Outside Monte Town’s East Gate.
The six-armed Herculean ape’s arms, which were several meters thick, quickly pulled out a large piece of soil from the ground and rubbed it between its palms a few times. A layer of snow-white light coated the soil’s surface, and a white ice ball pinched into the shape of a small hill was hurled fiercely toward the city wall in Gerant’s direction.
The massive white solid ice streaked across a lovely parabola, leaving a long trail of ice mist in the air. The six-armed Herculean ape’s hallmark skill was a silver-tier spell, a huge ice throw.
Whatever it caught would be transformed into massive ice the size of a small mountain. At the same moment, it carried ice-elemental damage. The enormous ice would explode after the encounter, scattering ice spears with immense penetrative power.
“Quick, protect the Mayor!”
Five of the dozens of soldiers around Gerant walked forward and lifted their bronze shields, attempting to deflect the attack.
Bang!
The monster ape’s giant ice block slammed onto the shield with a muted sound. The two shields in the center were crushed and caved in; they became scrap metal. The two guards behind the shields were crushed into mincemeat before they could even scream. Fresh blood splattered all over Gerant’s body; it dyed his gorgeous noble attire red.
After that, the ice exploded. Shattered ice and rocks shot out like machine guns, knocking down the remaining three guards. Bowl-sized wounds appeared on their bodies; they covered their arms and thighs. They looked quite miserable.
Roar!
One of the six-armed Herculean apes slapped its chest; it revealed a burst of strange human-like laughter. Its huge scarlet eyes flashed with mockery.
“Is it mocking us?”
Gerant wiped the blood on his cheeks with a handkerchief; his eyes were wide open.
He could hear the scorn in the magical beasts’ laughter that pierced their ears. Why did it feel like the magical beasts that year were different from the usual ones? Those beasts would usually rely on their own strength to rampage around the city during the winter. Even if they were injured, they would not retreat.
The six-armed Herculean apes could have flown into the city with their wings. However, they hid away and created that massive block of ice. It did not seem like they wanted to enter the town at all. They stood with their other magical beasts as they touched their sharp claws and fangs; saliva dripped from the corners of their lips. They were obviously starving, but they did not advance. It was as if they were waiting for the moment when the city wall was breached.
It was as if those magical beasts had suddenly gained human intelligence.
“Release the arrows quickly!”
Gerant’s heart was filled with dread. He did not know if those beasts had grown smarter after their multiple failed attempts to breach the city gates every winter. Perhaps they could no longer regard those beasts as simple beasts.
“Damn it! Monte Town doesn’t have any powerful elite currently! Why must the magical beasts attack now?”
The humans were no match for the formidable magical beasts that were the same level as them. The Mage Guild and the North Wind mercenary group were not there; they only had the City Defense Force, which was not enough to defend against those magical beasts.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Almost simultaneously with his words, a hail of arrows descended from the top of the city wall; they were headed toward the group of magical beasts. There were a thousand soldiers on top of the city wall, and there was no shortage of bronze and silver-tier elites, who made up one-tenth of the total number of soldiers. The thousands of arrows wrapped in combat aura resembled locusts. They created stunning arcs in the sky and shook people to their core.
However, they were of no use.
Before the arrows were fired, one of the six-armed Herculean apes, who seemed to be the leader of the pack, roared. It was a signal for the beasts to flee. The magical beasts moved swiftly; they retreated hundreds of meters until they were about 1000 meters from the top of the city wall. Most of the arrows could not reach that distance, so the magical beasts managed to dodge them easily. The rest landed on the bodies of magical beasts with a thick outer skin.
After the rain of arrows had stopped, the six-armed Herculean ape led the magical beasts toward the wall again. The mocking laughter that they heard when it slapped its chest grew increasingly intense.
“Release the arrows! What are you waiting for? Haven’t you eaten?”
Gerant yelled angrily at the astonished troops next to him. Those warriors had never seen anything like that intelligent magical beast. They were all taken aback. Even Gerant had never seen anything like that, let alone the soldiers. They had to destroy those beasts; otherwise, they would be eaten.
