Chapter 984: Volume 32 Dark Clouds Roll In - 2 Got It
Dragumo’s strategy proved to be quite effective. The north and south wings of the castle were firmly under the control of the half-beasts without much effort, and the Knossos soldiers, caught unprepared for such a ferocious assault, were quickly routed. By the time they realized what had happened, the half-beast army had already seized control of the two castles, while the remaining half-beasts were relentlessly slaughtering the still dazed Cretans.
The only slight complication lay with the castle to the west. As the residence of Manite, the commander who led the Cretans southwards into Livonia, Manite wasn’t too fond of garrisoning his soldiers inside, but it was his home, after all, and maintaining the necessary guard force was a given. To capture this castle in one fell swoop required careful planning, yet time was running out.
Two squads of guards were in the midst of changing shifts, and the Door of the castle seemed most relaxed. No one expected anything to happen. The Livonians’ calm belied the impending peril, which the Cretans seemed utterly oblivious to.
Meloni took a deep breath, drew his bow, and nocked an arrow. A distance of one hundred and twenty meters was already challenging enough for him, with wind direction, crossbow quality, and in-the-moment performance all influencing the outcome of this shot. If he could advance another twenty meters, he’d be confident in taking down the opponent.
But it was these twenty meters that he couldn’t advance. Although the Cretans were careless, they remained vigilant around the castle. A few Bright and Dark Sentries appeared relaxed, but that didn’t mean they’d let their guard down. And in this battle, the various fronts unfolding simultaneously could afford no mistakes; a single slip-up on his part would put immense pressure on the other parties involved.
The sound of his companions drawing deep breaths resounded clearly in Meloni’s ears. None of them were certain about this shot, but they had no other choice. If they couldn’t completely annihilate the two squads of Knossos Soldiers preparing for the shift change, they would have to rely on the half-beasts’ rapid and wild charge to compensate.
The gates needed to be controlled within the shortest time possible. With control over the Door, half the mission would be complete. There weren’t many soldiers stationed inside the castle, but once they closed the Door, the losses incurred from trying to capture the castle could increase exponentially.
Dragumo too was feeling the tension. The three castles had to be fully under control; otherwise, the war would devolve into a siege, and the Knossos Army stationed in the Black Forest could soon counter-attack, tearing him to shreds. Only by holding these three castles could he buy time for reinforcements to arrive.