Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks

Chapter 731

"Enemy attack!"

In his sleep, Orhan twitched slightly and murmured unconsciously, "Kill, kill all of Mahmud II's lackeys!"

Suddenly feeling a warm moisture on his face, he hazily awoke from an intense dream of battle, opening his eyes to meet the golden round eyes of his giant dragon companion, a fierce Sharp Claw Dragon, licking his face like a little dog.

He was stunned for a moment, hearing the horn sound signifying an enemy attack, then sprang from his bed like a spring: "It's not a dream, the enemy has really come!"

He slapped the dragon's head firmly: "Fool, didn't I tell you to wake me at the first sign of disturbance?"

The Sharp Claw Dragon, attuned to his spirit, rolled its eyes and rushed out of the tower together with Orhan.

The melodious horn sound penetrated the rain curtain, awakening the entire city.

Everywhere, Greek soldiers donned their armor and hurried back to their posts.

A streak of lightning flashed, momentarily illuminating the dark world.

Below the city walls, dense waves of Janissary Guards surged towards the battlements like a mighty ocean as they hooked cloud ladders to the wall, the hooks lodging into the stones, leaving the defenders unable to push them away.

Orhan looked down, unable to resist cursing at the crazed faces, "Damn, they've taken forbidden drugs!"

The training methods of the Janissaries were the Ottomans' secret, but Orhan, being an Ottoman prince, was not fooled. His personal guard was trained similarly, so he knew just how frightening the drug-enhanced Janissaries could be.

"We mustn't let them succeed in climbing the walls! Knock the enemy's ladders off!"

He cursed internally, vowing to give the lookout atop the tower a serious beating after the battle, then grabbed a war axe and fiercely chopped at the hook on top of a ladder.

Following him, several Greek soldiers embraced a round log, violently knocking over several ladders with Janissaries climbing on them.

They pushed the logs to the parapet, targeting and pushing one ladder off, and smashed down another.

Yet there were simply too many enemies, too close, and Brotherhood members shouted "For the Holy Fire," desperately tangling with the defenders. Soon, the first batch of Janissaries reached the battlements.

Many of these Janissaries were veteran soldiers who had previously followed Murad II, holding large cauldron-like military flags. Their combat skills were extremely proficient, swiftly stabilizing their footing on the battlements in pairs.

Once they secured their footing, a continuous stream of Janissaries climbed onto the walls behind them.

These fierce warriors of the Sufi sect vowed lifelong celibacy, consisting of Albanians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbians—but these labels no longer mattered to them.

Now, they existed only with one identity: Janissaries of Mahmud II.

And only one goal remains—to capture Constantinople!

Riiiip—

With a sound like a rending fabric.

Claws pierced through the heavy armor beneath a soldier's felt robe, and Orhan's eyes shimmered with golden radiance, one arm transformed into an immense dragon hand covered in searing hot red-black scales.

He opened his mouth and roared thunderously.

"Die, you rebellious scoundrels!"

In the next moment.

The Sharp Claw Dragon, who shouldn't possess Dragon Flame, suddenly opened its jaws wide.

...

Clang—

In the narrow space of the tower, Giovanni, seemingly asleep, suddenly raised his palm, and the blackened poisoned blade fell. The assassin sneaking in only felt his arm being clamped by an iron grip.

Giovanni opened his eyes, with his beastly amber eyes radiating a captivating wildness.

Crack—

Giovanni exerted force with his hand, directly breaking the assassin's arm, and his other hand smashed towards the assassin's head like a lightning bolt.

Meanwhile.

The horn sound indicating enemy attack had already rung out from afar.

Magic concealed the attacking enemies'

"The city has fallen, the Ottomans have broken in."

"The Venetians betrayed Christ, opening the gates!"

"Run, if you don't run now it will be too late."

Various languages echoed on the battlements, from members of the Brotherhood who were stirring panic in indistinguishable Greek and Latin.

If not for Losa having already ordered to prepare for enemy attacks at night, morale could have collapsed in an instant.

Crunch.

Half an arm turned into sharp wolf claws, eyes flashing with bloodthirsty malice. Around him, his personal guard in heavy armor launched into the counterattack immediately.

His personal guard was entirely composed of half-blood wolf race mercenaries recruited during his past mercenary life. Their combat strength was exceptional, appearing on the walls, forming a line wielding long halberds, crushing through with the force of a steamroller.

At this time, the Wolf Race remained in hiding, pursuing pureblood, typically exterminating half-blood wolves to prevent leakage of their power and discovery of their weaknesses by Church hunters.

Thus, the strength of these half-blood wolves was formidable, even having reversed and slain pureblood wolves chasing them.

With Giovanni personally leading them into battle, the enemies on the northern section of the walls—never the main attack point—were quickly suppressed.

He shattered the skull of one Janissary with a halberd, and looking at the empty space before him on the wall, the bloodthirsty intention in his eyes gradually faded as he hastily inquired, "Is there news from His Majesty?"

It turned out that the northern section's attack was likely only a feint.

Yet he dared not take his troops recklessly to support the central section of the walls, uncertain if this was an enemy's diversion tactic.

A Venetian soldier raised high a hand carrying the Imperial Banner embroidered with four "β" symbols: "By His Majesty's command, all troop units hold position, intercept all enemy forces, and do not retreat without permission."

Giovanni was slightly stunned.

A personal guard murmured softly, "The Greek Emperor's confidence is quite strong, but we just fear our section holds while his is breached by the Ottomans."

"What's there to fear? Given our strength, we can break away in chaos, head to the port, and sail back to Genoa."

Giovanni looked helplessly at his defiant guards, whose interest in guarding Constantinople was negligible, simply due to his deal with Genoa's war faction.

Standing in the rain, he ascended the tower, faintly hearing distant sounds of combat and flickering lights.

"Relay my order, all units strictly hold their posts, any departure requires the 'password' as evidence."

He thought for a moment and added, "Personal Guard standby, Goliath, go to the central section of the walls, observe the situation, and report back immediately if conditions become critical."

Although he faintly sensed the Emperor might also be a complicated figure, the power the enemy controlled seemed more terrifying.

Unless the Wolf Lord intervened, he couldn't think of anyone who could counter that fearsome Demon Dragon.

Rely on the Dragon Slayer Crossbow?

He really had little confidence.

After all, in the Battle of Varna, the Crusader side had more than one divine artifact, yet still lost tragically. Though the Dragon Slayer Crossbow was a dragon's nemesis, ultimately, it was just an inanimate object.