Once they reached the ground, even powerful flying mounts couldn't withstand the intense firepower of the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets. If they were more than a hundred yards away, flying mounts could easily dodge the shots from the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets. But within twenty yards, even the toughest flying mount would be in bad shape after taking six or seven iron projectiles.

Angel Wings glanced at the ground. Under Watery Smoke's command, the remains of the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets were cleared away, and the remaining ones gathered together, ready to face the enemy.

The horrifying scene from before was still fresh in Split Rock's and the others' minds. The damage it could do to instantly kill so many flying mounts!

They no longer had the courage to continue attacking the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets.

"Guild Leader, what do we do now?"

Angel Wings surveyed the entire battlefield. The Mage Union's defeat was inevitable. Their massive force was being slowly eaten away by the Niu Ren Tribe. Only a third of their original numbers remained. Many people, seeing that the Mage Union was beyond saving, quietly slipped away.

A wave of guild withdrawals swept through the Mage Union. Many left silently. With so many people leaving, even those who were afraid of Mad Rogue's power began to withdraw from the Mage Union. They understood that once Aegison Fortress was breached, the Mage Union would have no chance of recovery. It was better to join a stronger guild than to stay in this hopeless one.

Defeat wasn't so scary. Everyone could revive, and the equipment loss wasn't too great. As long as people remained, they could make a comeback. But if morale crumbled, it would be dangerous, like a pile of sand ready to collapse at any moment.

Many in the Mage Union had lost the will to fight. Some ran, some scattered, and the remaining few were no match for the Niu Ren Tribe warriors charging forward under the Holy Light.

On the walls of Aegison Fortress, countless figures of Niu Ren Tribe players appeared. They swept through, driving out the Mage Union players. Many Mage Union players, with nowhere to stand, fell from the walls. The thirty-odd warriors of the Niu Ren Tribe at the front advanced step by step. They encountered fierce resistance from the Mage Union. With no way to escape, the Mage Union players were determined to fight to the death, inflicting significant losses on the Niu Ren Tribe.

Divine Light Protection!

A thick beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping nearly three hundred Niu Ren Tribe players. Bathed in the divine light, these players were filled with power, their health and mana exceptionally abundant.

"Damn, my stats have increased by over 70%."

"What a powerful divine spell!"

The Niu Ren Tribe players were all very excited.

Just then, the sky suddenly darkened, and a chilling breeze swept through.

Demonic Curse!

A huge demonic image appeared in the air about ten yards ahead, its face twisted in a horrifying grin, emitting a cackling laugh, its shrill voice seeming to pierce the eardrums. The Mage Union players watched the demon in terror.

The demonic image vanished after more than ten seconds, and the Mage Union players felt their energy being drained, their bodies unusually weak.

Someone checked their stats and found they had dropped by more than 70%.

"Priests, dispel it quickly!"

"The dispel level isn't high enough! This curse is too high level, we can only wait for it to pass!"

With one side's strength increased by 70% and the other side's decreased by 70%, the gap in strength between the two sides was immediately apparent. The Niu Ren Tribe warriors were killing the Mage Union warriors with a single blow, without needing a second. It was the first time they had encountered such a situation, where plate-armored warriors were so fragile.

"This is awesome, so damn awesome!"

The Niu Ren Tribe warriors roared and charged into the Mage Union's ranks, beginning a one-sided massacre.

Stunned by the two skills, the Niu Ren Tribe's mages and priests looked in awe at the two priests in the crowd. Their divine spells and curses were too incredible.

They were none other than Black Heaven and Black Hell, who had joined the Niu Ren Tribe not long ago. Their skills, when combined, were simply invincible.

Watching the Mage Union forces in front of them being slaughtered, Black Hell put down his staff and said to Black Heaven, "Let's go down and take a look."

"Mm."

The two walked down the stairs on the city wall, and the Niu Ren Tribe players made way for them.

Inside Aegison Fortress, the Mage Union was either driven out or killed. Mad Rogue and Holy Flame were nowhere to be found.

Before long, a message spread like wildfire in the Niu Ren Tribe's guild chat: Aegison Fortress has been breached! Upon hearing this news, the entire Niu Ren Tribe erupted in cheers that echoed through the sky. This victory meant that there was one less opponent in the Grindylow Empire that could rival the Niu Ren Tribe. The remaining Sacred Guardians were probably on their own.

The Mage Union players who had been fighting to the death eventually left in disappointment.

Angel Wings and the others circled in the sky on their flying mounts for a long time, then departed.

Brilliant Saber and the others stood on the city wall, looking into the distance. From below the walls of Aegison Fortress to the end of the horizon, there was an endless stretch of corpses. The Niu Ren Tribe players collected the equipment dropped on the ground and sold it all at the auction house, which was estimated to be worth millions of gold coins.

