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

After the unprecedentedly big storm, huge masses of Marmots poured out of the Ural Mountain Range, sweeping across the Ural Plains like locusts. Not to mention the food stored at home, even the crops that were not yet ripened were wiped out by them. Many villages no longer had any food that could curb their hunger.

If the lack of grains and harvest had the people worried, then the following plague had many feeling hopeless.

Within a few short days, the merciless and cruel plague claimed more than a dozen lives. The situation in the disaster area got worse and worse. In fright and panic, people all fled their homes. There were some who moved towards the Capital of Banto Empire thousands of miles away, while more people swarmed towards the majestic Saint Peter Castle nearby, hoping that the powerful Church could save their lives.

The greater the expectation, the bigger the disappointment!

When Ural Plains was flourishing, the Church’s missionaries were on every corner, passionately spreading the Church’s faith. They proclaimed that under God’s glory, every church member would have blessings bestowed upon him.

With devout faith, the devotees brought their entire families to Saint Peter Castle. They had thought that they could stay temporarily at the Church’s largest castle in the South to avoid disaster and thought that the pastors of the Church were as compassionate and merciful as the missionaries spreading the faith, and would cure them of their illness for free. Unexpectedly, they were in for a shock at the sight of the tightly closed city gates.

According to reliable sources, the allied armies of the Dark Association and Magical Beasts Realm had already retreated out of a hundred-mile radius. But to prevent the other parties from sneaking into Saint Peter Castle disguised as refugees, and to prevent the refugees from bringing the plague into the castle, the Red-robed Archbishop Carell gave the command to close the city gates tightly. Even if the refugees were to scream, shout, or wail, even if they were to kneel on the ground to beg for mercy, even if they were cold and hungry and died one by one in front of the city gates, the Church Knights that were guarding the city strictly followed the command and kept the city gates tightly closed.

“My Lord, open the gates, open the gates…”

“Save my child, who can save my child, open the gates…”

…

After being in front of the city gates for a few days in a row, most of the refugees were physically exhausted. All of them were pleading with the soldiers guarding the city. To them, it would be nearly impossible to turn around and traverse across the Ural Plains to flee in the direction of the Capital due to their hunger and exhaustion. Their only hope was pinned on Saint Peter Castle, which was rich in resources.

As the center for goods and the springboard to conquer the South, Saint Peter Castle had huge amounts of resources stored for battle. The refugees believed that if the Church was willing to take out one percent, or even 0.1 percent of its available resources, the Church would be able to help them tide over the crisis. Unfortunately, their pleas were ignored. The compassionate and merciful Church missionaries of the old days had disappeared, leaving behind the cold city walls and cold Guardian Knights.

“Tsk tsk, there are so many refugees, this plague is simply too terrifying!”

“Yes, this plague is terrible. But, we still have to give thanks to the plague. If not, how else would the enemy have retreated so easily?”

“Precisely, thank goodness the bunch of demons of the Magical Beasts Realm have run out of food, and had to retreat. Or else, we can’t even get a good night’s rest with the hordes of Magical Beasts watching us all the time!”

…

Looking at the swarms of refugees outside the city gates, a few soldiers leaned on the bunker of the city walls and softly muttered among themselves. These couple of days, even though the city gates were tightly closed, the situation still seemed tense. But, Archbishop Carell had secretly sent a number of experienced scouts out. A group of them patrolled near the castle, while another group traced the tracks left behind by the enemy, and followed them, keeping close tabs on the other party’s movements.

According to intelligence from various sources, the Dark Association and Magical Beasts Realm suffered severe losses to their supply of food in the plague. While in the midst of retreating, they even had no choice but to kill war horses to satisfy their hunger. Along the way, too many weapons were abandoned to be counted. Not to mention the ordinary knives, swords, and heavy charging carts, even the damaged Magic Crystal Canons and Dragonbone Battle Carriages were abandoned on the spot. This showed how serious the problem of lack of food was for the other party!

After confirming again and again that the other party no longer had the energy to do battle, all of them heaved a sigh of relief, no matter if they were the soldiers guarding the city or the Church Executives. Even though the city gates were tightly closed, the oppression and the mental stress brought on by the Magical Beasts Army had dissipated. In the tensest period, almost all of the soldiers stood guard on the city walls. Even the troopers of the Ural Troops Team were pulled into helping to defend the city walls. But now, the soldiers on the city walls were almost reduced by half. After holding out for a few days, many of them could finally get a good night’s rest.

At sundown, a few scouts brought good news one after another. The enemy had retreated to the Clearwater River more than two hundred miles away. It might be that their food supplies were so critically low that most of their soldiers were forced to go into the forest to catch wild beasts and forage for wild vegetables to fill their stomachs. The rest of the soldiers took advantage of the time to make wooden rafts. By the looks of it, they seemed to be getting ready to further retreat by taking a shortcut across the river.

After realizing that the threat from the enemy had entirely dissipated, many nobles who were allied with the Church threw lavish banquets to celebrate. The Red-robed Archbishop was cautious by nature, but after finding out that the Pope had activated many soldiers to Saint Peter City through Magical Message, and was about to launch a large-scale counter-offensive against the Dark Association and the Magical Beasts Realm, he was utterly relieved. To make up for his damaged reputation, he commanded the tightly closed city gates to be opened and to give the refugees a little food and allow anyone who could pay twenty black Crystal Coins to enter the quarantined zone of the city to stay temporarily.

