I'm not a Witcher anymore.

Chapter 161 The enemy will arrive on the battlefield in XX seconds.

"Your Majesty—Your Highness?"

Radji swallowed hard, his voice hoarse.

Ziegler reined in his horse, looked at the group of reinforcements before him, who were panting and looking as if facing a formidable enemy, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Lord Radji, where are you rushing off to?"

His tone was as relaxed as if he were greeting a neighbor he had just met in the woods, with no indication that he had just gone through a life-or-death struggle.

Radji did not answer.

Because his gaze had already passed over Sieg's shoulder and was looking at the distant battlefield.

Blood stained that land.

This is a massacre.

But it wasn't a massacre of the Skalitz by the Cumans; it was a one-sided crushing of a group by one person.

"These—these—"

Matos, who was right next to Radji, gasped, and his hand holding the spear began to tremble uncontrollably.

Although he was a veteran who had seen bloodshed, the scene before him still made his scalp tingle.

Is this even human?

The cavalrymen following Radjit looked at Sieg with completely different eyes at that moment.

If their previous respect for the duke stemmed from his status and the food being distributed;

Now, this respect has been mixed with awe of absolute power.

It could even be described as fear.

But Zieg didn't seem to notice the change in atmosphere, or rather, he didn't care at all.

He gently patted the horse's neck and spurred it slowly to Radji.

"It seems we don't need to trouble you all. Our Cuman friends are too kind; they've left all the horses for us. Perfect, are there any vacancies in the castle's stables?"

Radji stared blankly at the young, handsome face with a faint smile in front of him.

What surged forth was an unprecedented ecstasy and sense of peace.

In this chaotic world, what could be more reassuring than following a powerful lord who is almost invincible?

"Yes, of course. Let alone twenty or so horses, even if you bring twice that number, Skaritz will make room for you."

Radji took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

He bowed deeply on horseback, making a gesture of respect and humility more than ever before.

"Your spoils will receive the best care."

Sieg rode on horseback, following the procession through the archway back to the outer courtyard square.

Behind him, the heavy winch made a teeth-grinding grinding sound, the iron chain slid section by section, and the heavy grille door slowly fell down, finally embedding itself into the door groove with a loud thud, kicking up a cloud of choking dust.

Immediately afterwards, the drawbridge was slowly raised, like a giant beast closing its jaws, completely isolating the world inside the castle from the slaughter outside.

Haitar was already waiting in the square.

Zieg dismounted and handed the reins to him.

"Take Matos to my room and bring those two wooden crates from beside my bed."

Haitar didn't ask any further questions, but immediately bowed his head and accepted the order.

Matos was still reeling from the massacre when he heard his name called. He quickly dismounted and followed Haitar toward the inner fortress.

Before long, the two men carried two heavy wooden crates back to the square.

When the first box was opened, it contained two heavy slings.

This is a ranged weapon that Sieg had the carpenters, leatherworkers, and blacksmiths in the city work together to make during this period of time, specially tailored for him.

One of them was shorter, with a thick leather pouch that could hold a single alchemical bomb securely; the other was longer and wider, with a rope net sewn on the outside, used to throw cluster bombs that were bundled together.

The second box contained neatly stacked "Dancing Star" and "Dragon's Dream" bombs that Sieg had made back in Novigrad.

The former explodes with a blinding flash of light and scorching flames, while the latter releases a large amount of toxic gas that will also produce a violent explosion when it comes into contact with an open flame.

Whether Skaritz can pull through depends on these things.

Of course, he still has a trump card up his sleeve.

The "Righteous Wrath" ring, given to him by the Sword Maiden, still lay safely in his adventure book, but the ring was too precious for him to use unless absolutely necessary.

Zig inspected the heavy slingshot and alchemical bomb in the box, and after confirming that there were no problems, he closed the lid again.

"Okay, carry it up to the city wall."

Meanwhile, Radji Kobila was questioning the two scouts who had narrowly escaped death.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Radji's voice was deep and hoarse. He reached out and patted the dusty shoulder of one of the scouts, a gesture that instantly relaxed the tense soldier.

"Tell me, my warrior," Radji stared into the scout's eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife, as if to cut through all pretense and fear, "what else is behind you besides those Cumans who are hunting you down?"

The scout took a deep breath.

If it had been an hour earlier, facing that overwhelming enemy force, he might have truly collapsed.

But at that moment, he subconsciously glanced at the dark blue figure who was slowly adjusting his cuffs.

That figure strangely calmed his wildly beating heart.

"My lord, Sigismund's main force is right behind us."

"The hills and fields were covered with flags, obscuring the hills and roads to the north."

At this point, the scout paused, a flicker of instinctive fear of the enormous number flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure: "Judging from the scale of previous exercises—there are at least three thousand people. And that doesn't even include the long supply train that follows."

"Three thousand people."

Radji repeated the number.

He closed his eyes, his chest heaving violently, as if he were digesting a hot iron.

The surroundings were deathly silent.

The guards looked at each other, each of them feeling the suffocation brought on by that number.

Skaritz had only sixty guards, which was equivalent to a fifty-fold difference in troop strength.

A moment later, Radji opened his eyes again.

The anxiety that had been in those eyes had been replaced by a resolute coldness.

Now that we know what death looks like, there's nothing to be afraid of.

He turned around and, in a convincing and powerful tone, gave the order to the guards around him: "Did you all hear that? The guests have arrived at the door."

Radji drew his longsword from his waist, but instead of pointing it to the sky, he held it firmly in front of him.

"Weapons, arrows, stones, and buckets—carry them all up to the city walls without stopping for a moment."

"Those able-bodied men who can hold a spear steadily will be assigned to the reserve team, and will be sent to the city wall to replace them when I give the order."

At this point, he glanced at Zieg above, then his gaze swept across the entire room, and his voice suddenly rose: "Everyone, stand in your positions. Today, whether Skaritz survives depends on each and every one of us."

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