Kingdombuilding: All My Inventions Are Novelty

Chapter 172: With A Pained Heart

Screams echoed across the battlefield, one after another.

Benjamin’s lips trembled, but the bow in his hand struck like the scythe of death, cold and merciless.

With each life he took, a deeper weight of guilt pressed upon his heart. But he knew that behind him stood millions of people from the Eldorian Empire. He could not afford mercy.

These conflicting emotions tore through him like brambles around his soul.

Simon’s heart fared no better. Killing one to save ten thousand, in reason, it was right. But to carry it out with his own hands filled him with overwhelming guilt.

These were defenceless civilians, once tormented by the reavers. And now, it was their own brothers-in-arms cutting them down.

But Simon understood: they had to bear this burden. Even if history would spit on their names for a thousand years, they had to endure it.

One by one, the slaves collapsed, and the laughter from the reaver cavalry only grew louder. They were mocking Benjamin for his futile efforts; another group of slaves was already being driven forward.

"General, let me out there!" Lancelot suddenly ran over from his post, face flushed with rage.

"This isn’t right! Let us go fight! Otherwise, what are we cavalry good for?" One of the soldiers behind him shouted.

"Silence!" Benjamin’s roar boomed like a great bell. "You only have a thousand men. And how many of you are better riders or archers than the reaver cavalry? Do you want to die?"

"So we just stand here and watch our own people be slaughtered? They’re our citizens too!" Lancelot’s eyes were bloodshot.

Liam came forward and grabbed his arm. "Captain Lancelot, don’t be reckless. Don’t the lives of our soldiers matter too?"

"Don’t the lives of civilians matter? To you pampered nobles raised in Eldora, are commoners nothing more than disposable filth?" Lancelot threw off Liam’s hand.

Benjamin glared. "If you keep this up, don’t blame me for punishing you under military law."

"I don’t care! Just let me charge out once. When I return, you can take my head if you want!" Lancelot shouted.

"Lancelot." Simon’s voice rang out from behind. "I knew you’d be the one to cause trouble. You want to know why, despite all your merit, I never let you become governor of Brambleford?"

He stepped forward, pointing directly at Lancelot.

"If you were in charge of defending this city, the twenty thousand Brambleford troops would already be lying dead beneath the reavers’ arrows. You think you’re brave, but you’re just a reckless brute. You wouldn’t only throw away your own men, you’d also doom millions of civilians. Use your damn head!"

Lancelot froze. Only then did he come to his senses.

"Damn those reavers! When the time comes, I’ll rain hell on them!" He stomped and slammed his fist against the battlement before storming back to his post.

Benjamin sighed. "That hothead. He won’t learn until he takes a real fall."

By now, another group of slaves had reached the battlefield and was again marching toward the trench line.

"Loose arrows!"

Simon clenched his teeth as he gave the order. These traps were meant for reavers, not for these people.

His heart bled.

’My people...’

’For Dunmere’s sake, I’m sorry. Next year at the festival, I’ll pour you each a cup of wine at your graves.’

Swish, swish...

Arrows poured down from the battlements. Driven forward by the reavers, the slaves fell in pools of their own blood.

But the enemy kept forcing wave after wave of them forward. Their aim was not only to trigger the traps, but also to destroy the stone defences.

From noon until dusk, the defenders remained on edge. Only when the sun dipped beneath the horizon did the reavers finally stop sending slaves to dismantle the city’s defences.

There was no moon that night. Darkness cloaked the world.

Campfires slowly rose in the reaver camp, and the smell of roasting lamb wafted across the plain. After tonight, the real bloodbath would begin.

After resting in his command post for the night, Simon was awakened at dawn by the deafening cries of war.

He rushed up to the wall and saw thousands of slaves charging with ladders, spears, and clubs.

Behind them, the reaver cavalry stood watching, like overseers monitoring a slave revolt.

The attack was focused on the city gate, and that was exactly where Simon stood.

Yesterday, the enemy had revealed most of the outer traps. Today, they were repeating their strategy, driving slave soldiers to storm the wall.

These slave soldiers were also people of the Eldorian Empire, now turned into tools of the enemy.

"Loose arrows!" Benjamin bellowed.

The archers unleashed a deadly rain. Slaves carrying ladders fell one after another, yet more stepped up, pushing forward relentlessly.

There were three thousand of them in this wave, dense enough to shake the ground beneath their feet.

In Simon’s eyes, the sight was more overwhelming than an entire school doing synchronised drills on a football field.

The Brambleford Army had five thousand crossbowmen among its twenty thousand troops, a decision Simon had made to ensure long-term defence. They now showed terrifying effectiveness. Within a hundred meters, the bolts tore through bodies like paper.

But the slaves seemed trained. Soon, a front line emerged with shields raised, slowing their pace but greatly reducing casualties.

Aiden frowned. His sympathy for the slaves was fading fast because they now charged like deadly enemies.

"Sixty meters!" Aiden suddenly shouted.

As he did, the front rank of slaves disappeared, swallowed by a pit. Screams erupted as they tumbled into the traps.

One after another, every pit at the sixty-meter line was triggered. Just like that, all of Aiden’s traps were gone.

Yet the attackers didn’t stop. To them, survival meant taking the city.

Faced with that choice, they pressed forward.

"Are you certain this Prince Simon has some kind of powerful weapon?"

Inside the reaver camp, a shirtless warrior with a white cloak asked, eyeing a smirking trader in a blue, collarless robe.

Amon replied. "No doubt about it. I didn’t see it directly, but when Prince Simon attacked the Stone family’s Fortress, many heard a massive explosion. And when I passed by later, there was a huge hole in the wall."

"Hmm. The Father will arrive soon with the main force. Before that, we need to probe this weapon’s strength. If it really exists, I’ll speak well of you in front of the Father."

Amon bowed obsequiously. "Many thanks, Chief Agarth. If the troop captures Dunmere and kills Prince Simon, that would also avenge my Stone clan."