Volume 2 Spread Wings Chapter 212: Marching into Black Castle
Early in the morning, alarm bells rang in the town, and thousands of indigenous troops were mobilized and began to march towards Black Castle.
At the same time, there were more than one quartermasters waiting there early, issuing tasks to all the chosen heroes. Levi and the Lightforger also accepted the tasks together.
As Levi expected, the name of the mission was to recapture the Black Castle, but it would not be accomplished overnight. This mission was roughly divided into two phases. The first phase was to capture all the villages outside, and the second phase was to surround the Black Castle from all sides and attack it together.
And unlike before, this time the first stage is based on the God-chosen heroes as the main force, and they can freely choose the direction and village of attack.
Once it is confirmed, if there are still unassigned villages, or the troops in a certain direction are weak and cannot defeat the demons entrenched there, the indigenous people will send reinforcements to join the battle.
Of course, if the indigenous people take action, the rewards will definitely be much less.
After reading the mission description, everyone was very excited. Before, when they were following the natives, although it was fun and they rarely failed, at the same time, they could only follow behind the natives and get some benefits.
But now it’s different, as long as they are strong enough, both the meat and the soup will be theirs!
"Levi, which one should we choose? Should we choose two at once?"
"Oh? You think we have the energy to eat two at once?"
The Lightforger chuckled and said, "We have attacked nearly 10 villages in the past few days. We have some understanding of the strength of the defenders there. We were not sure at first, but if you join us and we can fool some people from other guilds, it may not be impossible to capture two at a time."
Levi thought about it, and finally shook his head and refused: "No, I think it's safer. The high elves asked us to do the hard work this time, which seems to be giving us the opportunity to establish merits, but on the other hand, could it be that they are fishing?"
Although there were many heroes among the high elves, he did not believe that there were no heroes among the demons of the Black Castle. Otherwise, if they only relied on ordinary troops, even if the demons were more numerous and stronger, this war would not have dragged on for so many days without much progress.
Now at a rough glance, the natives have at least five or six thousand troops out of the city, plus hundreds of God's chosen heroes. Even if each God's chosen hero only brings a hundred subordinates, this is already tens of thousands of troops. With such a large army out, it is impossible for the demons not to react at all.
The Lightforged One was stunned for a moment. He thought about it carefully and realized that it was indeed the case. He was indeed overwhelmed by joy just now.
But then he changed his mind and frowned again: "But if so many of us only attack one village, we have to compete with others. If we divide it evenly, the rewards will not be much. Besides, you are so strong, Levi. Isn't it a bit of a waste of combat power?"
Although his words were a bit euphemistic, Levi was not a fool. He certainly knew what the other party meant. The reward was not much to begin with, and he wanted to grab a big piece of it. The others would probably just have to get a little soup like before.
This is only possible because they have a good relationship. If it were someone else, they would probably be misunderstood as having a grudge against Levi.
So Levi just laughed and said, "So I won't join you. I plan to choose a remote village that is far away and disliked by everyone."
Such a village would definitely be despised by other God-chosen heroes, and would have a greater chance of getting help from the indigenous people.
Moreover, Levi had already roughly guessed which indigenous people would come to support him, and all that was left was to take a chance.
The Lightforger immediately followed suit: "Okay, it's decided then. We'll choose a more remote location."
As it turns out, at least until now, none of the decisions Levi has made have been wrong.
The Lightforger quickly left with the other guild members, and Levi also took the troops and prepared to set off officially. With their current strength, no matter which village they went to, they would definitely gain something.
But when he looked up, he saw that Lisadilan seemed to be in a daze. He couldn't help but sighed: "Let's go, Lisadilan. Although you have experienced this setback, I believe that with your strength, you will always have the possibility of returning to the peak and even going further."
This was not an attempt to deceive the other party, because he had already confirmed from Michaela that as long as the military merit points were sufficient and the race and camp were in line, even his subordinates could have the possibility of holding a military position.
Humans like Cindy, Simon, and half-elf archers can all become low-ranking officers. As for pure-blooded high elves like Risadilan, the military positions they can be promoted to are even higher.
