Chapter 521: Secret Weapon!

“Roar! People inside the castle, listen up! You are surrounded!”

“Our merciful Fang Clan gives you one chance: open the castle gates immediately and surrender peacefully—we promise not to kill you!”

“Otherwise, once we break down the gates ourselves, we’ll slaughter every last one of you and use you as rations!”

A dark mass of boar-men arrived beneath the castle.

Their deep trenches inherited the typical height of orcs, standing roughly two and a half meters tall.

Their lower bodies had human-like legs, walking upright.

Their upper bodies bore the torso and head of a wild boar.

Thick bristles covered their bodies; sharp, elongated tusks jutted from their mouths, with the signature pig snout between them.

At this moment, these boar-men brandished crude weapons, threatening the defenders on the walls.

Though the wheatfield town a mile away was now empty, its contents within the houses were easily within reach.

Yet the boar-men paid no heed to those supplies.

For they knew well: in a noble domain, the most valuable, most precious, and most numerous treasures lay within the castle.

So they chose to seize the castle first, loot it thoroughly, before considering anything else.

Seeing the mere two hundred or so defenders on the walls, the boar-headed warriors grinned with excitement.

With such weak opposition, capturing the castle would be easy.

“Boar-men! This is Lord Gervas’s Stormhold!”

“I give you one final chance: leave Stormhold at once, or we will show no mercy!”

“All enemies who invade Stormhold shall be killed!”

Yet the castle’s defenders displayed astonishing resolve—no fear, no thought of surrender; instead, they turned and threatened the attackers!

“Roar! Humans, do you truly seek death? If so, our boar-men warriors will show you just how horrific the consequences of offending us are!” The boar-chief erupted in fury, roaring upward.

“Hmph! Boar-men, we’ll wait for you—then we’ll twist off your pig-heads and kick them like balls!”

Damn! The boar-men cried out in astonishment!

Roar! Roar! Roar!

“Kill them! These damned crawling two-legged sheep!”

“Yes! Kill these two-legged sheep—I’ll tear them apart with my bare hands!”

At the defenders’ words, the boar-men erupted in rage, their pig-roars rising in waves outside the castle walls.

“Roar! Boar-men warriors, attack! Leave not a single human alive in this castle—take them all as rations!” The boar-chief, now enraged, ordered the assault.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

The next moment, the orcs launched their attack.

The first wave of over two hundred boar-men split into two groups, advancing toward the castle.

One group carried wooden ladders up the earthen slope; the other headed for the castle’s cliff walls.

Clearly, they planned a main assault on one side, with a secondary attack elsewhere.

“Captain Ironbear, and the guard squads—this battle is yours now!”

Seeing the boar-men begin their assault, Old John knew he could no longer help.

“Yes, Steward!”

“Leave it to us, Steward John!”

The guards and barbarians immediately nodded and took position.

Then, the battle began.

As the boar-men drew near, ten archers and barbarians struck first.

The barbarians hurled javelins; the archers loosed arrows.

Of course, the damage was clearly limited.

Only a few unlucky ones were pierced in vital spots and wounded; the rest simply yanked the javelins from their bodies and tossed them aside.

The spots struck by the spears were merely small blood holes, no deeper than two or three centimeters.

Such depth meant nothing to the massive boar-men—like being pricked by a needle, painful but harmless.

“Such tough skin!”

“It’s their bristles—they’re like wild boar’s, coated thickly with pine oil and impurities!”

At the soldiers’ exclamations, the seasoned Knight-Lieutenant Dali immediately provided the answer.

The boar-men’s offensive power may not be the strongest among half-orcs.

But their defense is among the very best.

They routinely rub against pine trees, like true wild boars, to harden their bristles into protective shells.

Though they cannot fully block blades or spears, they greatly reduce damage.

“Hah! These stupid two-legged sheep, stunned now? Our boar-men warriors fear neither javelins nor arrows!”

The boar-men in the rear sneered.

Meanwhile, the front-line boar-men, now facing the javelins and arrows, reached the gentle slope.

Then, they began climbing.

Seeing this, Knight-Lieutenant Dali sighed.

Just as he expected—the Stormguard’s courage was admirable.

But the gap in strength could not be bridged by bravery alone.

Even with fifty barbarians, they’d only hold out another hour or two!

“My Lord, please don’t stay too far from me later—I won’t be able to protect you in time!”

With that, Dali drew his longsword, preparing for battle.

Since the Lord wished to assist, he’d help—so the Lord could depart safely later.

But as Dali finished speaking, shouts erupted from both sides: “Ballista team! These bastards are all on the slope—no escape now—fire!”

“Huh? What does that mean?” Knight-Lieutenant Dali froze—why did that sound ambiguous?

“Hm? What does that mean?” Knight Captain Dali paused, feeling that the words carried ambiguity.

Before Dali could ponder further, a rustling sound erupted around him.

Six objects, previously wrapped in tarpaulin along the walls, were now revealed before his eyes.

“B...Breakwinders? How is this possible?”

When he saw the true form of the six devices, Dali stood dumbfounded.

He recognized them instantly—they were the Breakwinders of the Hernade family!

But the family’s Breakwinders were top-secret, all currently mounted on ocean vessels.

So how had they arrived at this minor noble’s castle?

Could it be Lady Catherine?

And indeed, Lady Catherine had once said as much.

But the problem was—he’d never seen them in Violet Castle.

Lady Catherine truly favors Lord Gervas...

“Ballistas! Fire!”

Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

As Dali stared in shock, the ballista team unleashed their attack.

They had withheld the ballistas at first, fearing the boar-men would flee upon distant attack and adapt.

That would reduce their casualties.

Now, with over a hundred boar-men clustered at the slope’s crest, even if they tried to flee—

They’d leave behind many corpses first.

At this moment, over a hundred wild boar men were crammed at the crest of the gentle slope, so even if they wanted to flee.

They’d still have to leave behind many corpses first.