City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 184: Occupied

“They have come!” I said softly and sighed.
 
I had expected them, but wished they would not come.
 
It is the first time they have attacked me when I am surrounded by people. Though it is also the first time; they are supported by the bandits.
 
It is a perfect chance for them to attack me. I am away from my city and the majority of army and most powerhouses.
 
I would have been surprised. If they hadn’t attacked me.
 
The moment bandits saw the assassins coming toward us; they burst out with their full power. 
 
They were hiding their power, another unsurprising thing.
 
It took mere seconds for the assassins to reach us and surround us from all sides, before coming at us.
 
Or rather me; I am their target.
 
“Now,” I ordered. 
 
Immediately, a change had occurred in the people around me. Their movements become faster and their attacks powerful.
 
The bandits were not the only ones hiding; we were hiding our strength too.
 
The bow in my hand vibrated as I activated its second ability. It took more mana, but I have been conserving it, using only the base arrows.
 
This ability is called solid because it makes the arrows solid, more than the general energy arrows I have been using.
 
Four of such green solid arrows materialized on the bow as I pushed my mana into the artifact and activated my skills.
 
Piercing Arrow. Scatter Shot. Hunters Mark. Snipers Focus. Crippling Shot.
 
Till now, I had not used more than two skills. I didn’t need to, but with the assassins, I am bringing out my skills. 
 
As they applied to the bow, their power will be enhanced even further.
 
Sup Sup Sup
 
Four arrows released from my bow and another four formed on it, in an instant. I released them and the ones formed after that. I continued to release them at bandits and assassins without stopping.
 
It made the bandits stop in their tracks immediately, and they dodged before continuing toward me.
 
Seeing that; I wanted to curse loudly.
 
These assassins are not weaklings; they are powerful as well as experienced. Not anyone could dodge my arrows at such a close distance.
 
My enemies have left no stone unturned and if I want to survive this, then I will have to give everything I have.
….
 
The assassins came and there were twelve of them. They are powerful, I couldn’t even see them clearly.
 
They surrounded Blackwell and the people around him, before moving toward them with a speed that become invisible to me. 
 
It was so fast that I could only see the afterimages they have left behind.
 
Multiple things happened as the assassins attacked. First, the bandits revealed their full power.
 
With the way they were fighting, I thought they were using their full power, but I was wrong. 
 
They were hiding a lot of their strength. Thankfully, Blackwell and others also seemed to be holding back their power as well.
 
As the bandits moved toward them, powerful skills and spells exploded around them. The arrows of Blackwell turned more solid, and he begin to shoot them at much faster speed.
 
The only thing I am seeing are the arrows in the air; not how he is nocking them and shooting them.
 
It is not just him, but also my sister, whose spells have become even more dangerous. There are more ice daggers and lances appearing around her; she has literally started to freeze people to death with the touch of her sword.
 
Baron Harrods seemed the same, but when the first bandit had reached him, he turned into the phantom.
 
I didn’t see what happened next, other than the assassin retreating with blood falling on the ground.
 
“Hehe, I didn’t think, we will get such support,” said the bandit, as he appeared in front of me.
 
“With it, killing you all won’t be a problem anymore,” he added, looking at me. “The assassins will not make any difference, bandit; you all will die, nonetheless,” I replied calmly.
 
Anger flashed in the green orc’s eyes, and he came at me. 
 
Hun!
 
I readied myself to respond to him when something surprising happened. 
 
Puch!
 
An arrow came flying fast and lodged itself into the head of the bandit and came out through the eye. I watched the shock appearing in its eye as it fell in front of me.
 
This thing had happened with the others, but not with me.
 
I looked ahead of me and didn’t see the archer who shot the bandit. There are a lot of archers around, it is hard to guess which one had shot the arrow.
 
Whoever did it, I am grateful.
 
I used this opportunity to get a look around and see what I saw couldn’t help but turn my expressions worse. 
 
The bandits' morale had risen with the entry of assassins and that is a bad thing for us. Their low morale had helped us tremendously, we were able to kill a lot of them and made some escape.
 
Now, the bandits are fighting back in earnest; it is a good thing; we have already killed half of them.
 
There is a much fewer numbers, than they were at the beginning of the battlefield, but all those remaining are strong and I won’t always get help, like I had just done.
 
I turned to the main battle, where a huge change had occurred.
 
It had become isolated; the common bandits and the soldiers have separated from the main battle. 
 
Before many bandits tried their hand against Blackwell and others, but now, they have left them alone. They have revealed their full power, and it is not something that common bandit and soldier could wade in.
 
