City of Desire: Chapter 1039 Surprise (Patreon)

Proofread by Thomas F

“General, best of luck,” I said as I stepped onto the ice platform.

“Thank you, my lord,” she replied, without taking her eyes off the three coming toward her, led by Loxley; the man is a monster both by power and nature.

There is also Viscountess Valebrook, a blond-haired woman in her early thirties.

A level 40+ noble who uses a rapier, but hers is longer than mine; it's an artifact, and it looks like it is made of stone.

Captain Drillier is an armoured mercenary with a large shield. He is a tank that specializes in tanking spells.

All three are well-balanced to go against General Azalia, Leila, and me, especially when Selveron is supporting from the background. Unfortunately, they will only face Azalia.

“She alone, against those three,” Leila said, turning to me. “Can you tell me what gives you such confidence?”

“Isn’t it better to see it yourself than for me to tell you?” I replied. She didn’t like it, but she didn’t press further, and her eyes moved back to Selveron.

He is her opponent; her only job is to hold him back.

They came toward us while we attacked. From cannons to arrows, and when they got close. We began to use spells as well, which they defended against.

Finally, Loxley reached a hundred meters from the wall, and his mages began building siege towers.

Our mages moved to thwart them, but they had come prepared. They did not use just mages, but specialized skills. So, the only thing we did was slow them down.

I looked at the three other corps; they, too, were moving toward the gates held by Orok, Irab, and Javier.

“Nine Lv. 40s; it's already a huge number. I really hope he won’t bring out another,” she said. I could feel her worry. I am worried as well.

Those three are good, but they will face seasoned Lv. 40s, and that will be a massive challenge for them.

“He likely will.”

I don’t want to accept it, but it’s the truth. I could feel it; he is at least hiding one more Lv. 40.

“Thankfully, we have it good with those below 40,” she said, and I smiled.

I might not be able to get those Lv. 40, but I got a good number of those just below it. It’s my people, like Lt. Colonel Halewright, Captain Dunwall, the gladiators, and the mercenaries I hired.

I may have faced a problem with Lv. 40’s, but with those below, I have done an amazing job.

I could confidently say I have as many Lv. 30s as Viremont; I might even have more of them than he does. So, my top powerhouses need to hold his back and defend the wall.

If the wall fell, it would become a bloody street battle.

I pushed those thoughts and focused ahead, where Loxley was moving closer and closer to the wall.

He personally did not launch any attack, nor did the two beside him; the rest were throwing hundreds of spells, arrows, and cannonballs at the walls.

Finally, there were barely a few meters of distance between them, and I watched with bated breath.

…

Viscount Loxley

Tens of spells, arrows, and cannons came at me; all defended by my mages.

I wish one of the attackers would avoid it and make me draw the blade, but they did not.

All were defended without exception.

They are my people; I had trained them myself. They are aware of the cost if any of the attacks reaches me.

“She does not look afraid,” said Virebrook, looking at the General standing alone with no Lv. 40s beside her. “We should be careful. I am not getting a good feeling about it,” added Direll.

He is a mercenary, but he has good instincts.

I was about to open my mouth to reply when she did something. She took out a violet circlet and put it on her head.

“That is an artifact,” said Valebrook.

I looked at it, and it didn’t seem like anything I recognized. There are many headgear artifacts, including the one Silver’s sister is wearing, but it’s not like anything I had ever seen.

‘Does anyone recognize it?’ I asked through the channel, sending the image across it.

No answer came.

That did not make me feel good. Silver does not have many artifacts; he wouldn’t have given her two artifacts for no reason.

I could see greed flicker in the eyes of the two as they considered her two artifacts. Her blade is powerful enough, and now with the circlet, she is a prize.

Nobody said anything, but I could see them becoming alert.

Time passed, and finally, we were only a meter away from the wall. She is now directly in front of us, looking at us without a hint of fear.

“Surrender, General, and I promise I will be gentle with you tonight. Well, gentle as I could be,” I said to the woman.

I love to fight and to bed my enemies. It gives me the greatest pleasure to defeat them on the battlefield and break them in bed; there is nothing like it.

“Your defeat is imminent, General; give up,” added Virebrook; the woman said nothing and just looked.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but grin. If she surrendered, it would have taken all the fun out of it.

“I hope you won’t disappoint me, General,” I said, and my staff blade appeared in my hand, and I leaped toward her, activating Wolf’s Strike and Earthshaking Blade, my inheritance skill.

I would have liked to play with her a little, but Viremont wants to finish it as soon as possible.

Still, I hope she will last for at least a minute.

