Imperial Crown.

Chapter 94: Cannon Bombards the Tower
光明历1193年12月25日，上午7点20分左右。

At the same time, the vanguard led by Vesdon set out.

Raven and his group were hiding next to a mound near the scorpion's nest.

A narrow crack was worn out on the upper edge of the mound by wind and sand. When the wind was howling, the wind speed was so fast that even smaller stones could not stand on it. But at this moment, two pairs of eyes appeared in the narrow crack.

One of the pairs was pure black, and it was Margaret.

The other pair of eyes of course belonged to Raven. Even though his eyes were a little dry, he still stared at the door of the scorpion nest.

"Baron, take a break." Volaf came up from behind and handed over the water bag: "You have been watching for more than three hours!"

Raven took the water bag, took a sip, and handed it back.

He was very confident in his judgment, which was why he needed to keep an eye on the place himself and not miss any details.

"Isn't Margaret here?" Volaf took the water bag and saw that Raven still didn't want to rest, so he changed his way of persuading him: "Or you can rest for a while, and I will replace you!"

"If he wants to watch, then he can watch." Still angry from the last fight, Nancy hugged her shoulders and pouted, "If you go and watch and Heleti still doesn't come out, aren't you afraid that he will blame you?"

Hearing this, Raven finally responded: "Helati will definitely leave the Scorpion Nest."

Although she was holding her breath, Nancy couldn't help but be curious: "Why are you so sure?"

Raven's voice was filled with pride: "Those who are good at attacking, the enemy does not know where they are defending; those who are good at defending, the enemy does not know where they are attacking."

"What?" Nancy obviously didn't understand the meaning of this sentence.

At this moment, Margaret's voice rang out:

"My Lord Baron, Heleti has arrived!"

This sentence immediately cheered up everyone present. Nancy rushed up in three or two steps and hung herself on the crevice.

The gate of the Scorpion's Nest was wide open, and a figure in golden armor jumped out on his horse. Behind him was a group of horse thieves following closely.

"My Lord Baron." Margaret's voice was hoarse and low: "The one wearing golden armor is Heleti, there is no doubt about it!"

Raven nodded slowly, but his heartbeat quickened slightly.

After more than twenty days of travel and waiting, the "Sand King" finally agreed to leave his nest!
But immediately his brows furrowed tightly.

There are so many people following Helaiti!
According to the battle report sent by Eric, Heleti had lost about eighty men in the last battle, so it was impossible for him to have so many people at his disposal.

Eric could not have falsely reported his military achievements, so the answer was obvious.

Helaiti recruited new personnel or annexed other bandit forces during this period.

A trace of sadness flashed across Raven's face.

This would not only make the battle against the Scorpion Nest much more difficult, but Eric would also be...

Patting his cheek gently, Raven immediately ordered: "Margaret, let your crows follow them. When Heleti and Eric engage in battle, report to me immediately."

The plan has come to this point, and it is useless to worry now. What Raven can do is to capture the Scorpion Nest as soon as possible. This is the only way to relieve Eric from his current predicament!

Margaret was so angry that her eyes almost turned red. Summoning crows to gather intelligence was indeed a method she often used, but she had basically not rested since yesterday. She had less than half of the energy left in her body. She was extremely tired.

But Raven was obviously not a gentle and considerate master, at least not to her, so she could only find a corner, call out her crows, and follow the horse thieves.

Nancy couldn't wait any longer. She jumped down from the crevice, summoned her staff and held it in her hand, excitedly saying, "Raven, when are we leaving?"

"Wait a little longer." Raven did not look back, still observing the movements of the Scorpion Nest: "The Heleti have more people than I expected. We must wait until they distance themselves and give us enough time."

"Tsk, you're such a coward." Nancy pouted in disdain: "What are you afraid of? I'm here! No matter who it is, I can handle it with a single cast of magic!"

"Okay, I'll wait for you to perform." Raven responded casually.

Seeing Raven's indifference, Nancy made a face at him and turned away.

But she was never one who could sit still and wait patiently. She walked around and around, occasionally jumping up to Raven and observing the scorpion nest with him, but soon she began to feel bored and kicked the stones on the ground.

Time passed slowly, one hour, two hours...

Just when Nancy's patience was about to reach its limit, Margaret opened her eyes and said, "My Lord Baron, Heleti's army has arrived at the outskirts of Eric's army!"

"How far is it from the scorpion's nest?" Raven asked immediately.

"About... twenty kilometers," Margaret responded.

"Twenty kilometers..." Raven thought and clapped his hands: "That's enough."