Unfortunately, Donna is an Amazon and cannot hold any military position for the time being. However, it is only temporary. Michaela also told him that if his military rank is really high enough, he can even grant military positions to his subordinates on his own after spending a certain amount of money.
By then, let alone Amazons, even dwarves or lizardmen, if he wanted, he could let them serve in the military.
Of course, that is still a long way from Levi's current state. If he wants to achieve this, he has to at least wait until he is promoted to general.
Lisa Dilan was a little embarrassed, but he immediately changed the subject: "I know, Levi..."
After a slight hesitation, he gritted his teeth and continued, "Sir."
It was obvious that he was not used to changing his tune with a teammate who he had fought alongside just a few days ago.
Fortunately, Levi didn't care about these things. He just waved his hand casually: "You should call me Levi. The name doesn't matter. Michaela is coming. Do you want to say hello to her? Or avoid her?"
Lisa Dilan shook his head: "No, forget it. I have no friendship or grudge against her. Now I am just one of the cavalry captains under your command, Levi. I will just pretend that I don't know her."
Levi didn't force it. He just greeted Michaela with a smile. Not only because of the kindness the other party had shown him since they first met, but also because the other party took out a few gadgets from his space ring while riding his horse forward. They must be props for detecting the undead.
As expected, there are a total of 4 strange objects called surveying compasses, which can detect dense gathering places of undead energy or large numbers of undead within a diameter of 500 meters. As long as they are carried on the body, they will continue to be effective.
Now they all belong to Levi. As for whether he will give them to others, Michaela doesn't care. Anyway, as long as the hidden undead are discovered or defeated, the town will give a lot of rewards.
Then Michaela told Levi that she had already told Princess Belinda about the legendary black dragon and the half-goat who was suspected to be a demon, and the princess would make arrangements.
Moreover, Princess Belinda told her not to worry too much. As long as they were in Ashridge Town, no matter what level of demon the other party was, it would be impossible for them to cause too much disturbance.
As soon as these words came out, Levi immediately understood that the guy covered in green flames yesterday must be a very powerful reinforcement.
In addition, because Levi was active in fighting against evil before, he discovered the conspiracy of the undead this time, and he also owns his own village, the kingdom will soon enthrone him as an official noble.
In addition to the improvement of his status and a small attribute bonus, after becoming a noble, unless there is a special reason, his initial reputation level will be directly raised to friendly in all towns and villages within the ten kingdoms of the high elves and their colonies, and it will become a little more convenient for him to travel outside.
After saying this, Michaela glanced at Lisa Dillan in the crowd again, but in the end she said nothing, just turned around and left: "Haha, Levi, be careful, don't die~"
Lisa Dilan, who had been paying attention to her, frowned. What did this mean? Did it mean that if she followed Levi, she would bring him trouble?
But Levi smiled instead, because he knew that his speculation was successful again.
Princess Belinda was indeed fishing, but the bait this time was a little too delicious. It turned out to be hundreds of God-chosen heroes and the troops they led. Who knows when the demons will take the bait?
Looking at Lisa Dillan who was frowning and thinking about something, Levi couldn't help but laugh even more. He patted the other's shoulder vigorously and said, "What are you thinking about? This is not like you normally."
"Don't worry too much. All you need to do now is to lead the Arion Plunderers to gather intelligence and eliminate more demons!"
This guy was not bragging. In just one night, he brought back a small team of each of the two types of Arion, which slightly supplemented his own combat effectiveness.
Levi made some adjustments and left the night elf hunters in the temple of the Moonbow Goddess. Their attack range was too short, and they would probably suffer heavy casualties when facing the demons. After all, even the fireballs of Gog and Magog, which had a shorter range, were much stronger than the range of their moon blades.
Lisadiran suddenly realized, yes, the top priority now is to deal with the devil. As long as his contribution is great enough, that hateful noble will never ban him from joining the army again!
Thinking of this, he first apologized to Levi, and then excitedly led the Arion Plunderers to the front to clear the way.
