“Lord Shen Mu, do you mean that these Skeleton Legions are true war legions, commanded by someone?” Bestour pondered.
“Exactly.” Shen Mu slowly nodded, narrowing his eyes at the increasingly closer fog that had reached the city walls, and the faintly visible Skeletons within it. His heart grew heavier: “Something is amiss, but I lack substantial information to pinpoint the problem.”
As Shen Mu spoke, a tremor ran through his heart.
He felt something was wrong but couldn't articulate what it was. At this moment, he could only clench his fists and sternly warn Bestour: “Stay alert, no matter what. It’s always right to be cautious and vigilant.”
“Understood, Lord Shen Mu.” Bestour nodded seriously, his expression grave as he looked at the Skeleton Legion hidden in the fog outside, which had reached the city’s outer wall and was gradually stopping.
But before Bestour could say anything more, his expression subtly changed. He instinctively raised his rawhide round shield and blocked in front of Shen Mu.
Then, a series of shrill screams erupted outside the city wall, followed by the clatter of arrows hitting the wall, the deflective boards, and shields.
It was the attack of the Skeleton Archers, who had raised their bows from the fog below the city wall and were shooting at them.
“Take cover!” Lezalit’s shouts echoed from the city wall, spreading throughout the entire wall as Mount & Blade Soldiers relayed the message.
They hadn’t expected the first attack from within the fog to be the feathered arrows shot by the Skeleton Archers.
Some unfortunate individuals, standing on or between the gaps of the deflective boards, failed to take cover and were hit by arrows while peeking out to observe the Skeleton Soldiers in the fog.
They let out agonizing cries, falling backward onto the city wall, each groaning in pain.
“Damn it, who told you to be so careless? Quickly arrange for someone to dig out these arrows, and find the Eden Garde Believers who know healing spells to come help.” Lezalit angrily reprimanded them while calmly making his arrangements. As one of the frontline generals, he had the authority to command the Devotees of Eden Garde.
The healing spells possessed by the Eden Garde Believers could genuinely heal wounds; they had already discovered this in previous battles.
“Lord Lezalit, something’s wrong. The arrowheads in these brothers’ bodies have shattered.” A Mount & Blade Soldier reported, causing Lezalit’s expression to change slightly.
Walking quickly over, he looked at the unfortunate individuals who had been dragged over, with arrows in their arms or legs, and his face immediately darkened.
“These feathered arrows have indeed shattered.” Lezalit quickly knelt down, reaching out without regard for the blood, carefully feeling the wounds of the heavily injured unfortunates. Seeing the shattered arrow shafts that had broken off on their own, and the arrowheads shattered inside the bodies, his face was so grim it was almost black.
Having extensive battlefield experience, he understood how difficult such a situation was to handle. After all, if the shattered arrow shafts and arrowheads inside the wound were not cleaned out promptly, they would leave permanent scars and even cause long-term damage to the body.
Whenever it rained or the weather was bad, various inflammations would occur, even damaging the subcutaneous muscles, leading to the wound worsening and becoming difficult to heal.
In more severe cases, it would directly cripple a qualified soldier, rendering him useless, unable to continue fighting on the battlefield.
“Carry them down. Use a knife to clean their wounds and pick out all the shattered arrowheads and shafts from inside. Do it quickly while they’ve just been hit. Otherwise, if the wound heals somewhat, or if blood carries the shattered fragments into blood vessels or muscles, the situation will be worse.” Lezalit was quite experienced. Without hesitation, he waved his hand, signaling a few Swadian Light Infantry nearby to take these unfortunates down to the base of the city wall.
And at this moment, he also reminded them: “Go find Mr. James, he is also an excellent surgeon. He is quite skilled at cleaning wounds and such.”
“Understood, I’m going now.” A quick-witted Swadian Light Infantry immediately nodded. Without any hesitation, he and his comrades dragged the ten or so injured unfortunates down to the base of the city wall. Someone also quickly headed into the Castle District to fetch James, the doctor, to handle the situation.
Of course, if possible, the Eden Garde Believers would also come, as these Devotees were also spellcasters capable of healing.
Shen Mu observed this from the city wall, frowning slightly. He looked forward at the two-meter-high deflective board, and under the protection of Bestour’s raised shield, he saw the feathered arrows shattering against the board.
“These feathered arrows shatter because the arrows shot by these Skeleton Archers are severely decayed. It’s only due to negative energy and death spirit rules that they can barely hold together to form deadly arrows. But after these Skeleton Archers shoot them, the negative energy contained within is insufficient to fully sustain the arrows’ sharpness and solidity, so they shatter immediately upon hitting an object.”
At this point, Shen Mu had found the reason and spoke thoughtfully: “The number of Skeleton Archers below has reached over a thousand, but only about ten unlucky individuals were injured in the initial volleys because they didn’t realize there were ranged attackers in the fog and peeked out to observe. All were light injuries, not fatal, also due to these shattered arrowheads.”
The feathered arrows that were shot would shatter upon hitting a solid object. Solid objects included shields, deflective boards, city walls, and also the leather and chain armor worn by these soldiers.
Even a thick fur-lined tunic could effectively defend against those feathered arrows.
After all, the feathered arrows shot by those Undead Monster Skeleton Archers were already decayed in practice. Although they would shatter upon hitting unprotected flesh, creating various difficult-to-treat wounds—almost incurable for ordinary unarmored units and civilians—
for heavy infantry with good protection, wearing armor and helmets, and armed to the teeth, it was no problem at all.
They also didn't need to fear those decayed feathered arrows.
