What did you do with the dice?

Facts have proved that people are different. Custer resisted the arrangement that he would not go to the front line. He believed that a righteous knight should rush to the front line to protect the people, a loyal knight should always follow his lord, and the final destination of a qualified knight is to die on the battlefield.

Before Rusalka could figure out how to trick him, the knight next to him from Whitemyre Territory quickly stepped forward and told Custer righteously, "Not all direct enemy engagements are considered the front lines of the battlefield. We're responsible for logistics, so we'll be constantly patrolling each defensive area, ready to provide support at any time. The places where we're needed are definitely the most dangerous, and that's the true front line."

As a fellow knight, Custer believed it, apologized to Rusalka for his previous "unreasonable" questioning behavior, and obediently went to lead the team.

Rusalka almost believed it, but when she thought that he was a knight from the Whitemay family, Rusalka's trust in him turned to the other extreme.

That's great. The transport unit needs people like you.

After arranging their respective tasks, everyone immediately set out with their troops to the areas they were responsible for. Rusalka also established good relationships with the great knight and two knights who were jointly in charge of their areas while walking.

The great knight's name was "Komodo". Rusalka felt that he lived up to his name. He was 2.2 meters tall, and his muscles were as shocking as pieces of explosives about to explode. He carried a huge sword on his back that was almost the same size as Rusalka. When he walked, it gave people the illusion that the floor was shaking.

If you compare Rusalka and him standing there, anyone would think that it is Komodo who has a strength of 20, not Rusalka.

But in reality, every 1 point difference in attribute value means a 1-fold difference.

The Sky Giant in the game has a strength value of 22, while the Mountain Giant has 26. According to the real-life conversion, the difference in strength is 16 times, which is indeed not very reasonable. However, in reality, human strength fluctuates with age, so there is such a dynamic adjustment. The strength of an adult dragon is probably in the range of 22-24.

After all, no matter how skilled a human is, they can't arm wrestle a dragon. Is your Strength of 16 really half the difference between Strength of 24? Doesn't that mean two humans with Strength of 16 can overthrow a dragon? If that's not enough, I can use four of them. Can I even armbar the dragon?

Therefore, it is definitely not possible to calculate according to the proportional relationship in the game.

A 1-point power difference can make a world of difference in the later stages. This exponential increase in power is the best way to reflect the difference through data.

So normally for humans in this world, take Komodo for example, even if he trains to this level, his strength attribute should fluctuate around 16 points. At least he will never be able to run while carrying a magic cannon and a base.

So even though you can't compete with a giant dragon with all 20 cards, you can definitely have a locker room fight with a young dragon.

Chapter 92: Mingyue City Defense (3)

Komodo's background is relatively ordinary. He does not have as good a fate as Rusalka (a barony inherited from 50 points of wealth). Even though he passed a series of great knight assessments of the kingdom through his own efforts and was awarded the title of great knight, he did not have his own fiefdom.

He didn't want to work for the nobles, so he relied on his fame and strength to form a mercenary group and became a mercenary leader.

Later, his deeds were heard by Marquis Banner, who was more interested in talent cultivation, so he asked him if he wanted to be a vassal of the Marquis. If he was willing, he would not only give him an annual salary, but also allocate a piece of territory to him, and help him apply to the Grand Duke to grant him a real hereditary baron title, and he would also be allowed to have private armed forces.

Of course, everyone has private armed forces to some extent, and being allowed means that they can be brought into the city openly.

In exchange, he would lead the mercenary group to help the Marquis when he needed military support.

Commodo agreed to this condition, and he was also a traditional knight who believed in repaying a favor with a thousand times the gratitude, so he was loyal to the Marquis.

As a Grand Knight, he did not oppose the knights' rule. However, since the Marquis was a royalist, he stood on the Marquis's side and rejected the invitation from the Great Duke of God.

His mercenary group has about 200 people, which is already a large mercenary group. Including the militia and cooks he recruited in his territory, he brought a total of 500 people this time, including the two knights.

Even a small baron like him has two knights following him. How come a viscount like me only has one Kaster under his command, and the other one is temporarily borrowed from the neighboring house?

Rusalka: (Is this appropriate?)

Sunita: (Don’t you still have Phoenix?)

Rusalka: (She is a wife, not a subordinate. They are different.)

