Chapter 55: The Second Siege!

"What do you think?"

Beneath his cloak, Roche's eyes held a playful gleam. Having spoken these words, he made to strike.

The instant before Roche's hand descended, the terror in Frey's eyes unexpectedly dissipated somewhat.

Seeming to confirm the answer he had guessed just moments before, his expression relaxed as he muttered:

"Certainly not, certainly not. I knew it couldn't be. How could it possibly be that good-for-nothing Dorian? A good-for-nothing should stay a good-for-nothing forever..."

As Roche's chop fell, Frey smiled faintly and lost consciousness.

It seemed that as long as the person beneath the cloak wasn't his younger brother, he could rest easy.

Roche blinked.

It appeared the relationship between these two brothers was less than stellar.

He recalled Chelsea's remark about "wars among nobles."

It seemed the reality of it was far worse than he had imagined.

After casting a healing spell on Tassanya, both Tassanya and Leila sprang into action.

Through their unremitting efforts, all the nobles and attendants were tied up and piled onto several improvised flatbed carts.

Naturally, Madam Chelsea and her husband were not among them.

Not only because Roche did not intend for Madam Chelsea and her husband to participate in the upcoming spectacle,

but also because the flatbed carts could not bear that much weight.

Therefore, Roche had Leila retrieve some sedating potions from the plundered magical pouches and fed them to the pair.

Afterward, he found an empty room, placed them inside, and locked the door.

Leila walked toward Roche holding a towering stack of magical pouches. "Master, here are all the magical pouches. The clothes they were wearing and their weapons are all inside as well."

Looking at the pile of pale, stripped forms stacked on the flatbed carts, Roche couldn't help but marvel at Leila's efficiency in stripping "corpses."

"Brilliant work, Leila!"

Roche patted Leila on the head.

Nearby, Tassanya fetched several ropes to lash the flatbed carts together in pairs.

She walked over to Roche, knelt on one knee, and said, "Master, everything is done."

"Well done, Tassanya."

Roche led Leila toward the flatbed carts, took the ropes in his hand, turned to look at the kneeling Tassanya, and spoke:

"If you survive this, I promise I will turn you into a dragon."

"I will not break my word."

Tassanya lowered her head respectfully and said, "Tassanya will fulfill her mission."

"Tassanya wishes the Master a triumphant return."

"May the Master achieve complete victory."

Dragging the flatbed carts behind him, Roche waved his hand and did not look back.

His figure receded further and further into the distance.

Tassanya slowly stood up, gazing in the direction where Roche's figure had vanished.

She pumped her fist as if to encourage herself, then walked into the darkness of the town.

***

Roche and Leila dragged the flatbed carts laden with nobles to the eastern gate of the town.

After Leila handed the ropes over to Roche, she followed his instructions, slipped aside, and hid herself.

Using both hands, Roche slowly dragged the flatbed carts closer to the Knights' encampment at the eastern gate.

"Ecklaus!" Roche shouted.

Hearing Roche's voice, several knights on patrol peered out vigilantly, wanting to see what was happening.

However, they were immediately barked back into formation by the approaching Ecklaus.

Ecklaus looked at the pale pile of nobles stacked on the flatbed carts behind Roche. At first glance, he almost thought Roche was hauling several cartloads of pork.

He could not help falling into a silence.

Although he had long known how terrifying Roche's strength was, he had not expected this man to actually tie up every single noble.

Counting the Knights' Order, which was already in a state of semi-coercion on his own side,

this man had essentially single-handedly kidnapped nearly half of Buntanda's high-ranking nobility.

He was simply a madman!

"What are you standing there for? Come and haul them."

Roche used his thumb to gesture toward the nobles behind him.

"A promise is a promise, they're all right here."

"You really are out of your mind," Ecklaus sighed.

"Even if you manage to defend the domain this time, there will be nowhere left in Buntanda for you to stay."

Roche chuckled lightly.

