Chapter 423

"There are beastmen lying in wait inside the city?! This…"

When Adams finished reading the contents of the letter, he froze solid.

The news in the letter had shocked him beyond measure.

In the latter half of the letter, Gervas wrote that a elite force of beastmen was secretly hidden within Lindongcheng!

They had evaded the kingdom's army's search and slipped into the city without a sound.

They would launch a deadly strike against the kingdom's army tonight, coordinating with the main beastman force outside the city.

This news was earth-shattering.

If the letter had not been written by Gervas to him, Adams would have immediately shouted "Madman!"

Was he being treated like a fool?

When the kingdom's army first occupied Lindongcheng, it was I who led the exhaustive search.

It was a task arranged by my father specifically to train me.

So I know better than anyone—Lindongcheng had been turned upside down by the kingdom's army; no enemy could possibly remain hidden.

But now this news came from Gervas.

Even if I had personally inspected every corner, I would still believe Gervas without question.

Thinking of this, Adams's breathing grew rapid and shallow.

The great victory at Grey Stone Bridge had already granted him unprecedented honor.

If this time, he could truly help the kingdom's army recover from its losses,

this achievement would be no less than ten Grey Stone Bridges combined.

Of course, everything depended on the arrival of night!

…

Ooooh!

The sun rose in the east, its rays spilling across the land; flowers and grass drank the morning dew, birds sang from the branches—a scene full of vitality.

Ooooh!

At that moment, a sharp horn blast erupted from nowhere, shattering the peace.

Instantly, Lindongcheng was thrown into tension.

The main beastman force had finally arrived!

Seeing the dense ranks of beastmen emerging on the horizon, even though the kingdom's soldiers had built up high morale from previous victories,

they still could not suppress a suffocating sense of dread.

The beastmen's oppressive presence was simply too overwhelming.

"Roar! One army commander, two human dukes—looks like the Old Griffon King takes our tribe's southern hunt this year very seriously!"

To the beastmen, humans were two-legged sheep; thus, their southern raids were no different from a southern hunt.

The Beast King, surrounded by his guards, slowly appeared beyond the city walls.

"Beast King, you beastmen refuse to till the land or feed yourselves, yet every year you invade our Griffon Kingdom's northern border!"

"It's the most despicable, cowardly act—don't you fear the day when we humans will completely settle accounts with you?"

"Hah! Army Commander, settle accounts? If your two-legged sheep could do it, why wait until now?"

"Besides, I've heard your nobles live in luxury by exploiting your own kind—the so-called serfs, your two-legged sheep!"

"So we're no different—you and we both survive by plunder!"

"And after all, the world belongs to the strong, the weak are slaves—so neither your nobles nor our tribe are wrong!"

"The weak should be meat, should be servants!" The Beast King laughed.

Admittedly, though the beastmen's actions were despicable, the Beast King's words—while absurd—somehow carried a twisted logic.

After all, nobles did indeed live in luxury by oppressing serfs.

But this was war, not a debate.

The Army Commander could not let the Beast King's words undermine his army's morale: "Beast King, you speak nothing but nonsense!"

"Serfs produce; nobles arm. Without noble knights, our people would have been wiped out long ago by your predatory barbarians!"

"Now, I speak on behalf of the great Griffon King, Your Majesty: this is your final warning. Withdraw all your beastmen from Griffon Kingdom territory—immediately!"

"Otherwise, you will suffer a terrible fate!"

"Hah! You want us to retreat from the Griffon Kingdom? Then see if your two-legged sheep have the strength to make it happen!"

"Beastmen warriors, prepare for battle! Break Lindongcheng, tear this army of two-legged sheep to shreds!"

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Ooooh!

The pre-battle taunts ended. At the Beast King's command, the beastmen army sounded the attack horn.

The next instant, the vassal troops formed ranks and charged toward Lindongcheng.

"Kingdom's heroes, today we fight for our kingdom, for our honor!"

"Slaughter these despicable beastmen, drive them from our land!"

"For honor! Kill!"

Ooooh!

Instantly, the cries of battle echoed inside and outside the walls.

Outside, vast hordes of vassal troops carried siege equipment and rushed the walls like madmen.

Inside the city, the five stone-throwers, long ready, fired first.

But against the dense masses of vassals, the stone-throwers were like drops in the ocean.

Soon, the vassals reached the base of the walls.

Previously, Lindongcheng had been surrounded by a moat.

But when the beastmen had seized the city, they ordered the moat filled in.

Although since yesterday the kingdom's army had dug some ditches and erected fences,

these were merely crude defenses—and under the vassals' relentless, fearless assaults, they were quickly breached.

Now, the vassals had reached the wall's foot and began scaling it like ants.

But what awaited them next would be even more brutal and bloody.

The kingdom's army had already prepared stones, rolling logs, oil, and boiling gold juice.

In short, though the vassals' assault was fierce, the kingdom's army, well-prepared, faced no great pressure.

Time passed second by second; the battle raged from morning until dusk.

Throughout, both sides employed rotation tactics to avoid exhausting their troops.

Yet since the attackers held no numerical advantage, and the Beast King had not yet dared to commit his true elite—the minotaurs—

for the defending kingdom's army, today's battle had been remarkably easy.

Watching the vassals being smashed off the walls, every soldier of the kingdom's army believed the battle was unfolding exactly as they hoped.

Filled with such optimism, as night fell,

even though the beastmen's assault continued, many nobles could not resist pouring themselves drinks.

By tradition, drinking was strictly forbidden during battle.

But Lindongcheng stood impregnable, with no real danger to fear—so the nobles ignored the rule.

Amid the nobles' revelry, time swiftly reached midnight.

Exhausted from battle and drink, the nobles finally could not stay awake and prepared to rest.

Only one-fifth of the nobles were assigned night watch duty.

"Adams, tonight there's no watch duty for our House of Austin—why aren't you sleeping?"

Lord Austin had also drunk several cups with other high nobles today.

Returning to camp, he was surprised to see his eldest son still awake.

"Father, I can't sleep. I beg you—give me command of the eight thousand family soldiers!"

Lord Austin's drowsy eyes widened in shock. "Adams, what did you say?"