What did you do with the dice?

How could a normal lord allocate all of his fiscal surplus to the military and set up the most expensive professional standing army in peacetime?

As for the military, isn't it just a conscription order to pick up weapons when war breaks out, and a bag of severance pay to pick up the plow when war is over?

Of course, now that the devil has really attacked, it’s too late for anyone to regret.

Many people praised the Sani Tower for its foresight. However, some jealous people believed that the Sani Tower was actually predicted long ago, but was announced a year ago, leaving everyone with no time to prepare. This was simply malicious.

In any case, perhaps it was just a coincidence. Now, this demon army that was continuously sent out from the Demon Gate was targeting the Silver City in the east that was armed to the teeth, which made the nobles from other places feel relieved.

However, this didn't mean the others could just sit back and watch. The Guardian Knights in the west and the Oaks in the north still had some loyalty. While they didn't intend to send troops to intercept the demonic forces, they did send someone to inform Sanita that they were gathering forces to destroy the demonic gate.

When the main force of the demons was held up by the cities of the Delai Family and the Zhulei Family along the way, they would order their army to launch a surprise attack. After cutting off the demon's reinforcement points, they would move eastward to encircle and annihilate the enemy completely.

Rusalka couldn't help but ask again, "Hey, it's been almost a week. I see the main force of the demon army has already arrived in the east. Why haven't these disloyal bastards taken action yet?"

Sanita: "Well, I guess we're still in the stage of assigning tasks to each company."

Well, that’s how the nobles of Sinidi are. There’s nothing wrong with them guarding their own territories, and they are easy to communicate with.

But once you have to leave the city and send troops to fight together, it's over. Everyone starts to calculate the gains and losses in their minds. Before the battle even starts, they start thinking about how to make their troops the most comfortable.

Army, rather than being sent to the front row as cannon fodder.

Sanitta fought in Sinidi for several years and found that the biggest lesson the Sinidi nobles learned from the war was that they did not learn their lesson after being beaten - it was a waste of time.

A week later, the entire Sani Iron Tower had been mobilized. They had stored the food and other supplies shipped by the elves, and moved all the townspeople into the city. Those who couldn't fit in moved into the moat near the city walls, establishing temporary settlements. If the shield was breached, these scattered tents would barely be enough of an obstacle.

Rusalka asked how far the battle line had advanced and why no spies from the front had returned to report in real time.

So Sanitieta took him to the wizard tower and let him use the telescope to look by himself.

Sanita stretched out his hand and pointed to a place far away in the west: "Do you see the forest over there?"

Rusalka: “I saw it.”

Sanita: "This is the location of the demon army."

Rusalka: "No, brother, are we fighting the devil or the Vietcong? Just shine your phone into the forest and the screen is full of facial recognition?"

Sanita: "Please understand. I know this is outrageous, but this is the reality."

Rusalka wasn't sure and took a few more glances. "That's not right. Putting aside the matter of fire turning into wood, are you sure it only took them a week to get to this location? Isn't there already a forest over there?"

Sanita sighed. "Thanks to the buff, the demon army can march day and night. Their movement speed is already twice that of a normal army. Furthermore, the powerful fire spells have been replaced with healing and buffing wood spells. As a result, every demon now has a legion-level buff. Not only can they ignore the difficult terrain of forests and mountains, but they also have extraordinary stamina and endurance, which has increased their marching efficiency several times."

It was also for this reason that Sanita had to immediately send the large army back from the west. It was hard to imagine that the human army could not outrun the unorganized and undisciplined demon army.

It is said that the wolf cavalry of the El Empire were restricted by the inexplicably grown forest. When Lord Destruction Destroy saw the El Empire gathering its troops, he directly ordered the legion to start defending. They created a large forest on the spot and then advanced slowly and steadily, leaving the El Empire, which had no cities to defend, with no way to start. They could only retreat little by little into the range of Fox Warlock's withering curse where no forest could grow. The two sides began a strategic stalemate.

And Esdi also met his opponent. The Paladins were a unit that could only show their strength after the legion was assembled and could confront the demon legion head-on. However, the Blood Lord Rezak over there acted contrary to his usual behavior and began to plant trees and fight guerrilla warfare in small pieces. This made Esdi, which had many small units in the neighboring villages and towns, suffer a lot. Currently, Sani Iron Tower has asked the elves of the Elf Forest to go through the forest to help.

The person Estelon encountered was the Rust Lord Holman. The most feared thing about precision instruments like airships is the rust effect, which makes them difficult to fight. So they could rely on the more advanced leadership system over there to conduct precise combat. Unfortunately, the Hell Legion marched very fast and cut off all their transportation routes along the way. They were not even afraid that they would take it back - of course you can run through the burnt wasteland, but do you have the ability to ride an alchemical mount in the forest?

