Knight: Becoming King of the World

Chapter 128: Chapter 107: Tonight, I Dine in Ximira Castle

After Henry gave the order, his army lit roaring bonfires in the camp. The firelight illuminated the soldiers’ solemn faces.

"Tomorrow, we launch the final assault."

Henry scanned the officers before him. "The walls of Ximira Castle are high, but the will and combat strength of our soldiers are higher! The Shield Carriers will provide our men with cover, and the Cloud Ladders will be our means to scale them.

By tomorrow night, I will eat and sleep in Ximira Castle!"

"Yes, My Lord!" the officers replied in unison.

"Philip, send word to Bain. Tell him to bring his men back."

Philip bowed his head. "Yes, My Lord."

Meanwhile, on the walls of Ximira Castle, the defenders were nervously monitoring the enemy’s every move.

They saw the number of Henry’s bonfires suddenly increase and heard the soldiers’ shouts, sensing the impending storm.

The Baron of Ximira Castle stood at the highest point of the wall, gazing at the soldiers still bustling below. His heart was filled with unease.

They had sturdy walls and plentiful food, but against Henry’s elite troops, their advantage was far from clear.

"We must prepare for the worst," the Baron said to the adviser at his side.

The adviser’s hand, hidden within his robes, nervously gripped his leg. "According to rumor," he said, "Baron Sura, who was retaliated against by Baron Henry, did not suffer a fatal wound. Someone saw him in the city of Odoche."

"But he was left disabled, wasn’t he?! Tell all the soldiers that if they can hold out until reinforcements arrive, I’ll give them three months’ pay at once!"

The adviser nodded and turned to relay the Baron’s order.

The soldiers on the wall began to check the defenses with renewed nervousness, fear creeping into their eyes. They hardly knew what they were doing—they were short on men and low on defensive weapons.

The impending battle had simply flustered them, making them find busywork for their hands. One soldier might endlessly rearrange a single quiver of arrows.

Night fell, but no one could rest easy—except for Henry. His army prepared while the garrison of Ximira Castle stood watch.

Tension and anxiety filled the air. It was as if the wind itself had stopped breathing, quietly awaiting the dawn.

In this oppressive atmosphere, the soldiers of Ximira Castle tried to encourage one another. Though they were on the defensive, they faced a formidable foe.

"We can’t lose," a young soldier told his companion. "All we do is stand guard or rest, and we get paid for it. If we lose, we’ll have nothing."

His companion lowered his voice and whispered, "Don’t be a fool. Can we win? How? Don’t throw your life away. We left home to be soldiers to earn money for food and get a tax exemption on our families’ rented land, right? Don’t die for nothing."

As a sliver of gray light appeared on the horizon, Henry’s army began to move!

They had eaten a small, early meal—enough to stave off hunger but not so much as to risk vomiting in battle.

Twenty soldiers pushed each Shield Carrier, and behind each followed one to two hundred men. A total of three Shield Carriers rolled toward Ximira Castle.

Startled by the movement of Henry’s army, the defenders on the walls of Ximira Castle turned to their officers, awaiting their orders.

"What are you looking at me for? Get your bows! Armor up, now!"

The officer’s forehead was beaded with sweat. ’Three of them... We don’t have enough Crossbow Cannons to cover them all! We only have three in total!’

At the officer’s command, Ximira Castle’s archers scrambled into position. The Crossbow Cannon crews nervously adjusted the angle and tension of their machines.

Their target was the lead Shield Carrier, a massive mobile fortress that provided solid protection for the infantry, allowing them to approach the walls in safety.

"Aim for the lead Shield Carrier! Concentrate your fire!" the Crossbow Cannon commander shouted, his voice echoing across the walls.

’The enemy has three Shield Carriers in total. If we can take out just one, we’ll eliminate one of their covered approaches!’

The Crossbow Cannonmen held their breath, anxiously awaiting the command to fire. The engines’ strings were drawn taut, and massive Crossbow Arrows were set in their firing grooves.

"Fire!"

At the command, the three Crossbow Cannons fired simultaneously with a deafening THWANG. The massive Crossbow Arrows tore through the air.

The soldiers behind the Shield Carriers heard the whistle of the Crossbow Arrows; they knew Ximira Castle was fighting back.

The massive Crossbow Arrows slammed into the Shield Carriers with a dull THUD, embedding themselves deep in the wood.

The Shield Carrier was sturdy, but the force of the massive Crossbow Arrows still made it shudder.

To the disappointment of the officers on Ximira’s walls, this did not halt Henry’s army. They continued their steady advance as if the minor assault could not slow them in the slightest.

Meanwhile, the archers and Militia of Ximira Castle began to trade fire with Henry’s archers.

Arrows crisscrossed the sky, weaving a web of death as both sides tried desperately to suppress the other and minimize their own casualties.

