Chapter 231: Act 164 – The Gambler’s Roulette (Third Update, Please Subscribe)
The rapier pierced through the skull, striking the center of its forehead with a sharp crack, and the last of the spirit puppets collapsed on the ground. The leader of the Female Mercenary Band, with her long fiery red hair, held her sword with one hand, panting as she surveyed her surroundings. The vibrant green of her eyes reflected the scattered bones and the bodies of mercenaries littered across the ground. The battle had come to an end; although a heavy toll had been paid, they had finally repelled the attackers.
Juliette exhaled and sheathed her rapier in a scabbard wrapped in black leather.
“Captain!” A shout came from behind her. She turned to see a young boy running swiftly from the crowd.
The mercenary looked at the youth as he reached her, but she raised her hand to interrupt him: “No time for words. Leave some to treat the wounded. The rest of you, come with me; we’ve already wasted enough time. We must secure the western gate before the Undead Army arrives!”
“Wait!” The boy gasped, trying to catch his breath.
“What is it?” Juliette frowned.
“It’s too late,” the boy shouted loudly, “When we were engaging those monsters, ‘The Rats’ saw the magic signal flare coming from the south. Captain, it’s too late. The undead have already arrived. If we go now, all we’ll find is an endless army of undead!”
The leader of the Female Mercenaries paused, looking at him. “What else did ‘The Rats’ say?”
“They said our only option is to retreat immediately. We need to break north and leave Firburh. The undead are coming in; we’ll all d*e here.”
“What about the others?”
“If we leave now, what will happen to the others?”
“Captain, is there really a chance for us here?” the boy said anxiously.
“b*stard!” The leader slammed her fist against the wall. “Let our people get ready. Have the Owl, Gray Wolf, and Brown Bear squads lead their people down the nearby streets! Since we can’t stop them from entering Firburh, we will intercept them nearby!”
“Captain, you’re insane!” the boy cried. “We have less than three hundred men, and those bone puppets number in the thousands! Without the walls, we can’t stop them!”
The leader pressed her hand against her chest and gritted her teeth. “Even if we can’t stop them, we must try! Do you want me to go back on my word—?”
“Captain…” The boy’s expression froze.
“Are you going or not?”
“But is it worth it for a noble?” The boy couldn’t help but take a deep breath. “That young man is also a noble, right? He’s helping us because he originally had a conflict with Grudin. In the end, they’re all in the same boat. Why are we fighting for people like them—”
The newcomer shouted at her, “Captain, your sister and your parents all died at the hands of those d*mn nobles! Most of our brothers share the same fate. We’ve come together out of respect for you! Why should we d*e here for people like them? Let them go eat each other!”
Juliette was momentarily stunned.
She sighed, lifting her head, about to say something when suddenly a loud boom came from the direction of the Firburh castle. Everyone turned to see a burst of white light climbing up into the sky from the deep darkness in that direction—a magic signal!
A pure white beam shot up into the night sky, as if it had pierced through the obscurity of the dark world. Against the deep backdrop, the light appeared so pure and flawless, reminiscent of the first tear shed by Mother Martha in the darkness from the epic of Crusian creation.
It was the first light depicting the birth of the world.
The light emerged from the darkness, bestowing wisdom, nobility, and spirit upon all—
In that moment.
Juliette and her assistant were momentarily entranced, their heads raised, eyes reflecting the brilliance amidst the darkness. They watched the light rise to its peak, burst open, and transform into a universal message used by armies.
The words shimmered in the night sky, lingering for a long time. The red-haired leader of the Female Mercenary Band tilted her face upwards, a glimmer of the deepest shine in her emerald eyes:
“Grudin is dead—”
She said calmly, “The Lord wants us to send a reply immediately.”
“The Lord…?!” The boy looked at her in shock.
Juliette lowered her head and smiled at the boy. “If that Crenshia dared to take that path, why should I not? Grudin is dead; that young noble has given me an answer. From now on, he is the one I will follow.” But she shook her head gently, “However, it’s unfortunate that there isn’t enough time.”
“But—”
“There are no buts. Can we send a message?” Juliette asked.
The boy shook his head. “The necromancers have silenced the entire street with black magic. Aside from light and dark elements, no other elements can come through right now. But we don’t have any wizards or priests in our band, and the strongest elementalist is only at black iron level; we can’t cast any spells!”
“What about signal arrows?”
‘The Rats’ said those depend on elements to ignite.”