The airship's ground-to-ground bombing spells are essentially all fire-based, and naturally, they should be fire-based spells and items. This completely transforms the bombers into agricultural transports and medical helicopters. The best-case scenario for an alchemical bomb is a poisonous fog or a needle storm. But most of the time, it just accelerates the growth of trees, and if you're unlucky, it even heals the enemy, effectively making the attack a waste of effort.

Now even the central command in the Twin Towers was at a loss, as they had never fought such an outrageous battle.

Fine, since the demon's destructive power has been greatly reduced, I'll just retreat into the city.

So the various ethnic groups and countries that were brothers before the war have now returned to a state of fighting each other.

The question is how can we help if we can't handle it ourselves? Anyway, the demons are not very strong now, so everyone is waiting for the neighbors to finish and come to help.

Only in places like Snidi, which was originally a makeshift team, where everyone didn't even know how to lead the troops, they all happily watched the ever-changing Lord Salinas lead his troops straight into the Silver City. The main focus was on fair competition, whether it was magic cannons or attributeless magic, and no one took advantage of anyone else.

Only the elves are the happiest in the world. The effect of the World Tree seems to be determined according to the terrain of the forest. Now that the advance of the demon army has caused the world to be covered with trees, the range of activities of these guys has also expanded infinitely, and there are buffs wherever they go.

Therefore, Sanitieta, the fairy whose bloodline has been cleansed, may become the second beneficiary. When the demon army reaches Silver City, he can also take advantage of the pure fairy buff.

Rusalka was stunned after hearing about the changes in the situation over the past week. "Huh? Hakio, you bastard!!!"

It would be worse than letting the demons burn the forest. Lord of Arcane, are you worthy enough to be the god of mankind?

I think that the elves are in such a mess, and even some of them are openly pro-Chinese factions, but they are still able to remain stable. How did humans resist uniting and overthrowing them back then? As a result, I can't even get elf slaves in the market.

It turns out there was a problem at the top, you, Lord of Arcane, are such a traitor!

Now with the gain of wood attribute, the demon army turned into sled zombies in Rusalka's eyes.

It's tough and fleshy in the front.

, while the elves turned into a ski team and won by lying at the back, while the other forces turned into plants and were crushed one by one. Rusalka was so angry that she wanted to turn into a fiery pepper and blow them all up.

Hahaha, I almost forgot, Hot Chili Pepper is also a fire element, and has been banned by the Supreme Arcane Mage, it’s really born!

Sanitieta shrugged helplessly. "So, from the very beginning, we couldn't rely on our teammates in this war. The fact that the two dukes were willing to cover our retreat was a pleasant surprise. But we still have to be prepared for them not to win. After all, after the fire spells became wood spells, the demons, which were already strong in vitality, have become even more tanky."

Therefore, the battle of Silver City must be won, and the Demon Lord must be annihilated here to help liberate the Sinidi battlefield first, and then we can go to rescue other places in a chain and open up the situation.

Rusalka was full of confidence: "Alright, today I will transform Silver City into the Earth Assassin King!"

Sanita: "That doesn't have to be today. Maybe you can go and be the charging squash."

Because according to the map, there's a small town belonging to the Dray family that the demon army can't avoid along their route. Well, the demons could certainly avoid it. But seeing as they're actually marching in a straight line, the shortest distance between two points is the shortest possible distance. I guess the word "circumvent" doesn't even exist in the dictionary.

If they could hold out for a week, Sunitai considered sending troops over there to make it the main battlefield, which would be better than fighting in his own base camp.

However, the nobles there demonstrated with practical actions how outrageous the combat effectiveness of the Sinidi noble army could be when facing an opponent with overwhelming combat power: in just three days, the forest submerged the city.

This also means that Sanita's plan to change the main battlefield has completely failed, and it indicates that Silver City is about to enter a half-forest and half-human society.

Rusalka: "No, brother, what are they defending? A city with complete magical barriers and military preparations, prepared at least months in advance, fell in three days. What is this city called? Is it called Mixue Ice City?"

Sanita was amused and said, "Have you forgotten how our Silver City came about?"

Oh, well, faced with the powerful facts, Rusalka reconciled at once.

As expected by Sani Tieta, the demon army relied on the invincible wood attribute marching enhancement and used the most violent straight-line method to skip Mingyue City, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack. They crossed mountains and ridges from the edge and spent a week to advance to the border of Zhulei Territory.

It is estimated that Mengjili, who was stationed in Mingyue City, was also confused. He even sent three spies to report urgently and ask Sani Iron Tower whether he needed support and to attack the demon army halfway before they arrived at Silver City.

In this case, as long as Sanita also sends troops, it will become a siege - putting aside the difference in the number of troops on both sides.

