### Chapter 9: Sky Tower (9)
The alligator monster’s trusty blade was a pretty effective token, keeping it close at hand.
Before long, even deep within the City Lord’s Mansion, far from the city gates, you could almost hear the howling and shouting of the army pouring into town.
Perhaps the enemy hiding in the room just sensed things weren’t going their way and decided to sneak out, Lin Nan comforted herself.
After all, with the Cold Wind City army already in, Black Stone City had almost no hope of turning things around.
But at that moment, Lin Nan faintly caught the sounds of shouting and explosions from somewhere within the city.
She jolted and turned to the alligator monster, “Did you send people to ambush the embassy?”
The alligator monster shook its head, “Honored Harpist, the City Lord is in your hands right now. From the moment till now, I’ve only given the order to open the city gates. Besides, wiping out the embassy wouldn’t benefit Black Stone City; it would just give the demon race a perfect excuse to crush us.”
As sound reasoning as it was, Lin Nan didn’t rule out that the alligator monster’s subordinates might want to take out their frustration on the embassy before Cold Wind City’s army fully took over Black Stone City.
“Let’s go check it out.”
Lin Nan played a note, and the alligator monster suddenly felt a bomb-like vortex of air, invisible to the n*ked eye, swelling right in front of its chest.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t go, but could you tone that down a bit? It feels kind of scary.”
The alligator monster looked utterly helpless.
Maybe word had already spread about the enemy entering the city, as the City Lord’s Mansion was empty.
Watching the chaotic scene at the brightly lit city gate where the Cold Wind City army was taking over Black Stone City’s defenses, the two leapt into the air. Lin Nan didn’t want to expose her whereabouts just yet; she trusted the tiger demon to handle things.
Just as Lin Nan predicted, the embassy was surrounded by a well-equipped group of soldiers.
In the dead of night, they had even wrapped their arrows in oil cloth, lighting them on fire and shooting them at the building where the embassy was holed up.
Even if they couldn’t break in immediately, they aimed to see everyone in the embassy become barbecue.
Morris, despite being unable to speak, was still brave, leading a group against the incoming enemies. The ground was littered with fallen foes, while their side remained largely unscathed.
Needless to say, Trissa’s harp skills played a huge protective role in all this.
“Order them to retreat from the embassy! Unless you want to see them turn into minced meat!”
Lin Nan and the alligator monster landed near the swirling battle.
The alligator monster said, “Of course! My life is in your hands.”
He answered quickly.
But what happened next was a surprise for Lin Nan.
The alligator monster’s command was flat out ignored by those soldiers decked out in Black Stone City uniforms.
He shrugged, “You see, they aren’t taking me seriously anymore.”
“How is that possible…”
“Black Stone City has opened its gates as you requested. Although I was a tad rude earlier, I believe you, my lord, are magnanimous enough not to mind.
So, can I go now?
At the very least, let me plead with the leader of the Cold Wind City army. There are over ten thousand residents in Black Stone City hoping to keep their lives and property safe.”
The alligator monster looked genuinely earnest.
Lin Nan was left dumbfounded.
This just didn’t feel right.
Even if Black Stone City surrendered, didn’t the former city lord still have some influence and authority over his soldiers?
And the alligator monster looked completely unfazed, casually asking if he could be released.
Clearly, something was off.
He was the biggest bargaining chip she had; how could she just let him go?
The alligator monster sighed, “You’ll find out soon enough. Keeping me around will only cause trouble.”
Just as he finished speaking, a mass of dark bird demons swooped in from the distance.
If Lin Nan guessed correctly, it was the Seven Feathers tribe of the Cold Wind City army.
When a military takes over a new city, the last thing they want is chaos and violence. To quickly secure control, they would naturally suppress anyone daring to make a move.
But what shocked Lin Nan was that the bird demons didn’t immediately stop the fighting; instead, they dove into the fray, launching their attack on the embassy.
As a result, the pressure on the embassy crew, already barely holding together thanks to Trissa, suddenly skyrocketed.
Not only did they have to fend off immediate threats, but they also had to watch out for long-range attacks from the flying bird demons above. In no time, several people were struck down with a thud by the bird demons’ sharp feathers.
The defensive rhythm was completely broken.
“d*mn it, Mu Xunqing isn’t in trouble, is she?”
Lin Nan quickly opened her card pouch, relieved to find Mu Xunqing’s card still there but in a cooldown state of 72 hours. Finally, she relaxed a bit.
With Mu Xunqing’s abilities, unless it was a sneak attack… how could she possibly be injured?
So far, it was clear that the Cold Wind City army had to be in a mess.
At that very moment, the bird demon leader, Seven Feathers, spotted Lin Nan and the alligator monster hiding on the outskirts of the battle.
He suddenly dove toward them, his body as sharp and hard as a dagger, feathers exploding outward like a burst of shurikens, raining down on Lin Nan as if he were a machine g*n.
What puzzled Lin Nan was that the alligator monster, less than three meters away from her, was somehow not in the path of Seven Feathers’ attack.
Faced with the barrage that fell like a rainy deluge, Lin Nan didn’t want to tank it.
After all, she was a harpist, not the fearsome Cold Moon Witch everyone should be trembling before.
She braced one hand on the ground, flipping gracefully backward a few times before landing elegantly on the ground, dodging the shower of feathers. Just as she expected, the alligator monster bolted like a soccer ball kicked by a pro.
Clearly, Seven Feathers’ full-on assault was helping cover the alligator monster’s escape.
No wonder the alligator monster appeared so calm about the Cold Wind City army entering; it was now abundantly clear why it didn’t show any signs of remorse or regret.
For some unknown reason, both sides seemed to be colluding, pushing the Cold Moon Witch—who was supposed to be in charge—out.
They must have some sort of backup plan.
“Boom!”
With a resounding crash, the enemy’s attack intensified.
Meanwhile, Trissa was reaching her limits, and the embassy side started seeing heavy injuries.
Morris was on his last leg, having taken a few arrows to the back, bl**d pouring out, while Trissa was too preoccupied to notice.
“Cling, cling, clang!”
Just when the embassy crew felt utterly hopeless, a stirring battle symphony suddenly erupted on the battlefield.
Accompanied by the appearance of a proud figure cloaked in white, it didn’t just heal the wounds of the embassy crew; everyone was wrapped in a soft green glow.
[Guardian Halo: 20% increased combat power, 50% increased defense, lasting for 10 minutes.]
“It’s Lord Lin!”
“Lord Lin has come to save us!”
The embassy crew erupted into tears of joy.
