Chapter 4: The Siege
Knight Commander Quasimodo had deployed the classic “Eagle Wing” tactic.
Most of the knights were distributed on the high ground on both flanks. If the ghouls wanted to attack, they could only charge uphill, and they would inevitably be slowed down due to the slope.
On each high ground, there was a knight armed with a shotgun. This powerful close-range firearm could easily knock the slowed-down ghouls down the hill.
Laser rifles were the main source of damage, cauterizing the flesh wounds with high temperatures, accelerating the ghouls’ blood loss and death.
Since the high ground was difficult to attack, the ghouls, with their basic hunting instincts, would naturally choose the central pass between the two high grounds as their first breakthrough point, which was where Knight Langres was guarding.
Although he seemed isolated and alone, Langres possessed the team’s most powerful heavy weapon – a flamethrower. The ultra-high temperature flames generated by the military-grade fuel could quickly burn any target within a three-meter radius in front of him.
Ghouls, who were naturally afraid of fire, were completely countered by this weapon.
Therefore, whether it was the “eagle wings” where the high ground was located or the “eagle beak” where the flamethrower was located, it was not easy to break through.
If nothing unexpected happened, these ghouls should first be killed by the flamethrower, then forced to turn and attack the high ground on both flanks, losing a large number of their forces during the climb, and finally be annihilated or flee.
This was the ideal scenario.
Of course, considering the huge disparity in numbers between the enemy and themselves, casualties were still possible.
If hundreds of ghouls charged the high ground together, no matter how powerful the shotgun was, it couldn’t knock them all down. A rotary machine gun might have a chance.
However, something unexpected happened right from the start… The ghouls didn’t rush towards the central pass guarded by Langres as Quasimodo had expected, but instead took a large arc and charged towards the edge of the high ground on the right.
Quasimodo hurriedly looked over there and was instantly shocked – he saw two mercenary girls running desperately, and the ghouls were chasing closely behind them, the distance between the two sides rapidly closing.
“Lorant, Roger! Overdrive and intercept!” The Knight Commander made a decisive decision and quickly ordered the right high ground to increase their firepower.
Overdrive was a mode that increased the firing rate for a short period of time at the cost of accelerating the lifespan depletion of the laser rifle.
With the sudden increase in firing rate, more than a dozen ghouls couldn’t withstand the attack from the side and turned to pounce on the right high ground.
However, for the ghoul horde chasing the two mercenary girls, this was only a negligible loss of troops.
“Asker!! I will not let you off even if I become a ghost!!!!” Medea’s angry scream echoed explosively in the mental channel. Because the ghouls in front had almost caught up, Medea could even smell the disgusting stench of corpses behind her.
“Don’t be afraid.” Asker replied, taking the sniper rifle from his back, the weapon he had obtained from hunting Von Kesim last time.
“Miel, alternating suppression, prepare.” Asker knelt on one knee, aiming his gun forward.
“Roger.” Miel replied from the tree.
Rhythmic gunshots began to ring out on the plain. Two sniper rifles, one in the tree and one below, fired accurately and steadily.
Whenever a ghoul was about to catch up to Medea and Thira, the next second it would be headshotted by a sniper rifle bullet, its body flying backwards in mid-air.
“Quasimodo, am I seeing things? That’s alternating suppression!” Watching the scene on the plain ahead, a Night’s Watch knight exclaimed in the channel.
Alternating suppression was a firing tactic used by gunman teams.
Because hitting a target would cause the enemy to enter a state of rigidity, their charge would be halted or even repelled.
Therefore, when a large number of enemies charged towards a gunman team, the gunmen needed to shoot the targets from near to far in turn, creating rigidity rhythmically to suppress the overall charge speed of the enemy and prevent them from getting close in a short time.
Although this tactic was simple to describe, it was very difficult to execute in practice.
The first problem was shooting accuracy. It was very challenging for a gunman’s reaction speed to judge which enemy was closest and quickly hit them in a short time.
The second problem was coordination. Alternating suppression required the coordinated shooting of multiple gunmen, but a situation that easily occurred was that two gunmen hit the same target almost simultaneously in a split second.
This was equivalent to wasting an opportunity to create rigidity. It was very challenging for the tacit understanding between gunmen to judge which target their companion was about to shoot and which target they should shoot.
And what the Night’s Watch knights saw at this time was such an incredible scene.
Ghouls, as undead, didn’t have vital points, so they weren’t easily killed with a single shot from a sniper rifle.
However, their attack method was pouncing, and they would briefly leap into the air during the process.
If they were shot by a sniper rifle while in the air, their entire bodies would be blown away.
The ghoul horde instantly caught up to the two running girls. The closest one kicked off the ground with its hind legs and pounced viciously at the girls’ backs.
At the moment it left the ground, its charging figure suddenly froze and then flew backward strangely.
The second ghoul leaped over its body from below, roaring ferociously and pouncing forward.
Then it was headshotted again, flying backwards and falling to the ground.
This strange scene repeated itself continuously, with countless ghouls leaping forward one after another, not even touching the corners of the two girls’ clothes before flying back one after another.
What really made the ghouls perform such exaggerated “acrobatic feats” were the two sniper rifles from the distant hill, firing two almost perfect alternating suppression trajectories.
They never fired at the same time, nor did they hit the same ghoul, they just steadily suppressed the ghouls’ charge, preventing them from pouncing on the two fleeing girls.
“Bravo!” Seeing three ghouls pounce simultaneously, then be shot down by sniper rifles one after another in mid-air, even Jalevin, the calmest member of the team, couldn’t help but cheer. “That’s amazing!”
