Great Demon King

Chapter 331: So what if I tricked you!

Bandits from the four large bandit groups had gathered on the plains six miles away from Brettel City, and were slowly making their way towards the city.

These bandit groups were vastly different from the small bandit groups that hid between Brettel City and Seamist City. Among these groups, the smallest, the Bloodtooth Bandits, had more than two thousand people. The largest Greenfire Bandits had more than six thousand people, and was double the size of the city guard of Brettel City by itself.

These large bandit groups were the same as the Redbeard Bandits, a harbinger of disaster that frequently visited and looted the seven duchies, spelling doom for every city they descended upon. Wherever they went within the seven duchies, the cities that were robbed were swept clean. As the seven duchies were constantly warring with each other and there were many mountains and hills to hide in around the seven duchies, these bandits were like fish in water, becoming parasites that were thoroughly hated by the seven duchies.

In contrast to the typical bandit groups, these bandits were well-equipped. Some former military officers from the seven duchies were actually amongst them. They decided to bring their men out to the plains when they’d run afoul of the nobility in their own duchy or had committed some dire crime.

These people had military backgrounds. Although they had become bandits, their discipline and combat knowledge had not decreased one bit. After becoming bandits, they used the wealth and equipment that they plundered for soldiers and warhorses. This resulted in their equipment and combat strength being on par with the official armies of the seven duchies.

This time around, the four bandit groups heading towards Brettel City were the Greenfire Bandits, the Battleaxe Bandits, the Flying Dragon Bandits, and the Bloodtooth Bandits. The Battleaxe Bandits and the Flying Dragon Bandits had four thousand and three thousand men respectively. They had excellent equipment and were experienced and bloodthirsty people.

Currently, the leaders of the four bandit groups was walking in the center of his troops, still discussing the plans for their attack on Brettel City.
“Does Brettel City really have the wealth that you mentioned? I visited the city just half a year ago. Apart from stones, there weren’t any other valuables. The brothers who made the trip with me didn’t gain anything!” Bloodtooth’s leader Lance asked skeptically.

Lance had only joined this time because the other three had personally invited him. He had planned on pillaging a small town in the Helon Duchy. If he hadn’t understood that the other three were even greedier than him, Lance definitely wouldn’t have agreed to join them on this raid of Brettel City.

“Brettel City is different from before. The new city lord is said to be extremely wealthy. The magic cannons owned by the Helon Duchy sissies were seized. There are rumors that Helen Tina was even raped by the city lord. Damn it, that wench Helen Tina is one of the well known beauties in the seven duchies and is also grand duke. Who would have thought that she would actually be sullied by the new city lord!” Leader Bynam of the Battleaxe Bandits was a brute that stood over two meters tall. He had an enormous battle axe strapped on his back that was a meter and fifty centimeters long. What exposed skin could be seen showed that he was as hairy as an orc.

“Lance, I’ve received definitive information that Brettel City is definitely different from before. Just the six magic cannons alone are already worth six hundred thousand gold. There’s also the wealth of the governor and merchants. Brettel City currently has at least one million gold.” Greenfire’s leader Faust explained to Lance.

Faust had once been a high ranking officer of the Narsen Duchy, and had a decent reputation in the ever raging conflict between the seven duchies. However, he had been dismissed for wantonly slaughtering captives in battle. When Faust received this news, he led his men and transitioned to being bandit mercenaries. By transitioning from a high ranking officer to a bandit, Faust was even more in his element, expanding the Greenfire Bandits to their current size of six thousand men, no longer restricted by anyone.

Of the four bandit groups, Faust’s Greenfire Bandits were not only the largest in number, but they were also the strongest in combat. After all, Faust had a military background and was extremely skilled in leading and training his men.

Hearing Faust’s explanation, the eyes of other bandit leaders, including the silent, malicious looking Flying Dragon Bandits’ leader Afie, shone with greed. One million gold was a large amount in anyone’s eyes. If even the dukes of the seven duchies knew of this, they would’ve possibly come on the raid as well, not to mention these bandits!

“Faust is indeed formidable, haha! One million gold! They want to defend that only relying on Brettel City’s defensive measures? We’ve really struck it rich this time.” Battleaxe’s Bynum laughed loudly, as if imagining limitless gold coins raining down on him.

Flying Dragon Bandit’s Afie looked at Bynum in disdain. What an idiot. If Brettel City was so easy to conquer, why hasn’t the equally brutal and greedy Faust already taken all the gold for himself? He’d even kindly invited them to share the spoils.

Of the four bandit leaders, although Faust was brutal, greedy, and had outstanding military strategy, he wasn’t a ruthless or scheming person. On the other hand, Flying Dragon’s Afie had the nickname of “Vicious Dragon”, referring to his vicious personality and his tendency to use despicable, insidious tricks.

