The next day, at noon, the scorching sun hung high in the sky.
The South City Wall was packed with Awakeneds of various races, gripping their weapons tightly, their gazes vigilantly fixed on the distant horizon.
"Uncle Liang, why isn't the beast tide here yet?"
Chen Ping whispered to his companion beside him, feeling a bit nervous, as this was his first time facing a beast tide.
Chen Ping had only just emerged from that forest three days prior, and it had been a struggle to reach the town.
Although Obsidian Town's various strange foreign races shocked him, the bizarre occurrences he had previously encountered had already accustomed him to the absurdity of this world. Compared to those strange races, he was more grateful to have found an organization.
After the Great Disaster, everyone who had initially fled with him had died in the forest. It had been a long time since he had seen so many people.
He had thought that by coming to the town and joining the Unyielding Hall, he would no longer have to live in fear by staying with everyone. He never imagined he would still encounter a beast tide, and would still have to risk his life to fight those monsters.
Seeing Chen Ping's nervous expression, the man he called Uncle Liang spoke to comfort him.
"Look at you, so timid. Relax a bit. Your hands are all sweaty from gripping your weapon. How are you going to fight later?"
"Uncle, what exactly is a beast tide like? I heard other races at the tavern say that during the last beast tide, our South City Wall suffered heavy casualties."
Chen Ping knew that Uncle Liang had experienced a beast tide before, so he asked.
"Kings fight kings, generals fight generals. No matter how terrifying the beast tide is, your Five-Star level means you fight Five-Star monsters. When the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up. What's there to be afraid of?"
"As for the last beast tide, I was still at Cross Street then, defending the East City Wall, so I'm not very clear about the situation here."
"But one thing I know is that our Outer Hall Master defended the South City Wall last time. He had only been in town for a few days then, and he shone brightly in that beast tide."
Facing a greenhorn like Chen Ping, who had just arrived in town, Uncle Liang enjoyed showing off with these stories and rumors from the town.
"Hall Master? Speaking of which, since I joined the Outer Hall, I don't seem to have ever seen the Hall Master. The Vice Lord always handles everything."
"Oh, don't even mention it, we haven't seen him either. I heard the Hall Master was injured and might have been recuperating, but I heard that the Hall Master is in charge of the South City Wall this time. I don't know if it's true or not."
"But just now, the one giving orders on the wall was a Dwarf. I didn't see anyone else on the watchtower..."
"Stop talking! Look, the Magic Beasts are coming!"
Chen Ping was startled by the words and quickly squinted, looking into the distance.
At this moment, dust billowed in the distance, and dense black shadows appeared with it.
Among those black shadows, various Magic Beasts were intertwined, exuding an overwhelming killing intent, which made Chen Ping unconsciously swallow.
High in the sky, a Storm Clan scout with spread wings flew from afar and landed on the South City Wall's reconnaissance platform.
"Master Fran, the target has appeared."
As soon as the Storm Clan guard landed, he noticed two human men beside Master Fran, and couldn't help but glance at them twice.
"Is the Nine-Star Magic Beast that Hellfire Salamander?"
"Its tail is missing; it's indeed the one that escaped during the last beast tide."
"Good! You continue to maintain vigilance."
After Master Fran finished speaking, the Storm Clan warrior spread his wings and flew away. Before leaving, he suddenly remembered the identity of the leading man among the two.
The Mayor had once shown every Storm Clan warrior that man's portrait.
That was the Outer Hall Master of the Unyielding Hall—Chen Bugu!
"Hellfire Salamander? What a coincidence."
Chen Bugu stood beside Master Fran, gazing at the beast horde rushing from the distance.
According to Liu Chengfeng, there were three Nine-Star Magic Beasts in this beast tide. Two were at the East City Wall, to be handled by him and the Mayor, while the one at the South City Wall would be Chen Bugu's responsibility.
"Brother Bu Gu, I'll leave that to you. No problem, right?"
"No problem."
Chen Bugu had just ascended the watchtower. Before coming up, he and Xie An had learned about the situation of the Outer Hall.
All members of the Outer Hall were currently assigned to defend the South City Wall, with most of them being former subordinates from Cross Street, and a small number being new members who joined later.
Although the Outer Hall had a large number of people, it lacked cohesion.
After the beast tide receded today, Chen Bugu would leave Obsidian Town, so he could only understand the matters of the Outer Hall briefly, leaving the rest to Xie An to handle.
