Proofread by Thomas F
"Attack!" ordered Commander Wildewood finally.
There was a moment of silence before earth-shaking sounds rang out from the fort, and with it came the cannonballs, both small and large.
My focus is on the large ones; there are only a small number of them, but each one contains incredible power.
I wanted these, but couldn't get my hands on them.
Roar Cry Roar!
The monsters roared, seeing them and knowing what they were, having had multiple encounters with them.
They attacked, the cannonballs coming toward them.
The cannonballs begin to explode in the air, covering the sky in fire, but not the strongest one. They are protected under the power of their skills.
On top of that, the small cannonballs were in front. When they exploded, they blocked the vision of the cannonballs behind them.
Boom Boom Boom!
The cannonballs finally hit the ground, creating a massive blast that tore through the monsters caught in the explosion.
"Magnificent, isn't it?" asked Lord Kadyz, looking at the large explosion rocking everything around them. "It is. I wish you guys would sell me some," I replied. To that, he laughed and turned to the battlefield.
Volley after volley, cannons razed the ground, destroying everything that was caught in their blast.
Still, it wasn't enough; the monsters kept coming.
"Mages, archers attack!" ordered Commander Wildewood as the birds entered the range.
The archers moved to attack. So have the mages. However, the most dangerous of them all are ballistas. They attacked the monsters from the wall and the fort.
If they reach the monster, they would tear it apart.
I have some of the ballistas they are using, but not the top-of-the-range ones they have here.
They began to tear through the birds, but they kept coming, reaching us within seconds.
My hand tightened around my rapier, but I didn't have to unsheathe it. Only a few monsters attacked us, while the rest of them moved toward the fort.
"Let's hope they defend," I said.
Lord Blackwell is at the fort, along with mages and archers, but a lot of monsters are going in their direction. It will be tough, given the number of people there are.
Finally, the ground monsters reached the range, and the spells and arrows began to rain down on them.
Lady Blackwell didn't attack. Her eyes focused ahead on the monsters, but I could see the worry in her eyes. She is likely worrying about her husband, who is on the fort.
He didn't have an artifact and wasn't a warrior.
He is an accomplished archer, like every Lord Amberhold needs to be, and was the master of the Bow of Valor before his son, but not a warrior.
"My Lords, please," said Commander Wildewood as the monsters reached less than a mile away from the wall.
I nodded and took a deep breath while Lord Kadyz finally activated his artifact.
Immediately, the layers of amber stone spread from the brace, covering him. Forming a stone armor, yes, armor and not a cover like a spell.
It's beautiful and resembles a real armor of amber, with the blue sigil of the House Ashenwood appearing in the center.
The armor isn't the only thing that appeared, but also a long sword, with an edge far sharper than the half-artifact I am holding in my hand.
Brace of Barai Mor is a shape-type artifact.
These artifacts can take any form; they are generally weaker than artifacts of the same power, but their strength lies in their shaping abilities.
I heard this man could use this artefact well.
He had already proved his control by shaping the perfect armor, not to mention the sigil.
Now, I want to see how he will use it against the monsters.
Both of us reached the edge of the wall and watched the monsters. We watched them until they were only a hundred meters away, when we leaped off the wall.
As we did, I activated the Lord's Presence. The man did the same.
I could sense the surprise in his eyes as he looked at me.
Though a moment later, he turned toward the lightning blast coming toward him. Immediately, that stone sword morphed into a massive shield.
Bang Bang Bang!
He defended effortlessly with it. I looked at the attack in front of me, and the invisible shield appeared before me.
Velvet Repel
It is the first time I've used the skill since Bell leveled up to Lv. 3o; the skill had also upgraded to Velvet Repel from Graceful Repel, becoming more powerful.
It also helps that Bell is advancing fast. She is only a few levels behind me, increasing the power of the skill further.
Bang Bang Bang!
Attacks crashed against the shield. It not only stopped, but also repelled them back to the monsters, killing a few in the process.
Rip!
A moment later, my blade pierced through the wolf monster, killing it instantly as I landed on the ground.
Immediately, I increased the power of the Lord's Presence. Many monsters moved away from me, while those daring that tried to come at me had their bodies pierced by sharp wooden spikes coming out of the ground.
