Chapter 166: A Great War Approaches

“Knock knock knock.”

As dawn broke early in the morning, a loud knocking came from the door.

“Merlin, get up quick! Something is wrong!”

Old Wilson’s deep voice rang from behind the door, his voice filled with urgency.

“Huh?”

Merlin opened his eyes. He turned to his side and saw Avril and Charise still sound asleep, without the slightest hint that they had woken up.

Merlin decided to not wake them up and rose quickly to open the door. Old Wilson was standing outside with an anxious expression. He said with his deep voice, “Merlin, you must leave quickly. Longardi has already dispatched the military and they have reached outside the city. Count Selin has sent people to escort you to his castle to discuss this matter.”

“How did Longardi act so quickly?”

Merlin had his concerns. He knew Longardi was determined to take down Prakash City and doing so would take some time, but he did not think it would happen so soon.

“Father, I will head there first!”

Merlin got dressed and ran quickly to the hall, where two knights were already waiting for him.

The two knights were very polite and said respectfully to him, “My Lord, his lordship Count Selin requests your presence!”

“Lead the way!”

Merlin followed the two knights, got into the horse carriage and sped off to Count Selin’s castle.

Soon, the horse carriage slowed down and came to a halt. Merlin hopped off and saw many other carriages were parked outside the castle. He realized then that Count Selin had invited many others to attend as well.

Merlin walked straight into the castle. A lot of aristocrats were gathered there, their faces filled with worry. Count Selin, too, did not have a promising look on his face. WIth an audience in front of him, he was trying hard to remain calm.

“Baron Merlin! It is great that you came. Right now, there are many Lebis troops outside our city, Prakash City is in imminent danger!”

Count Selin’s face lit up slightly as soon as he saw Merlin. He sounded panicky as he spoke hurriedly. Count Selin had never been this panicky, even when he faced Merilung. This situation was clearly much graver.

“The army from Lebis City has already reached the city boundaries. Does anyone have a solution?”

Merlin looked around the room and saw that all the aristocrats looked bitter, yet none of them could offer a solution.

“The only solution right now is to fight!”

Finally, a figure stood up and loudly proclaimed. Merlin squinted his eyes to see who was that, only to realize it was Count Selin’s son, Commander Cook!

“Ha ha, you’re right. There is nothing else we can do but to fight!”

Suddenly, another voice rang out by the doors. Someone who was dressed in a black robe from head-to-toe walked in. It was the black-robed old man, Wizard Hill.

Count Selin looked pleasantly surprised, but his expression was soon replaced with concern as he whispered, “Wizard Hill, how is your injury?”

Count Selin knew that the black-robed man had been wounded, but he did not understand what an unstable Spell Model was. He just knew that the black-robed old man was not in a good state and could not fight at will.

As the black-robed old man looked around the room, his gaze met Merlin. He nodded slightly in acknowledgment, and said loudly, “My injury has relied a lot on the potion that Baron Merlin brought from the Dark Magic Region. Although I’ve not fully recovered, I can still use my full strength. Prakash City in is grave danger, how can I not come in support?”

Count Selin nodded, his heart filled with happiness. After all, their strength had increased now that the black-robed old man was here.

“Good, Wizard Hill also agrees that we should fight. So, what do you think, Baron Merlin?” Count Selin set his gaze on Merlin as he asked.

Merlin squinted his eyes as he pondered for a moment. Finally, he said coldly, “I, too, agree with Commander Cook and Wizard Hill’s suggestion. We only have one option left, and that is to fight!”

The hall was dead quiet as soon as Merlin finished his words. Suddenly, all eyes were on Count Selin. It was up to him now to make the final decision.

“We must fight at all costs! If Longardi wants my Prakash City, he will have to be prepared to pay a very heavy price!”

Count Selin stood up fiercely as he spoke loudly with determination.

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“We must fight at all costs!”

The aristocrats roared back, including the upper-class aristocrats. They would unite and join forces to protect Prakash City at all costs.

Immediately, Count Selin began to strategize and plan to deploy the troops in Prakash City. Merlin walked to the black-robed old man’s side and whispered, “Wizard Hill, are you sure you are alright?”

The black-robed old man smiled and nodded, saying, “, “Of course, your Purple Stone Powdered Potion was very effective. Although my Spell Model is still not completely stable, my casting ability is not affected anymore!”

