Chapter 129: A Warrior’s Spirit

The tide of beasts showed no signs of slowing, their deafening roars echoing off the mountain face as fresh waves pressed toward the shattered base of the fortress.

Van took a deep breath and stepped forward, not letting a single beast advance. His aura flared across the foot of the wall, and every beast that came within reach of his blade fell.

From the battlements, the Black Raven Captain, who had watched the miracle unfold, couldn’t help being surprised. A slow smile curved his lips as he beheaded another beast. When the section of wall broke, a few soldiers from his own squad had fallen with it. He had wanted to save them, but he couldn’t leave his position. Yet Ethan had jumped down into the abyss without a moment’s hesitation. He had saved soldiers who were completely unrelated to him, and he had fought without stopping until dawn, killing thousands of beasts.

The mages, soldiers, and even mercenaries for miles along the ramparts who had watched what Ethan and the squad did were shouting with renewed morale.

Even though they were exhausted, new energy surged through their nerves at the sight of the black knight. Most of them were seeing him for the first time, but the blood-streaked image of him fighting so valiantly was imprinted in their minds forever. They even roared for Rune and the squad. Seeing thousands of soldiers looking at them in admiration, the squad’s adrenaline soared.

WOAHHHHHH!

The soldiers and mercenaries shouted as they killed the beasts that jumped over the battlements. The sound rolled down the wall from section to section until the whole battlement was roaring. Archers raised their bows overhead, and a young mage thumped her staff against the stone. A veteran mercenary captain bellowed a war cry, bringing his battleaxe down and pinning an Orc General’s head to the stone.

From the center of the fortress, Marcus and Evelyn, who had been carving through Tyrant Beasts all night wherever they tried to scale the walls, stopped for a second to look at Ethan. Ever since he had brought Ethan to Northwatch, Marcus had been overwhelmed by everything he did. But this was unlike anything he had ever seen.

If it weren’t for the Beast Tide, his booming laughter would have echoed across Northwatch unrestrained. Seeing Ethan made his blood boil for the first time in a long while, and for a moment he forgot to be the commander and wanted to be a warrior. Evelyn glanced at Marcus, who showed no expression, yet she could feel the pride swelling in his eyes. Even she couldn’t help admiring the kid who alone had raised the morale that had been slowly dying down. She gave a fierce smile, her crimson hair looked like a flame given form as the sun shone down.

"He is amazing," she murmured, looking at Marcus.

Marcus gave her a brief glance offering a concise reply. "He is."

Evelyn’s eyebrow twitched slightly, irritated by his infuriatingly brief response.

Below, Ethan looked up at the battlements where Evelyn and Marcus stood. Their eyes briefly locked with his, and both of them gave him a small nod.

On the battlements a few hundred meters from where the section of wall had collapsed, the same Black Raven Captain shouted quickly.

"Bring the injured! I’ll defend this position!" he ordered the soldiers.

"Archers and mages, keep firing!" he barked again.

The archers loaded their crossbows quickly, their fingers bleeding, yet they kept firing volley after volley. The mages, whose mana was nearly depleted, brought out whatever they could and began to chant spells to keep the beasts at bay so the others could bring up the soldiers.

The soldiers went quickly down the rubble and grabbed the surviving soldiers, mages, and mercenaries, hoisting them onto their shoulders or dragging them up the steep rubble pile using their movement techniques. Stone heaved two battered infantrymen up the sharp incline at once, his boots skidding on the blood-slicked stone. Corvus and the rest of the squad quickly carried others, and a few of the injured who could muster their strength followed up to the battlements.

Black Raven soldiers leaned over the shattered edge, grabbing arms, belts, and collars, hauling the twenty-one survivors over the broken wall one after the other. Five of them wore the insignia of the Captain’s own squad.

Ethan brought up the rear, his black blade flashing to sever the heads of three Dire Canopy Stalkers that tried to drag down a wounded mage. With a final heavy leap, he vaulted over the ledge onto the battlements, Rune following closely behind, just as a fresh wave of beasts slammed into the base of the broken wall below.

The squad fell back against the stone, breathing heavily. Vera had a few injuries on her shoulder and legs. Corvus was injured on his back, while Stone had a deep claw mark running along his thighs, blood pooling from the torn muscle, though he gritted his teeth. Vera was already pulling a strip of cloth tight around her shoulder with her teeth. The rest of the squad bore injuries to varying degrees, but none were fatal. They had never expected the first Beast Tide they fought would be like this.

