Twenty-one, Blood Battle

  Twenty-one, Blood Battle

  "Rumble!"

  A bright orange-yellow fireball burst out of the arsenal, scattering debris and flames everywhere, hitting the battling elves and humans, eliciting several shrill cries of agony. Immediately drowned out by even more intense gunfire and screams of slaughter.

  Recently war-weary citizens have taken up rifles and crossbows, standing at windows, climbing onto rooftops, hiding in gutters or behind walls, pouring firepower into the advancing elves. Every building has become a stronghold for defenders. The elven army's every step forward has become extremely difficult, having to rely on luxurious magic-resistant armor to barely hold out, while counterattacking with even more intense bullets and arrows.

  Two small, agile flying ships soared through the night sky, like descending angels of death, hurling down silver darts engraved with poisonous mist curses at the firepower points below. From time to time, people jumped out of windows from rooms that had already become poison gas chambers, only to be riddled with bullets shot from the air or ground.

  The cannons on the city walls had been turned around, and under the control of the spirits, they were fiercely bombarding the inside of the city. The spirits viciously used incendiary shells, causing the flames inside the city to grow more and more intense, trying to force the defenders out of their last hiding place.

  Ludwig stood on the balcony of the Speaker's residence in his pajamas, completely disregarding the flying bullets and arrows, staring blankly at the city engulfed in flames. Just a few hours ago, he was enthusiastically discussing with his colleagues in the parliament building how to welcome the impending victory and rebuild the glorious city. Now, the newly repaired parliament building had once again fallen into enemy hands, and most of his colleagues had likely become ghosts under the gun. And the Glorious City would soon be reduced to rubble again in the fierce fire.

  Suddenly, a bullet flew through the air almost grazing his hair, Ludwig ducked and only then noticed that the fairy army had already reached within one street of the palace. The few remaining soldiers were organizing the last line of defense together with the citizens.

  "Mr. Speaker, the South Gate is still in our hands, please transfer immediately! We will stay behind to block the enemy." The thin and tall Guards Captain rushed into the room, hastily speaking to Ludwig.

  "No, I'm not leaving." Ludwig came back to his senses and walked over to his own desk, sitting down in the swivel chair.

  "Mr. Speaker, live on! New Enoch needs you to continue leading the people in battle!" The captain of the guard was making one final effort.

  "My predecessor, the Speaker, did not abandon the people who supported him and fled from here, nor will I do so!" Ludwig said calmly, looking at his chief of guards with a smile. "There will be someone more suitable to replace me, now, I want to be with you all!"

  Commander Zhuoer stared at Chairman Ludwig, suddenly made a fist and gave the chairman a salute, turned around and walked out in big strides.

  As he watched the captain's back disappear, Ludwig, the president of the council, opened a drawer in his office desk and pulled out a handgun. It was an old-fashioned flintlock pistol that had clearly been outdated for some time, with scratches and rust covering its surface. It was a memento left to him by his predecessor, who had died in battle three months ago in this very city.

  The chairman waited quietly, listening. He heard the last exchange of fire near the official residence; he heard his own guard's final roar of anger; and also heard the increasingly close footsteps of the enemy...

  Ludwig sat calmly in his swivel chair, loading the pistol with bullets and putting the barrel into his mouth, quietly waiting for the final moment.

  ****

  Gunfire, roars, clashing of blades and the shrill cries of women and children all blended together, as figures leapt and fought in the flickering light, the Faerie army's repeated assaults were repelled but at a cost of more than ten times their own losses to the defenders.

  Hundreds of citizens and soldiers gathered in the Wogin Temple in the city for a final stand. Although almost all the clergy had withdrawn due to the end of the transaction, the temple itself did not have much defensive power. However, the stone structure could still give some sense of security to the terrified people.

  On the small square in front of the temple, blood flowed into a stream. The survivors had no time to rest and began to frantically reinforce the barricades made of sandbags, furniture, carts and debris. Or use the intervals between battles to collect all lead objects to melt and make bullets.

  "They've actually set up a defensive perimeter... damn it." Idriel, with bandages wrapped around his head and looking exhausted, gazed down at the massive stone temple surrounded by flames from above, leaning against the railing of the flying ship to catch his breath. The battle against the council building earlier had clearly taken a lot out of him.

  "General, the Secret Silver Spear has been used up." Gilbert's military uniform was stained with blood, and his face didn't look good either. "The airship's energy is also running low, it can no longer deploy an energy shield!"

  "Then use the cannons! We'll immediately move the ship to the top of the city wall, lower the guns and heavily bombard with grapeshot!" Idriel swung his hand fiercely. "The main enemy force outside the city is rushing here, we must take it down immediately!"

