Knight and Wand

Chapter 206 Death March
Under the city of Shatai, Ron's men led the crowd and shouted loudly at the door on the city wall. The shouts of thousands of people shook the sky.

The refugees didn't know what the leader meant, but they still obeyed the leader's orders out of habit. Most of them still thought that he was just asking for more relief from the city. Only some people who were close to Ron heard the leader's words clearly and had a look of surprise and doubt on their faces.

Ivan looked at the excited team below and listened to the request of the disaster leader. He did not understand what the other party meant by the overwhelming "monsters", nor would he easily believe the other party's words.

He did not dare to open the city gate for the thousands of victims below, but anxiously waited for his father to come and make a decision.

However, the city guards nearby suddenly reminded the Baron's second son in fear, pointing to the hill at the end of the right side of the city: "Sir, look! There are many figures in the east!"

Knight Ivan's heart tightened and he quickly looked in the direction of the sound.

The horizontal curtain of human figures gathering from the eastern countryside slowly approached like an approaching horizon.

A huge army?!
A quick glance at the exaggerated scale and outline over there really made Ivan break out in a cold sweat.

He didn't believe what the leader of the disaster victims below said about the so-called monsters, but the dark sky made it impossible for Ivan to distinguish the appearance of the army.

Is it the Serrian Kingdom's revengeful counterattack? Are the Serrians coming to attack?

This was Ivan's first reaction in fear.

When there was no response after knocking on the door, Ron climbed onto a cart nearby, looked at the horrific scene that had come into view, and couldn't help cursing.

He turned his head and realized that the young knight on the wall did not believe his warning at all, and immediately changed his strategy in a hurry.

"Listen, kid! If you don't open the city gate, I will bring these homeless people to help that 'army' attack." Ron shouted in a threatening voice: "If you let us in, we can also defend the city wall for you, idiot!!"

Listening to the refugee leader's threat, Ivan suddenly felt that the other party was abnormal.

Even when bandits had plundered the area before, the victims had not been so agitated. The Uriah people were too lazy to pay attention to these poor people who had nothing, and only captured some slaves who were transporting goods and took them away.

Then why is the leader of the disaster victims so excited and terrified now?

Are you trying to trick the city gates into opening and plunder the town?

But with the army approaching, what’s the point even if these victims rush into the city to rob and kill?
Still defending the city walls? Facing such a huge Serian army, is there any need for the small city of Shatai to defend? Given my father's temper, I'm afraid he should consider opening the city and surrendering.

In a panic, Ivan ordered a sentry to secretly go down in a hanging basket from a corner on the east side where there were few people to find out the situation of the huge army.

He turned and looked toward his own fortress tower in the city, and couldn't help complaining that his father was coming so slowly, fearing that the people below the city and the city of Shatai would be destroyed.

Although the ladders abandoned by those damn Uriah bandits were simple, they were enough for the victims below to climb up to the top of the city where there were not enough defenders.

But after a while, a scream of fear coming from the east made Ivan turn around.

"Monster! It's really a monster! A dead person! A corpse, a ghost--!!"

The sentry who had just been sent to sneak out of the city fled back from the right battlement in fear, his eyes as if he had seen some horrifying scene.

"It's over, it's over, sir. It's the end of the world! It's the end of the world sent down by the gods!! We are dead!"

Crying and shouting, the sentry's legs went weak and he stumbled and fell to the ground.

Ivan felt a chill in his heart. He ran over quickly, picked up the sentry who was barely standing and asked, "What corpse ghost? What did you see?"

"No, they are all dead! Not the army, but rotting corpses, dead people crawling out of their graves! All the dead have returned to the world, it must be the punishment of Venolith." The frightened sentry cried.
After a while, the fat baron, who hadn't even fastened his pants, finally arrived under the inner wall, panting.

When he saw the refugees pouring into the city from the north gate like a torrent, he was shocked and angry, as if he had been awakened by the shock.

"Ivan! Ivan you idiot! Are you crazy!? Why did you let those untouchables into the city!?"

Baron Chatet rushed to the city wall under the protection of his guards.

However, seeing his father coming, the young Knight Kantadar did not want to argue, but just pointed woodenly outside the city.

Baron Shatai suppressed his shock and anger and turned his head to look. In an instant, all the curses he wanted to blurt out were blocked in his throat.

"What should I do, father?" Ivan asked helplessly.

The young knight had heard of the blasphemous witchcraft of wizards waking the dead from their graves, but the overwhelming scene outside the city, like something out of a nightmare, was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

"Sir, let's run away." A frightened soldier said with his limbs trembling.

At this moment, no officer rebuked him for his cowardice. Faced with the terrifying creatures that were spreading across the mountains and approaching the city of Shatai, they did not even have the option of surrendering.