He stepped back from the crevice and glanced at each of his personal soldiers:
"Helati has reached a far enough position. He has defeated the vanguard led by Visdon and is fighting with Eric."

"The Eagle Army is using their lives to buy us time."

The expressions of the guards became serious, and Volav's throat began to move. He was a little worried about his comrades.

I don’t know what happened to Mosingan, Simon, Gore, Link and the others.

Raven walked quickly to his horse. His voice was steady, yet his determination was conveyed to every listener:

"So, this operation can only succeed, not fail."

"Get on the horse and go!"

The mound was not far from the scorpion's nest. In just five minutes, Raven and his party had reached the corner a hundred meters away from the entrance of the scorpion's nest, hiding their tracks behind a low hill.

Although he had already observed it from afar, Raven was still moved when he saw the scorpion nest head-on.

The road leading to the city gate was lined with stone chevaux de frise. The city gate was narrow, the tower was tall, but the city wall was very wide. In addition to the shooting holes, there were actually four crossbow beds!

This weapon is a powerful tool for defending the city and has a very long range. If loaded with special enchanted crossbow arrows, its power is not inferior to the artillery of the previous life. Ordinary third- and fourth-level knights cannot withstand a few hits.

On the other hand, even though more than 160 people had been taken away by Heleti, the number of people on the city wall was not small. Raven had seen 13 of them so far, and they were very sparsely distributed.

If we can't get rid of them in a short period of time, once they control the crossbows, it will be a big trouble!

"My Lord Baron, let's just forget it." Margaret offered a suggestion in a low voice: "I didn't expect that Heleti's men suddenly had so many people. The chances of winning are too low if we go in now. Let's just retreat!"

"Don't worry, with me here, supplies won't be a problem!"

Raven glanced at her and said, "You want to volunteer to help me open the city gate?"

Margaret shuddered with fear: "No, absolutely not!" She was a witch, not a female knight, and she couldn't do the job of charging into battle. She was able to take down so many people quickly before because the formation of her personal guards was too dense, but the city wall was so wide that if she really went up, she would be locked by the crossbow and she would not survive!

Raven knew this, so he didn't send her up, but that didn't mean Raven wanted to give up.

As a lord, you must protect your life, but the responsibility on your shoulders is equally important.

He would not let the sacrifice of his soldiers go to waste.

Several plans came to his mind, but he rejected them one by one. Raven's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he even bit his nails unconsciously.

Nancy was watching with great interest. It was the first time she saw Raven so troubled. She couldn't help but come closer and asked, "What are you thinking about? Tell me what you think about it."

Although it might not work, Raven didn't mind having an extra brain at this time: "The defense of the Scorpion Nest is too tight. We must destroy at least four crossbows at the same time before we can break through the door with peace of mind."

"Oh, that's it! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Nancy raised her fiery red hair and said, "Leave it to me!"

As soon as she finished speaking, before Raven could say anything, she had already leaped out of the hill on her horse.

Looking at the leaping figure, Raven felt a hint of anger rising in his heart.

Nancy's appearance has exposed their position, forcing him into a situation where he has no choice but to take action!

Volaf stepped forward carefully and asked, "Baron, what are your plans...?"

Arrange an egg!

Raven cursed in his heart and brought out the most reliable plan in his mind:
"The enchanted crossbow is aimed at the bed crossbow. After destroying the bed crossbow, turn to the horse thieves. The rest of you raise your shields to cover them. Charge!!"

After saying that, he squeezed the horse's belly with his legs hard, and the warhorse under his crotch neighed and raised its hooves to move forward!
At this time, a horse thief on the city wall had already discovered Nancy's fiery red figure and should have issued a warning immediately, but when he saw the face of the person clearly, he hesitated.

A weak and seemingly immature girl...is she lost?

But the next moment, a magic wand suddenly appeared in the hand of the "girl" in his eyes. She reined in her horse thirty meters outside the city gate, pointed the magic wand at the city wall, and began to chant a spell loudly.

As the spell was chanted, Nancy's hair fluttered in the wind like a burning fire, and with her as the center, the surrounding environment became brighter and redder!
Of all the people present, only two had a clear idea of ​​what was happening.

Through the Eye of Truth, Raven could clearly see that the fire elements in the environment were gathering towards Nancy at a crazy speed.

You have to know that this is winter and the Bloody Highlands are covered with heavy snow!
Even though Raven could sense and have affinity with more elements, Nancy was actually even better than him in terms of affinity with fire!
Margaret couldn't see it, but the witch was naturally very sensitive to the elements. At this moment, she clearly felt the agitation of the fire element, and even her skin felt a little burning.

