Hope City.
The distant Hope City also noticed something wrong when the Dark Races rushed out to the surface.
The town of the Three Sisters was highly efficient. They quickly entered a state of emergency.
Under Lorie’s leadership, Hope City’s military forces were on high alert.
They kept dispatching scouts and information rushed through Hope City.
On the city wall, a purple-haired young girl was looking into the distance.
Though covered to some extent by black clouds, Rocky Mountain could still receive some rays of light.
And these rays of light could bring harm to the Dark Races, even if it was merely a few of them.
She was able to see very far due to her own special ability.
A pitch-black blockade line was already completed.
It looked like a black snake, twisting around the surrounding towns between Lion Town and Hope City, strangling many fleeing refugees!
"Dark Races…. Lion Town has already been breached." A low whisper could be heard from her mouth.
The expression of Knight at her side was quite serious.
As this city’s supreme leaders, the three siblings had supreme authority. This authority was originally very stable because of Jessica’s backing.
But now, traces of chaos seemed to have appeared in Hope City!
The Dark Races invaded!
This information spread everywhere and immediately caused panic.
There was no Legend overseeing Hope City at the moment!
The strongest of the three sisters was currently on the edge of the Chaos Ground, trying to catch that Black Dragon who often came to disturb Rocky Mountain.
And Kate, who had shown some development in her abilities, also took a few people and left for the dangerous area to the west to investigate the meteors.
Only Lorie, the youngest of the three, remained.
Even if the inhabitants were fond of Lorie, that girl was way too young. Few people were willing to entrust Hope City to her hands.
If not for the city’s guards keeping the situation under control and Jessica’s reputation, civil strife might have already broken out in Hope City.
Even so, a worrying feeling spread through Hope City.
Merchants packed their belongings and tried to head west, while poor people were blankly gathering together, wanting to know more information.
During this time, the city was on the verge of sinking into chaos.
But after Lorie personally made an appearance, everything became better.
This young girl was actually very smart. She had exceptional leadership and management abilities.
Right at the start, she summoned the most loyal city guards.
And Head Knight Terry at her side was the most loyal follower of the three sisters.
Orders came from Lorie’s mouth and they were strictly implemented by the city guards!
Gather the militia. Conscript the adventurers. Quickly deploy the city guards to get the surroundings villages’ inhabitants to move over. Gather the exiled Sorcerers’ organization [Demonic Hand]. Open the refuge and send in the elderly and children. Open the armory and provide able people with the means to defend themselves...
The orders were methodically carried out.
It unconsciously stabilized the hearts of many people.
They looked at that short silhouette standing on the city wall and they couldn’t help but feel an unprecedented reverence toward her.
Before this event, this young girl always obediently hid behind her two sisters.
She was extremely good-looking and had an aura of innocence.
No one knew that in a time of war, she could be so calm and rational.
Even for the Head Knight at her side, it was first time he saw Young Lady Lorie acting like a commander.
"Ankhegs’ endurance is ordinary. Even if they move with magic, lazy monsters like them can’t work for too long."
"But without the Ankhegs, it would be very hard to break throu
gh Hope City. The Dark Races’ commander should clearly know about this."
"Thus, they would attack Hope City after three days. In that time, they will purge the rest of the humans on the surface. After all, in the eyes of the Dark Races, lifeforms of the world above are prey."
Lorie mumbled, with grief flashing through her eyes, "Uncle¹ Terry, we really can’t save those people?"
(T/N1:Form of address.)
The Head Knight remained silent.
Hope City had already made proper war preparations. He had faith that under Young Lady Lorie’s leadership, they could repel the Dark Races.
What’s more, with the Dark Races making such a big move, the powerful Lady Jessica would certainly notice it.
If the Fate Sorceress returned to Hope City, the Legend’s skills would unconditionally suppress the Dark Races and they wouldn’t be able to withstand a single blow!
But the people Young Lady Lorie talked about were the inhabitants of the cities and towns between Lion Town and Hope City. They had low chances of survival.
Despite the dark sky, they could still see far into the distance from the city wall.
