Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Saint Peter Castle was situated on Banto Empire’s border, and a wide expanse of flat land was in front of it that lead to the continent’s vast southern region, while Ural Mountain Range that stretched across 10,000 miles were behind the castle. There was a great valley in Ural Mountain Range that led to Delar Empire, but it was guarded strictly by Banto Empire. For the past innumerable years, the Church had wasted a large number of resources and manpower to make a stronghold, such as Saint Peter Castle, to control the road leading to the continent’s southern region.

A whole castle was built against the mountain, and it would be better to describe it as a giant barrier rather than a large castle. It had tall walls that were made out of Ural Mountains’ distinctive Ural Black Iron Ore. They were firm and stable, and they didn’t suffer any damages for the past years.

Moreover, it had tall Magical Towers that reached the azure sky, and as long as they were supplied with enough Crystal Ores or Magical Beasts’ Essence Crystals, their attack scope would reach 1,500 meters. The whole castle was magnificent and imposing, and it was like a colossal monster that blocked the Ural Mountains’ road.

There was a large population in the castle, and more than 5 million long-term residents, while merchants, mercenaries, adventurers, and other kinds of people would come here, and the castle’s population reached a shockingly high figure.

This castle had all the necessary facilities, and there were many restaurants and hotels in it, as well as the great Saint Peter Church, and an army camp that had a large number of soldiers. There was also the continent’s famous Ural Mercenary Corps, and its general headquarters was established here.

If it could be said that Vasily Cathedral was the Church’s base of operations in the south, then Saint Peter Castle was the core of the Church’s in the south, and it was also the source of all supplies. Many of Delar Empire’s strategic resources such as weapons, armor, rations others would pass through here before they would be sent to more than 100 Churches and innumerable military bases in the south.

The Church’s Missionary Elder Doleac had once said proudly that even if a great disaster befell the continent and Saint Peter Castle couldn’t get to buy any rations, it could still depend upon the stored supplies to survive for more than five years, and it could supply enough food for several million people to survive for five years.

Even though Doleac’s claim was exaggerated, it could be deducted through it that an unimaginably large amount of supplies was stored in the castle.

The Main Church had garrisoned here 80,000 of its troops permanently, and when the Magical Beast Realm mounted a sneak-attack and destroyed many churches one after the other, the remaining members of the churches in the south had all holed up in the castle. Many Guardian Knights and Spellcasters that belonged to different military units were here, and their number reached 20,000, while if they added to them Ural Mercenary Corps and the other great Mercenary Corps that were supported and raised by the Church, the number of soldiers able to fight would reach 150,000.

There were large walls, Magical Towers with ample energy, and abundant supplies, as well as a great army with 150,000 troops. Such factors made Saint Peter Castle impregnable, and everyone, including soldiers in charge of the castle’s defense, zealous believers, Missionaries, or Guardian Knights that fled from the south’s lands, believed that it would be impossible for the Magical Beast Realm to take this castle. This was also the opinion of the lofty Pope, Elder Wilbur, and other high-echelon members of the Main Church.

They believed that as long as they lowered their factions’ scope, and focused their whole power on Saint Peter Castle, they wouldn’t just be able to resist the large attacks of the Dark Association and Magical Beast Realm, they would still protect the last fort of the Church in the south, and they might even be able to launch deadly counter-attacks at the enemy in critical junctures.

The soldiers were all spirited due to the Red-robed Archbishop Carell’s heartening news, and they felt like they witnessed the dawn after darkness. They were confident in the majestic Saint Peter Castle.

In the past ten days, the great army led by Yang Ling quickly eradicated more than 100 Churches and several hundred strongholds of the Main Church in the south, before it rushed toward the Ural Mountains. It had already reached Saint Peter Castle and was in front of it. As long as it destroyed the castle, the Church’s influence over the south would be eradicated thoroughly.

“Yang Ling, do you have any good methods for taking this castle?” As Klive observed the majestic Saint Peter Castle, he shook his head helplessly.

“Do you think that there is any feasible method other than intense attacks?” Yang Ling looked at the team brought over by Elder Klive, and shook his head while he smiled bitterly. “If you brought with you 100,000 or 80,000 elite Darkness Soldiers, then taking over Saint Peter Castle will be quite easy. But you have brought over 10,000 old or sick people, and there aren’t even enough to fill the gaps between the enemies’ teeth.”

The Dark Great Elder led the army through a shortcut to quickly advance onward and mount a sneak-attack on the Church’s main camp. Even though they managed to eradicate many Churches and strongholds in the way, they left the difficult and thorny Saint Peter Castle to Yang Ling.

They had still dispatched Elder Klive along with a corps as reinforcement, but they had just 10,000 soldiers, and they were either new recruits or old and sickly soldiers. One could only count on them for waving flags and shouting battle cries, as it was impossible for them to fight bravely and conquer Saint Peter Castle.

Saint Peter Castle wasn’t like Iron Edge Castle, and it had a large number of supplies, while the activated Magical Towers formed a magical barrier with a large scope, and it could block people’s Mental Energy. Yang Ling had tried several times using Wizard Spells such as Earth Evasion or Wind Evasion to go inside without succeeding. He couldn’t come up in a short time with a good way to take the castle other than head-on attacks.

“This is…”

As Klive looked at the ridiculous 10,000 soldiers behind him, he chuckled awkwardly. He also wanted to conquer Saint Peter Castle, destroy the Church’s road to the south, and eradicate all of its factions in the south.