Likewise, Julia and Simon followed along, the former temporarily leading the Amazon MOA cavalry archers, while the latter led the Arion cavalry.
Seeing how excited they were, Levi felt a little bit sorry for them. He didn't know how many soldiers would be left under their command after this battle.
Soon Levi and his companions followed the main force out of the city and moved forward without encountering any enemies at all. No matter whether they were brainless beasts or stupid goblins, ogres, etc., they did not dare to show up at this time. This allowed Levi and his companions to enjoy a rare peaceful journey.
They kept advancing like this for dozens of miles. When they gradually entered the sphere of influence of Black Castle, Levi found that the surrounding environment began to change a lot.
The most obvious thing is that large areas of land have turned into purple-black or purple-red, which is corrupted by the power of the devil. All the plants have turned to ashes. As for the obvious increase in temperature, it is insignificant in comparison.
At this time, the troops began to gradually split up. The main force of the regular army was still marching towards the Black Castle, while many God-chosen heroes began to move towards the villages they had chosen before.
Since Levi chose the farthest route, they needed to walk dozens of miles more than others. At first glance, it seemed more dangerous because they needed to go around a small circle and launch an attack behind the Black Castle.
But the good thing is that he has very few competitors. Apart from him, there are only three God-chosen heroes, and they all seem to be lone rangers with not very strong strength. It is estimated that once they really fight with the demons, it will be good if the three of them can snatch one or two success medals together.
Moreover, with the army of high elves approaching, even if the demons noticed them, it would be almost impossible for them to send reinforcements from the Black Castle. They were actually not as dangerous as others thought.
Soon he received a system prompt saying that there were still indigenous people providing him with assistance.
Levi also took it a little more seriously and began to continuously release summoning magic, causing Inspector Yakong and others to fly away. Strictly speaking, this place was already the territory of the demons.
Then, less than a quarter of an hour later, Inspector Yakong reported that he had spotted several hundred Amazons chasing them.
After sharing this information, Donna next to him was a little surprised, but Levi smiled instead.
Sure enough, the high elves asked these mercenaries to provide support, and unexpectedly, their luck was also very good this time. With a one-third chance, they still happened to choose these Amazons.
Moreover, three Amazon heroes were dispatched at the same time. If it was an ordinary small village, they would probably not even need to take action themselves, as they would be able to kill all the enemies, right?
However, the target this time is located behind the Black Castle. It is very likely that it has not been raided by the high elves several times before, so the defense may be stronger. Perhaps it is for this reason that the elves sent all the Amazons here.
After they really came in front of her, the Amazons were also a little surprised, and then they all smiled at Donna: "Sister, it seems that we are quite destined to be together."
Donna also responded with a smile and tried to find out the other party's background.
But several Amazons had obviously done their homework beforehand. They just chatted with a smile, but almost never responded to Donna's questions, which made her feel helpless.
But despite this, the other chosen heroes were very envious. In addition, they also saw the strength of Levi's troops, so they took the initiative to approach and try to make themselves familiar.
Levi had no objection, although he did not intend to count on the opponent's combat effectiveness at the beginning, but after all, their target was the same village, and when the battle broke out, the opponent could share some of the firepower.
This leisurely state did not last long, as small groups of demons began to appear.
Before Levi could speak, several Amazons showed a fanatical desire to fight and took the initiative to attack excitedly.
Since there are a considerable number of cavalry archers among them who move quickly and are quite strong, the battle is often basically over by the time Levi and his main force arrive.
And whether it's experience points or loot, they want it all.
Levi didn't care much about this, but Lisa Dilan and Julia, who had gone ahead, were a little unhappy because this was originally their mission.
Unfortunately, there are so many people in Amazon that they can’t grab it even if they want to…
However, this trivial matter is unimportant, because as they continue to move forward, the frequency of encounters with demons and the strength of the opponents are constantly increasing.
In the beginning, it was just a small group of level 2 ape demons and slaughter demons, occasionally mixed with a few level 3 hellhounds, but later on, there would be dozens of hellhounds leading two or three hundred demons, charging together.
