Chapter 705: Tide I

Proofread by Thomas F

“It’s going to be very dangerous,” I said to Miss Wells as we walked out of the ballroom.

“I know,” she replied.

I didn’t say anything further; I didn’t need to. She is experienced enough to make the decision, and I am going to trust her on it.

Soon, we got out of the fort and mounted on the beasts waiting for us.

“Have a retreat plan ready, in case the monsters become too overwhelming,” I said to General Hiren. I cannot let my people die here.

Fifteen thousand is not much against the monsters. If it had been the fort and such numbers were coming, it wouldn’t have been a problem.

The fort is small, but the city is massive. If the monsters spread, it would be terrible.

Soon, we could leave the fort area and move into the city. I could, people are moving here, away from the wall, before disappearing into the ground, to the bunkers.

They have built a good bunker capacity, which would be enough for their entire population.

However, if a monster entered, it would not be able to protect them all. The bunkers are good, but not powerful enough to protect against beasts entering inside.

They are sufficient to protect against some stray ones or a few hundred, but not thousands.

“Everything is happening so orderly,” stated the General, looking at people moving in lines toward the bunkers. “It’s all good preparations,” I replied, impressed.

Soon, we reached the gate, where the army had gathered.

“Lord Blackwell,” greeted Commander Wildewood, before greeting Kadyz and me.

I would have been more at ease if it had been August in charge of the defence. Wildewood is the commander of the Amberhold.

He does have experience with the monsters, but not as much as August and Ignatius.

“What is the plan, Commander?” asked Lord Blackwell.

“Our objective is to collapse the tide. So, we will be targeting the leaders.”

“We will defend from the wall and take most of the attention, while our best will move into the horde to kill the leaders,” he replied, with his eyes moving to us.

Kadyz and I. He wants us to jump into the fire. Seeing that, hesitation appeared on Blackwell’s face.

“That is a wise strategy,” replied Lord Kadyz, and turned to me. I nodded at it. Yes, it will be dangerous. I could say no, but I want to fight.

I am angry at these bastards. They have attacked at the wrong time.

They should have attacked a few days later, after I met the barons, but they attacked now. Making already difficult things even more difficult.

At least it will release all my built-up frustration.

Most importantly, I want to help them. What I know isn’t enough for this, but not doing it might bring catastrophe on them and the city.

It might also affect what I want—more than it already has.

He began to explain the plan in detail, and it’s good, especially with Amberhold’s specialities.

Soon we finished, and I turned to General Hiren. “Our people are our first priority,” I told him.

Yes, my people and I are helping them defend, but if things become dangerous enough to kill them, I expect the General to lead them to safety.

“I understand,” he replied.

A few minutes later, I climbed the walls with others and saw Amberhold’s forces laying out the mines and other things on the ground.

They are useful against the monsters, and these are very powerful mines.

“It’s been a while since your father fought against the monsters. So, I will be a little rusty for at least a minute, my daughter” said the voice behind me.

I turned and saw Lord Kadyz and his daughter stepping into the wall, prepared.

Artifact prepared.

Both of them had donned the artifact.

I turned to the artifact that Lord Kadyz is wearing. It is an amber arm brace that resembles a stone-like material, with a black, finger-sized grey bar fixed in the middle.

It looked spartan, that one wouldn’t expect it to be an artifact, but it is.

Brace of Barai Mor.

It’s an artifact of the House of Ashenwood and a good one at that, though it is tricky to use. For a few centuries, nobody was able to use it well until this man.

I had heard a great deal of praise for his mastery of it.

I turned to his daughter and saw her wearing a dark, black cloak with lifelike, blue, swirling patterns. Unlike the one she had before, this one is beautiful, attracting the eyes of everyone who sees it.

It’s a hereditary artifact of House Ashenwood. Given to the heir of Manris.

Cloak of Drifting Waves.

It is a defensive artifact, but can also be used offensively to some degree. It has quite nifty abilities, which make its user tricky to deal with.

Her mother when she was a teen. Had survived a group of powerful assassins with the help of that artifact.

“Is it truly wise for Lady Iralyne to be on the battlefield, Lord Kadyz?” asked Lady Blackwell as she stepped onto the wall with her sister.

Both of them have their staffs in their hands, with one being an artifact.

