Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem-Chapter 439: First Night

Zach was awoken by Nora gently shaking his shoulder. Before he could ask what was going on, he saw the finger over her lips, asking him to be quiet. He nodded. Nora pointed at Yan, Lasho, and Garad standing at the door to his room. Technically, they were standing at the doorway. The door had been used as a makeshift bed for the injured soldiers.

Zach’s maids followed him soundlessly as he followed Yan and the others out of their house under the cover of darkness. Along the way, Yan managed to gesture that the barbarians were attacking. Zach had already figured as much. What he couldn’t understand was why they needed to be so quiet.

However, he soon got his answer when a door creaked open on the other side of the street and was immediately pierced by three arrows. Fortunately, there was no one standing there. The resident of that house was aware of the creaking of his hinges and had gently shown it open before slinking out through the back and sneaking around.

In another place, a low grunt rang out as one of the barbarian archers had exposed themselves when taking that shot. A soldier lying in wait had seized the opportunity and stabbed them in the lung before falling down and hiding under their corpse.

Zach’s eyes narrowed. He strengthened the barrier around him and his group.

Things were a lot more dire than he had expected.

This war wasn’t straightforward battles on the plains outside the city. It was guerilla warfare inside the city when night fell.

It was a contest between how well the barbarians could use their senses and experience in the dark and the soldiers’ familiarity with the city and ability to adapt.

It was impossible to determine which side held the advantage each night. And each night, the warriors on both sides prepared to face death.

Zach glanced at Yan.

Shouldn’t the imperial prince be hiding in his room with Lahso for safety?

Zach gave Mandra a look before tapping Yan’s shoulder. He signaled for Yan, Lahso, and Garad to stay calm and not react. They nodded slowly with questioning frowns. Lahso’s expression was hidden by his visor, though.

A moment later, the air around them changed subtly as Mandra wrapped them in a veil that obscured their presence and muted any sounds they inadvertently made. With the darkness’ help, they were next to impossible to discover by ordinary means. Yan’s eyes widened as he glanced around before looking at Mandra.

He had not realized that she was more than a healer since the only thing she had displayed so far was healing magic.

Zach mouthed to Yan, asking where they were going. Yan winced as soon as he saw Zach move his mouth and was about to cover it before stopping himself and looking around. No one attacked them. It was fine.

He then pointed at the main gate.

The archers could sneak into the city by climbing the walls under the cover of darkness. Any guards who tried to defend the walls or stop them were shot by archers from outside the city.

They had no choice but to hunt the archers after they snuck into the city.

However, the trained and agile archers were the only ones who could scale the walls. The other warriors had trouble doing so, especially rounding the crest of the walls without clumsily being dropped onto a soldier’s sword.

That meant the archers and scouts sneaking into the city every night had one primary goal. They had to open the main gate and let in the warriors waiting outside.

Naturally, that meant that the soldiers’ main goal was preventing that. More important than anything else was keeping the gates closed. But standing guard in front of the gate meant becoming a practice target and then a pincushion for arrows within moments.

Most nights were a tense standoff. The soldiers would shoot or swarm any barbarian who tried to open the gate, and the barbarian archers hiding in the city’s shadows would fill any soldier guarding the gate with arrows.

Neither side would succeed like that, so they continued whittling down each side’s numbers each night.

But the barbarians had the advantage in that aspect. The East did not have a bottomless supply of soldiers, and Ritel was not the only place that needed defending.

Zach’s mind spun as he glanced around on their way to secure a spot close to the gate. Sounds of quick fights, deaths, and short skirmishes occasionally rang out from the darkness around them.

It was strange walking in the darkness without caring anything about what was going on around them, but Zach didn’t have the authority to decide what they were doing. He frowned and clenched his fist as he tried to sense how much of his Blessed Defense he could use without it affecting his condition.

It wasn’t as much as he would have liked. If it had been, he could have secured the gate without needing to sacrifice the lives of any soldiers. He was confident his barrier would hold up against the barbarian archers’ arrows.

But not right now. He didn’t even know the extent of power the barbarians were attacking with. What if they had someone like Lahso on their side?

Yan found a deserted shed within view of the gate that he chose as their spot. they would hold that vantage point and make sure no one got close to the gate.

Lahso, Garad, and Zach stopped him from opening the door. He obediently took a step back, as Lahso silently drew his sword before putting his hand on the door. He jerked it open and took a step inside, thrusting his sword into a corner, stabbing the wounded barbarian archer who had sought refuge in there.

Lahso grabbed the dead archer by the back of their tunic, stepped out of the shed and took another couple of steps before throwing the archer out of the city and into the plains.

"..."

Lahso dusted his hands as the others stared at him. He didn’t care and gestured for them to enter.

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The first night, Zach and the others watched.