Victory Logic

Just as the chaos reached its peak, the lights on the control tower suddenly changed.

Two sharp red lights pierced through the wind and snow.

The command traveled along the brass microphone and the waving command flag all the way to the hidden fortifications high up on the inner wall.

That was a high-level Dark Bunker suspended directly above the trenches.

"Swoosh--Boom!"

Dozens of Semi-Automatic Rune Steam Repeating Crossbow simultaneously emitted ear-piercing shrieks.

The steam valves were all opened simultaneously, and large plumes of High-Pressure White Steam gushed out from the Dark Bunker's firing ports, instantly engulfing half of the city wall.

The mechanism, driven violently by the cylinder, spun back and forth, sending fifteen Armor-Piercing Heavy Bolt flying down into the deep ditch teeming with Magic Creature.

The Refined Steel arrow tore through the air as it left the barrel, and with the force of its fall from a great height, it slammed head-on into the Third Ring.

A dull thud as flesh was pierced immediately echoed from the bottom of the ditch.

A Falling-Bone Beast, thrashing about from the Venom Mist, was struck by an arrow in its hind leg, causing the entire joint to shatter instantly.

Before it could even roll away, a second heavy arrow had already pierced its back, and a third smashed half of its head into the mud.

Several Throat-Ripper Juvenile had just sprung up from the pile of corpses when they were instantly shattered by a hail of arrows.

The entire trench looked as if it had been brutally plowed from top to bottom.

Those insidious and troublesome Mutant in close combat couldn't cause any trouble under this rain of steel arrows.

The black blood, broken bones, and rotten flesh of the Falling-Bone Beast and the Throat-Ripper Juvenile Cub splattered along with the arrow's trajectory, and the bottom of the ditch was quickly filled with trembling Refined Steel tail feathers.

In just over ten breaths, the hundreds of Falling-Bone Beasts and Throat-Ripper Juvenile that had previously forced their way into the Third Ring were pinned to death in the trenches by this high-level concentrated fire, along with the Venom Mist and Living Vine.

The entire ravine stretched from one end to the other, with not a single foothold to be found. All that could be seen were arrow shafts, mangled corpses, and still-smoking black blood.

The Steam Repeating Crossbow in the high-altitude Dark Bunker stopped roaring, with only the residual pressure in the boilers still spewing out bursts of white steam.

In the Third Ring of trenches, the ghastly green toxic smoke had not yet dissipated, and the hissing sound of corroding flesh could be heard intermittently. There was no longer a living creature that could stand up.

Kyle, who had retreated to safety, ripped off his mask, bent over, and was breathing heavily. His scarred face was covered in sweat and blood.

Todd stood there, his mind buzzing, his back tingling, and even the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

Just minutes ago, the Falling-Bone Beast and watching helplessly as his comrade's throat was ripped open still lingered in his chest.

But at this moment, the monsters that had been ferociously rampaging just moments before were smashed to pieces by the heavy arrows falling from the sky.

It turns out that Lord Shien had planned everything all along.

Ice slopes, spikes, Venom Mist, Living Vine, and heavy steam arrows raining down from above—one after another, all designed to target these highly mobile Mutant.

They passed the first two trials, but were eventually driven step by step into this Hell that had been dug specifically for them.

To Kyle and Todd, the frontline soldiers, the eastern defensive line had been almost torn open when the wave of Falling-Bone Beast and Throat-Ripper Juvenile charged into the trench.

If anyone is even a fraction of a second slower, it won't just be a few people who die; the entire trench will be dragged in.

But in Shien's eyes, this was just a high-pressure point that almost got out of control, which he managed to nip in the bud.

The eastern front has just been stabilized, while the red dots on the southern and western sides have begun to rapidly converge.

The Gray Fog deep in the wasteland was torn open once again.

On the southern defensive line, hundreds of Acid-Pouch Giant Toad were leaping forward, skimming the Frozen Tundra.

They look like millstones with legs, their backs covered with eerie green venomous blisters. As they throb, their sticky membranes contract and expand, making one feel nauseous just looking at them.

