The Beastkin's roars rose and fell all around, bone-chilling to the core.
At this moment, Lansier burst into wild laughter: "Hahaha... you'll all die here with me! The power of those Beastkin is beyond anything you could ever imagine! You'll all be torn to shreds! Devoured! Your souls will languish in Purgatory for all eternity!!!"
With those venomous curses, Lansier's face suddenly flushed crimson, blood sprayed from the corners of her mouth, and the aura around her dissipated completely — she was dead.
"Forget her! All units, on my command! Defensive formation!"
Leilin took command from the dazed Olan and began rallying the personnel.
Only then did he have time to learn from Auger what had actually happened.
In truth, tonight's events were entirely Leilin's design. He had first approached Olan, revealing intelligence that there might be a traitor in their ranks, and had secured his cooperation to set a trap.
To prepare for a possible attack, the brothers Auger and Odo had been dispatched as temporary sentries as well.
"They were advanced Beastkin, so many of them... I couldn't even count them all. My brother, to cover my escape... to cover my..."
Auger's eyes reddened, the muscles on his face twisting in anguish.
"[Healing Spell]!" At that moment, a divine spell took shape in Jinqi's hands, causing the massive wounds on Auger's body to begin healing rapidly.
"Those damned skin-wearing mongrels — I'm going to slaughter them!"
Auger didn't wait for his wounds to fully close before hefting himself up, both hands gripping a massive spiked hammer.
"You're the only one from the melee squad who made it out alive? Looks like the enemy this time is stronger than I expected!"
A trace of guilt crossed Leilin's face, though a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes.
Perhaps deliberate, perhaps not — after this operation to catch the traitor, Lansier was dead, the revelation of the traitor's identity had dealt a devastating blow to Olan, the melee squad led by Auger and Odo had suffered catastrophic casualties, and Odo himself had fallen. Silver Moon City would inevitably have to pay out substantial death benefits. Jinqi was a priest — too limited in her role — and Rafinia had only just joined, with no guile to speak of.
This had seemingly cleared away quite a few obstacles from his path going forward. Of course, Leilin would never admit to that — at most, he could call it coincidence!
By now, the Beastkin had reached the camp's perimeter. Several mountainous silhouettes loomed among them, and the screams of other sentries made this night all the more terrifying.
"Everyone, close ranks! We're in serious trouble!"
The radiance of Leilin's Eternal Bright Flame rose, carving out a large clear area in the thick fog.
As the rest of the personnel gathered, the enemy's appearance gradually came into view before them.
Beastkin! A vast horde of Beastkin! At least over two hundred in number, among whom six individuals stood out with clearly superior physiques and auras, radiating savagery and brutality.
"Advanced Beastkin! Six of them!!!"
At this moment, even Olan, whose mind had been in a daze, tensed up.
The enemy's strength far exceeded anything he had imagined. One moment's inattention, and they could all be annihilated here.
Suppressing the grief in his heart, Olan seemed to regain his former composure: "Defensive Formation Two!!!"
How could he not realize now that Lansier, out of revenge, had not hesitated to collude with the Beastkin, determined to bury them all here?
"I'm sorry, Lansier! My friend..."
Olan let out a silent sigh and drew his elven rapier. The hilt bore delicate floral engravings, and it now emitted a faint, luminous glow — proof that it was an alchemical item.
Thud! Thud!
The sound of tremendous footsteps rumbled forth, followed by several towering figures over ten meters tall bursting through the fog.
Their skin was a dark bluish-black, each one resembling a small mountain.
"Gi—giants!!! The Beastkin actually tamed giants!!!"
Watching these extraordinary beings that bore a human-like form, Olan's hands trembled slightly, and some soldiers let out cries of despair.
"Giants? Supernatural creatures from the Northern Lands?"
Leilin pressed his temples, and data on the creatures before him immediately materialized in his field of vision.
[Name Unknown — Race: Giant — Strength: 15 — Agility: 6 — Constitution: 13 — Spirit: 2 — Innate Talents: 1. Tremendous Strength, 2. Enhanced Regeneration, 3. Resistance Skin — Description: A special giant humanoid species native to the Northern Lands. Savage temperament, low intellect. Frequently domesticated by other barbarian tribes!]
"With this kind of power, they must be connected to the Black Blood Tribe. Possibly even an offshoot! That Kaslai clearly sent us here to die!"
Olan said to Leilin with a bitter smile.
"Prepare to break through! We get however many we can out..."
Olan was clearly losing heart.
