Moria slowly extended her hand, her slender fingers tracing an elegant arc through the air, pointing directly at Su Ling.
Several soldiers immediately understood and rushed toward Su Ling like wolves. Their rough hands clamped onto her arms like iron pincers, holding her firmly no matter how desperately she struggled.
With their immense strength, her resistance was nothing more than a futile attempt.
Su Ling twisted her body frantically, trying to break free, but it was all in vain.
“What’s there to be nervous about, little maid? Where do you think you can run?”
Moria watched Su Ling with a half-smile, slowly walking closer step by step.
Her high heels clicked against the stone pavement. Each step seemed to land on Su Ling’s heart, making her more anxious.
Su Ling gritted her teeth and stubbornly turned her head away, unwilling to look at her.
“An unruly little thing.”
Moria extended a finger painted with bright red nail polish, gently lifting Su Ling’s chin, forcing her to face her.
“Did you think you could send word and change anything? Impossible. Your Sista was destined to fail. You so-called ‘revolutionaries’ are nothing but a bunch of overreaching clowns.”
She leaned in slightly, her smile growing deeper.
“Sista and the others have already walked into an ambush.”
With these words, Moria completely crushed the last shred of hope in Su Ling’s heart.
She felt powerless, as if she had no strength left to struggle.
—
Outside the city.
Sista’s army surged toward the city walls like a raging tide.
Catapults roared deafeningly as massive boulders tore across the sky, crashing into the enemy’s defenses with howling winds, kicking up clouds of dust and rubble.
Ladders stretched between the walls and the ground like the backs of giant dragons. Soldiers climbed up like ants, their spears glinting coldly in the moonlight.
At the lead, a knight clad in heavy plate armor, the patterns on her armor flowing with a cold metallic sheen.
She held a family heirloom battle-axe, its broad, sharp blade inscribed with ancient runes.
Sista’s eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s, scanning every corner of the battlefield for enemy weaknesses and dangers to her own side.
“Hold!”
Suddenly, Sista frowned slightly.
She keenly sensed an abnormal fluctuation hidden within the enemy formation.
The enemy troop distribution was too uniform, with almost no obvious weak points. At certain key positions on the wall, soldiers seemed to be quietly moving something.
Although it was too far to see clearly, the atmosphere of deliberate concealment and activity raised a warning in her heart.
“Issue the orders!”
“All units, speed up the attack! Focus the catapults on the southeast corner of the wall—there seems to be a hidden enemy gate!”
“Have the ladder units concentrate on breaching the northwest section—the defenses there are clearly weaker!”
Sista gave the orders decisively, her voice steady and firm, inspiring the soldiers’ morale like a war drum.
Upon receiving the orders, the soldiers moved even faster and more orderly.
The catapults fired at a noticeably increased rate, boulders raining down on the southeast corner. The immense impact made the wall tremble continuously, bricks and stones falling away, gradually revealing a hidden gate.
The ladder units’ assault on the northwest section also grew fiercer.
Soldiers surged onto the wall like a tidal wave, engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
However, there was no hint of joy on Sista’s face.
Her gaze pierced through the smoke of battle, as if looking somewhere far beyond.
She had a faint feeling that this might all be bait thrown by the enemy.
The true danger might still be lurking behind, waiting for them to walk into the trap.
“Su Ling…”
Sista’s heart suddenly sank.
“No. If all this is a trap, then Su Ling is likely already in trouble!”
She gritted her teeth.
“Order the rear reserves to be ready to support at any moment!”
“Also reinforce the flanks to prevent enemy ambushes!”
As time passed, the battlefield situation became increasingly deadlocked.
Although Sista’s army had achieved breakthroughs in some areas, the enemy resistance was also extraordinarily tenacious, and casualties on both sides were mounting.
Just then, a scout came running up, panting heavily.
His armor was covered in dust and blood, and his face was full of panic.
“Your Highness, it’s bad!”
“Enemy cavalry are charging out from the valleys on both sides! They planned this all along—they want to surround us below the walls!”
Sista’s heart sank.
Although she had vaguely anticipated this situation, she still felt immense pressure when it actually happened.
She took a deep breath and quickly adjusted her thinking.
“Change formation immediately!”
“Front-line infantry, form a phalanx! Spearmen in front, shield-bearers behind, build a defensive line!”
“Catapults, stop bombarding the walls and target the valleys on both sides to slow the cavalry charge!”
“Engineers on the ladders, pull back immediately and use the wall’s cover to organize a counterattack!”
The soldiers moved quickly.
The infantry rapidly formed up into a spear phalanx.
Spears stood like a forest, shields locked tightly together, forming an almost impenetrable steel defense line.
The catapults turned, and boulders rained down like meteors onto the enemy cavalry in the valleys.
Although the distance was great, they still managed to slow the cavalry’s charge.
In the center of the phalanx, Fesca raised his battle-axe high and let out a thunderous roar:
“For freedom and justice!”
“Brothers, fight side by side and drive back these despicable bastards!”
“Charge!”
As the enemy cavalry drew closer, Sista’s army was fully prepared.
Spearmen drove their spears deep into the ground, tips angled toward the sky, forming a dense forest of deadly points.
Shield-bearers raised their shields high, forming a solid barrier to protect the soldiers behind.
The enemy cavalry surged in like a black torrent.
However, when they slammed into Sista’s defensive line, they were pierced by spears, horses and riders tumbling over amid screams.
Those cavalry who managed to break through the spear line were immediately knocked down by shield-bearers and turned into corpses under the infantry’s blades.
Sista seized the opportunity and decisively ordered a counterattack.
The army gradually gained the upper hand.
Relying on their solid formation and high morale, they forced the enemy back step by step.
Finally, after failing to break through the line for so long, the enemy cavalry began to show confusion and retreat.
“Full assault!”
Sista ordered sharply.
The soldiers charged at the enemy like tigers descending a mountain.
With a deafening boom—
the city gate was finally completely breached!
Inside the city, flames were already blazing into the sky.
Sista spurred her horse and galloped through the smoke and flames, her mind repeating the same name.
“Su Ling…”