The news of the enemy attack immediately reached Lord Shen Mu's ears as Bestour and the Kujit Steppe Bandits quickly returned to Deherim.
At this moment, Shen Mu sat up from his bed, a look of surprise on his face. He frowned tightly, looking at a Steppe Bandit Elite who was reporting to him in a low voice at the door, and asked, "You found Undead Monsters, and a large-scale attack of Undead Monsters heading towards Deherim?"
"That's right, Respected Lord Shen Mu, that's exactly it. A large group of Undead Monsters is advancing towards Deherim, and by our estimation, they should be close to Deherim soon," the Steppe Bandit Elite replied seriously.
He was Bestour's most trusted subordinate, and the Kujit Steppe horse he rode was one of the fastest, which was why he was able to quickly reach Deherim to report to Shen Mu.
"I never thought Deherim would be attacked again." Shen Mu frowned slightly, but there was no fear on his face. He simply threw off the blanket covering him and sat up from the bed. He spoke in a low voice to the Steppe Bandit Elite, "I understand. You go back to Bestour first. I'll handle the rest."
"Understood." The two Steppe Bandit Elites replied again, then without any hesitation, they picked up their spears and turned to leave the second floor of the Noble Residence.
"Lord, we are ready for battle." Just outside Shen Mu's bedroom, the Holy Tree Knights and Swadian Knights had gathered. Their voices were resolute, their faces stern, without a trace of fear. They had nothing to fear, as it was just a normal invasion. Deherim had experienced countless invasions before and was still standing strong, so they felt no fear at all.
Furthermore, in front of Shen Mu, they could not show any fear, as they were the strongest soldiers under Shen Mu.
Weeping and fearful expressions would not appear on them.
"Have everyone get ready." Shen Mu nodded, quickly put on his clothes, and also donned his chainmail and armor.
He walked quickly towards the outside.
Without any hesitation, he led the Holy Tree Knights and Swadian Knights to the city wall.
On the city wall, Fatis and Lezalit had already gathered. Seeing Shen Mu approaching with the Holy Tree Knights, they quickly walked over and respectfully bowed to Shen Mu, placing their hands on their chests in salute: "Respected Lord Shen Mu."
"Mm." Shen Mu nodded, then looked outside: "How's the situation?"
Although he asked, he had already seen it. At the edge of the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower's illumination, patches of gray and black mist-like substances were rolling in.
Like smoke or a stirred-up sandstorm, it was actually blocking the shining white light, approaching the city wall of Deherim at his feet.
"Those should be Undead Monsters, and they have formed special death spirit rules that can actually withstand the Holy Light Torch Tower's Holy Light illumination from the Holy White Council." Fatis, holding his knight's sword, explained in a low voice, "Bestour told me this. When they first discovered those Undead Monsters, they also found that the Holy Light emitted by the Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower was actually being blocked by the special methods formed by those Undead Monsters."
"That's right, it's those gray-black mists," Lezalit interjected, "but it doesn't look like mist. Instead, it looks like dust stirred up, forming a haze through special means."
"Is it haze?" Shen Mu stood on the city wall, slowly reaching out and gripping his sword hilt, his expression a bit grim: "I never thought that using haze could block one of my powerful defensive measures."
The reason Shen Mu was so confident about Deherim before was because the Holy Light formed by the rules within Deherim's area was a powerful blow and weakening effect against death spirit rules and Undead Monsters.
Before, no matter what Undead Monster it was, as long as it entered the area where Deherim was located, it would naturally burn and be severely weakened.
It was a weakening of all attribute levels.
And once exposed to Holy Light, it would automatically generate light and heat, which was a powerful killing effect for those Undead Monsters with death spirit energy.
This was also why no Undead Monster could survive within Deherim's range.
The Holy White Council's Holy Light Torch Tower was truly effective.
This had left a very deep impression on Shen Mu's mind.
But now, this deep impression was broken. The Holy Light, on which he had placed high hopes, was blocked by the haze formed by the Undead Monsters using special methods. Moreover, it allowed the Undead Monsters within the haze to slowly approach his Deherim, potentially making contact at any time, leading to more serious conflicts.
And that so-called more serious conflict was actually a siege battle that those Undead Monsters would surely launch.
"Get ready, give the order for everyone to get on the city wall." Shen Mu frowned slightly, raising his hand to signal the surrounding messengers to convey his command. After all, it was going to be a defensive battle, and those Undead Monsters would definitely besiege the city. If they didn't make good arrangements, it would be a mistake for them.
"Understood." The Swadian Light Infantry acting as messengers immediately spoke in a low voice, then turned and walked in the surrounding directions, quickly relaying Shen Mu's order for everyone to get on the city wall and prepare for defensive combat.
In just a short moment, the city wall of Deherim was already filled with the Mount & Blade Soldiers currently under Shen Mu's command.
Swadian series infantry.
The most numerous soldiers in Deherim were the various types of troops from the Kingdom of Swadia, and they were all elites that Shen Mu had accumulated until now.
"It's a pity that the Rodok Kingdom's elite Crossbowmen were sent to New Uxhall, and Vigia's elite archers were sent to New Rivadin. If they were here, the defensive strength would obviously be even higher." Shen Mu felt a bit regretful at this moment. The soldiers he had sent out earlier, now that they were divided, actually weakened Deherim.
However, this was also good. Shen Mu did not believe that he couldn't defend Deherim with the Swadian series soldiers he currently possessed.
