With the beautiful, deep melody of the warhorns spreading in the air, Mike could feel morale rising higher than ever. While this wasn"t the kind of reunion he expected from his family, he would be a lier if he said that this sight didn"t make him want to jump in joy!

Sadly, he was instantly brought to reality by a heavy hit of a poleax handle served right to his head. From the looks of the guard"s face, he was the only one enjoying the change of situation.

"What is the meaning of that!"

Unable to make the heads or the tails out of the sudden arrival of such a formidable force, Count Hikar staggered to the back and almost fell on his bottom. In the last moment, one of his manservants supported him from the back, preventing the n.o.ble from showing such a shameful display.

"My Lord, an unknown force is attacking us!"

Before he even managed to get to know who"s leg he stepped upon to provoke such retaliation, the n.o.ble was flooded by the reports from his subordinates.

"My Lord, they took over the backward garrisons!"

"My liege, the rear guard got slaughtered! The regular units are setting the defence up!"

"My Lord, our people are running away!"

With every next message, the complexion on Hikar"s face only worsened. While the greatest part of his force was already inside the city, they were bound to their respective fights. Pulling out now would mean sacrificing the entire city!

"Bring as many people as you can inside and then close the gates. We need every man alive to defend against them! But who they actually are?"

After organising his thoughts for a second, the n.o.bles leader announced the most rational order right now. With the limited information he had about both the origin, numbers or expertise of the enemy troops, holing up in the city seemed to be the best solution for now.

"Bring me to the forward commanding unit, there is no use staying here right now!"

As soon as this order was given, all of n.o.ble"s elite guards rushed forward with their Boss right in the middle of their formation. With only a few guards left, this would look like a great opportunity for Mike to escape… If not for a ma.s.ses of soldiers frantically rushing through the gateway inside the city!

While the Count"s idea was great, it"s execution proved to be difficult. With the cavalry rushing to the gate, most of the soldiers had to steer away from it to avoid being levelled down by the horses" hooves. Only a fraction of the remaining troops managed to enter the pa.s.sage before some soldiers in the gatehouse panicked. When Mike heard a disgusting sound of a horrow impaling people down to the ground, he knew that his time has come.

Compared to remodelling the metal bars in the cell, tinkering with the small lock on his cuffs was an easy task. It only required him to make a mess out of a single pin inside the mechanism to render it useless. While he could free his hands any time he wanted, the rope bound around his neck still remained.

There was no way in which Mike could untie the know without alerting his guards. But when solving the matter in the usual way couldn"t prove effective, there was always a brutal way of doing things.

Waiting for the moment when the man would be pushed towards him by the last influx of the soldiers, he reached out with his now free hand and pulled a knife out from his belt. Cutting the tightened rope with a single swift motion, he slashed upwards at the guards back. Despite getting rid of one of them, there was a mult.i.tude of soldiers everywhere around!

Thankfully, those newbies had worse matters on hand than some runaway prisoner. Locked inside the city, catching him would be just a matter of time. What they had to focus on right now, was the horse of experienced fighters coming for their lives!

Noticing that the soldiers didn"t bother with him, Mike rushed to his fellow compatriots and started setting them free. With the guardian corpse lying nearby, cutting the rope would do the trick. As soon as the first person, a girl who used to speak for the entire group, was freed, Mike pointed out at the corpse.

"He is bound to have the keys to your shackles. Find them!"

"You seem to know what is going on. Where can I place the wounded? If those people get through the gates, they will be killed on spot!"

Even before the woman rushed to look for the item, she stood up and looked Mike right into the eyes. Seeing the determination from the bottom of her stare, the young man couldn"t help but stop for a second. In the end, those people tried to save his life. He owed them as much as a little help!
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"Pretend that we are going to fight along with them for our lives. If we get to the gatehouse on top of the walls, we can take it over, open the gate, leave your wounded there and lock it from the inside. I won"t figure out anything else on the spot."

Whispering those words to the girl"s ear, Mike ensured that she understood him. To make this ragtag plan work, he needed her cooperation. No matter how great of an a.s.sa.s.sin he was, there was no way he could take over the gatehouse alone!

Seeing her nod, Mike didn"t hesitate for any longer. Pulling the sword from the dead guardian hand, he turned to the soldiers and announced.

"If they get inside, we are all as good as dead. If I get to choose to live as a prisoner or die like a warrior, then I don"t need to hesitate before making my decision! Are you with me?"

Turning back to now freed prisoners, Mike and the soldiers could see them nod hesitantly. In n.o.ble"s situation, every soldier was worth his weight in gold right now.

"Those two are gravely wounded. We need to put them somewhere safe before those dogs break-in and ravage them!"

While continuing to spew bulls.h.i.t every time he moved, Mike grabbed one of the wounded"s arm, placed it over his head and started climbing on the stair. In a few moments, the entire group arrived on top of the walls, from where they could see everything that was happening on the plains.

And it was truly a sight to behold.

Xantia forces were methodically cutting everyone on the city perimeter. With the cavalry chasing after those with slightly quicker legs, foot soldiers could be seen gathering in front of the horrow. Right now, they were still trying to figure out how to lift or break it, but lack of siege weapons proved fatal.

With nothing to pry it open, there was no way that those few men who could fit near it would be able to remove this blockade. While the solution would be found sooner or later, Mike"s current plan could hasten their movements, reducing the casualties in the process!

After confirming the situation on the plains, Mike looked at his comrades and entered the gatehouse. It was surprisingly small, with a few leavers and a big reel in the middle of it. Inhabited by a mere three soldiers, they didn"t stand a chance against Mike"s sneak attack.

There was no way they could pull those bodies out of the room without alerting the soldiers around. Left with no other choices, Mike helped the girl and a burly man to carry the wounded inside, before looking at the wall to a.n.a.lyze the leavers" system. Just a short moment later, he pulled two of them while rising a single one back to its normal position.

"We need to move the wheel!"

While it originally served to open and close the gates of the pa.s.sage, after tinkering with the switches on the wall, this giant, wooden circle allowed them to raise the harrow, out of the Xantia way.