  When the five small-caliber cannons appeared on the square, an atmosphere of desperate silence suddenly fell behind the barricades. Then someone shouted and rushed out of the barricade, rushing towards the artillery position. Although this brave man was soon shot by a row of guns and covered with holes all over his body, more people rushed to the enemy's position and launched a fierce hand-to-hand combat. They were immediately knocked down one by one on the ground by the elves who were far more skilled in battle than they were.

  The sprite gunner loaded the cannon with solid shot and then fired a round of simultaneous shots at the barricades in front of the temple, which collapsed instantly. In the swirling smoke and dust, the majestic temple also shook violently. The next round of buckshot blasted open the gate, shooting lead pellets into the temple like raindrops, causing a chorus of wails and screams. Even from outside the temple, one could clearly see the splattered blood and flesh inside.

  "Alright!" Seeing that the battle with the White Blade on the square was almost over, Idriel nodded in satisfaction, "Fire three rounds of shotgun shells in a row, then charge in!"

  The gunners immediately began loading for the next round when an unexpected event interrupted this work.

  "Boom!" A giant boulder, as tall as a man, came crashing down on the small artillery position, crushing several gunners who were unable to dodge in time.

  A huge black shadow burst out of the temple with a loud howl, and a large number of various attack spells poured down on the elves' heads. Then a string of red figures leaped out, and the fatal chain lightning began to jump over the elves' heads.

  "Vorgath's temple has a precise teleportation array!" Idriel gazed at the magical glow within the temple, shocked. "Fire the cannon, target the teleportation array inside!"

  A few gunners who narrowly escaped from under the giant boulder had just gotten up from the ground when a huge black bear, with astonishing speed, crossed the narrow square and rushed in front of them. With a swipe of its paw, the slender-bodied elf gunner was immediately sent flying into the air.

  "Bang! Bang!" The panicked Spirit Soldier finally fired a round of shots, but unfortunately forgot to switch to anti-magic bullets. A green light flashed on the bear's body, and the lead bullets fell to the ground instantly, without causing any harm to the bear.

  "Can this bear use magic?!" The soldiers were shocked and uncertain.

  "That's not a bear, it's Druidic shapeshifting!" Idriel drew his own pistol and fired an anti-magic bullet at the massive black bear body. The bullet pierced through the defensive magic, grazing the bear's leg and tearing off a large piece of fur.

  The wounded Great Druid let out a miserable howl, and unexpectedly lifted up the two cannons beside him, fiercely hurling them at Idriel. The old Elf general nimbly dove to the ground, the heavy cannons whizzing past his head with a sharp whistle, knocking over a row of soldiers who didn't have time to react, and with a huge crashing sound smashed the flying ship that was parked on the ground into a mess, the wizards and priests inside the cabin were caught off guard, and the survivors hastily crawled out.

  "Finish off that stupid bear quickly!" Witnessing the death of one-third of his mages, Idriel's eyes were bloodshot as he gave the order to kill.

  "Bang! Bang!"

  "Boom!"

  The sprite soldiers finally switched to anti-magic bullets, but before they could fire a few shots, a dazzling flash of light accompanied by an explosion lit up the square, and the snow-white light blinded the soldiers' eyes, also hindering their movements. When they were finally able to see clearly around them, they saw that the great druid had already disappeared from in front of them, while metal balls filled the sky flying towards themselves.

  "What is this... Ah!"

  The metal spheres still in the air suddenly flashed with colorful magical glows, then turned into flames, acid and poisonous fumes, which smashed into their dense formation before the spirits could raise their defensive magic, causing massive casualties.

  "Gust of Wind!"

  Idril let out a mighty roar, and the conductor's knife in his hand shone with bright magical light. A strong gust of wind suddenly appeared, immediately blowing the poisonous fog into the temple.

  "Bang! Bang!" Several small sapphires were thrown onto the stone steps in front of the temple, shattering into pieces. The temple's large open doors were immediately sealed by a wind-elemental shield, blocking out the toxic fog.

  The red-robed mages who were covering the retreat of the Great Druid outside the temple quickly dispersed the poisonous fog, and then another wave of metal balls flew into the temple. The awakened elven soldiers hastily used various magical items to set up a defense, but this round of attack did not have much effect.

  "Bang!" A burst of anti-magic bullet shot out from the long sniper rifle, accurately flying towards the position where the metal ball was thrown.

  "Bang!" The bullet hit the ice wall that suddenly appeared out of thin air, and the energy was absorbed by the shattered ice blocks, falling to the ground powerlessly.

  Idril let out a disappointed sigh and set down the sniper rifle. A pink figure appeared at the temple entrance, holding a sling and carrying a large bag of metal balls. A group of dark-skinned drow warriors surrounded the opponent in the center, their weapons glowing with magical light.

  "Teleportation at close range... did humans think of this too? But a few men can't stop me." Idriel drew out his command knife, and the red magical glow dazzled people's eyes. "Advance!"