Those who tried paid with their lives.
 
There are fifty-some people fighting in there, but the power of those people is so much that they could defeat the rest of us fighting around.
 
Everyone understood this admission, which is why the fierce fighting that started with the appearance of assassins slowed down rapidly, till we have stopped fighting.
 
We have now separated and watched the battle that is being fought in the middle.
 
It is surprising, but even the bandits understand how fruitless the fighting is when their fate won't be decided by them.
 
The fate of the battle will depend on those fighting in the center. Those who will win it will be the winner of the battlefield.
 
“Do we have a chance of winning against them?” I asked my guards, who have gathered around me. 
 
“Nothing could be said, but from what I could see, the scale seemed to be in favor of the bandits,” replied Stone, and I couldn’t help but nod with a heavy sigh.
 
It is a reality, with assassins joining the ranks. Our enemies have nearly twice several powerhouses as us and they are powerful, especially the assassins.
 
All of them seemed near Level 30 and one, who seemed to be their leader, was Level 30+. He is a terror, his speed is akin to teleporting, but despite that, Baron Harrods seemed to be keeping up with him.
 
The leader is trying for the Blackwell, but Baron Harrods is stopping him.
 
Still, he is not the only assassin Baron Harrods is dealing with. There are three more assassins that are attacking him, which gives a leader a chance to attack Ignatius, who is the target.
 
He started to show his real power, and I have to say; he is good. Especially with that artifact.
 
The way he is using it for the defense is really amazing. I didn’t know, the bow could be used as such. 
 
The battle is unlike anything I had seen before. Even though I had been in a battle where a High Mage and Knight fought; it was done in the tree, where I couldn’t see much.
 
Not to mention, I have been so swarmed with the undead that I didn’t have even a moment to look at other things.
 
I have to give to him for the people he had brought. Especially that aegis caster. She is the reason so many of them are alive. Her shields are amazing. They will pop everywhere, defending people and also giving them a chance to attack.
 
She is specially targeted, both the assassins and the bandits are attacking her, but not a single one is succeeding in getting close.
 
Despite all these powerful people on our side, I couldn’t help but get worried. The bandits and assassins are not weak, and they have only one target.
 
They will win the moment Ignatius is dead.
 
I don’t know whether Colonel Garran will be able to command men to keep fighting and morale, they will have with their leader dead.
 
I pushed those thoughts away and focused back on the battle, which looked beautiful in a brutal way.
 
Everyone is using everything they have and especially my sister. Who seemed to become the lady of the ice. She is the only person in their fighting who is on the full offensive, rarely does she summon the shield to defend herself.
 
She is bombarding her enemies with the spells; they are coming from all corners and directions.
 
Though the people she is fighting are also good. They are defending her attacks, but not always.
 
People got killed.
 
A few minutes passed, and the battle became even more intense than before; people have gotten used to each other's abilities.
 
It had become harder for them to kill each other.
 
I had just thought that when a person died; he was from our side. One of the Captains, the man, was powerful, but the assassin had decapitated him with his long thin dagger.
 
Seeing that, my expression couldn’t help but change.
 
That man was one of the powerful ones and he got killed, taking even our numbers down even more.
 
“Can you guys help in battle?” I asked my guards. I didn’t want to ask them, seeing their responsibility is to protect me, but if we lost; there is a high chance, many of us will lose our lives.
 
I couldn’t let Blackwell die. It will delay the plans for months and that is not good for me or the city.
 
“Shaun, protect Mr. Silver,” said Stone a moment later and touched my shoulder, before walking toward the battlefield with Zela and Jon.
 
Nobody had stopped them, some bandits even watched them with joy.
 
In these few minutes, many daring people have moved toward the battlefield. Mostly bandits, more than half of them, have ended up losing their lives, while the rest retreated to various injuries on their bodies.
 
I feel bad sending them, especially Stone, who is injured.
 
The injury given by the undead is not easy to heal. Jon and Zela had been lucky that I had been able to force the Lich to heal them. 
 
Soon, they approached the battlefield, and immediately, the two assassins moved toward them. 
 
Jon and Stone acted immediately. Jon leaped toward the assassin while Stone smoothly moved his sword to defend against the attack.   
 
The assassins may be powerful, but my guards are not weak and have much greater experience.
 
“They will be fine, right?” I asked Shaun, to which he smiled. 
 
“Don’t worry. Mr. Silver, they have fought in much worse odds and survived.” He replied, and I heaved a little sigh of relief.
 
They do not need to kill any bandit or assassin. It will be more than enough if they are able to keep some of them occupied.

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