Chapter 58: The New Year Swordsmanship

Alexander and Viktor immediately climbed up to the tower. They moved aside the corpse of a Saint Martin guard that was slumped over a large ballista. The fallen soldier had been shot in the head, a grim reminder for Alexander to protect his own head.

As Alexander operated the ballista, he kept his body as low as possible to avoid being spotted by the Vid archers outside the city. Viktor assisted Alexander by loading the heavy ballista bolts. These bolts, with their heads made entirely of thick iron, were as thick as a baby's arm.

Being hit by one of these bolts would likely result in a person exclaiming, "It's too thick, I can't take it!" before immediately dying.

Alexander slowly adjusted the ballista, aiming it at the dense cluster of Vid soldiers below the ladders, who were waiting to climb up.

"Dooloolooloo~"

The heavy ballista roared, and the thick bolt shot out like a black phantom, disappearing into the crowd, leaving behind a path of blood.

**[Killed Vid Berserker, Experience +100]**

**[Killed Vid Spearman, Experience +100]**

**[Killed Vid Soldier, Experience +50]**

**[Killed Vid Soldier, Experience +50]**

...

One shot took out four or five Vid soldiers. The weapon was incredibly powerful, almost guaranteeing death on impact, and even those who survived would be incapacitated.

"Reload the ballista!" Alexander shouted. Viktor immediately loaded another heavy bolt into the ballista.

"Dooloolooloo~"

Another deep roar echoed, the sound transforming into the reaper of the battlefield. With each shot, several Vid soldiers met their demise.

After Alexander and Viktor fired the ballista for the fifth time, the system's voice rang in Alexander's ears once more.

**[Congratulations, Lord Alexander, Level Up!]**

Alexander excitedly opened the system panel. It had been a long time since he had leveled up, and gaining a level was becoming increasingly difficult.

**[Level]: 10**

**[Strength]: 13**

**[Agility]: 10**

**[Intelligence]: 8**

**[Charisma]: 12**

**[Available Attribute Points]: 1**

**[Experience]: 0/51200**

**[System Coins]: 10000**

This time, Alexander did not allocate the skill point to strength; he chose agility instead.

**[Level]: 10**

**[Strength]: 13**

**[Agility]: 11**

**[Intelligence]: 8**

**[Charisma]: 12**

**[Available Attribute Points]: 0**

**[Experience]: 0/51200**

**[System Coins]: 10000**

As soon as Alexander completed the allocation, he felt a lightness in his body, as if he could leap and soar into the sky.

He quickly dispelled this somewhat foolish idea; after all, this was a tower. Jumping from here wouldn't guarantee flight, but a certain ascension to heaven. Besides, collecting heads was the right path now.

After another seven or eight rounds of heavy ballista shots, the area at the base of the wall and the ladders was cleared.

Finally, their malicious actions caught the attention of the Vid archers. As Viktor was about to load another bolt onto the ballista, a dense rain of arrows flew towards them.

"Watch out!"

Alexander quickly pulled Viktor to the corner of the wall. Their battlefield experience kicked in as they swiftly raised their shields to cover their vital parts, preventing any stray arrows from hitting them.

Once the barrage of arrows subsided, they scrambled down the tower, knowing it was too dangerous to stay any longer.

Just as they descended, a ladder suddenly landed right next to them. The sound of the ladder being set up immediately drew Alexander and Viktor's attention.

Looking down from the wall, they saw a Vid soldier, knife in mouth, climbing up step by step. As he climbed, he looked up and saw the two heads peering over the wall. For a moment, the three of them locked eyes, causing the soldier to freeze in place, creating a moment of extreme awkwardness.

"Thud!"

An arrow suddenly struck the parapet beside Alexander and Viktor. If it had been a bit off, it would have hit their heads, causing them to quickly pull back.

With their heads withdrawn, Alexander and Viktor exchanged glances, immediately understanding the situation. This was a group of Vid soldiers attempting a sneak attack. They hadn't attacked at the start of the siege, waiting until the battle reached its peak to strike, aiming to catch them off guard.

In fact, this tactic was quite successful. The section of the wall they chose to attack was indeed sparsely defended. If they managed to break through here, it would pose a significant threat to the defenders elsewhere.

The lord defending this section of the wall, whose troops had been fighting fiercely at the ladders, had sent half his men to support other areas where the Vid soldiers had breached the wall.

The remaining defenders were still needed to block the enemies climbing up the ladders and couldn't spare any men.

Watching Alexander slowly draw the Executioner's Greatsword, Viktor understood Alexander's intent: "Boss, are you sure? I checked, there are about fifty people down there."

"Don't worry. If we can't beat them, we'll just run. With our skills, we can escape without a problem," Alexander had already made his decision. "Let's try to hold them off as much as we can. After all, the commander defending the city is Hoover. He just paid a fortune for a shabby deer hide from me; consider this after-sales service."

If Hoover were here, Alexander would definitely shout: "Remember to leave a five-star review, dear!"

As they spoke, the Vid soldier had already climbed up. Before he could grasp the situation, a black-and-red Executioner's Greatsword descended, striking him on the head.

The poor Vid soldier didn't even have time to react before meeting his fate in Valhalla.

**[Killed Vid Soldier, Experience +50]**

Just as Alexander finished off this Vid soldier, another one climbed up. This one, however, was smarter and raised his shield.

"Crack!"

But under Alexander's monstrous strength, the shield was shattered, followed by another lethal blow to the head.

**[Killed Vid Warrior, Experience +30]**

After dispatching another attacking soldier, Alexander suddenly realized something—the ladder only allowed one person to climb up at a time.

This meant that although there were fifty enemies, each one would have to face Alexander alone as they climbed up.

With Alexander's overwhelming combat strength, these one-on-one duels were more like one-sided massacres.

The true function of these siege ladders was to sacrifice many lives to gradually secure a small area on the wall, allowing subsequent troops to continuously climb up.

The premise being... they had to hold their ground.

Charging up like this was essentially lining up to get killed.

Alexander truly experienced the feeling of "one man defending the pass against ten thousand enemies." He had already cut down seven or eight people, and now he only needed to maintain one simple action: raise sword—slash—raise sword—slash.

Alexander even gave this sword technique a fitting name: the New Year Swordsmanship.