TGS - Chapter 110
Chapter 110: The City Falls
“Enemy attack—”
The guard sprang to his feet.
The leader had been right. The enemy was indeed taking advantage of the dark, windy night to launch a surprise attack. If they hadn't been so diligent in their duties and spotted them, those running dogs of the nobility might have snuck up the city walls!
A group of slaves, startled awake, quickly mounted the walls and hurled their javelins with all their might at the figures below.
Though their vision was blurry, seeing the silhouettes was enough. The sharp javelins formed a formidable barrage, raining down on the open ground before the city.
After one volley, seeing that the figures below had stopped advancing, someone paused and asked nervously, “They’re not moving. They should all be dead, right?”
The words had barely left his mouth when the figures began to move forward again.
“There are still people alive!”
The slave defenders were dumbfounded. They unleashed another volley of javelins.
This process repeated three times before the figures finally stopped moving for good. Through the night and the dust, they could vaguely make out the long, thin shadows of the shafts sticking out of them. They could almost smell the stench of blood, enough to imagine the carnage.
The slaves panted, exhausted.
“So tenacious, so determined.”
“No wonder the leader calls us a motley crew. To keep charging forward after being shot into sieves… is this the quality of a regular army?”
However, before dawn, these figures who had “died so tragically” vanished along with their chariots, leaving the defending slaves utterly bewildered.
On the other side, the rebellion-quelling army carefully pulled the chariots carrying the straw and wooden figures out of the range of the city wall’s torches. Then, they dropped all pretense, slung the thick hemp ropes over their shoulders, and worked together to drag them back to their encampment.
This side of Senna City was a gentle slope, allowing the chariot wheels to roll forward with inertia. The soldiers only needed to control their stops and starts with ropes from a short distance. Pulling them back, however, was a bit of a strain.
“With this extra pile of pointy sticks, it’s really heavy.”
“This is military equipment, and we got it for free.”
“…Suddenly it doesn’t feel so heavy anymore. I hope they throw some more next time.”
They pulled the javelins from the straw men. The spearheads were brand new. The straw men didn’t even need repairs; except for a few that were severely damaged, they could be completely reused.
If they had been facing an experienced general, such a petty trick wouldn't have worked more than once, but their opponents were clearly not.
After the besiegers repeated their old trick, a rumor even spread within the city about the regular army’s terrifying tenacity, along with the mystery of the disappearing chariots. By the time the Female Leader realized something was amiss, their weapon reserves were not far from being depleted.
That night, the Female Leader stood guard on the wall herself, ordering all her men to hold torches.
The blaze of light illuminated the area. Even with the dust partially obstructing their view, they could now distinguish that the figures made no movements characteristic of living people, at most swaying from the impact of the javelins.
The woman: “…”
Who came up with such a devious plan?
A lump formed in her throat, leaving her speechless. In the end, she could only curse a very local obscenity, halt the slaves who were still throwing their weapons, and call for an urgent inventory of the armory.
The Female Leader clearly realized that they couldn't hold on for much longer. They were besieged, isolated, and without aid. Sooner or later, the enemy would breach the city defenses, and all their resistance over the past days would be for naught.
She had already taken her revenge on the Lord of Senna City, so she didn't care if she lived or died. But what would happen to the people who followed her?
The commoners in the city would be fine. They hadn't participated in the uprising. The worst-case scenario for them was simply being exploited by a new city lord. But the slaves who had rebelled with her would not be spared.
The Female Leader bit her lip fiercely.
However, it wasn't over yet.
The next day, perhaps because the enemy realized their ruse had been exposed and the defenders were no longer falling for it, the figures that approached under the cover of night were not wooden dummies or straw men, but real, sword-wielding soldiers. This was only confirmed when the night raiders reached the base of the city wall unopposed.
The defending slaves fell into a state of chaos, fearing that the shameless running dogs of the powerful were launching a major offensive while they were exhausted. They unleashed a torrent of javelins, long arrows, and stones as if they were free.
Who would have thought the enemy was merely feinting and would quickly retreat?
One night it was dummies, the next it was real men. Every night, the slaves stood on high alert, unable to let their guard down regardless of whether the threat was real or fake.
Then, one day, the entire besieging army remained in their camp to rest and recuperate. The slaves stood guard on the wall all night, and by day, every one of them was yawning incessantly.
It was an irregular cycle that could drive a person mad.
Less than ten days into the siege, Senna City’s ammunition ran out before its food.
The Female Leader sat alone for an entire afternoon after receiving the report from her subordinates. Just before dusk, she finally stood up and went to stomp on the grave of the Lord of Senna City several times.
It was called a grave, but it was really just a simple mound of earth.
The Lord of Senna City’s body had originally been left exposed in the colosseum that was under construction. Someone had buried him, though no one knew who. The Female Leader couldn't be bothered to dig the thing up; she would just come and stomp on it a few times whether she was in a good mood or a bad one.
Afterward, the Female Leader gathered her key aides. Her opening words were:
“As you can see, we can’t hold on much longer.”
A deathly silence fell. Someone stammered, “Is it too late to surrender now…?”
“Don’t let me hear the word ‘surrender’ again! Those military lords treat lives like dirt. Surrendering is just asking to be killed!”
“Then what should we do?”
The Female Leader spread out a map she had found in the city lord’s mansion, her finger pressing down hard on a certain spot as she declared, “We must break out.”
Meanwhile, in the besieging army’s encampment.