"Elves of Silver Moon City! And you other humans!!!" From across the field, a figure emerged from among the advanced Beastkin.
The figure stood two meters tall, with an appearance remarkably close to a human's, but its face bore distinctive Beastkin markings, and it still retained certain bestial features.
It twitched its nose sharply toward Leilin and the others, its expression dripping with contempt: "Damned Silver Moon City! That's a place of evil. It should be obliterated entirely!!"
As followers of Mara, the Beastkin harbored fierce hostility toward Silver Moon City's civilized way of life, and by extension, toward all beings associated with it.
As city guards, they were naturally the Beastkin's priority targets.
"All of you will die here! You won't even qualify to become offerings for my master!"
The Beastkin let out a roar as numerous terrifying dark figures closed in.
The Beastkin possessed formidable constitutions and astonishing leaping ability — the makeshift barricades around the camp meant nothing to them.
"ROAR!" The giants thundered forward, each step feeling like a small earthquake. One swept up an entire tent, and several soldiers who couldn't escape in time were simply ground into paste beneath its feet.
"Damn it! Leilin! Cover me!"
Olan had entirely shed his elven poise. His eyes flushed red as he drew the elven longbow from his back.
[Greater Magical Weapon]!!!
Leilin's expression grew solemn as the radiance of a high-level spell burst forth from his hand.
Whoosh! The silver arrow streaked like a meteor, its high-level spell-enhanced tip striking the giant squarely in the eye — the most vulnerable point in its defenses.
"ROAR!!!" Even with a giant's defenses, a weapon augmented by high-level magic was more than it could withstand, let alone a direct hit to the most vulnerable area — the eye.
With a muffled crack, the giant's eyeball shattered completely, spewing vitreous fluid and blood.
The wounded giant clutched its eye with one hand but flew into an even greater frenzy, charging toward Olan.
[Grease]! [Grease]! Leilin's eyes narrowed as he struck at that instant, the radiance of Grease spreading all around the giant.
BANG! A thunderous crash like a mountain falling — the giant, having lost its footing, toppled hard to the ground. With one eye gone, it found it even harder to rise.
[Blindness]! [Blindness]! [Blindness]!
Well aware of the giants' weakness, Leilin seized the opportunity without hesitation. Brilliant spell light shot from his hand in rapid succession, like the most spectacular fireworks display.
Abruptly robbed of their sight, the giants collectively went berserk — even the Beastkin could barely calm them.
They roared madly, attacking everything in reach, and many Beastkin were inadvertently torn to shreds by their flailing.
"It's a high-level spell attack! Kill that wizard — I'll dispel the magic!"
A Beastkin wearing priestly robes stepped forward, its face adorned with strange markings and war paint.
"Charge!"
Olan seized the moment, leading Rafinia and the others into the fray.
In a situation this dire, only a desperate charge could offer even a sliver of survival. The soldiers, pushed to the last reserves of their courage, followed behind Olan and launched themselves at the Beastkin.
"ROAR!!!"
The two waves of fighters collided violently, roars and the sounds of hacking and slashing filling the air.
But the Beastkin's numerical advantage proved overwhelming — no amount of fighting spirit could turn the tide, and the battle began tipping in the Beastkin's favor.
"Die!"
Elven swordsmanship looked even more graceful and lethal in Olan's hands. The spell-enhanced rapier easily pierced through the Beastkin's defenses, dealing devastating damage to their insides.
In an instant, Olan slit the throats of three Beastkin before him. But then, he caught the eye of another advanced Beastkin.
"You! Strong! But die anyway!!!"
The Beastkin who had stepped forward earlier planted itself before Olan like a colossal, unyielding peak that seemed impossible to scale.
...
"Your opponent is me!"
At the same moment, Leilin had activated [Flight], positioning himself to block the Beastkin priest who was heading toward the wounded giants.
"A mid-tier wizard — hardly worth sacrificing as an offering!"
The Beastkin across from him seemed almost disappointed, its gaze at Leilin brimming with the desire to kill, as though regarding prey.
This sense of danger made Leilin frown slightly.
"At least a fifteenth-level priest, and who knows what other abilities they might have... I hope Tifa and the others get here soon!"
The plan Leilin had set in motion was certainly not limited to this alone, and he had means of escape as well.
For a wizard, there were simply too many life-saving spells at one's disposal. A simple [Flight] could rapidly pull you from the battlefield — as long as luck held and you weren't shot down.
And once a wizard reached fifteenth-level as a [High
Now, looking at the priest before him, Leilin was starting to get a headache.