Refining the Heavens 4 (炼天四)

Chapter 54: Opening the Gates (Part 3)

Even in the long history of warfare, the scene here can only be viewed as legendary.

Nearly twenty thousand soldiers, and only a couple hundred lavatories. When had a battle ever been this... impactful?

With an unstoppable smell rising into the heavens, the only gate of the Ku Kang Camp had been taken over.

The guard captains can only stare resentfully as the Snowdrifts soldiers garrisoned the walls around the portcullis.

"Cap... captain what should we do? If they open the doors for our enemies...We will be whipped to death for losing the gates even if we survive," the injured guardsmen could only mourn as they watched helplessly.

"Don't worry, the key to the winch is kept by ..."

*Thonk*

The winch box that had been secured by multiple high-level defensive runes and made from Cherry Iron – a top-grade mortal realm metal – swung open before the captain could finished his words.

Guard Captain: "..."

Everyone else: "???"

The winch that lifts the portcullis is one of the most heavily guarded places in the camp for obvious reasons. Security details patrol the area day and night to ensure that no one could remain next to the metal box long enough to sabotage it.

The winch box that is designed to be impenetrable had failed so spectacularly that the guards still felt as if the sky had fallen.

While masquerading as patrols, the Snowdrifts soldiers had been slowly weakening it for the entire day. The traditional method requires time and heavy calculations but they only need to walk pass the box and gently touch it with their Star Rune weapon for the defensive runes on top to slowly erode. As both an Inscribed and Seal Weapon, no one expected it to have such a function too.

Only a very small number of friends closest to Kairos knows about the dragonlings staying within each blade. These creatures treats it as their home and as all dragonkin would, they greedily amass all kinds of materials to shore up their nest.

While there are plenty of legends where dragons hoard countless treasures, few questioned where those prizes came from. Well, the answer is surprisingly simple: They took it.

Fortresses, safes, and vaults included, there are not many places are dragon-proof.

Their kind, endowed with extraordinary affinity with the elements, could break both seals and runes and their excessively sharp claws could slice through the toughest doors.

Of course, the dragonlings born of Kairos' Ki also had such traits, albeit their abilities are limited by their tender age. But when given enough time, these fledglings could nibble through both runic barriers and fortified metal. With so many Star Rune Weapons, what should've been impossible was easily cracked open for the first time in history.

Admittedly, this was no way the fault of the engineer as dragons should have vanished from Gaias and the unruly Cave Trolls aren't supposed to be tameable in the first place.

The gates were pulled open, and several large men operated the winch to lift up the portcullis. It took a while with the rust on the chain, but they had plenty of time. On the other side, a great army awaited.

Esley Restrio and his soldiers were in complete incredulity that the northern gate was so easily taken.

They had just arrived after surviving the countless cannon fires, especially that pair of Void Cannons that appeared mid-way in their march and taken countless lives. Fortunately, the damage they taken was tolerable since a siege is supposed to last for weeks, months, or even years, but they merely suffered for a day.