As Shen Mu's order was issued, more and more Swadian series soldiers began to arrive at their posts.
Swadian Heavy Infantry, Swadian Light Infantry, Swadian Militia, and even many Swadian Recruits had already arrived on the city wall and watchtowers, including the Lake Rat Gang Destroyers, Lake Rat Gang's own thugs, Lake Rat Gang newcomers, and Bandits, all of whom had arrived on the city wall.
And in Deherim's Castle District, more soldiers also surged onto the city walls and towers of the Castle District, while the Holy Tree Forest Guardians, armed with bows, had also arrived on the towers of the Castle District, vigilantly watching the situation outside as archers.
In just a short moment, the entire Deherim transitioned from its previous leisurely and peaceful state to a state of war.
"Where's Bestour?" At this moment, Shen Mu suddenly realized that the general from the Kujit Steppe was not by his side, so he inquired.
"Bestour is outside right now. He's commanding the Kujit Steppe Bandits to scout outside," Lezalit said at this moment. "But he should be back soon. I see a lot of enemy haze appearing around, probably mainly attacking from the east and west city gates. If he doesn't return soon, he might be surrounded by the enemy, or cut off outside the city wall. That's not a wise choice, so Bestour should be back soon."
"Hmm, it's good that he's fine." Lord Shen Mu nodded. He always held this general who commanded light cavalry operations in high regard.
Without saying much, at the west city gate, with a few shouts and the sound of the gate opening and closing, Bestour returned to Deherim with the more than 30 Steppe Bandits and Steppe Bandit Elites he had been scouting with earlier.
And without any hesitation, he went directly to the city wall at the east city gate where Shen Mu was.
"Lord Shen Mu." Bestour walked quickly, his expression quite grim.
"How's the situation?" Shen Mu immediately asked.
After all, it was Bestour who first discovered the Undead Monsters attacking from this direction, and Bestour was also the only general who returned after the final reconnaissance, so he knew about these matters.
Therefore, Shen Mu needed to ask Bestour directly and then make corresponding arrangements based on Bestour's intelligence.
"It's quite troublesome. Those Undead Monsters are all hidden in the haze, so it's impossible to see how many enemies there are inside. However, judging by the amount of haze, each haze probably contains over 100 Undead Monsters." Bestour spoke in a low voice, "And the haze is getting thicker and thicker. If it forms a single mass, its ability to resist Holy Light illumination will be even greater. I also found some Skeleton Archers inside, no, I should say Skeleton Archers make up the majority. I didn't dare to get close, otherwise, arrows would be shot out, posing a threat to us."
"Skeleton Archers?" At this moment, Shen Mu, Lezalit, and Fatis on the city wall all frowned.
This was indeed unexpected for them, as the Skeleton Legion they had encountered before were all infantry units like Skeleton Spearmen and Skeleton Shieldmen, which were Skeleton Warriors.
Now, what Bestour described was a greater number of Skeleton Archers, even the majority, which truly surprised them all.
"Lord Shen Mu, I have a strange feeling about this Undead Monster attack." Beside him, Lezalit suddenly spoke with a frown. After all, he was a general from the evil faction and usually enjoyed playing tricks or using deceptive or cunning tactics to strike at enemies.
Therefore, Lezalit was very sensitive to the current unusual situation. His first thought was that there might be some unknown conspiracy involved.
"Indeed, that's possible, Lord Shen Mu, I also agree with Mr. Lezalit's view." At this moment, Fatis also spoke in a low voice, agreeing with Lezalit's statement. Although the righteous faction and the evil faction basically disliked each other, it was fine to cooperate briefly a few times.
Even when fighting side by side in the same team, they would fight with all their might. It was only sometimes that quarrels or disagreements over each other's behavior would erupt, eventually leading to them going their separate ways.
There was no talk of 'you live, I die' or core interest struggles of that nature.
It was just because they disliked something that they would turn away and not look. That was infighting. But these individuals had gathered around Shen Mu for various purposes, wanting to fulfill their lives, complete their life creeds, and lead themselves to a glorious state.
So they would not engage in infighting or internal strife. It was simply because they disliked something, so they would turn away and not look.
At most, they would just hold their noses and fight side by side.
Just like now.
Although Fatis disliked Lezalit's and Bestour's usual behavior and conduct, when it came to combat, especially in such urgent battle situations, he would not hold back. He would seriously consider Lezalit's or Bestour's suggestions and either supplement or agree with them.
Of course, for Lezalit and Bestour, if they encountered the same situation, they would also make judgments based on their own considerations.
It was all the same.
"Lord Shen Mu, I feel that these Skeleton Archers are very similar to the Skeleton Archers we encountered in the subway tunnel in Su Family Village." At this moment, Bestour suddenly spoke, as he had personally scouted the area. He suddenly said, "Did we offend those Skeleton Archers in the subway tunnel back then, and now these Skeleton Archers have come to seek revenge on us? After all, based on what Lord Shen Mu once told us about subway tunnels, all subway tunnels should be interconnected."
Bestour's words alerted Shen Mu. He couldn't help but frown slightly, looking at the masses of haze approaching him, his expression also becoming a bit grim: "Coming to seek revenge on us? That's quite an unusual perspective."
He neither denied nor admitted it.
After all, no one ever said that Undead Monsters were just low-level Undead Monsters without any intelligence.
And the Vampire Matriarch Elizabeth he had seen before was a truly high-level Undead Monster with her own mind and intelligence, capable of negotiation.