Even if they were caught off guard and hit directly, as long as they weren't Swadian Recruits—soldiers of the armed Farmers level—even Swadian Militia wearing leather armor could directly ignore the damage from those feathered arrows.
Of course, this required the decayed feathered arrows to hit their leather armor directly, not their bodies which were only covered by a thin layer of linen, otherwise, they couldn't ignore it.
But even so, they had already found the trick: as long as they hid behind the deflective boards and tried not to expose themselves to the arrow rain, they would be fine.
After all, that seemingly intimidating arrow rain was just that—intimidating. It posed little threat to them.
Moreover, the Skeleton Archers outside were only shooting arrows; they couldn't get onto the city wall to engage them in close combat. A group that only knew how to shoot arrows from below the city wall, against those protected by the city wall’s height and deflective boards, what was there to fear?
“Lord Shen Mu, about ten unfortunates were injured just now. I have already arranged for Mr. James, along with the Eden Garde Believers, to help treat their wounds.” Lezalit, having finished arranging matters on and below the city wall, and after a thorough inspection to ensure no omissions, returned to the east city gate and reported to Shen Mu again.
“Hmm, good, very good.” Shen Mu nodded in praise and then asked Lezalit, “How do the soldiers feel?”
“They’re very relaxed, not scared at all. And those Skeleton attackers don’t have any offensive means; they can only shoot at the city wall and the deflective boards. Moreover, those decayed feathered arrows that fly over have no destructive power. They don’t even leave dents on the deflective boards; they just leave a slight scratch upon contact and then shatter.” Lezalit said with a slight chuckle, finding these ridiculous attacks quite amusing himself.
Without siege weapons and using such decayed, dilapidated feathered arrows—in Calradia, this would truly be a cause for uproarious laughter.
It would even become a topic of conversation at banquets.
After all, what good is a siege battle with no effect, even if countless archers are gathered? They just need to guard inside the city walls. And this isn't like Calradia, where trade and people leaving are necessary.
They only needed to hold Deherim firmly to ensure their safety. After all, if there were no siege weapons, they couldn't get onto the city wall. If they couldn't get onto the city wall, then they were helpless against them. If they were helpless against them, then they were safe.
As soon as daylight arrived and the rules of the Spirit Realm and Blue Star World descended again, dispelling the darkness, these Skeleton Archers, these Undead Monsters, would also be expelled.
Wouldn't they be safe again then?
So, Lezalit wasn’t afraid at all, and neither were the Mount & Blade Soldiers. They just found the situation ridiculous and puzzling, yet they also felt a sense of unease, because it was truly too unusual.
“Is there perhaps a more advanced Undead Monster manipulating this behind the scenes? Waiting for an opportune moment, waiting for us to make a mistake, to launch a surprise attack?” Lezalit bit his lip, considering this possibility.
“Perhaps that is possible.” Shen Mu frowned. At this moment, he looked at the increasing number of Skeleton Archers outside, and the growing fog appearing outside the city wall, and still said in a deep voice: “Just maintain vigilance. If there’s any abnormal situation, remember to report it immediately.”
“Understood.” Lezalit nodded, then without further conversation, he led the Holy Tree Knights to patrol the eastern city wall again.
Shen Mu had already said to maintain vigilance, so of course, he had to thoroughly inspect the entire city wall’s defenses to ensure no oversights.
And as Shen Mu remained on the east city wall, watching the increasing number of Skeleton Legions attacking from outside, and the increasingly dense arrow rain appearing outside the city wall, his brows furrowed even more deeply.
Lezalit’s warning was still on his mind. Shen Mu also felt there might be some conspiracy at play.
But what exactly the conspiracy was, he truly didn't know.
However, looking at the dense feathered arrows clattering down onto the city wall, and the constant thumping sound on the three-finger-thick wooden deflective boards outside, as if countless people were knocking on a door, his mood grew increasingly agitated.
Or rather, vexed.
A sense of impending storm arose in Shen Mu’s heart.
It made him feel quite uncomfortable.
But just as Shen Mu was lost in thought, he suddenly heard a chaotic clamor and shouts of battle erupting in the Town Area.
“What’s going on?” Shen Mu abruptly turned, looking at the chaotic shouts of battle coming from a remote corner of the Town Area. From those shouts, he realized that the Blue Star Humans, who were originally under his protection, seemed to have fallen into internal strife, fighting among themselves.
Just then, Manid, protected by Holy Tree Knights, quickly arrived, reporting with a very grave tone: “Lord Shen Mu, we just received a report from the patrolling soldiers that the senior managers and middle-level managers among the Blue Star Humans have engaged in infighting, and have started killing each other!”
Behind Manid was a familiar figure, none other than Zhang Bo.
Manid also pointed at Zhang Bo and said: “It was this Prophecy-type Mage named Zhang Bo who reported to me that the senior managers and middle-level managers are killing each other.”
“That’s right, Lord Shen Mu, they really are killing each other! I don’t know why, but it seems they were incited by the remnants of the Diesel Company.” Zhang Bo’s face showed anxiety, fear, and apprehension as he loudly and uneasily told Shen Mu: “They wanted me to join them, but I didn’t. I found an excuse and quickly ran to the Noble Residence to report. And I heard that those Undead Monsters outside were also organized by the Diesel Company, aiming to completely destroy Deherim!”
“Killing each other? Incited by the remnants of the Diesel Company? Even these Undead Monsters outside were organized by the remnants of the Diesel Company!?” Shen Mu frowned tightly. In such an urgent situation, the sudden outbreak of such infighting in the Town Area was already abnormal!