“I’ve never seen such perfect alternating suppression!” Other knights also commented.
“Their gunmen are definitely professional level!”
“Quasimodo!” The hot-tempered Lorant shouted again. “Are you sure we’re just going to watch here? Such professional mercenary gunmen should be brought over to fight alongside us! It’s a pity for them to die at the hands of ghouls!”
“It’s too late to go over there now.” Quasimodo sighed. It would take at least 20 seconds to rush over there, enough time for the ghouls to tear these mercenaries to pieces.
“Everyone, hold your positions, laser rifles continue long-range fire, try to eliminate as many ghouls as possible before they die.” Regrettable as it was, his professionalism still made Quasimodo make the most rational decision.
Four laser rifles roared simultaneously, crimson rays burning through the air, scorching the ghouls’ decaying bodies.
In pain, these ghouls became even more twisted and frenzied, scrambling to pounce on the two fleeing girls ahead.
Finally reaching the edge of the bottom of the high ground, Thira and Medea were already out of breath. Eleanor passed the exhausted two, swung her shield violently, and directly smashed the ghoul at the front.
Her right hand thrust out like a dragon, piercing the abdomen of another ghoul.
Dragon Spear!
The spear lifted the ghoul entirely. The ghoul waved its claws in the air, still unable to break free from being impaled.
The next second, it was thrown out by the spear, like a huge cannonball, smashing all the ghouls in a straight line behind it.
At the top of the tree above the high ground, Miel quickly switched her Slaughter-III to assault mode. The muzzle began to rattle, firing at the ghoul horde rushing towards Eleanor.
Although the bullets didn’t do much damage to the undead, they could put them into a state of rigidity, preventing Eleanor from being surrounded by these monsters.
Eleanor held her shield horizontally in front of her chest with her left hand, blocking the ghouls’ scratches and pounces. She pulled her spear to her left side with her right hand and twisted her waist, suddenly exerting force.
Iron Cutter!
This Iron Cutter swung a full 270 degrees, sending all the ghouls around her flying.
Sidlipha next to her immediately charged forward with her axe, Whirlwind Slash!
The ghouls sent flying by the Iron Cutter crashed head-on into Sidlipha’s axe storm, instantly being torn apart.
On the other side of the high ground, out of sight of the Night’s Watch knights, Mia teleported Thira and Medea into Furnace Island, and then teleported them out again, just like a transport unit in StarCraft loading up troops at the bottom of the high ground and then instantly dropping them onto the high ground.
“Where’s that Asker!” As soon as she got to the high ground, Medea started waving her claws like a ghoul, wishing she could tear Asker to pieces.
“He jumped off the high ground!” Mia hurriedly replied.
“What?” Medea and Thira were both shocked.
Eleanor and Sidlipha were at the bottom of the high ground because one was equipped with magic copper armor and the other with meteorite armor, so they could withstand the ghouls’ claws that could tear through steel.
Asker was only wearing chainmail, how dare he just rush into the battlefield like that?
“Is he crazy? He actually charged down there like that!” Before Medea could speak, Thira, ignoring her panting, shouted in panic, “If he’s killed, what will happen to our team?!”
“No way, how could Asker die?” Mia subconsciously denied. “Even if our entire team is wiped out, he will definitely be the last one alive!”
Thira didn’t waste her breath with her, but quickly rushed to the edge of the high ground. She saw Asker with one hand on his sword, rushing towards Eleanor and Sidlipha.
Several ghouls quickly surrounded him, ferocious as wolves surrounding a lone antelope.
Then the antelope in the center turned into a lion.
Drawing Slash! A crescent-shaped cold light flashed, and all the ghouls pouncing in the air were sent flying backwards. Asker swung his sword with his right hand and pulled the trigger of his Aphrodite with his left hand, bullets firing rapidly.
The ghouls hit by the bullets were pushed even further by the force, almost flying more than ten meters away.
More ghouls pounced towards him. Asker quickly turned his body, dodging the ghoul’s claw attack, and at the same time, a Lion’s Fang struck its head.
The ghoul’s head was forced down by the blade. The next second, Asker had already stepped on its head, using the force to jump high into the air.
Leap!
He leaped in the air like a dragonfly skimming the water, using the shoulders and heads of countless ghouls as stepping stones, quickly approaching Eleanor’s position.
Whenever a ghoul tried to pounce on him, he would swing his sword downwards, effortlessly knocking it away.
“Whirlwind Slash, Spiral Thrust, break through at 3 o’clock.” Asker said quickly on the channel.
At this time, Eleanor and Sidlipha, with more ghouls arriving, were immediately at a disadvantage.
They could only stand back to back, dealing with the poisonous claws from all directions. Their armor was covered with white marks scratched by sharp nails, showing faint signs of corrosion.
If it weren’t for the protection of these high-level armors, their intestines would have been ripped out by now.
Hearing Asker’s command, the two immediately turned and charged without hesitation, breaking through in the 3 o’clock direction.
Thira stared blankly in that direction when someone suddenly pulled her up forcefully.
“Hurry up and help!” Mia shouted in her ear.
Thira was stunned for a moment before realizing that about forty ghouls had left the ranks besieging Asker and the others and started attacking the high ground here.
Peggy guarded the only gentle slope that could be charged with her sword, frantically moving and dodging within the narrow range of four or five steps, killing and repelling the approaching ghouls.
The remaining ghouls, some continued to charge the entrance of the gentle slope of the high ground, while others tried to climb up the cliff with their claws. Nuo and Miel were constantly firing, knocking them down one by one.
Thira took a deep breath, and the mithril circuit on her right arm began to glow.
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