Chapter 169: Domestic Strife and Foreign Aggression of Joyce Fortress on the Eve of the War (Part 2)

Chapter 169: Domestic Strife and Foreign Aggression of Joyce Fortress on the Eve of the War (Part 2)

Translator: The Light

Editor: Entelechy

Early in the next morning, Steinbeck Fief’s army set out from Ferro towards Joyce Fortress. An army of more than 30,000 troops marched forward in a neat phalanx formation. Their momentum was very intimating. Viscount Aaron, stationed at Joyce Fortress, wore an unsightly expression. The number of enemy troops differed greatly from his intelligence reports. Steinbeck Fief had clearly only had 10,000 or so troops, but overnight, the number had unexpectedly ballooned into over 30,000.

Purely on the basis of this army, the peerage of Steinbeck Fief’s Suzerain was at least above a Viscount’s, not any inferior to Viscount Aaron. Seeing the soldiers of Steinbeck Fief approaching, his complexion became even more unsightly as he was filled with anger. The equipment those soldiers wore were complete standard equipment sets from Adrian Empire’s army. Last night, Yani had mentioned that those Dark Shamans had transferred equipment out from Joyce Fortress’s weapon warehouse, but he was uncertain on how it had all fallen into the hands of Steinbeck Fief’s army.

“Damn it! Where are those special envoys? They weren’t spies, were they?”

“Your Excellency Viscount Aaron, the special envoys have already disappeared, saying that they have a task to deal with and that we should resolve the problem here by ourselves.”

“Adjutant, if Joyce Fortress can’t defend itself, then you are to evacuate with the others! Remember to help me deliver this key to Yani.”

“Your Excellency Viscount Aaron, this... okay! I understand!”

Viscount Aaron gave a key to the young adjutant beside him as if he were at his deathbed. They had always been friends. Once Joyce Fortress fell, Viscount Aaron planned to perish together with Joyce Fortress. He had already sent away his younger sister Yani by deliberately ordering her to pay Earl Winissa a visit. She wouldn’t return within a short time.

The adjutant quietly stowed the key before returning to his station. The current situation was not optimistic. The number of attackers more than doubled that of Joyce Fortress’s defenders. In addition, the enemy was also well-equipped. The possibility of Marquis Charles sending reinforcements was also very low. Even those few Dark Shamans sent here as special envoys also had some problems. They had directly transferred the equipment in Joyce Fortress’s weapon warehouse to Steinbeck Fief, and now, they had gone missing. Perhaps, they truly were spies for the other side.

The number of Steinbeck Fief’s real troops had not changed. The human army was still only 10,000 troops; those extra 20,000 troops weren’t human soldiers. They were high-level Undead disguised as human soldiers. Yesterday, the underground ratmen had attacked Ferro. In that battle, over 20,000 underground ratmen had been annihilated by the allied monster army, so their equipment had directly fallen into Clyde’s hands. After some simple overnight repairs and modifications, the high-level Undeads could wear them to sufficiently disguise themselves as human soldiers. With a complete set of equipment that covered their entire bodies including their faces, there was no way to distinguish whether they were undead soldiers or human soldiers from a distance.

The army of Steinbeck Fief was arranged in a formation with those 20,000 undead soldiers standing at the front while the 10,000 human soldiers remained in the rear. The gaps in their equipment were clear since the undead army was a lot more well-equipped. Therefore, such a stark lineup didn’t arouse any suspicion. The other party wouldn’t doubt that their heavily-armoured vanguard was not of the Human Race.

As usual, the commanders of Steinbeck Fief’s army were Princess Natalie, Paladin Princess Alicia and Assassin Miss Jenny. In this battle, Miss Sigrid acted as an advisor. No one was more suitable than her for this position. Over 200 years ago, Miss Sigrid had been the Miss of the Needham Plain’s Suzerain family. She knew the layout of the Needham Plains like the palm of her hand.

It had not been long since Marquis Charles’s party had occupied the Needham Plains, so they hadn’t had sufficient time and manpower to build new fortresses, meaning most of their defensive positions had been rebuilt from the ruins of the original buildings. For instance, Joyce Fortress had originally been Joel Military Camp built by the former Suzerain of the Needham Plains. When Viscount Aaron had been stationed in this area, he had rebuilt a military fortress on the foundations of the original military camp. Many places remained unchanged. They had only been renovated in accordance with the original framework.

“Big Sister Sigrid, are you truly okay? This is your family’s ancestral estate! Directly destroying it...”

“Sister Natalie, the past is only the past. It’s enough to have them in my memories. Besides, Lord Clyde has already promised to build new buildings in the future. There isn’t any loss at all!”

“I thought Lord Clyde would help us. Unfortunately, he still has not woken up. I guess the supervisor position will be vacant this time. It’s all up to us.”

“There will be no problems even if Lord Clyde doesn’t come. Just attack according to my suggestions. This fortress is not that troublesome.”

According to Miss Sigrid’s suggestions, the army of Steinbeck Fief divided its troops. Because they had an understanding of the range of Joyce Fortress’s defensive weapons, Steinbeck Fief’s army had built medium-sized mangonels just outside the range of Joyce Fortress’s weapons, preparing to launch long-range attacks at the fortress.

