Chapter 73

As Adrian had thought, the monster was indeed killing horses. As they moved forward, they kept coming across horse corpses.

“This is… how could a creature like this even exist?” one of the soldiers under Sir Nark cursed.

“No point in dilly-dallying. We should try to regroup with the other squads as soon as possible. If we can't, we go back to the stronghold. We still need to get the Prince to safety.” Adrian said. He added the last part to ensure the soldiers remained focused on getting the Prince, and, by extension, himself back alive.

Everyone moved out, changing direction only toward where they thought they could intercept the other rescue squad. However, they didn't see them at all. They found traces of their path, but they weren't about to turn back to find them, so they trudged on.

A horn for help sounded in the distance, followed by another from a different direction. Everyone exchanged dark looks, hoping the stronghold could send immediate reinforcements.

Right now, their sole focus was getting back.

After an hour or so, Adrian and the group finally sighed in relief when they saw the tall, battle-hardened wall.

They had reached it, they were safe. But then Adrian noticed that the crowds of onlookers and commoners atop the wall were gone, replaced entirely by soldiers. At the base of the walls were squads upon squads of soldiers, some of whom were surging toward the forest.

One of the squads carried the royal family's banner.

“This doesn’t seem like something that would happen because of just one monster, right?” 

Adrian muttered. Strange and powerful as that monster was, this reaction seemed completely over the top.

“No, it doesn’t…” Lord Jayson said, having reached his side.

Lord Jayson was about to question Sir Nark when a horn sounded. This blast was stronger than any horn blow Adrian had ever heard, and it echoed from the stronghold itself.

Sir Nark paled at the sound. “No way…”

Adrian saw Lord Jayson and the others freeze in shock at the sound, leaving him utterly confused.

“What? What is it?” Adrian demanded, grabbing Sir Nark’s shoulders.

Sir Nark swallowed hard and finally spoke. “A monster surge is coming!”

--

Adrian blinked, and soon found himself drafted into defending the stronghold. More precisely, he was stationed around the area where hordes of tents were erected outside the wall, the exact side where the bulk of the monster surge would hit.

To his relief, the people had already started to evacuate. He gave credit to the Earl, who had actually allowed the commoners to flood into the stronghold rather than just closing the gates the moment signs of a monster surge appeared. 

He watched as crowds of people gathered their belongings and surged toward the gate, making the entryway crowded and cramped.

Adrian leaned against the wall as he watched the chaos. Around him were his men, more than a dozen of them, all looking serious and guarding him protectively. Not far away were their horses, with another soldier keeping watch over them.

Then, Bron looked around as if to check if anyone was eavesdropping before speaking. “Milord, this is the Earl's stronghold and territory. Why do we have to help him and risk our lives to defend it? Aren’t we just guests? Or rather, you are a guest.”

Adrian was so surprised by the question that he snorted and then laughed. “Good question, Bron. And the answer is, the earl asked for help himself and so we just have to suck it up.”

He grinned at the man, who simply pursed his lips in response.

“Besides, we aren’t at the forefront, at least.” Adrian added. “We only have to deal with the loose monsters that the front lines miss or that manage to bypass them, provided we aren’t unlucky enough to encounter any unique monsters.” Adrian thought back to the monster from before, then shook his head to clear the memory.

Bron exchanged looks with the other soldiers. “But, uh, what about the competition, milord? Is it halted?”

“It’s stopped, that’s for sure. The last news was that they were trying to retrieve the other lords, like Prince Leoford and Lord Corvus. In fact...” Adrian gestured to one of his men. “Go ask those men over there if they have any news from the front.”

One of the soldiers nodded and ran toward a group of the Earl's men. It wasn't long before he returned with an update. Lord Corvus and Prince Leoford’s teams had been successfully brought back.

That was a relief, at least. Adrian didn’t even want to imagine the kind of chaos that would erupt if an Earl's heir or a prince died in this place.

Meanwhile, a minor commotion broke out among the common folk. An argument flared up about someone stealing, followed by another dispute nearby. Everyone was tense, and heightened emotions were making people snap into anger easily.

But when another horn blasted, that anger and tension instantly dissolved into pure fear. The crowd, half of whom hadn't even entered the stronghold yet, panicked.

Adrian saw firsthand how panic could breed absolute chaos. Everyone was terrified that the gates would be shut on them.

“Milord, we should head up the wall now.” Dexton said, his hand already resting on the sword at his waist.

