More than ten days later, Xander’s army had already approached Ramberg. The dark and heavy tents stretched for dozens of miles, surrounding the entire city. The flags on the city tower fluttered in the wind, and morale was high.
Xander, dressed in silver armor, stood in front of the battle formation, frowned slightly as he looked at the towering city wall. Not wanting innocent people to suffer from the ravages of war, he sent a messenger with a letter of surrender, riding his horse to the city. The messenger looked up at Ray on the city tower and shouted, “Ray, my lord said that as long as you open the city and surrender, and hand over your military power, you can guarantee the safety of you and the people in the city!”
On the city tower, Ray was dressed in black. Resting his hand on the crenelations, Ray scoffed, “Go back and tell Xander, if he wants me to surrender, he can wait until hell freezes over!” He drew the sword from his waist and pointed it straight down at the city, “If you have the guts, then come and get me! Ray is determined to fight you to the bloody end! So what if you lay siege to the city? A dignified Prince Regent of the Grand Luminary Empire using such petty tricks.”
Michael frowned at the sight. He shouted at him, “Ray, don’t be so arrogant. We are giving you a chance by surrounding the city without attacking, yet you don’t know what’s good for you.” After all, they had grown up together since childhood, and Michael didn’t want to see Ray die on the spot if it could be avoided.
“I don’t need you to give me any chances. This battle is unavoidable, and I would rather die than surrender.” As soon as Ray finished speaking, he picked up his bow and arrow and shot it towards Xander. The arrow flew straight towards Xander’s face with a whooshing sound. Before the arrow reached him, it was knocked away by another arrow. Ray looked intently and saw that it was Michael.
He gnashed his teeth in anger and shouted, “Michael, you really are a good dog of Xander’s. Don’t forget how he treated you back then. So, now that you’re living comfortably, you’ve forgotten about the massacre of the entire Osborne family? I’m telling you, Xander had a hand in this.”
Michael looked at him expressionlessly and responded to Ray with a cold arrow. Ray hurriedly dodged, and the long arrow shot into the wall behind him, penetrating a third of its length. He looked at Michael with a gloomy face, who was really intent on killing him.
Matteo next to Ray advised, “Your Majesty, the grain in the city won’t last long. They’ve cut off our connection with Northcold, and now Northcold is struggling to protect itself. If this continues, we won’t be able to hold out.”
Ray smiled coldly upon hearing this, “We must persevere, even if we can’t.” He shouted, “Soldiers, whoever takes the head of Xander will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold and made a marquis with ten thousand households.” With Ray’s shout, the morale of the Ramberg soldiers also rose. Ten thousand taels of gold and the title of marquis with ten thousand households were goals they could never achieve in their entire lives. The crowd shouted excitedly, “Kill Xander, kill Xander…”
The last trace of hesitation in Xander’s eyes was replaced by sternness. He raised his spear high and shouted to the soldiers behind him, “Attack the city!” Bang, bang, bang, the war drums sounded, shaking all directions. The trebuchets, already on standby, were suddenly activated, and huge stone bullets cut through the sky, smashing towards the city walls with a whistling sound. With a loud bang, the boulder hit the city wall. Bricks and stones splashed, and the defending soldiers on the city tower were shaken and fell to the ground, with screams rising and falling.
Michael took the lead, wielding his long sword as freely as splashing ink, and was the first to rush to the city. The soldiers behind him carried the siege ladders, braving the dense arrows shot from the city, and climbed towards the city wall, regardless of their own safety. The muffled sound of arrows penetrating armor, the crisp sound of weapons colliding, and the shouts of soldiers were mixed together, making people feel terrified.
On the city tower, Ray personally beat the drums to cheer. The drums beat rapidly like raindrops, striking the hearts of every defending soldier. The vice-general roared an order. “Release the arrows, pour the oil, don’t let them climb up!” Scalding hot oil poured down the city walls, and the soldiers climbing the siege ladders were instantly scalded and screamed, falling one after another. But the soldiers behind did not flinch at all, stepping on the corpses of their comrades to continue climbing.
Xander sat in the central army, his eyes fixed on the battle situation like those of a hawk. He saw Michael surrounded by several defending soldiers. He already had several wounds on his body, but he was still fighting bloodily, and couldn’t help frowning. “Pass down the order, the left wing detours to contain the enemy from the flank!” Fighting the Ramberg army can only be done with a quick attack; otherwise, it will be dangerous once the battle line is stretched. The left-wing soldiers who received the order immediately changed their formation and lunged fiercely towards the enemy’s flank. Seeing this, the defending soldiers on the city had to divide their forces to respond, and a slight loosening of the city defense immediately appeared.
Michael seized the opportunity, bellowing as he swept his long saber horizontally. He forced back the defending soldiers in front of him and, using their bodies as leverage, leaped up and finally made it onto the city tower. The instant he landed, he slashed out with his long saber, cutting down a defending soldier who had tried to ambush him, then raised his arm and shouted, “Brothers, follow me and charge!”
The morale of the soldiers below the city surged, and they climbed even faster. More and more soldiers climbed onto the city tower and engaged in close combat with the defending soldiers. The space on the city tower was already narrow, but now it was even more crowded, with people pushing against each other and sabers clashing. Every inch of ground was soaked in blood.
Ray was killing with bloodshot eyes on the city tower. His black martial attire had long been stained red with blood, and he couldn’t tell if it was the enemy’s or his own. He saw more and more enemy troops pouring onto the city tower, knew that the situation was over, but still refused to give up, waving his saber and fighting to the death with the enemy troops. Suddenly, he saw Michael’s figure. He immediately leaped up and slashed at Michael.
“Be careful, General.” The entourage saw Ray attacking and hurriedly blocked Michael. Then, he was kicked away by Ray. At the same time, Ray's long sword also arrived in front of Michael’s face. Michael reacted quickly and immediately turned the spearhead and pressed it on Ray's long sword. For a time, the two were inextricably fought, and a pile of corpses quickly fell under them.
At this moment, a team of cavalry suddenly surged out of the city and charged towards Xander. Michael saw that those cavalrymen were tied with kerosene flammables, and the people on horseback were all dummies. If Xander didn’t know and let people shoot arrows, he would suffer a major loss. Michael couldn’t care about fighting with Ray anymore and issued an order to retreat. “Do not use rockets! Shoot those warhorses.” Upon hearing the order, the men below the city hurriedly aimed their arrows at the warhorses. Instantly, a dense rain of arrows struck the warhorses. Although a small number of explosions occurred, fortunately, the losses were not significant.
In this battle, Ray gained the upper hand. He looked at the frantic state of the Grand Luminary Empire army below the city and laughed loudly, “You are like stray dogs.” He added, “Did you really think that I have done nothing in Ramberg these days? Open your eyes wide and see clearly; this is just the beginning.”