The situation is even more troublesome on the west side. Intermittent muffled sounds are already coming from beneath the Frozen Tundra, which are the vibrations caused by Burrowing Blind Rat advancing underground in groups and gnawing at the ground with their incisors.

Shien didn't even change his tone when he gave the order:

"South side, Plan 24: Deploy Explosive Log Trap."

"West side, Contingency Plan No. 16: Heavy shields press the line, Underground Piercing Mechanism succession."

The orders were relayed down the communication channel without any interruption.

On the high slope to the south, the retaining timber was quickly pried open.

The next moment, dozens of heavy logs, each as thick as two people could hug, tumbled down with a crash.

The wooden body was covered with long Pig Iron spikes, and the inside had long been hollowed out and stuffed with plenty of gunpowder.

They crashed into the swarm of giant toads with the force of the entire slope, and their plump bodies exploded on the spot.

The long Pig Iron spikes pierced the toad's belly and back, and the rolling logs continued to press forward, causing the flesh and bones to collapse and mud to splatter everywhere.

The venomous pustules on the backs of several giant toads burst one after another, spraying dark green acid everywhere, which then splashed back onto their own kind, instantly burning their skin and causing their flesh to peel off.

The croaking of frogs and the loud popping sounds mingled together, creating a muffled and jarring effect.

The ground on the west side also turned over.

The Burrowing Blind Rat burrowed downwards, originally aiming for the foundation of the defense line, but ended up gnawing on the steel plate two meters underground first.

They had just huddled together underground when the mechanism above was violently pulled down.

The Refined Steel piercing rods buried in the soil suddenly popped up one after another, piercing upwards along the pre-set track.

Before long, streams of blood and bits of flesh rushed up from several ventilation holes, turning the Frozen Tundra ground a bright red.

Ivan and several officers on the tower watched this scene, their fists clenching unconsciously.

They were just worried that the chaotic fighting on the eastern front would cause the entire defensive line to collapse, but in the blink of an eye, the new wave of attacks from the south and west has also been suppressed.

The Blackpine Fief has been able to hold out until now is not because any Knight suddenly unleashed his full potential, but because Shien had taken all of these factors into account.

It wasn't just factored in; we also made contingency plans at every level.

How to dig each section of trench, how steep each layer of ice slope should be, how deep to bury the spikes, how to intersect the firing arcs of the Dark Bunker, and which line of fire to apply to the Steam Repeating Crossbow.

He had even considered in advance the angle from which the monster was most likely to pounce and which blind spots were most likely to cause trouble, and had prepared countermeasures accordingly.

The young lord looked as if he had dissected and examined every monster in the wasteland.

He knew exactly how the wolf pack charged, how the giant toad leaped, which layer of soil the blind rat preferred to gnaw on, where the Falling-Bone Beast would bounce off, and which crevices the Throat-Ripper Juvenile would burrow into.

From the outermost moat to the underground mechanisms, from the Dark Bunker's firepower to the rear Workshop and communication system, every link in Blackpine Fief had something personally placed by Shien.

It was precisely because he had thoroughly inspected and reinforced the entire position, and anticipated all possible areas that might spiral out of control.

Only tonight will Blackpine Fief have such a defensive position that can hold back the raging tide of the Long Night.

Since the first half of the night, tens of thousands of Magic Creature have died in the outer ring.

But the truly prized possession of the Blackpine Fief remained untouched.

The fourth and fifth Fifth Ring are still locked tight, the Heavy Automatic Rune Steam Repeating Crossbow matrix in the high Dark Bunker hasn't been fired yet, and of course, the final Alchemical Weapon hasn't been revealed either.

Even during the most dangerous moment on the eastern front, only about a hundred Falling-Bone Beast were released into the Third Ring, replacing several hundred heavy arrows.

Most of those arrows could still be pulled out of the corpses, the blood wiped off, and then sent back to the Workshop for repair.

The wind swept past the edge of the tower, Shien stood beneath the White-Gold Sacred Flame, his cloak barely moving.