The setting sun gradually sank, and a curtain of night stretched in from the distance, as if someone had reached out and drawn the drapes. The sky darkened.
Torches were lit on the city walls. Very few people spoke. Many silently looked toward the front of the city, making quiet preparations for the coming battle.
Perhaps it was because a powerful enemy was approaching, but even the air had become somewhat stifling.
Time passed minute by minute, second by second.
At the same time, the army led by Luke advanced slowly. Torches lit up the mountains, and Groft's outline gradually appeared in their field of vision.
Noxus built its walls higher than ordinary cities, thanks to the defensive engineering they were so proud of.
Although Noxus advocated invasion, its defensive works in architecture were also very complete. Even the houses inside its cities were built like fortresses.
But no matter how sturdy they were, it did not matter. Before gunpowder, all beings were equal.
Luke was playing with the new supplies that had arrived around dusk, an exquisitely crafted telescope, even luxuriously inlaid with a layer of gold trim.
After seeing Groft's outline, he raised the telescope and began observing through it.
This telescope had been personally crafted by Wenward. It could see objects two thousand meters away, which was already quite good for their current level of technology.
After adjusting the telescope's magnification, the image inside gradually became clearer.
The view shifted bit by bit. There were heavy troops guarding the city walls. Hm, he also saw cannon emplacements, the kind of dark, heavy cannons that he remembered would be carried on pirate ships.
Aside from those, there were also some cannon emplacements that looked even larger.
It seemed this was one of Noxus's preparations.
Beside him, Lux watched him holding the telescope, looking left and right, and felt incredibly curious. She could not help reaching out and poking him in the waist. "Let me look too."
Since he had already observed what needed to be observed, Luke handed the telescope to her.
After Lux took it, she imitated Luke and looked toward the other side. Then she let out a soft "hm" and said, "I think I saw a Yordle."
Most people in Runeterra recognized Yordles first by their height, and second by the fact that they looked fluffy, with a bit of cuteness mixed in.
But no matter how Lux looked at the one on the other side, she felt he had nothing to do with being cute.
When Luke heard this, he became somewhat interested. He took the telescope back from Lux and looked in the direction she pointed.
Sure enough.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Poppy, that guy over there, do you know him?"
"Huh?"
Poppy took the telescope, observed carefully for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know him. There are a lot of villages among the Yordle tribes. He might have come from another village."
"Then good."
Luke nodded and said, "You'll deal with him later."
"Leave him to me!" Poppy agreed readily. Then she raised her head and proudly said like the little blond, "Back in the day, I was a famous little fighting expert in my Yordle village! Not a single Yordle was my match."
There was even a bit of smugness in her tone.
When Luke heard this, he first glanced at Lux's innocent face.
Poppy had such a modest and simple personality, yet now this girl had corrupted even her.
In the time they spent talking, the army had drawn even closer to Groft. The grand formation of troops had clearly drawn the attention of the city wall at once.
With the naked eye, they could see the torches on the opposite wall shaking, carrying a tense sense of readiness.
Luke could not estimate how far the enemy cannons' firing range was. To be safe, he still raised a hand and signaled for the army behind him to slowly stop.
At this moment, the distance between both sides was roughly over a thousand meters. Although it was still somewhat far, the surrounding terrain had already left the mountains and was relatively flat, so both sides could clearly see each other.
Seeing that the other side did not react, Luke revealed a cold smile. Looks like those cannons cannot fire this far.
Since that was the case, then they could not blame him for delivering the gift he had only prepared today.
"Bring up our new gift."
He raised his hand and gave the order. The urgently delivered supplies from the capital had already been received, just in time for a test.
Before long, fifteen silver-white cannon emplacements in total were carried to the front of the military formation.
The most obvious change in these cannons was their appearance. They leaned toward silver, with flower-like patterns carved across their bodies and connected all the way to the rear, making them look exquisite and beautiful.
These were the magic cannons jointly developed by Frey and Wenward.
They were not driven by ignition, but by magic.
Those patterns were a special kind of engraving responsible for guiding mana. By injecting mana, the magic circle inside the cannon could be activated, then a kind of fire magic would be used to propel the cannon shot. Not only was the range longer, but the shot would also carry magical power.
At this time, two mages stood behind each cannon, holding staffs. Once the aim was set, they were ready to inject mana at any time.
"Fire!"
Luke did not hesitate and directly gave the order.
In an instant, the mages moved. They raised their staffs one after another and poured mana into the cannons.
Mana flowed into the cannon bodies and slowly coursed through the patterns like running water. Then the light suddenly flared, and a magic circle appeared at the mouth of each cannon.
