vstars Chapter 399 Where are you from?
Chapter 399 Where are you from?
The night enveloped the city of Acre, and the stars in the sky seemed to be watching the war-torn land indifferently. The city was silent, with only the occasional footsteps echoing from the night patrols. After the day's battle, John had a rare chance to rest. Although the situation outside was critical, he could only rely on a little time to recuperate himself in order to face the new challenges of the next day.
However, the night was not going to give him such luxury. Just as he lay down and fell asleep, a thunderous roar suddenly exploded from a distance. The sound was so violent that the doors and windows of the whole room were shaken and almost echoed with a click. John opened his eyes suddenly, and his fatigue was quickly washed away by tension and vigilance.
He immediately sat up from the bed and shook his head to dispel the sleepiness. Then he immediately turned over and got out of bed, quickly grabbed the thick cloak on the back of the chair and put it on his shoulders. After putting on his armor, he tied the belt and sword by the bed. Although he was extremely tired after a whole day of fighting and commanding, as a city defender, he had no time to hesitate or complain in the face of crisis.
Just as he fastened the last piece of forearm armor, there was a messy sound of footsteps outside, and then a soldier rushed in, reporting with a look of fear and anxiety:
"My Lord! It's an emergency!"
"Speak!" John turned around coldly, his voice without any warmth, as if the fatigue from the day's battle had been completely covered up.
The soldier was panting, his hands supporting his knees, but he did not pause for too long and reported loudly:
"The Kushans have just brought in a giant cannon! They attacked the right side of the northern wall at night, and the cannonball blew a big hole in the wall! Now the defenders on the northern wall are urgently repairing it!"
Hearing this, John's eyes instantly became sharp. After taking a deep breath, he steadied his tone, but still revealed the dissatisfaction that could not be hidden:
"It's really unbearable! These damn Kushans won't even keep quiet at night!"
Before he finished speaking, he immediately swung his cloak, turned around abruptly, and gave orders to the soldiers:
"Pass my order immediately! All soldiers stationed near the city wall should organize a counterattack immediately!"
Under the protection of the knight guards, John quickly walked through the long castle corridor and finally came to the carriage waiting in front of the castle gate.
He pulled his cloak tight and boarded the carriage. The guard knights immediately followed him, carefully guarding the windows and the outside of the carriage. However, at the moment he sat down, another cannon shot suddenly sounded in the distance. The sound was dull like thunder, but it carried an indescribable sense of destruction, exactly the same as the sound that shook the city wall just now. Almost at the same time, the ground trembled again, as if it was torn apart by some invisible force. The carriage even shook slightly, the driver nervously pulled the reins, and the warhorse neighed in fear.
John quickly stood up from his seat and grabbed the window frame to keep himself balanced. He squinted his eyes and quickly judged the direction of the sound and the frequency of the vibration. This time, it was not the north city - but the cannon sound coming from the west wall.
"It seems that the Kushans are preparing to launch a general attack at night." John murmured in a low voice as he watched the troops gathering on the street towards the north city wall, his tone filled with restrained anger and a hint of unconcealable worry.
John was thinking about the next step in his mind. But at this moment, his sight was unconsciously attracted to the sky in the north. In the deep night sky, there were several blurry black dots floating.
"what is that?"
He muttered to himself, keeping a vigilant eye on the strange shadows. The moonlight was a little dim, but still clearly reflected on the shadows. He could see them flapping their wings, slowly approaching the direction of Acre. They were unusually large, larger than any other flying bird John had known.
At this moment, the unidentified creatures suddenly accelerated, flapped their wings, and began to dive down without hesitation. They were swift and precise, like well-trained predators, silently passing through the dense night and rushing straight towards the north wall.
John immediately realized that these flying creatures must have been summoned from the underworld by Daiba using magic.
"Driver, speed up! Get to the north wall immediately!"
John ordered in a cold voice. The carriage sped towards the north wall under the whip of the driver. The bumps along the way forced John to hold on to the door, but his eyes remained sharp, staring at the direction ahead. His mind was already racing: How many of these creatures did Tybur summon?
After a violent jolt, the driver suddenly pulled the reins and stopped the carriage. His voice was full of tension and anxiety:
"Sir, we have reached the northern city wall!"
John pushed open the door and jumped off the carriage, his long cape blown up in the night wind. The moment he landed, he felt the chaotic noise and fear filling the air of the battlefield. The fire was swaying everywhere, and the shouts of soldiers came from the direction of the city wall, as well as some kind of low and piercing screams, accompanied by the terrible sound of tearing flesh.