"If I hadn't done this, I'd probably be spending the rest of my life having some rather deep conversations with slimes."

"Let's survive first, stop wasting time, and call someone over to haul these.

"I have a hunch those transparent, disgusting freaks might not wait until tomorrow morning to launch their next siege."

Ecklaus sighed, called the soldiers over to unload the nobles from the flatbed carts, and tied them up one by one directly in front of the encampment, exactly as Roche had requested.

They all faced the Slime Plains.

When everything was finished, Roche walked up to Ecklaus and asked, "When do you think those disgusting things will arrive?"

"Who knows?" Ecklaus wore a bitter smile.

"I only know that today is probably the day I check out here."

"Relax." Roche patted Ecklaus on the shoulder.

"If we hold out this time, you'll be credited with the highest achievement, the hero of Buntanda. Every citizen in Buntanda will murmur your name before every meal."

Ecklaus smiled bitterly and said nothing.

Setting aside the fact that he had ruined the Buntanda Lord's carefully laid plans for the domain, facing two Tier 4 slimes, he could not conceive of any possibility of holding the line.

Seeing that Ecklaus remained silent, Roche said no more.

He walked aside and quietly gazed out at the empty plain before him.

In the night sky hung a bright moon, casting a watery moonlight that blanketed the entire plain in a silvery radiance.

Roche remembered the time he and Leila had camped at the edge of the plain; that day they had eaten beef stewed with potatoes and dry flatbread, with grape-flavored biscuits for dessert.

Wheel Town truly was a rather nice place.

***

Time slowly drifted by.

Roughly forty-five minutes later.

"Enemy attack!!!"

A piercing blast of a whistle blew from the mouth of a scouting team member on watch.

Everyone's heart skipped a beat as they simultaneously looked toward the distant end of the plain.

An indescribably massive red magic array rose out of thin air at the edge of the horizon, looking as though it were being held up on something's head.

Blood-red light burst forth unbridled from the array, shooting straight into the sky and illuminating the night.

The beams of light unfurled like flowers before finally condensing in midair into a thick, blood-red line.

This thick blood-red line dropped to the ground and slowly crept forward in the direction of Wheel Town.

"Scouting team and ranged squad! Revealing powder!"

Without a moment of hesitation, Ecklaus gave the order.

Several hunters from the ranged squad followed closely behind the scouting team, advancing rapidly before halting.

At the very limit of their range, they swiftly loosed arrows tipped with revealing powder, then bolted back immediately!

Several arrows burst in midair, scattering pale yellow powder downward.

Witnessing the scene before them, every member of the Knights' Order involuntarily held their breath.

It was a Tier 2 slime tide, identical to the last one, densely packed and creeping toward Wheel Town. The difference was that this time, trailing behind them, dozens of colossal slimes resembling giant monoliths were slowly advancing with cavernal mouths wide open.

Ecklaus counted.

A full 30 of them!

The previous reconnaissance had clearly indicated only 20!

These slimes had actually reinforced their troops!!

"Look at the tops of the Tier 3 slimes!" shouted a scout, pointing into the distance.

Ecklaus concentrated his gaze.

The next second, he felt a chill run through his entire body.

Atop those slimes, which were as massive as city walls, stood several small spherical figures roughly half a meter in diameter.

The moment the yellow powder drifted down,

those spheres opened piercing crimson eyes, and their entire bodies turned pitch black.

Their mouths formed jagged, zig-zag lines, giving them an evil grin.

And that gigantic red magic array was being cast by the black slime directly in the center.

These black slimes were Tier 4 slimes!

Ecklaus had long known of the existence of Tier 4 slimes, but what truly filled him with dread was this:

Clearly, the intelligence reports had stated there were two Tier 4 slimes, yet now there were three!

"Damn it, yesterday's battle probably made them think we broke our promise, so they sent extra reinforcements!"

Ecklaus gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his fists.

Beside him,

Roche gazed at the mighty, surging slime army, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Extra reinforcements?

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, after all.