Xie An also knew his situation, so he made a request.
He hoped that Chen Bugu would go all out in this battle, holding nothing back, to leave a deep impression on the Outer Hall members as much as possible.
Chen Bugu naturally agreed. This battle was also something he had promised Liu Chengfeng—to make a high-profile move before leaving.
Therefore, whether for practical reasons or strategic needs, this Hellfire Salamander had to be killed by him.
"Speaking of which, Brother, your strength must have greatly increased during this retreat, right? Originally, the Magic Lizard and Naga clans were also assisting in the defense here, but yesterday, as soon as they heard you came out of seclusion, Commander Liu directly withdrew those two clans to the East City Wall."
"Master is joking. After all, the main pressure this time is still on the East City Wall."
"Alright, Brother, stop being humble. Tell me, when you and Liu Chengfeng fought yesterday, who won?"
Chen Bugu looked at Fran, who was full of anticipation, with a slightly surprised expression, never expecting this Dwarf Master to ask this question.
"I didn't expect Master's news to be so well-informed."
"Come on, you two even broke the wall. Who can keep that a secret? It's just that the people in the courtyard at the time reacted quickly, otherwise, it would have spread like wildfire. So, what was the result?"
Xie An stood to one side, unconsciously leaning his body and stretching his ears. He was also curious about this question.
He wasn't in the courtyard yesterday and only later found out he had missed such a grand spectacle, regretting it immensely.
But afterwards, no matter how much he pressed Old Zhou and the others, they remained tight-lipped about the result.
Not only that, Hong Ziyu even deliberately put his arm around Xie An's shoulder, shaking his head and saying "marvelous" and "what a pity" repeatedly, making Xie An itch with curiosity.
He had also asked Chen Bugu, but Chen Bugu said it was a draw.
Who would believe that!
Xie An thought it over and over, and just from the change of the main general on the South City Wall, he felt that Chen Bugu had a slight advantage, but everything was just speculation.
At this moment, since Master Fran had asked, he naturally wanted to openly eavesdrop.
However, before Chen Bugu could answer, their attention was again drawn to the beast tide in the distance.
"That beast seems impatient. Master Fran, let's discuss other matters after the battle."
After Chen Bugu finished speaking, a longbow had already appeared in his hand.
The Magic Beast army that the South City Wall had to face this time numbered approximately thirty thousand. Now, they swept in like an overwhelming tide, making many Awakeneds tremble with fear.
Unlike last time, the Hellfire Salamander did not hide behind the beast tide this time, but charged at the very front. Without the guidance of the brain worm, this Magic Beast was now filled with thoughts of revenge.
The pain of its severed tail made it only want to tear down this city wall and devour human flesh and blood.
About two or three kilometers from the city wall, the Hellfire Salamander stopped. It spat out a huge fire meteor from its mouth.
The fire meteor streaked across the sky, flying towards the city wall.
The magic cannons roared, but the cannonballs had no effect whatsoever when they struck the surface of the fire meteor.
The fire meteor rapidly approached the city wall, and many Awakeneds were already in disarray.
Chen Ping watched the rapidly growing fire meteor before him. Its powerful energy felt like the scythe of Death, accelerating its swing towards his neck.
His legs felt weak, and listening to the chaotic sounds around him, he even forgot to run.
Just as despair filled his heart, a clear arrow whistle echoed through the sky from behind him.
Looking up, a two-meter-long arrow streaked over his head.
That arrow was as black as ink, as if a black hole, devouring everyone's gaze.
Where the black arrow passed, strong winds blew, coldness invaded, and ice crystals fell.
To everyone's astonished gazes, the long arrow effortlessly pierced through the fire meteor.
The next moment, the fire of the meteor extinguished, and ice crystals spread across the surface of the giant rock. In an instant, it turned into a huge ice shard, falling straight down and landing outside the city.
On the city wall, the chaotic sounds and panicked emotions were also frozen at this moment. Most people stood stunned, unsure how to react.
Chen Ping looked ahead. He didn't know when, but a person was standing at the edge of the wall.
His expression was calm, his clothes flapped in the strong wind, and the longbow in his hand was drawn to a full moon, staring straight ahead.
Behind him, drums beat, carrying a powerful momentum that spread throughout the entire city wall.
"A mere Nine Star beast..."
"Unyielding Hall, Chen Bugu, comes to intercept!"