Soul of Searing Steel

Panda Novel

The Berserk Daemons had no intelligence. They would only act with brute force without taking in consideration of using any skills. They only knew how to climb the walls and how to breathe. However, even though that was the case, there was enough reason to fear them. If it weren’t for Vale’s Legendary grade ‘Fortification’ that was cast on the walls, the walls would have been crushed to bits by the magical breath attacks of the daemons that came in like a fierce tidal wave.

Turning her head to the side looking at the defensive army of the city getting armed with all sorts of weapons in a hurry and the warriors that were getting into formations, the violet-haired mage knew. Every single fighter and soldier throughout Moldova were gathered right here, right now. That included the civilians that could battle as well. Even though that was the case, their number was still far from enough to battle against the insanely large army of daemons.

“The distress letter was sent out three days ago… there’s no reply letter, nor are we getting any reinforcements.”

Knocking her staff against the ground with might, there was no telling if Vale Dani was feeling frustrated or heartache. Then she clenched her teeth and said, “Those bunch of people. Why can’t they just understand! If Moldova Fortress is breached, the entire northern land will not escape the same fate! Without the blockage of the fortresses that are made of the mountains, these Berserk Daemons will be running wild with their own free will, launching assaults on the manors and villagers all over the land!”

After venting her rage and frustration out, the mage knew that there was nothing she could do about it. So she remained calm once again. Shaking her head, the countess looked at the approaching Dark Tide while she frowned intensely having thoughts to herself.

Thud, thud.

Footsteps were heard from behind the violet-haired mage.

Turning her head over, Vale Dani saw a golden-haired swordsman with red eyes.

“You’ve come.”

Facing the swordsman who wore brown leather armor on his body and had two broadswords hanging by his waist, the countess sighed and did not say anything further. Meanwhile, the swordsman walked up to the mage and hugged her in silence. Then he said, “I’ve rushed all the way from the Empire. Dani… leave with me.”

Letting his hands go and looking the violet-haired mage in her eyes, the swordsman did not wait until she replied. He continued to speak, “The Dark Tide this time is way beyond the ones we’ve ever seen in the past. I can see the breath of Chaos lurking behind all these. This is not something one count or countess, one territory can handle. I will report this to the Emperor. I’ll request the Emperor to mobilize the Five Armies to aid you in annihilating the lair of the Dark Tide… However, before that, you must not stay in this dreadful place.”

Upon saying that, the golden-haired swordsman with red eyes was looking at the mage with unmovable eyes. It seemed that his determination to take her away from the place was unmovable as well.

“Brandon Kaos…”

Upon shaking her head, the countess smiled bitterly and refused. “Let’s not talk about the Five Armies that are currently occupied with annihilating the lair of the daemons in the middle of the Empire… They cannot afford to be distracted now… Let’s talk about me. Are you telling me to abandon my territory and my people so that I can live in misery all alone? That’s impossible. I understand your goodwill. However, I must refuse your offer.”

“Battling against the tide of 200,000 Berserk Daemons. You’re not going to stand a chance in defending this place.”

Brandon did not reply straight away. He only pointed out a problem, “As a Gold-tier mage, it will be meaningless for you to sacrifice yourself here.”

Upon saying that, his tone changed a little. He even sounded like he was begging already. “Dani, if it was years ago, I would have fought alongside with you to guard this fortress. As long as we’re together, I’m willing to sacrifice everything even if I’ll die… However, now you the mother of two children. If you’re not thinking for yourself, at least think for your two daughters. They can’t lose their mother.”

The violet-haired mage remained silent. The image of two young girls emerged in her head. The elder inherited the violet hair that her mother had. Meanwhile, the younger one inherited the golden hair of her father’s.

The countess’ eyes softened. However, she insistently rejected the offer, “Brandon, I admit that I failed at being a good mother… You can take our daughters and go while I shall share the same fate as my territory. This is my fate.”

“Are you saying that as a Golden-tier warrior as well, I should just witness my beloved being chewed up in the mouths of daemons while I flee like a coward?”

Well, that is not your fate to begin with!

The violet-haired mage shook her head a little in silence. She did not answer the question he asked.

Without knowing how to persuade his woman before his eyes, the golden-haired swordsman was deeply frustrated. However, he could not speak out the information he knew.

As the descendant of the legendary mage called Carbala Kaos who sealed the crack to the Outer Dimension, of course Brandon Kaos would know the truth behind the land. Among, the main four families in the north, three of them were the explorers of the outer world, the descendant of the heroes who sealed the dimensional passage. However, currently, other than the incident where feud happened in the Radcliffe family not long after the new liege took over, the other families had chosen to give up on that so that they could just be regular noble families.

Meanwhile, there was a small number of Aragami mixed among the monster horde. It was obvious that there were signs that Chaos believers or even Evil Gods were involved. The people that were supposed to confront them would be himself and the new Chaos Guardian of the Radcliffe family, not the mage who stood before him and did not want to listen to him!

