CHAPTER 345: CHAPTER 344: THE WAR OFFICIALLY BEGIN

Below Jared, on Plison City’s walls, the soldiers murmur among themselves.

Two young infantrymen stand guard beside a ballista, both watching the monstrous camp spreading across the plains.

One soldier squints. "Why are we waiting for them to attack? We should hit them first." He gestures with his spear. "Just look at their equipment. Half of those things don’t even have proper armor."

The other soldier sighs, gripping the battlement. "It’s the general’s orders."

"And?" the first soldier scoffs. "We’ve got seventy thousand men! They’re monsters. We should rush them before they settle!"

The second soldier turns his head sharply. "Do you want to challenge the general’s command?"

The first soldier opens his mouth... then closes it.

Everyone knows what defying a General means.

He mutters instead, "I’m just saying... they look weak. Ragged. If we charged right now—"

"Don’t underestimate them," the second soldier snaps. "Those ragged monsters killed The Baron’s entire army. Don’t forget that."

A third soldier overhears and joins in, wiping sweat from his brow. "Honestly? I kinda agree with him. Standing here waiting feels wrong."

Another soldier nods. "Yeah... we’ve never let monsters get this close before."

The second soldier glares. "Enough. If the general says we hold the walls, then we hold the walls."

Silence falls for a moment.

But the unease lingers.

Most of the soldiers feel the same thing—an itch in their chest, a tightness in their gut.

They’ve seen monsters before.

They’ve fought them, chased them, hunted them.

But this?

This mass of creatures moving with discipline... setting up tents... digging trenches... forming patrol lines...

It’s wrong.

Monsters aren’t supposed to act like this.

The first soldier leans in, lowering his voice. "Hey... hear me out. You think the monsters from the Vorra Continent have something to do with this?"

The other two stare at him like he just said the sky is green.

The second soldier frowns. "Are you stupid? Why would monsters from the Vorra Continent bother with a tiny kingdom like ours?"

The third soldier shakes his head slowly, lips curling. "Seriously. Those things don’t care about us."

The fourth soldier raised his hands defensively. "Look, most of the forces in Vorra are clans—monster clans. Beasts of the same species grouping together. And the strongest of those clans can rival even the top powers of our own continent. There’s a reason Vorra is considered one of the main continents."

The second soldier clicks his tongue but doesn’t interrupt.

----

Dawn breaks cold and pale over the plains.

Mist clings to the ground. The last of the campfires die down. Thousands of monsters rise in silent rows, the entire army forming up with unnatural discipline—no shouting, no chaos, only steady breath and the rustle of armor.

Alix steps onto the raised platform. The wood creaks under his boots as he looks up at Plison City.

The shield barrier is already active, an enormous dome of faint blue mana stretching over the entire city. Runes crawl across its surface like slow-moving fireflies.

He lifts his hand, beckoning.

A tiny dragon, more like a plush toy than a threat, hops onto the railing beside him. Zevran flaps his small wings, tail swishing eagerly.

Alix rests a hand on the little dragon’s head. "Zevran."

Zevran straightens proudly.

"Go," Alix says. "Destroy that shield."

Zevran lets out an excited chirp, "Kyu!", and launches himself into the air with a determined flutter of wings.

On both sides, confusion ripples.

Ruk blinks. "Uh... what’s my lord trying to do?"

Vordon said with a smile. "My lord... the enemy must be thinking we are mocking them."

The monsters murmur.

The human soldiers lean over the walls, squinting.

"Is that... a pet?"

"Why is it flying toward the center?"

"Did their leader lose his mind?"

Zevran stops mid-air above the city’s center.

He doesn’t transform.

He doesn’t roar.

He doesn’t flare his aura.

He simply opens his tiny mouth.

And the world changes.

The air warps.

Mana bends around him.

A violent swirl of earth and wind compresses into a sphere no bigger than a marble—yet every mage on the walls feels their hearts sink.

Jared’s eyes widen. "Mana fluctuation—?! Strengthen the shield! Full power! NOW!"

Although confused, the mages slam their staves into the ground.

"FORTIFY!"

"REINFORCE THE CORE!"

"HOLD IT—HOLD IT—!"