"We've taken down Aegison Fortress. What should we do with this fortress?" Brilliant Saber asked Nie Yan in a private message.

The Niu Ren Tribe had two choices: one was to completely destroy Aegison Fortress and then retreat, and the other was to deploy a portion of their forces to defend Aegison Fortress and build it into their own branch base.

Nie Yan was silent for a long while. Deploying troops meant that the Niu Ren Tribe's forces would be dispersed, but destroying Aegison Fortress would be too much of a waste. This was an intermediate fortress. If the Century Financial Group could develop it, it would definitely generate huge profits and greatly benefit the Century Financial Group.

"Rebuild Aegison Fortress, make the walls taller and thicker, and move the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets and Ballista Trebuchets onto the walls. I don't believe anyone can break through!" Nie Yan said. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to give up Aegison Fortress. With the Niu Ren Tribe's technological advantage, defending Aegison Fortress should still be possible.

"Defense alone is probably not enough. We still need to station some people here! The other guilds in Moonshade City will definitely be unhappy with the Niu Ren Tribe seizing Moonshade City, and they will definitely revolt together," Brilliant Saber said. His thoughts were basically the same as Nie Yan's.

"Divide the five fortresses around Aegison Fortress among the Holy Roman Empire, Luminous Sacred Flame, War God Tribe, Jialan Temple, and Mad War Alliance, let them set up branches in Moonshade City and start recruiting people. As for the central Aegison Fortress, we'll have a portion of the Niu Ren Tribe and the brothers from the five branches stationed here. We don't need too many people, thirty to fifty thousand will be enough. Connect the teleportation arrays between the various fortresses. If Aegison Fortress is attacked, the people from the other five fortresses can come to assist," Nie Yan had thought out the specific arrangements. The Niu Ren Tribe could only hold six fortresses for the time being, and they would wait until they had gained a foothold here before gradually expanding.

"This method is good," Brilliant Saber said. He had nothing to add. Nie Yan had already thought everything through very thoroughly.

After a while, Guo Huai arrived at Aegison Fortress and, according to the best design given by the mechanics, began to build a completely new Aegison Fortress, rebuilding the city walls, streets, shops, and so on. Everything was brand new. Anyway, the Niu Ren Tribe had plenty of money. The original war budget was five million, but after the war ended, more than seven million were spent on pensions and rewards. They had harvested equipment worth more than five million, which meant that the war expenses had only used up more than two million. The remaining money was more than enough to build Aegison Fortress.

Buildings sprang up from the ground, and the entire Aegison Fortress was transformed. On the towering city walls, heavy trebuchets were placed, with an extremely strict defense. Without large war machines, even an army of hundreds of thousands of people might not be able to break through.

Following Nie Yan's instructions, Guo Huai handed over the credit point business district of Aegison Fortress to Ah Chen. As soon as Aegison Fortress was completed, many merchants came to the door. Their shops had been destroyed in the war. Seeing that the Niu Ren Tribe had occupied Aegison Fortress, they came to discuss cooperation with the Niu Ren Tribe. The commercial status of Aegison Fortress was beyond doubt. Although these people's shops were destroyed, they had earned enough money before, and each of them was very wealthy.

With Aegison Fortress under the control of the Niu Ren Tribe, the Niu Ren Tribe could raise prices and make a lot of money. It wouldn't take long for the money earned from building Aegison Fortress to be recovered.

Every player in the Niu Ren Tribe received generous benefits. The Niu Ren Tribe was thriving. Originally, many Niu Ren Tribe players had been somewhat swayed by the activities of Cao Xu of the Century Financial Group, but now, they had to reconsider. The Mage Union had been defeated, so was there a future in following the Century Financial Group? Although the price offered by the Century Financial Group was really tempting, several times their current salary, and there were some additional bonuses and the like. But the Niu Ren Tribe had shown strong staying power. After taking down Aegison Fortress, Nie Yan had Guo Huai raise the salary of every veteran player, and their salaries would definitely increase in the future.

The hearts of the Niu Ren Tribe players were somewhat settled. Cao Xu had originally instigated nearly six hundred people, and if so many people left the guild at the same time, it would definitely be a big blow to the Niu Ren Tribe. But after the battle of Aegison Fortress, all his efforts were in vain. To poach the same number of people, they would have to pay at least five or six times more money. If they were to bring them over, it would be equivalent to increasing their burden, and these people would not be able to create value equal to their salaries.

This meant that Cao Xu's plan had failed.

The Niu Ren Tribe was thriving, and Nie Yan's hanging heart finally landed. He could now concentrate on practicing his skills for a few days.