Sanita: (If you have the guts, don't use her for missions.)

Rusalka: (I'm incompetent, I'm a gigolo and I'm proud. What, you don't accept it? Who told you to open a card? Didn't you spend ten points to buy a cat?)

But having Phoenix was another matter. Rusalka was still very curious about how to recruit such ordinary talents. He didn't like beating around the bush and asked Komodo directly, "How did you recruit these two knights?"

Komodo laughed and replied, "We met during the Knight's Examination. We had originally agreed to help them during this year's Grand Knight Selection, but then a civil war broke out in the kingdom, and now the exam is postponed."

He had also heard of Rusalka's deeds. As they were both great knights, they felt an inexplicable resonance between their professions. Therefore, he held Rusalka in special respect for his personal achievements in conquering the world. "Great Knight Pearl Tears, I have long heard of your great name. When the time comes, let's compete to see who can kill the most enemies on the battlefield."

Rushaka's words automatically changed in her ears: What? You want to steal my experience? And you want to steal more than me?

If they were not guarding the same area and did not want to suffer misfortune together, Rusalka would have asked him if he had any mission props such as photos of relatives with him, and then asked him to say a few high-risk keywords such as "This is a photo of my daughter. She just called me dad", "After I finish this battle, I will go back to my hometown to get married", "I will win".

However, Komodo's words also provided Sanita with a new idea for recruiting talent: (If the civil war in the kingdom ends and there is still a mechanism for selecting great knights, you can use your status, under the guise of training, to recruit those who want to advance to the knight level or those who want to become knights.)

Rusalka: (Sounds a bit like running a driving school?)

Sanita: (Yes, it’s the driving school.)

Rusalka: (Haha, you're gonna get lucky! Go ahead, use the Otherworldly Fortune-branded teleportation pickup truck and send my enemies to another world! Oh, I'm already in another world, so that's fine. Wait, if driving a dump truck can send people across time, then doing the reverse operation would also be a way to get back to Earth? Bro, how about we try to invent our own magic-powered dump truck?)

Sanitieta: (Well, before you asked me about these good ideas, did you consult your attending physician in advance?)

Although they were guarding the north wall, the straight-line distance was about 4 kilometers. Most of the defense equipment on the wall had rusted due to years of disrepair. It was unknown whether the crossbows and magic catapults (used to launch flying ladders) were still usable. If they misfired during a battle, it would be embarrassing. They had to ask craftsmen to polish them in advance. In the case of insufficient manpower, they could only ask the soldiers to help.

As for the distribution of the defenders, one-third is on the city wall and two-thirds is outside the city. In a large-scale city defense battle like this, the gate is more important than the wall. Once the wall is taken, the equipment fixed on the wall facing the gate cannot be used to attack the city. At most, when the two sides fight hand-to-hand, they can attack from high up and low down. They cannot rush down to open the gate. Everything is still uncertain.

But it is true that not everyone is Sasaki Kojiro, who can rely on the geographical advantage of three steps to defend against Saber alone.

But if the gate is lost, hand-to-hand combat will begin immediately, and then there will be no advantage in the true sense. At most, there will be some obstacles such as chevaux de frise on the ground to block the enemy's cavalry charge. If you put yourself in their shoes, you can't always counterattack with cavalry, so all in all there is no advantage.

If they lose the hand-to-hand combat, they will be forced to retreat to street fighting, which means that the civilians will also be affected. Even if they win in the end, the city will be severely damaged after the war and it will probably be difficult to recover within a few years. It doesn't matter what the enemy thinks from the perspective of the enemy, but from the perspective of the defenders, it is almost equivalent to a failure in defending the city.

However, if the gap in strength between the two sides is too great, most defenders will immediately order a retreat into street fighting after the city wall is lost. Street fighting is more lethal to the enemy who are unfamiliar with the terrain, and even if the casualty rate is high, the morale of the defenders will not collapse, or even if the morale collapses, large-scale surrender will not occur.

This kind of battle, in the true sense of the word, where the last drop of blood is shed, can often be dragged on longer, and dragging it out until support arrives from the rear becomes a helpless means of victory.

