"Sir," Mathias gulped. "But I―"
"No excuses, rookie!" the Knight scolded as he grabbed Mathias by the shoulders, forcing him to move. "Gather with the others, go!"
Mathias' dazed steps amid his confusion, also worrying about his sister's condition, were drowned out by the steps of many others who were about to exit the great hall.
"Move, idiot!" someone pushed Mathias roughly. "You lousy rookie!"
"Get out!" someone shouted. "This building won't last much longer! Hurry up!"
"Hey, hey!" Mathias tried to keep up with the other rookies. "Hey, what's going on?"
The young man in question frowned. "Where have you been?"
"No, I was just―"
"Don't you see?" said the youth. "The Demon Army has reached here. If you still want to stay inside this hall, be my guest! I don't want to die buried inside this hall!"
"Hey, did you see―" Mathias widened his eyes and stopped his steps.
Some people were annoyed by Mathias deliberately stopping in the middle of the flow of people who were trying to find safety outside the hall.
However, Mathias ignored them as his gaze was fixed on a spot in one corner of the hall, amongst the large crates and other items.
There were no words he could utter even though his mouth was half open. What he saw was even more cruel to his heart.
Mathias couldn't believe that his girlfriend, Cindy was kissing so passionately with a man when the atmosphere in the great hall was already so chaotic.
And what hurt Mathias even more was the man who was kissing Cindy. He was Ryvel, the one who had always bullied and insulted him all these years.
"Wh-What are you doing, Cindy?"
But those words would not have been heard by Cindy, nor Ryvel because they were overpowered by the sound of explosions and people's screams of fear.
And then, the two of them left the hall through another way that seemed to be reserved for the elite and nobles only.
Mathias couldn't do much as people scrambling to get out of the hall forced him to take another step. He was pushed further, and further, out of the hall.
Kaboom!
Swoosh! Thump!
Explosion after explosion greeted Mathias and the people who had just come out into the open. And more buildings were on fire.
"Warriors...!" a Knight on a horse raised the sword in his hand high. "Gather up, now! Bring out your courage and drive out the Demon Army!"
"Attack!" shouted another senior warrior.
Mages who had mastered high-level magic darted like birds and then unleashed element-based attacks, from fire to water, wind to lightning.
The Archers released arrows from their weapons, bows, or crossbows, all shots aimed at the huge monstrous creatures that devastated their land.
The Knights also took part in the resistance. With or without horses, they fought with their weapons alongside the Swordsmen.
Kaboom!
Mathias had nowhere to run or even think about his little sister. Not at all.
Like it or not, he was forced by circumstances to fight alongside the warriors and Royal Soldiers.
The children, the elderly, and the physically weak women followed a small group of soldiers who would lead them away from the battlefield.
"Keep attacking!"
Mathias ran between the quick steps of the warriors who were heading towards the center of the battlefield. Although he didn't know what to do or think, he held the spear in his hand tightly.
Crash! Crash!
Groar!
Mathias and the others in the group were thrown when the ground beneath their feet suddenly lifted and a Spiny Serpent emerged with a roar from its foul-smelling mouth.
"Stand up!" shouted a master archer. "Don't die before fighting! On your feet, come on!"
Mathias realized that they would all die there because of the larger enemy force, but he had no choice.
He saw a wyvern tearing into a Mage. He tightened his grip on the shaft of his spear.
With all his fear and desire to find his sister, Mathias shouted at the top of his lungs as he flung his spear at the wyvern.
Whoosh!
Stab!
Unexpectedly, the spear struck the right thigh of the wyvern's hind leg.
Naturally, this made the wyvern roar in anger. And its gaze fell on Mathias.
"Oh, no!" Mathias gulped as he moved backward.
With the spear still stuck in its thigh, the wyvern took to the air, then darted towards Mathias.
"No, no, no!" Mathias tried to run for his life. "Get away from me!"
Groar!