The shield brightens, runes spinning wildly.

For one heartbeat, everything is still.

Then—

BOOM.

The huge blast of compressed earth and wind streaks down like a meteor. It hits the shield dead center.

The entire dome shudders.

A thunderous shockwave tears across the plains, kicking dust into the air and sending soldiers stumbling.

The shield holds—

—for one single, pitiful second.

Then it fractures.

A spiderweb of cracks races outward.

And the entire barrier shatters like glass hit by a hammer.

"THE SHIELD—!"

"IT’S DOWN! THE BARRIER IS DOWN!"

"WHAT KIND OF ATTACK WAS THAT?!"

The weakened blast, robbed of most of its power by breaking the shield, continues downward—straight toward the city square.

Jared’s body moves before his mind catches up.

He leaps from the tower, landing with enough force to crater the stone.

His greatsword flashes upward as he channels mana into his arms.

"—HAAAH!!"

Steel meets the incoming attack.

What remains of the compressed blast still hits like a falling mountain. Jared’s boots scrape across the ground, tearing two long trenches behind him as he’s pushed back.

But he doesn’t break.

With a roar, he swings upward, deflecting the attack into the sky.

The remnants explode harmlessly in the clouds.

The square behind him is trembling. Dust settles. Soldiers stare at him with wide eyes.

Jared’s hand shakes for a moment before he tightens his grip on the sword.

"...That wasn’t its full power," he mutters.

He looks up, eyes scanning the sky.

Zevran, still in his adorable tiny form, flutters back toward the monster army, humming proudly like he just fetched a stick.

Jared feels his stomach twist.

"That little... thing," he whispers, "could have leveled half the city if the shield wasn’t up."

He wipes blood from the corner of his mouth.

A deep, rolling note—ancient, primal, the kind of sound that makes even the ground flinch.

On the monster side, Ruk, Erel’na, Varesh, and Vordon step forward as one.

Alix simply lifts a hand.

"Begin."

Ruk grins savagely. "With pleasure."

Erel’na’s mandibles click once. "All units—advance."

Varesh exhales slowly, calm as a still lake. "Kill cleanly."

Vordon rolls his shoulders, stone-like muscles hardening. "Crush them."

The four city lords slam their fists or weapons into the air and bellow their command—

"MONSTER ARMY—ATTACK!"

A tidal wave of roars explodes across the plains.

Thousands of monsters surge forward at once, the combined thunder of claws, hooves, and wings shaking the soil. The front ranks sprint like unleashed beasts, while tier 5 monsters burst upward into the sky, blotting out the sun.

From Plison City, the answer comes instantly.

"ALL SOLDIERS—ADVANCE!!"

"ARCHERS, FIRE AT WILL!!"

"MAGES, PREPARE SPELLS!"

"CAVALRY, FORM RANKS!"

A smaller horn sounds from the northern gate.

Three figures leap out like shadows.

The human generals have arrived.

All three high-level Tier 6, each wearing heavy enchanted armor, each radiating enough killing intent to make the air crack.

The first, a heavily armored woman wielding a tower shield and battle axe, points forward.

"Don’t let them reach the walls! Meet them head-on!"

The second, a slim man with two long spears, twirls them, creating spirals of wind.

"Air troops, follow my lead!"

The third, a burly mage-warrior covered in glowing runes, slams his staff down.

"MANA FRONTLINE, WITH ME!"

But Jared doesn’t stay with them.

His gaze locks on one monster.

Vordon, the hulking beastman.

Jared kicks off the ground.

Jared launches himself from the city square like a fired arrow, air cracking behind him. His greatsword trails a fire element as he soars over the battlefield.

Below him, the world erupts.

Two armies crash into each other like colliding storms.

Monsters roar, humans shout, spells ignite the sky, everything blends into a violent orchestra.

Ruk is the first to reach the human lines.

The minotaur lord smashes straight through a row of shield-bearers as if they’re made of straw.

"OUT OF MY WAY!"

His huge halberd swings sideways, taking five more soldiers off their feet. Steel, bone, and dirt explode around him.

Erel’na descends from above, four shimmering blade-like hands slicing downward.

"Spear unit—SPREAD OUT!" a human commander shouts.

Too late.