“How did the other side know the range of our defensive weapons? Don’t tell me there really was a mole?”

Viscount Aaron’s complexion clouded as he watched Steinbeck Fief’s arrangements with a frown. The other side not only chose to build siege weapons just outside his side’s range, but their targets were also very precise. At first glance, anyone could see that they had come prepared. Saying that there was no mole within their ranks, even Viscount Aaron himself wouldn’t believe it.

“Your Excellency Viscount Aaron, it seems that the other party wants to negotiate! Should we refuse?”

“Negotiate? Release the bridge! Let’s see what the other side wants to say!”

Just when both sides were preparing to war, Steinbeck Fief dispatched a messenger. A light cavalryman bearing a white flag on a horse advanced towards Joyce Fortress. Viscount Aaron hesitated for a moment before ordering the adjutant to arrange for a soldier to lower the bridge. He wanted to see what that messenger had to say before starting the war. However, this careless decision became a fatal strategic error on his part.

“Princess Natalie, aren’t such tactics improper? In any case, we are knights! We should strike openly!”

“Princess Alicia, those kinds of stuff are for the menfolk. All the commanders here are girls, so there will be no problems. Besides, that is only the plan that will be carried out by Andrisno and the other demon sisters, it has nothing to do with us. If you feel that it’s bad, you can go suggest otherwise to Lord Clyde in person!”

“No... never mind. Princess Natalie, spare me! If I talk with Lord Clyde, I guess I’ll be... be...”

“Princess Alicia, your face is so red! Go back and wash your face to clear your head. Jenny, inform the messenger and ask him to stall as much as possible. The allied army underground needs time to set the explosive chemicals.”

“There will be no problems! The messenger I chose is very talented in blowing crap out.”

On Steinbeck Fief’s side, Princess Natalie and others were very relaxed before the war. They were certain of their victory. When they had dispatched the messenger, the allied monster army had already sent a lot of manpower beneath Joyce Fortress. In line with the confessions of those underground ratmen commanders yesterday, they carried explosive chemicals refined by the high-ranked Alchemist Miss Rebecca, intending to surprise Joyce Fortress from beneath and coordinating with the attacks of the aboveground forces. Although this method was quite ungentlemanly, the commanders of Steinbeck Fief’s army were all girls. It was unreasonable to take the standards of menfolk into consideration.

In the castellan’s residence of Ferro, as everyone was preparing for war, Clyde, the highest commanding officer of Steinbeck Fief’s army, had just woken up. He had felt so comfortable in his bed that he had forgotten to wake up in time. When the sunlight gently illuminated his bedroom, Clyde opened his eyes and emerged from the pile of soft, white bodies. Looking around, he saw many alluring scenes. Under the sunlight, their fair skin emitted an enchanting luster. From the big bed to the carpet, limp and powerless white lambs sprawled everywhere. Their beautiful faces were filled with the charm of reaching the pinnacle. In addition, the small red marks on the corners of their mouths as well as their soft bosoms confirmed their insane and ridiculous actions last night.

Clyde had been unable to finish the complete course. The number of prey had been too much. Due to human limits, insufficient time, and unknown after-effects, he hadn’t used his thing, but the actions of last night had been practically no different from taking that final step. Those white lambs had used their elastic and soft bosoms to give him special squeeze massage services according to a certain someone’s requests. After the massage, wicked markings on their faces and bosoms had served as a reminder of their actions. In addition, a certain wicked fellow had used his fingers to attack afterward, easily bringing those white lambs to the madness-inducing edge of the pinnacle. Each and every lamb had thoroughly submitted themselves to that taboo feeling.

“Miss Anna, wake up! Don’t pretend to sleep. Otherwise, I’ll truly give you...”

“Don’t... don’t, Master, spare me! I’m too tired! Schoolmate Kylie, Schoolmate Betty, you two are too heartless, still pretending to be asleep! Still not waking up.”

“Eh, Schoolmate Anna, don’t turn here...”

“Schoolmate Anna, we were wrong. Don’t turn...”

Anna lightly slapped their elastic butts, forcing them to wake up. Then, the three girls boisterously played with their white bodies tangled together. It wasn’t until they sensed Clyde’s wicked gaze that they realized their current states were too erotic. Playing like this in front of a man, they would probably be punished until they couldn’t move. Thinking this, they shivered. No one knew whether it was from fear or excitement, or perhaps, both!

“It seems that you all still have enough strength. Let’s continue then!”

“Don’t, Master! We are really tired, really...”

“Do you all want to refuse?”

“No, no, we... we...”

Under his wicked gaze, Anna and the other two seemed mesmerized. Their bodies left their control, and they subconsciously assumed extremely erotic postures in accordance with the other party’s wicked movements. They made the standard “M” postured and watched his ferocious thing approach them. Their complexions immediately became bright red, and their legs violently trembled. It seemed that they wouldn’t survive this morning even though they had fortunately survived last night. They couldn’t even refuse. Their bodies were not under their control, and their hands also helplessly dropped to tease their flower gardens without any power.

“Lord Clyde, there’s some important information! However, if it is inconvenient now, I can come back later.”

“Andrisno! Come in! It’s not inconvenient.”