Soon, the sound of footsteps grew louder, and everyone's hearts beat faster. It was the first time any of them had faced so many monsters at once.
ROAR—!
With a loud roar, countless monsters poured out of the forest and charged at the city walls.
"There are so many!"
Many of the swordsmen were terrified by the sheer number of monsters.
"Fire—!"
At the command, soldiers on the walls lit the cannons.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Cannonballs flew toward the monsters, exploding in the middle of the horde.
"Awooo—!"
Many monsters were blown away, but a small number still reached the wall.
"Attack!"
The swordsmen at the base of the wall saw the monsters and charged in to fight.
"Keep firing!"
The soldiers on the wall reloaded and kept firing at the horde in the distance, leaving the monsters at the wall for the army and the swordsmen.
Kael Vane was shocked. Is this what war is like? It was his first time seeing it in person. For someone from a peaceful time, this was intense.
Suddenly!
"Ooooh! Ooooh!"
A strange cry was heard. A giant, seven-meter-tall monster walked out of the forest. It looked like a red-haired ape with a single horn on its head.
"Oh no! It's a nine-star beast! The Horned Blood-Ape!"
Many people yelled in fear when they saw the giant monster.
A nine-star beast. Usually, only a nine-star swordsman could handle one. An eight-star would just be throwing their life away.
Vmmm—!
Bloody energy gathered at the tip of the ape's horn.
"Look out! It's going to attack!"
SHOOM—!
A beam of blood-red energy shot at the swordsmen at the base of the wall.
"Flame Slash!"
A fiery slash flew out to meet the beam.
BOOM—!
The two attacks hit and exploded.
A young man with a sword walked forward. "I'll take this one!"
"It's the nine-star 'Flame Sword' Alan!"
Kael Vane was surprised. Isn't that the unlucky guy I beat in the preliminaries?
"Hisss—!"
A terrifying hissing sound was heard, and a giant snake with nine heads slithered out of the forest.
"Another one! It's a nine-star Hydra!"
"I'll take it!"
Zzzt!
A bolt of lightning flashed from the crowd and shot at the Hydra.
"It's the nine-star 'Thunder Sword' Kray!"
The man was the other unlucky guy Kael had beaten. But Kael had held back, so both Alan and Kray were only lightly injured and still at their full strength.
"ROAR—!"
A deafening roar. A lion with giant wings flew out of the forest, heading straight for the top of the wall.
"It's a nine-star Manticore!"
"Flash: Cross-Slash!"
A cross-shaped slash of light shot at the lion.
BANG—!
The Manticore was knocked out of the sky.
Everyone recognized the signature attack.
"Arthur!"
Arthur stuck his sword in the ground. "You're not getting past here!"
The Manticore shook its head and got back up, looking unharmed.
"ROAR—!"
It roared at Arthur. The powerful sound wave tore up the ground. Some of the weaker monsters were knocked out.
Many of the humans covered their ears in pain.
"Flash Sword!"
Arthur charged in, forcing the Manticore to stop roaring.
"Why are there so many nine-star beasts this time?"
"Yeah! Usually, we only get one, at most. Now there are three! Does this mean a nine-star beast didn't cause this?"
In the past, a nine-star beast was usually the cause of the stampede. But with three of them, it meant something even scarier was behind this.
"Awoooooo—!"
A tall, silver-furred wolf ran out of the forest.
"Oh no! It's a nine-star Silver Moon Wolf!"
Erza's face was serious. "Kael Vane, protect the king! I'll take this one!"
"Requip: Black Wing Armor!"
Without waiting for a reply, Erza changed her armor and flew off the wall. With the three nine-star swordsmen busy, this wolf would cause huge damage. She had to act.
"Great! It's Miss Erza!"
Erza was famous in the city now. Everyone who saw the tournament knew the beautiful and skilled swordswoman.
But just as Erza met the wolf...
One after another, giant monsters appeared from the forest. The faces of all the humans turned pale.
"Mammoth King! Dark Panther King! Hellfire Tiger! Three-Headed Ice Bird! Great Earth Bear!"
"How... How can this be?! These are the rulers of the forest! Why are they all here?!"
"Nine nine-star beasts?! Are they trying to destroy the kingdom?!"
Everyone was panicking.
Even the king, who had been calm, was now sweating. He had expected the dragon to fight back, but not with nine nine-star beasts.
They only had four fighters down there. Even counting himself, that was five. If they counted Kael Vane, that was six.
That still left three nine-star beasts. Three of them could destroy the entire city.
Unless... that man took action.
"Where is Mr. Yoriichi?! Where is he?!" the king yelled. Only Yoriichi could save them.
Everyone shook their heads. No one had seen him since the tournament ended.
Kael Vane saw all the strong monsters and knew he couldn't hide anymore. If the kingdom was destroyed, who would pay him? He still hadn't gotten his prize money.
"Step back. I'll take care of the rest."