Even though the Howl skill had grown very faint by the time it reached the foot of the wall, it was still more than enough to deal with a few ordinary warhorses. At Sun Fei's roar, the four black horses neighed in panic, their legs gave way, and they fell to their knees, so frightened that they lost control of their bowels and bladders.
The other three Black Knights on horseback were caught off guard and jumped down in disarray.
"Damn beasts!"
Whips rained down on the black horses.
But no matter how they whipped them, the well-trained warhorses remained on their knees, whimpering as though possessed and refusing to get up.
"Oh, look! They've pissed themselves! Hahaha!"
"Bastards, get lost! If you've got the guts, bring your weapons and fight!"
"You want us to surrender? Dream on! Come have a taste of your grandpa's axe!"
"You filthy maggots will never take Chambord City! We'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget..."
"Haha, scared? Go call your mommy to help you!"
"..."
At the satisfying sight, the soldiers and civilians on Chambord City's walls burst into laughter. Some of the bolder soldiers leaned over the battlements to jeer, and one joker even pulled out his little dick and pissed straight down...
Clang, clang, clang!
The soldiers struck their weapons together. The mighty clash of metal, combined with the marvelous display Lampard and Sun Fei had just put on, sent everyone's fear flying away. Even the most timid soldiers felt their blood boil, eager to start fighting at once and personally cut down a few enemies.
Far away, beside the Zuli River.
Seeing this from a distance, the silver-masked man, who had remained calm and composed all along, turned livid with anger.
He had intended to use the surrender negotiations to stir up conflict between Chambord City's civilians and the royal family while undermining their morale. If he could sow suspicion and discord between the royal officials and the civilians, then even if he failed to persuade them to surrender, infighting in Chambord City would inevitably cause its fighting strength to plummet, allowing him to take the city quickly.
But...
He had never expected things to turn out this way.
That idiot Number One's string of foolish actions had violated the customs of battlefield negotiations, giving the other side a legitimate reason to attack. Not only had he lost his own life, but the enemy had seized the chance to boost their own morale while dealing a heavy blow to that of the black-armored formations!
"Damn it..."
The silver-masked man could not help cursing. For some reason, he suddenly felt that attacking Chambord City might not be as easy as he had imagined.
"Master, let me kill that insolent Three-Star Warrior for you!"
The Three-Star Warrior Langde saw a good opportunity to prove himself and hurriedly spurred his horse forward to make the request.
Some of the other Black Knights could no longer hold back either.
Seeing their comrades killed one after another, the Black Knights felt that their dignity as the silver-masked man's personal knights had been challenged. They clamored to attack the city immediately and bathe Chambord in blood.
But-
The silver-masked man gripped his riding crop tightly.
His knuckles had turned slightly white from the force of his grip. Clearly, he was struggling to suppress his anger.
After thinking for a moment, however, he stopped his subordinates. To their surprise, he waved a hand and said in a low voice, "Pass down my order. The army is to hold its position. We'll attack the city after lunch!"
Langde and the Black Knights were startled. They had not expected such an order.
"Those lowly peasants' morale is high right now. Attacking them now would be falling right into that idiot king's trap..." The silver-masked man pointed his crop at Chambord City in the distance and said calmly, "When their morale falls around noon, that will be our chance. Attack the city immediately then, and throw every siege ladder and engine we have into the battle. I want this sinful little city taken within half an hour, and its people slaughtered for three days, to avenge my warriors!"
With that, the silver-masked man gave an angry shout and rode back.
Atop Chambord City's walls.
Three minutes later.
Sun Fei and Brook looked at each other in bewilderment.
Everyone on the wall had assumed that after Lampard killed the Black Knight, the enemy would fly into a rage and counterattack. The soldiers had long since prepared for battle...
But three or four minutes passed, and the anticipated furious assault never came. The black-armored formations remained in their original formation, holding the bridge without advancing or retreating. They stayed just outside bowshot, watching menacingly.
"What the hell are they doing?"
Sun Fei was completely baffled. He thought the enemy commander might have been kicked in the head by a donkey, always refusing to play by the rules like that great trickster Zhao Benshang. Was he up to some other trick?
Honest Brook stood nearby, his head lowered as he pondered.
He felt that the mysterious enemy commander's intentions were hard to fathom. Although the anticipated storm of an attack had not come, an even greater and more terrifying storm seemed to be brewing beneath the calm.
Having been temporarily appointed by His Majesty the King as commander-in-chief of Chambord City's defense, Brook felt the weight of his responsibility. He had to figure out the enemy's intentions as quickly as possible.
After thinking for a moment, Brook turned his gaze to the surrounding mountaintops.
To make sure the enemy did not attack from elsewhere, Brook sent a dozen or so of the sharper soldiers to scout the mountaintops on Chambord City's other three sides, guarding against enemy experts scaling the sheer cliffs for a surprise attack.
