Chapter 155: The Only Way Out

Among the Ten Races, during the early and mid-stage plane contestations, knights played an extremely significant role. Furthermore, within the Ten Races, the knights of each race possessed their own distinct characteristics.

For instance, the Wolf Riders of the Beastmen possessed immense mobility and tracking capabilities, making them well-suited for long-range mounted archery and trapping. The Blood Elves' Bloodthirsty Knights possessed the strongest sustained combat capability; their blades and even their armor could absorb the blood energy of enemy creatures to restore their own stamina, achieving a compounding effect the longer they fought. The Undead's Scourge Knights could generate a negative energy magnetic field that weakened targets, meaning the longer one fought them, the more helpless one felt. Meanwhile, the Snow race's Rune Knights boasted formidable offensive power, each imbued with various elemental forces, and the Human Paladins could buff their own status. In short, they were utterly kaleidoscopic.

However, if one were to ask which race's knights were the strongest, there was originally no definitive answer, as it depended entirely on the circumstances. Yet, if forced to choose based on head-on combat capability, it was the Chaos race!

Chaos belonged to the Demon race, and its subordinate populations had an extremely high elimination rate. The reason was not that they practiced a parasite-culling system like the Void, but rather that their bloodlines were far too volatile. The Chaos race possessed numerous bloodlines with various types of enhancements, but their bodily reactions were invariably overly violent. Even among believers, their bloodlines carried an immense probability of causing them to explode and die from within, requiring a powerful genetic tolerance. The success rate of bearing the bloodlines of the troop types collected by these believer subordinates was even lower. But there was one certainty: those who successfully endured it were undoubtedly exceptionally powerful!

The Chaos Knights of the Chaos race were a prime example. Possessing formidable individual stats that far surpassed their peers, a Level 1 Chaos Knight might have stats comparable to a Level 2 Paladin, and an agility comparable to a Level 2 Huntress. Such pure statistical overwhelming force could hardly be compensated for by any special traits!

Moreover, they possessed a Berserk skill. The Chaos race was the most proficient at berserking; looking back at the history of the Ten Races, the Berserkers of the Beastmen originated from the Chaos race—they were the true ancestors of berserking. Therefore, if one insisted on determining whose knights possessed the strongest frontal might, the unanimous consensus pointed to Chaos!

"This is going to be difficult!" Guo Lang gazed down at the ramparts below. He had not anticipated that the players encountered this time would belong to the Chaos race. Once people of the Chaos race gained control of military armaments, very few could hope to match them head-on in the early stages, especially in the wild.

Take that cavalry squad from earlier, for instance. Guo Lang could find no fault with their quality, equipment, or the general's command. Yet, they were completely wiped out in a single exchange. That was the sheer gap in raw strength. How was one supposed to play against that?

Guo Lang estimated visually that the stats of each of those knights matched those of a Level 3 archer from his own plane. These were likely merely Level 1 Chaos Knights, and their higher-tier aces had not even been deployed yet. Not to mention they possessed the Berserk skill, which could elevate their combat prowess by yet another tier!

Neither he nor Alice could afford to be entangled by these monsters. Once surrounded, breaking away would be exceedingly difficult!

"Lord Batu is dead! Even Lord Batu's Crimson Lotus Cavalry Guard have been wiped out!"

"How are we supposed to hold out relying on just us? How can we possibly defeat demons like these?"

The top of the city wall instantly erupted into chaos, sounding as though the heavens and earth were collapsing.

At this point, Guo Lang finally figured it out: the primary defensive force of Fort St. Land was precisely the general who had just led the troops out and the cavalry under his command. They had already been the trump card forces. Yet, before the battle had even truly begun in earnest, the greater part of their leadership had been lopped off. How was this war supposed to be fought? How was this city supposed to be defended?

The morale of the crowd could be said to have instantly collapsed!

Guo Lang frowned. Damn it, the ones who went out just now were the ace forces? And yet he had been so rash? He had dared to venture out to meet the enemy so lightly—he certainly had been confident. What a pity he had encountered an opponent he never should have crossed.

While he was lost in thought, the enemy's storming troops had already begun their assault on the city. Guo Lang took a glance; those front-line soldiers were roughly similar to ordinary people of this plane—thankfully, bloodlines had not been universally popularized yet. Guo Lang breathed a silent sigh of relief, though on second thought, given the elimination rate of Chaos bloodlines, how could they possibly amass a force so quickly?

It was a blessing among misfortunes. If the enemy had dispatched a batch of soldiers with bloodlines like Crypt Fiends, with their high agility and explosive strength, a mere fifty of them would have seized this city in an instant!

Even so, things were close enough. Guo Lang glanced around; the motley crew of miscellaneous soldiers around him were already in a panic. Some soldiers could no longer restrain themselves and wanted to flee back home, pack their meager belongings, and run for their lives with their wives and children.

With the commanding general and the ace army both dead, what the hell was the point of defending the city?

Guo Lang bit his finger. Beside him, Alice had already sidled up to him and tugged at his sleeve. "Dad, are we leaving?"

Right, this little girl had lost her nerve. Guo Lang rolled his eyes. Of course they had to leave, but the crucial question was *how* to leave? Once the enemy breached the city, they would slaughter the inhabitants. Given the mobility of those cavalry units, once he and Alice were tracked, escaping would be exceedingly difficult!

