Jabri's mood can now only be described as "high-spirited".
Lying low for years, he finally leaped from being a small City Guard Army leader to the City Lord of Semanud City. Such a leap would be impossible under normal circumstances.
It should be known that Governor Mahri's family has been ruling Semanud City since the Fatimid Dynasty, and they have marital ties with governors of several nearby provinces, making their power deeply entrenched.
He, a lowly-born Mamluk, was only fit to be Governor Mahri's dog for life.
As for the Crusaders about to arrive, he was not the least bit worried.
Just as he had said earlier, a re thousand or so cavalry, no matter how strong, could they ride their warhorses across the moat and conjure up dozens of cloud ladders, siege hamrs, and siege towers to kill their way onto the city walls?
Absolutely preposterous!
The battle of Damietta was won so easily by the Crusaders, in Jabri's opinion, ultimately because Governor Iben was too foolish! Just like Mahri, these people who rely on their bloodlines to rise to power are utterly useless; they can't fight a decent battle.
Holding a fortress with dozens of towers, yet being easily breached by the Crusaders in one night.
Wasn't the Crusaders' previous night raid on King Saladin's camp a sufficient lesson?
Utterly foolish!
Jabri's lips curled upward, full of mockery.
At this mont, in the direction where the setting sun was falling, a line of Iron Knights, seemingly forged from steel, erged from the horizon in neat steps, with an overwhelming sense of dread.
Line after line.
Banners painted with the Cross and Double-headed Eagle Badge fluttered in the wind.
The knights, their bodies and mounts stained red with blood, their full-face helts hiding eyes that flickered with a sinister red light like vampire bats in the night.
The Saracen soldiers guarding the city couldn't help but be terrified.
"A bunch of cowards!"
Jabri cursed under his breath.
But his heart was pounding too; he was no ordinary person. As an Extraordinary, he could naturally see the extraordinariness of these enemies. That familiar yet strange blood aura was very much like the legendary Vampires.
Seeing the defenders' morale plumt, he knew it couldn't go on like this, and hurriedly stood up and shouted: "Look closely, the enemy is just a cavalry unit; they have no supply wagons, no infantry, not even any camp followers. What are you afraid of?"
"Did Governor Mahri's defeat cause the people blessed by the Holy Fire to lose their will to fight to the end?"
His roar did have so effect, after all.
But it couldn't prevent so from whispering in private, "Look at their equipnt, and then look at ours, how can we fight?"
"Look! That Double-headed Eagle!"
"What's with the Double-headed Eagle; don't the Franks often use this banner?"
"Fool, that's the flag of that Demon!"
"Demon?"
The militia's face first showed confusion, quickly replaced by terror. His lips even trembled.
"Is it... the army led by that Crusader Prince nad Losa?"
...
Losa slowly reined in his horse nad Solar Eclipse.
Following his order, a thousand cavalry orderly ca to a stop.
They hadn't spared the horses much on the journey so far; the soldiers were inevitably a bit tired.
Losa's warriors, although enhanced by various effects, were rely human after all. After one battle and a long journey, they were definitely not as tireless as robots.
However, their morale was at an all-ti high!
Even the legendary Wild Hunt would assist them in battle, and the Duke was the Heavenly Father's Holy Son, victorious in countless battles. They had no doubt of achieving another glorious victory under Losa's command!
Baron Charlie looked towards
"Have you noticed?"
"What?"
Baron Charlie's eyes were full of excitent: "Fighting under the Duke's command, I feel as if my strength has increased by a large margin, no wonder people say the Lord is the Holy Son descended to the mortal world, this must be Heavenly Father's blessing upon us."
Kurs stood beside Losa, his eyes flashed with crimson light. Although the day was ending, the defense arrangents of the garrison on the city walls were as clear as day to him: "My lord, it seems the enemy is well prepared."
Losa responded with a nod, "Moreover, the defending commander is clever; he didn't open the gates to let those routed troops into the city."
