"The devil's Fireball Technique!"

A Leia soldier screamed.

In the narrow alley, the explosive flames swept through instantly, igniting thatched cottages made of wood and mud in an instant.

Thick smoke and debris spewed from both sides of the alley, the heat wave striking the faces of the sword shield soldiers ready to charge in, forcing them to lift their iron shields, coughing repeatedly as they retreated.

In the roaring flames, more than a dozen Leia mercenaries were engulfed by the fire, and amidst the sounds of collapse, the once-standing watchtower slowly crumbled, bricks flying chaotically.

Taking advantage of the church army's chaos, wizards and parliament army infantry rushed out of the underground tunnel.

Moving between low thatched cottages and wooden huts, longspear men hired by the Rapids City merchants guild led the charge, followed by wizards, crossbowmen, and a few great swordsmen.

Occasionally, a few trembling Night Guards raised their battle axes and armed swords, attempting to stop them, only to be shot down by crossbowmen and pierced to death by longspear men.

Amid the dull impact sounds of boulders against the city walls, the ground trembled, and the cacophony of killing cries erupted intermittently in the residential areas outside Rapids City.

"Move faster." The wizard caught between them shouted with soft legs, "The next block is the tunnel entrance."

However, before them, the longspear men suddenly halted, braking before an empty street.

"What's wrong? Move!"

Raising his head, the wizard saw through the gaps between shoulders the scene he least wanted to see, a dozen squire knights from the Decree Company raising their curved bows, aiming at them.

Among the sound of bowstring vibrations, a dozen arrows flew through the air, densely covering the area where the wizard's squad was located.

A few unarmored longspear men were shot on the spot, clutching their arms and howling, longspears clattering to the ground.

"Is there any Red Dragon Breath left?" The wizard pushed away the two attendants supporting him, shouting loudly.

His companion gave him a desperate answer, "The last fireball was the last of the Red Dragon's Breath."

The Square Banner Knight, in lightweight blue and white casual wear, leaped in, cutting a gust of wind with his longsword, and deftly decapitated several longspear men.

"Church's wretched slaves!" The Black Snake Bay wizard drew a short sword from his waist, charging fearlessly at the leading knight with a furious roar.

The short sword glimmered with an oily green light, even a momentary exposure to this glow would cause skin to corrode and fester.

This mana-driven alchemical weapon is a combat wizard's standard melee arsenal.

Ordinary extraordinary infantry actually struggle against a wizard wielding such crafty tactics in one-on-one situations.

Unfortunately, they faced extraordinary knights blessed with the "Protection from Toxins" enchantment.

Before the Black Snake Bay wizard got close, an arrow had already pierced his chest. In his final conscious moment, he gritted his teeth and flung the short sword.

The spinning short sword grazed the knight's black armor, merely sparking in contact, then fell silent.

Removing the iron helmet covering his head, exposing a rather sweatless head, Edmund, the third company commander of the Decree Company, looked towards the towering riverbank wall.

On Rapids City's nearly 8-meter high wall, not only were there countless smoke and scorch marks, but cracks held embedded flying axes, spears, and arrows.

At the base of the wall, the toxic smoke blown by Green Dragon's Breath faintly enveloped the putrefied corpses.

"These disgraceful wizards, they deserve their fate." As he gazed at the piled knight corpses beneath the wall, Ailard's face showed rare brutality.

Like most cities, Rapids City is divided into inner and outer sections.

The inner city is where citizens, artisans, and priests reside, while the outer city is the district for commoners and laborers.

Various wooden huts and mud tile houses line the main street outside the city, spreading to both sides along the road.

But as of today, these residents' homes were either ravaged by fire or demolished for building siege machinery.

The once bustling and dense marketplace outside the city only left remnants of exposed wooden beams.

Displaced refugees and beggars hide amongst the debris, fearing the spread of war's flames.

Originally, the port area in the south of the city was a bustling hub, where north-south ships always docked at this crucial junction to unload, change river courses, and repair.

But now, the river is filled with fragments of sails, with half-burnt masts protruding from the water.

Ailard still remembered, about a month ago when they arrived, the port was enclosed by a slightly lower wall, connected to the inner city walls.

