Surprise Attack to Capture the City! The Might of a Great Victory! (Extra Chapter for 1000 Average Subscriptions)

Surprise Attack, Seize the City! The Might of a Great Victory!

Night fell.

After using her supernatural ability, Anya was refreshed and thoroughly at ease.

Inside the tent.

Duncan wore a bow on his back and held a sword. Raven Queen Triss gently adjusted his armor. When her fair fingers brushed the red marks on Duncan's neck, she could not help rolling her eyes at him. In a plaintive tone, she admonished, "With a great battle at hand, how can you indulge yourself like this?"

Anya must have bewitched her lord. Once they returned, she would give that girl a proper lesson.

Anya was kneeling on one knee beside them, fastening Duncan's waist armor. At those words, her entire body trembled slightly. She truly was a little afraid of Raven Queen Triss.

Duncan took Triss's fair hand and smiled apologetically. "I was the one bewitched by beauty. It had nothing to do with her."

"It's nothing."

"Consider it an early warm-up."

At his words, Anya's peach-blossom eyes immediately shimmered with moisture. She longed to serve him properly once more.

Raven Queen Triss glared at her, then helped Duncan put on his Ranger Chainmail. Her tone turned grave. "You're going deep behind enemy lines alone. If things prove impossible, retreat immediately."

She was still a little worried.

Raven Queen Triss did not yet know that Duncan had fought his way in and out of Devonshire alone. Though she had heard some rumors, only a very small number of people knew the details.

Duncan patted the back of her hand. "It's fine. I know what I'm doing."

Southampton was not some heavily fortified stronghold. With God's Eye View active, no one could stop him if he wanted to leave.

He had even fought his way through Valhalla!

What was this by comparison?

It was a pity Anya had not been in the audience at Valhalla.

Severus had already transformed into an animal and infiltrated the city. Duncan planned to charge in alone, seize the city gate, and let the others in. First, a small elite force would secure the gate, then the main army would storm inside.

Everything had to be fast!

That night, under Raven Queen Triss's magic, a faint mist rose around Southampton.

She could alter the weather.

The last time they encountered the Saxon Pirates at sea, Raven Queen Triss had changed the wind direction. Her magic was not especially effective at directly killing enemies, but it was tremendously useful in other ways. It felt somewhat like the sorcery used by Yellow Turban Army generals in those Three Kingdoms games he had played before.

Under God's Eye View.

Duncan slipped into Southampton. On a rooftop chimney not far away, a crow was marked "Druid—Severus."

"There are quite a few enemies."

Duncan glanced at the marked units on the projection interface. Three hundred-man units were stationed near Southampton's gate. One was directly posted on either side of the gate, while the other two rotated patrols. Security was extremely tight. They had likely suffered losses in Devonshire and strengthened the defenses here as well.

Detected Wind of Magic!

A line of text appeared on the Dimensional Space projection interface, then quickly vanished.

The Dimensional Space had detected Raven Queen Triss casting a spell.

Before Duncan activated his Mana Bar, he had never received such prompts. Only after gaining a Mana Bar and mastering Runic Script had notifications similar to spell identification begun appearing.

There was even an invisible Wind of Magic surging across the projection interface.

Before, he had only felt that the projected image had become slightly blurry. Now, the Wind of Magic was clearly visible, allowing him to identify the rough location of the caster.

This was immensely useful. Duncan could locate hidden spellcasters.

As my abilities improve, God's Eye View is growing stronger too.

Sleep Spell (Ritual Magic).

At Raven Queen Triss's feet was a strange ritual array. She held an ancient insignia in her hand, her voice as melodious as a Siren's. Yet only a very small number of people could hear it. Soon, they grew drowsy, their consciousness blurred, and they collapsed where they stood.

In Ancient Greek mythology, Sirens were said to control others with their voices.

It's my turn!

Duncan narrowed his eyes, killing intent rising within them. He signaled Severus and mouthed, "Set fire to it."

Severus was an injured unit.

The Ascetic Order Sanctuary had cut off two of his fingers, greatly reducing his frontal combat strength. According to the plan, if the enemy discovered them in advance, Severus would find an opportunity to start a fire and throw them into chaos, buying Duncan time to let the army in.

Clang!

His sword left its sheath.

Duncan moved like a ghost, slipping in without a sound before cutting the throat of a sleeping enemy.

Whoosh!

He nocked an arrow and fired, killing the guard in the watchtower with a single shot.

Immediately afterward, Duncan pounced like a starving tiger upon sheep. Oathkeeper flashed with streaks of cold light, easily killing more than ten men. With Raven Queen Triss's magic prepared in advance, dealing with these ordinary soldiers was as easy as slaughtering chickens and sheep.

"Open the city gate!"

In just a few minutes, the air around the city gate was thick with the stench of blood.

With God's Eye View, Duncan did not even need to search for them. He simply eliminated the marked enemy units one by one.

—Gaul Warrior (One-Star).

—Polytheism Temple Guard (Two-Star).

—British Elite Infantry (One-Star).

In the darkness.

A force of several dozen men rapidly approached. Since Duncan had dealt with the watchtowers in advance, no one noticed them at all.

It was the dead of night, when the enemy was at their most drowsy.

Creak!

A heavy wooden gate swung open. Duncan's elite troops all poured in, quickly taking control of the street entrances on three sides. The entire process took less than ten minutes. The Gaul Warriors who rushed in were even more nervous than Duncan, panting as they ran and charging forward with everything they had, desperate to secure the city gate as quickly as possible.