Henry’s archers, however, were far more numerous. Their volleys blanketed the walls, forcing the archers of Ximira Castle to seek cover.

Henry’s archers weren’t concerned with this; their goal wasn’t to kill the enemy soldiers, but to prevent the defenders’ archers from firing down on their own infantry.

The defenders on the walls felt the pressure build. They knew that if they couldn’t stop the advance, the moment the Shield Carriers reached the wall would mark the beginning of a bloody, close-quarters battle.

Ximira Castle’s Crossbow Cannons roared to life again, launching another volley at Henry’s Shield Carriers. This time, the Crossbow Arrows seemed to find a weakness. Under the successive impacts, a crack finally appeared in one of the siege engines.

Seeing this, the defenders on the wall felt a surge of hope, their morale soaring.

In his study within Ximira Castle, the Baron stood by the door, a grim expression on his face. He wore a suit of Chain Armor and a fine, imperial-style steel helmet, a Knight’s Heavy Sword in his hand.

The strain and weight in his right arm made him realize just how much he had neglected his Martial Arts over the years.

’Am I already so out of practice that just holding a Heavy Sword feels tiring?’ he thought. ’I remember a time when I was a nobleman who could draw a bow from horseback...’

While the Baron in his study reminisced, the defenders on the walls were fighting for their lives.

Thanks to the continuous bombardment from their Crossbow Cannons, the defenders of Ximira Castle finally saw a glimmer of hope.

The fourth volley of Crossbow Arrows whistled through the air and struck the lead Shield Carrier with precision. This time, they didn’t just pierce the wooden planks; they caused massive internal damage.

With a great CRACK, the Shield Carrier finally gave way under the relentless impacts. A wooden plank on its side was torn clean off, the entire structure started to wobble, and then it collapsed with a tremendous CRASH.

Planks and iron nails flew everywhere. Several soldiers near the machine were struck by debris and collapsed in agony.

The soldiers in that section had no time to mourn their comrades or repair the damaged Shield Carrier.

At their officer’s command, they quickly reformed and ran to the two remaining Shield Carriers, hoping to continue the advance under their protection.

A few soldiers carried their wounded comrades to the rear, entrusting them to the Medical Masters led by the father-son duo, Thomas and Vasis.

The defenders on the walls of Ximira Castle witnessed this. They waved their fists in excitement and cheered, "Look, brothers! We destroyed one of their Shield Carriers!"

A deafening cheer erupted from the defenders of Ximira Castle, their morale soaring.

Destroying one of the enemy’s siege engines gave them a glimmer of hope for victory, no matter how small.

But Henry’s army was not discouraged by the loss of a single Shield Carrier. War is brutal, and sacrifices are inevitable.

The veterans, having seen many battles, remained stoic. The new recruits, spurred on by "Loyalty" and their comrades, felt no fear.

Clad in his black armor, Henry bellowed, "Don’t stop! Keep advancing! Ximira Castle must fall before sunset!"

At Henry’s command, his army charged. The Shield Carriers surged forward, infantry right behind them, while archers unleashed a constant rain of arrows to suppress the defenders on the walls.

BANG!

The Shield Carriers drew closer to the wall, and the defenders of Ximira Castle felt an unprecedented amount of pressure.

When the Shield Carriers finally reached the base of the wall, the soldiers inside sprang into action. They scrambled up the internal ladders and began to push the wide, reinforced ramps onto the top of the wall.

"Quick, get the ramps in place!" an officer yelled.

The ramps were quickly set upon the wall, and soldiers began swarming up them.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

The first soldiers to emerge from the two Shield Carriers had no time to raise their shields before the waiting archers turned them into pincushions.

An instant death was a mercy. Those knocked from the ramps by the force of the impacts fell from a great height. They didn’t die instantly upon hitting the ground but writhed in agony for several seconds. It was a gruesome sight.

An officer of a Skilled Infantry Team personally led his men in a desperate charge up the ramp, wielding swords and axes and holding round shields. But the enemy had concentrated their forces to defend the two ramps, and a hail of arrows and small stones rained down.

The moment they showed their heads, they were struck by arrows and stones. The officer was forced to fall back.

Behind the main assault force, Henry had known from the first rush that a single charge would not be enough to take the wall.

Without further delay, he nodded to Selas at his side. Five fully-armored Knight’s Squires, along with Vasco and other top-equipped Senior Infantry, charged toward the Shield Carriers.

The Skilled Infantry raised their shields, guarding against stray arrows, and parted their ranks to clear a path as soon as they saw the Knight’s Squires and Senior Infantry approaching.

The five Knight’s Squires and several dozen Senior Infantry were all clad in heavy, thick armor and helms. The gear was cumbersome, but it could easily deflect arrows.