Rhett halted abruptly, his voice ringing out loud and clear: "All troops, listen up! We are under attack! The enemy is advancing from the right flank. Frontline squads, take the lead; guard squads, protect the mages!"
The rhythmic pounding of footsteps ceased instantly, giving way to a coordinated flurry of movement as the soldiers quickly repositioned themselves.
Laedros, Heisent, and Baruch all reacted simultaneously. Although their senses weren't as sharp as Rhett's, they detected the approaching beastman army only a fraction of a second later. They immediately issued detailed commands to their respective units, organizing a more precise tactical response.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
In a flash, a dazzling array of magical spells and arrows infused with battle energy tore through the night sky, launching toward the distant attackers. A few sharp cries from nightcats pierced the air, but the overall rhythm of the beastmen's advance remained unbroken.
Rhett surveyed his surroundings and noticed that they were trapped in a sunken valley. Recalling the content of his last simulation, he knew the beastmen outnumbered them significantly. Getting caught in a trap here would be disastrous.
With that in mind, Rhett activated his mental energy, frantically manipulating the earth elements ahead of him. Soon, the small hills on both sides, several hundred meters tall, began to rumble, their rocks cracking and fissuring. Under the intense pressure of the shifting earth elements, they collapsed with a resounding crash.
Boom!
Yellow dust filled the air, and the scattered stones and sand were barely visible in the night. But on the open plain ahead, the beastmen stormed forward, their disheveled fur creating the impression of a dark, moving thicket.
In the dark fog, a streak of silver light tore through the space, carving a path straight through the ranks of the knight squads and locking onto Rhett, who was casting spells in the rear. In the eyes of the attacker gleamed a savage glint.
"So you're the one who killed my kin!"
Even as the brutal voice echoed out, the peak Half-Dragon's figure had already closed in on Rhett at an unbelievable speed. A single swipe of its claw sent Heisent, who had rushed in to assist, flying backward. The other claw, covered in scales and spikes, was aimed straight at Rhett's head.
"You didn't mention that soon, you'll be joining them," Rhett said coolly as he swiftly retreated, silently casting a Quicksand spell.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As the ground around him turned into a swirling yellow vortex, over a dozen high-ranking beastmen followed closely behind the peak Half-Dragon, entering within a hundred meters of Rhett. Among them were minotaurs and nightcats, but the main force consisted of Half-Dragons and Shadow Tigers—ordinary beastmen couldn't compare to royal bloodlines in high-level power.
For the moment, the other high-ranking beastmen were held at the edge of the Quicksand spell, unable to break through immediately. The Quicksand spell, cast by a ninth-level Grand Magister, was difficult to deal with. The peak Half-Dragon, however, closed in on Rhett once more, its claws brushing against the Rocklight Shield. Just as they touched, a powerful shockwave spread out.
Buzz!
The shockwave left the peak Half-Dragon's arm numb, forcing it to step back and regard Rhett warily with cold, apprehensive eyes.
"Ahhh!"
At that moment, a scream erupted from Baruch, positioned behind Rhett to the right. A furry hand with long, sharp claws had pierced through his chest, ripping out his still-beating heart, which throbbed with fading vitality on the end of those deadly claws. Despite the critical injury, Baruch's strength was already waning rapidly, with blood spurting from his wound like a fountain.
"Get out of here… quickly…" Blood dripped from Baruch's mouth as he spoke, his eyes filled with despair and urgency in his final moments. He weakly gestured to Rhett and the others, urging them to flee.
"Baruch!" Heisent's eyes bulged with rage, veins popping on his forehead. Having fought side by side for over a decade, seeing his comrade die so brutally ignited a furious fire in his chest, threatening to explode at any moment. He glared at the peak Shadow Tiger, the culprit, gripping his Swift Sword as it spun through the air, his light-element battle energy illuminating the night. A massive holy sword illusion flickered into existence, burning away the darkness as it lunged at the peak Shadow Tiger, Tyree.
But the sword sliced through nothing but air. Tyree, the peak Shadow Tiger, had vanished from its original spot long before, having deftly avoided the attack. It cast a wary glance at the fading illusion of the holy sword before smirking coldly at the panting Heisent. "That was a decent move, but did you really think you could hit me?"