At the same time, there are often hundreds of Quasai demons accompanying in the air. Although these little guys are extremely weak, they are super fast, very agile, and not afraid of death. When they encounter the enemy, they often rush forward, even at the cost of their own lives, they will hold the enemy back.
The Amazons probably had never encountered this kind of enemy before, so they were caught off guard. Even with the presence of three hero units, they still suffered a small loss on the spot.
After all, the majority of their troops are cavalry or archer-type units, pure infantry accounts for less than one-fifth, and the beasts are all land-based. What they fear most is this kind of air force that can ride on their faces at high speed.
But fortunately, this is enemy territory after all, and they were still very vigilant, so they didn't keep too much distance from Levi and the others. After the main force caught up and Donna led several waves of arrows, their little dilemma was successfully resolved.
Donna's combat attribute originally specialized in attacking, and after learning elementary archery, she became even more powerful.
Therefore, under the rain of arrows, all beings are equal, no matter if they are level 1, 2 or 3 demons, they all have only one way to go, which is death.
At this moment, the Amazon heroes who were originally smiling all stopped smiling, because they all realized the problem: this fellow from Paradise Island was more powerful than any of them!
So Levi was very satisfied to find that after this battle, the Amazons' attitude towards him had obviously changed a lot.
Although they seemed to have a good attitude on the surface, it was more like a mask called a smile. However, after seeing Donna's true power, they respected her from the bottom of their hearts.
From this perspective, in a sense, they are quite similar to the Spartans. They all respect the strong. Can we say that they believe in the same gods?
But their attitude made Donna feel a little uncomfortable, because she really intended to make friends with them at the beginning. After all, it was the first time she saw her fellow tribesmen after leaving her hometown, even if they were mysterious fellow tribesmen from Lustria. But now her expectations were completely dashed.
Although these fellows are very similar to themselves in appearance and strength, the overly fanatical worship and respect for the strong in their bones is not something that the Amazons on Paradise Island have.
Moreover, I just demonstrated my archery skills and you became like this. What will be your attitude when you see Levi's magic later?
Although she didn't want to think so, she really felt that these fellow tribesmen were too ignorant...
After this lesson, the Amazons obviously restrained themselves a lot. They no longer acted alone, but followed Levi's main force.
After fighting more than a dozen small-scale battles in succession, the lost soul was promoted to the next level and successfully recalled the magic he had mastered in his lifetime - Wind Whispering.
Levi took a look and found that this thing was somewhat similar to the information technique used to monitor the Sub-Kongs. The effect was to send a sentence to the destination through the power of wind, but the distance was a little far, so it was not very useful, but it was okay.
At the same time, after experiencing many battles, Levi also roughly understood the combat methods of these Amazons and the strength they possess.
They basically focus on ranged combat and try to avoid close combat. If they are forced to engage in close combat, they will prioritize their mounts and the beasts beside them as the main force, while they themselves provide auxiliary services, or try to distance themselves from the enemy. In short, everything is based on saving their lives first, and killing the enemy second.
This point was highly recognized by Levi. Experience points and equipment are important, but what is more important is to survive, otherwise everything is empty talk.
As for the combat effectiveness of those Amazon heroes, at least in his opinion, it is actually not that good. They should all be less than level 5, and the battle level will be even lower, but their combat awareness is relatively outstanding, and the equipment they carry is also pretty good.
Levi secretly speculated that they probably lacked the opportunity to engage in a real bloody battle before, and now being released as mercenaries would probably allow them to gain some experience and knowledge. He just didn't know who was the mastermind behind the scenes, whether it was their leader, queen, or the real gods.
In addition, Levi also found the bird's battle flag and a horn hanging on the piranha's waist. They should be battle treasures, but he didn't know whether they had too many restrictions on use or too long a cooling time, so they had never been used before.
But by analogy, the eldest of the three, Anaconda, may also have a battle treasure.
But Levi was not in a hurry. They were useless now, perhaps because he thought there was no necessity. But when they arrived at the village they were going to attack, they probably would not be able to hide their incompetence anymore.
