On the walls of Deherim, the siege battle continued.
Hundreds of Undead Legion troops from the Black Arrow Tower Seventh Dynasty had already arrived outside the city walls, beyond the moat.
However, these Undead Legion troops from the Black Arrow Tower Seventh Dynasty simply couldn't cross the moat, because the moat was too deep, and its width was also sufficient to block the Skeleton Legion within the black mist.
But if it were a conventional Skeleton Legion, perhaps they would only be able to resort to the most primitive method: using the endless, massive numbers of the Skeleton Legion to fill the moat and create a passage, then approaching the city wall and using their own Skeletons as raw material to directly pave a gentle slope from outside a section of the wall, allowing more Skeleton Legion behind them to walk onto the city wall.
They could only use such a clumsy method.
However, these Skeleton Archers didn't need to use such a clumsy method at all; they stood outside the moat, and as the black mist began to spread, more and more Skeleton Archers arrived outside the moat.
Then, within the black mist, they drew their bows and shot arrows; with whooshing sounds, rotting feathered arrows, accompanied by sharp noises, clattered against the city wall's barricades.
These Skeleton Archers began their arrow rain coverage.
Because they were all archers, they only needed to draw their bows and shoot arrows to harm the defenders on the city wall, even though the city wall was 6 meters high and entirely built of stone, and there were also three-finger thick, two-meter high wooden barricades on the wall as extra protection.
Facing more and more Skeleton Archers drawing bows and shooting at the city wall, the defensive pressure on the entire eastern wall of Deherim immediately increased.
The Mount & Blade Soldiers who had already arrived on the city wall even had to additionally raise their left arm shields in the dense rain of arrows, holding them in front of themselves to maintain a good mindset.
This was because the dense rain of arrows outside, clattering against the city wall and barricades, and the tiny fragments of arrows damaged by powerful impacts flying everywhere, all created some psychological barriers for these Mount & Blade Soldiers on the city wall.
Especially the lowest-level Swadian Recruit and Swadian Militia; these two first- and second-tier troop types were cannon fodder, completely unable to cope with a true large-scale battlefield.
For these Swadian Recruit and Militia, their main work was actually patrolling the city walls, standing guard, and suppressing bandits.
This kind of high-intensity, high-pressure battlefield was not a place they could set foot in.
"Hold on, everyone hold on, raise your shields, don't put your shields down!" Fatis was still rapidly inspecting the city wall at this time, leading his 10 Holy Tree Knights guards back and forth along the eastern wall.
When he saw someone trying to peek out due to slackness, looking at the Skeleton Archers outside the city wall or through the gaps in the barricades, he would directly and mercilessly strike them with the scabbard of his knight's sword, angrily shouting, "Do you want to die!? Pay attention to your protection, don't be curious on the battlefield! Curiosity will kill you! You just need to obey orders!"
The beaten Swadian Recruit and Militia tremblingly withdrew their gazes.
They re-raised the old shields and old fan-shaped shields on their left arms, gripped their spears or one-handed axes, and continued to grit their teeth, silently waiting for the possible siege battle after the Skeleton Archers finished shooting.
However, compared to the very unprofessional behavior and actions of these Swadian Recruit and Swadian Militia, the Swadian Light Infantry and Swadian Infantry also on the city wall displayed more professional competence.
So at this time, they had no peeking movements at all; instead, they quietly half-crouched behind the barricades, using their left arm's fan-shaped shields and rear fan-shaped shields to block the gaps and embrasures in the barricades, completely unmoved even as arrows struck or splattered against the city wall, barricades, and their shields with loud thuds.
Because they were the most professional regular soldiers, no longer comparable to Swadian Recruit and Swadian Militia, who were still part of the Militia system.
"Hmm, very good." On the city wall, Shen Mu, under the protection of the Holy Tree Knights holding up their shields, watched the Swadian Light Infantry and Infantry on the city wall, their professional actions prompting him to nod in praise.
