The Nix people were finally about to attack!… Elix's spirit was lifted as he shouted loudly, "Sound the horns, prepare for defense!"

The horn echoed throughout the fortress. The well-armored Brochi warriors ascended the wooden walls of the fort one after another, forming a tightly packed shield wall of light infantry along the walkways of the southeastern wooden wall. Behind the shield wall were many javelin throwers. (Though hunters were scarce among the Brochi Tribe, and few were skilled with javelins, in recent years, Bricks had ensured every tribe prepared large numbers of javelins and mobilized warriors to learn their usage in order to enhance mid- to long-range lethality during defense. However, the Brochi people lacked the technical capability to produce crossbows, the weapon that once terrified them.)

Behind the javelin throwers stood groups of two or three heavy warriors, clad in iron helmets and iron armor, wielding large swords. These were the elite city defenders who, when the enemy breached the walls, would charge forward to engage and fight them, working in coordination with the light infantry to drive the invaders off the walls...

On the side of the walkway facing the interior of the fortress, piles of stones and timber had been stacked. The civilians inside the fortress were organized, waiting quietly below the wooden walls. As soon as the supply of stones and timber on the walls was exhausted, they would replenish it promptly.

Additionally, they would carry off wounded warriors and, in moments of crisis, ascend the walls armed with long spears to engage in desperate combat with the enemy...

As the Brochi people completed their preparations, the wind suddenly picked up. Thick clouds drifted across the sky, obscuring the sun, leaving the heavens dark and foreboding, as though heralding the approaching storm.

"Here they come…" a warrior murmured softly nearby.

In Elix's line of sight, Nix soldiers clad in iron helmets and iron armor, wielding large shields and short swords, formed an impenetrable iron wall. They cut off the fields between the mountain ridges and the riverbank like waves surging layer upon layer, carrying terrifying power as they advanced slowly from a distance toward the fortress...

The blaring copper horn sounded, and the advancing Nix army quickly halted about a hundred meters away from the fortress. The soldiers planted their shields and stood silently in formation, the only movement coming from the banners fluttering in the wind...

Tension permeated the air as the Brochi warriors clutched their wooden shields and long spears tightly, their eyes fixed on the mighty enemy below the fortress walls, involuntary flickers of fear appearing on their faces.

Elix felt the tension too, but even more so, he felt a strong curiosity. For among the immense Nix formation, he spotted dozens of massive wooden contraptions. Most resembled trees, their long wooden shafts pointing skyward, while a few resembled towers within the fortress—but with open tops.

Could it be that the Nix people intended to rely on these strange devices to attack my fortress?… Elix couldn't fathom their purpose and opted not to think further. Clenching his right fist, he raised his arm and shouted, "Brochi warriors! We have these sturdy, towering wooden walls (six meters tall), broad and deep moats (four meters wide, four meters deep), and countless traps (spread across the fifty meters in front of the fortress)!... No matter how many soldiers the Nix people have, no matter how advanced their equipment, they will never conquer our homeland! Sinbaisbyde is unbreakable!"

"Sinbaisbyde is unbreakable!!…" Elix's subordinates echoed his words enthusiastically, the cry soon resounding throughout the fortress.

All the Brochi warriors swung their weapons and shouted thunderously, their fear evaporating, replaced by boiling blood and renewed zeal.

Just as the Brochi warriors' morale reached its peak, Elix received a scout's report: A Nix fleet loaded with soldiers had landed on the south bank of the Kupa River. Approximately five to six thousand Nix soldiers were arraying themselves in formation in front of the southwestern section of the fortress wall...

Were the Nix people trying to pin my main forces here while launching a surprise attack on the southwest side?… Elix's heart tightened at first but quickly relaxed, knowing that the southwestern defensive installations were identical to those here, with over a thousand soldiers stationed there. There was no need for concern.

But the Nix forces truly were abundant! Even after splitting off so many troops, the numbers here were still endless, as far as the eye could see… Elix gazed forward in envy and his mood shifted sharply to irritation: Nix people, why are you just standing there idly? Start your attack now! This time, let us show you the taste of defeat!

As though responding to Elix's thoughts, the Nix formation sounded their copper horn again. Their soldiers began shifting positions, breaking apart the tight formation, opening up wide pathways. The massive wooden contraptions slowly moved from the rear to the forefront of their formation, being positioned in a line less than a hundred meters from the fortress walls...

This time Elix saw more clearly: The towering wooden contraptions consisted of a robust, round wooden main shaft, about three or four meters long. The lower end of the round wooden shaft was connected to a large wooden box, while the upper end pointing toward the sky was wrapped in several long ropes that hung to the ground. The top seemed to feature a net-like structure. The entire wooden shaft was firmly mounted on a heavy, wide base equipped with four large wooden wheels that allowed relatively easy movement...