Tyree then turned its gaze to Rhett, tilting its head as it sneered, "I told you before—blood for blood. Enjoy the feast tonight…"
"We will indeed enjoy it…"
Rhett met Tyree's gaze with an icy stare, muttering softly to himself. He gripped his staff tightly as his immense mental energy burst forth, no longer holding back his full power.
In an instant, three sand wolves materialized from various directions, their forms larger than when Rhett had summoned them as a seventh-level Grand Magister. Their bodies radiated a twisted and blurred light, and in the blink of an eye, they obliterated a seventh-level nightcat. The other two sand wolves joined forces to take down a seventh-level minotaur with ruthless efficiency.
All of this happened in a flash. Before the beastmen could react, two seventh-level beastmen had fallen into pools of blood, their dying cries echoing through the night.
Rhett's sudden surge in power caught the peak Half-Dragon off guard. It glanced at Tyree, its curved horned head conveying a sense of doubt.
Tyree's expression darkened as it sensed Rhett's mental energy, now several times stronger than just a few days ago. "He's advanced to the ninth-level Grand Magister in such a short time… We can't let him escape alive…"
Hearing this, the peak Half-Dragon's face tightened. It was both apprehensive and covetous of Rhett. The human's strength made it wary, but the prospect of claiming such a prize by killing him was tempting. Military accolades would surely follow.
With its thoughts racing, the peak Half-Dragon flexed its claws and charged once more. This time, however, it was far more cautious, using only the very tips of its claws to strike. These were the hardest parts of its body, capable of dealing significant damage to the Rocklight Shield even against the shockwave energy. Any other part of its body might shatter upon contact with the shield's defenses.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Half-Dragon's claws created a flurry of strikes, each barely grazing the shield before quickly withdrawing. Meanwhile, the Shadow Tiger, despite its strong desire to kill Rhett, lacked confidence in its own claws and focused instead on attacking Laedros.
Meteor Fall!
In the dark of night, a massive boulder appeared in the sky, its outline barely visible. But as the distorted light attached to it, the rock exuded a powerful, awe-inspiring presence.
With ease, Tyree dodged to the outskirts of the attack's range, but then its expression changed. It suddenly realized something and shouted a warning to the Half-Dragon, "Watch out! Don't let it pin you down!"
At that moment, Heisent and Laedros moved in perfect synchrony, attempting to assist Rhett by trapping the peak Half-Dragon beneath the falling boulder. They surged forward with blinding speed, their movements blurring in the darkness.
Slash!
But as Heisent ran, he suddenly realized that he wasn't moving. His surroundings began to spin, and in the next moment, he saw a familiar headless corpse… followed by a sharp, dark claw that shattered his flying head.
"Hmph, do you really think I'd let the same mistake happen twice? How naive…" Tyree sneered, casting a chilling smile toward Rhett. "That's two down… You're next."
The Meteor Fall failed to cause any damage, and the effects of the Quicksand spell were wearing off. The dozen or so high-ranking beastmen who had been restrained were now free, like tigers unleashed from their cages, and they all pounced on Laedros. Rhett felt a sinking sensation in his chest as he tightened his grip on his staff.
"Rhett, I'll buy you one last chance to escape. You have to find a way out of here! You can't stay!" Laedros's voice was tinged with a tragic resolve as he pushed his battle energy to its limit. Icy air enveloped him as he charged forward, evading two lethal strikes from high-ranking beastmen. Two more claws lashed out from the darkness, tearing into his back, leaving deep, bloody gashes. Laedros ignored the pain, his gaze steely and determined, like a meteor locked on its trajectory, as he barreled toward the peak Half-Dragon.
"Hmph, foolishness!"
The peak Half-Dragon bared its sinister fangs, its arm moving like a blur as it swatted away the icy greatsword. With a swift twist of its body, it dodged a spike erupting from the ground and then, in one brutal motion, smashed Laedros's head as if it were a watermelon, shattering it into pieces.
"Laedros!"
Even though it was just a simulation, Rhett was deeply moved by the sight of his comrade sacrificing himself in a desperate attempt to buy him a chance to escape. His arms trembled slightly as he let out a cry.
But things quickly took a turn for the worse. The beastman army, numbering over five thousand, was brimming with battle fervor and vastly outmatched the two human legions. The battle lines were pushed back at a frightening speed, with more and more human soldiers falling. The sound of the beastmen's overwhelming roars grew louder and closer in Rhett's ears...