It only took them five days to breach the port's outer wall defenses.

At that time, both Ailard and Arman believed the city would be conquered within a few days.

Then they fell into a prolonged siege quagmire.

The City Council of Rapids City relied on its strong, tall city walls to block the knights' charges, while wizards engaged in alley fights within the port using tunnels, sewers, and the towers of wealthy merchants.

After the initial panic, Rapids City quickly adapted to the battlefield, repelling attacks daily at a fairly low cost.

At least for this month, aside from the initial battles, the Church's army has barely gained any advantage.

Once the siege progress stalled, troubles came one after another.

After Rapids City was besieged, the entire Thousand River Valley's trade routes came to a complete halt.

A large number of merchant ships docked at Feiliu Castle and Xiaochi City, watching the cargo inside gradually spoil with grumbling discontent.

Nobles and bishops were constantly pressuring Banifus in Feiliu Castle, knowing that many of those merchant ships and goods included their shares.

Especially now during the harvest season, with waterways blocked, estates spread out in various places can't collect grain nor sell for money, isn't it urgent?

Now that Rapids City is besieged, the nobles' financial chains are broken, and many can't even afford to host banquets, forcing them to reduce the frequency to once a month.

This pressure fell on Banifus and then onto the Lingya Knight Arman, subsequently passing onto the Master Decree Commander and the Gun Cavalry Captain.

No wonder Ailard was irritated; after all, every extra day of attack meant a loss of several hundred gold pounds.

They couldn't understand how such a small, isolated city could withstand their offensive.

Especially with their Red Dragon Breath and Green Dragon Breath, seemingly inexhaustible.

Every time the Church thought they had exhausted these evil tools, they would miraculously pull out one or two more.

"Lord Ailard, look, the siege tower is moving again."

Ailard's eyes narrowed, indeed seeing the silhouette of a massive structure appear on the hillside—this was already the third siege tower.

Unlike the port district's tower alley fighting, the plains direction assault was a proper siege battle.

After a month-long attack, the original moat was already filled with corpses, soil, and stones to create several roads.

The iron-clad wheels rolled, and an 8-meter high siege tower slowly advanced on the bridge of corpses, soil, and stones.

Dozens of peasant soldiers and Extraordinary Infantry shouted in unison, their footsteps and gear damp under the hot weather.

The towering siege tower advanced like a giant, and the city guard commander was not blind.

With a command from the city guard officer, a muscular wizard implanted the scarlet Red Dragon Breath Gem at the tip of his magic staff, raising it overhead.

The surrounding defending soldiers could clearly feel the air becoming hotter and drier.

"Red Dragon Breath Fireball Technique! Dodge!"

The peasant soldiers in the siege tower's lookout stumbled down the steps in panic as a white-hot fireball about 1 meter in diameter was launched from the city wall.

"Boom—"

Before the crowd could react, a great burst of flame erupted in the middle of the siege engine.

Sawdust and fiery waves scattered, causing the peasants pushing the siege engine to scatter like wild beasts.

Seeing the siege tower halted, the city guard officer shouted angrily from the crenel, "Fire the crossbow cart, pierce their weak spots hard!"

With a strike of the hammer, the crossbow strings trembled, and a dozen spears over two meters long flew through the air.

Groups of fleeing peasant soldiers and infantrymen fell one after another, as in times like this, there was little difference between Extraordinary Infantry and peasant soldiers.

More than a dozen sharp spears claimed at least seven or eight lives, including three unfortunates pierced consecutively.

Only a few quick-sighted Extraordinary Knights managed to jump off their horses, saving their own lives as a result.

As the soldiers dispersed, the siege tower collapsed in a rush of black-red smoke rising into the air.

Along with it crumbled the siege soldiers' morale, with many walking as if donned with invisible shackles, slowing from great strides to small steps.

Ailard knew it was likely time for the rear to temporarily withdraw.

Sure enough, with the sound of the horn, the soldiers who had been pushing the battering ram and carrying the long ladders sighed in relief and left under their commanders' orders.

As they left the port district with the knights, Ailard irritably scratched his ears, as if that could drown out the cheers from the city walls.

How long would this siege battle last?

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