Crisis at the Castle (Part 2)

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Tilafa came charging in with a vast force. Wilson Castle had originally housed two hundred heavily armored knights, but Pula had returned and transferred them away. Aside from the heavily armored knights, there had also been some ordinary knights, but when Merlin had gone to the territory last time, he had taken several dozen knights with him as well.

Thus, Wilson Castle's defenses were now nearly nonexistent. Only some servants and a scant dozen or so knights remained, utterly incapable of resisting Tilafa.

"Kill!"

Tilafa stared murderously at the ancient castle before him. Leading more than a hundred knights, he stormed straight into Wilson Castle without saying a word, raising the longsword in his hand and slaughtering the guards and servants within the castle.

For a time, the stench of blood soared into the sky. Even Mei Xue and the others inside the hall could smell the thick scent of blood.

Mei Xue's face was ashen, while the chubby Gute wore a deathly pale expression. He muttered softly, "I never thought Tilafa would be this ruthless. He's trying to wipe out the Wilson Family root and branch!"

"Miss Mei Xue, Young Master Gute, hurry and come with me. Don't let Tilafa find you."

The butler spoke in a low voice. Wilson Castle no longer possessed any power to resist. If they did not hide now, they could only wait to be killed by Tilafa.

The butler immediately brought Gute, Mei Xue, and the busty madam to Old Wilson's room and swiftly activated the mechanism.

"Rumble..."

A circular passageway appeared within the room.

"Hurry inside. This is an underground chamber the Baron built after taking military fortresses as a model. It's very safe to hide inside. Tilafa shouldn't discover it anytime soon."

The butler urged them on.

Mei Xue was somewhat curious. She had lived in Wilson Castle for so many years, yet she had never known that such a hidden underground chamber existed within the castle.

The chubby Gute was the first to crawl into the tunnel. Mei Xue, the busty madam, and the butler then all crawled inside as well, after which the butler gently closed the entrance.

By then, Wilson Castle had practically become a living hell. Blood was everywhere, and more than a hundred servants had fallen beneath the greatswords of the knights led by Tilafa.

"Search everywhere! Merlin isn't in the castle, but Mei Xue definitely is!"

Tilafa entered the hall and found it completely empty. Mei Xue was nowhere to be seen. Knowing that she must have hidden herself, he immediately gave the order to his men.

Thus, the many knights began carefully searching through Wilson Castle.

*****

Merlin awoke from his sleep. He lifted the carriage curtain slightly and discovered that the sky had already begun to brighten. The air carried an extremely damp chill. Without realizing it, morning had arrived.

"Moss, where are we now?"

Merlin asked Moss.

Moss turned his head slightly. His face was somewhat pale, his eyes bloodshot, and he looked utterly exhausted. Moss had traveled through the entire night alongside the knightly force, so he was naturally very weary.

"Young Master Merlin, we should reach Blackwater City in about another hour."

Moss spoke softly.

"Another hour?"

Merlin frowned slightly. Today was the day the City Lord had summoned all the nobles. If the others got there first and seized control of the situation throughout Blackwater City, that would definitely not be a good thing.

What worried Merlin even more was the safety of Wilson Castle.

But this was already the fastest they could go, so there was no use in being anxious. Merlin simply remained quietly in the carriage and began examining the changes in his Sea of Consciousness.

The Freezing Spell he had only simulated in his Sea of Consciousness yesterday had accumulated more ice elements over the night. By Merlin's estimate, he could now cast the Freezing Spell three times in succession.

"Three times is enough!"

Merlin understood the function of the Freezing Spell very clearly. It was not an offensive spell, but purely a restraining one. It did not need to be cast many times, so long as its restraint was strong enough.

For offense, he still had to rely on Fireball. After several months of accumulation, Merlin's magical power for Fireball had become quite abundant, allowing him to cast it nearly twenty times without interruption.

Moreover, he still had the Bell Pendant, which could cast Greater Fireball eighteen times. This was the trump card Merlin relied on most this time, and he would not use it lightly.

Furthermore, after a night of rest, his mental strength had basically recovered as well. Merlin was now at the very peak of his condition.

"I hope Mei Xue will be all right..."

Merlin muttered softly. An occasional sharp glint flashed through his calm eyes.

An hour later, Blackwater City's towering walls came into view. Looking ahead, the walls were densely packed with archers, while the enormous city gate was tightly shut.

"Not good, the Church has made its move!"

Old Wilson waved his hand, and the rapidly galloping knightly force immediately came to a halt. He gazed quietly at Blackwater City. The gate, which should have been open at this time, remained tightly closed.

Only in an emergency could the city gates be closed. Something must have already happened inside Blackwater City.

Old Wilson raised his head and looked at the people on the walls again. Judging by their uniforms, they should be members of the City Defense Corps.

"Baron, what should we do?"

Commander Pula also came to Old Wilson's side. Faced with the tightly shut city gate, he too was at his wits' end.

"In the end, we were still one step too late..."

Old Wilson shook his head helplessly. His original plan had been to reach Blackwater City before the Church made its move. Perhaps then the city gates would not yet have been closed.

But he had ultimately been a step too late. The city gates had already fallen firmly under the Church's control.

Old Wilson clenched both hands, his eyes bloodshot. He was deeply unwilling! But with the gates closed, it would be impossible to breach them without large-scale siege equipment.

"Unless there is a powerful Spellcaster who can blast open the gates with magic!"

Old Wilson's heart jolted. He suddenly recalled the powerful Spellcasters of the Black Moon Kingdom at the Slaughterhouse. When one terrifying spell came crashing down, even the most solid fortress could be blasted apart in an instant, let alone these mere city gates.

"Go and bring Merlin here, quickly."

Old Wilson immediately thought of Merlin, who was a Spellcaster.

Before long, Pula brought Merlin to Old Wilson's side. Old Wilson pointed at Blackwater City's gates and said in a deep voice, "Merlin, can you blast open Blackwater City's gates? If we cannot open them, we won't be able to enter the city and can only retreat to the territory first. Mei Xue and the others may be in danger..."

Old Wilson's gaze toward Merlin was filled with expectation.

Merlin narrowed his eyes slightly and observed for a while. Then he nodded gently and said calmly, "I'll go and try."

Merlin was not completely certain that he could blast through those sturdy city gates.