The other two leaped with me, bringing out their weapons and activating their skills, while the woman in front of us just watched for a moment longer before her hands moved toward her blade and the crystal on her circlet shone.

She unsheathed her diamond blade, and an aura method covered it, before a loud thud rang out.

Immense shock rose in my heart.

…

Count Viremont

“Reckless,” said Gaiden, seeing Loxley leap toward the General, but I am not really surprised.

He is reckless, too confident in his abilities, but this works for him. It is what makes him strong and lets him fight enemies more powerful than he is.

According to intelligence, the general is an above-average fighter, not as good as other generals, much less as gifted as Silver.

I planned to make Loxley fight Silver, and he will once he has finished with the General.

The General remained unmoving for a moment before moving to unsheathe her blade, while the crown on her head shone gently.

I searched, but I could not name the artifact. It’s unknown like the blade of Silver, but unlike it, this one is a trinket according to Selveron.

She unsheathed her blade; it came out covered in diamond fire. The fire isn’t the only thing; the aura method is covering it.

Which surprised me; it wasn’t long ago that she awakened the aura.

It’s within expected; it won’t change, the thi

I was in mid-thought when I froze as I heard the loud thud as two huge things appeared on both sides of her.

“Golems!” Selveron gasped.

He isn’t the only one; I am too. I had expected many things, but never these bloody golems.

I was in shock when the large golden-brown one appeared in front of her and brought his shield forward.

Effortlessly taking on Loxley’s attack, the flying crystal golem, on the other hand, launched a barrage of purple beams, forcing Valebrook and Direlle to defend.

I watched, not daring to believe it.

They are golems and not normal ones; they looked better than even the battle golems I had seen a few times.

“What the hell are they?” I couldn’t help but ask Selveron; the man was looking just as shocked as I was.

…

“Golems, freaking golems!” Leila gasped.

“They are the things you found in that mine, right?” She asked, turning to me with wide eyes.

All I did was smile.

Yes, the golems. The General trained day and night until she could control them; I did not think she could do it in such a short time, but she proved me wrong.

If I hadn’t been desperate, I wouldn’t have given her permission to use them. Not because it is something I want to keep secret, but because of her.

Her control is barely enough to use in battle, and it is extremely straining for her, but I didn’t have a choice.

I wished she could have had a few more months, but unfortunately, she didn’t.

The three she is fighting are powerful. Especially Loxley. These golems may be powerful, but they are like artifacts; someone needs to be capable of harnessing their full power.

It would take her years, decades even, to manage that.

…

Artur Salazar

There is absolute silence in the hall.

Silence had reigned since the battle began, but this silence is different. This is something that shocked even Mother, yes, shocked and not just surprised.

“They are neural golems of the top quality; far better than war golems that we have today,” said Mother, turning to Carla Salt, who simply nodded.

“Who produced them, and which era?” Mom asked. These are, without a doubt, the things they found.

“Tarrogon Forge, Byros Era,” she replied.

I've never heard of Tarragon Forge. Though I remember the Byros Era, Mom had forced me to study all the eras with all my siblings.

“The best one,” said Mom, and I could tell she was very interested.

“I believe you found a forgebase?” asked Mom, which seemed to surprise Salt. It confused me, as I didn’t recognize the word other than in the context of conversation.

I have already decided that I am going to raid Mom’s library after this.

“Yes,”

“What else?” I am curious as well. Those golems look really powerful. It would make us more powerful if we got our hands on it.

I will ask Mother to demand them.

“The artifact I am wearing and the band of around fifty golems, along with the twin wardens that General Azalia is controlling,” she replied, which made my heart beat wildly.

It is the best news I've heard.

We would give them protection from the Imperials as long as they hand over the golems to us. I’m already thinking about everything I would demand in negotiations.

“Will you be using the forge band?” asked Mom. Carla Salt laughed at that before shaking her head.

“We could only use twin wardens because General Azalia is extremely talented and hardworking, but the forge band needs more than that,” she replied.

What? I wanted to ask myself, but kept my mouth shut.

“Powerful mental ability,” stated Mother, once more surprising Carla Salt.

A moment later, she nodded.

We have a few people like that; Mom had fostered them especially.

“I believe we can make a deal, as long as your lord offers good terms,” stated Mom, and I could see the relieved smile appearing on the woman’s face.

“Though before that, you will have to defend Panar against Viremont.”

“It will be difficult, even with the Golems. Viremont and Selveron aren’t weak, and this is not all the powerhouses he had brought,” added Mother.

I was expecting surprise and fear. Instead, I saw the woman smiling.

“He isn’t the only one hiding powerhouses, Storm Mage.”