Chapter 651
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In a field battle, heavy infantrymen were always used as the main force to deal with heavy cavalrymen . When heavy infantrymen were sent to invade a city, equipment would become a problem . A few nations could organize an army, with soldiers above the standard of a swordmaster, to invade other lands .
When a person cultivated the Sword Aura to a swordmaster's standard, their Sword Aura could be released from their body and be attached to equipment . Examples included armor, swords, or even feather arrows . Even if a swordmaster donned heavy armor, they could still leap to insane heights .
Usually, a high grade swordmaster who was one grade lower would only possess strength which was slightly higher than that of a normal human and the duration of sustaining this strength would be longer . Unless magic armor was donned, a swordsman with heavy armor only had a sustained duration of between one to six hours, according to their grades .
Currently, heavy infantrymen had begun appearing in the midst of the cannon fodder who were charging towards the city walls . The heavy infantrymen radiated brilliance, they had obviously been forcefully blessed with divine spells, their speed and strength had been boosted by dozens of times .
For the first time, Saleen saw that heavy infantrymen were running as quickly as cavalrymen . Even though the distance was only about a mile, this scene was still pretty horrifying . Saleen's heavy infantrymen, who were battling at the city entrance, could not travel at such a high speed . This skill of increasing a human's speed forcefully would deal severe damage to their life .
So what if these soldiers were injured? This time around, the Holy See had spared no effort, it wanted to flatten Metatrin City . They had no qualms sacrificing all the expeditionary troops .
Only holy masters above grade-4 could cause such an effect . The Holy See's army had begun employing intermediate grade holy masters and they were used in large numbers .
At this point in time, Saleen started to regret that he did not produce high level magic armor in huge quantities . "If my commanders are wearing high level magic armor, then my orders can be relayed to every combat unit immediately . "
Saleen could only order all the battlements to rise up and fire the alchemical arrows at the same time as the fixed battlements . Fortunately for Saleen, he had obtained all the red krill shells during his first hunt, then made them into equipment . Saleen had made the thorns of the red krill into the arrowheads for the alchemical arrows
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Even though red krill were a relatively weaker grade-4 magic beast, their strongest attack was the thorn . The material of this part made them worthy of being labeled as grade-4 magic beasts . Even if arrowheads made from these thorns were selling for dozens of gold coins people were still willing to purchase them .
Such materials were more durable than metal . As long as the crafting technique was superior, the arrowhead would possess massive penetrative ability . Red krill relied on this thorn to survive in the ocean . When tens of thousands of red krill used their thorns to attack simultaneously even a grade-9 magic beast would have to go into hiding .
Even Holy Rock City could not be as prodigal as Saleen, each thorn was maximized and it was crafted into three or four arrowheads . Saleen had allocated these over three-hundred-thousand alchemical arrows to the five camps . The city walls over at the western face were given over one-hundred-thousand of these arrows .
That was what Saleen meant by using money to flood the enemy .
When such alchemical arrows were used they could still be recycled and used repeatedly, but they were much cheaper than magic scrolls . Of the battlements at the city entrance, those who could be raised and lowered were utilizing miniature alchemical crossbows . Since the fixed battlements possessed strong defensive power, intermediate and large alchemical crossbows were installed in them .
Since the enemy had intensified their offensive, Saleen displayed his true techniques .
These alchemical crossbows were accurate . At the same time, over one-thousand arrows flew out from the city entrance . Saleen had held back certain techniques in this attack . If the enemy's holy masters tried to fly, Saleen would have more alchemical crossbows awaiting them .
Before Lex left, the majority of equipment she had crafted for Saleen were alchemical crossbows . Saleen had contributed a huge quantity of magic nuclei because of this . Now was the time to receive rewards . Saleen's alchemical crossbows were almost fifty percent accurate, these over one-thousand arrows killed more than five-hundred heavy infantrymen simultaneously .
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Tanggulasi's heavy infantrymen donned white steel armor . Their helmets were crafted as a whole, so an ax might not be able to slice it open . Each heavy infantryman held a circular metal shield in their left hand . These heavy infantrymen were agile . Sensing that arrows were approaching, they actually reacted in time . They had used the circular shields to protect their vital organs beforehand .
At this moment, the thorns of the red krill unleashed a massive function; penetration .
It was as though Saleen had tossed tens of thousands of gold coins down the city walls . There was a chain of alluring sounds . The circular metal shields and white steel helmets were as weak as paper in the face of the alchemical arrows .
At this point in time the magic arrays around Saleen became fully activated, he could finally interact with the mages stationed in the battlements . These battlements were extremely crucial . With the battlements around, Saleen would not have to care about the enemy's offensive . One-thousand years ago, using one's physical body to resist magic equipment had already been proven to be a very stupid idea .
Even though the sacred knights were very mighty, they were also disintegrated before Holy Rock City . Legend had it that the armor of the sacred knights contained the ability to fly . Long ago Holy See only utilized experts who were above the standard of swordmasters, there were no weaklings within the army . Even so, the walls of Holy Rock City formed a natural moat .
The moment the magic clock sounded, all areas within a radius of one-hundred miles would be inside the attack range, there were no exceptions .
Saleen did not have a magic clock, but he possessed a substantial amount of magic beast materials . He was also willing to use them .
