Don't move, it's a robbery!

After confirming that the civilians had been released by the military, I turned back to the lower city and began to conserve my energy for the night's battle.

Even without the news of the "broker," I could guess that the Desert Gods were probably after me; otherwise, there would be no reason for them to surround the entire city-state of Mogoslor.

To say I wasn't flustered at all would be a lie, but to say I was terrified wouldn't be quite true.

I've already fought the Desert Gods twice, so I've accumulated quite a bit of experience.

Due to the unique environment of the desert, armor in the south is often not as sturdy as that in the north, and the armor of the sand bandits is often a grade lower than that of the regular army.

Their morale was very high, but as an army, they had virtually no discipline. When fighting, they would basically charge forward in a swarm, and if there was no leader present, their morale would collapse at the slightest loss.

Without inside help, the Desert Gods simply have no ability to conquer a city protected by walls.

Of course, this is just the general situation. What's really troublesome about the Desert Gods is that they can use the 'Altar of Pain' to control the Desert Spirits.

Using this ability comes at a huge cost. The leaders of the desert gods need to drain a large amount of the sand bandits' life force. At the rate they drain it, those sand bandits probably won't even live to be 40.

However, judging from the behavior of the desert gods, they don't seem to care much about their subordinates. Moreover, due to matters of faith, I estimate that those ordinary sand bandits may have willingly offered up their life force.

In other words, if the Desert Gods recklessly use the 'Altar of Pain,' not only the city-state of Mogoslor, but even the entire coalition of the Southern Federation might not be able to gain the upper hand against them.

Therefore, the best way to deal with the Desert Gods right now is to prevent them from using the power of the 'Altar of Pain'.

You might ask, isn't it up to the other party to decide whether or not to use their abilities?

Yes, the decision to use the 'Altar of Pain' is indeed made by the Desert Gods, but they're not fools. They can't just drain the life force of their subordinates the moment it's activated. If they did that, even if the Desert Gods eventually manage to defeat Mogoslor, their own people would probably be wiped out.

This explosive power is definitely meant to be used only at the most critical moments.

Considering that the Desert Gods came for me, and I tricked them again this morning, they are very likely to misjudge my strength. So as long as I don't show up, they probably won't use this ability casually.

In addition, city defenses must also be considered. If the defenses on the city walls are too strong and the sand bandits see no hope of victory, then the leader of the desert gods may choose to unleash the spirit of the desert.

Based on my recent observations, I don't think the soldiers in the city would dare to attack the Desert Spirit.

Conversely, if the city's defenses appear weak, the sand bandits probably won't start fighting so desperately so early, and as long as the desert gods don't use the power of the 'Altar of Pain,' they won't be able to break into the city.

In short, the weaker the city's defenses, the stronger they are.

Therefore, in order to enable Mogoslol to hold on for longer, I made a difficult decision.

That means I won't participate in the city defense. If the bandits really manage to breach the city, then I'll figure out a way to solve the problem.

(。_。): "Goodness, isn't your idea a bit excessive? The desert gods are here to cause you trouble, and you're asking the people in the city to help you deal with them. If you actually manage to drive them away, I reckon they'll have to thank you."

"Yes, I think this is a good idea."

(。_。): "By the way, if you're not planning to participate in the city defense, why did you ask Torsun to get you cannons?"

"I originally wanted to make several demands, so that after they rejected a few, they would agree to the rest. Who knew Torsun could actually get them for me!"

"But this is good. I've seen those cannons before. They're incredibly powerful when they explode. If I find myself unable to defeat the leader of the Desert Gods, he can lead me to the gunpowder depot. Once he gets close, I'll light it, and then I'll run away and blow that son of a bitch to death."

(。_。): "I don't think artillery is used like that."

I didn't continue chatting with "Xitong". I went to the South District, found a house, and closed my eyes to rest until night fell. I didn't open my eyes again until then.

It's time to settle our scores with those desert gods!

I steadied my breathing and silently awaited the desert gods' siege.

Then, nothing happened.

Just as I was feeling confused, sounds of fighting and killing came from the West District.

"What's going on? They said the Desert Gods would attack the South District in the middle of the night, so why are they in the West District? Was the intelligence wrong, or is that bastard broker lying?"

I was a little confused, but I hadn't planned to participate in the city defense anyway, so I wasn't too worried before the sand bandits stormed into the city.

I waited patiently, preparing to launch an attack only after the West District had been breached.

Once the sand bandits storm the city, they will surely plunder extensively, leaving the leader vulnerable. At that time, I can launch a surprise attack and have at least a 3% chance of killing the leader of the desert gods.

As for the ordinary people in Xicheng District, I can only say that I can't control everyone. All I can do is notify them in advance so they can take precautions. If someone unfortunately dies tonight, the most I can do is help them get revenge.

And so, I waited silently for more than two hours, and then the battle to defend the western district ended.

The garrison was victorious, and the sand bandits failed to breach the city walls.

"What's going on? Are the sand bandits really this bad?"

The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt. It felt like someone was plotting against me tonight.

By the way, the most fortified city-state of Mogoslor is naturally the Upper City, but the South City and West City are not bad either. After all, a large number of residents live here, and they can discover any problems in time and report them to the City Hall.

Anyone with even a basic understanding of Mogoslor would not choose to attack from these two directions.

Oh no, Dongcheng District!

I suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem. In the eastern part of the city of Mogoslol, there are a lot of slums. The military camp is a long way away. If the city wall is attacked, the soldiers will have to go around a long distance to provide support.

Moreover, the city wall in the eastern district is the weakest part of Mogoslol. Not only is it only four or five meters high, but it has also been in disrepair for many years. When I escaped by climbing over the wall last night, I left from the eastern district.

Most importantly, Dongcheng District seems unusually quiet tonight.

I quickly ran towards the East District. To avoid taking a detour and save time, I chose to run directly from the rooftop.

Unfortunately, even so, things still changed when I arrived in Dongcheng District.

A section of the city wall in Dongcheng District has collapsed.

Outside the city walls, a colossal fire spirit was roaring as it launched its attack, accompanied by three catapults that the desert progenitors had somehow acquired.

They were now relentlessly launching boulders, slamming them against the city walls. The soldiers on the walls were retaliating with sparse arrows, but their efforts seemed futile due to their small numbers. They couldn't stop the catapults, let alone the sand bandits trying to climb into the city through the collapsed sections.

Okay, it's definitely too late to defend now.

I found a rooftop to sit on, intending to wait quietly for the right opportunity, as planned.

But at that moment, the fire giant suddenly changed its attack. Instead of continuing to destroy the city wall, it chose to attack a commander on the wall.

Because it was too dark and I was too far away, I couldn't see who the unlucky guy was, nor could I save him. I could only watch him being sent flying.

"Tsk tsk tsk, poor thing, died a horrible death. Hey, wait a minute, is that thing flying this way?"

"Boom!"

Before I could finish speaking, the unfortunate fellow landed on the ground, accidentally damaging a cowshed in the process.

Just when I thought this guy was doomed, the unfortunate fellow actually crawled out of the rubble bit by bit, coughing up blood as he tried to stand up.

I truly never expected that there would be such a brave warrior in the city of Mogosloar, who could actually withstand the attacks of the Desert Spirit with his own body.

What a tough guy!

Wait a minute, why does this guy look so much like the Ice Knight?