Sanita felt it was unnecessary. He had painstakingly built Silver City for so long, precisely to prevent future disasters. Now that the day had arrived, he might as well make the most of it.

He wrote back to Mengjili, telling him to wait until the demon army was defeated and flee and then send troops to intercept them.

Anyway, Rusalka has been bored recently, just like a retired old man who grows grass at home. Every morning when she gets up, she goes to the Mage Tower to check the green coverage rate and sees the pleasing green gradually flooding the plain, and her heart is filled with peace.

Shangri-La stood behind him and asked, "Are you nervous?"

"No."

"Alas, Rusalka, I seem to understand you now. The higher the position, the greater the pressure of responsibility. The Grand Duke's responsibilities are beyond the imagination of a Baron like me. I want to apologize for questioning your personal interests before. I feel sincerely guilty."

Rusalka frowned. He had been so calm just now, but now he was starting to feel a little unhappy. "No, my dear, it's nothing. I'm often confused by the suspicion that we're not speaking the same language. What on earth did you understand over there?"

Shangri-La lit a welding cigarette, but didn't smoke it, just held it in her hand.

In fact, the first thing he did after becoming a baron was to quit smoking, but he still kept the habit of carrying cigarettes with him. Whenever he felt stressed after becoming a noble, he would light up a cigarette and smell it.

Lighting a cigarette is to remind myself that I am a military knight and I should not forget my original intention and indulge in depravity.

Quitting smoking is a reminder to myself that I am now a nobleman and I should not indulge in the past and stop striving for progress.

He took a deep breath and said to Rusalka, who was gazing into the distance at the setting sun, "When I was very young, my grandfather told me about the Demon War. He told me that demons were terrifying creatures and that many people died. But I was just a bystander at the time and didn't feel how terrifying it was."

"Later, when I was young, I encountered a war of evil and an invasion of void creatures. I was just an ordinary person at the time. On my journey eastward, I was protected by a knight and survived."

"I vowed then that I would become a knight like him."

"But by the time I became a knight, we had already won. At that time, civil war broke out in the great human empire of Layago. I yearned for my homeland, so I followed the local nobles on their campaigns. But ultimately, due to my injuries, I was unable to continue westward. After the war, I was made a baron, and I met my wife, who had taken care of me, so I settled down here."

Rusalka thought for a moment and sighed, "Alas, if you hadn't run away the first time, our Pearl Tears family would have been a noble family.

I'm from the central city of Snidi; if you hadn't run away the second time, I would have been an orthodox Paladin of Esdi. I understand, ancestor, you want to tell me that choice is really important to people, right? "

"Damn it! You little brat! You don't understand a thing!"

Shangri-La was extremely depressed. Rusalka's words suppressed all the memories and words of encouragement in his heart, and he couldn't muster any emotion at all.

He accepted his fate: having Rusalka as his offspring was the result of his sins in a previous life. If he had one less child, perhaps he would have died in peace.

Chapter 488: Silver City Defense (2)

The fresh scent of plants coming from the wind conveys a signal of danger.

Well, it should have been fire, brimstone, and the smell of blood.

The sentries on the city walls lit the warning beacon and hurriedly sent a messenger to the Mage Tower to report, "Report to Lord Sanitita, the demon's vanguard army is about to arrive."

Beacon fires can still be lit, but reporting is indeed unnecessary. The detection range of the Mage Tower is much farther than that of the naked eye. It can capture the special "evil" life signs of the demon vanguard more than ten kilometers away, while the sentinels are still living in the previous war habits of physical reconnaissance and physical reporting.

"Got it. Go back now. You don't need to report any more battle reports. I've given your commanders communication stones. You messengers will just need to contact them when the time comes."

"understood."

The demon army arrived much faster than expected, and did not leave the defenders any time to buffer or arrange tactics.

They didn't even need to stop to take a breath before starting the war.

The feeling was completely different from the previous time when we were defending Mingyue City. At that time, the El Empire had a neat formation. As the horns and flutes sounded, the rat army came in a black mass, followed by the wolf cavalry holding shining scimitars, which gave a full sense of oppression.

But the demons were not like that. They did not form a battle array, blow trumpets, or have any command. Following the command of "destroy this city" from the Lord of Change Salinas, they rushed towards the Silver City with its shield deployed without hesitation as individual units.

The first to be affected are the small hellhounds. Their individual strength may only be that of an ordinary human soldier. They move in groups, just like goblins, and can also spit flaming arrows, so the challenge level is set to level 3.

After evolution, it will become a two-headed terror hound with an additional spellcasting ability. Relying on its own vassal tribe, the challenge level rises to level 9.

Above them is the three-headed Cerberus. The three heads are proficient in three types of magic and are called the gatekeepers of hell. Their individual challenge level is 16, but since there are often large groups of hellhounds around them, it is not an exaggeration to call them legion-level.