No matter what, Sanita will definitely rely on his large numbers and high power to take over the defense of the gate. The Marquis is defending his own home, which is 100% reliable. However, no matter how reliable this Komodo is, it is definitely not as reassuring as holding the lifeline himself.

This idea was approved by Rusalka: (The probability of encountering KB elements on the plane is 0.01%, but the probability of encountering two groups of KB elements at the same time is almost zero. Therefore, as long as I wear a mask and pick up explosives on the plane, I will not encounter KB elements. Similarly, because there is only one door and it can only be opened once, as long as I actively open the door, the enemy will never be able to break through it.)

Sanitieta felt that he could not expect to have this talent for analogy in this lifetime. In his next life, when he was a child and had a fever of 40 degrees, he asked his parents not to send him to the hospital and let him endure the whole night... No, maybe he had to endure it for a week before he would have a chance to get such a talent.

In the end, Komodo's defense area was divided into the middle section north of the north gate and the corner.

This slacking position deeply touched Komodo, who was unaware of the truth. From his perspective, Rusalka was willing to take the initiative to defend the most dangerous area and even divided a relatively safe area for him, even though they had just met.

This was so chivalrous that Komodo, the great knight who already abided by the Eight Honors and Eight Shames, immediately expressed his admiration for Rusalka. His eyes, which Rusalka thought were full of "wisdom", now revealed only respect for Rusalka.

Komodo slapped his chest, causing his armor to clang loudly. This inexplicable action startled the nearby Sanita. "Knight Rusalka, my men are very grateful for your arrangements, but as the leader, I feel unworthy of such an unwarranted favor. I will lead ten of our mercenaries, all willing to risk their lives, to your defensive section to assist you in killing the enemy."

Rusalka nearly fainted after hearing this. "I'm really impressed! I've arranged everything, yet you still cling to me? Are you trying to snatch this experience from me? You also brought the system and character cards with you?"

No, no, no, wait a minute, think about it carefully, his features are too obvious, could he be the legendary general on the stage, the tearjerker in the novel, the stepping stone in the hot-blooded comics, the deceased wife Bai Yueguang in the CEO's novel, and the blood of the Siegfried family, which is known for its loyalty and bravery, flowing in his body?

If that's the case, I can't go against fate. If I obey this kind of person, he will die easily. If I disobey him, he will just keep committing suicide. It's better to obey him. Maybe I can even explode and remember what other abilities are in my previous character card.

That's right, Rusalka and Sanitieta calculated for a long time and found that there was still a gap of about 100 points in his 526 points. Rusalka couldn't remember what else he had ordered.

He has this bad habit. He will be very picky when choosing skills. After writing the card, he will just leave it there. When fighting, he will take it out and read it over and over again. When he suddenly finds a skill that he has forgotten, he feels as happy as if he were drawing a new card or opening a blind box.

Now this happiness disappeared with a "pop". He vaguely remembered that there were a few cool passive skills, but they had not been triggered until now. This made it impossible for him to guess where to start, and Rusalka wanted to slap himself.

If I had known to choose a 100-point active template, I would have been killing a lot after landing. I didn't choose the passive. Although the permanent passive is really useful in a tabletop group with only one action per round, the fact is that I haven't used it since I traveled through time, or I used it but I didn't feel anything at all, just like the full potential of the person next door, Zhou Zhou. It's really shitty, DM.

Wait, thinking about it this way, how can I slap myself? It's not me who's wrong, it's DM! No, I'm not going to fight for my dignity, just to give that DM two slaps in the face. I'd have to travel back in time. They've already built a display system, can't they just send me my character card?

You see, other people's system-based novels can't wait to refresh the character panel in every chapter, but why does your system only give you passive pop-up prompts?

Rusalka, unsure whether the person in front of her was her "stepping stone to destiny," hesitated for a long time and asked in a questioning tone, "Do you... carry any photos of your family with you?"

Komodo shook his head and replied with a puzzled tone, "No? On the battlefield, you must focus on the task at hand. How can you have such concerns?"

Rusalka frowned. Why didn't this guy play by the rules? "So, do you have something important to do after the war?"

Komodo thought for a moment and scratched his cheek with his fingers: "Would it be best if we could catch up with the territory's autumn harvest?"

Good man, you have nothing to worry about, is it really your innate holy body that is incinerated?

