The Palisade

"I won't fight anymore! I want to go home!"

A conscript from the enemy's ranks, staring at the corpse that had just fallen before his eyes, could no longer hold onto his sanity. He dropped his weapon and turned to run. Seeing this, the others followed suit, turning their backs and fleeing in panic.

The entire levy formation crumbled, with dozens of men scattering like a flock of frightened rabbits. The sergeant, who had been overseeing the battle, raised his sword but was immediately overwhelmed by the stampede of men.

As the tide of people receded, Norn's view suddenly cleared. But what appeared before him was a group of mercenaries with sinister grins on their faces.

The enemy mercenaries, like Norn's side, were a motley crew in terms of equipment, but their eyes all gleamed with an aggressive light.

"Yah-ha!" A strange cry came from somewhere, and the mercenaries formed a crooked line and advanced. Unlike the untrained levy, these mercenaries kept their bodies hidden behind their shields as they slowly closed in. Any spears or stones thrown from Norn's side were deflected by the shields, causing no damage.

The mercenaries quickly reached the wooden palisade, and both sides could see the ferocity in each other's eyes. Accompanied by countless roars and screams, they launched another assault.

Both sides, shield in hand, unleashed their maximum hostility towards each other. Norn's mercenaries continuously thrust their weapons, but many times they were blocked by the enemy's armor, and they couldn't reduce the enemy's numbers as quickly as before.

For a moment, both sides were deadlocked. But this time, Norn's side, with fewer men, was clearly at a disadvantage. More weapons extended from the enemy's side, clattering against the shields of Norn's mercenaries.

"Hold them off, don't let them chop down the palisade!"

Wolf, observing the situation, noticed several burly men wielding two-handed axes and hacking at the palisade. The heavy axes deeply embedded themselves into the wood, and with just a few swings, countless splinters flew, leaving that section of the palisade on the verge of collapse.

But Norn's mercenaries, noticing this, thrust their spears despite the enemy's interference. The enemy, without shields and in simple armor, couldn't withstand the spear thrusts. After coughing up a mouthful of blood, they fell heavily to the ground. But their bodies disappeared like stones dropped into the sea.

"Ah! My hand!"

One of Norn's mercenaries, who had just thrust his spear, was seized by the enemy, who took the opportunity to chop off his hand. The wounded mercenary immediately knelt in pain, blood gushing from the severed hand.

The relief squad, no longer able to rest, rushed up under Wolf's command to plug the gap. Norn and Jinn dragged the wounded mercenary to Gillna.

"Yashan! If you're a man, hold it together for me!" Gillna stuffed a wad of cotton into the severed hand, immediately causing the wounded man to scream and struggle.

"What are you waiting for? Get over here and hold him down!" Gillna shouted at Anna, then turned to Norn and Jinn, "You two aren't needed here. Get your butts back to the front line and hold the line!"

"Or I'll skin you two brats alive!"

Norn nodded and pulled Jinn back to the front line.

The situation at the palisade was now critical, with casualties on both sides. The sound of wood being chopped never ceased. More and more wounded were being carried off, and gaps were appearing everywhere. Although there were reserves to fill in, it was only a matter of time before they were breached.

Norn anxiously surveyed the surroundings, thinking of a solution.

"Kid, get over here and help!" Wolf was almost grinding his teeth as he shouted. The section of the palisade where Wolf was had already begun to tilt, and it was only thanks to Wolf and a few mercenaries that it hadn't collapsed yet.

But with the surging tide of enemies, the palisade was slowly but surely falling.

"Captain! Hold on over there!" Instead of rushing to help, Norn ran towards a burning tent nearby.

The outer skin of the tent had almost been completely burned away, but the central fire was still raging.

Norn thrust his spear into the fire, successfully pulling out a large, blazing fireball, and immediately ran towards Wolf's position.

"Get out of the way!"

The fireball flew over Wolf's head, accompanied by a whooshing sound, causing a commotion among the enemies.

Norn wildly swung the large torch, splashing flames onto the enemies. Those who were splashed with fire screamed in agony and retreated from that section of the palisade.

"Captain! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Wolf took advantage of the enemy's retreat to catch his breath.

Norn swung the flames again, driving back an enemy who tried to approach, and then shouted to Wolf, "If you're okay, call more people over and throw burning stuff in front of the palisade. Otherwise, we won't be able to hold on much longer!"

Wolf paused for a moment, then realized what Norn meant. He pointed at a mercenary and said, "Yafar! Do as he says. Get everyone who can still move to burn anything worthless and throw it over here."

"Get moving!" Wolf kicked the mercenary's butt and then stood resolutely in front of the palisade again, blocking the frontal attack for Norn.

Just as Norn's fireball was about to go out, the mercenary finally returned with the wounded who could still move. They imitated Norn, using spears to carry burning objects and rushing over. Some were still-burning wooden crates, some were cotton armor that had been set on fire on the spot, and some brave souls even wrapped a piece of a burning log in animal skin. They used whatever they could find.

For a moment, burning objects of all sizes were thrown over the palisade, landing among the enemies. A few who didn't dodge in time were doused in raging flames, and their cotton armor caught fire.

"Ah!"

The mercenaries who had been set on fire struggled in agony, but the raging flames continued to mercilessly consume their flesh until only a pile of cruel charcoal remained.

The surrounding enemies immediately retreated in fear, leaving the front of the palisade clear.

But the enemies only moved back far enough for the flames to burn out. They still stared fiercely at Norn's side from five meters away. They were waiting for these things to burn out, and then, without the flames to hinder them, they could use their numerical advantage to completely crush Norn's side.

Norn looked at the enemy with a serious expression and asked without turning his head, "Captain, I've got a little firewood left in the kitchen. Besides that, do you know where else we can find fuel?"

"None!" Wolf also looked grave.

"Then there's no other way!" Norn sighed.

Wolf looked up at the sun and said, "It's about time. We've earned our pay from those noble lords."

"Burn that pile of firewood, use it to set the palisade on fire as a rear guard, and then we retreat!"