Juliette clenched her teeth, her heavy gaze fixed on the other side of the street. “Then we’ll use our own methods to buy the Lord some time.”
“Captain?”
But the woman’s expression had already turned serious. She fell silent for a moment, raised her head, turned around, and waved her rapier to the right: “Everyone, listen up!”
“Someone noble has given us an answer, but now we are left speechless. Fortunately, we can still make amends. Therefore, I command you to advance, at least to drag those damned skeletons here—or let them step over our bodies!”
The street fell silent for a moment, only Juliette’s serious command echoing for a long time. Everyone stopped what they were doing, instinctively looking at their captain.
“Answer me; there’s no coward among my people.”
“No cowards!” The mercenaries raised their weapons.
The boy stared blankly at Juliette, as if wanting to say something, but he was abruptly interrupted by the leader of the Female Mercenary Band turning back: “No need for words; you know that once I issue a command, I will never easily change it!”
“But Captain, why must we d*e for a noble…”
Juliette smiled gently.
She lowered her head and patted the boy’s cheek: “I understand nobles better than you, young one. If that young man was truly a noble, he would not have killed Grudin. That is the rule among them; for hundreds of years, no one has ever broken it—”
She looked up at the deep night.
“But whoever he is, at least from this moment on, I consider my dealings with him settled.”
The boy was momentarily stunned.
…
At the southern gate, fierce battles were still ongoing. Under the supervision of the Fire Ground Battle Group’s commander, mercenaries repeatedly engaged the undead, which surged forward like tides, in a nearly cost-ignoring manner, despite mounting losses.
The war in the darkness seemed endless; every person could not help but feel utterly exhausted. All around, the ground was covered with connected piles of white bones—humanity and undead exchanged losses, bodies piled high, yet the painful cost only barely maintained the battle line above the ruins.
Fortunately, the gap in the city wall was merely ten meters wide, and most mercenaries with black iron-level strength could barely fend off the hundredfold their number of undead. In fact, the mercenaries understood this, which is why they would rather pay ten times the bl**d to repeatedly reinforce a portion of the city wall breach.
It was hardly a battle; it was a gruesome meat grinder devoid of tactical beauty.
The commanders on both sides were like cold reapers, silently feeding more lives into that brief ten-meter carnage. For Madara’s side, the necromancers could unemotionally push the skeletons awakened by their weak soul fires forward like a pile of worthless chips onto the gaming table.
Yet in this regard, it was precisely what made humanity feel the most cold.
“Crossbowmen in position—”
“Switch to blunt-tipped arrows—”
At this moment, some mercenary leaders were acting as messengers. They watched as the battle-hardened warriors uncorked the bottles filled with holy water, pouring it over stacks of arrows. They couldn’t help but feel a pang in their hearts; in ordinary battles, they seldom used such precious consumables so extravagantly.
The soldiers raised their four-armed crossbows in rows, aimed, and fired.
Then came a sharp whistle, as if an invisible wall swept over the lines of approaching skeletons. The bone puppets collapsed without warning, immediately turning to ashes in the white light.
Vurn stood with one foot on a pile of bones, wielding his sword on his shoulder, coldly replacing his exhausted second team with a fresh one. He then ordered a small mercenary group to carry down the injured from the battlements; for him, this battle felt endless, much like the ones he had experienced in Karasu.
Vurn commanded calmly, knowing what Madara and himself could achieve.
But at this moment, he turned back, looking up at the dark sky illuminated by the light. Seeing the beam, he smiled, “Nobles killing nobles certainly has its returns. However, I have never seen them use anything but schemes, poisons, and assassinations. That young man is quite barbaric.”
“The nobles are capable of anything,” his deputy replied.
Vurn shot him a glance.
“You wouldn’t understand,” he said, then asked, “How long?”
“Half an hour,” the deputy answered immediately.
Vurn waved his hand: “Go, raise our battle flag higher. If we repel this attack, they’ll have to send in the necromancers; that guy gave me an answer, and I must give him one in return.”
“Dawn…” The commander of the Fire Ground Battle Group looked toward the horizon: “It’s coming soon.”
The deputy was slightly taken aback.
But Vurn smiled faintly, “This is also a way to fulfill that guy’s first order. With the chief’s command, we obviously must act according to the order.”
“Chief?”
“For now, let’s think of it that way.” Vurn glanced once more at the battlefield.
…(To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please visit, there are more chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)
