The lord's mansion near the southwest corner of the Mailatma city was brightly lit.

Although it was already late at night, neither the master nor the servant had any intention of falling asleep.

Even though they were extremely sleepy and exhausted, no one dared to fall into a deep sleep.

Otherwise, who knows if when you wake up you will find that the entire city has been occupied by those ferocious monsters outside the wall and the evil red dragon that commands them.

The chief priests of all the major temples gathered together.

Even the churches whose gods of faith were at odds with each other had no intention of fighting among themselves at this moment.

Because they all knew very well that once the army of monsters outside attacked, it would be meaningless no matter which god you believed in, and they and the believers in the city would eventually die.

As for hoping that at a critical moment, the gods would descend and incarnate to save the believers...

Don’t even think about it!

Ever since the emergence of Io, the God of Gods, during the turbulent years, he has used his supreme power and authority to drive the gods down to earth.

It even permanently changed the entire relationship between gods and mortals in Faerun.

The gods are extremely cautious about sending their incarnations to the mortal world.

At least in the past two years, I haven't heard of any incarnation of God coming to the earth.

In addition to the priests from various temples, the owner of the only wizard tower in Mylatma was also present.

Plus a few elite adventurers and mercenaries who didn't take part in the previous attack...

It can be said that all the people with power in the entire city are present.

Lord Wex Target, who hadn't slept for two days, rubbed his dry eyes vigorously, took a deep breath and said, "Everyone! I think you should have known how critical the situation is. Wait until those monsters build enough siege equipment. Under the current situation, we can only hold out for three days at most."

"Three days? Lord, please forgive me for being frank. Can those civilians who were temporarily recruited and have not received any combat training really last for an hour in the brutal fighting without collapsing?"

The chief priest of the guardian god Heim stood up and questioned with a serious expression.

As a high-ranking priest serving the Guardian God, both doctrine and faith itself dictate that he must never retreat or escape, and can only live and die with this city.

Because the most emphasized doctrine of the Heim Church is perseverance, protection and sacrifice.

In particular, protecting the weak, the poor, the injured, the elderly, children, women and children must be placed above one's own life.

This is why, although the camp of the guardian god Heim is clearly lawful neutral, it is still regarded as the good camp by many people.

When cities, villages and fortresses are attacked by foreigners, the priests and believers serving Helm will always appear first and fight against the invaders at all costs.

"If the priests of all the major temples are willing to help and provide enough first-level spells like [Remove Fear] and [Blessing], we should be able to hold out for about three days.

Of course, this is just a theoretical state.

I'm not sure what the outcome would be if that terrible red dragon himself came."

Weeks Target explained helplessly.

He understood that the reason why the chief priest of Heim Temple asked this question was mainly to understand the current combat effectiveness of the army, not to find fault deliberately.

"I think we should send the women and children in the city away by sea first."

The owner of the Mage Tower, an old mage who looked to be in his sixties or seventies, offered his own suggestions.

Due to Mylatma's awkward geographical location and the chaotic situation in the Kingdom of Tethyr, there is no decent arcane spellcasting power in this city.

Most of the wizards and warlocks who escaped from Amn were willing to go to Calimshan in the south where magical knowledge and resources were more abundant.

Therefore, he had no confidence that he could defeat the snake-man wizards hiding in the monster army outside the city with just a few assistants and apprentices in the spell battle.

"No! We can't let anyone leave at this time!

The reason why the civilians who were temporarily recruited on the city wall did not collapse and flee when faced with such a huge army of monsters.

The root cause is that they know that behind them are their defenseless wives, children, relatives and friends.

How many would give up resistance and flee once they learned that their wives and children had been taken to a safe place?

We can’t take that risk!”

The middle-aged knight who was in charge of managing and commanding the army suddenly stood up and loudly retorted in an excited tone.

As the person present who knew the current situation of the city defense forces best, he knew better than anyone that if a ship left the port, the momentum that had been hard-won to fight the enemy to the death would collapse in an instant.

By then, there would be no need to wait for the monsters to launch an attack, as civil strife would break out among themselves as they scrambled for the qualification to board the ship.

After all, anyone who is not a fool knows that the ships docked in the port cannot take away everyone in the city.

"So you mean to let those monsters slaughter and enslave women and children after the city is captured?"

Ilmater's high-ranking priest suddenly interrupted, and both his tone and attitude became extremely angry and harsh.

Even though he was only wearing a tattered robe, he looked no different from a beggar in the slums.

But no one dared to ignore the emblem worn on the chest, shining with a sacred and dazzling light.

The middle-aged knight was obviously startled, and quickly explained: "No! Of course not! I mean..."

Before he could finish, the chief priest of Heim waved his hand and interrupted, "No need to explain. I understand what you mean. In this situation, no matter who leaves Myratma by boat, it will cause the temporary civilians on the city wall to lose their fighting spirit."

Just as the high-ranking priest of Ilmat was about to say something, a soldier wearing a breastplate suddenly ran in from outside, shouting breathlessly: "My Lord...My Lord Earl! There is a group of strangers outside, saying that they have a way to help us solve the current crisis."

"stranger?"

Lord Wicks Target had a very puzzled expression on his face.

"That's right! They claimed that they flew into the city from the south bank of the River Is under the cover of night. Among them was a paladin who served the God of Suffering."

As he spoke, the soldier presented a wooden badge with a pattern of hands tied with ropes carved on it.

The high-ranking priest of Ilmat who was present hurried forward to identify it and immediately confirmed: "This is indeed the emblem of my lord."

"Please let them in immediately!"

Lord Wicks Target made his decision with almost no hesitation.

At this moment, he was like a man walking in the desert and almost dying of thirst.

At this time, no matter what someone hands over to me, as long as it is liquid, I will drink it without hesitation.

As for whether it is poisonous or harmful to the body...

Does this make sense to a person who is dying of thirst? The answer is obviously no!

What's more, everyone in this city can escape, except the Target family, who have been the local lords for generations.

Once they escape, it means giving up their right to rule this land.

Not only will he lose his noble status and title, but it may even become a stain that the entire family can never erase.

This is also the reason why many nobles from all over Faerun would send their women and children away and choose to stay and fight to the death even though they knew they had no chance of winning against large numbers of enemies and monsters.

Because dying heroically in battle will leave a good reputation for the family and future generations.

Otherwise, once you are given a nickname like "Family of Cowards", it will be difficult to get rid of it.

(End of this chapter)