LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 25: King Meets King!
The sight of the Sultana’s personal flag beside the Ottomain army sent alarm bells tolling in Constantin XI’s heart. He knew that the Ottomains were going to launch one last, ferocious attack.
“Romains, the decisive battle is upon us!” He got on his steed and loudly declared. “Grip your swords tight!”
Boom!
The bombardment on the west wall was more intense than ever. It was not just cannonballs but catapulted rocks too.
This was the order the Ottomain soldiers had received from their Sultana:
Screw it all! Throw whatever we have in store at them! Empty our supplies!
The west wall had already suffered tremendous damage in recent days. A huge chunk of the middle section of its wall had even crumbled.
“Our God is watching us!”
“Charge!”
Momoana led the charge toward the west wall on her war steed.
The Ottomain soldiers, galvanized by their sultana, rushed at the city walls like ferocious lions freed from their chains. With deafening roars, they charged across the moat without any care for their lives.
The Romain garrison troops smashed those who were closer with rocks and shot down those who were further away. From time to time, they would pour down buckets of hot oil, reducing the Ottomain soldiers to charred corpses.
However, the berserk Ottomain soldiers were unfazed.
They fearlessly charged up ladders they had brought to overcome the towering inner walls blocking their path. Many of them fell amidst wails of agony, but there were many more behind who obstinately pushed ahead, making progress bit by bit.
“Ahhh! This is exhilarating!” Shu Yichao was excited by the berserk Ottomains. “Finally, this is a proper war and not just some minor skirmish!”
He charged across the battlefield with his scimitar, evoking screams and spilling blood wherever he passed by. He was like an unstoppable disaster on the city walls.
Not even the Ottomain soldiers’ reckless charge could faze him in the least.
…
“Tsk tsk. That was great!”
Shu Yichao had no idea how many enemies he had slaughtered in the last few hours, but his weapon had lost its edge. Thus, he finally tossed aside his Superior Scimitar and swapped it for something else.
“Oh? I can upgrade my troops again. Let me see… Huh?” Shu Yichao suddenly noticed that there was something amiss about the Ottomain army. “Why aren’t they climbing up the ladders anymore?”
He peeked down the city walls, wanting to see what was going on.
“Bloody hell! Isn’t this too much?”
The corpses of the Ottomain soldiers were stacked as high as mountains. Dead people and struggling soldiers could be seen wherever he looked. The sheer amount of corpses actually filled the moat, forming a human staircase leading straight to the inner wall!
Both the Romains and the Ottomains had turned red-eyed from all the slaughtering.
Most of the soldiers were exhausted by now, but they were still charging at one another, crossing blades amidst guttural roars. Flies buzzed around the battlefield, attracted by the pungent blood stench that pervaded the west wall.
Just then…
Boom!
A boulder hurled with astonishing momentum crushed all of the Ottomain and Romain soldiers in its path before crashing into the segment of the wall where Shu Yichao stood.
The already shaking wall finally succumbed and collapsed, creating a huge opening.
Shu Yichao and his Grassland Horse Archers, who had been standing on the wall, fell into the opening and disappeared amidst a cloud of dust.
【My host! Momoana’s heart suddenly started beating really, really fast! I’m almost scared that she’ll faint from excitement at this rate.】
【What did you do to her to make her so excited? Did you confess to her?!】
Momoana had taken a back seat after firing the situation to keep tabs on the situation, but at this moment, she suddenly stood up with a furiously beating heart. She just saw the Khitans falling with the collapsed wall.
Having witnessed the downfall of her most hated enemy, she felt like victory was just within reach!
“Brave warriors of our Ottomain Empire,” she roared, “charge!!!”
At this critical moment, Momoana finally decided to bring in her personal troops.
“Advance, my Janissary!”
Thousands of elite warriors dressed in blood-red robes and white borks, armed with the sharpest shamshirs, charged into the battlefield with Momoana in their center. They looked like a blazing cloud charging toward the west wall’s opening.
The ‘New Soldiers’ were a formidable force. Blood spilled with each brandish of their shamshirs.
Helpless before their ferocious assault, the garrison troops had to retreat again and again. Due to that, more and more Ottomains were able to charge into Constantinope via the opening.
“We have breached Constantinope!”
“Victory is finally within sight!”
The cheers of the Ottomain soldiers echoed throughout the city walls. The Romain garrison troops turned pale upon hearing those words.
Our defense has been breached? What do we do?
Are all of us going to die? Should we fight or flee?
“Your Majesty!” The Roamin garrison troops turned to Constantin XI, who was charging back to the center stretch of the wall after reinforcing the northern stretch.
Without any hesitation, Constantin XI drew his prized sword and hoarsely roared, “Follow me, Romains!”
He rushed toward the collapsed section of the wall, and Madam Marti unhesitatingly chose to follow him. Many soldiers were moved by their devotion and quickly followed them.
“Kill them!” Momoana roared after killing one of the garrison troops. The fear and worries that she had been bottling up for the past twenty days had been swept clean.
Constantinope had finally been sieged.
From this day on, I am Constantinope’s ruler! For now, I shall sweep every single street and district here and return the favor to the abominable Romains! Momoana thought with a cold glint in her eyes.
“Advance, my Janissary!”
To Momoana’s surprise, her advancement speed of her personal troops grew slower and slower, till it eventually came to a halt. “What’s going on?”
Momoana craned her neck to look across the crowded street. What she saw made her heart skip a beat.
Heavily-armored Khitans emerged from the smoke, looking at them with bloodthirsty eyes reminiscent of butchers eyeing their livestock. Their leader was an extremely dashing man. Who else could it be other than the terrifying Khitan Baturu?
“My money!” Shu Yichao cried with freezingly cold eyes. “Tens of thousands of dinars gone, just like that!”
Upgradable Unit: Elite Horse Archer
Ranged Damage: 75-85
Melee Damage: 85-95
Armor: 55-65
Defense: 25-35
Speed: 200-300
Morale: Good
Discipline: Good
Sustenance: 25-35 (Daily)
Recruitment Cost: 950 dinars
Maintenance Cost: 370 dinars per week
The earlier bombardment on the wall failed to harm Shu Yichao; he safely landed on the ground with a simple leap.
However, the Grassland Horse Archers under his command weren't as dexterous as him, so quite a few of them ended up losing their lives. To save the severely injured, Shu Yichao had no choice but to immediately upgrade his troops.
That’s right, the troops in the Beacons of the Otherworld recovered to their tip-top condition upon being upgraded. It was more effective than any recovery or revival spells. There were no downsides except for the cost.
It was just that the cost was enough to make Shu Yichao’s heart bleed.
Glaring at the panicking Ottomain soldiers, Shu Yichao issued an order to his Elite Horse Archers, “Kill them all.”