Chapter 631

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The thunderous roar of artillery echoed all around.

Kali shouted to the soldiers of Atlas, “More beasts are coming from the front! Reload the cannons!”

The powerful magical barrier that once protected the outskirts of Atlas had long since been shattered. While the mages worked to restore their magical energy, the soldiers had to fend off the advancing beasts with conventional weapons.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Cannons fired from the walls, raining down on the dark mass of beasts below.

Whoosh!

The shells exploded mid-air, splitting into smaller fragments that scattered and fell upon the beasts.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

These were no ordinary shells; they were special ammunition crafted with magic stones, designed to inflict wide-ranging damage. Nemesis, who had been working with Hades to improve weapons against the beasts, had supplied these to the Atlas defenders.

Without Nemesis’s weapons, Atlas would have fallen long ago.

Just then, a beast with long arms began climbing the wall, dodging the cannon fire.

Roar!

Unlike typical beasts, these external beasts varied greatly in appearance and type, making it difficult to find their weaknesses. For ordinary soldiers who couldn’t wield aura, they were a formidable challenge.

Kali drew her sword and charged at the beast scaling the wall.

“Haah!”

Her sword flared with a bright aura blade, slicing through the beast’s arm.

Slash!

The severed arm sent the beast tumbling down the wall.

Thud!

The beast’s body hit the ground and burst apart, its purple ichor splattering everywhere.

But soon, the beast’s remains began to twitch.

Screech—

The shattered pieces of the beast started to move, astonishingly reassembling into a new form, different from before.

And it wasn’t just that. Some pieces merged with the remains of other dead beasts below the wall, forming entirely new creatures.

Growl!

The newly formed beasts began climbing the wall again.

Seeing this, Kali gritted her teeth and shouted, “They’re climbing the wall! Bring water!”

At her command, soldiers brought large cauldrons of water and poured them over the wall.

Splash!

The beasts were drenched in the deluge.

Then, the soldiers brought long metal rods and touched them to the wet wall.

Crackle!

Plasma currents flowed from the ends of the rods, traveling through the water to the beasts below.

Crackle!

The beasts, shocked by the current, froze and fell from the wall.

Thud!

The beasts, now in pieces, lay motionless, seemingly dead. But once the paralysis wore off, they would likely reassemble as before.

At that moment, something massive appeared behind them.

“Help!”

Barbarians arrived, carrying baskets filled with liquid-filled balloons. Riding on the shoulders of the giant, Al and Jeff, the mischievous twin alchemists, shouted.

“Throw them! Throw them!”

Following their lead, the barbarians hurled the balloons at the beasts below the wall.

Sizzle!

The balloons burst, spreading their contents over the remains.

The liquid dissolved the pieces, rendering them motionless and completely disintegrated.

Al and Jeff laughed in satisfaction.

“Ha! It worked!”

“We really are geniuses!”

While staying in Atlas, Al and Jeff had been working with Fainan to develop various concoctions. In response to the external beasts’ attacks, they had quickly researched and created a toxic solution effective against them.

Seeing the solution’s success, the soldiers quickly grabbed balloons from the barbarians’ baskets and hurled them at the beast remains.

Sizzle—

The beasts, which had been continuously reviving and climbing the wall, melted away, quelling the immediate threat.

Excited by their success, Al and Jeff shouted, “Now for mass production!”

“No, let’s make it even stronger and then mass-produce it!”

The twins, speaking in the barbarians’ language, instructed the giant carrying them.

“Big guy! Help!”

“Back to the lab!”

The giant, in sync with the mischievous twins, leaped off the wall and headed straight for the lab.

With Al and Jeff’s help, the battle had momentarily calmed, allowing Kali to finally catch her breath and lean against the wall.

Just then, someone approached her.

“Lady Kali.”

It was Boris, the leader of Nemesis.

Though his face was expressionless, his eyes betrayed his exhaustion.

While Kali and the Draker knights held the beasts at bay outside the walls, Nemesis was defending the unseen passages, like the city’s underground waterways.

Led by Shadia, Nemesis’s assassins were engaged in a relentless war in the city’s shadows.

Thanks to the weapons crafted by Hades, Fainan, and Gelion, they had managed to hold on, but it seemed they were reaching their limits.

Boris spoke to Kali, “Our supplies are running dangerously low. Without external aid… Atlas won’t last the week.”

Atlas was the largest city in Midland. With a vast population and more consumption than production facilities, the city’s resources were depleting rapidly once it was cut off from the outside.

The production facilities in the outskirts of Atlas had been destroyed by the beasts, and the railways for transporting supplies were blocked, leaving no way to receive reinforcements.

Kali furrowed her brow at Boris’s words and slowly spoke, “If we release the military supplies stored in the Four Seasons Castle, we might hold out a bit longer.”

