The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Amidst widespread panic, the demons established a base not far from the city and launched a formal attack.

"Don't let those things climb up!"

On the city wall, the knight roared madly, while the soldiers below kept throwing large stones and logs down the wall.

The cannons imported from the North on the city walls were constantly roaring. Due to poor maintenance techniques, many cannons had exploded multiple times from continuous firing. The rune artisans and alchemists in the city spontaneously stepped forward to repair the cannons, but because the North had been holding them back in terms of technology and materials, the results were not very good.

Although the mud monsters were unable to corrode the city wall due to the barrier, they were able to climb up the wall by following the barrier.

Just looking at the dense silt on the city wall is enough to make one's scalp tingle, like the green caterpillars crawling all over the trees in summer, with a few falling down every now and then.

But there was no way around it; the more afraid they were, the less they could let these monsters climb into the city.

Although the barrier has the ability to attack actively, Judith arranged for the professionals in the city to conserve their magic power as much as possible, only using the barrier's attack function when they were about to collapse, and using physical means to attack the monsters on the city walls when they could still hold on.

Although the half-built obelisk in the North provided energy, Judith had no idea when reinforcements would arrive, so she could only prepare for the worst.

This enormous obelisk is truly a product of the North. Even as a half-finished product, it can already relieve a great deal of pressure on the spellcasters in the city. However, since the obelisk is not yet fully constructed, the spellcasters still need to manually adjust it to maintain the barrier. Moreover, most of the spellcasters in the capital do not understand the obelisk's operating logic. Based on the principle of not touching it if it is working, Judith dared not use it too aggressively.

The governor's heirloom medicine left by Her Majesty the Queen, though incredibly effective, was becoming increasingly rare, and Judith used it as a last resort.

Spellcasters stood on the city walls, constantly using various spells. Even apprentice-level spellcasters from the Magic Association and the Royal Academy were brought out. Lightning and fireballs, frost and storms poured down from the city walls.

Magic works very well against those mud monsters, but spells that cannot be concentrated are unlikely to have a significant effect on those ever-expanding demonic offspring.

Judith and Scott constantly moved around the city directing the troops to prevent morale from collapsing, but they were exhausted both physically and mentally from the relentless attacks of the inhuman monsters.

In the intelligence gathered from the Golden Harvest Plains, Judith and Scott already knew that the demons were quite terrifying, but they didn't expect that the most terrifying thing was their ability to attack without rest, day or night. This relentless attack had already exhausted the people in the city, especially the spellcasters.

This also made Judith wonder how the North had managed to defeat these monsters in the first place.

The knights and soldiers on the city wall had reached their physical limit, and many monsters had taken advantage of their exhaustion to climb the city wall.

At this moment, the bells of the central Papacy in the capital rang, and the Holy Army, which had been prepared in advance, wearing specially enchanted armor and bathed in holy light, ascended the city walls to begin the battle.

With the blessing of the Holy Light, the Crusaders were able to easily annihilate the monsters, and the situation on the city walls quickly stabilized.

But this was only the situation on the city walls. Just as Judith feared most, these demon monsters seemed endless and impossible to completely eliminate. With the demon gods' offspring constantly crashing against the city walls, the Holy Army also found it difficult to leave the city to fight.

Oppression—that's the feeling of everyone in the capital.

Cliff followed the tradition of Augustine III by summoning all the nobles to a meeting in the palace, but the number of nobles attending each time was decreasing.

In this turbulent time, the nobles no longer concealed their true intentions, because the Demon King Antipas had sent Monroe to address the nobles in the capital, promising that all nobles would retain their titles and privileges if they surrendered.

At the latest meeting, Judith reported on the current situation: two-thirds of the nobles who came to discuss the matter had left. Those nobles had decided to distance themselves from the royal family and stop contributing to the defense, but Cliff was helpless against them.

The only hope for the entire capital now is that the Northern Governor, who previously defeated the demons, will come to its aid. Although it is known that Her Majesty the Queen had already contacted the Northern Governor and requested aid from the North, no one knows how fast the information can be transmitted between the two sides. Some pessimists believe that the capital may not be able to hold out until the Northern Governor arrives to provide assistance.

But Judith still encouraged everyone at the meeting, saying that if the Governor of the North could defeat the demons once, he could defeat them a second time. As long as the King could hold out until the Governor of the North arrived, everything would be alright.

"His Majesty."

At this moment, an Augustine stood up at the meeting.

"Even if the Governor of the North really comes, how much better can he be than the demons?"

"According to what Princess Claire said, the reason why the Governor of the North suddenly changed his attitude was because the Governor of the North is a relative of Her Majesty the Queen. If this information is true, now that Her Majesty the Queen is missing, even if the Governor of the North really saves the capital, is it really a good thing for us?"

Then, Augustine began to appeal to their emotions and reason, constantly simulating how terrible the situation would be if the North entered the capital.

Before Judith could reprimand Augustine, Marcel, the leader of the Old Party who had insisted on attending the meeting, couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "You've said so much, and it's all hypothetical. Aren't you just trying to surrender to the demons? Do you have any royal integrity left?! All the previous kings of Augustine should be ashamed of you!"

But Augustine glanced at Cliff, who was slumped on the main seat, and said, "But Your Majesty, all of this is for the sake of Augustine's continued existence. As long as the demons agree that Augustine will remain the king of this country, then I will naturally have the face, and even be able to proudly meet Augustine's predecessors!"

At this moment, Judith suddenly sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. It seemed as if the meeting room was surrounded by someone. Cliff knew better than Judith that it was Augustine's last power, a power prepared to protect Augustine and allow Augustine's bloodline to escape the capital in an emergency. He never expected it to be used in this place.

Just as Judith and Augustine were about to clash, a messenger rushed in and said, "Your Majesty, another city wall has fallen. Our forces are running out. Please make preparations to escape as soon as possible."