Advent of the Archmage Chapter 24

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-Chapter 24, DGM-

It was in the wee hours of the morning, 3:35 a.m.. The weather of the early autumn had lowered the temperature to a chillig degree. White puffs of air could be faintly seen if one exhaled deeply.

-Northern ramparts of Glaston city-

Annie watched the swarms of the dark elves approaching the northern city walls like a sea of murky water. The brave expression on her beautiful face slightly faltered as she went slightly pallid.

The enemies were too many. From the looks of it, there were at least 15,000 dark elf soldiers assembled outside the city.

She had entered the city barracks and had taken control of 1,500 city defenders. She had then substituted the position of commander of these 1,500 men, purging the leaderless dark elf assassins within the city as well as recruiting able-bodied people within the city who could fight.

She had tried her best, but time was too tight. The paltry number of defenders on the city walls did not exceed 2,000, and a big portion of them were greenhorns who had never seen blood before.

Annie swept her gaze along the ramparts, examining the defenders on it. A sea of expressions peered back at her, a mix of anxiety and fear. Some were even lightly trembling. Every defender on the wall knew that in this fight, 9 out of 10 would perish. The hopes of survival were pretty dismal.

Swallowing down the worry in her heart, Annie shouted a few encouraging words to boost the morale.

"Lighten up! Let those red-eyed bastards taste our fists!

"Soldiers, we have an unshakeable wall, with ballistas and catapults! What's there to be scared of?"

Before her words had finished, a loud cry erupted from the masses of the dark elves below the rampart. "Kill!"

This cry was from a single person, but it was as deafening as thunder descending from the heavens. The entire battlefield seemed to tremble under the warcry.

Annie's heart leapt in fright. As a duke's daughter and the head of an intelligence organisation, she had an abnormal scope of knowledge. She immediately distinguished the level of power from the voice.

"Shit, it's a level 6!"

She was like a feeble newborn when compared to a level 6 warrior. If the level 6 warrior wanted to personally lead the attack, nobody would be able to stop him.

As if instigated, bellows and growls followed the warcry, erupting from the throats of the masses of dark elves.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The cacophony surged like a tsunami, crashing onto the ramparts. The 2000 defenders were like tiny canoes in the middle of a sea. Against this tremendous wave, it was possible to capsize anytime.

"Fuck, how are we supposed to fight against these numbers?!"

"No, I'll die! I can't be here!"

"Let's retreat!"

These exclamations were all from the enlisted defenders they had gathered. Although the countenance of the regular soldiers were deathly pale, they had, after all, gone through training. They did not exhibit any signs of desertion or mental collapse.

A new recruit attempted to flee. Without Annie needing to give an order, a military officer caught up to him and decapitated him in a single blow.

Annie withdrew her gaze. She had not experienced the cruelty of the battlefield yet. Although she was callous to the death of her enemies, she could not do the same towards her allies. However, her broad knowledge calmed her panic as she told herself it was a necessary measure. Forcing down the queasiness in her heart, she yelled, "We are the last line of defense of Glaston city. Deserters will be killed!"

This riveted the new recruits. The situation on the wall rapidly stabilised.

-Below the ramparts-

Relying on the night vision unique to dark elves and the keen eyesight of a level 6 warrior, Lund was aware of the situation on the ramparts. Bursting into hearty laughter, he chuckled to the generals beside him, “Look – a princess leading a bunch of cowards. They’re inviting us in with open arms.”

The generals could also view the situation on the wall. The cautious generals who had hesitated changed their decisions, respectively pleading, “Marshal, allow me to lead the first wave of attack on Glaston city.”

They wanted to snatch merit for destroying Glaston city.

The enemy was weak, their numbers pitiful. The morale of the dark elf soldiers surged, the sea of faces displaying eager looks.

Lund smugly laughed, and conveniently pointed out a few generals. “You-you-you-and also you, lead the attack on Glaston city!”

Four generals accepted the order, leading several squadrons. They also brought along thick, coarse ropes to scale the city walls, excitedly jogging towards the ramparts.

Glaston city was merely a small city in Norton Kingdom. The ramparts were not constructed tall, reaching up to only 50 meters. These generals had 3 level 3 warriors and 1 level 4 warrior. As long as they successfully scaled the wall, nobody would be able to resist their advancement.

Annie watched the dark elves aggressively begin to scale the wall. There were a few dark elves wearing outfitted in armour of superior quality, their bodies gleaming with the radiance of warrior qi as they took the lead. One dark elf’s warrior qi was particularly brighter. A suffocating feeling choked her chest as an intense feeling of danger radiated from him.

‘He’s stronger than me – I’m not his opponent. I can’t let this guy get onto the walls!’

Annie’s heart panicked. She loudly shouted, “Begin attacking!”

The archers on the city walls begin to rain arrows upon the dark elves below the rampart in torrents. The massive ballistas creaked loudly as they were operated. Spear loaded into it were more than 2 meters in length and had a width equivalent to an adult arm. Several catapults were also simultaneously released. Rocks the size of heads were lobbed towards the dark elves lined up in battle formations below.

The resistance was fierce, and the dark elves had sustained some casualties. However, the biggest threat was that the strong warriors within the army had not been affected by it at all.

They hefted heavy shields in their hands, constantly releasing warrior qi from their bodies. Although the firepower of the ballistas and the catapults was powerful, they were easily evaded or blocked.

After the fierce resistance, the dark elves continued advancing, their speed not slowing down in the slightest. The distance to the ramparts had already reached 50 meters.

‘Hu~’ The thick coarse rope in the hands of the level 4 warrior was whirled at a high velocity. When he neared the walls, he released it like an arrow, shooting towards the ramparts.

The rope latched onto the city wall. A few defenders immediately rushed towards it and violently hacked at the thick rope.

