The brave heroes guarding the city walls were Vidona’s most elite. Their years of coordinated teamwork transformed them into veritable meat grinders on the battlefield, making short work of Tier 2 and Tier 3 demonic beasts.
Conversely, the knights often found their formations in disarray due to the relentless assault of the beast tide. Individuals frequently fell behind during the skirmishes, only to be swallowed by overwhelming hordes of demonic beasts.
This sight only served to worsen Roland’s already poor impression of Vidona’s knights.
Of course, she had every right to look down on them. After all, her own squad was the most outstanding, having already severely wounded several Tier 4 demonic beasts since the battle began.
Despite their efforts, numerous Tier 2 and Tier 3 demonic beasts still managed to scale the city walls, bypassing the other heroes and knights to pour into the city.
As for the flying avian beasts, there was no containing them once the magical barrier shattered.
Shielded by her teammates’ magic, Roland began to chant a lengthy incantation, a fiery red magic array coalescing beneath her feet. In a breathtaking instant, the sky above turned a vivid crimson, as colossal meteors tore through the clouds, plummeting viciously into the heart of the beast tide.
Boom—!
The powerful blast generated a tempest of air, laden with dust, that rapidly surged outwards. Weaker Tier 1 and Tier 2 demonic beasts within the tide were instantly thrown to the ground, struggling for a considerable time before they could regain their footing.
At the epicenter of the explosion, nothing remained but a few severely wounded Tier 4 demonic beasts.
Though Roland’s face was pale, she breathed a long sigh of relief.
This particular spell consumed a vast amount of her magical energy, yet it was incredibly effective against the beast tide. With countless low-tier demonic beasts perishing beneath the陨星, it saved the other hero squads considerable effort.
“Watch out!”
“Captain!”
It was precisely in that brief moment of relaxation that a hawk’s cry echoed from the sky. The next second, a pair of sharp talons descended upon her chest.
Just a fraction more, and the talons would pierce her flesh, tear out her heart, and end her life.
She instinctively tried to dodge, but her body simply couldn’t keep up.
Just as she braced herself for an untimely demise, a golden arrow whistled through the air, striking the avian beast and deflecting its trajectory. The deadly talons grazed past Roland, narrowly missing their mark.
Having narrowly escaped death, Roland felt a wave of profound relief wash over her, her legs turning to jelly. She almost collapsed to her knees.
Fortunately, someone had already reached out to steady her.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
A faint scent of blood emanated from the young woman supporting her. Roland turned her head, only to see an unexpected face.
“Celia? What are you doing here? Isn’t today your assessment day?”
Though the young woman’s pretty face was pale and stained with a trace of blood, Roland knew she couldn’t be mistaken. This was Celia, Vidona’s most renowned provisional hero in recent months.
And…
Her gaze swept past Celia to Aurora and the others behind her. Even a cursory glance revealed their dire state.
They looked as if they had just endured a brutal battle.
“We passed our assessment.”
“Passed?”
Slightly surprised by the answer, Roland gently pushed Celia aside, her focus immediately returning to the surging beast tide.
The earlier meteor spell had created a temporary deterrence, causing the low-tier demonic beasts within the tide to hesitate. However, the Tier 4 demonic beasts from the rear continued to push through the horde, surging towards them.
However, Roland felt an inexplicable unease. Her gaze instinctively swept towards the depths of the beast horde, and a ripple of apprehension stirred within her.
“There’s no time for idle chatter here. Even if you passed your assessment, this is no place for newly promoted heroes. Leave, quickly!”
It was as if she was reliving the day the Demon Scorpions attacked the city. Once more, she urged Celia and her companions to leave, fearing they would suffer harm from the demonic beasts.
This time, however, Celia and her team still refused.
“No, we are true heroes now. How could we retreat at a time like this? Besides, there are people in Vidona we wish to protect.”
Clutching her longsword tightly with both hands, Celia stood beside Roland, her gaze firm.
The cold winter wind ruffled her hair. Gazing at her blood-stained profile, Roland suddenly realized how much she had grown, no longer the provisional hero who needed protection.
Half a year ago, when she first met them, they were still trembling under the protection of their instructors, watching the Demon Scorpions rampage through the city.
Back then, when she urged them to leave, they had childishly declared their trust in their instructor, infuriating her to no end.
Yet now, those three naive girls had matured into heroes who could stand shoulder to shoulder with her, even surpassing her own team in terms of coordinated combat.
This realization sparked a flicker of intense jealousy within her.
Half a year, they had only taken half a year!
To think, in the half-year after Roland herself passed the hero assessment, she was still stuck at Tier 2 magic!
After silently railing against the heavens for such injustice, she pushed aside her envy, addressing them instead with a tone of genuine concern. “But your condition…”
Roland knew that Celia’s squad possessed the strength to defeat Tier 4 demonic beasts, but they had just completed their assessment and were clearly not in optimal condition. Engaging the beast tide under such circumstances would be incredibly dangerous.
“You needn’t worry about that. Should they encounter danger, I will intervene and save them.”
Orl, the Fiona family’s butler, elegantly withdrew his staff from the head of a recently fallen demonic beast. He approached Roland from behind, a faint smile playing on his lips, and spoke.
Roland’s pupils constricted slightly, finding Orl’s words almost unbelievable.
She was well aware of the butler’s stance regarding Celia’s squad’s instructor; he had strongly opposed Celia becoming a hero and putting herself in harm’s way.
Therefore, upon seeing Celia’s current display of bravado, he should have been angry and moved to stop her, not smiling as he offered assistance.
And where was Celia’s squad’s instructor?
She sensed something was amiss but couldn’t quite grasp why. Suspiciously, she appraised Orl, and upon realizing she couldn’t discern his true strength, she ceased insisting that Celia’s squad leave. Instead, she refocused on the beast tide before her.
The Tier 4 avian beast that had ambushed her earlier now lay on the ground, its body being torn apart by other demonic beasts. Blood flowed from its hollow eye sockets and mangled remains, soaking the earth.
With the addition of Celia’s squad, their battle to defend Vidona became considerably easier.
This squad’s understanding of Tier 4 demonic beasts surpassed their own by several levels. Some seemingly formidable beasts became surprisingly vulnerable once their weaknesses were pointed out, allowing even some Tier 3 squads to kill several Tier 4 demonic beasts.
The situation had improved significantly compared to before. Just as Roland prepared to chant a second meteor spell, an overwhelming aura swept in from the rear of the beast tide!
It was a Tier 5 demonic beast!
Her face paled, her earlier unease now confirmed. However, a moment later, her peripheral vision caught sight of Guild Master Sharlene on the city wall, and she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
So what if the beast tide had a Tier 5 demonic beast? They had a Tier 5 hero in Vidona!
But their respite was short-lived. Not long after the Tier 5 demonic beast emitted its aura, colossal trees, twenty to thirty meters tall, began to topple one after another within the Silent Forest. From the chaos, a massive, blood-red silhouette slowly emerged.
It stood on two legs, with dark brown horns crowning its head. Its upper body was extraordinarily thick, bristling with terrifying muscles; a single swing of those arms would likely cause Vidona’s city walls to crumble.
No demonic beast dared approach within a hundred meters of it. Any hero or knight who laid eyes on it was struck not only with astonishment but also with profound despair.
It was not a Tier 6 demonic beast; it was a Tier 6 demon, far more terrifying than any mere beast!