Chapter 228 - No Time (8)

The sun had barely set when Jean summoned all his captains and commanders to the guild hall. Billy went alone again because his friends were guarding the walls with their students. He didn't have that kind of role, after all. Everyone knew that the enemies were eager to end that fight as soon as possible, so they probably would attack at night as well. The day had been a cloudy one, and so would be the night… perfect for night raids.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone," Jean said while showing the bags under his eyes. "We don't have much free time, so I will be brief. You all have to keep your troops awake at night to defend the walls. It will be hard, but you can't use more than half of them at night."

"The enemies won't be able to attack all out at night too many times, night raids are also tough for the attackers," Gerald said. "The only problem is that they have their crossbows and shields."

Billy heard that a bit sooner, but the tamers also brought the adventurers of the states under their control and made them use the same tactic on the easter wall. While they weren't that effective with that, they were versatile enough to put it to good use and deal quite a bit of damage.

"Yes, that is why you shouldn't leave the walls and focus only on defense, it will be nerve wracking, but it will prevent massive losses," Jean said.

The only problem was the fact that they won't be able to attack that way freely. The archers will be exposed, even the ones in the watchtowers. That being said, Billy had an idea to deal with that.

"Now about the reinforcements that Edward had sent…" Jean said and then looked at Billy. "I asked them to keep heading North and join forces with Aura. She wrote a message that her side is being attacked as well. The enemies don't want us to receive reinforcements, no matter what."

Billy already expected that, but it seemed that Jean didn't know if his father or someone closer to him was among the group. That was a letdown, and the worry would make Billy and the others sick. Fortunately, it didn't seem like they sent a larger army to attack Aura and Rosalie.

"They have my crossbows, so they will be fine, even in a difficult fight," Billy thought. "While dad is weaker than me now, he is way above than the average soldier."

He also learned some tricks from Billy, like Vigor, and against a smaller army. That skill would be much more effective since he won't have to worry about preserving his strength. In any case, the talk was over, so they split up and assumed their posts. Billy went to have dinner with his friends, and then they split up their forces to guard the wall. Billy didn't have to stay with the recruits, so he went to work on his project…

Around midnight, the most obvious thing happened, the barbarians began to move and attack the wall. As if things weren't troublesome enough, they weren't alone… some ordinary soldiers armed with crossbows and carrying a lot of ammo were behind them and began to target the soldiers and adventurers in the walls while the barbarians were putting some ladders to climb on them.

Naturally, everyone on the wall was ready for that. They couldn't knock out the ladders without exposing themselves. Still, they threw large rocks that smashed the heads and knocked down several barbarians. They also used boiling water and oil to burn everyone who was reaching the top of the walls. Still, eventually, some soldiers had to bring out more of those to the walls, and that gave the barbarians the chance to attack.

However, very suddenly, the bolts coming from behind that were covering for them stopped coming, and the soldiers in the walls began to attack the enemies in earnest. Those who were on the ground turned around and heard the screams of their allies on the backline… the defenders ambushed them. That was supposed to be impossible since the gates remained closed during the whole day and night, but… when they went to check it, they saw some adventurers and young-looking soldiers attacking them. They also grabbed their rapid-fire crossbows and began to kill the barbarians in the droves…

"What the hell happened here? How did they suddenly appear behind us?"

The barbarians looked around. They couldn't find an explanation. Before they could do anything, they heard the northern gate opening, and hundreds of soldiers joined the fight. The barbarians saw themselves being flanked by two armies, and even though they were strong and had some sort of discipline, there was nothing they could do aside from running to their lives and to escape. They had to wipe out the enemies behind them, and so they did it. Hundreds of enemies rushed toward Billy's ambush group.

"Sarah!" Billy shouted.

Sarah touched the ground and immediately raised some large and tall walls, making the whole group disappear from the enemies' sight. The barbarians didn't give that easily and began to attack those walls, and due to their massive physical strength, the walls didn't last long, but they didn't find anyone inside those walls. While they were in shock, the army that was pursuing them, being led by Gustav and Gerald, began to wipe them out.

When the enemy finally recovered and began to retreat in earnest, Billy and his group were already inside the walls again. The trick that they used was simple, he just dug a hole with earth magic. Since he made one out of the capital after moving, he had some experience, so he only ended up using half of his mana to make a two hundred meters long underground passages.

"This should keep them on their toes for a bit," Billy said while he watched the last of his group leave the underground passage.