To make matters worse, several high-ranking beastmen joined in the slaughter, further worsening the already dire situation for the human forces. Fresh lives were snuffed out across the battlefield, making Rhett's heart ache.
Though he knew it was only a simulation, Rhett found it impossible to remain indifferent. At the very least, his hatred for the beastmen intensified with every passing moment.
In the blink of an eye, Rhett found himself surrounded on all sides by high-ranking Half-Dragons. The peak Half-Dragon's roars commanded a section of the beastman army to break off and encircle Rhett's position.
"It seems... there's no way out of this. But I never intended to run..."
Rhett licked his lips as a long-forgotten sense of battle fervor began to stir within him. It was as if he had been transported back to the days before he had awakened his system, when he had fought desperately on the canyon's defensive line, surrounded and facing impossible odds alone. He twirled his staff in his hand, and a piercing spike formed at the tip, aimed directly at the peak Half-Dragon.
"Rikehorn, Gu'ong, charge with me! His Rocklight Shield is nearly at its limit!" The peak Half-Dragon twisted its head, avoiding the spike aimed at it, and communicated in a coded beastman language with its comrades.
Rhett couldn't understand their words, but by observing the reactions of the surrounding beastmen, he could guess what was coming. To his left and right, two high-ranking Minotaurs snorted steam from their nostrils, their bodies trembling with barely restrained power. They pawed at the ground before charging at him simultaneously!
Their massive horns sliced through the air, creating sparks as they tore through the atmosphere, the sonic booms reverberating in Rhett's ears. The peak Half-Dragon seized this perfect opportunity for a coordinated strike, spinning at high speed. Its entire body surged with energy, muscles bulging as it executed a deadly move—a technique previously used by an eighth-level Half-Dragon in the Cava Gorge, spinning through the night like a silver top. Its claws, now turned into a deadly ring of light, were the outermost weapons.
Even so, the peak Half-Dragon didn't dare collide directly with Rhett. Instead, it skillfully controlled its approach, allowing only the tips of its claws to graze the Rocklight Shield, producing a grinding sound as the shield's earthen-yellow glow was rapidly worn away.
Boom!
The Minotaurs' charge gained speed, and their massive horns collided with the Rocklight Shield. Although they didn't break through in a single hit, the tremendous force made Rhett's heart pound. The Rocklight Shield nearly shattered from the impact. Fortunately, he managed to reinforce it just in time, barely keeping it intact.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The high-ranking beastmen and beastman soldiers surrounding Rhett didn't stand idle. The beastmen's massive bodies prevented them from immediately joining the fray, but they had been prepared. High-ranking beastmen had brought sturdy metal spears with them, while the others picked up stones from the ground, winding their arms back to hurl them at Rhett with all their might.
Stones crashed against the Rocklight Shield, quickly being ground down, but not without effect. Each hit chipped away at Rhett's strength bit by bit. The metal spears, however, struck with far greater force, each impact feeling like a hammer blow to Rhett.
Sand Wolf Roar!
Gritting his teeth, Rhett dismissed the three Sand Wolves that had been locked in battle with the Shadow Tiger and recast the spell. The air crackled with earthen energy as a Sand Wolf appeared, instantly shredding a seventh-level nightcat that had been preparing to throw a spear from a hundred meters away.
"Hmph, it's not just you who can clear out the small fry," Rhett muttered. Unable to deal with the peak Half-Dragon or the lurking Shadow Tiger, he turned his attention to the weaker high-ranking beastmen around him, seeking to relieve some of the pressure.
A few minutes later, the night was pierced by two more agonized screams.
A seventh-level nightcat and a seventh-level Shadow Tiger were torn apart by the Sand Wolf's claws, their bodies shattered into bloody fragments. Rhett remained surrounded, the oppressive pressure unrelenting. Yet, he didn't forget to strike at the enemy's morale, his voice dripping with scorn as he taunted, "Hmph, is this all the beastmen have to offer? So many of you, and you can't even take down a single 'fragile' mage like me. Perhaps you should consider surrendering."
Awooo!
Enraged howls echoed in response, and the peak Half-Dragon, unable to bear the insult, issued another command. This time, Rhett's field of vision filled with charging beastmen, determined to overwhelm him with sheer numbers. The peak Half-Dragon and the Minotaurs momentarily withdrew to the outskirts of the fight.