"Boom!"
A thunderous blast suddenly erupted. The entire cannon emplacement trembled slightly, and a ring of smoke and dust surged from the muzzle. A shell shot out at a speed too blurry for the naked eye to follow.
"Boom!"
In the next second, violent flames instantly erupted on Groft's city wall. Like fireworks blooming, they appeared extremely bright in the night.
The sound of the explosion traveled clearly from the distance, bringing a gust of wind with it.
Fifteen cannon shots exploded neatly across the city wall. Their power not only slightly surprised Luke, but also blasted the Noxians on the wall into a daze.
"Holy shit!"
"What's going on?"
"They can shoot this far?"
"Damn it!"
"Move!"
"Ahh, help me! My leg was blown off!"
The wall fell into complete chaos. The soldiers had no way to deal with it and shouted in panic.
The sturdy city wall cast from black stone had only endured a single round of bombardment, yet pit after pit had already appeared. The immense power had exceeded everyone's expectations.
"Those are cannons?"
Kabud stood in a place the cannons could not reach, and his emotions fluctuated because of that explosion just now.
Separated by such a long distance, when he looked at Demacia, he could only see a crowd of tiny figures, yet the other side's cannons could already shoot right into his face.
While he was stunned, another series of thunderous booms rang beside his ears. Along with a wave of heat blowing against his face, Kabud could not help taking several steps back.
"Damn it."
He gritted his teeth and looked at the soldiers on the wall who had been blasted into chaos.
"Where is our artillery company? Are they here to eat free meals?"
He immediately roared in anger, "Where is the artillery company commander?"
The artillery company commander hurriedly ran over. "My lord, I'm here."
"Shoot them!"
Kabud pointed at the distant Demacian army. "Shoot them hard!"
The artillery company commander said awkwardly, "My lord, the maximum range of the heavy cannons we developed is only one thousand meters, and the effective range is only eight hundred meters. But the enemy army is at least more than one thousand meters away. As for ordinary cannons, even less needs to be said."
"That's not what I want to hear! Shoot them!"
Kabud watched helplessly as the enemy's third round of cannon fire blasted over, deafening, as if it were a demonstration. He immediately roared.
"Yes!"
The artillery company commander could only accept the order and began directing the artillery company under him to counterattack.
Kabud looked at Omos and said, "I'm counting on you."
Omos also nodded with a serious expression. He raised the staff in his hand and gave the mages around him a look.
They began casting together. In an instant, a huge magical barrier covered the city wall.
When the fourth round of cannon fire came, it could only land on the barrier. Ripples spread across the barrier like the surface of water, then it remained safe and sound.
This also gave the artillery company commander a chance to deploy. They reset the cannons that had been thrown into disorder.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
As the shells were fired one after another, everyone also stared closely at the launched cannonballs.
The cannonballs shot out at great speed, drawing high arcs through the air. But as the distance stretched, they dropped lower and lower.
In the end, they exploded with rumbling blasts several hundred meters in front of the Demacian army.
The scene instantly grew awkward.
When Noxus fired its second round of cannon shots, the same situation happened again.
The awkwardness began to stretch longer.
Kabud was silent.
He unconsciously clenched his fists. These damned cannons really could not reach.
Forget not reaching, damn it, they were still several hundred meters away from the enemy's actual position.
At this moment, the most embarrassing part was that Demacia was probably laughing itself sick.
"Stop!"
He gave the order coldly.
The artillery company commander gave him a helpless look that said, see, I wasn't lying to you.
Kabud's expression was gloomy. He coldly ordered, "Since they can't shoot that far, then get closer and shoot. Take your artillery company and approach the enemy, then fire on them hard!"
The artillery company commander froze, wanting to speak but stopping himself.
Wouldn't doing that just send them to their deaths?
"This is an order. For the great Noxus, you should carry it out without wavering."
Kabud's expression and tone were both extremely cold. "Right now, only your artillery company can resist Demacia's cannons, so you should do everything in your power."
The artillery company commander knew the consequences of disobeying orders would not be pleasant either. He could only brace himself and accept the command. "Yes!"
And so, action swiftly began.
From one of Groft's smaller gates, the artillery company rode war chariots and quickly moved toward the battlefield, beginning to close in on Demacia bit by bit.
Seeing this, Luke narrowed his eyes and ordered, "Use ordinary cannons to fire at them. Concentrate the firepower directly. Don't give them any opportunity."
"Yes!"
Amid a chorus of replies, one prepared cannon after another immediately began firing.