When Faust mentioned the one million gold, Graves thought for a moment and secretly decided that he definitely shouldn’t be the main offense after reaching Brettel City, at least not until after analyzing the situation. If not, he could easily lose all of his hard earned capital.

With the temptation and desire for gold, the four bandit groups marched slowly towards Brettel City’s city walls dressed in their respective colors.

Tall and broad city walls stood before them, not a single hole could be seen on the repaired city walls. From the outside, Brettel City seemed to have a tight, sturdy defense.

“Wow. Brettel City has changed a lot, I remember when i was here previously, the city gate was riddled with holes. The walls weren’t as high as they are now either. We could easily break into the city at that time. We definitely didn’t encounter such a strong resistance. Looks like Brettel City is definitely different now.” Lance couldn’t help but exclaim as he raised his head and gazed at Brettel City.

“Eh? Faust, where are the magic cannons you mentioned?” Battleaxe’s leader Bynum firmly remembered the cannons were worth six hundred thousand gold. He wasn’t fazed by the destructive power of the cannons. Instead, he was pondering how to exchange the magic cannons for glittering gold coins after obtaining them. Bynum felt a delightful sense of satisfaction every time he imagined being drowned in gold.

Faus was riding on a tall warhorse and didn’t immediately respond to Bynum’s question. Instead, he started ordering the Greenfire bandits to line up in formation, preparing to engage in battle at any moment. Only when the Greenfire bandits were in formation did Faust gaze at the city walls, realizing that there really seemed to be no magic cannons on top of the city walls.

Frowning as he thought for a moment, Faust replied, “The magic cannons are definitely in Brettel City. Just keep focusing on that. Brettel City has four city walls, our four groups will each take one city gate. Follow our previous arrangement. Once you see my signal, we will all attack Brettel City together.”

“Brettel City’s city guard only has three thousand soldiers. A city gate will at most have a thousand soldiers defending it. You have all heard of their combat strength. As long as you spread your troops out when attacking, the magic cannons would not be able to deal a heavy blow. Also, the magic cannons need to be reloaded with magic ores. There is also a delay after every cannon blast. They could possibly be lacking in magic ores as well, therefore, there is no need to fear them.”

“Our four sides only need to break through one of the walls. Brettel City will be ours based on our strength. There might be a few casualties this time around. However, think about the one million gold, the glittering gold that is piled up in the governor’s mansion. It’s impossible to obtain that without any sacrifice.”
Bynum rubbed his hands and said excitedly, “I’m itching to begin!”

“That’s good. Leave the main gate to us. The three of you decide amongst yourselves who to attack which gate. ’ll send the signal to begin the attack in two hours. Whoever first breaks into the city will get 40% of the gold.” Faust said with a low voice.

This was the plan that was previously agreed on, everyone had no objections. Hence, the other three bandit groups left in their respective directions after a short discussion. On the way to their selected city gate, “Vicious Dragon” Afie ordered his men, “Take note of the other three city gates. You are to immediately send a signal to me when any of them has broken through.”

“Relax boss, we all know what needs to be done.” One of the bandits nodded, leaving stealthily with the rest of them. They had already known of their leader’s sinister personality and were already used to such situations.

Afie didn’t want his Flying Dragon Bandits to actually test out how strong the Brettel City defenses were. Furthermore, Afie was afraid Faust had deliberately invited them to be cannon fodder. He was taking careful precautions against Faust in case Brettel City had any powerful artillery. In this way, Graves would still consider whether or not he needed to follow Faust’s plans.

The temptation of a million gold was indeed huge. However, Graves naturally would retreat without hesitation if he wouldn’t be able to survive to enjoy it. He didn’t care about Faust’s arrangements. Only by preserving his own strength would there be more opportunities to gain wealth. If he recklessly squandered his capital, it definitely wouldn’t be worth it.

Han Shuo, Dorcas, Faulke, Dick, and the rest had just exited the city lord’s mansion after a discussion in Brettel City. Han Shuo, Dorcas, and Faulke headed towards one of the city gates, while Dick, Chester and Fabian headed towards another city gate.

The remaining yin demon floated around, eavesdropping on every conversation that the four bandit groups had. The weapons with heavy firepower on the high city walls were all temporarily hidden. The sparse soldiers on top of the city wall were only equipped with bows and crossbows, attentively watching the bandit groups that were a distance away.

Of the four city gates, the main gate that Han Shuo went to had the fewest soldiers and weapons. There were only three hundred soldiers and not a single magic cannon located here. However, he had to face the Greenfire Bandits’ six thousand members. The Greenfire Bandits were the strongest and were also the main force behind this attack.

“Bryan, do you feel confident?” Little Fatty Jack’s voice trembled, a bit hesitant compared to normal as he looked at the dense mass of bandits in the distance.