Van hurried up to the battlements after making sure everyone was back, and the survivors were carried along the wall to where the Captain held his position.

"Thanks for saving them..." the Black Raven Captain said, looking at Ethan and the squad with gratitude.

The survivors, who had genuinely believed they were going to die in the rubble and had watched the squad fight to their limits to protect them, chimed in as well.

"Thanks for saving us..." the young female mage who had bandaged the others said, bowing deeply toward Ethan.

The rest of the soldiers and mages bowed alongside her. "Thank you!"

Ethan nodded once. He was still thinking about the two who hadn’t made it.

Apart from Ethan and Iron Wolf, the rest of the squad were embarrassed at being thanked by the high-ranking soldiers and mages. Normally, mercenaries didn’t get much recognition compared to soldiers, and mages mostly looked down on them. For the first time, a different emotion stirred in their hearts. Corvus scratched his head, laughing loudly even though he felt like he was about to pass out from exhaustion.

"It’s nothing," Vera said softly, maintaining her composure better than the rest of the squad.

"You guys did great holding on," Van said, looking at Ethan and the squad.

"Yes... and to think this is your first Beast Tide," the Black Raven Captain said, then his tone shifted to a mild reprimand as he looked at Ethan. "Next time, tell me before you do something like that."

"Yes, sir," Ethan said.

All the soldiers within miles had looked at Ethan for a brief second when he arrived at the battlements, and everyone gave a nod before focusing on killing the beasts again.

"Quickly take them to the healers," Van said.

The injured soldiers were quickly moved to the healers.

"You guys go as well... Get your injuries treated, take some rest and circulate your energy," Ethan said, looking at Iron Wolf and the squad.

"But Captain... what about you?" the others asked, worried. Even though they had fought, it wasn’t a fraction of what Ethan had done.

"I am fine. I’ll stay and help hold the wall. You go quickly and get your injuries treated," Ethan replied. However, as he spoke, a tremor ran through his hands, and he quickly clenched them to stop it. Even though he hadn’t been injured much, the constant use of the unknown energy and Intent in the battle, whenever he had to kill the Advanced Beast Lords, had drained his energy more quickly. His muscles were sore, and even his mind was protesting for rest, but with willpower he tried to keep as calm as possible.

Noticing the twitch in Ethan’s fingers, Van looked at him with a hint of concern.

"Young—" Van started, before quickly coughing to catch himself, realizing he couldn’t address Ethan by that title with everyone present. Clearing his throat, he corrected himself. "Ethan... you take some rest too. We will handle things here."

The Black Raven Captain looked at Van suddenly, as if noticing his awkwardness, but didn’t think anything else. "You should take some rest."

"It’s nothing, sir. I can still fight," Ethan tried to deny.

"It’s an order," Van said, his face tightening into a stern, unquestionable look.

"Y—yes," Ethan said reluctantly, and he moved off with the squad.

Healers moved down the row of battlements on their knees, pressing glowing, spell-infused hands directly against open wounds while the injured sat propped against the inner stone. One healer’s hands shook so badly that she had to steady one with the other before she could finish her spell.

Ethan leaned against the cold stone as a healer briefly cast a low-tier mend spell over a small tear across his back before rushing off to the next man. The deep injury he had received earlier had already closed largely and required only small assistance to fully heal, thanks to the regeneration trait he had gained and the Heavenly Sovereign Physique, both doing their work. Sweat and dried blood stung his eyes, but his hands remained tight around the hilt of his blade.

Beside him, the squad collapsed against the wall, catching their breath in rattling gasps while someone passed down a water skin.

Ethan took a quick gulp of water, his eyes scanning the horizon. The sun was climbing. The second day of the Tide had only just begun.

"Phew... I thought I would really die..." Corvus wheezed, leaning his head back against the stone.

"Me too... I knew the Captain was strong, but I didn’t realize he was completely crazy," Stone chimed in, earning chuckles from the rest of the squad.

SMACK!

"Shut up, idiots," Vera snapped, hitting them both on the head, her injuries just treated. "Quickly circulate your energy. We need to fight again."

"Yes..." they grumbled in unison.

Ethan and Iron Wolf listened to their banter with faint smiles. No matter how much you change them, mercenaries still retain some of their qualities, and neither of them minded.

Closing his eyes, Ethan began to circulate his energy again, to recover his aura and soothe his mind. But unknown to him, deep within him, the Unknown Energy churned imperceptibly, slowly digesting the purple mist drawn from the beasts he had slain.