John's eyes were immediately drawn to the driver's strange expression. The man was pale, his hands subconsciously clenched the reins, and he looked towards the city wall in horror.
Following the driver's line of sight, John looked up at the city wall, and the scene before him made him hold his breath.
On the north wall, a fierce battle was in full swing. Soldiers were holding spears, swords and shields, trying their best to repel the monsters that were attacking from the sky. These creatures looked like bats, but they were by no means ordinary creatures. They were huge, as big as a cow, and their wings could almost cover half of the sky when they spread out. Their skin seemed to be stained by the night, dark and reflecting cold light, and their huge fangs and sharp claws shone in the moonlight, and every dive was accompanied by cruel killing intent.
John witnessed a monster swooping down from the sky on the city wall. In a very short time, its sharp claws tore a soldier holding a spear into pieces, and easily tore his shield and armor into pieces. Blood splattered, and the soldier screamed and fell to the ground. The giant bat did not stop at all. After committing the crime, it flapped its wings and rushed into the sky, and then quickly adjusted its direction to prepare for the next dive.
John led hundreds of knights to rush to the stairs of the north wall. When they finally climbed the wall, the corpse of a bat monster stopped John.
Its corpse lay on the ground of the city wall, emitting a nauseating burnt odor. Its huge body was like an adult buffalo, its muscular wings drooped lifelessly on the ground, and its body was full of broken spears and arrows, which almost penetrated its dark and tough skin. Bright red blood flowed out of the wounds and coagulated into a small pool of dark red blood on the ground.
The soldiers' defense was obviously quite tense, but they did not collapse completely. They lined up in formation, with some gathered in front of the parapet, vigilantly staring at the monsters hovering overhead, with spears, bows and shields in their hands ready to meet their next dive. The other part of the soldiers nervously and orderly operated the artillery to fire outside the field. It was obvious that the Kusha army outside the city had also launched an attack.
When John stepped onto the city wall, the centurion guarding the city immediately came up to him. His armor was covered with dust and blood, and it was obvious that the previous battle was also extremely difficult for him. His face was filled with deep fatigue and anxiety, but after seeing John coming, his expression relaxed a little, as if he had found his backbone.
"grown ups!"
The centurion saluted and reported loudly:
"The Kushans used their siege cannon. The cannon was extremely powerful! It opened a huge hole directly on the right side of the city wall! We originally planned to organize soldiers to fight back, but just as we were ready, these monsters suddenly fell from the sky and messed up the defense line!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a piercing long howl came from the sky. The horrible sound seemed to come from the abyss of hell, and it made people's eardrums ache. John turned to the source of the sound instantly, and saw that in the high night sky, the group of huge bat monsters locked their target again and began to swoop down on the city wall. They spread their wings, like a black whirlwind sweeping across the sky, and their huge fangs and sharp claws gleamed in the light of the fire, with a fierce intention to kill.
The soldiers shouted and raised their shields and weapons, ready to fight, but many people still couldn't hide their fear. These monsters were too powerful, and it was difficult to fight them with ordinary spears and bows.
However, John had no intention of retreating at this moment. He did not draw the sword at his waist as usual, but gestured to the guards behind him, indicating that they should hand him the two-handed heavy sword that had been prepared long ago.
John gripped the hilt of the sword tightly with both hands, slowly raised the two-handed sword and held it horizontally in front of him, his eyes fixed on the bat monster that was about to swoop down in front of him.
The next moment, the monster approached him like a black lightning - its huge wings rushed towards him with strong wind pressure, and its sharp claws went straight for John's head! The wind was sharp and the whistling sound was like a piercing knife.
Without any hesitation, John suddenly raised the two-handed sword in his hand and placed the blade in front of his chest. The bat monster had no time to change its moves, and its huge claws grabbed the blade of the two-handed sword fiercely. The two amazing forces collided with each other, making a sharp metal sound. John was shocked by the impact and slid back a step, but he managed to stabilize his body and stepped firmly on the ground of the city wall.
"Unfortunately, your claws are not hard enough!"
He snorted coldly, and as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly spun his hands with force!
"Pfft-"
With the sound of flesh being torn apart, the blade of the two-handed sword directly cut off the monster's claws! The huge stump flew to the side with blood and hit the wall heavily, making a dull sound.