However, there are no three-headed Kerperos on the battlefield now, only some hellhounds that have been driven here. The biggest advantage of this group of low-level guys is that their level is too low. They have become the few units in the demon army that can release fire magic. The flaming arrows spit out from the dogs' mouths hit the barrier like raindrops.

Rusalka: (Syllogism: A dog's mouth can spit out flaming arrows, and a good brother's mouth can also spit out flaming arrows, so a good brother is a dog.)

Sanita: (I know you are Shabi without any argument.)

The demon army seems to be in disarray and disorganized, but they are fearless and have clear division of labor. The front row are all low-level demons such as dwarf demons, imps, damned demons, and blade demons, while the mages automatically stand within the attack range and shoot at the barrier with fel spells.

The elite demons did not take action immediately. They stood behind indifferently and watched their inferior compatriots charge forward, being burned to death in the holy light rays, and continued to surge forward as if they were sending themselves to death.

This basic tactical coordination seems to be inherited from the fighting instinct running in their blood, and it is extremely skillful.

But Sanitta didn't like this kind of routine, he immediately ordered: "Let the magic cannons fire and blow up their mages!"

The muzzle on the top of the wizard's tower began to rotate, emitting white light that symbolized destruction, directly evaporating a large area of ​​the spellcaster array behind the demon army outside.

This wizard tower, named "Demon World" by Rusalka, also inherited the outer rotating design of the wizard towers in Alice City, and can rotate the magic cannon on the platform 360 degrees without blind spots.

This was praised by Rusalka as uninnovative, as it was just like most fields where a card of the same family was retrieved after activation, which was unremarkable.

Rusalka: (The Demon World was completely ruined by the designers, turning it into a standard overpowered tower whose damage output depends entirely on the strength of the creatures living inside.)

Sani Tower: (I think you are just idle. This structure is useful, why don’t you copy it? Do you have to pay copyright fees?)

However, demons naturally have their own way of dealing with things. When a round of magic cannon bombardment ended and entered the cooling stage, they understood the clustering effect of this powerful weapon and no longer made clear distinctions. They directly allowed the spellcasters to blend into the charging troops and approach the barrier together.

This is definitely something that other races cannot do, but the demon race, even as spellcasting units, has superb physique and vitality.

It makes no difference where this kind of unit stands. Choosing to stand at the back is to respect the positioning of its own caster, and choosing to rush to the front line is to prove that it is not a fragile unit. In this way, the killing efficiency of the magic cannon will be greatly reduced.

The only good news is that after the fire magic was banned, the demons lost their most destructive spells and did not develop magical technology. They only had two of the most powerful weapons left against the barrier.

One is the fel energy spell, but there aren't that many demons that can cast this kind of spell, and this energy from hell doesn't exist on the main plane at all. If you want to use it, the magic power consumption will be doubled, which is a disguised weakening.

The second is throwing trees.

The little giant at the back, which was five or six meters tall and as tall as a small building, directly uprooted the newly grown trees on the ground, and then threw them violently, causing the trees to hit the barrier. In terms of appearance and impact effect, it was almost the same as a catapult, and it even had no cooling function, making it more efficient.

Those pitch-black giants covered in black stones are the strongest melee units in hell: the Abyss Supreme with a challenge level of 15. It does not know fire magic itself, but relies on its obsidian shell formed by long-term immersion in magma and strength greater than that of an adult dragon to dominate the top of the food chain in hell.

But guys like these were like living targets, and they would inevitably be targeted as soon as they appeared, so Sanita directly aimed the magic cannon at those giants.

A beam of light once again streaked across the sky from the top of the wizard's tower, and the black giant raised his palm and roared to block the wave of the magic cannon. The huge impact force made it retreat repeatedly.

It only stopped after trampling to death several unlucky demons behind it, and after the light beam exploded, it discovered that such a powerful attack only penetrated the shell and half of its flesh in the palm of its hand.

"I saw a blue symbol flashing, thunder crashing down, and a heroic spirit holding a trident soared into the sky, shouting: I'm coming!"

In the blink of an eye, a blue figure rushed forward from the air along with the beam of light, leaving its own narration in the air, and directly hit the head of one of the Abyss Hell Supremes.

Rukasha ignored the grab of the big hand, and the subsequent damage from the squeezing was completely absorbed by Hamlet's shield. She just focused on stabbing the trident in her hand repeatedly, making the light of the Holy Slash flash continuously, directly exploding the latter's head into a bloody mist.

The headless corpse fell backward heavily, hitting the ground and stirring up a cloud of dust, even the earth shook for a moment.

Seeing such an exciting scene, the soldiers cheered for Rusalka: