The drawbridge in front of the Main Keep hung high, like an insurmountable chasm, isolating the Merlin Family's final dignity from the outside world.
The remaining dozens of Silver Armored Knights were all wounded, their armor covered in marks from swords and axes, and even gashes sliced by shrapnel.
They were the most loyal guards of the Merlin Family and the last glory of the knights of this era.
The Old Knight leading them had a beard and hair as white as snow. He leaned on his heavy sword, which was planted in the ground, to support his swaying body, yet his eyes still burned with the fire of unyielding defiance.
"We are the shield of Merlin, the soul of the family! We will never surrender!"
The Old Knight's voice was hoarse yet loud, echoing across the empty square.
The knights behind him roared in unison, their voices filled with tragic solemnity and resolve.
Akomann looked at this group of stubborn old men, her face devoid of expression.
She waved her hand, and the soldiers behind her moved quickly, pushing a dark, hollow-eyed metal monster to the front of the formation.
The maxim heavy machine gun.
This killing machine, which had shone brilliantly in the Battle of Blackwater Valley, was once again pushed into a position that would decide victory or defeat.
Two machine gunners skillfully loaded the ammunition belt, adjusted the firing angle, and pointed the cold muzzles at the Silver Armored Knights in front of the drawbridge.
"Truly a bunch of stubborn old fools who don't know how to adapt."
Akomann thought to herself, but she spoke coldly to the messenger beside her:
"Tell them this is their last chance. Lay down their weapons, and their lives can be spared. Otherwise, they must face the consequences."
The messenger shouted Akomann's words across the square.
Hearing this, the Old Knight let out a desolate laugh:
"Let us kneel and beg for mercy like those cowards? Impossible! A knight of the Merlin Family only dies in battle; he does not live in disgrace! Come then, barbarians! Let us see if your iron lumps can shatter a knight's glory!"
"Glory?" Akomann sneered. She wasted no more words and directly issued the command.
"Ready."
The machine gunner turned the crank, the barrels began to preheat, and a slight humming sound was heard.
The air seemed to freeze at that moment. All the soldiers of the Black Rock Tribe held their breath, waiting for the impending metal storm.
The Silver Armored Knights felt an unprecedented pressure.
That black iron lump emitted a deathly aura that made their very souls tremble.
They didn't know what it was, but their instincts told them that thing was more terrifying than any weapon they had encountered before.
"For Merlin!"
The Old Knight raised his heavy sword high and let out a final roar with all his strength.
"Charge!"
Dozens of Silver Armored Knights, dragging their exhausted bodies, launched the final charge of their lives.
They shouted their slogans, their heavy armor making a clanging sound, like a swarm of moths flying into a flame.
"Fire." Akomann's voice was as cold as ice.
"Da da da da da da..."
The piercing roar instantly tore through the silence of the battlefield.
A whip of fire composed of bullets erupted violently from the muzzle of the maxim heavy machine gun, lashing out fiercely at the charging knights.
The first few Silver Armored Knights were struck as if by an invisible giant hand. Their refined steel armor was instantly torn with countless holes, spraying brilliant sparks.
The defense they were so proud of was as fragile as thin paper before the crystallization of modern industry.
Blood and shredded flesh gushed from the breaches in the armor. The knights didn't even have time to scream before they crashed heavily to the ground, their bodies twitching and bouncing under the rain of bullets.
The knights behind them were stunned by this horrific scene.
They had imagined various ways to die—pierced by a sharp sword, split by a battle-axe—but they had never imagined that death would arrive in such an efficient and cruel manner.
This was no longer a battle; it was a massacre.
"No... impossible..."
A young knight looked at the several blood holes that had instantly appeared in his chest and lowered his head in daze, his life quickly draining away with the blood.
The Old Knight charged in the very center. He watched with his own eyes as his companions fell one by one, their silver armor riddled with holes like a tattered sieve.
That deafening gunfire seemed like a wail from hell, shattering the last bit of what he called 'glory' in his heart.
Chivalry, centuries of heritage—all became a pathetic joke before this steel storm.
The line of fire formed by bullets swept across precisely, each bullet taking away a vibrant life.
The charging formation was completely pierced through in just a few seconds; not a single knight could cross half the distance.
On the square, only a ground full of twisted, deformed corpses and trickling pools of blood remained.
The gunfire stopped.
The entire world went quiet, leaving only the wisps of blue smoke rising from the machine gun barrel and the smell of blood.
Even though the soldiers of the Black Rock Tribe had already witnessed the power of the heavy machine gun, they were still awed by this shocking scene.
They looked at those once-arrogant elites of the Empire, now piled on the ground like trash, and their reverence for their leader Wu Liang deepened another level.
Akomann walked forward expressionlessly, stepping over corpse after corpse until she reached the drawbridge.
She glanced at the tightly closed gates of the Main Keep and waved her hand to the Engineers behind her.
"Demolish it."
This time, no one dared to come out and stop them.
A deathly silence filled the Main Keep. The remaining defenders and servants, having witnessed that one-sided massacre, had seen their courage and will completely collapse.
With a loud bang, the gates of the Main Keep were torn into fragments by explosives.
Akomann led the troops, slowly walking into this castle that symbolized centuries of the Merlin Family's glory.
They were greeted by servants and guards kneeling all over the floor, trembling.
Tiee Fortress, the most important military stronghold in the Empire's western borders, had gone from being besieged to completely falling in less than a day before the Black Rock Tribe's modern war machine... By the time Wu Liang walked into the Main Keep's hall, the battle was entirely over.
Akomann and Ignis were directing soldiers to count the spoils and register the prisoners. The hall was brightly lit, and the portraits of the Merlin Family's ancestors hanging on the walls were silently watching this group of intruders.
"Chief."
Akomann walked over and reported respectfully.
"The Main Keep is under complete control, and all resistance has been cleared. Taiwen Merlin and Arthur Merlin are being held in the rooms upstairs."
Wu Liang nodded, his gaze sweeping over the expensive decorations and artworks in the hall, his heart unmoved. In his eyes, these things were not as practical as a pile of high-quality iron ore.
"Where is Annia?" he asked.
"She's outside; Alesha is with her."
Ignis replied, her tone somewhat complicated. "She watched the castle being breached, and her mood... isn't very good."
"I expected that." Wu Liang sighed.
After all, this was the home she grew up in. Seeing it change hands in the fires of war with her own eyes, it was only natural for her to feel distressed.
But this was the path she chose herself. Some pain must be endured alone.
"I'll go see her."