Facing the persistence of the woman he loved, the Gold-tier swordsman did not know what to do. He could only stand by her side and witness the approaching monsters getting nearer and nearer every passing second.

Worst comes to worst, I will knock her out and take her away from the place by force!

Just when Brandon was thinking quietly about that, the Berserk Daemons had already leaped pass the nearest hill from the fortress. They were about to reach the walls. All of the guards and soldiers from the defensive force of the fortress were standing by with their highest alert. Although they were already very exhausted from the long and restless war they’ve been fighting for, they had mastered some rich experience and all sorts of alchemy cannons and enchanted catapults were locked and loaded. Meanwhile, the war mages and the elemental archers were ready to unleash hell upon their enemies.

The patrol force that was formed by Silver-tier warriors were on high alert all the time as well. If there were daemons making their way up to the edge of the walls, they would be responsible to strike the daemons down from the edge. As long as the walls did not collapse, no matter how many daemons were charging at them, they would still be able to take on one or two thousands of them at the same time.

It would not be possible for the 200,000 daemons to charge towards them at the same time. They would be divided into tens of waves. Each wave would have different species of daemons mixed in. If the daemons came here in number only, these warriors could have been confident to take them all on.

The daemons were approaching fast.

3,000 meters.

2,000 meters.

1,000 meters.

The beasts were about to reach the wall.

“Enemy, 500 meters ahead! Battle ready!”

The sound of the battle horn blared on the highest spot of the tower. It vaguely sounded as if it was torn apart by the howling winds of the north. However, the sound still managed to reach every ear in the vicinity. All of them raised their spirits getting their mood ready for battle. The mages joined forces to charge their magic power across each another. They were constructing some spells with complicated runes and magic circles. Meanwhile, the archers were pulling their bowstrings back with arrows loaded right in the middle of their bow. The soldiers of the defensive force of the city were adjusting the cannons and catapults. They were ready to fire.

“Attack!”

Following the command, the radiance from spells had lit the entire sky bright as day in an instant. Countless war spells with all sorts of patterns were combined and cast forward. Tremendous thunderbolts went across hundreds of meters forward and struck right on top of the Berserk Daemon horde. Silver blue electrical charges were surging across the surroundings. At least hundreds of daemons of different types were killed in action on the spot. Those that did not die had also lost their ability to move around. Right after the bombardment of the thunderbolt attacks, the flame and frost attacks followed in. The daemons were either incinerated or frozen to death.

The mages of Moldova were the strongest mages among the mages from all four territories. Even the Countess of Moldova was a Gold-tier mage. Meanwhile, right after the first wave of spell attacks came the arrows. The arrows were so many that they covered across the sky shading the entire land before bombarding down onto the daemon horde with intense whooshing sounds, penetrating through the daemons killing them and nailing them on the ground. In the meantime, some of the stronger daemons were also wounded by the arrows with barbs and blood. Dark purplish blood that was tainted by chaos were dripping fast out of their wounds. Their stamina was exhausting slowly over the time.

The alchemy cannons and enchanted catapults would leave a large hole in the ground among the daemon horde every time they fired once. The fierce explosions would stir the dust and sand up from the ground into the air, together with the dark purplish dust that came from the dead daemons. After that, the dark purplish dust would disperse and vanish into thin air. However, that was only the first wave of the Daemon horde. After that, there would be a large army of daemons that covered the entire land outside the wall all the way to the horizon of the land. The holes caused by the explosion from the cannons and catapults were swiftly covered back with the daemons that were gushing in as if the holes were never made there.

Meanwhile, the daemons were also returning the favor by spitting magic breath attacks back at the humans. Although they had no way to use much more powerful gifted spells because they went berserk, their simplest attacks were not weakened at all. Instead, their magic breath attacks became much more powerful for becoming berserk.

The magic breath attacks were spat onto the city walls one after another. Shattered stones were flying everywhere. Countless holes were left on the surface of the walls. Some of the soldiers that were unlucky fell from the wall because of the continuous tremors. They were either frozen, or incinerated, or got electrocuted after falling down. They would just die immediately after that.

Under the protection of the tower, the mages did not receive much damage. Their magic power was replenished at a fast rate all thanks to the support of the magic circles on the walls. They could cast their spells repeatedly one after another without having to worry much about not enough magic power to cast their spells. Meanwhile, the archers did not even have a brief moment to breathe properly. They were busting their *sses trying to slow down the pace of the daemons approaching the walls. However, the daemons on the frontline could still proceed one step after another. Slowly, they arrived at the bottom of the city walls and got in contact with the walls. Meanwhile, the countless giant bats and wyrms had also arrived right above the fortress.