Although the biggest impression given by demons is that they are warlike and brainless, their group has killed at least one or two thousand demons along the way, and the marching route is so obvious. If there is a thinking demon in that village, it will definitely be prepared for war!
After two smaller-scale skirmishes, they finally reached their destination after travelling more than ten miles.
This time, the Amazons did not rush to take the lead, but came to Levi humbly to ask how to launch the attack.
Levi was a little surprised at first, but when he saw the state of the village, he immediately understood the reason.
I don’t know if it’s because it’s far away from Ashridge Town and there’s the Black Castle in front of it, and it’s never suffered any attacks before, so this village was built very well by the demons.
At first glance, the entire village was emitting a red light. The fences and chevaux-de-forces seemed to be able to spew out flames. There was even a half-ditch dug outside the village, but there was no water stored in it. Instead, there was a shallow layer of red magma.
It is conceivable that once they are completed, the magma alone will be enough to cause headaches for most melee troops.
Moreover, they seemed to have noticed something was wrong in advance. Now, in their sight, there were at least hundreds or thousands of demons waiting at the entrance of the village.
Although most of them are level 2 ape demons and slaughter demons, there are also level 3 horned demons, hellhounds, and even level 4 creatures such as the Flame-Breath Hellhounds and Horned Demon Marshals. Levi even saw several boar-headed demons that were as tall as two stories, which were level 5 soul-judgment demons.
As for how many demons are left in the village, who their leader is, and how powerful he is, it is not clear yet, because demons of the same kind all seem to be cut from the same mold.
But the most eye-catching thing should be the seven or eight sentry towers about ten meters high standing in the corners of the village, on which stand a bunch of long-range demons such as Magog and Gog. No wonder the Amazons don't move forward to compete for credit.
Compared with ordinary villages, the defense here is much stronger. It is indeed worthy of being a demon that can directly connect to the bottomless abyss. In terms of military strength alone, ordinary races cannot be compared with it at all.
Levi looked around: "What do you think?"
The Amazon Anaconda was the first to laugh and said, "We'll do as you say. We Amazons are not good at attacking cities, and we were originally assigned to assist you."
This was not her modesty. If they had met on the plains, she would not be afraid of the other party. But now, when she saw the other party's watchtower and wall, she just felt a headache.
Although there are some wild beasts around them, most of them are weak. Not to mention, a Soul-Judgement Demon that is more than 6 meters tall could easily kill them all.
Several other God-chosen heroes also nodded, indicating that they did the same.
Even if they didn't quite understand Levi at the beginning, they were convinced along the way. Why would they express any opinions? They could just follow behind and play by the way.
Levi looked at the heavily defended village in the distance, calculated the distance between them, and suddenly he laughed.
Indeed, if we were to launch a forceful attack, I have no idea how many troops would be killed or injured.
But the demons have a fatal weakness, that is the only two long-range soldiers in the village, Magog and Gog, whose attack range is not very far. Even if they stand on the watchtower, it is actually just that.
Unfortunately, I also have the spell range enhancement expertise and the powerful micro-meteor. The range of this magic seems to be a little further than that of the opponent.
Moreover, when using projectiles, ranged units such as Donna can almost reach the opponent. In this case, of course we should make good use of it!
Although the demons' attention should be focused on the main force of the indigenous people, the longer the night, the more troubles one may encounter. It is better to resolve the battle as soon as possible and try to lure the other side out.
When he turned around, he saw Donna looking at him with a smile on her face. It was obvious that she also knew what to do.
Although the hit rate would drop to a certain extent when using the projectile, the demons were so dense that she didn't need to consider this aspect at all.
He smiled and nodded at the other party, then took out the Reaper Crossbow that had not been used for a long time and said, "Who among you can operate this thing?"
"My, my, my battle skills include elementary ballistics!"
A chosen hero came running over with his hand raised, and quickly got the situation under control.
This made Levi even more satisfied. The attack power of the crossbow was not low, and it also had siege skills, so it was still a great threat to the watchtower.
"Okay, pass on my order. The melee troops will form a defensive formation. Donna , prepare to launch projectiles. All other ranged units will aim at the entrance of the village. Let's force them out!"
