"Sir, open the city gates and let our knights attack! As long as we eliminate those overseers, we can rescue these civilians!"

"Look at those enemy cavalrymen following us in the distance. If we dare to open the city gates, they can swarm in and attack the fortress in the chaos!"

"We can just defeat the enemy's detachment and then disperse these civilians, which will give us enough time to close the city gates!"

"Don't be ridiculous! In the chaos of battle, these civilians are definitely thinking about getting into the fortress. How are we going to disperse them then?!"

While the Knights of Twilight were arguing, Harkins summoned the captain of the "Inheritor Sniper Crossbowmen" and asked him, "If you only snipe the barbarian overseers and do not harm civilians, can you do it?"

The latter shook his head: "It's hard to distinguish. If we really do it, there will definitely be collateral damage."

While Huggins was still weighing his options, the sentry shouted again, "Enemy has entered the inner attack line!"

There was no time to hesitate any longer. The enemy's siege hammers were fast approaching the city gate. Harkins ordered the "Inheritor Sniper Crossbowman": "Attack!"

Crossbowmen set up their crossbows on the city walls, and iron bolts pierced through the enemy's front-line attackers, with one enemy after another falling beneath the walls. The civilians began to try to flee, and the supervisors jumped out, shouting orders and wielding axes to maintain the line, unaware that this action made them easy targets.

Soon, after the enemy's front-line supervisory team was almost wiped out, the remaining civilians dropped their weapons and fled into the distance, circling the fortress walls.

At this moment, Huggins finally breathed a sigh of relief, the lingering smell of blood at the foot of the city wall filling his nostrils, but a question was on his mind.

Why would the enemy send out these four hundred men as the vanguard when the north wind is blowing? Such a small force poses no threat to the fortress whatsoever; the only thing they can do is die.

Isn't that strange?

Just as he was still pondering this, there was another unusual movement in the enemy ranks.

"The enemy has retreated!"

What? !

Upon hearing the lookout's shouts, Huggins' first thought was to doubt his own ears. He rushed to the edge of the city wall and looked out, only to witness a scene that left him utterly bewildered.

It was neither a ploy to lure the enemy nor a retreat; the enemy was indeed retreating in an orderly manner.

However, although it was a retreat, the enemy chose to leave lightly equipped, leaving the camp in place, with no supplies, tents, or fortifications moved.

Things are getting increasingly bizarre.

Huggins knew perfectly well that something was wrong, but no matter how hard he racked his brains, he was completely baffled as to what the problem was.

The enemy retreated quickly, and in the blink of an eye, apart from a dozen or so soldiers left behind, the most conspicuous thing in the enemy camp was a row of huge iron cages covered with canvas.

Haskins summoned the "Successor Scout" with "Eagle Eyes" and shouted, "Tell me, what's going on there?!"

The scout strained his eyes to see into the distance, looking at the enemy camp as he said, "Those who stayed behind don't seem to be barbarian or Silver Ring soldiers. They have no armor or weapons, and their clothes are tattered. They look more like prisoners... Hmm? Wait, they seem to have gone to the doors of those cages."

With an anxious look on his face, Huggins urged, "What's next?"

"God Father above!"

The scout, utterly terrified, collapsed to the ground, pointing incoherently at the enemy's distant camp: "Monster! The monster ate people!"

Huggins grabbed the scout by the collar and shouted, "What's going on?!"

"Those people opened the iron cage, and many terrifying monsters crawled out! In an instant, they tore those people to pieces and swallowed them whole!" The pale-faced scout slowly shifted his gaze from Huggins' face to the distance, his lips trembling and his teeth chattering: "Look...look...the monsters have finished eating people and are looking this way! They're coming!"

Huggins released the scout, letting him fall to the ground. Even without the scout speaking, he could already see the rapidly approaching 'monsters' in the distance.

A strange bird five meters long with bat-like wings; a crocodile with two horns on its head, its body covered in steel armor emitting poisonous gas; and a giant wolf covered in bone spurs that can easily smash rocks.

Attacking during the north wind, sending troops to their deaths, the stench of blood from the dead, the barbarian army retreating temporarily, leaving behind strange iron cages, and finally, releasing these bloodthirsty, cannibalistic 'monsters'.

I see.

Huggins drew his longsword from his waist, his voice filled with unprecedented anxiety and fear.

"The Knights of Twilight! Prepare for battle!"