The supersonic attacks that could cause headaches and confusion and the frosty breath attacks were beginning to bombard down upon the walls. The assaults from the sky had interrupted the rhythm of the attacks from the alchemy cannons. Instantly, the pace of the daemons approaching the wall became faster because of that. The walls that had countless holes on them were now crawling with countless daemons. They were making their ways up the walls now.

“Annoying pests.”

Upon seeing the scene, the countess that had been keeping quiet the whole time grunted. Then she lifted her staff and aimed the tip of her staff towards the sky.

The radiance in the fortress suddenly became brighter. The haze was swiped away clean. Red lines emerged one after another forming into a complicated magic circle under the will of the Gold-tier mage Vale Dani. The lines were stacking on one after another until the magic circle was formed.

Gold-tier Magic [Star of David].

On the next moment, countless crimson golden lights were illuminating out from the magic circle as the center point, hitting the giant bats and flying dragons in the sky in light speed. Every time these lights hit their target, a large explosion would take place. Right after the explosion, the lights would continue to change their course aiming for other daemons.

Instantly, countless smelly dead bodies that were burned to crisp fell to the ground. The flying daemons seemed to be terrified by the attack. They began to leave far from the scene. They no longer dared to approach the sky above the fortress. Instead, they kept a safe distance and started spitting their magic breath attacks and using their gifted abilities to disturb the humans.

The battle was a tie. The humans did not gain any advantage at all. Even though Vale Dani and Brandon were both Gold tier, they could only use their skills once a while to prevent some Gold-tier monsters that were flying around the sky from ambushing them. The both of them also could only fend off those daemons that were about to reach the top of the walls. Although the mages, archers and all sorts of alchemy weapons on the towers were dealing tremendous damage to the daemon horde, their efforts seemed pointless when there were endless daemons coming at them.

As time passed, the bodies at the bottom of the walls were increasing. Meanwhile, some mages that were lower in their levels and tiers could no longer keep their minds focused on the task to read the spells. Each of the archers had also used more than ten bags of arrows by now. What’s worse was that most of the alchemy cannons had stopped firing. The soldiers that manned the cannons began to pull their swords out of their sheaths and made their way over to the edge of the walls along with the patrolling forces. They worked together to kill off any daemons that had made all the way up to the edge of the walls.

After days of battling against the endless horde of the daemons, half of the supplies in Moldova had been depleted. Now, they only had the last batch of supplies that they kept for emergency use only.

“We can’t! We can’t let the situation continue on like this.”

Brandon was a wielder of two swords. His dark green Combat Aura blazed across the wall, wiping out a group of daemons that was about to climb up from the edge of the walls. He chopped all of their heads off clean. At that moment, he frowned and spoke to Vale Dani who just unleashed two waves of Gold-tier magic attacks to fend off the flying daemons, “You could hold on because we had enough supplies back then. But you can’t anymore. These Berserk Daemons are determined to breach the defenses of the fortress now. They even used the dead bodies of their own kind as a stepping ground, a ladder to climb the walls. Under the circumstance that we do not have many weapons that could deal area damages, you’re not going to be able to defend the fortress!”

“If I can’t defend it anymore, I’d rather die here!”

Because the mages were exhausted from using their magic power continuously, the countess looked pale. She looked like she was just barely holding on. “I cannot give up on the soldiers and comrades that are fighting alongside. I can’t just run away like this!”

“You can only avenge your defeat here today if you’re alive and well. It’s pointless to persist staying here now!”

Just when Brandon was about to give up on persuading the countess and was getting ready to ambush the countess so that he could knock her out and take her away from the fortress, he suddenly noticed that there was a red radiance shining brightly on the far end of the other side of the land.

Dark clouds were torn apart and dispersed without a trace by a condensed explosive Combat Aura. The stars of the northern night and the magnificent purple-blue sky was displayed right before everyone. Meanwhile, under the shine of silver moonlight, a lance blazing with dark red radiance was thrown over a thousand meters and landed in the middle of the horde.

Shoof!

There was no explosion that trembled the land. There was no dust and sand flying all over the place. The dark red light burst out and dispersed without a sound. However, no one ignored the occurrence of that strike. Because the spot where it landed became deadly silent. Every single one of the daemons that got in contact with the red light was dead without even making a sound. Meanwhile, the impenetrable frosty ground that was frozen for over a thousand years immediately cracked and collapsed. It actually looked more like the ground was evaporated in an instant. There was only the lance which was made of metal standing firmly and straight right in the middle of a hole.

The Gold-tier swordsman was astonished, as he stared straight at the spot where the radiance came from.

Along with snowy mist, dust, and sand flying all around, shadows of men appeared in the view of the mountainside one after another. It did not take long before they arrived before the city walls.

“That, that’s the flag of the Radcliffe family!”

With the enchantment of the ‘Eagle Eye’, the elven archer was able to clearly see the view on the mountainside far from where they stood. He could not help but let out a cry of surprise, “It’s the reinforcements!”

“What?!”

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