Escape? Where to escape?
Ivan swallowed his dry throat and looked around the outskirts of the city.

If there was a place to run, the victims would have risked their lives to escape into the city.

Surrounded on three sides by hordes of demon-like corpses, the city of Shatai, backed by a large lake, had no way to retreat.

But facing the doomsday-like disaster, the terrified Baron Shatai looked around and saw the frightened soldiers, and his fat face suddenly calmed down.

"What are you afraid of! They are just walking corpses! Can they climb up the city wall? Defend the town and send messengers to contact reinforcements. Once Baron Albus's 5,000 troops arrive, they can immediately bury these ghosts back into the ground!" Baron Shatai roared in a harsh but weak voice.

Regardless of how the soldiers on the city wall reacted, he pulled Ivan over and earnestly warned this upright second son who had been the least favored in the past: "Ivan, your eldest brother is not here now. Now you are the pillar of the family. Hold the army steady on the city wall. I will go to gather the townspeople! Don't embarrass me!"

Seeing his father, who was unusually calm and composed, Ivan felt a little encouraged.

"Don't worry, father, I will never step back!"

The fat baron nodded with satisfaction, turned around and shouted to the army: "Guard the city wall! Do not retreat, anyone who retreats will be killed! The brave will be rewarded!"

He made a generous promise against his will, saying that he would immediately send rewards to all the soldiers to boost morale. As soon as he finished speaking, he hurriedly left the city wall with a few guards without looking back.

Looking at his father's back, Ivan took a deep breath to cheer himself up, continued to command preparations for battle, and supervised the soldiers to bring all the bows and crossbow arrows.

Lord's fortress.

The guards nimbly carried out a simple, heavy cash box from the secret room, and a noble lady ran down quickly from upstairs.

".What happened? I heard the bells. Are the victims outside breaking in? Why did you take away all the guards? There are only a few servants left in the fortress now."

The frightened Baroness no longer had the heart to ask about her husband's mistress who was in dishevel in her room, and went straight to Baron Shatai.

Signaling the guards carrying the treasure to go out first, the fat baron put on a rare smile to comfort his old and ugly wife, "Don't worry, Ivan has stabilized the situation on the city wall. I recruited the guards to help him. You stay in the fortress and don't go out."

The Baroness nervously stopped her husband who was about to leave again: "But why didn't you leave a few guards? The fortress is unguarded. Irene, I, and Ivan's children are all scared."

Baron Shatai's face turned serious, and he threatened: "We need more warriors outside. Do you want to be trampled by those untouchables after the city is captured?! Don't say it, I still have to recruit the militia in the town!"

The Baroness was suddenly stunned into silence.

She was so frightened that she hid back in her room, and the fat baron hurried out of the fortress.

After all, he had been with his wife for many years. He paused, turned his head and asked the captain of the guards, "Is there any room on the ship?"

"Sir, the treasures on the boats are so full that there is no room for them to stand. Unless you want to leave a few brothers behind to make room, this may not be easy." The chief guard reminded him in a strange tone. The incident happened suddenly, and everyone in the guards knew about the disaster outside the city. It was the guards who moved the treasures. Now he wanted some of his brothers to "voluntarily" stay, but it might be difficult.
The fat baron said no more. He nodded and felt that he could not be blamed. After all, his old wife was dead and he could just find a younger one in the future. The fall of Shatai City was an unbearable disaster. It was more important to quickly take the treasure and escape back to the safe territory further west.

Without asking any more questions, he mounted his horse with difficulty and fled towards the dock with his guards.
The big bell in the tower of Shatai City was rung hastily by the officials, and the assembled militiamen rushed to the city wall in panic.

Seeing groups of militiamen gathering together, Knight Ivan felt a little relieved.

Suddenly, he heard a quarrel coming from the wall not far away, and he leaned over to look.

He saw the leader of the disaster victims who was stopped by soldiers halfway up the stairs, and the huge crowd of people behind him.

"Where is your lord? Don't stop us like an idiot. I'm here to help defend the city." Ron pushed forward rudely.

"Let them up!" Ivan ordered the soldiers to let them go, and looked at the middle-aged man who was leading them: "You thugs are really here."

"Of course you have to come, otherwise everyone will die."

Ron climbed up the city wall with his men behind him.

"Give my people weapons, spears, hammers, and whatever is in the warehouse, even farm tools."

Hearing the other party's impolite tone, Ivan instinctively felt displeased, but at this point, with disaster imminent, he had no other choice.

Instructing the soldiers to take the other side's men to the armory to collect weapons, Knight Ivan looked at the other side and said, "I can only give you a part of it. The rest must be distributed to the militia my father has assembled."

"Your father?" Ron sneered and turned to look at the dim outline of the town in the south: "He probably left you and ran away."

