"Leyndell, advance!"
Accompanied by this thunderous war cry, a golden torrent like molten metal bursting from a dam instantly filled the narrow wall passages.
Heavy footsteps like dense drumbeats drowned out the Orcs' shrieks and shook the walls.
In this ranger's somewhat dazed gaze, Leyndell Legion soldiers rapidly advanced along the wall passages to provide support.
They moved like golden bastions, clad in heavy armor with massive tower shields lined up in tight formation, their edges even embedded deep into the stone cracks of the ground, instantly creating an insurmountable metallic barrier before the battlements, leaving the Orcs who had climbed the walls staring at each other in bewilderment.
They had never expected to face a shield wall after reaching the top of the walls.
"Hold fast! Push!"
Steady, powerful commands came from the formation.
"CRASH!"
With synchronized marching steps, the entire formation advanced like a single entity.
The heavy tower shields in the Leyndell soldiers' hands slammed hard into the Orcs who had just climbed up, the dull sound of breaking bones making one's teeth ache. Those Orcs fortunate enough not to be knocked off were immediately pierced precisely by spears thrusting through gaps in the shields.
Conversely, the Orcs' rusted weapons striking the tower shields only sparked a few times before being deflected by the shields or knocked away by spears.
"Clang, clang..."
The rangers noticed two Leyndell Knights in finer golden armor reaching into their pouches and producing stones that radiated golden halos. These apparently precious stones were then seemingly casually tossed by the two Leyndell Knights onto the ground around them.
When the Warmth Stones touched the ground, golden light enveloped the rangers, restoring their stamina while healing minor wounds that weren't too serious.
After a brief shock, the rangers immediately seized the time to recuperate.
Severely wounded rangers had their injuries promptly bandaged by comrades. Though the Warmth Stones' radiance couldn't completely heal them, it stabilized their wounds for slow recovery, preventing them from dying due to lack of timely treatment.
The ranger captain and several experienced veteran rangers had suffered the fewest injuries. When feeling their stamina mostly restored, the ranger captain immediately stood up and, after quickly observing the situation of his wall section with several veterans, called loudly to the two Leyndell Knights. "Left flank! Gap in the left flank! Orcs are setting up ladders! There's another climbing point below your left battlements!"
Hearing this, one Leyndell Knight immediately led a flanking squad in a smooth turn, their heavy shield wall and deadly spears precisely sealing the weak point the ranger captain had identified, once again ruthlessly pushing the newly surging Orcs off the walls.
The rangers panted heavily, exchanging glances with each other.
Though it was unclear how the battle would develop next, at least they had survived for now.
While this Leyndell Knight led his squad to reinforce the flank and pin the Orc assault at the battlements' edge, the remaining Leyndell Knight wasn't idle either.
Several veterans skillfully moved to high points or tower platforms behind the walls with good visibility and solid structure, quickly noticing changes in the Orc army and immediately calling to their captain. "Captain! Those Orc scum are regrouping for a new assault, and they've also assembled a makeshift catapult!"
Upon hearing this, the ranger captain immediately shouted to the remaining Leyndell Knight. "Please follow me!"
The Leyndell Knight nodded silently and followed the ranger captain up to a high point on the walls. At this moment, a veteran ranger was urgently gesturing, pointing to the densest Orc concentrations in the army, new siege ladder assembly points, and the position of the threatening makeshift catapult being reassembled.
The veteran ranger pointed while shouting. "There! The catapult! And in that area, they're even using their comrades' corpses to build ramps!"
The ranger captain added gravely. "If we let them build those ramps, the Orcs will more easily set up ladders and climb the walls, greatly increasing our defensive pressure."
Then the ranger captain looked at the only two stone balls remaining on the walls and decisively commanded. "We still have stone balls. We must stop the Orcs from building those ramps!"
The veteran ranger nodded, then asked hesitantly. "What about that catapult the Orcs are assembling below? These are the last two. If we throw them all down, our catapult becomes useless."
The ranger captain took a deep breath. "But if we really let them build ramps, we'll face Orcs several times our number. As for the catapult... the Orcs don't know whether we have stone balls anyway. We'll use it to draw their catapults' fire."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "We'll figure something out later. Perhaps Talion is leading reinforcements this way. Time is urgent now. We must act immediately to stop the Orcs from building ramps at the wall base."
Hearing this, the veteran ranger said no more but gave his captain an understanding look and immediately called the other rangers to action.
The Leyndell Knight beside the ranger captain slowly spoke. "I can handle that catapult. As for the ramps, Leyndell's soldiers will also stop them."
The ranger captain looked up in surprise. Though the Leyndell Knight hid his features behind a golden visor, he could still sense the sharp gaze from beneath.
The Leyndell Knight's right hand somehow already held a Sacred Seal, wild golden lightning frantically gathering and crackling with spine-tingling snaps, the air filling with a burnt smell.
He shouted loudly. "In the name of the Golden Tree and Ancient Dragons!"
Almost at the same instant, a brilliant golden lightning spear seemed to tear through the foul leaden sky above the Black Gate walls, striking precisely at the nearly completed catapult.
Then came a second and third lightning spear. This Leyndell Knight consecutively hurled three lightning bolts toward the catapult's location below the walls before stopping.
"CRASH!"
Deafening explosions rang out in succession as the targeted Orc group was instantly swallowed by blinding lightning. Charred limbs flew in all directions with dirt and stone fragments.
The just-assembled catapult took a direct lightning spear hit, its thick wooden frame shattering like fragile matchsticks, burning as it collapsed, and crushing many Orcs below.
But the crisis wasn't resolved. Several broken wooden pieces from the destroyed makeshift catapult had been flung onto the Orc corpse ramp due to the mechanism's failure, tumbling through the air and embedding in the pile of bodies, coincidentally forming several support points.
"Oh no!"
The ranger captain's expression changed. He certainly wouldn't blame the Leyndell Knight beside him. This was purely bad luck that no one could have anticipated the destroyed catapult would create this situation.
When the veteran rangers noticed the broken wood embedded in the Orc corpse ramp, they immediately aimed their remaining two rolling stones at the thick wooden pieces and pushed them off the walls.
The huge stone balls broke two of the wooden pieces braced against the wall, but one piece of wood remained.
Tide-like Orcs were frantically climbing this "corpse ladder," trying to bypass the solid frontal formation and tear open a gap from the flank.