It was precisely such professional actions that could make his city wall impregnable and give him absolute confidence.
And seeing Fatis also correcting the unprofessional actions of the Swadian Recruit and Swadian Militia, he secretly nodded; this was why he chose Fatis to be in charge of the eastern city wall, precisely because this military noble from a noble family, a true knight, understood many basic professional competencies.
At the same time, this was also why Shen Mu sent Lezalit to the western city wall to be responsible for its defense, also because this versatile military noble knew how to defend key points on the city wall.
"Of course, everything is still good, the situation is not dangerous. Although these Skeleton Archers seem to shoot fiercely, they cannot attack the city wall; after all, they can't even solve the moat right now."
And just behind Shen Mu, Bestour, holding his Nomadic Bow, looked at the increasingly dense black mist crowding towards the city wall, his expression not serious, but rather casually relaxed: "Although they seem numerous, they don't pose any danger."
"It's still good to be careful. Let's go take a look at the western city wall." Shen Mu cautioned.
At the same time, looking towards the western city wall, he felt a growing worry: "The sudden appearance of this Undead Legion makes me very worried that something bad will happen."
"Warriors from Calradia will not let you down, Lord Shen Mu." Bestour said decisively, representing his courage and the inner thoughts of all Mount & Blade Soldiers.
Especially on the battlefield, he sensed the worry in Shen Mu's words; if they, the Mount & Blade Soldiers loyal to Shen Mu, did nothing, it would be a disservice to the formidable combat power they had honed in Calradia and in this different world.
Although the Undead Monster in this different world seemed terrifying, after several battles, even Bestour had already understood that those Undead Monster were truly just empty shells.
They only looked like terrifying monsters crawling out of graves and cemeteries, but in reality, they would die again when facing the swords, spears, and long lances in their hands.
Even many seemingly terrifying monsters, compared to the Swadian Knight, Vigia Sharpshooter, Nord Royal Guard, Rodok Sharpshooters, and Sarranid Mamluk that he, a Khergit, had faced, seemed particularly ridiculous.
Watching these Undead Monster, these Skeleton Archers, densely unleash barrages of arrows outside, like a mountain roar and sea surge.
But for Bestour, as long as the first two rows were Khergit riders, armored and shielded, charging with spears, even if the subsequent rows were only wearing cloth robes, riding the lowest-grade steppe horses, and holding inferior spears, they could directly break through the ranks of these Skeleton Archers.
This was Bestour's confidence.
Not to mention if it were Khergit Heavy Horse Archers, fully armored with heavy gear and holding iron shields, both rider and horse.
Then dealing with these Skeleton Archers would be nothing; they would simply raise their heavy cavalry lances or heavy Nomadic Scimitars, and a single charge would completely break through all these Skeleton Archers.
They wouldn't be able to organize an effective defense at all.
A group of Skeleton that crawled out of graves, even if they could still shoot arrows and attack, and their bones gleamed with metallic luster, a group of Skeleton is still a group of Skeleton; they look quite terrifying, but as long as one dispels the fear in their heart and re-fills themselves with courage, losing that sense of dread towards these Skeleton Warriors, they can still shatter these Skeleton into pieces with their armor and weapons, turning them back into useless piles of rotten bone fragments.
This is why Bestour dared to say this, because he had personally witnessed the true combat power of these Skeleton Archers or Skeleton Warriors in open field battles.
Pitifully weak.
Their combat power was between Tier 2 and Tier 3.
This assessment of combat power was also because Bestour noticed that the numbers of these Skeleton Legion were simply too great, forming a numerical advantage, and they knew no fear or dread, only knowing how to attack, which led to this evaluation.
If it were individual combat power, it would only be at Tier 2 level.
If they encountered a slightly stronger Tier 1 troop type, such as Khergit who could charge with spears while riding steppe horses.
Or encountered Vigia Recruit, wielding two-handed great axes with astonishing destructive power.
