Retreat

As Ronan had expected, that afternoon after he woke up, he found a relaxed atmosphere in the city. After stopping someone to ask, he learned that Valantis had retreated when they were packing up their camp at noon.

It should have been this way. Judging by the casualty ratio from last night, it wasn't impossible for Valantis to capture Taiwei Four, but the casualties would have been too great, making the victory meaningless. In these battles, the defenders of Taiwei Four had suffered more casualties than before, but Valantis had lost more than three times as many men. What was the point of capturing the city if they didn't have enough strength left to defend it?

Furthermore, Valantis still had to fight Terra later, and even after defeating Terra, they had to guard against Eredar. Therefore, they were unwilling to sustain more casualties.

The citizens in the city were relaxed, but Ronan knew that the situation had actually become more troublesome. Valantis's retreat absolutely did not mean they had given up their invasion. The only possibility was that both Valantis and Eredar had hit a wall in their siege attempts, and had finally decided to cooperate in attacking a single city.

However, no matter which city they chose to attack, it would likely be difficult to defend. But it wouldn't be Taiwei Four, otherwise, Valantis wouldn't have retreated.

In the evening, Rexa convened everyone for a meeting again. Terra's former centurion, Bamba, had died in the last battle, and he was now succeeded by his former deputy, Fabuti.

Inella was still sitting next to Ronan, her face expressionless. Ronan smiled at her, and after she glanced at him, she turned her head away without responding. Once everyone was assembled, Rexa spoke:

"Valantis has withdrawn their troops, but according to scout reports, they have already rendezvoused with Eredar. We don't know what their next move will be. Furthermore, they have each hired a group of exiled tribes: the High Mountain Clan and the Snow Bear Clan. The second reinforcement unit sent by Xinteland is already on its way, another fifteen hundred men, led by Count Sirabi, the 'Blood Sword.'

"Moreover, to deal with the enemy's recruited mercenaries, the King of Terra has paid a considerable amount of gold to recruit mercenaries on the Asloth Continent. This matter is being handled by Mage Modu, the commander of the third reinforcement unit. The recruited mercenaries will arrive in Terra along with the third reinforcement unit.

"We may have to evacuate Taiwei Four at any time from now on, so everyone needs to be prepared."

In the following days, the situation changed dramatically. Rexa continuously received messages sent by Jade Eagle from Terra City. Jade Eagles were specially bred messenger birds raised by Terra. They were not large, even smaller than pigeons, but most importantly, they were more intelligent, more resilient, and faster than pigeons, and could fly very high, making them difficult to intercept.

Valantis's army had indeed rendezvoused with Eredar, and their respective reinforcement units and hired exiled tribes had also arrived. The so-called exiled tribes were clans that had originally possessed city-states but were defeated by enemies, losing their cities and lands to survive. They could only wander the continent, surviving by plundering passing merchant caravans and fighting for other city-states to obtain necessary resources.

The High Mountain and Snow Bear clans were considered the largest exiled tribes in Slovak. They also had their own cities in the past and were not weak, but they eventually fell under the iron hooves of the Seljuk invasion, forced to roam the continent, hoping to one day reclaim their cities.

However, exiled tribes generally did not get involved in disputes between the major city-states, as neither side was someone they could afford to offend. It was unknown what benefits Valantis and Eredar offered them to make them take such a gamble.

After all enemy forces had gathered, they besieged Fortress Two. The combined forces of Valantis and Eredar, greatly strengthened, were no longer something Terra, with its depleted numbers after dividing its forces among the various fortresses, could defend. Therefore, Terra decided to abandon the defense of Fortress Four, and all the defenders of Fortress Four were transferred to Fortress Three, which was closest to Terra City.

As for Fortress Two, they could only leave it to fate. If they couldn't hold out until Xinteland's reinforcements arrived, then they could only pray that they could inflict even greater casualties on the enemy. However, the day before the defenders of Fortress Four evacuated, a contingent quietly left Terra City under the cover of night.

In the early morning, the defenders were busy transporting supplies and weapons. Ronan and the leaders of the various clans were all ready to depart. Although the enemy was attacking Fortress Two, it was inevitable that they might send troops to intercept them upon learning of their movements. Therefore, to march quickly, the troops had abandoned most of their supplies and would not be escorting the city's residents.

However, if the residents remained in the city, it would be a death sentence. At best, they would be sold into slavery by Valantis. Therefore, the residents would enter Terra City via a different route. Whether they would be intercepted along the way was left to fate.

The troops set off. Under forced march, they could reach Fortress Three within four days. On the third day after the troops departed, a battle occurred not far outside the walls of Fortress One.

It was essentially a one-sided slaughter. More than three times their number of enemy troops suddenly charged out from both sides. The Valantis heavy cavalry, clad in exquisite armor, pierced through the entire formation like a sharp arrow, then charged back and forth. This unit was precisely the one that Prince Gogen had secretly led out of the city.

In the center of the formation, an officer who saw that the situation was unfavorable grabbed Prince Gogen and began to remove his armor, saying:

"Quickly, Your Highness, take off your armor. Valantis will leave prisoners, but they cannot know your identity!"

"Get away! I want to fight these scumbags to the death!"

"Your Highness, you are Terra's only heir!" Hearing this, Gogen gritted his teeth, cooperated with the officer to remove his exquisite armor, had a soldier next to him put it on, and then blended into the ranks of ordinary soldiers.

In less than an hour, the unit of fifteen hundred men was reduced to less than four hundred prisoners. Gino, mounted on a tall warhorse clad in golden painted armor, emerged from the formation, removed his winged helmet, and surveyed the kneeling prisoners.

"Take them to Fortress One for detention. When we capture Terra, we'll sell them all to the north to dig mines for those guys." Putting his winged helmet back on, Gino urged his warhorse to trot back into the formation. Their scouts had detected the movements of these people, and Gino felt there might be a big catch. He had indeed seen someone in exquisite armor in the middle earlier, but it was among the corpses.

Gino had someone collect the corpse, then sent an envoy to deliver the blood-stained armor to Terra City.

Ronan and the others had just arrived at Fortress Three and hadn't even had time to rest properly when they heard the news. Ronan rolled his eyes, thinking to himself that this prince was truly an idiot.

However, since that prince was now dead, why were they being summoned to a meeting? Although Ronan was puzzled and physically exhausted, he endured his drowsiness and followed Mario to the council hall within the fortress of Fortress Three.

Fortress Three was about the same size as Fortress Four. It was already very crowded, accommodating nearly five thousand troops. The civilians within Fortress Three had also been evacuated to Terra City.