Chapter 123: Siege Tactics

Retreat was simply impossible—they would never allow the remaining shattered soldiers to escape. Chu Cheng summoned a furious thunder strike, leaping directly before them. With a powerful divine force critical hit, he repelled a group of undead, instantly wiping out their weakened bodies.

Then he charged into the horde of undead, unleashing a blade storm, slaughtering mercilessly.

At that moment, Yao Ning and Wang Jing no longer needed to guard anyone and also broke out, unleashing various area-of-effect attacks in succession.

Other teams followed suit, and together, with everyone united, they successfully intercepted the remaining undead and wiped them all out.

When the battle ended, there were over a hundred loot chests scattered about.

Most were elite monsters, and their chance of dropping loot far exceeded that of the insignificant minions.

“The undead mages inside the fortress are extremely intelligent; the bait-and-switch tactic we used just now can no longer be employed,” Lei Ming said bluntly as the team regrouped and surveyed the battlefield.

“Next, we can only launch a direct assault. There are two ways: one is for the mages to cast teleportation spells to bring us inside the cursed fortress; the other is for melee fighters to use their displacement skills to leap inside and seize the city gate to open it.”

“The first method requires mages to expend a large amount of mana and casting materials to trigger a countermeasure from the undead witch tower, draining its mana reserves.”

“The second method involves considerable risk for those who act. Not all melee fighters have displacement skills, so the first to enter must bear that risk.”

Lei Ming glanced at the tank classes seated in the inner circle, then looked again at the melee fighters on the outer edge, asking, “Let’s take a count. Raise your hand if you have displacement skills that can take you straight inside the fortress.”

The group exchanged glances, and some began to raise their hands.

Chu Cheng was no exception; he raised his hand as well.

“Now, raise your hand if you have displacement skills that allow you to jump in and then escape.”

Fewer hands went up this time, and when Chu Cheng raised his, several people looked surprised.

He glanced back—there were seven in total, only two of whom were tanks: himself and another team’s tank. Even Lei Ming wasn’t among them.

“Only two,” Lei Ming said, pursing his lips as he looked at him and the other tank, asking, “Do you two dare to go in?”

“If you do, each will receive a five-gold subsidy beyond our prior agreement, and if you successfully open the gate, another five gold. You’ll get the first five now.”

Chu Cheng raised an eyebrow and immediately replied, “I have no problem with that.”

The other tank, Shi Chen, looked at Chu Cheng in surprise, hesitated for a few seconds, then said, “I can go as well, but let it be clear—I’ll retreat immediately if I can’t hold out.”

Lei Ming nodded.

“Of course!”

He then turned to the other members who could both enter and exit, asking, “What about you? Want to make ten gold?”

After a brief hesitation, several nodded.

“Alright then.”

Lei Ming stood up abruptly and called out loudly, “Prepare yourselves. The seven of you form a separate team. Decide your own leader and deputy. Those of us not going in will start a probing attack to draw the undead’s attention. When you see the opportunity, rush in.”

“Understood.”

Lei Ming and the others left, leaving the seven exchanging glances.

Chu Cheng took the initiative, speaking to Shi Chen.

“You have more experience than I do. You lead the team.”

Shi Chen didn’t refuse and nodded.

“Alright.”

“What a coincidence. I’ve done a tactic like this before, during a joint assault of dozens on the cursed fortress. The fortress’s city gate is no different from a normal gate. We need to jump directly onto the gatehouse while they’re distracted by the defenders on the walls, then climb over and drop into the gatehouse.”

He looked at Chu Cheng. “Usually, there are no undead inside the gatehouse itself, but there will definitely be many guards near the gate. Once inside, the two of us will guard the entrance, three strong fighters will assist us, and the other two will immediately work on opening the gate.”

“Be aware that a powerful Death Knight, level forty-plus and terrifying, commands the cursed fortress. He will likely be right at the gate, and the pressure on us will be immense. We must open the gate within one minute.”

“If it takes longer than a minute to open the gate, don’t bother—retreat immediately.”

While they were discussing, Lei Ming’s team had already assigned tasks and formed two squads that had set off.

“We wait here first. When they move and draw the gatehouse guards away, we’ll act.”

“Got it.”

After some time, Lei Ming returned to make their payments—five gold upfront, the remaining five after opening the gate.

As soon as Lei Ming left, the team moved out. Approaching the city walls, they launched their assault without hesitation.

Several melee fighters with displacement skills leapt onto the city wall, firing everything they had and immediately drawing the undead’s attention.

Though they lacked secondary displacement abilities, as long as they stayed on the wall, they could retreat easily by flipping down if things turned sour.

Unlike those leaping inside the fortress, if the gate remained closed and they had no secondary displacement, escaping would be a nightmare.

They would have to break through the encircling undead, climb the stairs along the wall, and jump back out.

Though it was only a matter of several dozen meters, getting out was far from easy.

Inside the cursed fortress were all elite monsters, many ranging from level thirty to forty. Many had the strength to match them. If one lacked the power to leap in, they wouldn’t be able to get out.

After watching for five or six minutes, the undead on the gatehouse were fully drawn away. Shi Chen clapped his hands and called out:

“Get ready. We can go now.”

Everyone rose quietly and stealthily crept toward the cursed fortress.

Soon, they were about a hundred meters inside the gate. One warrior whispered, “I can jump now.”

Shi Chen shook his head.

“Wait, it’s safer if we jump together.”

When they were only about fifty meters from the gate, Shi Chen said, “Alright, now.”

“Chu Cheng, can you jump?”

“Yes.”

“Then move out.”

At that moment, someone standing nearby vanished and appeared atop the gatehouse in the next instant.

Shi Chen gathered his strength briefly before leaping toward the gate.

His displacement skill was similar to the Thunder Strike, except without the lightning swirling around him.

Chu Cheng’s mind surged with energy, lightning flickering around his body. With a thunderous explosion, he shot upward like a meteor and landed on the wall.

The others employed their own methods: some leapt up like them, others teleported directly, and one even flew up using a flight spell.

Seven of them ascended the wall, immediately attracting the undead’s attention from nearby.

Chu Cheng and Shi Chen crossed over the wall into the fortress’s interior, seeing a dense crowd of undead gathered before the gate.

Behind them stood Rum, the Death Knight commander, flanked by two massive stitched monstrosities over six or seven meters tall, each wrapped in thick chains.

Spotting them near the wall, one of the undead threw a blood-red hook with a dragging chain toward them with a metallic clatter.

“Watch out! Jump!”

The two jumped down from the wall. Shi Chen raised his shield, a shimmering crystal light spreading nearly three meters wide on its surface.

Chu Cheng immediately plunged into the undead horde, unleashing his blade storm to wreak havoc.

The others jumped down one by one. Several with thick skin and high defense turned to guard Shi Chen on both sides, while the last two resolutely charged into the gatehouse, ready to forcibly open the gate.