The Black Tide Surges

The appearance of those light orbs was like droplets of water falling into a boiling vat of oil, causing the entire forest to erupt in an instant.

“It’s working! Aila, speed up! Land directly on the city walls!” Midir shouted to Aila immediately upon seeing the light orbs’ significant effect in drawing the monsters toward them.

Aila’s gaze swept over the various monsters below, now thrown into chaos by the light orbs, and a powerful chill surged through her heart.

Under the stimulation of the light element, those monsters seemed to lose all reason. They began to roar and struggle frantically, turning the scene into a tableau of horror and disorder. Aila felt goosebumps break out all over her body as an unspeakable sense of dread welled up within her.

Flying at full speed, Kiteclaw took only a dozen seconds to cross the remaining two or three kilometers, reaching the skies above the walls of Loka.

The garrison was currently engaged in a desperate struggle against the monsters constantly swarming the ramparts. Suddenly, a massive dark shadow descended from the heavens, blotting out the sky like a storm cloud. Many soldiers involuntarily stopped their movements, staring wide-eyed at the sky.

It wasn't until they clearly saw the two figures jumping down from the griffin that they snapped out of it, realizing that allies had arrived. However, the sight of the dense swarm of pursuers behind the duo caused the hearts of the garrison soldiers to sink to rock bottom.

As they descended, Midir and Aila unexpectedly spotted a variety of monster they had never seen before among the black tide. They were giant creatures shaped like mantises, standing three to four meters tall—nearly half the height of the city walls—with four long, black, sickle-shaped claws protruding from the front of their bodies.

Though these mantis-type monsters were few in number, with only a handful visible in their immediate vicinity, every time they charged the wall, their massive claws left deep gouges in the stone.

Furthermore, the garrison had no effective means of killing them; most ordinary attacks were little more than pinpricks to the beasts. If left unchecked, Loka’s walls, which were not particularly sturdy to begin with, would certainly not hold for long.

Midir and Aila exchanged a glance. They knew that time was of the essence and every second counted; there was no time to explain the situation to the garrison in detail.

Aila’s movements were swift and decisive. Almost the moment she met Midir’s eyes, she drew her weapon and leaped from the wall amidst the gasps of the soldiers, charging directly toward one of the giant black mantises.

“Lend me a hand, Midir! Give me some light!”

Aila shouted toward Midir as she fell, brandishing her weapon. Midir understood her intent instantly. With perfect coordination, he separated a portion of the light element and attached it to her longsword. In an instant, her blade began to shine as brilliantly as a galaxy.

Aila landed nimbly on the back of a black mantis and delivered a savage backhand slash. The mantis’s massive body, along with its hardened front claws, was cleaved in two by the strike saturated with light element. The remaining half of its carcass continued to writhe, supported by its abnormally resilient vitality.

Seeing how effective her light-enchanted weapon was, Aila’s face lit up with joy. Her red Battle Qi surged violently as she immediately turned to charge at a second mantis.

With the help of her divine weapon, every swing of Aila’s sword was accompanied by a falling monster. In just a few moments, she had dispatched several of the mantis creatures.

Midir withdrew his gaze from Aila, who was weaving through the black swarm like a red dragon. He turned quickly to face the wave of monsters surging toward him.

He let out a soft breath and traced a square in the air with both hands. A massive amount of light element immediately surged around him, forming a giant light net dozens of meters wide directly in front of him in just a few seconds.

However, rather than a net, it appeared to others more like a wall of shimmering white light. As Midir pushed his hands forward, the massive net enveloped the surging black tide rushing from the valley.

At the intersection of black and white, a vast amount of black gas immediately billowed out. The black monsters were cut into pieces like butter under a hot knife, turning into a shower of fragments that filled the air.

With a single spell, thousands of black monsters in front of Midir were instantly cleared away, significantly reducing the pressure on the city walls. By the time the light element was exhausted, a clear zone dozens of meters wide had appeared before him.

Because of Midir’s action, the attention of every black monster in the valley was drawn to the dazzling light source. Even the monsters climbing the several kilometers of city walls on either side began to converge toward him.

On the opposite side of the valley, the leaders observing the battle were completely stunned by the massive light net Midir had released. They watched as the white wall, brilliant as the sun, sliced through the monsters' battle line, while the surrounding creatures swarmed toward that direction like moths to a flame.

Ferdinand was the first to react. This was a golden opportunity! The man had actually managed to draw the attention of the monsters all by himself on the front line. He immediately issued orders, and the reinforcement unit split into two parts, heading toward both ends of the valley.

By this time, Aila had dealt with the sixth giant mantis. Using the monster’s carcass as a stepping stone, she leaped back onto the city wall. She glanced back at the square area that had been cleared of the monster tide, but she did not show the same disbelief as the others. Instead, she continued to strike down the black monsters that had already swarmed onto the ramparts.

Although Midir’s strike had annihilated at least several thousand monsters, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the dense mass of shadows filling the entire valley. The gap was quickly filled by the various monsters rushing from behind, and the originally long defensive line gradually began to concentrate toward his position.

Having succeeded with one strike, Midir did not stop. He began to condense the light element above his head once more.

Unlike the previous light net, this time he deliberately controlled the element to form a cloud of light above him. The cloud grew larger and larger as time passed.

Once it covered several hundred meters of the wall, the element, which had condensed into a near-physical state, turned into a deluge of light rain, falling indiscriminately upon every creature within sight.

Whenever a drop of the light element rain hit the red fleshy lump on a black monster, it would instantly collapse and die. When it hit other parts of their bodies, the concentrated light element would burn deep craters into them. Their dense formation made it impossible for them to react; heavily wounded, they fell into the valley one after another, knocking down even more of their companions. The entire valley fell into utter chaos.

Meanwhile, the garrison soldiers who were touched by the light rain were pleasantly surprised to find that their wounds were showing signs of improvement and they felt more energetic. For a moment, their morale soared, and they quickly cleared the remaining monsters from the walls.

This dazzling light rain lasted for a full ten minutes under Midir’s control, only stopping when there were no living monsters left in the immediate vicinity.

Even with his formidable strength, maintaining such a high-intensity, large-scale spell for so long was no easy feat.

However, this strike had not only dealt a heavy blow to the monster tide but had also greatly boosted the garrison's morale. The soldiers behind him looked at the white-haired man, who appeared like a god descended to earth, with eyes full of awe and worship.

Aila, who had returned to the wall, saw Midir panting slightly and felt a surge of concern. She lightly patted his back and asked worriedly, “Are you alright? You should take a rest!”

“It’s not a big problem. I’m just a bit tired since it’s my first time doing this. After all, I specifically added a purification effect. If it were just a standard elemental spell, it shouldn't have consumed this much.”

Midir reached out to wipe the fine beads of sweat from his forehead, his expression already returning to its usual calm.

“Just ‘a bit tired’?? Don't push yourself. Take some time to prepare; the monsters ahead will be swarming up again soon. According to the plan, the reinforcement unit needs at least twenty more minutes to get into position, so we must hold our ground here.”

After speaking with him, Aila found a soldier who looked like a captain and began to inform him of the reinforcement unit’s movements so the Loka garrison could coordinate their actions.

Only then did the garrison notice the units moving rapidly along the mountain road on the opposite side of the valley. Upon learning that reinforcements were about to arrive, the morale of the defending soldiers rose even higher. They braced themselves with renewed focus to face the monsters that were about to return.