Chapter 70: The Defense of the City Gates

Chapter 70: The Defense of the City Gates

The noise of the siege engine left Airael momentarily clueless on how to throw the human army into chaos.

If the siege engine managed to smash the city gates open, defending the castle would be a real pickle!

Airael withdrew her gaze and looked around.

Chaos had completely engulfed her surroundings.

Humans and elves were entangled in a brawl.

Even though the elves had the upper hand, their focus was irrevocably fractured.

Otherwise, the humans would gain the upper hand.

After surveying the scene, Airael turned to Hela and said, “Teacher Hela, I fear retreat is no longer an option.”

Hela wore a look of confusion.

While the city wall was in disarray, they hadn’t yet been affected.

With a苦笑 on her face, Airael pointed at the siege engine slowly advancing outside the castle, exclaiming, “What are you looking at?!”

Hela followed Airael’s pointing finger and spotted the humans’ siege engine inching closer.

Not one to be dim-witted, she quickly made the connection, her expression changing dramatically.

“Teacher Hela, we must do something! We can’t just sit here and wait. Retreating is out of the question! If we withdraw now, the situation will worsen. As things stand, we’re the only ones capable of taking action.”

Airael continued to gaze at the siege engine.

Hela’s expression signaled that she had discerned the developing situation.

After some contemplation, Hela looked at Airael and said, “Your Majesty, leave this to me.”

“No!”

Airael shook her head in refusal, saying, “Teacher Hela, you can indeed take action, but at times, you can’t replace my role.”

At this, Airael wore a苦笑 again.

With great power comes great responsibility.

Even if her current strength was lackluster—only having some self-preservation ability thanks to the Staff of Eternity—her identity demanded that she step up!

With a determined expression, Airael straightened her small face and seriously declared, “In a crisis like this, I must stand tall! I can’t be a coward! Only then can we fend off the humans’ assault!”

Hela stared at Airael, finding the Queen a bit foreign today.

However, she couldn’t deny that Airael was starting to resemble a true queen.

“Your Majesty, what would you like me to do next?”

Hela sighed inwardly and asked.

Airael immediately replied with a smile, “Teacher Hela, I have a task for you. You need to leave the wall right now and organize some people to block the city gates.”

“I understand! I will get the job done!”

Hela nodded vigorously.

Before leaving, she reminded Celia and Aurora, “Celia, Aurora, you’ll be in charge of the Queen from here on out! Make sure to protect Your Majesty!”

Celia and Aurora nodded silently.

Though they didn’t say a word, their silence spoke volumes.

Once Hela departed, the captain of the Royal Palace Guards, Hers, approached and asked, “Your Majesty, what do we need to do next?”

“Hers, have the Royal Palace Guards gather some stones from nearby. In short, we need anything that can stop the siege engine’s advance! Collect whatever we can to prevent the siege engine from reaching the gates.”

“Understood!”

After receiving the orders, Hers dispatched a number of guards towards the nearby areas.

Their goal was simple: reach the catapult, nab some stones, and rush back.

Fortunately, there was a catapult not too far away.

Once some elves moved away, Airael shifted her focus back to the commotion outside the castle.

Observing the human army, especially the immovable formation in the back, Airael could distinctly see the difference from before.

The human soldiers were now restless.

Her heart sank instinctively.

The morale of the human army was indeed soaring!

Each soldier was eager to hit the battlefield.

It’s no wonder that such a troop could achieve victory after victory and make it this far.

As Airael continued to monitor the human army, the human siege engine also advanced steadily.

Victor’s grin only grew wider as the siege engine drew closer to the city gates.

It had been said before that if the siege engine successfully smashed the gates, victory would practically be in their hands.

Then, Victor would also etch his name into history!

After all, this crucial battle was fought under his command.

Victor could easily picture the historical narrative.

When the Emperor was injured and recovering, Prince Victor took command and led the army to conquer Silnas Island, forcing the elven race to submit to humanity, allowing humans to ascend to the throne of world domination.

Just thinking about it made Victor positively giddy.

This was initially something his father should have accomplished, yet here he was, pulling it off himself.

To put it dramatically, it was as if he succeeded where his father had failed.

While Victor was over the moon, Suratu chose not to comment.

Because this was just normal; nothing to fuss about.

Moreover, his attention wasn’t solely on the siege engine.

While the siege engine’s task was indeed crucial, that didn’t mean other areas’ tasks were less important.

Such as the human soldiers battling the elven soldiers on the city wall.

Their presence was what stirred up chaos on the wall, allowing the siege engine to press forward with relative ease, unimpeded up to now.

On the wall, Hers looked at the siege engine, which was almost through the city gate, and cast a glance at the Royal Palace Guards who had yet to return, saying to Airael, “Your Majesty, it seems we won’t be able to retrieve the stones in time.”

He looked visibly displeased with the failure of the task.

“Then we shall make do; we can still use magic,” Airael sighed.

She understood the situation around her.

Honestly, she didn’t hold out much hope for retrieving those stones.

But making an effort was never a bad idea.

“Besides, we still have Teacher Hela!”

Directly below where Airael stood on the wall, Hela was organizing a squad of elven soldiers to block the gates.

Outside, the human siege engine was almost set up.

Returning her gaze to the wall, Airael looked down at the human siege engine, extending her right hand.

In the next moment, a golden magic circle appeared beneath her feet.

Magical elements swirled furiously around her, and a massive fireball, roughly half a meter in diameter, materialized above her right hand.