With no trouble at all, the wyvern caught Mathias, and Mathias screamed in pain as his right shoulder was gripped by the wyvern's sharp claws.
"Let me go!" he shouted as he pounded on the wyvern's legs.
But of course, Mathias' punches did not affect the wyvern's thick-skinned legs at all.
He continued to struggle but the winged dragon continued to carry him higher and further away from the battlefield.
"Let go of me, stupid creature!"
Whether annoyed or not, the wyvern finally snapped at Mathias' hand that was beating on its leg.
Crash!
Mathias roared in agony as the wyvern severed his right hand so easily.
And as if the torture of the human wasn't enough, the wyvern swallowed the severed hand to humiliate him. Meanwhile, blood gushed violently from the severed wound on Mathias' shoulder.
"You cursed creature!" screamed Mathias. "I swear I'll kill you, you bastard!"
Mathias' only hope of putting up more of a fight against the creature was his spear that was still stuck in the wyvern's right thigh.
So with desperation and every effort he could, Mathias tried to grab the spear back even though he was already slowly losing consciousness.
The blood that was still spurting violently from his mutilated hand, as well as the wyvern that was carrying him higher and higher making it difficult for him to breathe, all became one great pressure, as if to aggravate his torment even more.
But he didn't want to give up so easily. He continued to struggle and try his hardest until he was finally able to grab the tip of the spear with the clasp of his legs.With all his strength, he pulled out the spear and made the wyvern roar again, then quickly passed the spear to his free left hand."Die, you bastard!" he shouted. "Go to Hell!"Stab! Stab!Once, twice, and five times Mathias stabbed the wyvern in the stomach. The sixth stab accidentally hit the creature's chin as it tried to grab Mathias' spear with its jaws.Stab!The wyvern's blood was pouring out and with the spear embedded in its chin, it lost consciousness.And Mathias knew there was no way he would survive the fall from that height.Gravity took over as the wyvern no longer had the energy to flap its wings.Both of them fell very fast.Mathias screamed at the top of his lungs and the next moment, the wyvern was slammed hard into the side of a hill in the shape of a giant pillar. The farm boy was still lucky as h
The Archers lined up at the top of the great wall, aiming at every creature from the Demon Army they could find.Outside the wall, the Knights and Swordsmen worked together to bring down the monstrous creatures. They ranged from those the size of a full-grown buffalo to those dozens of times larger. From creatures with trunks and legs to creatures with no legs at all.As for the battle in the air, to intercept and repel enemies from the winged dragon race, it is the Mage who takes the role. With all their magic and abilities, they try to bring down the creatures that have the breath of fire.Not a few have become victims, both from the human side and from the Demon Army side. All lay lifeless on the ground, with their bodies intact or disjointed. With bodies pierced by arrows and other weapons or burned.The few warriors and soldiers who were still alive down there tried to crawl away and find shelter until the war was over.But it seemed the attacks of those ferocious creatures were
Flakes of human flesh and blood spurted from the wyvern's gaping mouth.In the next instant, the dragon that also belonged to the Sky Dragon species felt a terrifying aura heading towards it. Its instincts told it so.The moment the wyvern looked back, a blinding lightning bolt flashed and hit its body, thumping loudly, and killing it instantly.The wyvern's body split into several large pieces. It fell to the ground with blood gushing violently from each piece of its body.The mysterious man with the wide hood was floating calmly far up there. He took a deeper breath, keeping an eye on the monstrous creatures still raging for the destruction of the Southern Wall."Two down," he muttered. "And many more to go!"He took off again, chasing after the winged dragons that were still in the air and threatening the warriors and soldiers with their fire breath.Whoosh!Not wanting to linger or let the Demon Army rampage any further, the mysterious man cast a spell while flying quickly toward
