"A portal suddenly appeared, and monsters are coming out?"
Zeke recalled something upon hearing Muhammadʼs words.
It was the footage Hoshgar had shown him before.
The scene of a massive gate opening, with countless monsters and demonkind pouring out from within.
Zeke furrowed his brow and asked Muhammad, "How many monsters are there?"
Muhammad replied with a face pale as a sheet. "I-I canʼt even count them. Theyʼre swarming in like a black tide..."
Zeke sensed that Muhammad was in a state of panic.
In his panicked state, he could hardly assess the situation or make sound judgments.
"Iʼll have to go see for myself."
He left the unconscious Julius with Muhammad and called for Hades and Yellin, who were resting on the top floor.
Yellin had been awkward around Zeke since yesterdayʼs events, but upon hearing the situation, she erased any such signs and gaped in shock.
"Youʼre saying a monster legion is invading?"
At her words, Hades clicked his tongue. "It must be the work of those lunatics from Narak."
Zeke nodded. "It seems so. We need to check the situation first, so Iʼd appreciate your help."
Hades and Yellin nodded and followed Zeke.
Zeke led the Ishtar mystics serving as his escorts, along with Xeros and the Black Sword Knight Order, out of the hotel.
The place they were in was the most bustling casino city in the Dorta Republic, operated by the Zayed Family.
Warning sirens blared throughout the entire city, where all sorts of pleasures could be enjoyed.
The area outside the hotel was in chaos as panicked tourists fled to shelters.
Zeke surveyed the situation and said to Hades, "Itʼll be hard to ride there. Flying would be better."
Zeke summoned Bucephalus, seated Yellin in front, and took the reins.
As Zeke embraced her from behind, Yellin recalled yesterdayʼs events and blushed without realizing it.
Unaware of Yellinʼs reaction, Zeke gripped the reins and said to Xeros, "Weʼll go ahead.
Head to the outer defensive wall."
"Understood, my lord."
Zeke immediately took to the skies.
Hades floated into the air and flew alongside Zeke.
Zeke flew on Bucephalus and looked beyond the city from above.
"Thatʼs..."
The gate from Hoshgarʼs footage had appeared beyond the city.
Monsters from the black hole within continued to emerge endlessly, lining up and slowly advancing toward the city.
Seeing this, Hades shook his head. "Hah, distorting karma to pull off something like that.
Those Narak bastards must have something wrong with their heads." Zeke nodded and urged Bucephalus faster by pulling the reins.
Crossing the sky, they soon reached the outer defensive wall.
As expected of a city guarded by the wealthy Zayed Family, it was equipped with sturdy walls, iron fences enchanted with defensive magic, and other solid fortifications. The guards were also armed with the latest equipment.
Behind the walls, even magitech engine tanks used by the southern cartel were deployed.
Zeke and his group descended toward the wall.
Then, someone who appeared to be the captain of the guard rushed toward Zekeʼs position.
"A-Are you Sir Zeke Draker, the Knight of Salvation?"
Zeke nodded to the trembling captain. "Yes. Are you in charge here?"
The captain nodded vigorously. "O God. To think the Knight of Salvation is here... Weʼre fortunate in our misfortune."
The captain and the other guards clasped their hands and offered prayers upon seeing Zeke.
Zeke frowned slightly at the sight and shouted, "Get your heads straight!" The guards flinched at Zekeʼs bellow and stepped back.
Zeke fixed his gaze on the captain and said firmly, "Itʼs too early to relax. Tell me how many enemies are approaching this city."
The flustered captain stammered, so his adjutant spoke up. "We estimate ten superlarge monsters, five hundred large monsters, and around three thousand medium and small monsters."
Wiping cold sweat, the adjutant continued, "Th-The problem is that monsters keep coming out of that suddenly appeared portal." Zeke furrowed his brow at the words.
'More than the monsters that had been in the ghetto area.ʼ
Zeke realized that Abelʼs side, aware of Juliusʼs betrayal, planned to eliminate both him and Julius while first invading the neutral Dorta Republic.
It seemed like a strategy to strike Himonas in the north and Dorta in the east, gradually pressuring the central continent.
Zeke thought of the mastermind behind all this.
'Ramon Siemens. So you had finally shown your true colors.ʼ
He knew Ramon Siemens and Narakʼs ultimate goal was the demon king, so he realized the revival was drawing near.
'They had taken people from the Holy Kingdom too. They planned to use the Dorta
Republic as resources for the continental invasion.ʼ
If he left the Dorta Republic alone and fled, they would surely use these people as sacrifices to summon stronger demonkind and form a demon realm legion.
No matter what, he had to stop them here.
Zeke asked the captain, "Whatʼs the total force here?"
The adjutant answered again. "We have six hundred guards and fifty mages. The main forces, including the knight order, will take at least an hour to arrive."
It was sufficient for maintaining city order with just the guards, but far too few to face an external enemy.
At least the walls and defenses were sturdy, which was fortunate.
'An hour. If the castle held the defense well, we might have managed...ʼ
But then, something flew in from the sky, making Zekeʼs thoughts moot. Kieeeek—
A wyvern-like magical beast flew toward the wall, spewing flames.
Fwoosh!
In an instant, the guards on the wall were engulfed in the beastʼs flames and burned.
