On the afternoon of the fifth day of the undead army's all-out attack, at the West Gate tower.
Lin Feng leaned against the cold stone pillar, the Wildfire Spear standing silently beside him.
His eyes were closed, and his breathing was long and steady, but the deep crease between his brows could not be smoothed out.
On the city tower platform, the high-level human warriors were scattered everywhere, seizing the time to recover their mana and physical strength. In the deathly silence, there were only suppressed gasps.
Jiang Yelan sat cross-legged two steps to the left of Lin Feng, her hands folded on her knees. The dark circles under her eyes were impossible to conceal, and her lips were pressed into a pale line.
Jiang Zhaoyue leaned against her, her spear resting across her knees. She appeared to be dozing with her eyes closed, but every few seconds, the knuckles gripping the spear would suddenly tighten.
That was her instinctive reaction of forcing herself to stay alert when she was extremely exhausted.
A series of hurried and heavy footsteps broke the silence of the city gate tower.
Suleiman strode onto the platform, plopped down on the stone steps next to Lin Feng, placed his scimitar across his knees, and vigorously rubbed his tired face.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.
"One game in the morning, one game in the afternoon, and another one in the evening. That old geezer, Hel, is trying to wear us down."
Edmund turned around from the edge of the battlements and glanced at Suleiman: "He's now increasing the frequency of battles to three a day, which is to compress our recovery window. Those of us in the forties can still hold on, but the mana and stamina of the third-tier awakened ones are already starting to fall behind."
"Have the casualty figures for the third stage been released?" Suleiman asked, looking up.
"Of the flying units, we lost six, and the undead lost five. Among the ground units, the necromancer lost five, and we lost four in three turns."
Suleiman was silent for two seconds, his throat bobbing, before finally letting out a muffled curse.
Lin Feng opened his eyes and turned his head to look to his side.
Jiang Yelan had opened her eyes, but her physical recovery speed was significantly lower than normal, a result of exhaustion caused by continuous high-intensity exertion.
Jiang Zhaoyue also woke up, and she took the water pouch off her waist and handed it to Jiang Yelan.
Jiang Yelan took it, sipped it, and then silently handed it back.
The two remained silent throughout the entire process, yet their movements were fluid and graceful, as if they had repeated this countless times.
"Are you two alright?" Lin Feng asked, his voice softer than usual, carrying a barely perceptible concern.
Jiang Yelan raised her head, her lips moved slightly but before she could speak, Jiang Zhaoyue answered for her: "Her strength has only recovered to 70%, while mine has barely reached 80%."
"It's enough," Jiang Yelan said calmly.
Jiang Zhaoyue glanced at her, not calling out her forced words, but simply stuffed the water pouch back into her waistband and turned to ask Lin Feng, "What about you?"
"My physical strength is alright."
After Lin Feng finished speaking, his gaze went past the crenellations and landed on the crumbling city wall below.
The faces of the guards on the city wall changed time and again.
In the middle of the city wall, a ramp made of bones is steadily placed on the crenellations. On the ramp, skeleton soldiers climb upwards stepping on the broken bones, their rhythm dense and steady.
Several garrison infantrymen worked together to lift the earthenware pot and pour the scalding oil over it.
The flames ignited upon contact with the oil, instantly tearing a wall of fire across the middle of the slope and cutting the climbing skeletons in half.
The skulls piled up like mountains at the bottom of the slope, while the remaining skeletons on the top were pierced and eliminated one by one by the infantrymen with spears.
Further away, the bodies of three royal halberdiers had just been carried off the city wall and placed under the side wall at the edge of the steps.
Before they could even cover themselves with cloth, one of them was still gripping a broken halberd tightly in his hand.
"There's an unspoken understanding between the high-level combat personnel of both sides: neither side is willing to actively escalate the battle to the ground."
Jiang Yelan followed his gaze, her tone regaining its composure: "Once air power is mixed into the ground battlefield, the rules of the entire war will become 'which side has a higher efficiency in high-level kills.' That will be a chaotic battle that neither side can control."
We need to buy time for Lionheart City reinforcements. The Undead are trying to wear down White Tower City by using their numerical advantage in low-level units.
"But this tacit understanding is about to crumble." Jiang Yelan withdrew her gaze and looked at Lin Feng.
"The city wall defense line has been pushed to its limit. The three shifts have been reduced from eight hours to four hours because no one can hold out for eight hours. All the troops that can fill the gap have been put in."
The county soldiers who were originally responsible for transporting arrows and carrying wounded soldiers have now all been assigned to the gaps in the defense line.
They were only level nine, equipped with light leather armor and short spears. They could barely hold their own against skeleton warriors for a while, but if they encountered undead warriors—”
“It’s about risking your life.” Suleiman continued, his tone volatile, but his words were directed at the desperate situation, not at Jiang Yelan.
"How's the transport line going?" Lin Feng pressed.
"All the able-bodied young men recruited from the city were put up in the positions: cooks, waiters, bakers, porters... anyone who could lift anything was put up."
Edmund's voice came from the edge of the battlements, where he was vigorously wiping the blood off the blade with a rag.
A brief silence fell over the city gate tower.
Just then, the sky above suddenly darkened.
Lin Feng suddenly looked up and saw that the deep purple clouds were gathering again at a speed visible to the naked eye, thicker, denser, and lower than when the first "death rain" fell.
Like a huge purple bruise pressing down on the White Tower City, deep in the clouds, blood-red lightning silently leaped and tore apart.
"Again?" Suleiman suddenly stood up, his hand already on the hilt of his sword.
Dark purple rain poured down, and suppressed shouts of battle and chaotic footsteps echoed from the city walls.
Raindrops pounded on the city bricks, splashing up fine droplets, and landed on the soldiers' armor, making a teeth-grinding "sizzling" sound.
Grayish-white curse lines emerged from the skin that had come into contact with the rain, spreading wildly along the veins.
The city wall swayed violently in the rain. Behind the crenellations, a halberdier had just knocked down a skeleton that had climbed up when the cold rain poured down on his face.
He wiped his face, glanced down at the grayish-white lines spreading on the back of his hand, then gritted his teeth, looked up, and aimed his halberd at the next attacking skeleton.
His companion behind him roared, "Your health bar!"
"I know!" he roared back, "Let's talk after this wave is over!"
However, before this wave was over, the bunker at the third crenellation on the western section of the city wall was forcibly torn open.
A skeleton centurion led a dozen skeleton soldiers through the rubble barrier at the ramp, instantly shattering the halberdiers' formation.
Three county soldiers roared and charged forward, thrusting wildly with their short spears, but the spear tips only left shallow white marks on the centurion's bone armor.
