At the borders of the Kingdom of Hess was an army numbering over 800,000 soldiers. On a vast expanse of ground, military camps dotted the land like a series of mountain ranges, limitless and without end. This enormous army was, however, quite organized.
But in front of the military camp, there was a vast expanse of empty land.
“Hey, Uncle Rand [Lan’te]. If the army of magical beasts attack, will we be able to hold?” An armored young man who looked to be in sixteen or seventeen said in a soft voice.
Next to him was a muscular, bearded man. Removing a small flagon of liquor from his pouch, he took a small swig, then laughed loudly. “Relax. This time, in addition to the elite troops of our Kingdom of Hess, the knights of the Radiant Temple have been sent by the Radiant Church, along with many lord magi. Don’t worry. The spells of magi are quite powerful.”
“Right.” This was the young man’s first battle. Hearing the words of the veteran, he felt slightly steadier.
But that muscular man was sighing to himself inside. Because he, in fact, had seen how vicious and powerful magical beasts were. If thousands or tens of thousands of magical beasts charged towards them, the only way humanity would be able to survive was by paying a price in blood.
“Roaaaar!”
Suddenly, a low growl could be heard coming from an extremely far distance.
“Uncle Rand, I think I heard something.” The young man was growing nervous.
“It’s fine.” Rand said loudly, but suddenly, Rand squinted and looked to the south. Atop that barren, empty plain, a countless number of thickly clustered dots could be seen.
“Magical beasts. A horde of magical beasts!”
From another part of the military camp, a shrill cry rang out. Instantly, the entire military camp began to move. From the highest ranking generals to the lowest level soldiers, everyone heightened their vigilance.
The entire 800,000 man army was preparing to do battle.
“So, so many!” Many human soldiers, upon seeing the horde of magical beasts off in the distance, couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath. From far away, countless Vampiric Iron Bulls had formed into a series of formation lines. Their muscles knotted, they were charging towards the humans at high speed.
There was well over ten thousand Vampiric Iron Bulls.
“Rumble, rumble.” The Vampiric Iron Bulls charged wildly, causing the very ground to shake. The eyes of each and every Vampiric Iron Bull had turned red, and their bodies were emitting flames. They looked like a sea of fire.
The shaking earth. The endless sea of flame.
“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!”
Suddenly, the sky became filled with many translucent, azure-colored javelins. These javelins fell down upon the Vampiric Iron Bulls like the rain.
“The lord magi!” Many human soldiers exulted.
“Puchiii!” Every single javelin possessed astonishing power. As one of the water-style’s pure water-element spells, they were extremely powerful against fire-type magical beasts.
These icy javelins descended, either piercing into the ground or into the bodies of the Vampiric Iron Bulls. “Puchiii!” Some of the icy javelins penetrated directly through the internal organs of the Vampiric Iron Bulls, who roared in fury, ran a few steps more, then collapsed.
One Vampiric Iron Bull after another died, but the vast majority of them continued to charge forward. Even if they had suffered some light injuries, they would only grow more furious.
Fresh blood stained the ground.
“Snooort!” The Vampiric Iron Bulls roared angrily.
“Archers! Ready…Fire!” The officers shouted loudly.
Instantly, the skies were filled with countless arrows. The thickly clustered arrows arced down from the heavens in a dense wave.
One sharp arrow after another struck the Vampiric Iron Bulls, but their tough, knotted muscles easily deflected many of the arrows.
The tactics which human armies used against other human armies wasn’t necessarily effective against magical beasts.
“Pikemen, formations!”
One heavily armored and thickly muscled warrior after another strode forward, all holding steel pikes. Assuming a defensive formation, they quietly awaited the onslaught of the Vampiric Iron Bulls. “Snooooort!” The red-eyed Vampiric Iron Bulls charged forward.
Countless steel pikes were there to welcome the Vampiric Iron Bulls, but the Vampiric Iron Bulls only lowered their horns and continued to charge forward while roaring. Like a solid flood, they slammed viciously against the pikes.
“Puchiiii!” The Vampiric Iron Bulls were skewered by those steel pikes.
The people capable of wielding steel pikes were all at least warriors of the third rank. In addition, all of the pikemen were mutually supporting each other in their bristling pike formation, borrowing and lending strength as needed.
The first wave of Vampiric Iron Bulls were not able to break this defensive line. But behind them, more Vampiric Iron Bulls continued to charge.
The battle between the army of magical beasts and the army of men was extremely fierce. The army of beasts was composed of more than just Vampiric Iron Bulls. There were also packs of Windwolves, and also elite prides of the even more terrifying Fire Lions. There were also Landwyrms, Velocidragons, and more…
But the human army wasn’t weak either. In addition to the ordinary common soldiers, they also possessed some truly powerful magi who hadn’t yet made their moves. In addition, the Radiant Church had also sent a number of magi of the seventh, eighth, and even ninth ranks. There was also a division of elite Knights of the Radiant Temple…
The battle raged for three days, and in the end, the human army was forced to retreat. In just three days, the human side had lost over 300,000 soldiers, and the number of wounded was even more staggering. But the magical beast’s army had suffered high casualties as well.
However, both armies seemed to have a tacit understanding, as neither side made use of their Saint-level combatants. The Saint-level combatants only watched from afar, and didn’t act.
Hess City was in a state of chaos.
This battle at the border had resulted in the human army retreating a hundred kilometers at once. They were now extremely close to Hess City, and many of the people within Hess City had made the decision to evacuate.
Hess City. The quiet manor where Linley was residing.
“Yale, we’re leaving immediately. Quick. Don’t waste any more time.” Monroe Dawson shouted. “I expect that the human army won’t be able to hold for many more days. The flames of war are about to engulf Hess City.”
Yale nodded. “Understood, father.”
“But Third Bro, he…” Yale was still concerned about Linley. George and Reynolds, by Yale’s side, were both worried as well.
Monroe Dawson frowned. “How about this. You go try to persuade him one final time. No matter what though, we must leave tonight.” After he spoke, Monroe Dawson turned and left.
Yale, George, and Reynolds looked at each other.
Finally, the three of them headed in the direction of Linley’s room. As soon as they entered the rear courtyard, they saw Linley sitting on a chair next to a stone table, calmly staring at the straight chisel in his hand. Seeing this, Yale, George, and Reynolds didn’t feel happy or excited at all.
For the sake of wanting to help Linley wake up, they would often place the straight chisel there, along with sculptures. But Linley didn’t seem to have any desire at all to sculpt. Each time he saw the chisel, he would think back to how Grandpa Doehring had painstakingly trained him to sculpt.