"Sir, if we had ambushed them successfully and took out those hawks ahead of ti, would the situation now be better?"
"It's not that easy."
Losa shook his head; though the profession of the Hawk Trainer is rare and exceptional, it cannot compare to true Extraordinary individuals. In this large city, breeding more than ten hunting hawks poses no issue.
More than ten hawks hide in the clouds, making it too difficult to intercept all of them. Even if Jeanne used her Holy Body and Cherinita flew with the wind, they couldn't prevent these hawks from scattering quickly.
Losa patted Kurs on the shoulder, "Rarely do things in the world go entirely according to plan. We've already eliminated the majority of the enemy's city-defense force. The plan has gone more smoothly than I anticipated. Just a small hiccup, no big deal."
Kurs is a smart person, but the smarter one is, the more they want things to be perfect. Yet, the battlefield situation changes in an instant. How can everything go as planned?
"Prajna, how is your recovery going?"
Prajna nodded slightly, "I'm ready."
"Good, follow the plan."
With a command from Losa, a thousand Iron Cavalry began to disperse, creating a periter around the scene.
She stretched out her fair, slender fingers. A brush half the height of a person appeared in her hand, and with a swift stroke, ink was splashed onto the ground, forming images in the blink of an eye.
Even many of the Crusader Knights seeing such a scene for the second ti couldn't help but reveal expressions of amazent. So who "understood" introduced it: "This must be the legendary Space Magic."
So smart ones linked the splashed ink to the ink seen when the Mad Hunt Cavalry appeared.
Could it be...
Were these exquisitely crafted siege weapons actually drawn with ink by the Iron Knight lady?
"Dispatch soone to take control of these catapults."
Even Prajna could manage
Even the Wild Hunt Knights can be summoned, not to ntion operating the siege equipnt by the militia. Anyway, catapults don't rely on ballistic calculations; hitting mostly depends on fate, rely requiring more uses.
Yet siege...
Jabri's face changed.
His lips trembled continuously, and even black, stiff hair uncontrollably grew on his cheeks.
"M…My lord, those Crusaders, they brought siege weapons!"
The guard shouted in fear.
This thod of creating things out of thin air is too bizarre for them. Such ans were only employed by Losa when attacking Feilaimai Castle. There were few survivors from that battle.
Even within the Crusader ranks, few have seen how those siege weapons appear, let alone them.
"They didn't bring them; I saw those siege weapons appear out of thin air with my own eyes—It's the miracle of the Devil of heretics! Their god is protecting them!"
A Coptic soldier who had converted to Fire Worship Church knelt in terror, continuously drawing a cross on his chest: "Heavenly Father, have rcy, forgive my sins of converting under the pressure of livelihood!"
"Stand up, you fool!"
Jabri's face was already pale.
He kept cursing, "You cowards! Even if the enemy has siege weapons, it's rely a thousand people. Aren't we guarding this strong fortress, unable to hold out until Lord Adil's reinforcents arrive?"
The question was rhetorical.
But in many militia guards' minds, this rhetorical question sounded like a statent.
They truly didn't believe they could hold out until Adil's reinforcents arrived.
Losa's reputation among the Copts isn't good, thanks to the Saracens' slander of Losa and the plundering activities of those Crusader Lords under Losa's nominal command but of violent disposition.
But sotis, a bad reputation is a hundred tis more intimidating than a good one!
"We are dood, those Franks will slaughter us all or sell us as slaves. Everything—our wives, children, possessions—will beco Spoils of War for the Franks."
"Holy Fire above, have you abandoned your people?"
As the Saracen defenders' morale plumted, Losa's cavalry had already dismounted and started resting.
With a loud bang.
The first massive stone flew with a whistling wind and crashed onto the city head. The stone's accuracy was unimaginably perfect, directly splitting a tower in half at the waist. Although it hasn't collapsed yet, it's already swaying unsteadily.
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