Chapter 61 : Chapter 61

Chapter 61. The Wall of Fire

“Gather all the principal officers! At once! Right now!”

Estor practically stumbled and rolled as he rushed out.

In less than a quarter of an hour, all the key officers hurried into the council hall, their faces dark with tension.

Eli stood before the seat of honor without sitting down.

“Everyone,” he said in a low voice, “my raven has just brought back confirmed news.”

He paused, and every word struck their hearts like a heavy hammer.

“The beast herds in the core region of Nightsong Forest are moving toward the forest’s edge on a large scale, in an organized manner.

Of course, only part of the herds are coming for us.”

“What?!”

“So soon?!”

“Heavens…”

Cries of alarm instantly broke out, mixed with sharp gasps.

Even though they had long been warned, the speed at which the news had come still left everyone deeply shaken.

“There is no time to panic!” Eli’s voice rose sharply, carrying a force of command that allowed no doubt. “The vanguard of the beast tide could burst out of the forest at any moment! Captain Buck!”

“Here!”

Buck stood as straight as a spear, and the steady bearing of a Gold Tier knight instantly suppressed the surrounding unrest.

“You are to organize all soldiers, Wolf-kin warriors, and knights immediately.

Follow the predetermined defense plan. All soldiers from the new recruit camp are to be added to the defensive line.

I want them in their respective defensive positions within seven and a half minutes!”

Eli’s gaze turned to Old John.

“Old John! You are responsible for organizing all noncombatants—the slaves, the freefolk, the elderly, the women, and the children.

They are to abandon all work immediately, take only a small amount of necessities, and withdraw to the preset shelter area deeper in the valley.

All constables are to escort them along the way. Move quickly.”

“Yes, my lord!” Buck and Old John answered in unison, their voices loud and clear.

Old John did not hesitate. He turned and charged out of the council hall at once, and his hoarse roar rang out from beyond the door. “Everyone! With me! Move!”

“Vick!” Eli’s gaze locked onto the administrator for slave affairs.

“My lord!” Vick straightened his back, his dark face filled with resolve.

“The fire-oil line is our second line of defense. I want it flawless.” Eli’s tone was firm and decisive.

“Yes, my lord! It will be flawless!” Vick slammed a fist against his chest.

“The rest of you, do your jobs! Scholar Alva, organize men to prepare to treat the wounded!

Clark, assemble the reserve force and be ready to reinforce any breach in the wall at any time!

Master Glenn, the mines… abandon them for now! All miners are to join the reserve force!”

Eli’s gaze swept across the hall, his voice sharp and decisive. “Whether Black Territory lives or dies will be decided in this battle. Dismissed!”

There was no extra encouragement, no tragic declaration.

Everyone shot out of the council hall like arrows loosed from the string and ran toward their respective posts.

Eli did not stop for even a moment. He seized “Silver” at his waist and strode after Buck toward the new recruit camp.

The camp had already taken on the look of a battlefield.

The shrill blare of horns echoed through the valley.

The soldiers moved like a surging black tide of iron, rapidly assembling under the furious shouts of their officers, collecting their weapons, and rushing toward their assigned sectors.

Old John, together with a large number of overseers and leading freefolk, shouted like shepherds guiding a flock.

They directed the panicked slaves, women, and children into a vast human stream that surged toward the deeper reaches of the valley.

Buck stood atop the hastily erected mustering platform, his voice rising above all the noise.

“Black Crow Knights! Form ranks!”

“Wolf-kin warriors! Form ranks!”

“New Recruit Squads One through Five! Form ranks!”

Orders were issued one after another in rapid succession.

With twenty-five Black Crow Knights at the core, along with the thirteen Wolf-kin warriors led by Wolfgang, and three hundred and fifty reorganized infantry made up of both veterans and recruits— a defensive force of nearly four hundred men completed its assembly with astonishing speed.

“To the wall!” Buck swept his arm forward.

Nearly four hundred soldiers, like a black tide, surged toward the crude wall that had only just been piled up to a height of three meters and still carried the fresh scent of earth and stone.

The heavy thunder of footsteps echoed through the valley.

Eli followed close behind Buck and climbed the wall in long strides.

Rough, uneven stones lay beneath his feet. Fresh mud plaster could still be seen between the gaps.

The wall was not high, and it was not especially thick either, but in this vast valley, it was their only barrier.

The soldiers quickly spread out along the battlements. The archers stood in front, the spearmen behind, each of them trying to steady their breathing.

Their eyes were fixed on the stretch of forest ahead, that silent edge so ominous it made the heart tremble.

Vick and his men were making their final inspection beside the encircling trench roughly a hundred meters in front of the wall.

The trench was packed with a thick layer of dry grass and dead branches, all soaked through with fire oil.

Vick looked up at Eli on the wall and gave a hard nod, signaling that everything was ready.

Time passed second by second in suffocating silence.

The forest’s edge remained still.

There was no birdsong, no beastly howls, only the monotonous rustling of wind passing through the leaves.

The soldiers tightened their grips on their weapons. Their knuckles turned white from the force, and sweat slid down their foreheads, dripping onto the rough battlements.

Buck stood beside Eli like a statue, his gaze as sharp as an eagle’s as it swept across every inch of suspicious movement at the edge of the forest.

Suddenly—

THUD!

THUD THUD THUD—!

A series of dull, heavy impacts, coming from deep within the forest and drawing nearer by the moment, suddenly rolled in like countless massive hammers striking the earth.