She decided to allocate all of Draker’s resources to Atlas.

A choice Arthur Draker, the previous head, would never have made.

Boris respected Kali’s decision but pointed out the lack of alternatives.

“The Black Knights of Midland have been killed or gone missing, and Lord Rex Turn, the King of Fighters, is injured and unable to move. Even with Draker’s supplies, we can’t hold out for more than three days.”

When Midland was attacked by the beasts, Rex Turn, the head of the Turn family and an ally of Draker, had tried to lead his knights into Atlas. However, they were ambushed by an unknown group during the entry.

Thanks to the sacrifice of the Turn knights, Rex Turn barely made it into Atlas and was transported to the central headquarters, Terra, deemed the safest place.

In Terra, Fainan and the naga healers were doing their best to treat him, but it was uncertain how long it would take for him to recover fully.

After a moment of silence, Kali asked Boris, “Is the portal to the outside still not functioning?”

The portal was the only way out of the isolated Atlas. But for some reason, the portal in Atlas wasn’t working at all.

Despite being a major hub city in Midland and the central continent, connected by portals to various places, the malfunction meant no one could enter or leave.

Boris shook his head at Kali’s question.

“There’s no sign of recovery. Lord Fainan has been checking, but… it seems it’s not a device issue. He suspects an external force is using a magical field to isolate Atlas and disrupt the portal.”

Portals, capable of large-scale spatial movement, were ancient relics that had been adapted for use. The amount of magic required to operate them was substantial.

To disrupt a portal’s operation with an external magical field would require an even greater amount of magic, continuously supplied. How such a feat was possible remained a mystery. The source, location, and method of the magic were unknown, leaving them without a solution.

Kali bit her lip.

“Is there no way?”

“Not at the moment.”

Boris spoke in a somber tone, “Lady Kali, before it’s too late, we must carve a path for the main forces to escape the city.”

Even if they minimized casualties and continued to hold out, eventually, the food would run out, making it impossible for the knights and soldiers to fight.

While they were holding on as best they could, without external help, simply enduring wasn’t the answer.

Strategically, Boris believed it was better for Kali and the Draker knights to escape Atlas and join the continental alliance.

Kali’s expression hardened as she shook her head at his suggestion.

“That’s not an option.”

“I understand your feelings. But if we continue like this, not only the Draker knights but all the citizens of Atlas will be slaughtered by the beasts.”

Rather than face total annihilation, it was better to take a risk.

Even if they failed, preserving the main forces would be better in the long run, Boris thought.

If Arthur Draker were still the head, he would have acted according to Boris’s judgment.

However, Kali had taken it upon herself to become the head of the Draker family, determined to reform the inhumane actions of her predecessor.

She was committed to standing by her words.

Turning to Boris, she said, “Atlas will be defended by Draker and me until the very end. Captain Boris, take the Nemesis unit and inform the outside world of our situation.”

Kali believed it was more strategic for Boris and Nemesis to leave. As the war dragged on, the role of intelligence became increasingly crucial.

Moreover, she was reassured by the thought that even if she were to fall here, there was someone capable of succeeding her as the head of the Draker family.

‘Zeke.’

A knight among knights, perfectly suited to the name Draker.

Kali saw her duty as protecting Atlas to the last, upholding the honor of the Draker family. This would allow Zeke, the next head, to lead the continental alliance with legitimacy.

Boris quickly grasped the intent behind Kali’s words. He realized that, given the circumstances, she was willing to sacrifice herself so that all the knights of the continent would rally around Zeke.

“Lady Kali…”

Just then, the sound of drums echoed from the watchtower.

“Beasts! The beasts are coming!”

Kali gripped her sword and rose to her feet. Turning towards the wall, she spoke to Boris.

“My place is here. Leave quickly and spread the word before it’s too late. We must act swiftly to save the citizens of Atlas.”

Boris remained silent for a moment, then bowed his head in respect for the noble knight willing to sacrifice herself for her cause. He resolved to lead the key members of Nemesis out of Atlas and relay the situation to the continental alliance as swiftly as possible.

But then, it happened.

A strange sound, like a whispering wind, filled the air.

Suddenly, a black void appeared in the sky above Atlas.

Everyone in Atlas looked up at the ominous hole in the sky.

“What… what is that?”

“A hole just appeared out of nowhere…?”

The black void expanded rapidly, soon covering the entire city of Atlas. From within, an eerie sound resonated.

A deep, foreboding rumble, like the growl of a beast from the depths of a cavern, echoed across Atlas.

Moments later, something began to emerge from the void.

With a screeching cry, winged, grotesque creatures poured out, darkening the sky as they descended upon the city.