“She needs to experience the battles to grow, Lady Blackwell,” replied the man. The young woman nodded. I could see fighting spirit in her eyes, but also fear.

This is likely her first time fighting the monsters. It’s going to be eye-opening for her.

“It seemed like you had brought out that staff finally.” He said, looking at the staff in her hand. It is the most powerful of the four artifacts in House Blackwell’s control.

The Staff of Still Mist.

The staff handle looked like it was crafted from the strings of colourful gems.

It doesn’t have a focus crystal like mage staffs have. Instead, there is a globe of shining white mist. The mist changes colour, depending on the element of the spell cast from it.

It is an amazing artifact. Its basic function is to focus the spell, like most staffs do, but it’s an artifact.

It enhances the power of spells, lowers the casting time, and stores the spells to shoot instantly. Making the artifact very tricky to deal with.

There is another artifact; he didn’t bring it out, but it’s in the hands of Commander Wildewood.

It’s usually given to the commander of Amberhold.

Lord Kadyz walked away with his daughter, guiding us and giving her instructions on how to deal with monsters, while I turned to Lady Blackwell.

“I hope you will not decline it now,” I said to her as I handed her the wooden box.

The woman looked surprised, already guessing what it was, but soon a big smile appeared on her face.

“I will not,” she replied as she took the box from my hand.

“Thank you, Lord Silver. It will help us tremendously,” she thanked a moment later. It has emotion essence potions and emotion drop potions.

I provide Blackwell with a good number of them. More than I do to cities of that size, but given the constant conflict with monsters, they are always in need of it.

Most of it goes to the forces in Bram Valley. Leaving little for the forces in Renin and Amberhold.

I smiled at her and walked away.

I watched the preparations and could see that the men of Blackwell are experienced. It is not surprising, seeing that Ignatius kept rotating his men.

So, nearly 80% of people here have experience with the monsters.

Which relieved me, because if they had been green. I would have second thoughts about fighting here.

“How are you feeling, Lord Silver?” asked Lord Kadyz as he appeared beside me. “Nervous and a little scared,” I replied to the surprise of the man.

Even his daughter looked quite surprised to hear that.

“I didn’t expect you to be so truthful,” said the man and laughed.

“There is no use of false bravado here, Lord Kadyz. The monsters are dangerous, I know how easily they could rip me apart.” I replied sombrely.

His daughter shuddered. I didn’t want to scare the young woman, but it is the truth.

“That is absolutely true, Lord Silver. I have seen my friends getting torn to shreds by the monsters,” he said, with a sigh, before turning to his daughter.

“I will not blame you if you do not fight.” Hesitation appeared on her face for a moment before the young woman shook her head.

“I will stay, Father,” she replied finally.

“That’s my girl,” he said and patted her head, which made her glare at him. He smiled at that before looking ahead with a sombre face.

“It’s going to be a dangerous battle. If something unexpected happens, we need to be ready to retreat with our people,” he said.

“I already asked my General to be ready for that,” I replied. He didn’t say anything other than nodding.

Time passed as the night grew darker, and the Commander Wildewood called us.

“The monsters are just fifteen minutes away,” he informed. Making everyone sombre.

“Any sighting of a Grade V?” I asked. “There is none,” he replied, making me a little relieved. I have asked because it’s a real possibility.

In the Bram Valley, nearly every horde is being led by an Lv. 40. Therefore, we must be extremely careful.

A few minutes later, we all moved to our places.

The wait begins, and it is the most painful part. I have become more self-reflective. Aware of how lacking I am compared to others.

My levels may be nearly the same as theirs, but I didn’t have a bloody artifact.

Though I have my own advantages, the biggest one being my aura, which is currently under my control, it didn’t provide the same confidence as an artifact would give me.

Minutes passed in silence when we started to hear the faint sound.

Cry!

Within a minute, loud cries rang out, and a few seconds later, the monsters became visible.

“They came,” said General Hiren, looking at hundreds of monsters gathered in the night sky, staying away from most of our long-range attacks.

This is just a trailer for what is about to come.

Soon, the ground under our feet began to shake, and we started to hear faint roars that got louder by the second, till they became clear as day.

It began to feel like an earthquake had come, the way the earth started to shake.

These indication does more damage than the fear skills. I could see many soldiers taking a step back, hearing the roars and feeling the shaking ground.

Finally, after minutes. The waves of monsters burst out of the hills far away.

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