The bat monster screamed and tried to fly back into the sky, but it lost its balance and its body swayed. This was John's best chance. He sneered, raised his sword high with both hands, aimed at the target, and swung it with all his strength. The heavy two-handed sword made a buzzing sound in the air and fell from the top of the monster's head.
"puff--"
The blade accurately chopped into the bat monster's head, piercing through its thick shell and sinking into its exoskeleton and nerves. The monster screamed, and its huge body instantly collapsed like a kite with a broken string. It trembled and flapped its wings a few times, trying to struggle, but the fatal blow of the long sword made it lose all its strength in an instant, and it could only fall heavily back onto the city wall.
The soldiers witnessed John slaying the giant bat monster, and they all cheered loudly, their eyes full of excitement and respect. They tightly grasped their weapons, and the hesitation and fear they had felt for so many times seemed to disappear, and a long-lost morale quickly spread across the city wall.
"Brothers, see? These monsters are not invincible!"
The centurion raised his spear and shouted:
"As long as we are brave enough, they are no different from ordinary wild beasts!"
The soldiers shouted in unison, the sound was deafening. They quickly reorganized, raised their spears, muskets and bows, and began to attack under the leadership of John. The knights also came forward to help. They were wearing heavy armor, their swords and axes gleaming in the firelight, and they walked steadily like a mountain torrent, pressing towards the circling monsters.
Soon, several bat monsters that attempted to dive and attack were caught in the coordinated siege of the soldiers and knights. Even though these huge creatures had the advantage of flying, they still had difficulty gaining the upper hand against the dense ground attack. A knight dodged the claw counterattack of a monster when it dived, and immediately raised his battle axe and chopped it hard at the joint of its wings. The sharp axe directly cut off the skeleton of the wing. The monster screamed miserably, lost its balance and fell to the ground. The soldiers who caught up with it stabbed it from all directions with spears and muskets, and soon fell to the ground.
Soon, several more circling bat monsters could no longer withstand the attacks of the precise crossbows and muskets, and were killed or seriously injured one after another. Their screams echoed in the night sky, and the air was filled with the smell of blood and gunpowder.
However, just when everyone seemed to see the dawn of victory, a low crawling sound came from the outside of the city wall. The sound was full of oppression, like a huge iron chain grinding against stones. Then, there were several "crackling" sounds of stones being scratched, as if some huge monster was trying to climb the city wall.
"Not good—look at the city wall!"
A soldier exclaimed, but his warning came a little too late.
A huge claw suddenly climbed up the battlement from the outside. The claw was almost as long as an adult and covered with thick gray-green scales. Each scale was as sharp as a knife. Then, a ferocious giant lizard head slowly poked up from the edge of the wall. Its eyes flashed with cold light and its mouth revealed sharp teeth. It seemed to be assessing its prey to the soldiers on the wall.
"God..."
A young soldier muttered in fear, the spear in his hand shaking unconsciously.
However, the giant lizard did not intend to give them too much time to react. It leaped with its huge body and jumped directly onto the battlement. Its claws crossed the open area with thunderous force and slashed directly at the soldiers who had just recovered from the battle. Several exhausted soldiers were knocked away before they even had time to raise their shields, and they hit the battlement hard and lost consciousness.
At this moment, a soldier raised a matchlock gun, pointed it at the lizard's head and decisively pulled the trigger - "Bang!" With a gunshot, the bullet hit the lizard's head accurately at close range, knocking off several scales. However, contrary to everyone's expectations, the lizard was not knocked down by this blow. It just shook its head fiercely, then roared and rushed directly towards the soldier who fired the gun.
"Don't let it break through the defense line!"
The centurion led several knights to rush forward in time, and they raised their shields and swords to fight the lizard fiercely. The lizard was soon slashed with many deep cracks, and blood flowed all over the ground, but its strength did not weaken at all, and it continued to wave its huge claws wildly to fight back.
John did not hesitate to rush forward, raising his two-handed sword and leaving a fatal wound on the lizard's side. Its movements gradually slowed down, and finally a knight seized the opportunity and chopped its neck with his battle axe. With a horrifying "crack", the behemoth's head was finally chopped off neatly, and the body fell weakly on the wall.
After his breathing calmed down a little, John looked at the monster corpses on the ground, took a deep breath, shook his head, and said to himself:
"Each of these monsters is more disgusting than the last... It's like I've stepped into the world of Warhammer."