Adrian straightened, looking toward the crowd desperately pushing and shoving each other to enter the stronghold. A squad of the Earl’s soldiers was patrolling the perimeter, staying alert.

“We’ll stay down here a bit longer, until all the people can get inside safely.” Adrian replied. 

“Besides, there’s an alternate path we can take to climb the wall anyway.”

There were small buildings attached to the walls with doors that led directly up to the battlements, meaning Adrian and his men wouldn't have to fight their way through the crowd to reach safety if the situation turned dire.

Just then, another squad led by a knight stopped beside them. “Lord Harrow, I am Sir Luke. Steward Walt wanted me to inform you that you do not need to stay down here.”

Adrian smiled and gave him the same answer he had given Dexton.

The knight nodded gratefully. “We thank you, Lord Harrow. But please, make sure you prioritize your own life. We cannot allow a guest to die on the Earl's lands.”

Adrian waved his hand dismissively, and the knight and his squad soon moved on.

---

Looking out over the slowly emptying sea of tents, Adrian noticed a few people here and there running back to grab belongings before fleeing toward the gate. An idea struck him, and he turned to his men.

“Let’s get on the horses and check the tents. See if anyone has been left behind.”

His men followed his lead, and soon they were mounted, trotting through the camp and scouting the area.

“Hey! Don’t dawdle! Head to the stronghold if you want to live!” Adrian barked at two people who seemed to be looting, though it was possible they were just retrieving their own things.

The two immediately startled, dropping what they were carrying and bowing in apology before running off. 

Adrian looked down at the discarded goods, now fairly certain they had been looting. However, since this wasn’t his territory, he couldn’t simply punish them on the spot.

He found another group of people moving through the camp, this time a group of women.

“Lily, leave that and let’s go!” one of them yelled.

A woman of ample size was the first to notice the riders. “Sorry, lords, we’ll leave immediately…”

“Don’t slow down. The monsters are coming soon.” Adrian warned.

Just then, a pregnant woman emerged from one of the tents, supported by a petite man. Adrian raised his brows, his eyes lingering on her heavily swollen stomach.

“We’ll leave right away, lords.” the larger woman said, bowing again.

Watching them scramble to gather the last of their things, mostly food, while a heavily pregnant woman struggled to keep up, Adrian thought of the absolute chaos at the main gates.

He turned to Dexton. “Lead these women inside. Make sure she doesn't get squeezed or trip in the crowd.”

“But milord, you need-”

“Go.” Adrian cut him off.

Dexton nodded and quickly trotted his horse over to guide the pregnant woman. The group of women bowed deeply, their eyes filled with gratitude. Adrian briefly wondered why a woman so far along in her pregnancy had traveled all the way out here, but shook his head, in the end, it was none of his business.

There were still a couple more groups of people who hadn't evacuated yet. One group was actually brawling, because one person had caught another blatantly stealing their belongings. 

Adrian and his remaining men handled it quickly, and it wasn't long before Dexton returned with urgent news.

“Milord, I think we should head to the wall. The monsters have appeared, and the fighting has already started.”

Adrian’s expression steeled as he looked over the camp, having not yet fully scouted the perimeter. “We’ll do one final sweeping search first to see if anyone else was left behind. Let’s go!”

There was no time for further debate, so they immediately sprang into action.

The area where the tents had been raised by travelers from all over was massive, and there were far more people who hadn't evacuated yet than he had anticipated. He noticed a few squads from the Earl’s forces doing rounds as well, but they didn’t seem to care much about these lingering commoners.

Adrian practically barked orders at the stragglers who hadn't even attempted to run yet, still busy hoarding their things or trying to hide them.

Suddenly, Adrian felt a sudden shift of tension in the air. Instinct made him alert. He led his group to a relatively open area that allowed him to see in all directions. In the distance, he saw them, a couple of monsters rushing around the tow, noticing the tents, and charging straight toward them.

Adrian’s face hardened. Then, from his vantage point, he spied movement and running figures among the tents. He cursed, realizing there were still civilians on that side.

Worse yet, not a single squad of the Earl’s men was anywhere nearby.

Cursing under his breath, Adrian turned to his men. “Let’s go!”

Adrian gripped his spear tightly as he surged forward on his horse, Dexton riding hard right beside him. When they burst into the open area, the monsters were directly ahead. Noticing the riders, the beasts skidded to a halt and charged them.

Adrian lowered his spear, and the men behind him followed suit as they collided with the enemy.

The spear hit its mark, and dark blood splattered into the air.