Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

As they marched, the Astanian troops stared at the city with cold gazes.

“Your Highness, I think something is wrong.” Remarked Dominic with a frown.

Normally, soldiers would be atop the walls to monitor the situation outside the city. However, Dominic didn’t find a single soldier.

“There is also no one at the gates,” Lucas added in a solemn tone.

Hearing this, Leighnard scrunched his eyebrows. He was silent for a moment when a thought crossed his mind.

Could it be…

With a look of surprise, he kicked his horse’s belly and shouted to the troops. “Advance! Move faster!”

The military officers were quite surprised by his command, but they still sent a signal to their troops.

“What is going on, Your Highness?” Dominic asked as he urged his horse to match Leighnard’s pace.

Lucas didn’t say anything, but he was also confused.

Without turning his head, Leighnard replied. “There can only be two reasons why the walls are empty…”

He paused, his face turning serious before he continued.

“First one is that Leroy has betrayed us and warned the people of Noyam to leave. The second one is that Leroy attacked the city on his own.”

The two Venerables were stunned when they heard this.

Leroy brought twenty thousand warriors with him.

Even without the help of the golem, his troops had the strength to fight Noyam’s city defense forces.

Lucas and Dominic didn’t believe that Leroy was stupid enough to betray them so they thought he must have chosen to attack Noyam on his own.

“But why would he do something so dangerous? Noyam’s military forces might be lacking, but fighting them with only twenty thousand warriors would still result in heavy casualties.” Lucas furrowed his eyebrows.

“Because he wants to be acknowledged,” Dominic said with a stern look.

Lucas raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

“He may have joined us, but he still hasn’t shown much to make us acknowledge him. If he could take Noyam on his own, it would cement his allegiance to Astania.” Dominic explained.

Lucas revealed a look of realization.

“I see…”

The Astanian troops charged without stopping.

The warriors thought that an enemy ambush was coming so they braced themselves for an attack, but when they reached the enemy’s range, there was still no movement from Noyam’s side.

“What is going on? We already entered their range, but they still hadn’t attacked us.”

“Could there be a trap waiting for us up ahead?”

“Maybe the people of Noyam had already escaped.”

The soldiers were baffled, but they pushed forward without slowing down.

When they got closer, they finally realized that the walls were unmanned.

“There are no enemies atop the walls!”

“They must have fled out of fear!”

At this moment, the gate was only a few hundred meters from them so Leighnard raised his hand to signal the troops to slow down.

He then shouted. “Siege units, forward! Destroy the gates!”

As soon as he gave the command, the vanguard units made a path for the siege units to move in.

A huge battering ram was pushed out by twenty muscular warriors. Fifty shield bearers also came to protect them.

“Push! Pull! Push! Pull!”

They had done this a couple of times in practice and in actual combat so the siege units quickly got to work.

Bam!

Each time the pointed tip of the ram struck the gate, a heavy ’bam’ rang out.

Bam! Bam!

After three strikes, the wooden part of the gate was pried open.

“Continue! Push harder! Come on!”

“Push! Pull!”

At the seventh strike of the battering ram, the gate collapsed from the impact.

Bam!

Seeing this, Leighnard immediately gave the command as he unsheathed his sword. “Siege units, fall back! Vanguard troops, follow me! We are heading in!”

The siege units didn’t dawdle. They lifted the battering ram and quickly moved to the side to give way to the vanguard troops to enter.

As they entered the gate, Dominic and Lucas moved to Leighnard’s left and right side, providing him with a tight and impregnable defense.

Hiya! Hiya!

Upon entering, they saw the streets covered in blood. There were also corpses of warriors strewn across the road.

Looking at the wounds on the corpses and the degree of the mess, everyone could tell that a tough battle had taken place just recently.

“That guy is one prideful lunatic. He is a decisive one. I give him that.” Leighnard mumbled at the sight of this mess.

“What should we do, Your Highness? Should we help him?” Dominic asked while looking at the crown prince.

Since it was confirmed that Leroy had chosen to side with them, he wanted to lend the guy a hand to minimize his losses.

Leighnard shook his head. “He chose this so we have to respect it, but we can’t just wait here either.”

“Lord Dominic, send a few scout teams to observe the situation, but don’t let them interfere in the battle. Tell them to report to me immediately once they find out the situation.” He instructed.

“I understand.” Dominic nodded and left to deliver his instructions to the troops.

…

Meanwhile, deep within the city, a fierce battle was taking place.

“Lord Leroy, why are you doing this?! You are a Venerable of Harune! Why are you working with those bastards from Astania?!” Shouted the injured commander of Noyam’s city defense forces.

They had been fighting for several hours and despite their advantage in numbers, Leroy’s troops had continuously pushed them back.

From having forty-five thousand warriors, they were down to less than thirty thousand and all of them were covered in wounds.

On the other hand, Leroy’s army only lost a little more than two thousand.

Leroy didn’t actively join the battle, but he wasn’t passive either. He killed whoever was in front of him, whether they were an acquaintance or a stranger.

With a cold face, Leroy responded. “Weren’t you one of those people who wanted me to leave Harune?”

As someone who had come from a humble background, he had faced numerous criticisms from the aristocratic houses. They never once took him seriously. Even after he became a Venerable, they still secretly talked behind his back.

Leroy didn’t think much of it back then, but now that he had joined Astania, he no longer had the reason to be lenient to those who had offended him.

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