As he spoke, Ron walked past the naive young knight, leaned against the battlement and looked out at the endless stream of zombies, thinking grimly, "Retribution."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Ivan became furious when he heard the other party's speculation about his father.

However, thinking of his father's reputation and character, the young knight's heart sank with doubt.

"Keep your voice down, kid. Do you want the soldiers on the city wall to know that the lord has abandoned them?" Ron turned his head and frowned.

He shook his head. "I know your father well. He runs away at the slightest sign of trouble. I've been to the small wharf south of your Shatai City. I'm afraid there's not enough space for a few boats to cross the river at once. If he hadn't kept the soldiers here, how could he have escaped if these soldiers had scrambled to grab the boats?"

"do not talk!"

Ivan shouted angrily, but his expression instinctively showed a hint of disappointment.

He sighed helplessly, thinking that his father could at least take his mother and his wife and children away from death, so he didn't worry about it anymore.

As a knight of Kantadar, he should have died on the battlefield, but he didn't expect that this day would come so soon.

But now that he was able to die protecting his family and the territory, Ivan felt that he was worthy of the honor and status.

Ivan looked at this guy who remained calm in the face of the sea of ​​corpses outside the city, and couldn't help but ask this refugee leader who was about to live and die with Shatai City: "Who are you?"

"Just a frightened deserter in Rolandar." Ron looked at the dense swarms of zombies in the distance and the outlines of rows of spears that could be seen behind him, with a wry smile on his face.

"Is this the punishment from the gods that the Serians are talking about?"

On the high hills outside the city, the grass withered as it was trampled by the black horses' hooves, and a hoarse voice whispered aimlessly.

"It's not enough. I need more to give to my master."

The hideous eyeballs without eyelids stared at the kingdom town in the broken memory of his life.

The face was so severely ulcerated and corroded that it was impossible to recognize its original appearance.

The blood-stained crow feather cloak covered the silent and withered body of the wizard Kantardar. His fingers, like dead wood, tightly grasped the reins of the nightmarish corpse horse under his crotch.

The creaking sound of heavy axles turning came from behind the corpse wizard.

Several skeletons of cows and horses emitting a faint green light toiled in silence, dragging a huge carriage filled with mutilated corpses.

The half-bodies of men, women, old and young were hung on the spikes on both sides of the frame.

The remains of the dead were wailing in pain as if there were still souls living there.

Whenever the screams and cries of the tortured sounded rhythmically, a faint light extracted from the soul would flow along the rune bearings under the spikes and into the huge iron bell in the frame.

——Boom!

The resounding bell rang loudly, and countless dark green ghost shadows suddenly appeared beside the huge corpse cart.

The shrill screams of the resentful souls were like an invisible storm, surrounding the bell that bound the dead souls like a school of fish in the sea.

".Harvest all the living."

Raising the skeleton staff in his left hand, the soul of the corpse wizard issued silent orders.

The human head on top of the staff opened its bloody mouth and screamed.

The sea of ​​corpses all over the mountains seemed to boil in an instant.

Countless crawling and running zombies rushed towards the high walls of Shatai City at an increasingly rapid speed.

Afterwards, like a military formation, the corpses of soldiers wearing Kantadar and Uriah armor ran faster and faster with their joints clattering.

The defenders on the city wall could see clearly that what they thought was the light of torches was actually ghostly flames jumping and burning in the eye sockets of zombies.

"Shoot arrows!!"

Ivan suppressed the panic in his heart that made him feel disgusted, and roared at the crossbowmen and the crossbows on the top of the tower.

Dense rain of arrows rushed towards the sea of ​​corpses that was within range, and huge crossbow arrows from the top of the city flew out with a bang, heading straight for the huge group of corpses.

With the sound of "pu pu" penetrating flesh and breaking bones, hundreds of arrows pierced through the zombies who did not dodge or evade.

However, the corpses pierced with arrows only slowed down slightly. Even those that were knocked down got up again. Except for a few that were nailed to the ground by huge arrows and were struggling and unable to move, no one else looked injured.

".It's no use! They're already dead, they won't die! No, I don't want to die-!"

The first sounds of collapse were heard among the militiamen and refugees on the city wall, and a few cowardly men turned around and ran away.

Then, their fear came to an abrupt end with screams.

He caught up with the fleeing man and chopped off his head. Ron shook off the blood on his sword and roared, "Escape means death! Fight and you may live! If you don't want to die, hold on to your weapon!"

After killing the deserter who was disrupting the morale of the army, he kicked the spear in his hand and threw it to another cowardly refugee who had not received a weapon, and returned to the front of the battlement.

However, the next second, what he heard was the sound of flapping wings.

A group of winged corpses that were hiding among the corpses finally approached the city wall and took off into the air like giant bats the size of humans.
(End of this chapter)