Don’t be impatient. I almost forgot that he is still a great knight. Maybe he is the replacement of Custer?

Rusalka took a deep breath and finally asked, "Do you think dying on the battlefield is a destined honor?"

Komodo immediately shook his head and replied in surprise, "How is that possible? Who wants to die when they can live? If it weren't for the Marquis's kindness in recognizing me, how could I possibly want to go to a battlefield where my life is always uncertain? Great Knight Rusalka, this idea of ​​yours is not worth it. There are so many beautiful things in the world. Believe me, only living well is honorable. Death is truly worthless."

Damn it, I’m being lectured in return, right? I can’t stand it anymore.

Rusalka: "Then why did you come to my north gate? The enemy will definitely focus their attack here."

Komodo: "Yeah, I know, I just want to help you share some of the pressure."

I'm impressed. He speaks so nicely, but why the hell does he go wherever there's danger? He speaks so nicely, but in the end, he votes for the real prophet, Iron Wolf.

Rusalka decided that if he had crippled the enemy general, and Komodo, who exuded the aura of being ready to steal the kill from head to toe, suddenly ran out from his horns to finish him off and gain experience, he would kick the enemy off the city wall to make up for the lost experience.

----

The El Empire is a country that strictly abides by its promises, and its deductions are as accurate as those of mages like Marquis Banner.

Five days later, Rusalka, standing on the top of the city wall admiring the sunrise, saw the dark shadow of a flag rising slightly on the distant horizon.

Looking through the telescope, there were several human heads hanging on top of those flags, but it was no longer clear who they were. Even if Rusalka saw them clearly, he would not recognize them. However, the other party's momentum was like giving Rusalka a lesson, telling him what true cruelty was.

Looking up through the telescope, there were indeed quite a few small black dots the size of flies in the sky. It seemed that they were the hobbits. They flew relatively slowly and fell to the back of the team.

Sanita said to the messenger beside him: "Well, the enemy is coming, go and notify and sound the alarm."

Before the messenger could take a step, he saw that Marquis Banner had already lit the signal smoke and sounded the alarm.

The soldiers couldn't help but swallow their saliva. This would be the most regular and powerful enemy they had ever encountered.

It might even be the most terrifying enemy he has ever encountered in his life - whether one thinks about the meaning of this sentence from a good or bad perspective.

Look, even the great knight Rusalka, who has been very calm and composed these days and even smiles from time to time, and is suspected of being a war maniac, is now frowning.

The soldiers' gauntlets were wet with sweat, and they tightly grasped the city-defending crossbows in front of them, as if this could bring them a little comfort.

At this moment, Rusalka was truly faced with one of the biggest questions of his life: (Hmm? That's not right. Isn't the world square? Why is it that when I look out into the distance, the flagpole rises little by little, just like the Earth? Yeah, thinking about it this way, shouldn't I be able to see the entire world from one place? This doesn't make sense. Is the world round? Then why are the seasons the same everywhere in the world? There's only one sun.)

Sunny Tower: (You're right. Let's not worry about the round or square thing for now. Let's just ask whether this phenomenon is fantastical or not. If it is, then it's fantastical. Otherwise, why would it be called a fantasy world?)

Rusalka: 6

Chapter 93: Mingyue City Defense (4)

One side is in a dominant position, with an imposing presence.

One side looked up and saw the enemy from a distance, filled with murderous intent.

Not long after, a shadow rose from the enemy's dark army formation, whizzing across the sky like a meteor. When it gradually enlarged to a size that could be seen with the naked eye, everyone realized that it was a spear with several sparks. The huge force caused its spearhead to pierce directly into the city wall, and the wooden trunk was shaken and exploded by the recoil.

There were no messengers, no etiquette, no formalities, and even no words were needed. The brutal war had already begun in this silent declaration of war.

Rusalka lifted the megaphone and held it to her lips. "Everyone, take your positions. Crossbowmen, prepare. Shoot as soon as you're in range. Don't conserve arrows. Slingers and kerosene crews, stand by. Shieldmen, prepare to provide support. Everyone, hold your weapons in hand and be ready to engage at any time.

Everyone, check your equipment for any issues. Are your crossbows stuck? Are your bowstrings tight? Are your rechargeable life-saving gadgets broken? This is your last reminder. If you don't check now and end up with equipment problems, you'll have to prepare for it in your next life.

