling arm with one hand and gripped the dagger tightly with the other, stabbing it fiercely into the unarmored gap at Japa's neck.

Blood gushed out. Japa's eyes, visible through the mask, were filled with disbelief. He truly couldn't fathom where Ronan, clad in full plate armor, had produced a dagger from. Blood seeped through the cracks of Japa's damaged mask, and Japa choked a few times, the arm gripping Ronan's right wrist gradually losing its strength and falling limp.

Ignoring the system's completion notification, Ronan picked up the spear next to Japa's corpse and hurled it fiercely at the two soldiers who were opening the city gate. By then, the two soldiers had completely severed the iron lock and were lowering the barrier.

The spear whistled through the air, piercing through one of the soldiers from behind and pinning him to the city gate. His body was also impaled, and his sturdy armor offered no protection, demonstrating the sharpness of Japa's spear.

Grateful that he hadn't tried to block Japa's spear with his armor earlier, Ronan picked up the greatsword that had fallen nearby and charged at the other soldier. Seeing Ronan charging, the soldier drew the short sword at his waist and blocked Ronan's fierce downward slash with the greatsword.

However, he was still forced to his knees by Ronan's immense strength. Ronan's greatsword pressed against his short sword, and then he extended his left hand, gripping the upper part of the blade and forcefully pushing it down. The soldier resisted with all his might, but the short sword was slowly pushed down. Soon, he couldn't hold on and his grip loosened. The greatsword, pressing down on the short sword, became stuck at his neck. Ronan gripped both ends of the greatsword with both hands and swung it forcefully, giving the soldier a clean and swift decapitation.

After helping the Templar Knights clear out the remaining Valantis soldiers who were still stubbornly resisting, Ronan led his team back to the city wall.

As dawn broke, Valantis had failed to capture the city wall or open the city gate for a long time. Valantis had also dispatched another elite squad to raid the east gate, but Rexa himself was stationed there, and they were killed by Rexa before they even descended the wall. Under Rexa, who was renowned in the Xinteland army, they had no chance.

After battling for an entire half of the night, Valantis finally retreated. Ronan cut down the last enemy. Seeing no more enemies on the city wall, Ronan relaxed his grip, letting the greatsword slide to the ground. Pushing aside a corpse on the parapet, Ronan collapsed against it, removed his helmet, and his hair, matted by sweat and seeping blood, clung to his scalp in strands.

Ronan's clothes inside the armor were also soaked with sweat. He hadn't felt it during the fight, but now that he had stopped, the clothes felt uncomfortably tight against his skin. Ronan desperately wanted to take them all off and soak in a pool for a good bath, but he was too exhausted to even move a finger.

Fighting fiercely for half the night in heavy plate armor weighing dozens of pounds, Ronan's strength, despite his astonishing stamina and the Hundred Man Slayer title's recovery, couldn't hold up. Ronan's stamina had long since reached its limit; the latter half of the battle was fought purely on willpower. It was fortunate that the "iron can" provided comprehensive protection, otherwise Ronan would have sustained minor injuries at least.

As Ronan sat panting on the parapet, Inella Phantom Feather approached, holding two water skins. This elven beauty, renowned throughout Teldrasil, was also in a sorry state. Her battle robe was torn in many places, revealing her undergarments, and it was covered in bloodstains. Her small face was smudged with dirt, and her hair was also matted.

She handed one of the water skins to Ronan. As Ronan unceremoniously took the skin and began to gulp it down, she bit her lip but still turned and left without saying anything. After all, they were technically rivals, representing different factions.

After Inella left, Mario also approached.

"No wonder I didn't see you in the latter half; you were off playing hero to a damsel in distress. Inella is a famous beauty in Teldrasil, just a bit cold."

"Just a tsundere!" Ronan chuckled dismissively. A cold goddess, indeed. Although Ronan hadn't interacted much with her, he had vaguely seen through her true nature.

Mario smiled and didn't dwell on the topic. He motioned to the soldiers beside him to help Ronan remove his armor, and then they escorted Ronan back to the castle to rest.

After dinner and a hot bath, and changing into clean clothes, Ronan lay on the bed, enjoying a good sleep. Ronan wasn't worried about Valantis launching another attack soon, as they had also been fighting all night and needed rest. They wouldn't be so insane.

Moreover, both sides had suffered heavy losses in this battle. Taiwei Four's defenders had over six hundred casualties, while Valantis likely had around two thousand casualties. Furthermore, their main forces had participated in this battle, and their casualties were also significant.