As soon as the pale-faced, thin man finished speaking, two heavily armored guards from the city lord's mansion, grinning maliciously, drew their longswords and charged towards the soldiers. They dared not attack the exceptionally strong Sun Fei, but they certainly didn't care about a few lowly soldiers. In fact, as they rushed past Sun Fei, one of them even winked and smiled at Sun Fei in a show of defiance.
Slap! Slap!
Sun Fei, who had been standing quietly, suddenly slapped her several times hard across the face.
The two armored soldiers, who had been grinning maliciously just moments before, were sent flying like broken sandbags before they could even react to what was happening.
Enraged, Sun Fei slapped the helmet without holding back, leaving clear handprints on the bright silver helmet. The helmet was completely deformed, and the head beneath it was smashed open, blood and brains splattering everywhere. The two corpses slammed against the city wall, turning into two piles of mangled flesh.
This violent, Bloody, and sudden scene left everyone on the city wall speechless.
For a moment, the city gate was completely silent; one could even hear the gurgling sound of someone swallowing.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak..."
The sound of the city gates opening was so jarring in the silence, like giant hammers striking everyone's hearts, sending shivers down their spines.
"No, the city gates cannot be opened! You... you deserve to die... stop!" The pale, tall, thin man, both shocked and furious, finally regained his senses and pointed at Sun Fei, shouting, "Who are you? You're just King of a mere vassal state, you..."
Snap!
Sun Fei ignored him and slapped him hard across the face again.
Bang!
The city lord's envoy didn't even have time to react to what was happening, and before he could even let out a scream, his head exploded like a watermelon struck by a hammer, turning into a cloud of blood mist. His body swayed for a moment before collapsing to the ground, blood gushing from the severed neck.
They even killed the city lord's special envoy!!
"Aaaaaah! Murder! You killed the city lord's envoy! You...!"
The remaining few soldiers, clad in magnificent armor, were instantly terrified. They instinctively tried to say something, but when they saw the three mangled corpses before them and the killer's nonchalant expression as if he were crushing three ants, they immediately understood. They turned and ran as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight, no longer daring to show any arrogance. They fled in panic, running far down the city wall and disappearing into the distance.
Sun Fei sneered, glancing thoughtfully at the direction the city lord's guards had fled, and did not pursue them further.
The city gates were then fully opened.
The more than 6,000 cavalrymen, who had been prepared in advance, passed through the city gate in an orderly manner. The knights' horsemanship was superb, and these more than 6,000 people were all elites of the [ Wolf Fang Legion ]. It took them less than five minutes to pass through the city gate completely. With a series of clattering sounds of the mechanisms turning, the huge city gate closed again.
After the knights entered the city, the streets on both sides were already filled with civilians from Twin Flag City who had come to welcome the reinforcements.
The civilians were not involved in the battle, so they might not know how dangerous the situation had been just moments before. However, it was always good that the Empire had sent reinforcements. Although these reinforcements were few in number, they were said to have already helped the defenders repel the first wave of attacks from the brutal Ajax. At least this was something the civilians should cheer for.
Thanks to the magical barrier [ Earth's Protection ], most of the buildings in the city remained intact, undamaged by Ajax's army's arrows, boulders, and magic. The cobblestone streets were flanked by three-story stone palaces and other stone buildings. Timid children peeked out from the windows and doorways, while some bolder girls ran directly to the street, cheering and welcoming the knights' arrival.
A red cloak, a black steed, a ruby-encrusted Sharp Sword dripping with blood, and the handsome, smiling faces of the knights beneath their elegant helmets...
All of this is obviously fatally attractive to the vast majority of people, especially some young girls who are already eager to win over their Prince.
The vanguard knights were extremely pleased with the welcome from the common people of Twin Flag City.
Led by the adjutant of Frank Ribery, the highest-ranking local garrison commander, more than 6,000 men arrived at the Barracks square not far from the city gate. The warhorses were given a temporary rest, and were cared for and fed by designated personnel. Meanwhile, the soldiers began to cook their meals in an orderly manner. Since setting out at dawn, they had gone through another fierce battle and were exhausted.
The vanguard legion's leadership then began their first contact with the garrison in Twin Flag City.
Ajax's army has not retreated, and a siege could begin at any moment. The leaders of the reinforcements and the garrison must familiarize themselves with each other as quickly as possible so that they can cooperate closely in the upcoming battles and prevent any gaps in command that the enemy could exploit.
However, Sun Fei did not participate in any of these events.
