"What's the plan?" Gold asks, sitting on top of a trash bin. The duo was in a narrow alley of the city, filled with garbage, emitting a putrid smell.
"You'll find out, it's nothing too elaborate. If you use that chicken brain for something useful, you'll think the same as me." Draco replies while searching the unconscious body of a man lying on the dirty ground. Around them, a group of five unconscious men lay scattered, they all had a rough appearance like bandits. He smiles upon finding gold and silver coins, it seemed like it was his lucky day.
+5 Gold Coins
+10 Silver Coins
"I don't understand why we're risking so much for an optional mission." Ignoring the obvious teasing, Gold expresses his doubt.
"I want to use these spiritual avatars to complete my cultivation path. So, I'll complete this mission and spend these 15 days finding a way to get my own spiritual avatar. The system said it couldn't help me in its current state." The young dragon begins to daydream, imagining his newfound power.
*Bam*
"Is this spiritual avatar thing really worth it? Doesn't seem that appealing to me." Gold still questions while picking up a stone from the ground and hitting the chin of a man who started groaning and waking up.
"One of these avatars grants the ability to control time for a human, sending them back to the past. Need more explanation?" Wiping his hands with a cloth, Draco raises an eyebrow, asking the forgetful rooster who makes a face of realization.
"Now we just have to wait for the horde to arrive and enter at the right moment." A playful smile forms on Draco's calm face.
...
The city of the Nine Lights was bustling for a nightly rest that occurred every month, with people going back and forth within the walls, carrying boxes and more boxes of supplies for the approaching battle.
"Commander Chu, is the city's defense ready to operate?" The woman, who was the former saint, standing atop the wall, asks the large armored man by her side.
"Saint, we've done our best, and many merchants have provided a lot of supplies. But the state of the barrier and the cannons is still precarious, they've gone many years without maintenance. We have only 1,500 troops with no spiritual masters in sight, and the estimate is 10 thousand monsters." Commander Chu speaks with a somber expression on his round face and half-closed eyes.
"I'm no longer a saint, you can call me Zhao Meili, please. Be that as it may, we'll fight as best as we can." Her voice remains calm, indifferent to the possibility of dying today. Chu nods in agreement.
"Any spiritual master-level beasts?" Zhao Meili asks.
"Given the density of the cloud, it's uncertain information." The commander's face becomes even more troubled. This uncertainty means there might be a master-level beast in the horde commanding everything.
'If I'm going to die here, so be it. It's better than continuing to be humiliated by staying in that place. Maybe it's a way to pay for my past arrogance.' Zhao Meili thinks as she gazes at the forest surrounding the walled city.
"They've arrived! ACTIVATE THE DEFENSES!" Commander Chu immediately shouts, grabbing a large iron mace and rushing to command the troops. A large blue barrier appears around the city, powered by matrices atop the pagoda in the center.
*ROOOOOAR*
The forest shakes with falling trees and various roars. The first monsters to appear are flying creatures, followed by hundreds of giant amethyst rhinoceroses.
"Cannons, focus on the flying monsters! Anyone with skills to shoot in the sky, feel free to do so. Those without good aim, focus on the ground monsters." Commander Chu immediately instructs his soldiers upon seeing the monsters approaching.
*BOOM* *BOOM*
Several cannons, made of dark metal with inscriptions, are placed on top of the wall over 50 meters high. They start firing repeatedly at the monsters flying towards the barrier.
*ROAAAR*
Simultaneously, the flying monsters unleash their abilities, with thunderous roars. Lightning falcons shoot lightning bolts, pterodactyl-like creatures release fireballs, and dark-eyed ravens launch feathers as projectiles.
Chaos ensues, and the sky seems to be bathed in a giant fireworks display with explosions happening constantly and numerous corpses falling from the sky, covering the open field in front of the wall with blood.
"Spiritual apprentices, follow me!" Zhao Meili shouts with a strong and melodious voice to the soldiers and volunteers behind her, jumping off the wall.
Everyone jumps from the wall, attached by a rope around their waists, staying close to the blue barrier.
*BAM*
Landing firmly on the ground, she begins to mobilize the prana in her body, and finally, her spiritual avatar appears before everyone, an ice sculpture of a woman with a crown.
"Let's go, Alba, Glacial Barricade!" Two ice swords form in her hands, and she points one towards the amethyst rhinoceroses. A snowstorm starts from the sword's tip, creating a 10-meter wall in front of the barrier covering the entire wall.
*BAM* *BAM*
*CRACK*
The monsters collide with the wall, leaving cracks everywhere. Seeing that their momentum has been stopped, the warriors immediately begin summoning their respective spiritual avatars, and chaos finally erupts on the battlefield.
"HUFF..." Zhao Meili exhales deeply, expelling a visible cold vapor, lifting her veil slightly to reveal a delicate chin on her oval face.
"Let's go!" She speaks, and the avatar seems to nod. With a leap, she glides across the freezing ground.
*CUT*
Arriving in front of the first amethyst rhinoceros facing two soldiers, she wields the sword quickly, cutting the rhinoceros's horn as if it were butter.
"ROAAR- SPLAAASH" Before the monster could counterattack, an ice spike pierces its eyes deeply, spewing blood and killing the creature instantly.
The men are astonished. They were sure the woman leading them was also in the apprentice spiritual realm, but the difference in strength couldn't be measured so simply.
"Tha-" Before they could thank her, she quickly moves, disappearing from their view.
Zhao Meili runs across the battlefield, cutting and piercing various amethyst rhinoceroses as if she were a fairy dancing.
After killing another amethyst rhinoceros, she takes another deep breath, forming a white mist. This time, however, she freezes a large area in front of her.
...
"Wow, that chaotic and incredible scene. That woman is amazing!" Draco watches from the top of the wall, amazed. His draconic blood seems to awaken, and he wants to dive into this battlefield, but he restrains himself and continues carrying boxes of ammunition with Gold, who tries to carry them with his trembling chicken feet.
Gold drops the box next to a soldier who immediately opens it and starts reloading. In the midst of war, seeing a chicken helping is almost a blessing.
"Huff... Huff... Don't tell me you're in love with that terrifying woman?" The panting rooster asks, noticing his friend's eyes glued to the woman on the battlefield without a drop of blood staining her mysterious beauty.
Focusing on the woman, Gold shivers as he sees her cutting off a monster's legs with a swordstroke, as if they were branches of a tree.
"In love?" Draco repeats upon hearing this and repeats, still with his eyes fixed on the woman, who stands out in the bloody field, making the art of killing look like a dance, resembling a fairy waving her arms to end the lives of her enemies.
*DOOOOONG* *DOOOOOONG*
Suddenly, the bell starts ringing, and the duo focuses again on the overall situation, soon noticing a significant change.
*ROOOOAR*
Roars from the forest intensify, and the real attack finally begins. Blood Moon wolves, Earth Bears, Sea Lizards, and several other demonic beasts charge into the battlefield with a bloodthirsty momentum against the humans.
The last trees in the way are toppled, revealing a wide corridor of churned earth through the forest. It finally reveals the horde of monsters that seems to have no end.
"Now the real fun begins." Commander Chu, who coincidentally was beside the duo, speaks with a serious face, observing the situation.
"Vice-Commander Jiang, take control of the operation! And activate the first layer of bombs, when the situation starts to worsen, activate the other two layers together!" Leaving these final orders to his trusted subordinate, he jumps off the wall with two ropes tied around his large round body.
"So, this is what they call a suicide attack?" Seeing the portly man jump with only two ropes, the rooster salutes in respect.
"Look at how amazing the fairy is."
"Get lost, Simp!"