That pitch-black blockade was clearly visible. Even though the blockade line was uneven, there was no place that didn’t have the Underdark’s monsters.
Goblins, Gnolls, and Kobolds made up most of the blockade line. These lifeforms mostly weren’t very strong, but there were plenty of them.
And the most powerful Quaggoth and Fomorians were real nightmares!
They were in the center of the blockade line. No matter what part of the blockade was broken, these monsters would appear and fill in.
They just saw a group of elite calvary being quickly defeated.
They were a troop of cavalry from one of the villages next to Lion Town.
More than twenty cavalrymen rushed into a hole of the blockade.
But unfortunately were they caught by a Fomorian!
They were sturdier than Ogres, but less intelligent. Most Fomorians had high magic resistance while also mastering one or two kinds of spells.
This was what was most troublesome.
You couldn’t know what kind of spell he would come up with. Not knowing if a Fire Tongue or Ice Cone would suddenly come out while you were in melee was very troublesome.
In short, those knights who broke through the goblins’ blockade were swept away by a few Fomorians.
These monsters relied on their sturdy physiques to crush the cavalry.
Moreover, they still had helpers.
Whether it was quantity or quality, they couldn’t do anything against it.
This blockade was the line between life and death for humans on the surface.
"Go take a look at the refugee shelter."
"If they are more or less done, close the city gates." Lorie sighed.
"The inhabitants from the surroundings already scattered and found accommodations. Fortunately, enough refuges were built when we established the city, or else we couldn’t have squeezed them in," reported Head Knight Terry after a while.
"The city gates can be closed at any time. The cavalrymen we sent around already returned."
Lorie nodded.
She was about to give the order.
But suddenly, a commotion appeared in the north of the blockade.
She squinted.
There was some activity.
It was a village a bit north of Lion Town.
Because they heard Lion Town’s signal, they reacted before the Dark Races attacked them.
Most people still ended up buried under the mouths of the Dark Races, but a small group of them still managed to escape.
There were many innocent villagers among them.
There were roughly 100 of them, and they were escorted by a large-scale mercenary team.
The entire mercenary team numbered about 80 people. They moved slowly, but because of their numbers, they had some hope of breaking through the blockade!
As long as they broke through the blockade, they would be able to reach Hope City.
Thus, they all did their best.
"There is still such a dedicated mercenary group?" Terry also watched this scene.
The mercenary group was holding a Silver Fox’s flag and was considered one of the most famous mercenary organizations in the Chaos Ground.
The large mercenary group had a fairly good reputation, and they apparently took over the mission of defending that northern village.
Now, as they evacuated, they even firmly escorted that group of villagers.
In fact, if they abandoned those villagers with no fighting strength, their chances of breaking through the blockade would be a lot bigger!
But they didn’t do so.
The blockade line was pushed back for the first time.
The mercenaries attacked in a triangle formation. At the spearhead was a powerhouse wielding two greatswords.
That was the mercenary leader. He was creating a path out of this battlefield on his own, leading everyone to break out of the blockade!
"Not good, we have to rescue them!" Lorie frowned.
Head Knight Terry clenched his teeth. "Even though our cavalry is intact, it would still be easy to lose them to the tide of monsters if they attacked now."
"It’s likely that they wouldn’t be able to survive until our cavalry arrived. There are way too many monsters after all."
Lorie stayed silent.
The little girl knew that Terry’s words were right.
For a few hundred people, it wasn’t wise to sacrifice a cavalry unit. At the same time, Hope City’s thousands would see their odds of survival greatly decline. This wasn’t something wise.
But for her, lives couldn’t simply be coldly calculated.
She clenched her fists. "Dispatch the cavalry."
"We must save them."
"In any case, we have to give it a try."
Terry took a deep look at her and ultimately used knightly etiquette as he said, "Yes!"
"I’ll personally lead the team!"
The young girl was stunned. "Uncle Terry!"
But this time, the Head Knight didn’t turn back to the city wall.
Hope City’s gates slowly opened.