“They will choose to break out from here, perhaps under the cover of night, or perhaps they will wait until the city walls are breached.” Alyuin’s fingertip traced a circle over the topographical map, finally landing on a single point.
By now, the generals had learned to be slow to question her, or rather, they couldn't even muster the will to question her. Only one general asked, “Why choose this spot?”
“City defenses aren’t built solely for a dead-end defense. There is always an escape route left. Whether by searching the records in the city lord’s mansion or by interrogating the artisans who participated in the wall’s construction, the other side will eventually find out where that back route is.”
Alyuin paused, then continued unhurriedly, “From this perspective, combined with Senna City’s terrain and layout, this route is most likely built here.”
“She even knows this. Was she taught by an artisan or something?”
A certain general, true to his contrarian nature, muttered under his breath, careful not to let the Princess hear. If he had known that Alyuin’s senses were slightly sharper than an ordinary person’s, he probably would have only dared to say it in his mind.
Alyuin paid no mind to the man’s muttering.
She pondered for a moment, estimating the enemy’s remaining strength, and set the time for the full-scale assault for two days later.
It would not be at night. A night attack no longer gave the besiegers an advantage; on the contrary, it would favor the enemy’s breakout attempt.
With the details settled, the discussion concluded. The generals left one by one, with Lotus and Alyuin being the last to depart.
As they passed the open space where the straw men were piled, Lotus glanced over casually.
These straw men, who had once rendered great service, were now strewn about haphazardly. Their straw bodies, stripped of the weapons that had pierced them, were riddled with holes. Some were even missing arms and legs. They looked rather pitiful.
Lotus noticed that one of the straw men actually had an expression. Some worker, in a moment of childish whimsy during the rush job, had drawn on black bean eyes and a wide, O-shaped mouth, somewhat resembling a world-famous painting from a later era: The Scream.
The straw man’s face was turned directly toward them.
Lotus: “…”
Alyuin, who had been walking ahead, suddenly saw Lotus detour toward the pile of military refuse and silently turn one of the straw men over.
Lotus’s expression was cool and solemn. “You have completed your mission. You may now exit the stage of history.”
So please put away that screaming expression, thank you.
The straw man was silent.
A soft, breathy laugh escaped Alyuin’s lips. “You are truly adorable,” she said naturally.
Her tone was not just affectionate; it seemed to hold a trace of indulgence—an odd, yet fitting, descriptor to use here.
Lotus felt she needed to do some self-reflection.
What sort of nonsense have I been thinking about lately? It’s all because of that night. And Horst.
Lotus made another mental note against Horst.
Two days later, in the morning, the air was unusually clean and free of dust.
The sky was high and vast, the sun brilliant.
The great rebellion-quelling army assembled in formation outside the city, while the defenders arranged their troops on the walls. The scene seemed to overlap with the probing attack from days before, yet it was entirely different.
The atmosphere, the intent, the mindset… everything had changed.
Alyuin was not in her chariot but on horseback before it. The sunlight cast a brilliant halo on her silver helmet. Beneath its brim, her sharp, golden eyes, with their upward-tilting corners, were like an eagle’s.
Among the thousands of soldiers and horses, she was a commander, and also like a knight.
Once again, she raised her arm and swung it down as the signal. The army pressed forward across the land, kicking up dust.
Charge!
A rain of arrows and a rain of blood covered nearly every inch of the battlefield, but no one retreated.
At first, the battle seemed to have no clear victor, but before long, the defenders began to struggle, their strength failing them.
Their military supplies were running low, and it was difficult to maintain morale. Some showed signs of wanting to retreat and flee. They lacked the ingrained discipline of a regular army, so the desire to escape was only natural.
A fierce light flashed in the Female Leader’s eyes. She thought that she had to take something with her before making a desperate breakout.
Peeking out from behind her shield, her gaze fell precisely on the chariot behind the Princess.
Lotus was there.
The Female Leader had noticed that chariot during the last frontal assault. The surrounding soldiers were faintly centered on it, clearly indicating that someone important was inside.
The woman with the bow and arrows had incredible archery skills, having seized an opportunity to shoot and kill a companion the Female Leader had relied on. Meanwhile, the woman holding a sword had watched the entire battle without any intention of joining in.
It had been difficult to tell at the time, but from today’s positioning, the archer was likely a guard or a knight, while the one standing behind her was the key figure.
The Female Leader crouched down, using her shield and the city wall for cover as she tightened her grip on a javelin. The distance seemed a bit far. Should she switch to a bow and arrow?
Yes, switch. A thrown javelin might not hit its mark.
She nocked an arrow to the string. Just as she aimed at that person, the Female Leader’s breath inexplicably hitched.
A flash of intuition made her change her target at the last second. The sharp arrow flew toward the Princess in front, who raised her sword and deflected it.
What was that feeling just now?
The Female Leader froze for a moment.
Just then, the first of the besieging soldiers climbed a siege ladder and reached the top of the wall, engaging a slave in combat. He was followed by a second, then a third… The two sides clashed in a melee, and it was painfully obvious which side had the upper hand.
The scales of victory had tipped, unshakeably, in favor of the rebellion-quelling army.
Senna City was on the verge of falling. The Female Leader knew she couldn't delay any longer. Once the fighting moved into the streets, it would be too late to escape.
The slave leader fought as she retreated from the wall, completely failing to notice that the Princess’s figure had, at some point, vanished from the battlefield.
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