They would still perish on the spot.
"Hmm, I understand what you mean, but it's always good to be careful. I don't know why I always have an uneasy feeling." Shen Mu nodded, but he still subconsciously placed his hand over his chest, where his heart, beneath the heavy chainmail, was beating intensely.
Even though his palm couldn't feel it, Shen Mu still felt a sense of trepidation.
Without saying much more, he led Bestour to the western city wall.
And over here, they also faced attacks from Undead Monster; the swarms of Skeleton Legion hidden in the black mist had already densely packed outside the western city gate, standing outside the moat, and were shooting dense barrages of arrows at them in waves.
Lezalit was also walking quickly on the city wall at this time, and he actively raised his heavy fan-shaped shield in his left hand.
Holding his Nomadic Scimitar, he shouted with a very solemn expression: "You damned fellows, you bugs and minions, raise your shields and hide your bodies well! If you want to die, then peek out again, and an arrow will be nailed to your forehead, pinning you to the pillar of shame!"
Compared to Fatis's caring admonitions, Lezalit directly used curses and reprimands to remind those inattentive Mount & Blade Soldiers.
Mere care and admonition alone couldn't make them remember; if Lezalit saw soldiers still acting out of line, he would directly use the back of his Nomadic Scimitar to fiercely strike their bodies.
And compared to Fatis, whose actions were merely like patting to remind, Lezalit's swings were truly forceful, directly hitting their backs or thighs with dull thuds, making these Mount & Blade Soldiers cry out.
Although it was the back of the blade, it still had edges, and when swung, it was quite painful; if it hit an unmuscled area like the arm or calf, it could even break their bones.
Of course, now was a crucial moment for defending the city wall, so Lezalit wouldn't do that; he only hit the more fleshy parts of their bodies to make them feel pain, which also served as his reminder.
However, this was also good; at least these Mount & Blade Soldiers on the western city wall also professionally hid themselves, not being harmed by the arrows and arrow fragments from the arrow rain.
"Ah, Lord Shen Mu, you've arrived." At this moment, Lezalit also saw Shen Mu, who had arrived with Bestour and the Holy Tree Knights, and quickly walked over to Shen Mu, bowing respectfully.
Although the battle was intense, he still had to observe basic etiquette.
"How's the situation?" Shen Mu asked.
"It's fine, everything is normal. Those Skeleton Archers don't have any siege weapons at all, so there's no need to worry too much." Lezalit replied relatively casually, shrugging his shoulders and pointing outside, saying, "If it's just these arrows, then there's no need to care; it's just ordinary ranged damage. They can't possibly fly up, can they?"
He even made a playful remark, and Bestour, being close to him, quickly understood his meaning, and both burst into laughter.
The atmosphere was very relaxed.
This was also a morale boost for the evil faction; no matter how difficult the situation, they would use arrogance and audacity to dispel the grim atmosphere.
Of course, if they truly encountered something they couldn't handle, they would also flee faster than anyone else.
This was also an attitude of using arrogance and audacity to mislead others.
"All right, everyone be careful, don't make any mistakes." Shen Mu also smiled; this kind of atmosphere was indeed good.
However, as he watched the increasing black mist outside, which had almost completely filled the sky and gathered in large swaths outside both the eastern and western city walls, his mood grew increasingly heavy.
He always felt something was going to happen.
And indeed, it did.
Just outside.
A deeper, extremely dense black mist, a highly concentrated cloud of mist, had appeared.
And within this extremely dense black mist, a tall, black Skeleton, whose entire body also gleamed with a metallic luster, appeared, holding a grey-black bow.
Within its skull, devoid of flesh and blood, a quiet blue soul fire flickered, and deep within the soul fire, a faint green glow could still be discerned wavering.
It was Ludwig, the Wood Elf Grand Elder's younger brother and the leader of the Black Arrow Tower Seventh Dynasty's vanguard army.