Chapter 51: War


    Starlight Calendar 1250.


    The beginning of Winter Music Month.


    Not long after the new year, Shining Light City, using ck Stone City’s Lord Kei Arnest of colluding with the Starfire Sect, demanded that he appear in Shining Light City alone to plead guilty and receive punishment. After Kei Arnest refused, they brazenlyunched an attack on ck Stone City.


    ck! ck!


    The sound of metal armor tes rubbing against each other echoed.


    Kei led his men onto the city wall, taking the brass telescope from Bread and gazing into the distance.


    Under the night sky, the entire in outside the city was dotted with bonfires.


    Silhouettes danced around the fires, and dense tents formed a continuous stretch, extending far into the ins.“Owen has brought out his entire force this time, not just his own army, but also the armies of those three traitors, Devin, Zolf, and Norwood. On top of that, they’ve recruited over a thousand mercenaries!”


    Bread, looking at the army in the distance, had a somewhat heavy expression.


    Owen’s faction alone had nearly four thousand soldiers, and with the addition of mercenaries, their army size had exceeded five thousand, almost four times that of ck Stone City. This war wouldn’t be easy.


    “Mercenaries are nothing to worry about. These guys are undisciplined, just a bunch of rabble. They might be useful in a frontal battle on the nds, but they’ll be a drag in a siege.”


    Kei put down the brass telescope, speaking calmly, but his brows were slightly furrowed, clearly not asposed as he imed.


    Although he had known that after the assassination attempt failed, Owen would likely tear down all pretense and directly attack ck Stone City, Kei still felt a heavy pressure when it actually happened.


    Especially seeing the densely packed army outside the city walls made the burden on his shoulders even heavier.


    ck Stone City had been expanding its military equipment all this time, but even now, they only had a barely-maintained army of around thirteen hundred.


    Of those, three hundred were militia who had only received basic training and hadn’t seen blood yet. It was questionable how muchbat effectiveness they would have on the battlefield.


    Of the remaining one thousand, eight hundred were city guards with decent fighting skills.


    The remaining two hundred belonged to the ckrock Cavalry.


    This was Kei’s true trump card!


    “It’s a pity we had so little time. If I had another year or two, I could have turned the ckrock Cavalry into a true full knight army. Even if there were only two or three hundred, conquering the entire Shining Light Territory would be a breeze!”


    Kei sighed inwardly.


    Training a ckrock Cavalry cost about fifty gold coins.


    Even with the ckstone Mine, a cash cow, the ckrock Cavalry’s expansion had always been slow.


    They were only two hundred strong so far.


    “Have all the people from the ckstone Mine Area been evacuated?” Kei turned to ask.


    Jorton nodded. “They’ve all been safely evacuated. ording to the scout reports, the enemy has already upied the area.”


    Kei nodded slightly, gazing at the army in the distance and pondering his next strategy.


    For them, defense was more advantageous.


    Owen’s elite cavalry was more suited for fighting on t terrain, and theirbat effectiveness would be at least halved in a siege.


    After all, horses couldn’t climb city walls to fight.


    But the ckrock Cavalry was different. The ckrock Beasts were perfectly capable of defending the city.


    In fact, these fearless Puppet Creatures could unleash even greaterbat power in a siege.


    The scales tipped in ck Stone City’s favor.


    But simply defending wasn’t an option.


    If the war dragged on for too long, supplies would be a fatal weakness.


    Besides, the ckstone Mine Area was still in enemy hands, and Kei didn’t want it to be a cash cow for the enemy.


    The best n was to defend for a while, wearing down the enemy’s forces. Once the enemy becamecent, they would send the ckrock Cavalry to directly assault the enemy camp’s core. ?


    If they could directly eliminate the enemy’smand, the war would be theirs to win.


    The ckrock Cavalry, since its formation, had been shrouded in secrecy. No outsider knew how powerful this force truly was.


    The rebels were unprepared, and the n had a high chance of sess!


    Thoughts raced through his mind, and Kei quickly made up his mind.


    Turning back, seeing his officers all with solemn expressions, Kei calmly said, “The enemy ising in force, but we’re not pushovers. We’ve been building up our strength for two years, just for this day. Now, let those rebels experience our power!”


    “Yes, Lord! ”


    “Let those rebels see how formidable ck Stone City truly is!”


    “I can’t wait!”


    Inspired by Kei, the officers’ fighting spirit quickly surged.


    Bread and Jorton exchanged nces, both simultaneously showing smiles.


    Outsiders might be clueless, but they, as members of ck Stone City, knew just how dramatic the city’s transformation had been over the past two years.


    In terms of knights alone, ck Stone City already had over one hundred and sixty.


    Many baron territories didn’t even have that many knights!


    Not to mention that ck Stone City also had two hundred ckrock Beasts with knight-levelbat power!


    In total, ck Stone City had over three hundred knight-levelbat power.


    To be honest, if ck Stone City hadn’t been limited to one city, and its basic military strength was so weak, with nothing else to show for besides the ckrock Cavalry, a mere Owen wouldn’t be a match for them.


    And it all had to thank Lord Su Nan.


    “I wonder where Lord Su Nan is now?”


    Jorton patted the long sword at his waist, grinning: “If Lord Su Nan were here, we wouldn’t even need to defend. We’d just charge out and crush those bastards!”


    The surrounding knights all nodded in agreement.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Even the usually steady Bread was no exception.


    If it were anyone else, even a peak Great Knight, they wouldn’t believe that a single person could sway the oue of a war involving five or six thousand troops.


    But Su Nan was different.


    They had witnessed the incredible and unpredictable power of wizards, and thus had immense confidence.


    If it were him, he might truly create a jaw-dropping miracle!


    Without lingering too long, Kei observed for a while from the city wall and then turned to leave.


    Preparations for war were incredibly tedious, and he had many things to arrange.


    The next day.


    Not long after dawn, a low, mournful horn echoed from outside the city.


    Kei, apanied by his officers, ascended the city wall. As they looked out, they saw the enemy’s densely packed army beginning to form formations and ranks.


    Soon, thousands of soldiers, pushing siege weaponry, began to advance slowly towards the city wall.


    “They’re so eager.”


    A cold glint shed in Kei’s eyes. He raised his hand andmanded in a deep voice, “Prepare to meet the enemy!”


    “Yes, Lord!”


    The officers responded in unison, then turned and loudly instructed their soldiers to prepare for battle.


    The defending army sprang into action.