Red krill was a non-toxic magic beast, its thorn was the sole attack method . Its attributes were categorized based on the power of ability, they were penetration, tearing, and healing prohibition . After the enemy's defenses were breached, the remaining two attributes could then cause a greater effect . The length of a red krill never exceeded one and a half yard . An average adult red krill was only one yard long . The red krill with the longest lifespan could grow to one and a half yards . Some magic beasts in the ocean were easily more than one-hundred yards in length and only larger warships could survive in the Frozen Sea . Without these abilities, it would be impossible for the red krill to reproduce in the Frozen Sea .
The wounded heavy infantrymen were basically crippled . Their wounds were torn more than half a foot open, the radiant holy light could not heal these wounds . Blood gushed out profusely . Over two-hundred soldiers collapsed successively . The injured soldiers who actually continued advancing were only grazed by the alchemical arrows .
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Saleen had installed quite a number of battlements, but the loading speed of an alchemical crossbow was lower than that of a normal crossbow . After each shot, reloading such a mighty alchemical crossbow would take up about three minutes . Saleen split the barrage of arrows into waves, but he could only release a wave of arrows every half a minute . He would not be able to set aside alchemical crossbows to deal with enemies who could fly otherwise .
Saleen was very worried that the enemy possessed flying equipment and could transport their soldiers directly to the city walls . That was why he set aside half of the alchemical crossbows to handle such enemies .
Arrows were fired every half a minute . Due to high accuracy the heavy infantrymen collapsed like chopped chives . Cheers came from the city entrance, originating from the brave mercenaries who didn't retreat . The second camp was more disciplined, it remained silent . The cheers from the mercenaries caused the second camp to be very exhilarated though .
During the first half of the day, enemies who were struck by arrows could still sprint swiftly ahead and scale the walls, exhausting the second camp . This time around, the attack from the city entrance made the injured enemies unable to stand up anymore . The accuracy was horrifying .
"It's great to be rich!" Saleen sighed . If other people were guarding the city, they would have suffered a nervous breakdown long ago, given the Holy See's attack frequency . Saleen had simply spent a few thousand gold coins and his soldiers' morale was lifted .
Each attack cost tens of thousands of gold coins, so the entire battle would consume a few million gold coins . Saleen did not give a hoot though . As long as he achieved the final victory, most of the equipment could be retrieved and repaired for future use .
Saleen was jubilant while Archbishop Nicholas had suffered a tragedy . He wanted to create some opportunities for the main body . Unexpectedly, less than one-thousand heavy infantrymen remained by the time the five-thousand strong team arrived at the foot of the city . Saleen had used more than ten-thousand alchemical arrows to get rid of over four-thousand strong enemies .
The crux laid in the fact that this was a defensive battle . Each alchemical crossbow had long marked hundreds of coordinates across the defensive region beyond the city . The mages simply had to calculate the enemy's running speed before designating the landing zone of the arrows and the accuracy would be up to about fifty percent .
The massive lethality of the red krill arrows caused the heavily wounded soldiers to die quickly . Consequently, it dealt a tremendous shock to the enemy .
It must be noted that the cost of production of a spirit archer's bow was only a dozen copper coins . In the aspect of the cost of production, both items had a difference of thousands of times .
Dozens of large rocks flew from the rear, landing in Metatrin City . They had come from Saleen's trebuchets to deal with the steel monsters who were invading the city and the steel arrow chariots . The expeditionary army had seized a window of free period to deploy dozens of reassembled trebuchets .
These trebuchets were very inaccurate, but they still possessed a certain degree of lethality . The houses in the city were extremely sturdy, but a number of horses and slaves were crushed by those large rocks . Saleen had already instructed the slaves to enter a fortress located outside the city . If the enemy breached the city gates the slaves would hold the fort for a while . If the slaves killed anyone they would receive rewards and if they killed three people they would regain their freedom . Those who survived after killing more than five enemies would be able to join Metatrin City .
The Holy See had cannon fodder, but so did Saleen . Saleen had purchased slaves . The lousier ones were sent to dig mines, while those who remained were people whom Saleen was considering recruiting . The only way out for these people was to fight for Saleen .
After consecutive charges by the expeditionary army someone finally managed to breach the city entrance . It was not because Saleen had given the enemy a chance, but because there were simply too many enemies . The alchemical crossbows were firing too slowly . The bows had low lethality despite a high firing speed, unless every archer was like Jola or Eleanor .
At the city entrance, Banchajanna's body expanded swiftly, occupying the distance spanning two passes . The Soul Flame in his pupils flickered vigorously, then Judikaka exclaimed, "Banchajanna, don't go berserk!"
"Mm!" Banchajanna responded gravely . He swung his two arms at the front, striking dozens of heavy infantrymen who had climbed up the city entrance . The short axes wielded by the heavy infantrymen left streaks of flames on Banchajanna's bones, but did not cause any real damage .
Judikaka felt that something was amiss, Banchajanna seemed like he could not keep his emotions in check . He was going to attack Saleen's subordinates it seemed .
"This isn't the right time to attack . The Holy See's men are invading the city, even if I can be rid of Saleen's and Aini's control and the contract doesn't deliver any backlash, the three of us will fight to our deaths with the Holy See . The Holy See will not care which side we are on . To a believer, death mages have to be burned to death, not to mention genuine spirits . "
Banchajanna controlled the frustration in his heart . As his six arms swung about, they had already mistakenly injured two warriors from the second camp . Everyone stayed away from Banchajanna's attack range, only the soldiers at the foot of the city did not understand the situation . The soldiers actually concentrated their efforts and launched an offensive against Banchajanna .