Right now, they didn't even know what class the enemy was. What if there was a demon mage currently using spiritual perception to scan the area, and he and Alice rashly used stealth to escape? They would definitely be detected, and being tracked down would spell major trouble. Therefore, even if they retreated from this city gate, they had to find the right method!

"Milord!" The brawny fellow Al somehow managed to squeeze his way over to Guo Lang's side. Guo Lang was somewhat surprised to see him and asked with mild curiosity, "Aren't you running away?"

Hearing this, the man shook his head. "Those newbies don't know the rules. Running away right now is just looking for death. The city hasn't fallen, and the higher-ups aren't just for show. Besides... my wife and daughter are in your hands, Milord; I have to bring you back safely!"

"Oh?" The man's calm demeanor somewhat surprised Guo Lang. This fellow really knew what he was doing. Although Guo Lang had only been a Bronze-tier player in his past life, on a battlefield, he certainly would have been a minor commander. Naturally, he knew how his group would deal with deserters once morale collapsed. This fellow clearly had ample experience as a deserter...

Sure enough, just as they had anticipated, the rear officers had already raised their slaughtering blades against their own deserters.

An experienced veteran certainly wouldn't choose this moment to run for his life. In this kind of chaotic situation, blindly acting as part of the first wave of deserters meant dying in vain. The more chaotic the situation, the calmer one had to be in order to carve out a chance of survival among the dead. This was also why veterans had a higher survival rate than recruits; if you couldn't beat them, at least you still had the basic skills to run for your life...

Beneath the city gate lay the corpses of numerous deserters, left completely uncleared, tossed aside stark naked like garbage within plain sight. Upon seeing this spectacle, most of the subsequent recruits no longer dared to continue. Trembling under the cold gazes of the squad leaders, they scurried back up to the city walls.

Before long, new orders came down from above: all units were to steadfastly guard their respective positions, and anyone daring to move about disorderly would be executed on the spot!

Guo Lang narrowed his eyes slightly. The high-level command had reacted swiftly, showing no lack of political or military competence. He thought of the quartermaster he had seen on the city wall earlier; it must have been that fellow who made the call. He was a rather fine talent...

Instead of fleeing with Alice right then and there, Guo Lang began cooperating with the surrounding soldiers to defend the city. He could tell that unless the enemy deployed high-tier warriors with alien bloodlines, easily capturing a heavily fortified strategic pass with such mature defense measures would be no simple feat. There was no need for him to panic just yet!

With that thought, Guo Lang began to fulfill his duties as a nightsoil soldier, continually using a wooden ladle to pour boiling human excrement—known as "golden juice"—down the ramparts. The assaulting soldiers drenched by it let out miserable shrieks and plummeted down the city walls, their fates unknown.

Urged on by their respective squad leaders, the soldiers atop the wall also began to play their parts. Rolling stones, thunder logs, and skilled archers all launched an active counterattack!

The siege continued until afternoon before the enemy finally sounded the gongs to withdraw their troops!

This battle was exceptionally brutal; the corpses piled up like mountains both atop and beneath the city walls. As the setting sun dipped below the horizon, the tragic scene contrasted against the blood-red afterglow, appearing exceptionally desolate!

Once everything settled, most of the soldiers collapsed like limp mud against the ramparts. Many, unable to bear it any longer, began to wail loudly. Facing this emotional venting from the crowd, the squad leaders refrained from overly interfering this time; at a moment like this, they truly needed to let it out!

"Damned Batu!" Guo Lang heard the people around him beginning to complain about the general who had charged out first, but Guo Lang harbored not a shred of mockery toward the deceased. This was only human nature. If that kind of action succeeded, it would naturally win the cheers of the masses; but if it failed, it deserved condemnation. Those in high positions bore the hopes of everyone, and while enjoying their status, they were inherently obligated to shoulder all negative outcomes.

Thus, even after dying in battle, that so-called Lord Batu was still being cursed. Guo Lang felt not a trace of sympathy; in his eyes, this was nothing more than a matter of course!

However, while venting, the soldiers revealed a piece of news that piqued his interest: another reason why the majority of people now believed they shouldn't have launched a proactive sortie was that the Lady Lord of Fort St. Land had actually already written a letter initiating peace talks!

Curious, Guo Lang inquired further and unexpectedly uncovered a startling piece of intelligence: this Lady Lord was actually the second daughter of the reigning emperor of the Ros Empire, holding the status of an imperial princess. Ten years ago, when the Bairah Royal Court conquered these six northern cities, she had been used by the Ros Empire as a marital alliance token during peace negotiations. To demonstrate sincerity, the person dispatched was a member of the imperial direct bloodline!

In other words, this Lady Lord was actually the elder sister of that flamboyant Fourth Prince outside!

When Guo Lang first heard this news, he had inwardly sneered, thinking these soldiers were merely engaging in wishful thinking. How could a war possibly be halted because of a woman? But upon second thought—well, you never knew, this intelligence might actually carry some weight.

After a moment of reflection, Guo Lang's eyes suddenly lit up as he grasped the underlying value. He abruptly spotted another alternative escape route—an alternative path aside from attempting a risky breakthrough!