In the next instant, a rain of cannonballs filled the sky and shot toward the artillery company charging forward without hesitation. Like a performance, flames erupted fiercely in every direction.
At this moment, under Omos's command, one mage after another began chanting spells. Magical energy pierced through the night and covered the sky above the artillery company, helping them block the shells falling toward them.
However, it was useless.
At this moment, even the night was dyed fiery red. Although a barrier could withstand one cannon shot, or ten cannon shots, what about a hundred?
Compared to magic cannons, the number of ordinary cannons was a full five hundred.
Even if not all of them were being used at this moment, the firepower coverage they could form was still extremely terrifying.
Those barriers were annihilated in an instant. The artillery company had no chance to approach. Anything that moved forward, whether chariots or people, was blown to pieces.
On the city wall, the Noxian soldiers who saw this scene all fell silent. Fear even appeared in the eyes of some soldiers.
This was the most direct feeling from the depths of their hearts.
They watched helplessly as those artillerymen were swallowed.
This terrifying firepower coverage made them clearly recognize Demacia's strength for the first time.
What if this firepower were aimed at the city wall?
The mages were hiding in safe places and were not within firing range.
But at this time, Luke had already figured out the range of Noxus's cannons.
"Their cannons should only have a range of about one thousand meters, while our maximum range can reach one thousand two hundred meters."
After roughly calculating, Luke directly ordered, "Advance three hundred meters! Siege the city! Sound the horn!"
"Woooo!"
As the order was passed down, the deep sound of the horn also resounded through the night sky at that moment, seemingly representing Demacia's official attack.
Groft's city wall had already fallen into chaos. Everyone knew what they would face next.
Kabud clenched his fists tightly, the veins on his forehead bulging. His ruthless eyes stared fixedly at the other side.
He had never fought a battle like this. The two sides were not competing with weapons, but with these damned cannons.
The side with stronger cannons had almost grasped control of the battle.
Damn it!
If this were a cold-weapon battle, Kabud, who was skilled in defense, had ten thousand ways to stop Demacia's offensive.
And yet now, Demacia would not even let him touch a single hair. They were already attacking the city from this far away.
When had war become like this?
Kabud's eyes kept trembling. The overwhelming confidence he had still carried in the afternoon had been blasted to pieces less than twenty minutes after Demacia appeared.
At this moment, Demir appeared beside Kabud and slowly spoke while looking at his silence.
"Demacia should now know that their range is longer. If it's firepower of that level, how long do you think we can defend the city?"
"So this is what you experienced."
At this moment, Kabud finally understood why Demir, whose reputation and strength were both greater than his, had behaved so nervously before Demacia.
Damn it, who could not get nervous when these cannons kept firing as if they cost nothing?
Just from those few rounds alone, he felt like his ears were going deaf.
"Can we hold?"
Kabud looked toward Omos, the high-ranking mage from the magic academy.
At this moment, the arrogance Omos had shown in the afternoon had vanished from his face. After witnessing Demacia's firepower coverage with his own eyes, the superiority he had from coming from the magic academy had disappeared completely.
As an outstanding mage, the magic he released could also possess power equivalent to a single cannon shell.
But he could not release hundreds of identical spells at the same time.
Just like now, hundreds of cannonballs exploding at the same time.
He shook his head and said in a deep voice, "We cannot keep providing barriers forever. This consumes mana, and mana is not infinite."
Although the barriers could temporarily resist the cannon assault, what they consumed was the mana inside their bodies, while what Demacia consumed was only some resources.
More importantly, they did not know how many more cannon shells like this Demacia had.
At this moment, Kabud finally remembered Demir's suggestion from the afternoon.
Against such an enemy, how exactly were they supposed to defend a city?
The city gate would be blown open sooner or later. As long as they dared to defend, what awaited them would inevitably be Demacia's unreasonable cannon bombardment.
Even if they hid inside the city and waited for Demacia to enter before fighting, it would still be useless.
In fact, that would be even more like sending themselves to their deaths.
Demacia could completely surround the city, then use cannons to bombard it in rotation.
At that time, they would become true lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Compared with those ways of dying, it seemed only Demir's proposal was feasible.
He looked around. Many soldiers had already shown visible signs of shrinking back. He could not blame them.
Even Kabud, when he looked at Demacia on the other side at this moment, felt a tremor in his heart.
This was the enemy they faced.
"I've had enough!"
At this time, a sharp, furious cry rang out.
It was Kled.
He flipped onto Skaarl's back, raised his long-handled weapon that looked like a battle-axe, and held a gun he had found from who knew where in one hand. A surging aura seemed to burn around his body. "They've pissed me off! Everyone charge with me! Crush every last one of them! I'm gonna butcher them!"