Another ten minutes or so passed.
As time slowly went by, the atmosphere on the wall began to change.
Sun Fei suddenly noticed that some soldiers were visibly growing less alert. Their grips on their weapons had slackened, and their gazes toward the area outside the city had grown listless. If their spirits and morale half an hour ago had been like a powerful bow drawn to the full, that bow had now silently gone slack.
This was bad.
They had gone to great lengths to raise morale, only for the enemy's strange behavior to drain it away so quickly. It felt like gathering every ounce of strength with great effort and throwing a mighty punch, only to miss the target and hit empty air instead. It was an utterly miserable feeling.
A text Sun Fei had studied in his previous life suddenly sprang to mind-
Cao Gui's Discussion of War.
Could the enemy commander who hasn't shown himself once from beginning to end be using the same strategy as Cao Gui? If so...
Sun Fei's heart skipped a beat.
If that really was the case, they were in some trouble.
It revealed a great deal. Most obviously, the enemy commander was far more formidable than Sun Fei had imagined. He was not only adept at controlling himself, but also at understanding people's minds. Morale could be a minor or major factor; used well, it could often even decide the outcome of a battle outright.
What should he do now?
Although Sun Fei had guessed the enemy's intentions, he could not immediately think of a way to counter them.
Clearly, the mysterious enemy commander was using an open strategy. Even if they saw through it, given Chambord City's current situation, they could only regain the initiative in morale by attacking and breaking the deadlock. But for Chambord City, with its few soldiers and commanders, giving up its geographical advantage to attack was no different from seeking death.
But if they continued waiting like this, keeping every soldier on high alert at all times, the enormous pressure would sooner or later cause them to break down.
Sun Fei thought it over and over. In the end, he could only call Brook over and make careful arrangements, dividing the defending soldiers into two groups. As long as the enemy did not attack, one group would rest where they were while the other kept watch, switching every twenty minutes to keep the soldiers' spirits and stamina at a normal level...
It was the best method Sun Fei could think of at the moment.
Another twenty minutes or so passed, and the sun had climbed halfway up the sky.
The sunlight grew scorching. The heavy armor and weapons, along with the immense mental pressure from the dense mass of enemy troops across from them, caused the soldiers on Chambord City's walls to sweat involuntarily.
Sun Fei stood atop the wall and watched carefully for a while. The other side still showed no sign of attacking.
He thought it over.
He decided to stop waiting around like a fool.
Every minute and every second was precious to him. He had to hurry into Diablo World and level up to increase his strength. That was far better than waiting here doing nothing.
He turned and returned to the stone room in the gate tower, leaving the white-haired strongman Pierce outside on guard with the King's Sword on his back. Sun Fei sat on a stone, closed his eyes, and concentrated on calling out to the mysterious, cold voice in his mind.
A response soon came-
"Spiritual power sufficient... scanning soul fluctuations... soul fluctuations verified... countdown to entering Diablo World beginning... 3... 2... 1... ding-dong, entering!"
This time, Sun Fei once again chose the barbarian character upon entering Diablo World.
He appeared in the graveyard on the Cold Plains.
Blood Raven's corpse lay before him, with gleaming yellow equipment and glittering gold coins scattered all over the ground. But he had no time to pick them up. Because he had reentered the game world, the monsters around the graveyard had respawned. As soon as countless monsters such as Skeleton Archers and Fallen saw someone appear, they rushed over in a dense mass, howling.
The bloody battle began.
It took Sun Fei quite some effort to clear the monsters from the graveyard once again.
Only then did he have time to collect the equipment and gold coins they had dropped.
After taking stock, Sun Fei discovered that he had made quite a haul this time-
There were three pieces of yellow equipment: a shield with sharp barbs, a strangely shaped dagger that gleamed coldly, and a pair of exquisitely crafted bronze-colored gloves.
However, none of the three pieces had been identified, so he did not yet know how powerful they were.
Besides the yellow equipment, there were three pieces of slightly lower-grade blue equipment. Sun Fei put those in his backpack as well, figuring they would sell for a fair sum.
The monsters had also dropped a total of 600 gold coins directly, and Sun Fei happily picked them all up.
Once he had finished, he opened the character attributes panel with a thought-
Second update.
I really don't dare go too fast. As soon as I do, things get messy.
Tonight is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Wherever you brothers and sisters are, whether or not you're with your loved ones, Knife wishes you good health, happiness for your whole family, and all the best... In short, my warmest wishes to you all.
A brother behind us is catching up fast, and Knife doesn't have much in the way of recommendations this week. Brothers, give it a little push so we can move ahead. We're almost at 10,000 red votes-let's bring that historic moment a little closer.
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