Chapter 367
Chapter 367
Chapter 367
'A portal suddenly appears and monsters came out?'
Zeke recalled something after hearing Muhammad's words.
He remembered the video that Hoshgar had shown before.
The sight of countless monsters and demons pouring out when a huge gate opened.
Zeke frowned and said to Muhammad.
"How many monsters are there?"
Muhammad replied with a pale expression.
"I, I cannot count them. They're swarming in like a black mass..."
Zeke sensed that Muhammad had fallen into a state of panic.
In such cases, it was difficult to properly assess and judge the situation.
'I'll have to go check it myself.'
He left the unconscious Julius with Muhammad and called Hades and Yelin who were resting on the top floor.
Due to yesterday's events, Yelin felt quite awkward around Zeke, but after hearing the situation, she completely erased that demeanor and gaped.
"You're saying a monster legion has invaded?"
At those words, Hades clicked his tongue and said.
"Looks like those crazy bastards from the Abyss did this."
Zeke nodded.
"It seems so. We need to assess the situation first, so please help me."
Hades and Yelin nodded and followed Zeke.
Zeke led the Ishtar mages who came as guards and the Black Sword Knights including Zeros out of the hotel.
Where he was located was the busiest casino city within the Dorta Republic, operated by the Jayed family.
Warning sirens were ringing throughout the casino city where all kinds of pleasures could be enjoyed.
Outside the hotel was chaos due to panicked tourists evacuating to shelters.
Zeke surveyed the situation and said to Hades.
"It would be difficult to go by horse. We'd better fly."
Zeke summoned Bucephalus, had Yelin sit in front, and grabbed the reins.
When Yelin realized Zeke was holding her from behind, she unconsciously blushed as yesterday's events came back to mind.
Unaware of Yelin's reaction, Zeke held the reins and said to Zeros.
"I'll go ahead first, so come to the outer wall."
"Yes, my lord."
Zeke immediately took to the sky.
Hades rose into the air and flew alongside Zeke.
As Zeke flew on Bucephalus, he looked beyond the city from above.
'That is...'
The gate he had seen in Hoshgar's video had been created beyond the city.
An endless legion of monsters emerged from the black hole, lined up and slowly marching toward the city.
Looking at this, Hades shook his head.
"Ha, to distort karma to do such things. Those Abyss fellows must have something wrong with their heads."
Zeke nodded and gripped the reins, driving Bucephalus faster.
Flying across the sky, they soon reached the outer defensive wall.
Befitting a city protected by the wealthy Jayed family, it was well-equipped with sturdy walls and defensive facilities like magically-enhanced iron bars, and the guards were armed with the latest equipment.
Behind the walls were even magical mechanism tanks that the Southern Cartel groups used to use.
Zeke descended toward the walls with his companions.
Then someone who appeared to be the guard captain ran toward where Zeke was.
"A-are you Sir Zeke Draker, the Knight of Salvation?"
Zeke nodded to the guard captain who asked in a trembling voice.
"Yes. Are you in charge here?"
The guard captain nodded vigorously at Zeke's words.
"Oh, gods. To think the Knight of Salvation is here... This is fortunate in our misfortune."
The guard captain and other guards clasped their hands in prayer while looking at Zeke.
Seeing this, Zeke slightly frowned and shouted.
"Get a hold of yourselves!"
The guard personnel stepped back, startled by Zeke's stern voice.
Zeke's eyes flashed as he spoke firmly to the guard captain.
"It's too early to feel relieved. Tell me how many enemies are advancing on this city."
When the guard captain stammered at Zeke's sudden question, the deputy next to him spoke.
"It is estimated there are about 10 super-large monsters, 500 large monsters, and 3,000 medium and small monsters."
The adjutant wiped his cold sweat and continued speaking.
"The, the problem is that monsters keep coming out of that portal that suddenly appeared."
Zeke frowned upon hearing those words.
'That's more than the number of monsters in the Ghetto region.'
Zeke realized that Abel's side, knowing of Julius's betrayal, planned to deal with both Julius and Zeke while simultaneously invading the neutral territory of the Dorta Republic.
It seemed their plan was to strike the northern Himonas and eastern Dorta first, then gradually pressure the Central Continent.
Zeke thought of the person who must be behind all these plans.
'Ramon Jiemens. Are you finally showing your true colors?'
He knew that Ramon Jiemens and the Abyss's ultimate goal was the Demon King, so he realized the time of resurrection was drawing near.
'They've been taking people from the Holy Kingdom too. Do they plan to use the Dorta Republic as sacrifices for continental invasion?'
If they left the Dorta Republic as is and avoided it, it was clear they would use these people as sacrifices to summon stronger demons and create a demon realm army.
They had to stop them here no matter what.
Zeke asked the guard captain:
"How many troops do we have here?"
Again, the adjutant answered instead of him.
"We have a total of 600 security forces and 50 mages. The main forces, including the knights, will take at least an hour to get here."
While the security forces were sufficient for maintaining city order, they were far too few to face external enemies.
Fortunately, the city walls and defensive facilities were solid.
'An hour, huh. If we defend well at the castle, we might be able to hold out somehow...'
But then, something began flying through the air, making Zeke's thoughts seem foolish.
SCREECH!
A wyvern-like magical beast flew in and began spewing flames toward the castle walls.
WHOOSH!
In an instant, the guards defending the walls caught the magical beast's flames and burst into flames.
Zeke immediately drew his sword, mounted Bucephalus, and flew into the air.
SWOOSH!
Cutting through the atmosphere, Zeke swung his sword straight at the magical beast.
SLASH!
