An Army Surrounded on All Sides

"Uh... o-okay!" Only then did Ryan and the others snap out of it, nodding stiffly as they rose to their feet.

Nalant then led the three of them to the castle gate.

When they saw the blast crater—over a meter deep and roughly two meters across—Ryan and the other two immediately sucked in a cold breath.

Seeing it up close was far more shocking than viewing it from afar.

Especially the walls on either side of the gateway, which had been blasted badly enough for large sections to peel away.

The three of them looked at Nalant with reverence the next moment.

So what Nalant had said was true: they had actually been fortunate that their castle had been breached from within.

If Nalant had attacked their castles using today's method, even if they could have held out for a while, they would likely have ended up just like Baron Caro's Castle.

Not only would they have suffered casualties and damage to their castles, but after being conquered, having their wealth stripped away would have been unavoidable as well.

In that case, obediently surrendering really had been the most suitable choice, minimizing their losses as much as possible.

And after the three followed Nalant into the castle, that belief only grew firmer.

"My lord! These are the enemy soldiers from inside the castle. When we charged onto the walls, aside from this mid-bronze knight, who still had some fighting strength, everyone else was standing dumbly inside the watchtower."

"Also, this young noble lord appears to be the most seriously injured. Even his mouth and nose are bleeding!"

Quick, Raymond, and the other guards soon carried all the enemies from the walls down below.

These guards were still in a daze, their eyes unfocused.

Most importantly, blood was flowing from all