The light around Nancy became brighter and brighter, and the fire element began to flow through the outline of her body visibly, merging into the staff, and a blazing white flame ignited at the top of the staff!
The horse thief finally figured out what was going on.

This young girl seems to be a magician?

It’s not his fault that he reacted slowly. It’s just that magicians are too rare in the Bloody Highlands.

"enemy--"

The word "袭" was not uttered, and it would never be uttered again.

After Nancy chanted the last syllable, a bright white flame floated out from the fire-colored crystal on the top of the staff. At first it was just an insignificant spark, but after it broke away, it grew bigger and bigger, like a snowball sliding down a high slope, and grew to the size of a water tank.

Then, it smashed into the city wall!

boom--

The sticky flames like magma rose up and exploded. The terrifying impact force threw all the wooden structures into the air and rushed straight into the sky. The flames on them burned fiercely, like a meteor shower!

The raging fire burned along the cracks in the wall, violently washing over the walls on both sides, setting fire to everything that could burn, including torches, towers, flags, trails, crossbows, and... horse thieves!
Even when they died, these trapped horse thieves had no time to scream, because as soon as they opened their mouths, flames would fill their throats, and they would struggle and twist like moving torches!
Ka La La, Ka La La…

The whole tower was shaking as if it was twitching!
With a crisp sound of the gate, the entire city wall collapsed to the ground in smoke and dust, causing the earth to tremble violently. The flaming stones collapsed and flowed like building blocks!
Raven stared at everything in front of him and rubbed his eyes in disbelief!

This... what is this?
Italian Cannonball???
Although I don't understand this magic, judging from the structure of the spell, it will not be higher than the second level.

But...but my second-level magic isn't that powerful! ?
Not only Raven, but Margaret was also frightened. Her body was shaking continuously and she could hardly control the magic power in her body.

She did recognize it. It was the second-level magic "Fire Explosion", but the difficulty of this thing was generally recognized to be equivalent to that of the fourth level!
How did Nancy, a weak little girl, get out? Is she also a witch?
Not to mention the personal soldiers led by Volaf, whose mouths were so wide that an apple could be stuffed in.

But besides surprise, there was more joy and admiration.

It’s such a great thing to have such a powerful magician in my camp!
After a brief moment of surprise, Raven was the first to regain his sanity. He immediately shouted an order: "Clear the city wall! Get rid of the remaining two crossbows and the horse thieves!"

The bodyguards then came to their senses.

Raven's orders were easy to execute. Nancy's magic was certainly powerful, but it wasn't enough to destroy an entire section of the city wall. There were still a few horse thieves on it, and because they had "appreciated" the power of the magic at a closer distance, most of them had been frightened into being like puppets, unable to move at all.

The guards raised their crossbows and began to call the roll one by one.

As Raven's personal soldiers, they underwent more rigorous training and were more skilled in the use of crossbows.

Even though some people's aim was not so accurate, there was still no problem in shooting at fixed targets. In a moment, the six horse thieves guarding on the top of the city were all eliminated, and the only two remaining crossbow beds were burned with the flame crossbow.

Maybe someone is hiding somewhere else, but as long as he doesn't dare to show up, it will not affect the overall situation.

Nancy put away her staff, lowered her head, and rode back to Raven, carefully observing his expression out of the corner of her eye.

In fact, Nancy already felt a little regretful when she ran out of the hill. Disobeying orders on the battlefield is a big mistake, and you may end up beheaded!

But Raven did not get angry as Nancy expected. Instead, he looked her up and down.

Nancy felt a little strange, and after a while she asked, "What are you looking at?"

Raven rode past her on his horse, and Nancy quickly moved away in fear. Unexpectedly, Raven lowered his voice and said, "Well done. This won't happen again."

Nancy's face flushed instantly and she glared at Raven.

If you want to praise me, just praise me. Why do you praise me in a way that is neither good nor bad? And you looked at me for so long, making me nervous!
But Raven would not bother with this arrogant person. He still focused on the business.

There weren't many wooden structures on the tower to begin with, and it was freezing cold. As the magic effect dissipated, the flames on the remains of the tower also went out, leaving only a few pieces of wood still emitting sparks.

The city gate was finally broken!
Looking at the scene in front of him, Raven felt a little excited.

The collapsed city walls formed rugged hills that war horses could not climb, but humans could.

This is also very suitable for dealing with cavalry.

Exhaling a breath of white air, Raven showed an excited smile on his face:

"Dismount and enter the city!!"

……

(End of this chapter)