Elite Mages’ Academy (Web Novel)
chapter-519

Chapter 519: Surrounded City (2)

Under the white magical light, the darkness disappeared, but the scene that appeared in front of them left everyone shocked. There were many troops around the city, but what they wore was the armor of the Rosa Kingdom’s army, including the red rose flags.

“The royal guard! It’s the royal guard!” The soldiers at the gate quickly realized the identity of the troops.

Liang Taibai’s face was steely as he said, “The royal guard are the royal city’s last line of defense. The soldiers that I told you were sent to stop the rebels were them. I can’t believe they turned into rebels so easily! Curses, most of the equipment for this army was bought by us!”

The Rosa Kingdom was a small country, which was why they relied on Dawn Academy to bring in a lot of their weapons and equipment. It was also an important line of business for the academy. However, that equipment falling into the hands of their enemies was not a good sign.

Xiao Lin was deep in thought, as the searchlight moved further to check on the enemy numbers, he suddenly shouted, “Hold on!”

Xiao Lin shut his eyes, as if feeling something. Liang Taibai seemed to have seen something as well, but he was not certain, so Liang Taibai waited by the side with a stern expression.

After a few minutes, XIao Lin opened his eyes, muttering with some disbelief, “The death energy here is very dense!”

“Is that so?” Liang Taibai’s expression worsened. Only those who learned necromantic meditation were more sensitive to death energy, so he only had suspicions, but could not be sure. Nevertheless, he did not ask how Xiao Lin learned necromantic meditation.

Death energy existed everywhere, but it was not normal for it to be so dense. Either countless corpses were buried under the city, or the death energy came from the army in front of them.

“Undead troops!” Liang Taibai clenched his teeth as he voiced the guess in his mind, but he kept his voice low, not allowing the Rosa soldiers to hear him.

…

The siege slowly began, but what gave everyone some relief was that the army did not seem to have any equipment meant to siege the city. As the capital of the country, the royal city had great defenses. The walls were massive, and intricate protection completely shielded their ranged attackers. They also had specialized magical enhancing tools as well as various defensive towers.

Even if the troops protecting the city were all older, which meant their strength and speed and other attributes had deteriorated with age and robbing them of the ability to charge forward, defending a city was something that was not that taxing on the body. Instead, the experience they have gained from their age proved useful.

The sounds of battle never stopped throughout the night. The shooting of arrows and the explosions of magic decimated the troops around the city that did not have any mechanisms for a siege. It was a pity that there was such a limited number of troops defending the city, resulting in difficulties covering a large area. That was why the battle was prolonged. The defensive towers had their full power on display, especially the magical defensive towers. They dealt massive damage to the undead army.

Each ball of flame flew into dense crowds, killing at least a few dozen. However, what caused headaches were the lack of pain or fear felt by the undead. Unless they were thoroughly destroyed, they would continue advancing, even if they were missing a limb or two.

At the crack of dawn, the first ray of sunlight could be seen over the horizon. The desperately attacking undead army seemed to have received new orders, and suddenly retreated completely. After over ten minutes, all that was left around the city were magical flames that had yet to die out and countless corpses.

Cheers could be heard around the city gates; each soldier that participated hugged each other in celebration. Thanks to the lack of long-ranged weaponry and siege machinery, the damage dealt by the attacking army was miniscule.

Xiao Lin and Liang Taibai looked on from a tower for the whole night. Even though Xiao Lin wanted to help, he was stopped by Liang Taibai. The seasoned ambassador could tell that it would be difficult for their enemies to attack the city, and would not be able to that night.

“Go back. You’re tired!” Liang Taibai did not say anything else.

On the way back to the embassy, Xiao Lin saw many Rosa soldiers spreading information, announcing the victory last night. That was because news of the city being surrounded had leaked earlier and was quickly spread around the entire city, resulting in obvious chaos.

“It seems like the king still has some resolve.” Xiao Lin let out a word of praise. The moment the defense of the city ended, the king sent his troops to quell the chaos. That was why he saw massive crowds on his way back, but there was no large-scale chaos.

The biggest taboo for defending a city was undoubtedly internal chaos. It was more terrifying than the enemy. If the masses lost their minds and wanted to open the city gates to flee, then the city would essentially self-destruct.

“It would be great if this order was maintained after a week!” Liang Taibai said.

Xiao Lin sighed. He knew that the victory last night was only temporary. Low-ranked undead were still sensitive to light, and were not as strong as during the night. So, their victory was obtained due to the strategy of their enemies.

If the city was not attacked by undead, and instead the actual rebel army, their chances of defending the city would be higher. They only needed to keep the city defended and wait for the royal guard to return. At that time, the rebels would be pincered, and their lack of training could even mean an instant loss.

However, there were no ifs in the real world. Even Xiao Lin, who had no military strategy training, could tell that it would be very hard to hold onto the city, because the Rosa Kingdom no longer had any troops that could come to the rescue.

After returning to the embassy, Xiao Lin only managed to take a nap in a blur. He woke up after three hours and noticed that Liang Taibai had not slept at all. Instead he was discussing matters with the others in the embassy. When he saw Xiao Lin, he smiled and waved before everyone went into the office.

Xiao Lin slowly acquainted himself with everyone in the embassy during this time. After a few greetings, he sat down, quietly waiting for the conclusion of their discussions.

Would they leave, or would they stay?