There are three people responsible for finishing up the most powerful monsters.
Me, Lord Kadyz, and Lady Blackwell. She had already begun.
I activated the Blitz Steps and moved toward the targets, activating the Lord's Eyes, while covering my rear with the Velvet Repel.
I am moving through the thousands of monsters, but most of them are not coming at me.
Monsters have a powerful instinct of danger. They understand who to attack and who not to, but there are some who didn't cultivate that instinct well.
Rip Rip Rip!
Those who came were killed by me, without mercy.
My rapier is moving left and right, with my eyes tracking the monster's movement and its attacks. Helping me dodge, defend, and attack.
Lord Kadyz is doing the same, with his weapon transforming into a sword, shield, and gauntlet.
Whenever it does, monsters fall dead.
Finally, after a few seconds. I reached a powerful Grade IV monster.
A normal Grade IV didn't last in front of me. I am Lv. 39 Valorous Lord of Courage. It is at the edge of the level with a powerful class.
I also train hard. I could use every bit of my strength as efficiently as possible.
I looked at the monster. It is a Hyena monster; Steel Coat Hyena, to be exact. It is the size of a small elephant, with a metallic coat, which protects it from both blade and magical attacks.
Roar!
It roared with its large mouth, which is enough to take a bite off my head. It is what it wants to do.
It came and reached me within seconds, moving its mouth to take a bite out of me.
Seeing that, I finally released the aura. I could kill the monster without aura, but the speed is key.
I had not looked back, but I could feel the monsters assaulting the wall. Many are going past it; the longer it takes to collapse the tide, the more people are going to die.
I put it in the Blitz Step, and my speed increased immediately.
I avoided its mouth by inches before swinging my sword with the Blade of Gale and Mauling Strike, pushing the aura into them.
Making the attack so fast that even I could barely see it.
It reached the monster in an instant, and I activated the Razor Edge before pushing the aura into it.
Rip!
A ripping sound rang out as the monster was decapitated, while I moved ahead, not even a drop of blood had fallen on me.
I didn't pull my aura back. I kept it on Blitz Steps and also pushed into Lord's Eyes and Fast Reflexes.
It's not easy to move at this speed, with thousands of monsters around me. I need to see everything and react fast to anything that comes at me.
I moved even faster than before and within seconds, reached another late Grade IV monster.
It is a large, red goat with pointy teeth and large, watery, blue eyes.
It bellowed, and immediately, the water blade shot toward me at a great speed. I dodged as I moved toward it, but it had attacked again, and I dodged once more.
Only to see another attack behind it, which I was able to dodge by inches, seeing there was less than a meter of distance between us, before attacking it.
Rip!
The goat was decapitated, and I was about to move forward when I saw another monster coming toward me fast.
Really fast.
It is a horse monster with an indigo coat and mane, but its legs are covered in bronze scales from which bronze lightning is coming out.
It's likely why, the monster is so damn fast, faster than me when I use the aura in a Blitz Step.
I could see that it is trying to crash against me. That would be terrible, considering his momentum, but avoiding it would be just as hard, given its speed.
So, I stopped on my track, confusing the monster a little, but not enough that it would stop.
Instead, it increased its blurring speed even further. It took a moment for it to appear in front of me, opening its mouth to chomp my head off.
Bam!
That is when the loud sound rang out, as it crashed against the Velvet Repel, which I had summoned a moment before.
It was a massive risk. I couldn't have summoned it before it might have sensed. Too late, and I would have been thrown back, my fate unknown.
It needed to be activated at a perfect moment. I had a habit for it, thanks to my training.
Rip!
The horse stumbled, and my blade ripped through its neck, but the monster was fast. It blitzes away at last, avoiding the total decapitation.
I had given it a massive cut, but it's not dead. I was moving toward it, but saw the sharp thorns covering it.
ROAR!
Seeing that, I stopped and took a step toward the next monster, when suddenly, a massive roar rang out.
It stopped me in my tracks and made me shudder through my heart.
I didn't have to sense its power to know what it is; the roar is more than enough to tell, the power of the monster.
A Grade V monster.