He was incredibly annoyed by the explosions, and this restrained situation only made him even more annoyed.
When had he ever fought such a cowardly battle?
Kled would rather charge forward and risk death than stay here and swallow this kind of frustration.
He stormed down the city wall. Many Noxian soldiers looked at one another, abandoned the fear in their eyes, made their decision, and followed behind him.
Kled did indeed have the qualifications to command every soldier present.
At this moment, Kabud and Demir also put on their helmets, picked up their weapons, and resolved to fight Demacia head-on.
Below the city.
With a rumble, the huge city gate slowly opened.
Leading the army, Luke narrowed his eyes and looked over when he saw this scene.
Behind Groft's enormous gate, a group of black-armored cavalry appeared. There were definitely more soldiers behind them, a dark mass like an enormous ant nest.
But the most conspicuous figure standing before everyone was a fierce-looking Yordle.
His body seemed to be burning with flames, a red aura rippling and surging around him.
And this aura was continuously spreading to every Noxian soldier behind him.
"Charge with me! Kill them!"
Kled let out a clear, furious roar. Skaarl beneath him immediately shot forward, sprinting at extreme speed.
"Kill!"
Behind him, the dark mass of Noxian soldiers roared deafeningly, as if they had been pumped full of stimulants. They followed Kled and launched a fierce charge.
Their speed was actually extremely fast, as if they had all been covered in some kind of buff. Even the ground trembled because of them.
"Fire!"
Luke showed no mercy and coldly gave the order.
He knew exactly what the enemy was thinking, but even so, he would make them pay a terrible price during their charge.
"Aim at that short guy in front!"
Luke knew even more clearly where the buff on those Noxian soldiers was coming from, so he pointed directly at Kled and gave the order.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
In an instant, cannonballs filled the sky and fired out, with a portion of them aimed at Kled.
Kled looked up and could see the incoming shells. He had seen the power of these little black balls, and knew he could not brute-force them.
But relying on his powerful instincts, he rode Skaarl and dodged left and right, forcibly weaving through the flames of one violent explosion after another.
Noticing that Skaarl had slowed down and was constantly swallowing, he patted his old partner and let out a crazed laugh. "Don't be scared, Skaarl, I'm here! Come with me and butcher them all! Believe me, haven't we always had good luck?"
He knew that his timid partner could not withstand this kind of fright, but he could not leave Skaarl now.
Skaarl knew this too. Even though she was nearly scared out of her wits, she still carried Kled forward in a desperate charge.
Behind him, countless Noxian soldiers had already been blown to death. Every moment, soldiers were swallowed by firelight.
As he moved through the explosions, Kled became increasingly fierce, as if aided by a god. It made people suspect that he truly had luck on his side. No matter how the shells exploded, they could not hit him.
And the braver he became, the same was true for the Noxian soldiers behind him.
Everyone's condition was pushed to its peak. Following Kled, they charged forward without fear of death.
The distance between the two sides grew closer and closer.
Luke thoughtfully studied Kled over there and felt that this little guy really was somewhat troublesome.
Every Yordle was a child blessed by the heavens, born with extremely good luck. Being able to charge out of this level of firepower coverage, he felt this was not as simple as luck.
And the troublesome part was that Kled alone could affect the condition of all the Noxians.
The better his condition, the better the condition of the soldiers charging after him.
It was even more effective than the buff provided by the horn Luke had checked in and obtained.
Luke took out his bow and arrow, then set an arrow on the string and aimed at Kled as he charged fiercely.
Without the slightest hesitation, he directly released the bowstring. With a whoosh, the arrow instantly shot out at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
His Godspeed Tracking Arrow had now reached LV8. It was extremely precise, and its power was not weak either.
However, the instant the arrow shot out, Kled seemed to sense it and suddenly swung down the battle-axe in his hand.
An arrow was forcibly cut into two pieces during his charge, flying past both sides of his body.
"A flimsy little arrow wants to shoot Lord Kled? Ten thousand years too early!"
Kled let out an excited roar.
Luke's first arrow missed, so he aimed at Skaarl beneath Kled and fired another arrow.
In the same way, Kled sensed it in advance and swung his axe to cut it apart.
"Whether it's me or Skaarl, don't even think about hurting either of us!"
He shouted again at the top of his lungs, completely unstoppable in posture.
Seeing his heroic appearance, the army behind him grew even stronger in momentum.
It seemed that a great battle was ultimately unavoidable.
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