The troops launched wave after wave of arrows into the air. The magical beasts, however, would flee as the soldiers drew their bows and nocked their arrows. When they took the shot, the magical beasts would return to the front of the city wall and hurl massive rocks at it to destroy it. The arrows did not even injure those beasts. However, hundreds of soldiers were killed by the massive ice-covered rocks.
More than ten minutes later.
The soldiers from the City Defense Force looked sorrowful. They could not injure the magical beasts because they found a way to circumvent that. However, the soldiers did not have the same luck, and they still had to protect the town. If they retreated, their families would die.
If they did not retreat, they would die.
No one knew who was the first person to put down their bow and arrows, but many others followed suit. Despair spread like an infection; it engulfed the entire army.
“Mayor Gerant, it’s too dangerous here. Let’s go back to the city hall to pack our things and leave immediately! I reckon that Monte Town will fall soon. We should escape to the border count’s territory and ask for his help.”
A personal guard approached Gerant and tried to persuade him.
“I am not going anywhere. If I leave, the town will be destroyed!” Gerant clenched his teeth and drew his sword from his waist. His family might have sent him there, but he was not a cold-blooded person. He would never abandon the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens in Monte Town.
“You won’t be able to save anyone if you don’t leave.”
The guard’s lips moved, but he did not say it out loud because he saw a bronze-tier warrior covered in blood running toward him at full speed.
“Mayor Gerant, most of the mercenary groups in the city and the mages from the Mage Guild have just evacuated! They claimed that they could not make a decision without their leader, so they chose to leave. We should stop them.”
“Those bastards! They usually eat and drink well in Monte Town. Who provided them with a place to live? Who allowed them to enjoy the others’ respect for them? And they want to withdraw now?”
Gerant’s eyes reddened. His face was pale, yet it was hardly the most depressing thing about him.
“Report! Mayor Gerant, the magical beasts have breached the West Gate. The City Defense Force’s commander, the man responsible for guarding the gate, has died in battle. More than a thousand magical beasts have charged into Monte Town.”
“Something terrible has happened, Mayor! A group of flying magical beasts has appeared in the south. According to our observations, the ten magical beasts in the lead are silver-tier storm eagles.”
“And a large hole has opened up in the city wall in the north.”
…
The soldiers sent gloomy reports, one by one. The majority of the soldiers atop the city wall had intended to flee. They stepped back and yelled, “It is all over.”
“My daughter is still in the city. She is a ten-year-old girl.”
Most of them were crying.
They did not want to fight anymore; they would die anyway. They wanted to die with their families.
Gerant drew the longsword from his waist. He was about to say that he could not leave because of the chaos around him. However, a small mountain of ice shot at him and smashed into his side; it left a few meters wide crack in the city wall. It also caused the more-than-ten-meter-wide surrounding wall to collapse.
Crack!
The city wall finally gave way after sustaining constant bombardment from a few silver-tier magical beasts. The East Gate was Monte Town’s last line of defense, but it had also been breached.
Roar!
A group of magical beasts, led by the six-armed Herculean ape, roared as they charged toward Monte Town; they were ready for their meal.
As he slumped to the ground, Gerant’s face was covered in blood. The blast had broken the bronze-tier longsword in his hand. His mind went blank, and he could not hear anything. However, he heard some vague sentences. “Protect… the Mayor… at least let him… live.” Then, he heard more roars from the side.
He sighed and closed his eyes. It appeared that Monte Town was doomed to become a purgatory that day. The North Wind mercenary group and the Mage Guild were not there, and his soldiers could no longer fight. He did not know who else could help them at that moment. Gerant prayed that someone could come to their aid.
At that moment.
Boom!
A muffled thunder-like sound was heard. The guards’ words and magical beasts’ roars had stopped. Then, A majestic shadow descended from the sky and blocked the light on Gerrard’s face. He subconsciously opened his eyes and witnessed a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life—a rock golem ten times the height of the city wall stood outside the East Gate. Its two arms that resembled drill bits were inserted into the ground.
All the magical beasts within a several hundred-meter radius were sent flying. Those beasts had been very arrogant just a moment before, but that had all changed. They were fearful. Even the soldiers were dumbfounded; they could not speak. Gerant was frozen on the spot because of the shock.
It seemed like heaven had heard his prayers; hope had finally come.