The first thing His King did after descending from the city gate was to use the crafting function of the [ Horadric Cube ] in the Diablo World to synthesize twenty [Medium Magic Stones]. He then placed them in various key circuits of the city's magical barrier, [ Earth's Protection ]. Based on the knowledge of magic circuits he had learned from Sister Akara, he slightly modified several damaged parts of the circuit that had been broken due to extreme energy consumption, thus completing the repair of this crucial magic circle for the defense of the city.
An hour had passed by the time all of this was done.
"Hmm, twenty high-grade magic stones. This is the last vestige of wealth accumulated by the royal family of Chambord City over generations. They used it all today to defend against Twin Flag City. Write this down. Send someone to the Military Department immediately and have the logistics officers find a way to return it to us as soon as possible. Oh, and you can tell them that it can also be exchanged for gold coins. To show Chambord City's loyalty to the Empire, we can offer a 20% discount. Remember, before reporting this, have the officers of the brother units in Twin Flag City notarize it, lest the Military Department leaders think I'm trying to extort money."
Sun Fei clapped his hands and solemnly instructed Petr Čech was standing beside him.
Čech nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and actually took out a pen and paper to write it all down.
The large, somewhat dim-witted officer from the Twin Flag City standing beside him was utterly dumbfounded. To dare openly demand war reparations from the Imperial Military Department was something he had never heard of before. And judging from the expression on his attendant's face, it seemed he was already used to it. Was this man, who so blatantly disregarded the powerful nobles and officials of the Imperial Military Department, merely a King of a vassal state?
The big, clumsy officer smiled, sweating profusely, and remained silent.
Although he didn't know Sun Fei's true identity among the reinforcements, he already held this extraordinary vassal King in high regard.
Sun Fei's subsequent behavior wasn't too reckless; instead, he chatted amiably with the garrison officer for quite some time, eventually bringing up the day's siege. When the officer mentioned that at the critical moment when the Ajax army was besieging the city, the city lord Soroyev and some nobles from the Twin Flag City had withdrawn their private armies and were preparing to abandon the city and flee, Čech's expression changed drastically.
Having served His Majesty the King for so long, he naturally understood King Majesty's temperament thoroughly. Because Sun Fei had always been a very simple and easy-going person, Čech knew that the actions of Soroyev and the others had completely touched King Alexander's sore spot.
To Čech's slight surprise, however, His Majesty the King did not erupt in a tirade, but instead continued chatting with the officer with a smile on his face.
After the conversation, the current situation of Twin Flag City was basically clear in Sun Fei and Čech's minds.
According to the imperial political and military system, Twin Flag City is jointly controlled by the city lord's office and the garrison. The city lord's office is mainly responsible for the city's political affairs, while the garrison is responsible for the defense and protection of Twin Flag City. Neither the city lord nor the first commander of the garrison has the right to interfere in matters outside their jurisdiction.
However, the Imperial System has another provision: once war breaks out, control of the city, as the most important military town on the northwestern border of the empire, will belong to the nobleman with the highest rank in the city. Whether it is the city lord or the garrison commander, they must obey the command of the highest nobleman to prevent a chaotic situation of disarray and discord between government and orders.
This metric system is not wrong in itself; in fact, it reflects the flexibility of wartime needs and expediency.
However, the problem lay in the fact that, within the Twin Flag City, the city lord Soroyev, as a second-class hereditary nobleman of the empire, was precisely the nobleman with the highest rank and status. As a result, all political and military power in Twin Flag City fell into Soroyev's hands. Unfortunately, Soroyev was a useless and cowardly man, like many nobles in the empire who had become completely corrupt and forgotten their ancestral Glory. The drawbacks of the hereditary system were on full display at this time.
After learning of the declaration of war between the two countries, Lord Soroyev, the city lord and temporary wartime supreme commander, was extremely anxious and fearful. He hid in the city lord's mansion every day, trembling with fear, hoping that the Ajax people would not actually attack. Although he was terrified, he was reluctant to abandon the city, as he could not bear to give up the wealth and status he had built up in Twin Flag City over the years and the Glory of the supreme command he had just acquired.
After the first Ajax Empire scout appeared from the distant Shamo, the selfishness and folly of the corrupt nobles were fully revealed.
Soroyev ordered the city gates to be closed, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving the city.
This order directly resulted in the near extermination of over two thousand Zenit civilians outside Twin Flag City, who were unable to escape and were wiped out by Ajax's vanguard and scouts. This brought the entire imperial territory within a hundred miles of Twin Flag City under the control of Ajax's army, turning Twin Flag City into a completely ghost town.
Second update.
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I haven't finished making up for the backlog from the Lunar New Year with the last two updates, but I'll really have a crazy burst of updates around the middle of the month, an unprecedented burst, with many chapters a day.