Gusts of violent wind burst forth from within the gates, uprooting trees and shattering the capital's walls. They swept through the streets, smashing into houses and tearing some apart.
Shards of glass and stone struck soldiers—some of the wounds were light, others grievous.
The Siren Clan's defense plan for the capital was simple.
It was divided into three divisions. The first guarded the capital from outside the walls. Its commander was a noble of the Siren Clan, named Zacharias.
The second division assembled within the streets of the capital. Any monsters that managed to break through the first would clash with the second, igniting a war in the alleys. This unit's commander was another noble—Matt.
The third division surrounded the royal palace at the city's center. This force was smaller in number, but composed of the very elite.
Their commander was none other than Alexa herself—alongside her stood Iris, the supreme commander of the Union's armies.
Ilara, Alexa's sister, came to stand at her side as well.
Ilara spoke in a low voice.
"What are our chances of holding the capital?"
Alexa answered bluntly.
"None…"
Their expressions hardened atop the palace roof. They longed to defend the capital—but they were not blinded by hope. They had witnessed a catastrophe beyond imagination.
Then, without warning, the monsters poured from the three gates like an endless swarm of locusts. The green fields outside were drowned in the black of their bodies.
They came in countless shapes and forms. Some were towering ants, three meters long, with obsidian-black chitin armor.
Some were colossal birds with wingspans of twenty meters, covered in pitch-dark feathers, their long, pointed beaks bristling with jagged teeth.
Others resembled apes, but their bodies were coated in red fur, and their forelimbs ended in jagged cleaving blades.
And many more horrors besides.
Zacharias, commander of the first division, roared:
"ATTACK!!"
His men charged the advancing armies of monstrosities with fearless determination. In mere seconds, steel and fang collided.
The capital drowned in the sound of steel screeching against chitin, and the grassy fields were drenched in the blood of both beast and soldier alike.
Now, the first division of the Siren Clan fought with desperate valor, throwing everything into holding back the tide.
Zacharias tore into the ranks of armored ants, his sword flashing.
He slid on his back beneath the first ant, thrusting his blade into its vulnerable underbelly, ripping it open from below.
As he rose, another ant lunged at him.
He leapt, twisting in midair, and as gravity dragged him down, he drove his blade straight into its skull, killing it instantly.
But the third ant came at him before he could even breathe—its monstrous mandibles gaping wide to cleave him in two.
Zacharias had no time to wrench his blade free from the corpse.
So he met the mandibles with his bare hands.
The crushing pressure bore down mercilessly—his bones groaned, threatening to shatter under the monstrous force.
Yet Zacharias was no weakling. He had not risen to his station by chance.
With brute strength, he forced the mandibles apart, buying himself an instant. He shoved backward, escaping death by mere centimeters as the jaws slammed shut where his torso had been.
Before the beast could lunge again, Zacharias kicked it away, tore his sword free, and charged with unyielding rage.
"DIE, WRETCH!"
His blade flared with a blazing magical aura, engulfed in fire.
He swung, unleashing a crescent arc of searing energy that tore through the monster—splitting it cleanly in half.
And he was not alone. His division fought just as fiercely, every warrior laying down their life to stem the tide.
The battlefield outside the walls became a storm of dust and gore—the stench of blood and entrails saturating the air.
The second and third divisions watched grimly. The moment the first faltered, it would be their turn.
The truth was cruel—no matter how bravely the first division fought, they would eventually fall.
For the gates never ceased to vomit forth abominations.
Three armies of nightmares bore down upon a single division.
A pack of ten ants encircled Zacharias, rushing him all at once.
He slammed his sword into the ground. Flames of azure erupted in a wide burst. In seconds, the insects were incinerated into ash.
As he rose, a hand clutched his shoulder.
It was one of his soldiers.
"Commander! What do we do? At this pace, our unit will collapse!"
Zacharias swept his gaze over the chaos, calculating rapidly. After a tense pause, he answered.
"Hold them back as best you can. But when you're on the brink of collapse—let some through to the second division."
The soldier saluted and ran to relay the order.
But those few moments of lowered guard nearly cost Zacharias his life.
One of the massive birds dove low, its speed terrifying as its spear-like beak lunged for him.
Zacharias caught the beak with both hands, the impact hurling him back dozens of meters.
Before he could even stabilize, the beast beat its wings and soared upward, dragging him high into the sky.
Now, Zacharias was hundreds of meters above the ground, clinging to the monster's beak.
The entire capital stared in disbelief.
In the air, he had few options left.
He raised his free arm and smashed his elbow into the beast's beak.
It shattered into shards.
He sprang onto the bird's back, flooding his sword with the cursed blue flames once more, and incinerated its body mid-flight. The creature dissolved into ash, leaving Zacharias to plummet.
From below, Iris watched with a crooked smile.
"That madman…"
As Zacharias fell, three more monsters streaked toward him through the sky. He had little control of his descent, but surrender was death.
His sword flared again, burning bright.
One bird lunged from beneath, beak agape.
Perfect.
Zacharias let himself fall straight into its maw, hacking and tearing until the beast burst apart in bloody fragments.
Two remained.
He unleashed another crescent slash at one, but the bird dodged. The arc of energy skimmed past—until Zacharias whispered:
"Boom."
The crescent detonated, obliterating the creature.
One left.
It rushed him from the side. Zacharias struck its beak—not to destroy, but to propel himself along its body. He raked his blade across, cleaving the monster clean in half.
By then, he was mere dozens of meters above the earth.
At the last instant, he triggered a small explosion beneath him, slowing his fall and landing lightly on the blood-soaked grass.
He barely had time to draw breath.
From the dust behind him, a reptilian beast burst forth, lunging with terrifying speed.
Death was an instant away.