There were thirty of these peculiar wooden constructs in total, each staffed with twenty or thirty men behind them—not only to push the contraptions but also stacking large wooden crates nearby...

Elix, like the other Brochi warriors, had never seen such strange wooden devices. But he began to feel an unease creeping into his heart: The Nix people had pushed these machines to the forefront; it must be to assault this fortress! Yet what could their function possibly be?!

While Elix was lost in thought, he saw the Nix people tipping wooden crates into the large wooden boxes. The crates appeared to be filled with stones. Then they removed a wooden wedge from the contraptions, and together began pulling on the ropes attached to the wooden shaft. The thick wooden pole slowly pivoted until the wooden box tilted upward, its top side pointing downward.

Next, the Nix people lifted a stone out of another wooden crate and placed it into the net-like structure at the top of the wooden shaft. They pulled it forward and downward, stretching the net taut and tilting it almost to the ground...

The operators of the contraptions shouted something in unison and simultaneously released their grip on the ropes and the net. Because of the significant weight difference between the two ends, the wooden shaft rotated rapidly, emitting a deep and terrifying noise that sent a surge of inexplicable fear through Elix.

The wooden contraption swung like an enraged giant's arm, hurling the stone from its net-like structure into the air. The stones arced across the sky like shooting stars, crashing heavily onto the wooden walls...

Elix, who had been leaning against the parapet, concentrating his gaze afar, suddenly felt the ground beneath him shaking violently. Unprepared for the jolt, he lost his balance and fell forward, narrowly saved by one of his subordinates.

Elix didn't have time to express gratitude as a nearby outburst of screams reached his ears. The stones that had been hurled smashed into the parapet, splintering the timber. The scattering splinters wounded the surrounding soldiers who cried out in pain.

Elix was just about to warn everyone when he heard someone shouting, "Quick, get out of the way! Two of the beams here have been broken! Be careful—it's about to collapse!"

Elix had calculated every possibility, yet he had never anticipated the Nix people launching their attack in such a devastating manner—those fearsome stones raining down from above, relentlessly crashing into the wooden walls. The warriors were caught entirely off guard, their terrified screams ringing out as they fled in all directions...

Some warriors were struck by flying splinters and rubble, falling to the ground in agony; others lost their footing amid the chaos and tumbled from the wooden walls, their fate uncertain. Within moments, the defenses atop the walls descended into complete disorder. The meticulously organized defense formations crumbled into chaos.

Elix clenched his fists tightly in anguish, his heart sinking into icy despair. He realized that the Sinbaisbyde fortress, painstakingly fortified over several years to resist formidable enemies, might be on the verge of collapse without claiming even a single enemy's life...

"Leader, look—another section of the wooden wall has fallen!" An attendant pointed ahead, shouting excitedly.

"Don't rush. Wait until the entire wooden wall collapses before you call out," Maximus said, his mood light, speaking half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"Leader, who would have thought such simple siege equipment could have such tremendous power!" The attendant continued speaking with excitement.

"Giant's Fury is anything but simple. If not for Danu Goddess providing inspiration in dreams, even the most skilled craftsmen in the engineering camp would never have been able to create it!" another attendant retorted.

"Danu Goddess is truly great! I think Giant's Fury is far more powerful than the Romans' crossbow cannons!" Yet another attendant praised sincerely.

"Giant's Fury is indeed more powerful than crossbow cannons. However, crossbow cannons are lighter and more precise."

"Crossbow cannons are indeed lighter, but if you claim they're more precise than Giant's Fury, I can't agree! I heard Leader say that Giant's Fury can also aim, and by adjusting the angle of the wooden pole and the ropes, you can accurately control the direction and distance of the projectile."

...

Maximus listened to his attendants' discussions, his gaze fixed on the siege devices continuing their bombardment. His mind wandered.

Giant's Fury was the name given to these contraptions by the craftsmen in the engineering camp. The massive wooden structures evoked the image of a giant swinging its arm in rage to hurl stones. The thunderous crash of the stones striking the ground sounded like the giant roaring in fury. The nickname Giant's Fury was undoubtedly well-suited.

However, in his previous life, Maximus knew these siege devices by their technical name—"weighted catapult."

The Ministry of War's Military Intelligence Bureau had long sent agents to infiltrate Brochi Territory. Thus, Maximus had thoroughly understood the Brochi people's defenses and fortress-building practices years ago. He had devised the strategy of using catapults to breach the supposedly unassailable defenses of the Brochi fortress far in advance.

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