They had no idea what material the rope was made out of, but it was extremely durable. Normal swords would only be able to leave a thin cut. If one wanted to saw through it, it would require at least 7-8 minutes.

“Hand it to me!” Annie loudly shouted, dashing towards the thick cord of rope.

However, she discovered immediately that this was only the first rope. Before she had even reached that rope, many lengths of rope were hurled onto the city wall. Gripping the rope tightly, the dark elves charged up the walls quickly.

Finally, Annie reached the length of rope. With ‘concealed shadow’ warrior qi layering the edge of her dagger, she cleaved horizontally at it.

‘Chi~’ The dagger sheared through the rope like butter. The level 4 warrior hauling himself up plunged down. However, this was only one rope and 3 other ropes had latched onto the wall. 3 dark elves which were armed to the teeth had taken this opportunity to traverse the length of the cord and haul themselves onto the wall.

These 3 dark elves were all level 3 warriors. Upon hauling themselves onto the wall, they brandished their swords and shields, and begin guarding the rope for other dark elves to climb. A steady flow of dark elf warriors trickled up the rope, crawling onto the ramparts. Among these dark elves was the level 4 warrior who had fallen just now.

Annie was also a level 3 warrior with warrior qi, but she was an assassin. In an open confrontation on the battlefield, assassins were at a massive disadvantage as their preferred style was not blindly charging at their opponent, unlike warriors.

Lacking a better option, Annie braced herself as she charged towards a level 3 warrior who was wantonly slaughtering defendersZ At this moment, the thought of Link emerged in her mind.

Link had taken the initiative to block the dark elf magician. When she had finished preparations on the city walls, she had hurried back towards the alley. However, only the heavily injured Jasmine, Aldwin and the others were found.

The dark elf magician and Link had vanished into thin air.

As she charged forward, the final contact she had with Link replayed in her head.

“Move, I’ll block him!”

The raven-haired magician had done exactly as he had said. Even in his final moments, he had escorted her safely to her destination and kept his word.!

‘Has he already passed on?’ Annie’s heart ached painfully.

She knew Link was no match for these powerful military officers.1the ones Lund had pointed out were the 4 generals; the 3 level 3s and the final level 4 warriors Even if soldiers managed to kill the officers by sheer luck from behind, there was still that dreadful legion commander.

Just as her stab was about to connect, the warrior spun around, smashing the shield into her.

Annie calculated everything with one glance. As her dagger neared the opponent’s body, his shield would send her flying first. Left without choice, she withdrew her strike and sidestepped the shield.

However, as she retreated, someone jumped up from city wall behind her. It was the level 4 warrior. Recognising Annie as the one who had caused his fall, he sneered, charging towards Annie.

“Die, little princess!”

Against a level 4 warrior armed to the teeth in a direct confrontation, Annie had little odds of success.

‘I guess this is where it ends.’ Powerless despair rose in her heart. ‘Father, I gave my all.’

The figure of the magician flashed in mind once more. ‘Are you lonely by yourself? Don’t worry, I’ll follow soon.’2note that Annie refers to link being in something like a spirit realm where the soul goes after death. She says she’ll follow him there after death and keep him company.

Releasing her warrior qi in a final burst, she charged towards the level 4 warrior.

She had said her prayers.

However, a streak of amber shot out from the flight of stairs located at the back of the city walls, so fast that the air whistled. It was a figure glowing amber light. It rammed into the level 4 warrior who was nastily sneering.

That was the battle skill: Charge!

“Bang!” The level 4 warrior did not block in time, and was sent flying off the city ramparts. The ramparts were 50 meters high, and the dark elf general plummeted to the floor. He lay sprawled on the floor, dizzy from the drop.

“Crash!” The amber figure approached the ballistas on the ramparts, personally operating it himself. His shots were extremely accurate as he aimed at the sprawled figure of the level 4 warrior. In a split second, the life of the dark elf general was ended.

Only at this did the amber figure pause and stare at Annie. A young voice sounded out, “Princess Annie, I’m here to assist you.”

As he spoke, amber figures exited from the flight of stairs one by one, landing on the top of the city walls. They were the members of the suicide squad that was sent from Black Iron fortress ahead of time as vanguards.

The voice was familiar. Annie peered closer at the figure, before exclaiming, “Minsk, why are you here?”

Annie was the daughter of the iron duke, and hence had been dotted on by King Ryan the most. She grew up in the imperial palace, and Minsk’s father was an Earl. Both persons belonged to the upper hierarchy of the kingdom. When Minsk was young, he had traveled far and wide, and had once participated in the ball3ball as in a formal dancing party usually for royalty or rich dudes of the imperial palace. Hence, both of them recognised each other.

“Marshal Alonso sent us. The main army is on their way. We’ll help you in defending the city first!” While speaking, Minsk charged another level 3 warrior.

His words were like a cardiac stimulant. As soon as the human warriors heard news of reinforcements arriving, morale instantly skyrocketed. As morale quickly recovered, along with the aid of a dozen level 3 warriors, the dark elves were slowly chased down the city walls.

Very quickly, the dark elves on the ramparts were slaughtered clean.

-Below the ramparts-

Lund gloomily watched the retreating dark elves.

He deeply sighed, unsheathing the sword suspended at his waist.

His sword had a name, it was called ‘Blood glory’. Crafted by the grandmaster forger Andrew and imbued with the magic of the great magician Mason of the silver moon legislative assembly, it was personally bestowed to him by the King when he was promoted to a level 6 warrior. It was his pride and soul, a weapon sung of in epics.

When the sword made contact with the air, a dense mist of blood immediately pervaded the surroundings.

“Disposing time.”

-Chapter 24, end-

Ok crap our mc isn’t here yet. Wait for it boys

And our antagonist taking the stage.

Chapter end