If he was able to cast spells, it meant that the black-robed old man already possessed the strength to fight. He would no longer be in imminent danger nor fear that his Spell Model would collapse again!

Soon, Count Selin was done strategizing and they all began to climb up the city gate.

On top of the city gate, Merlin could clearly see the densely packed soldiers outside the city. Some were knights carrying long spears, some were infantry carrying shields, and some were arbalists hiding further away. Merlin also saw something else amongst the Lebis City’s troops, a terrifying arbalest machine.

Despite being difficult to build, this machine had formidable power. It could fire ten rounds of arrows, each as thick as a child’s arm.

With such an impressive arbalest machine, it was clear that Longardi would stop at nothing to breach Prakash City.

Count Selin’s face paled upon seeing the number of Lebis City’s soldiers.”Defending to death is not the solution. Sooner or later they would breach the city. No matter what, we must at least try a counterattack !”

Count Selin quickly calmed himself, and even though he could see the many Lebis City’s soldiers below, he knew that there was no backing down now. Defending was never the answer. There was no clear outcome from the battle and he could use the opportunity to attack directly.

“Open the city gates, dispatch twenty thousand knights and attack the enemy troops!” County Selin instructed calmly.

Many people would die in such a large-scale battle like this. Count Selin understood that a strong commanding ability was required and not even Merlin or the black-robed old man could help him.

Merlin’s plan was to prevent any enemy Spell Casters from destroying the city gate. Prakash City would still be safe as long as the city gate was not damaged.

Soon, Prakash City gate opened. Thousands of knights rushed out from the city and amongst them was a black torrent that caught the attention of many.

“Father!”

Merlin squinted his eyes. He did not know Old Wilson would command his own hundreds of knights and rushed out the city gates.

Count Selin looked concerned as he turned to face Merlin. “Baron Merlin, would you like me to give the order for Commander Wilson to return?”

Merlin shook his head, his gaze following Old Wilson as he said calmly, “There is no need. Perhaps this is the life my father wanted to live. He has never stopped training as a knight. Surely it was in hopes of returning to the battlefield one day.”

Merlin knew that being in the army for decades had a great impact on Old Wilson’s life. Perhaps fighting to the end on the battlefield was the life that Old Wilson had wanted.

“Attack!”

As Selin commanded, the twenty thousand knights began to advance towards Lebis City’s troops. Some ten thousand knights also came rushing from Lebis City’s troops as the two opposing sides began to engage in combat.

Tens of thousands of people were killed in the fight. Whether it was one or ten people, it made no difference. Each life seemed so insignificant.

It was the first time for Merlin to witness such a great battle. He noted that when two opposing knights met, it was a cruel kill. Either you kill or be killed.

Amongst the two opponents, a black torrent was remarkably eye-catching. It was Old Wilson in his heavy armor, which had served him for over ten years. It had followed him from Blackwater City to Prakash City, and now they could finally prove their worth as a pair. On the battlefield, they worked together like a sharp dagger, piercing through the hearts of the enemies.

Wherever the armored knights go, none could stop them. They were invincible!

However, there were too few of them. The Prakash City knights started to show signs of defeat.

Behind the rampart, Count Selin shook his head, disappointment filled his face as he said, “We have lost… Issue the command to retreat. Once all our troops have entered the city, close the gates!”

Count Selin quickly realized that this war was not favorable for them. No matter what, they should not deplete their energy too quickly. After all, it was up to them to defend Prakash City.

Gradually, the knights of Prakash City began to slowly retreat within the ramparts.

Merlin paid close attention to Old Wilson. Even though the armored knight attacked and many enemy soldiers lost their lives, Old Wilson managed to retreat back into the city, unscathed.

Merlin relaxed and heaved a sigh of relief once he realized that Old Wilson had returned unharmed.

Merlin looked down at the densely packed soldiers and furrowed his eyebrows. His strongest wide-range attack, Thunderbolt Net, would not be enough to surround the hundreds of meters of battlefield area. There was no way he could attack them all in one fell swoop. Furthermore, the ability to attack the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses would have to be performed by a Fourth-level or higher Spell Caster.

“Wizard Hill, when you fought in the gruesome Slaughterhouse War, surely not all the Spell Casters were Fourth-level Spell Casters. What use were the lower-levelled Spell Casters then?”

Merlin asked softly as he turned to face the black-robed man.