The commotion was still ongoing on top of Pialu’s castle walls. Soldiers ran to find their places, and the voices of low-level commanding officers trying to pass on orders from their superiors rang throughout the area. The soldiers stationed in their places stared across the castle walls anxiously while gripping their weapons. Soon, a battle to the death involving blood, metals, and magic would take place. 

Zich and his companions had taken their positions early on and were now staring beyond the walls. Although they were also facing an imminent battle, their tension was clearly on a lower level than those around them. Zich was especially so calm that it appeared like he was going to a picnic instead of a battle.

‘Huh?’ While leaning his body against the wall and waiting for the monsters to arrive, Zich sensed something surprising. ‘That guy also came?’ He saw Glen Zenard and his companions climbing on top of the castle walls.

‘Well, he said he did come to get rid of the monsters attacking Pialu, so I suppose it’s not strange for him to come here.’ Furthermore, if he wanted to reinforce his title as a hero, he had to continue to take part in events like this. In this sense, Glen’s participation was natural. 

Glen also noticed Zich’s presence. He nodded slightly and Zich did the same in response. That was all. The two didn’t acknowledge each other any more than necessary. 

“Do you realize how funny your guys’ relationship is?”

“Shut up,” Zich replied succinctly at Lyla’s teasing. 

Not long afterward, Zich noticed some black dots. He took his back off from the wall and clutched Windur.

“Prepare.” At Zich’s command, the rest of his companions began to prepare for battle. The people in their surroundings looked at them in confusion since they couldn’t see monsters with their own eyes yet. However, that didn’t last long.

Sliiid!

Glen pulled out Tornium. Then, in order of how good their eyesight was, others took out their weapons. When everyone finished preparing for battle, they all could see an enormous group of monsters clearly rushing toward Pialu beyond the walls.

“Uh…!”

“What, so many…!” People’s faces fell as they checked the number of monsters. Monsters of a number far greater than any of them had ever seen were competing with one another to arrive at the castle first. Although Zich’s companions had appeared calmer than the others, even they stiffened at the sight of the monsters’ insurmountable numbers. 

As if they had come down from the Denest Mountain, the monsters gathered at the castle wall facing the mountain range. It was the place that the city’s main force was protecting, and Zich and his companions stood some distance away from it. Based on the number of monsters and their trance, it was clear that a battle would also erupt where they currently were. Regardless of the ecology they were predisposed to or the animosity they had for one another or the natural food chain set in place, all the monsters grouped together as one entity to rush towards Pialu.

‘There’s nothing that’s really dangerous,’ Zich thought as he saw them. Among the monsters, there were ones even dangerous to Zich such as the Kraken. However, among the monsters rushing toward them, it seemed like none of them was at that level. Of course, this thought process only applied to true monsters like Zich. Others had to stop their bodies from shaking in fear at the sight of the terror before them. After running madly, the monsters finally arrived near the fighters’ vicinity. 

“Shoot!” Arrows shot down from the castle walls. The sharp ends of the arrows bared their edges at the monsters.

Fling! Fling!

Kueh!

Kyah!

Monsters let out filthy screams as they were shot by arrows and fell to the ground. Then, they were soon trampled by the monsters rushing behind them and were ripped apart into unidentifiable shapes. However, there weren’t many monsters who met this end. Although the arrows were effective against small monsters like goblins or kobolds, their effectiveness sharply decreased once the monsters were at least the size of orcs. Their stretchy leather and thick muscles blocked most of the arrows. Although some were critically injured, many of them had the characteristically persistent lifeforce of monsters and continued moving. Since it wasn’t as if their actions were completely useless, soldiers continued to shoot arrows. However, in the end, they couldn’t stop the monsters from arriving at the castle walls.

Bam!

One of the ogres who arrived first thrusted its body strongly against the castle walls. A thick wooden door wrapped with chains shook strongly. Thankfully, the door didn’t break, but the ogre didn’t give up. 

Bam! Bam!

The ogre continued to slam the castle walls, and monsters joined from the side. A troll knocked on the door with a log that it had pulled out from somewhere. Small monsters stabbed the door with their tiny weapons between large monsters’ legs. Their attacks didn’t only take place at the castle door. Many monsters stuck to the castle walls too. Made from natural stones, the castle walls were ragged and bumpy, but it wasn’t suitable for climbing by any means; the slopes were very perpendicular. However, many monsters were able to climb with ease, and that wasn’t all.

Uahhhh!

Kuaaah!

Different kinds of monsters all banged against the castle walls. However, unlike the castle door, the wall was made up of neatly piled stacks of stones and it didn’t look like it would break as easily. Knowing this problem, large monsters began to throw the smaller monsters over the castle walls.

Punch!

Crunch!

As expected, the smaller monsters thrown over the walls without any safety devices or care couldn’t have landed safely. Many of them died from the fall or were severely injured. Yet, a few of them were able to continue battling after the fall and posed a great threat to the fighters. Some monsters even climbed on top of other monsters banging on the walls and reached the top of the wall in that manner.