But one thing was certain. The magic possessed by the mysterious figure far surpassed all the mages on the West Coast. At least, they considered the mysterious man to be a Great Mage."Where did he go?" asked an admiral on the Great Wall.He was watching every point down there with a telescope."Looks like he doesn't want to be recognized," replied a female mage to the admiral's right. "Oh, God... imagine if such a powerful mage were our friend!""Yeah," the admiral replied. "That's exactly what I was thinking. Goddamn it!"The admiral gave up trying to find the mysterious mage with his telescope."No matter what," he continued, "we need to find out who he is. Then bring him to the Central Empire!""I think that's a great wish that might be difficult to fulfill.""Nothing is impossible!" the admiral glared at the mage. "While we have the chance, we can do it!"The mage took a deep breath, then cast her gaze down to where the surviving warriors and soldiers were cleaning up the battlef
"Only this area of the West Coast remains in the Land of Purbha," Edwar said. "The orders from the Svarnabhumi Empire are clear, all the nobles must be in the Central Continent to better strategize and plan the resistance. Admiral, what about the soldiers and warriors?"Another middle-aged man stood up."Lord Blackwood," he said and then addressed the others, "Gentlemen... the remaining soldiers and warriors, they will remain here until the reinforcements from Svarnabhumi and Dakhsina arrive.""I think it might be better to just let the Land of Purbha be occupied by them," said one of the officers on the left. "We can take the soldiers and warriors with us!""No, that won't happen!" argued another."He's right!" said the one in the center. "Letting the Demon Army take over the entire Land of Purbha is tantamount to driving humanity to extinction!""Don't you realize, huh?" said the man on the left. "Those few thousand soldiers and warriors left, they'll all die before the reinforcemen
The hooded man growled softly pressing his head even harder. He became annoyed and removed the wide hood on his head, throwing the thick and coarse cloth onto the bed.For a moment he just sat there, wringing his hair before standing up and approaching the window.He looked at the sea with its not-so-big waves, lapping and breaking on the shore.The moonlight right at its highest point provided a little better illumination.And the mysterious man was none other than Mathias.He looked up at the night sky which looked quite beautiful this time, then down at the sea which reflected the moonlight, glittering like a pile of diamonds here and there."Where are you now, Alie?" he murmured almost inaudibly.He looked back at his right hand, turning it over and over in such a way.Just as he was about to return his gaze to the sea at the far end, Mathias heard a woman's scream from the right.He frowned and found a bit of commotion in his line of sight."Do people like this deserve to be save
Once he moved his right hand back, the bluish light hit the warrior instantly, sending him far back.People gulped as they watched how the warrior whose back had hit the wall hard was slowly burning. It started with his chest turning red, then peeled off like burnt paper, and spread to the rest of his body.He screamed in extreme pain. An instant later, his body disappeared along with the debris that flew in the wind.People looked back at Mathias with eyes filled with great question marks and shock. But even greater than that was the fear of him."Surround him!" shouted a soldier commander.More than a dozen warriors instantly moved and locked Mathias in the center with the girl, the Knight, and three other shirtless warriors."You have killed a warrior, Stranger!" the commander shouted. "And that was a big mistake!"The three shirtless men looked at each other with pale faces and feared for their own lives now.Two of them were mages, but neither possessed the magic they had just se
"No, wait, please! Spare my life, please―"Stab!The thirty-year-old man died with five holes in the face. His body still twitched for a few seconds before settling down.Mathias grinned at the bloodied fingers of his right hand. He stood up and glanced towards the back left."Wh-Who are you? Why are you killing them?" said another person in the corner of the room, a very messy room."You're the one named Aoris?"The man in the corner gulped, face pale, eyes wide as he looked at the heavily hooded man approaching him."I-I..." In the end, he nodded albeit stammeringly."Then you must die as well!""Why?" cried Aoris. Cold sweat dripped down his temples. "What wrong have we done?""You know better than I do!" Mathias stopped a step in front of Aoris."B-But, but we're Purbha's soldiers! We're fighting against the Demon Army!"Mathias grinned faintly. Slowly, he removed the hood that covered his head and part of his face.Aoris grew choked up as he looked at the face that was now clearl