But, the Great Elder wanted to focus his power on mounting a sneak attack on the Church’s main base, and this was why he took away all elites, and just sent hurriedly 10,000 new recruits and injured soldiers as reinforcement. This was already the Dark Association’s upper limit.

“Sir, Saint Peter Castle is heavily guarded and has a large number of soldiers. Attacking it head-on isn’t a rational and wise choice.” When General Ashnamon noticed that Yang Ling’s brows were furrowed, he stated his view about this matter. “I think that the best plan is sending someone to sneak inside, and use Teleportation Formation Spells to send out forces inside quickly. We should try to take over the castle from the inside. But, there is another feasible plan, and it’s luring out the soldiers in charge of the city’s defense to exterminate them in open fields. As for the worst plan, it’s issuing a war command, and gathering all soldiers able to fight to launch a head-on attack.”

“Okay, Ashnamon. Why don’t you first probe out the castle’s power? If you can’t sneak inside, then you should try to lure them out for a fight on open fields.” Yang Ling couldn’t up with a good plan in a short time, and this was why he could only launch an attack to probe the enemies. If he could lure out the enemies’ main force, that would be the best outcome, as if they couldn’t do so, they could only attack them head-on, and they would have to pay a grave price to get the victory.

Ashnamon was both brave and wise, and he quickly mobilized soldiers after he got an order. He had first sent soldiers to sneak into Saint Peter Castle because he hoped that they could launch an attack from the inside. But, it was a pity that since news about the arrival of Yang Ling’s army spread out, the Red-robed Archbishop Carell fortified the defense, and forbade anyone from coming or leaving.

Ordinary people couldn’t get inside the castle even if they paid a hefty sum, and only members of the church could get inside. After it was confirmed that a certain person a member of the church, they would take him into the castle through a hanging basket.

Since the first plan didn’t succeed, they could only try another method.

Ashnamon sent a Dragon Blood Warrior that rode a Dragon Blood Warrior along with a soldier that rode a Horned Eagle, and they used the hazy moonlight to approach Saint Peter Castle. They hoped that they could get inside quietly, and construct a Teleportation Formation Spell in a secluded region, before teleporting the soldiers inside the castle.

But, it was a pity that the walls were guarded by Spellcasters, and even though the Dragon Blood Warrior and the Horned Eagle Knight could hide from patrolling soldiers, they couldn’t hide from Spellcasters’ detection spell, and they were discovered even though they were still far from them, At that moment, the Magical Towers’ terrifying lightning bolts, fireballs, and other spells rained upon them and took their lives.

Even though the Dragon Blood Warrior that rode a Dragon Blood had detoured around the castle’s walls and dived down fast from a high region, he was still quickly discovered by Spellcasters’ detection spell. The whole sky of Saint Peter Castle was in the scope of the detection spell, and even a little fly couldn’t get inside, let alone a large Magical Beast.

Ashnamon was left without a choice, and he could only send the soldiers to carry out an attack and dispose of the Church’s spies outside the castle with the help of the Magical Beast Army. Afterward, they started making provocations in front of the castle every day, and they hoped to lure out the defensive army’s main force.

However, the Red-robed Archbishop Carell was as crafty as a fox and as calm as an old ox. He forbade the soldiers from going out to fight without permission, and the main army holed inside their tortoiseshell without taking any actions no matter what the enemy soldiers had done to provoke them. They all didn’t go out to fight even though they saw the newly arrived fleeing Missionaries and Guardian Knights being hunted down brutally by the Magical Beast Realm’s soldiers. They were unmoved!

A steel knife was quite sharp, but it still couldn’t deal with a thousand-year-old tortoise.

Since the first and second plans weren’t successful, Ashnamon couldn’t come with any other solution, and he could only assemble all soldiers and launch an attack to probe out the enemies. But, it was a pity that this also ended with failure.

The 2,000 Darkness Soldiers that charged at the front lines were turned into hedgehogs by the arrows that engulfed the sky before they approached the walls, and when the soldiers just crossed half of the way, meteors rained upon them from the sky and crushed the soldiers along with the carriages.

Even the Magic Crystal Cannons and Dragonbone Battle Carriages were destroyed by the Magical Towers’ remote-range spells before they released their power. The Magic Crystal Cannons possessed great power, but their range was just 1,000 feet, and it was shorter than the Magical Towers’ firing range.

This was why they weren’t able to pose a threat on the castle, and it was also the same for Dragonbone Battle Carriages, as once the firing range surpassed 1500 feet, the battle carriages’ might would become too low, and they wouldn’t be able to pose a deadly threat on the defensive army and the castle’s gate.

They couldn’t use evasion spells or teleportation spells to go inside, and they couldn’t sneak inside through disguising themselves, while they also couldn’t approach the enemies to launch a head-on attack. What should they do?

Even though Ashnamon gave this matter his all, he still couldn’t come with a method to conquer the castle even after he stayed in the vicinity of Saint Peter Castle for three whole days, and he was at his wits’ end.

As for Elder Klive, he also was anxious, while Yang Ling also couldn’t come with a good method to conquer the castle, and according to the front line’s news, the great army led by the Dark Great Elder was also entangled by the Church’s main force, and they were deadlocked.

What was worse was that according to reliable intelligence, the Church’s reinforcements were rushing over from all corners of the continent, and if they didn’t end the battles quickly, such a deadlock would be more disadvantageous to the Dark Association and the Magical Beast Realm.

What should be done?

As Yang Ling observed the impenetrable Saint Peter Castle, he furrowed his brows, and he looked at the Ural Mountains behind the castle that stretched for 10,000 miles. He was pondering strenuously over a way to conquer the castle.