A small group of about thirty cavalrymen quickly rushed to the north of the blockade.
They soon arrived at the edge of the blockade.
Under Head Knight Terry’s leadership, they forcefully ripped apart the defensive line and successfully joined up with that group of mercenaries.
"Follow us, rush out!"
Head Knight Terry bellowed.
Everyone worked together to follow the Knights toward the west.
But at that time, five Fomorians had blocked them off.
Following the Fomorians were a Quaggoth and a squad of Dark Elves!
Kobolds and Gnolls also kept squeezing toward them.
The pressure faced by the human group increased.
"No good." Worry could be seen on Lorie’s face.
Even though Terry was an expert of the 3rd rank, he was heavily outnumbered.
If they couldn’t deal with the Fomorians, the team of knights would be in danger!
"Uncle Terry…"
Lorie silently prayed, "You must safely return…"
But at that moment, a somewhat lazy voice echoed by her ear. "You don’t need to be that worried."
"They will definitely break through the siege."
A plump lifeform sat on her shoulder.
"Eh, Ding?"
Lorie looked at the north of the blockade, somewhat nervous.
The Fomorians quickly surrounded them, and if they couldn’t break out, even the cavalrymen wouldn’t be able to escape.
The current Hope City didn’t have the strength to fight a direct battle with the Underdark’s lifeforms.
But those ordinary villagers greatly slowed the advance.
Some women were still holding onto their children!
Many mercenaries were also collapsing. The leader of the convoy just took a blow to his knee and was limping, needing someone to lend him an arm to keep moving forward!
That group’s fate seemed to have already been decided.
"I was reckless!"
The little girl was grabbing her pretty light purple hair, upset.
"No. You made the correct decision."
Ding squinted and said, "I can feel someone familiar hiding in that group."
"What is he waiting for?"
What was Marvin waiting for?
He was waiting for an opportunity to make a move!
After leaving the windmill, they quickly ran across the Silver Fox mercenaries. The kindhearted mercenaries took them as common refugees and pulled them into the ranks.
They kept rushing forward and it looked like they were about to break through the blockade.
During that time, Marvin kept switching between the shotgun and the two pistols, not wanting to attract the attention of the Dark Races’ commander with his strength!
‘Just a bit more!’
‘Just a bit closer to reach Hope City!’
He was waiting for that opportunity.
When he acted, he would inevitably be spotted by Lady Tess. At that time, a group of even more powerful creatures would be sent to block their way, and this group would lose all hope!
Thus, he had to be patient.
He had to catch them unprepared!
The cavalrymen helping out made him overjoyed. It seemed that whoever was leading Hope City, that commander was still caring about human lives.
The group rushed through the blockade and was soon intercepted.
At that time, five Fomorians surrounded them!
Despair filled everyone’s faces.
Fomorians were big and sturdy, towering at a height of over 2.5 meters!
The cavalrymen also slowed down.
"Follow them to battle!" The Silver Fox’s leader roused them.
That guy was someone who attached high importance to comradeship.
The other mercenaries also raised their swords one after the other.
The villagers silently and gratefully looked at these mercenaries.
They knew that if it wasn’t for themselves, the mercenaries might have already broken through the blockade.
These people were worthy of admiration.
"I can’t lead the charge anymore."
The leader lifted a long sword. "Thus, lads, let us fight together!"
"To battle!"
Everyone bellowed, unwilling to give up and unafraid of dying as they rushed toward those five Fomorians!
But at that time, a shadow as fast as lightning suddenly rushed to the forefront.
"I’ll open the path," he said.
Even in the chaotic battlefield, Marvin’s voice could clearly be heard.
They were already close to breaking through to Hope City’s gates, so he didn’t need to hide his own strength anymore.
It was now time to make the final push to break through the blockade!
He crazily rushed forward and before everyone’s shocked eyes, his body began to swell up!
Shapeshift Sorcerer, Beast-shape!
The Asuran Bear’s terrifying form instantly descended and sent 8 or 9 Goblins flying with one swipe!
"Roaaaar!"