Most of the refugees were shabbily dressed. Not to mention twenty black Crystal Coins, they did not even have one black Crystal Coin. But a minority of minor nobles or small merchants that were among the fleeing refugees did have more than enough and could easily afford this small amount of Crystal Coins. Just as the Red-robed Archbishop Carell had predicted, over a hundred of nobles and their families were extremely relieved and thankful to get out of the bad situation. Not only did it bring him the reputation of being merciful and compassionate, but it also stopped most of the refugees from being released into the city and increasing the burden on Saint Peter Castle. This killed two birds with one stone!

As night fell, the poor refugees gathered outside the castle and begged loudly, hoping that the soldiers could reduce the fees required to enter the castle. They were so cold in the chilly winds that they were shivering, but the nobles and missionaries within the castle were raising their glasses in celebration. The lights were bright, and the atmosphere was joyous. No one had noticed that under cover of night, Marmot after Marmot had snuck up to the castle and were hidden nearby. And even more so, no one noticed the vague hissing noise underground.

Under the command of the Demoness, the Marmots found a few dozen spots with loose soil and quietly dug up long tunnels. To ensure that they would be able to take Saint Peter Castle in one shot, and achieve the aim of their ambush, they had some exits near the city gates, preparing to rapidly control the gates after charging in, and ready to welcome the army waiting outside. Some of the exits were near the army camps, ready to rapidly kill the sleeping soldiers, preventing them from banding together for a counter-attack. And there were also some exits at the base of the city walls, ready for them to rush up the city walls and into the Magical Towers to kill the Spellcasters within…

Marmots were known as Magical Beasts, which were first-rate in drilling holes. They would not even have any problems digging up the entire Gya Mountain. So it was no difficulty for them to dig a few dozen tunnels. Under the command of the Demoness, they worked together in harmony. Some of them took charge of digging up the soil, while some were in charge of moving the soil. They each moved rapidly towards their own target by relying on their outstanding sense of direction. If they encountered stones that blocked their way, they would nimbly go around it, or they would simply activate high-level Marmots to bite giant rocks into pieces quickly and swallow them, showing Yang Ling yet again how strong their teeth were!

“Aye, Mike, do you hear any noise?” An Earth Element Spellcaster who was sitting in the Magical Tower, deep in thought, focused and listened in puzzlement. Unfortunately, it was simply too noisy within the city. Many of the soldiers, after being repressed for many days, were shouting loudly like crazy after getting drunk. Even though he instinctively felt that something was wrong, he could not hear anything even after trying to listen for a long time.

“I hear the sounds of wine glasses clinking against each other. I hear the sounds of women moaning in pain and pleasure in bed…” The Wind Element Spellcaster Mike spread his arms exaggeratedly, speaking with feeling like a traveling poet, “Saint Peter Castle, you let the soldiers and women be drunk in pleasure tonight, but why do you leave me here alone to cry?”

“Hehe, Mike, who asked you not to have a rich dad, and who asked you not to be born into a noble family!” Looking at the lecherous Mike, the Spellcaster with the big beard smiled and took a big swig of wine.

After knowing that the enemy had retreated to Clearwater River, there was joy all over the castle. Many soldiers took the opportunity to relax thoroughly. They either went to the bars to feast or to look for their partners to have a few rounds of bodily combat. The Spellcasters within the Magical Tower were no exception. Originally, there were over 20 Spellcasters holding the fort at every Magical Tower, but now, there were only a few left on duty.

The three of them, including the big bearded Spellcaster and Mike, were born of normal civilians and had no money or power, so unluckily, they had to stay behind! Looking at other people making merry, and yet they themselves had to continue to do nothing on the city walls, every one of them was feeling more frustrated than the other!

“I swear, if I can’t be the son of a noble, then I’ll be the father of a noble!” Thinking of the young lady Celine that he had courted for the past half a year and was about to succeed, and thinking of her snow-white thighs and sexy neck, Mike waved his hand lecherously, causing the two brothers to laugh out loud.

…

The lights within the castle were bright, and people celebrated in various ways, with debauchery and sensuality. The soldiers and patrolling soldiers on duty were almost reduced by two-thirds of the usual number. The ones left behind were also just going through the motions with their vigilance greatly reduced. Nobody had thought that the enemy forces would leave and then return at this time. And no one even noticed anything strange going one underground. Even if anyone unintentionally heard vague sounds, he also thought nothing of it.

The soldiers who were celebrating would not have thought that an unprecedented disaster was about to descend upon them!

Under the command of the Demoness, a team of Marmots dug a tunnel first and waited in strict formation in a small remote forest within the city. Thereafter, people like the Dark Dragon King and the Corpse Wizard King came out of the tunnel one after another. With the successful set-up of the Teleportation Spell Formation, the Magical Beasts Army kept appearing, seemingly without end. The majestic Saint Peter Castle was now like a naked lady, fully exposed in front of the many bloodthirsty Magical Beasts.