At first the sound was still chaotic, but it quickly became orderly and heavy, battering at every person’s ears and heart.

The trees at the forest’s edge began to shake violently.

“They’re here!” Buck let out a thunderous roar that exploded across the deathly silent wall. “All men, prepare for battle! Get your heads in the fight!”

The soldiers shuddered and were instantly jolted awake from their tense waiting. Adrenaline surged through them.

Arrows were nocked, spears were raised, and heavy breathing mixed with the rasp of armor to form a grim symphony before battle.

Without the slightest hesitation, Eli immediately closed his eyes. His consciousness sank into his mind, and in an instant he established shared vision with Coalball, the raven circling high overhead.

A bird’s-eye view suddenly unfolded before him.

In the next moment, the forest’s edge became a black flood bursting through opened gates.

Countless beasts of every shape—Nightblade Panthers, Iron-Maned Boars, Rock Deer, forest wolves…

They were packed so densely and layered so thickly that they formed a boundless, frenzied beast tide.

Their hooves pounded the earth, kicking up clouds of dust into the sky.

His sight swept rapidly over the rear of the beast horde… No giant bear! No Thorn Earth Drake!

Eli’s heart abruptly eased, and almost by instinct he made a rough estimate. There were at least a thousand beasts.

It was still terrifying, but thankfully, the worst-case scenario had not appeared.

“ROAR—!!!”

The earth-shaking howls of the beasts merged into a wave of destructive sound that completely shattered the stillness at the forest’s edge.

The black torrent of the beast tide, carrying an overwhelming, unstoppable force, burst from the forest like floodwaters from a collapsed dike and swept madly toward the wall of Black Territory.

The trap zone Buck had set up instantly showed its worth.

The beasts charging at the very front plunged into the cleverly disguised pits like dumplings dropping into boiling water.

The sharpened wooden stakes and iron spikes at the bottom pierced straight through them, drawing out shrill cries of agony.

The beasts behind could not stop in time. They crashed into the chevaux-de-frise and were impaled by the sharp wooden stakes, or were sent tumbling by the tripwires, causing even greater chaos.

The huge beast traps snapped shut with vicious force, crushing the beasts’ leg bones and pinning them fast to the ground.

The vanguard of the beast tide was thrown into utter confusion, and the momentum of its charge immediately faltered.

Wails, the crack of breaking bones, and furious roars mixed together, and in the blink of an eye the trap zone became a bloody slaughterhouse.

“Good!”

A burst of restrained cheers erupted from atop the wall.

The traps were working!

However, the number of beasts in the tide was simply too great.

The beasts behind stepped over the corpses and blood of their own kind, ignoring all casualties as they continued their mad charge forward.

Like black, filthy waves, they rapidly surged across the trap zone and hurled themselves toward the fire-oil trench a hundred meters in front of the wall.

“Archers!” Eli shouted sharply. A nearby guard immediately handed him a strong bow and a specially made fire arrow.

He held his breath, his gaze sharp as lightning as it locked onto the center of the trench.

He drew the bow into a full moon. The arrowhead was lit.

WHOOSH—!

A burning meteor tore through the air with a shrill scream and shot with perfect precision toward the center of the trench.

BOOM—!!!

It was as if fire had erupted from the earth itself.

A wall of flame several meters high instantly roared into the sky along the length of the trench.

A wave of scorching heat rolled outward in every direction, swallowing the beasts at the very front whole.

The pungent stench of scorched fur, the thick black smoke of burning grease, and the shrill cries of beasts burned alive instantly filled the entire battlefield.

A wall of fire.

It was even fiercer and even more spectacular than anyone had imagined.

The soaring flames were like a roaring fire dragon, standing firm between the beast tide and the wall.

The surging torrent of beasts struck the blazing wall as waves strike a reef and was brought to a sudden halt.

Countless beasts were scorched by the flames. Screeching in terror, they retreated or turned aside, and their formation instantly fell into chaos.

“Well done!”

“Burn them alive!”

“Long live the Lord!”

Deafening cheers exploded across the wall. The soldiers raised their weapons in excitement, and their morale soared.

Yet before the cheering had even faded, Buck’s icy voice smashed down like a hammer. “Don’t celebrate too early! Archers—ready!”

Eli’s heart sank as well.

The wall of fire was fierce, but its coverage was limited.

On both flanks, and in the areas where the flames burned weaker, there were still beasts that feared no death, or were being shoved forward by those behind them.

Smoke rose from their bodies, and their hides were marked by scorched burns, yet they still came charging through the sea of fire with savage howls.

Even after crossing the wall of flame, there were still at least three to four hundred beasts left.

The fire had completely driven them mad, making them even more ferocious.

Reeking of charred flesh and wracked by burning pain, they charged toward the low stone wall like demons crawling out of hell.

“Loose!”

TWANG—!

A dense chorus of bowstrings, enough to make the scalp prickle, rang out all at once!

In an instant, black arrows rose like a dark cloud of death, blotting out the sky as they rained fiercely down upon the beasts that had crossed the wall of fire.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Awoooo—!

The dull thuds of arrows sinking into flesh and the agonized howls of wounded beasts instantly drowned out even the roar of the flames.

The foremost beasts fell in swathes like wheat cut down in the field.

But no matter how dense the rain of arrows was, it could not cover everything.

“Second volley! Loose!”

“Third volley! Loose!”

Buck’s cold commands rang out without pause.

After three volleys, another large cluster of beasts collapsed, but the remaining beasts had already pushed through the storm of arrows and, like a tide gone mad, gathered beneath the wall.