Zeke drew his sword and mounted Bucephalus, soaring into the air.
Slash!
Zeke, slicing through the air, swung his sword at the beast.
Sching—
The beast, its wing severed by the aura blade, spun in the air before crashing to the ground.
But the beast rose again and charged toward the iron fence of the defensive wall.
Keeek—
Screeching, the beast slammed into the fence.
The defensive magic on the fence activated, sending electricity coursing through the beastʼs body.
Crackle—
The beast writhed in agony from the current, then reared its head back and screeched again.
At the same time, the beastʼs body exploded.
Boom boom boom boom!
The beastʼs flesh shattered, sending bone fragments flying everywhere.
Patter patter patter!
The sharp bone shards damaged not only the wall but also the guards atop it, along with cannons and ballistae.
The bigger issue was that the explosion had blown away part of the fence, creating a hole in the defensive wall.
Zeke, watching from the air, ground his teeth.
'Damn it, they had brainwashed the beasts.ʼ
Normal magical beasts didnʼt perform such suicide attacks.
If large beasts charged and self-detonated like this, even the sturdiest wall would be hard to hold.
Then, the monster legion began advancing over the hill.
Groooar—
The sheer might of the swarming black tide of monsters exceeded imagination.
As ancient demon realm monsters, they were larger and fiercer than phenomenal world ones.
Even ogres and minotaurs were twice the usual size.
Rhinoceros-like super-large monsters appeared in the legionʼs center.
'If those monsters self-detonated in front of the wall...ʼ
They wouldnʼt last an hour—probably not even minutes—before the monsters razed the city.
Zeke descended again, landing near Hades and Yellin.
Yellin asked urgently, "Sir Zeke, can we hold off that many monsters with our numbers?"
Zeke shook his head. "Not with just this force."
He turned to Hades. "Canʼt you use your magic to evacuate the people?"
Hades scowled. "Boy, do you think draconic tongue magic is some all-purpose tool?
Large-scale spells like that require a portal device even for me!" Even dragons had limits.
Zeke asked Hades again, "Then, can you cast a shield over this defensive wall?"
Hades pondered, then clicked his tongue and nodded. "Eh, that much I can manage within karmaʼs limits. But maintaining it for a full hour would strain even me. If they ram it like before, thirty minutes might be the max."
"Thatʼs enough. Please cast the shield." Hades grumbled but rose into the air.
He extended his hand, activating a massive shield spell.
Tss tss tss—
A translucent hemispherical barrier formed, enveloping the wall.
'This would block aerial bombardment.ʼ
Zeke prepared to move and said to Yellin, "When the reinforcements arrive, deploy them on the wall to hold back the monsters with the guards."
Yellin drew her dagger, donned the elven Hercion Hades had made, and nodded. "Understood, Sir Zeke."
The innocent girl from yesterday was gone; now, the infamous Ishtar mysticʼs eyes gleamed.
Zeke left the wall to Yellin and remounted Bucephalus, soaring into the air again.
He unleashed the Mace of Light with Sacred Radiance Technique toward the beasts blocked by Hadesʼs shield from entering the city.
Boom boom boom!
The beasts struck by the sacred radiance died and, as expected, exploded.
'If all monsters could explode like that, this would be a headache.ʼ Zeke urged Bucephalus toward the monster legion.
To muster a force this size, there had to be demonkind or a mage nearby controlling them.
He scanned the legion and surroundings with Dragon Eye.
But no traces of mages or demonkind appeared in the legion.
Zeke pulled the Green Sword from his inventory and addressed Arataso. "Arataso." Arataso, dormant in the sword, awoke at Zekeʼs call.
[Uh, hm? What is it? Feels familiar.]
Sensing the massive monster legionʼs aura, Arataso was startled.
[What is this place? Did we go to the demon realm?]
"No, Narak summoned these monsters."
Arataso inhaled sharply. [Hah, to summon a legion this size. At minimum, a high-rank demonkind would be needed.]
Zeke frowned. "You mean they summoned a high-rank demonkind?"
[Anything less couldnʼt handle this scale. If they called a high-rank one with full power, itʼs possible.]
Zekeʼs face hardened at Aratasoʼs words.
If a high-rank demonkind had been fully summoned to the surface, the situation could be graver than thought.
'On the flip side, killing the demonkind commanding the legion might scatter the monsters.ʼ
Trusting Hadesʼs shield, Zeke decided to head beyond the legion to the gate.
If no mage controlled the monsters in the legion, there was likely a magic circle manipulating them near the gate.
Zeke unsummoned Bucephalus and flew stealthily toward the gate using Dragonʼs Wings, invoking the Will of Concealment in full power state.
From above, he saw the monster ranks densely covering the plains beyond the city.
Looking down, Zeke asked Arataso, "Can one high-rank demonkind move this many monsters?"
Arataso scoffed. [What do you take high-rank demonkind for? In the demon realm, mustering enough to fill this place would be trivial. In my territory, I had thousands of death knights under me...]
Ignoring Arataso, Zeke reached the gate.
Then, something entered his view.
"Whatʼs that?"
A suspiciously shaped massive altar stood before the gate.
And atop it was a black-robed mage.
None other than the mage from the Forest of the Forgotten who had created a black portal to bring an ork legion into the phenomenal world.