Barbican

The Barbarian commander appointed specific generals, and the scattered Barbarian forces nearby were quickly reorganized into new formations.

The hesitant Barbarians soon gathered beneath a wolf banner.

A Barbarian force nearly equal to one-third of the total invading army had assembled before this tiny town.

Alpha Wolf Enrick did not rush to attack. Instead, he waited until all the troops had arrived and encircled the town from every direction, making it clear that he intended to wipe them out completely.

Baron Palmer stood beside Derek. He had rushed in the day before the encirclement was completed.

Clearly, Baron Palmer had staked everything on gaining a brighter future.

Naturally, Derek would not turn away additional strength. Even a single company of a hundred men might prove useful at a critical moment.

Yet, at the sight of the army blanketing the land outside the city, Baron Palmer's legs began to tremble.

To be honest, he was suddenly starting to regret it.

"Knight Derek, if we make it back alive, I'll definitely introduce you to my daughter."

Derek looked at Baron Palmer in surprise. Seeing the serious expression on his face, he realized the Baron was not joking at all.

But it made sense when he thought about it. His own performance marked him as a promising prospect, so it was only natural for someone to take notice.

"Baron, let's talk about it after we both survive."

As the number of Barbarians grew, it was impossible for Derek not to feel even a trace of concern.

But he had chosen this place as a stronghold not only because of its location, but also because its walls were relatively sturdy.

For a small town, it was rare to have stone walls enclosing it, and they looked fairly respectable.

With more than two thousand men under his command, Derek was confident he could make the Barbarians pay dearly.

"They're coming!"

As the two spoke, the Barbarians began to move.

These crude walls had no protection such as corner towers, and even the battlements were extremely low. They were only slightly better than having no walls at all.

So Derek wisely brought along a squad of Blade and Shield Soldiers to serve as protection.

The Barbarians clearly lacked experience in siege warfare. They swarmed forward in a disorderly rush, with no sustained momentum.

Derek observed for a while, made a few simple adjustments to the deployment, then left the command to the junior officers.

But Baron Palmer could not understand why he had deliberately weakened the defenses along the walls.

"With so few men, won't the walls be easily breached?"

"I've stationed reserves on the inside. If anything unexpected happens, they can reinforce the line in time.

And defense isn't about throwing everyone onto the walls at once. If it gets too crowded, they won't be able to fight effectively.

Only clear layers of defense can slaughter Barbarian soldiers more efficiently.

Most importantly... I'm deliberately showing weakness to the enemy."

Derek explained patiently. From their interactions over the past few days, he had found Baron Palmer to be someone worth befriending, so he did not mind sharing some basic military knowledge.

As for showing weakness to the enemy, it was naturally meant to lure the Barbarians into feeding in their troops bit by bit, while also lowering their guard.

The southern wall where he stood had been deliberately weakened by another thirty percent.

Inside the city walls, even amid such intense fighting, large numbers of prisoners and temporarily conscripted townspeople continued to labor without pause.

If there were not enough materials, they tore down houses.

If there were not enough people, they forcibly conscripted more.

Derek was not about to talk to them about human rights. At a time like this, swords and blades were the truth.

This was another thing Baron Palmer found hard to understand, but he wisely chose not to ask further.

Just wait and see. No matter how many contingencies Derek had prepared, they would eventually be exposed.

Alpha Wolf Enrick was also watching the battle at the southern gate. Seeing his soldiers charge in without any order, he immediately felt a headache coming on.

"Haven't these idiots suffered enough at the hands of the Locke people? Once we get back, I'll drill them properly and teach them how to assault a city."

In truth, the upper-ranking Barbarian generals had already begun consciously developing siege capabilities. Having entered the established sphere of influence of the three southern kingdoms, they faced cities with highly developed defenses, and the cost of a direct assault was enormous.

But the Barbarian Kingdom, having only just completed its political reforms, had yet to free up the resources to form a regular army. These soldiers from various tribes knew nothing beyond swinging blades at people.

After watching for a while, Enrique found that the Locke people were fairly capable fighters, and the attacking Barbarians were quickly suffering losses.

This matched the Locke people's usual standards, but... it was still not enough.

"At most three days. We can pile up enough bodies to force open the gates."

After observing for a while, he made this judgment with confidence.

Then he sent out his personal guards to direct the siege at the front lines.

Though there was still no real sophistication to it, at least the command became much smoother. The pressure was continuous, like waves.

Instead of everyone rushing forward at once and then all clogging up beneath the walls, handing over their lives for nothing.

"Maybe it won't even take three days."

Enrique muttered to himself, already considering his next opponent.

The Locke people before him were, at most, a rash and minor irritation that would soon be cleared away. As for the Great Commander's claim that they were bait laid by the Locke people—if he swallowed the bait in one bite, wouldn't that simply be feeding him?

On the first day, the Barbarians lost four to five hundred lives, but they also discovered that the southern gate was the weakest point.

On the second day, Enrique adjusted the main direction of attack. Barbarian soldiers climbed onto the walls several times, only to be stubbornly driven back by the Locke people.

Everyone, Enrique included, felt that the end was near.

On the third day, Enrique deliberately sent in the hundred-man guard company, intending to breach the city in one decisive push.

But they were still short by one last breath.

An accident. It had to be an accident. At most, they needed one more day.

Enrique was already beginning to feel the pressure.

On the fourth day, he even personally beheaded several deserters, yet the crumbling walls still stood.

The Locke people always looked as though they were on the verge of collapse, yet they never lost that final breath. Every time, they held on.

He had begun to realize that this might be a trap set by the Locke people.

The Barbarian headquarters had asked for updates several times already, and Enrique could only reply, "Soon! Soon!"

He did not believe the Locke people could hold out much longer. He still had seven or eight thousand men, while the other side had suffered considerable losses over the past few days. How many could they have left?

Even if he had to pile up bodies, he could pile up enough men.

Inside the city, the construction overseen by Derek had taken shape. It was a design Baron Palmer had never seen before.

When he saw huge piles of firewood and flammable materials being stacked within the city, he seemed to understand Derek's intentions.

But what impressed him even more was Derek's command on the battlefield.

If he had not been standing right beside him, he would certainly have been completely fooled as well.

Over the past few days, they had actually lost fewer soldiers than expected.

Derek had mixed the forcibly conscripted Militia into the regular troops, drilling them while having them hold the walls.

It looked as though they had lost more than a thousand men, but their actual losses were only one-third of that.

Militia?

Sorry, no one cared about commoners who were not part of the official roster.

And their training was astonishing as well. It had been only ten full days since they entered the town, yet many of the Militia had already taken on a basic semblance of soldiers.

Their combat ability could not be guaranteed, but at least they could wield weapons.

So, while the Barbarians believed the Locke people had exhausted their strength and supplies, the actual situation was far better than they imagined.