Even the mid-sized monsters were bigger than humans. As the monsters climbed on top of their comrades, they were able to soon reach the top of the city walls. Even though the monsters’ attacks had no strategy or technique, their attacks were steadily cutting down Pialu’s forces. Moreover, the attacks were not only directed at the wall pointing towards the Denest Mountain Range. When the monsters at the bottom of the walls were so crowded that they couldn’t move forward, they began moving to the side and attacking the surrounding walls.

It didn’t seem far off that the monsters would soon reach where Zich and his companions were. Due to the monsters’ fierce attacks, the people were stressed out. Zich stared as the monsters attacked the city.

‘Hmm, it’s not enough to make the city fall.’

Even though there were a lot of monsters, it didn’t seem enough to cross over Pialu’s giant walls. However, the damage to the city wouldn’t be small. There were already screams, shouts, and a lot of blood coming from the walls that were attacked.

“Lyla.”

“Got it.” There was no need for Zich to say anything further. Lyla immediately raised her staff at Zich’s word. She focused on the mana flowing in her body and began her incantation. The mana she calmly gathered was sucked into the end of her staff.

Crackkkkle!

An enormous fireball appeared at the end of her staff. All the surrounding gazes shifted towards her. People who had never seen a mage before, and even people who had seen mages a few times stared at the fireball she made with shock and admiration. This was how overpowering Lyla’s magic was. Lyla finished her incantation, and the spell was completed. She lightly swung the staff in front of her. The fireball followed the trajectory of her movement and flew out.

Bammmmmm!

The fireball landed in the middle of a group of monsters and literally covered its surroundings in flames. The monsters that were directly hit instantly turned into ashes and the surrounding monsters received serious burns. When the flames finally diminished, there was a large black hole among the monster hoards. 

“…”

“…”

The people witnessing this power became speechless and tightly shut their mouths. However, this leisure did not last long. Even though Lyla’s magic attack was enough for humans to lose their will to fight and immediately run away, the monsters relentlessly continued their attacks. Finally, they reached Zich and his companions.

Zich turned back to his companions. “Well, fight hard.”

Considering that they were in a war against monsters, it was a very careless command, but this was enough. 

‘They’re not opponents I need to give specific advice for.’ Moreover, his disciples wouldn’t let down their guard just because their opponents were weak; he didn’t teach them like that. Hans and Snoc stuck close to the front of the wall and Elena faced the monsters while raising her staff. Lyla had already completed her second spell. 

Bammm!

Another enormous flame bombed the monsters, and a huge number of monsters were swept away. The surrounding people felt a tremor pass through their bodies. Since the spell hit a place that was closer to them, they were able to experience the force of the spell more vividly than before.

“What are you doing! Prepare for battle right now!” Til loudly shouted and awakened people back to their senses, which was as expected of a captain leading 500 mercenaries. At Til’s command, people began diligently moving.

‘He’s pretty good.’ Zich stared at Til. 

Til was killing monsters climbing up the walls while sending out commands everywhere. ‘I probably don’t have to worry about the wall with him here.’

After Zich made his decision, he immediately made his move. “Hans. Snoc.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes, sir!”

“We’re going down.” With just these words, Zich jumped over the rampart. The only thing in front of him was air, and a hoard of monsters bustled below. It looked like an act of suicide to anyone who was watching.

“What…!”

“Huh?”

The people nearby were obviously horrified. However, Zich wasn’t the only person who jumped down. Hans and Snoc followed him and jumped down the wall. Did they suddenly get the impulse to commit group suicide due to overwhelming fear? A couple of mercenaries nearby quickly looked down to the bottom of the wall. The sight they expected were three completely mangled bodies, ripped under the hands of monsters even before all three of them reached the ground. However, the sight they witnessed was completely different from their expectations. 

Bammm!

A loud explosion erupted. Even though it was not comparable to the sound of Lyla’s magic, the sound of the explosion this time was also considerably loud. The mercenaries looking down at the bottom of the wall widened their eyes. In a sea of monsters attacking the city walls, a small hole appeared. In the hole, they saw Zich, Hans, and Snoc who had jumped down and parts of monsters that were so ripped apart that it was impossible to distinguish their shapes.

Kuaaaaaah!

Oouhhhhh!

The monsters who noticed Zich, Hans, and Snoc rushed towards them like crazy. It seemed as if they would be drowned by the sea of monsters like a large tsunami sweeping through a fragile leaf. However, the results completely strayed from people’s expectations once again.

Bammm!

A tree branch like a sword destroyed the monsters with their surrounding landscape.

Slice!

The monsters swept by a bright light collapsed after getting their whole body cut apart.

Crassh!

Earth that rose up from the ground covered the monsters and crushed them underneath. Like this, the crack in the monster hoard that appeared in front of the wall began to steadily increase in size, and likewise, the shock of the onlookers grew bigger.