Rusalka's black humor eased the tension a little, but it was only effective until the dark mass began to move.

When they saw the ratmen with bloodshot eyes coming like a tide, the soldiers' chests began to beat involuntarily, their legs trembled slightly, and even the armor that they usually felt as if it were a part of their bodies became a little heavy at this moment.

Sanitta looked at the ratmen who had clearly lost their minds and said to Rusalka in the private chat channel: (Frenzy Curse, Fox... A large-scale spell cast by a fox warlock. Completed in such a short time, there must be at least one very powerful core warlock in the enemy camp.

This curse is extremely effective against races with low mental abilities. At the cost of losing their sanity and becoming more violent, they gain stronger physical fitness and a shield against pain. However, the curse has an extremely high mortality rate, approximately 30%.

Rusalka: (30% is also considered extremely high? Oh, there are still too many people.)

Sunny Iron Tower: (You know how in our past life's drug experiments, any drug with a risk of death was banned or severely restricted. What does 30% mean? You think 30% is too low, and the card draw rate is only 0.5%, but you still draw it? What? Hasn't your wallet ever told you that it's hungry?)

Rusalka: (Wow, stop scolding me. I remained calm in the face of tens of thousands of troops. I almost broke down with your words.)

Under the influence of the berserk curse, the ratmen drooled, and the grinding of their teeth and roars merged into a terrifying music that seemed to come from hell. They were squeezed together, and some of those who ran slowly were even pushed down and trampled to death by their companions who followed behind.

Even though there was a rain of arrows, flying rocks, rolling logs and hot oil falling from the city walls, every time a group of people were knocked down, the troops behind would quickly fill the gap. The terrifying advantage in numbers was infinitely magnified at this moment, and the psychological pressure brought to people by this fearless charge reached its peak when they stretched out their claws to climb up the city wall.

When the first claw covered in blood and mud appears at the edge of the city wall, it means that close combat is about to begin!

Rusalka raised his greatsword, rushed to the city wall, and kicked down a ratman soldier who had just poked his head out. He shook off the blood on his boots, raised his greatsword, and shouted, "Soldiers, take up your weapons!"

Sanita took out a flute from his bosom and put it to his lips, playing the inspiring little tune purchased with 10 ability points. The effect in the game is: it can only be used after entering the battle round. Using any musical instrument, spending an action can make all friendly forces' weapon attack actions gain +1 to hit and damage value, and gain a +1 bonus to their own immunity, which lasts for the entire battle.

The noble permanent bonus does not require a focus position, so Blessing will leave the game with regret. However, any player familiar with the rules will know at a glance how cost-effective it is in the early stages of the game.

The only drawback is that it also inherits the shortcomings of group buff spells such as Blessing in the board game mode: while playing, you forget that you seem to have such a buff. It is only +1 if you remember it, and it will be reset to zero if you don’t remember it.

In reality, this effect is to boost everyone's spirits and strength, and slightly dispel the fear in the hearts of teammates. This benefit will not disappear just because it is forgotten.

The enemy divided the battle line into three groups, focusing their attacks on the three gates respectively. On the surface, it looked like they were using rat-man cannon fodder for feint attacks, but based on this offensive method alone, Sanita did not dare to jump to conclusions too early.

After all, the number of rat cannon fodder alone is five times the number of defenders on the city wall. When quantitative change is enough to cause qualitative change, the other side has enough time to slowly test out which gate is the weakest point in defense.

The screaming rat-headed dwarfs rushed up the city wall and pounced on the nearest soldiers in twos and threes. The shield soldiers strode forward and used the large shields in their hands to rush down one or two ratmen, but they were too numerous to withstand. Some ratmen could even grab the edge of the shield and jump up. In the end, a large number of enemy troops poured in from the gap.

If viewed from an external perspective, the entire city wall now looks like it is being eroded by three wriggling black creepers. Groups of ratmen, whose claustrophobia is enough to make people faint, are climbing up one after another, and the firepower that was previously pouring down from the city wall is gradually swallowed up by this black wave and disappears.

There's no better scene than this in a doomsday zombie movie.

When the enemy can be cut down with a single swing of the sword, no one will dare to step forward to guard the heavy crossbows fixed on the city walls.