The magical beast, its wings cut by the Aura Blade, spun through the air before crashing straight into the ground.
But then the magical beast stood up and ran toward the barred defensive wall.
KEEEEEK!
The magical beast screamed and threw its body against the iron bars.
Then the defensive magic flowing through the iron bars activated, sending current through the magical beast's body.
CRACKLE!
The magical beast, suffering from the current, stretched its head again and screamed.
At the same time, the magical beast's body exploded.
BOOM!
As the magical beast's body shattered, bone fragments flew in all directions.
CRASH!
The sharp bone fragments damaged not only the castle walls but also the guards standing on them, as well as the cannons, ballistas, and other equipment.
An even bigger problem was that part of the iron bars flew off with the explosion, creating a hole in the defensive wall.
Watching this from the air, Zeke gritted his teeth.
'Damn them, they've brainwashed the magical beasts.'
Normal magical beasts don't make such suicide attacks.
But if large magical beasts were to charge and make suicide attacks like this, even the strongest castle walls would be difficult to defend.
Then the monster army began rushing up the hill.
GROOOOWL!
The might of the approaching black monster army was beyond imagination.
Perhaps because they were ancient demon realm monsters, they looked bigger and fiercer than monsters of the current world.
Even the ogres and minotaurs appeared twice the size of normal ones.
Additionally, rhinoceros-like super-large monsters appeared in the middle of the army.
'If those monsters make suicide attacks in front of the castle walls...'
It was clear the monsters would devastate the city in minutes, let alone an hour.
Zeke descended and landed near Hades and Yelin.
Yelin spoke to Zeke in an urgent voice.
"Sir Zeke, can we stop those monsters with just these numbers?"
Zeke shook his head at Yelin's words.
"These numbers won't be enough."
He spoke while looking at Hades beside him.
"Can't we evacuate people using Lord Hades' magic?"
Hades frowned and said at Zeke's words.
"You fool, do you think dragon magic can do everything? Even I need a portal device for such large-scale magic!"
Even dragons had their limits.
Zeke asked Hades again.
"Then would it be possible to put up a shield on this defensive wall?"
At those words, Hades contemplated before clicking his tongue and nodding.
"Aing, I think I can do that much within karma's limits. But even I can't maintain it for a whole hour. If they charge with their bodies like before, even thirty minutes would be difficult."
"That's good enough. Please put up the shield."
Hades grumbled at Zeke's words before rising into the air.
Then he stretched out his hand and activated a large-scale shield magic.
TSU-TSU-TSU-TSU-TSU!
A huge semi-transparent membrane formed in a hemispheric shape, creating a protective barrier that wrapped around the castle walls.
'This should be enough to block aerial bombardment.'
Zeke immediately prepared to move and said to Yelin.
"When the following troops arrive, deploy them on the walls to help the guards stop the monsters climbing up."
At Zeke's words, Yelin drew her dagger and equipped the elf Hersion that Hades had made for her, then nodded.
"Understood, Sir Zeke."
Gone was yesterday's innocent woman, replaced by the infamous shadow caster of Ishtar as her eyes gleamed.
Zeke left the castle walls to Yelin and mounted Bucephalus again to fly into the air.
He struck down with his Holy Light Weapon at the magical beasts that couldn't enter the city due to Hades' shield.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!
The magical beasts exploded as they died from the Holy Light Weapon.
'It would be troublesome if all monsters could explode.'
Zeke rode Bucephalus towards where the monster legion was.
If monsters of this scale were drawn out, there must be a demon or wizard controlling them nearby.
He surveyed the monster legion and surroundings with his dragon eyes.
However, there were no traces of wizards or demons in the monster legion.
Zeke took out the green sword from his inventory and called out to Arataso.
"Arataso."
Arataso, who had been sleeping in the sword, woke up at Zeke's call.
[MMM, HUH? What is it?. This feels familiar.]
Arataso was startled when he felt the energy of the huge monster legion.
[What is this place?. Did we come to the demon realm?]
"No, the Abyss summoned monsters."
Arataso drew in a breath at Zeke's words.
[Huh, to think they could summon a monster legion of this scale. This would need at least a high-ranking demon attached.]
Zeke frowned at Arataso's words.
"Are you saying they summoned a high-ranking demon?"
[Nothing less could handle a legion of this scale. It would be possible if they summoned a high-ranking demon with full power.]
Zeke's face hardened at Arataso's words.
If a high-ranking demon was truly summoned to the mortal realm with full power, the situation could be more serious than expected.
'Conversely, if we kill the demon commanding the legion, the monsters might scatter.'
Zeke decided to trust in the shield Hades created and first go past the monster legion towards the gate.
If there was no mage commanding the monsters within the legion, there was a high chance of a magic formation controlling them near the gate.
Zeke dismissed Bucephalus' summon and called forth the Silver Will of soul technique, then flew through the air with dragon wings stealthily towards the gate.
From the sky, he could see the monster procession densely covering the plains outside the city.
Looking down at it, Zeke asked Arataso.
"Is it possible for one high-ranking demon to move this many monsters?"
At those words, Arataso snorted and said.
[What do you take high-ranking demons for?. In the demon realm, moving enough monsters like these to fill this place would be nothing. In my territory, I had thousands of Death Knights under my command...]
Zeke tuned out Arataso's words as he reached the gate.
And then there was something that entered Zeke's view.
'That is?'
A huge altar with a suspicious shape had been built in front of the gate.
And on top of that altar was a wizard wearing a black robe.
None other than the mage who created the black portal in the Forest of the Forgotten and brought the orc legion to the mortal realm.