Duncan was everyone's pillar!

He should not have been sent on such a dangerous mission, but he was the strongest among them. The others would risk their lives to ensure his safety.

They were essentially Duncan's Elite Guard—the kind who would lay down their lives when it mattered.

The signal!

A faint glimmer of fire flickered.

Soon, a large force began advancing swiftly through the darkness toward Southampton. Raven Queen—Triss now knew that the city gate had been taken.

"Fire!"

"Someone, put it out!"

Cries of alarm came from the distance.

This was Severus's signal. If the patrol soldiers came close, he would immediately set a fire to cause chaos and buy them a little time.

Even the person shouting for people to put out the fire was him.

They had succeeded.

Everything had gone off without a hitch, even more smoothly than Duncan had anticipated.

"Kill!"

Blades left their sheaths.

More than a dozen Gaul Warriors, shields in hand, cut down a patrol that had noticed something was wrong. A far greater commotion soon erupted, and all of Southampton descended into chaos.

"The enemy has broken in!"

"The city gate has fallen!"

The thunder of cavalry rang out. Duncan's General's Guard joined up with over a dozen light cavalrymen and charged straight through the city gate. They slaughtered their way through the dark streets, wiping out every small group of patrolling soldiers.

The British Legion poured in and instantly took control of the gate's guard posts.

"Take back the city gate!"

In the firelight not far away, enemies hurriedly donned armor and gathered soldiers. Before they could finish assembling, Duncan shot the elite Saxon Axeman dead with an arrow. Then, leading two hundred elite troops, he headed straight for the harbor.

Seize the ships!

All these warships are mine!

Kevito led the British Legion in an attack from the north, slaughtering their way down the streets toward the barracks. Meanwhile, Duncan led part of the elite force straight toward the harbor from the south, cutting down the few defenders stationed there and capturing every Saxon Pirates warship in one sweep.

The enemies throughout Southampton had already become a flock of headless flies.

Some quick-reacting men broke out through city gates in other directions and plunged into the night. Those who reacted too slowly were basically surrounded. Organized units near the barracks began throwing down their weapons and surrendering. By the time they heard the commotion, the enemy had already reached them. They had not even had time to put on their armor. Surrender, or die.

"No wonder successful night raids on enemy camps in ancient times produced such brilliant results!"

Duncan wore a thoughtful expression.

The battle had gone far too smoothly. He had not even needed to go all out. It felt as though the enemy had panicked on their own and ultimately collapsed and surrendered wholesale.

"The enemy's command structure has completely collapsed."

Under the night sky.

Another one or two hundred elite enemy soldiers regrouped, but Duncan shot several officers dead. They quickly fell into disorder, then began fleeing and surrendering. More chose to surrender, because in the pitch-black darkness, they had no idea where to run.

As dawn began to break, all of Southampton was already under Duncan's control.

"Six hundred men launched a night raid on over two thousand."

"Two or three hundred were killed."

"All the rest fled or surrendered. We captured more than fifteen hundred prisoners."

"We suffered only eight casualties."

The results were so brilliant that even Duncan found them hard to believe. Those eight casualties had only occurred because they charged too fiercely and were surrounded and killed by the enemy.

Basically, the ones who died were all Gaul Warriors marked "May Charge Recklessly."

A crushing victory!

Since Duncan had transmigrated here, this was the smoothest and most decisive victory he had ever fought!

Weapons, provisions, warships, and all sorts of supplies the Saxon Pirates had plundered from others—money and jewels alone filled more than a dozen chests. They contained mixed gold and silver, countless women's ornaments, silver utensils, even a solid silver cross, and more.

Who knew how many people the Saxon Pirates had robbed to amass such a fortune?

Even Anya's delicate body trembled slightly at the sight of this haul.

"We don't even need to wait for me to sell off the estates around Rome. The wealth these pirates plundered is already enough for us to build our foundation!"

The Saxon Pirates had looted for so many years, only for Duncan to reap the rewards in one sweep.

In the dungeon.

Raven Queen Triss released dozens of young, beautiful British female slaves. This was the Lord's Manor of Virgin Taker Enfes.

He had risen through piracy, and after his death, all his property had fallen into his subordinates' hands.

When Duncan captured the city, they had still been reveling, enjoying the inheritance Enfes had left behind—only to be wiped out in one fell swoop.

More than a dozen One-Star and Two-Star pirate commanders had been shot dead by Duncan's arrows.

They had died cleanly, without causing Duncan even the slightest casualty. They had all turned into weaklings; Duncan himself had shot five or six of them dead.

As dawn gradually broke.

Duncan patrolled all of Southampton, securing the prisoners and mobilizing troops to take control. He found Clegane and asked, "How many warships?"

Clegane's face was flushed with excitement. "More than a hundred warships!"

"Enough for us to take the Isle of Wight."

The enemy's vessels were all pirate warships, mostly small boats that could carry only a few dozen people. But they had the advantage in numbers, enough to form a naval force.

Duncan decisively ordered, "Have the men make preparations."

"At daybreak, seize the Isle of Wight!"

Once Southampton was taken, the next target would be the Isle of Wight. Then they would press toward Portchester Castle. After taking that place, they would have even secured a military fortress on the front lines.

If the Saxons wanted to attack westward again, that fortress would be a nail driven into their path.

The Kingdom of Kent had only been established for a few years, yet Duncan had pushed them back in a single wave. It was practically the destruction of nearly half the Kingdom of Kent.