Wave.
In other words, a swarm of monsters.
The wave that happened twice a year, in summer and in winter, was the reason Habun Castle was called the hell of a battlefield.
It was rumored that even the veterans, who had been living in Habun Castle for their entire lives, felt like they'd be better off dead after fighting against monsters coming from Stallin Mountain and the Northern Ocean for five days and nights.
The source of the wave was unknown. Rumors claimed that it was the Five Demons' doing, or that the monsters that had increased their numbers during the summer and winter were instinctively coming out in order to find food.
Raon was inside the commander's room, to work on a countermeasure against the wave.
"What's the number?"
"There were sightings of at least tens of thousands. It's just my feeling, but I think there are more than last year."
"I don't understand where so many of them come from each year."
Milland frowned, crumpling the paper in his hand.
"When is their estimated time of arrival?"
"Judging from their movement speed, we should start seeing them from the castle walls around the daybreak in two days."
"Any particulars?"
"There were many sightings of monsters that can use combative energy. Ice troll warriors, orc fighters, and as for the Northern Ocean monsters, there were mantakurns, ocstall killers, and even krates. And…"
The first scouting party's leader Barty listed the elite grade monsters he'd identified before. It seemed he was used to doing that, since his voice was full of confidence.
"There are many elite grades."
"We are going to need to risk our lives again."
"Yes. We need to prepare thoroughly."
Milland nodded and stood up.
"Maintenance officer."
"Yes!"
"Check all the castle gates and castle walls' status until the daybreak in two days. No mistakes are allowed."
"Understood!"
"Logistics officer."
"Yes!"
"Check the weapons and prepare rocks and oil to throw over the castle walls."
"Affirmative!"
He assigned duties to the officers participating in the conference, and people quickly left the room upon receiving their orders.
"Terian. You will take the command and oversee the operation instead of me."
"Yes!"
Once Vice-commander Terian left, Raon was the only person remaining.
"Raon."
"Yes."
"Do you know about the waves?"
"I do, to a certain extent."
"One wave results in countless casualties. The reason we keep sending out the scouts and expeditions is in order to reduce those casualties as much as we can."
Milland's steady eyes turned sour. The shadow covering them was the old general's plaintive emotions.
"Collapsed castle walls can be repaired and destroyed castle gates can be reconstructed. However, the dead will never return."
"So, I shall be protecting them."
"Yes. Please protect as many soldiers as you can. That is your and Dorian's mission."
"I'll do my best."
"Thank you."
Raon bowed at Milland and left the conference. It looked like Milland was trusting him completely because of the way he kept everyone alive in all the missions and expeditions he'd participated in so far.
"Y-young master! How did it go?"
Dorian, who'd been waiting in front of the headquarters, ran up to him. Judging from the way he was drenched in cold sweat, he looked extremely nervous.
"You don't need to ask, it's obvious. Our mission is to stop the monsters from climbing the castle walls and protect the soldiers."
"Oh no!"
Dorian sank on his knees and slammed the ground.
The damn wave. The King of Essence will take revenge for the apple meat pie that was left behind!
Contrary to the terrified Dorian, Wrath was boiling in icy cold anger.
"I'm seriously dead. How am I supposed to survive the wave?"
"But I told you a month ago that the wave was going to happen."
"I thought we were going to get lucky! My life is really over!"
"I thought you'd gotten better."
Raon clicked his tongue and grabbed Dorian by his neck.
"Huh? Where are we going?"
"The other soldiers will be in danger if you keep acting like this. You need some mental education for the first time in a long time."
"M-mental education would be…"
"Of course, it's playing with my Fangs of Insanity."
"Wait a moment! I'm feeling better now…"
Raon smiled coldly and shook his head.
"I'm not."
Ring ring ring ring!
The ear-splitting bell sound opened the daybreak.
Raon slowly opened his eyes from his meditation, his back leaning towards the wall.
"They are here."
It was his first time hearing the alarm since arriving in Habun Castle. However, the urgent sound of the bell was enough to guess the situation outside.
"Y-young master."
"Get ready and come out."
Raon tapped Dorian's shoulder and took his sword to go outside.
"Move quickly!"
"Ah, damn it. I haven't finished my maintenance!"
"Open the armory!"
"Infantry and pikemen, go on the castle walls!"
It wasn't just the soldiers. The mechanics and blacksmiths were also fervently running around, to the point where they were sweating in the cold weather.
"Haa…"
Raon caught his breath and went to the castle wall.
I can smell blood. The blood is going to flow like a river today.
Wrath inhaled the cold air and gave a frightening smile. Raon ignored the self-proclaimed demon king that wanted to avenge the meat pie and went up the castle wall.
Gulp.
He swallowed, trying to wet his dry mouth.
The snow piled up overnight was covered by a blue and green wave. Orcs, trolls, gnolls, shark moles, krates, and shamirs. It was truly an endless march of monsters.
Raon's fingers trembled at the tremendous number that was difficult to count, even with his excellent perception.
The stench of the monsters' madness and gluttony was numbing his nose. The people inside the castle were just food for them.
"Huff!"
"Ah…"
"I-it's crazy!"
"Shit! I can never get used to this, no matter how many times I see it…"
The hands of the soldiers standing on the castle walls trembled as they held their weapons and bit their lips. Their fear was clearly visible in their eyes.
Rumble!
The intense combative energy coming from the elite monsters, around one head taller than the other monsters, made the soldiers tremble even harder.
Clang!
The sound of drawing a sword could be heard from the middle of the castle walls. Auspicious energy spread out from the blade reaching the sky. The madness coming from the monsters subsided, and a steadfast determination filled that spot.
"You don't need to be afraid! This is a trial that anyone in Habun Castle can overcome! Line up!"
"Line up!"
It was Milland. He was raising the soldiers' morale from the castle wall, his majestic voice shaking the earth.
"Shieldbearers and pikemen, go to the front. Archers, stand by from behind them!"
Encouraged by the commander's personal appearance, the soldiers relieved their nervous bodies and braced themselves.
"Ready!"
Milland didn't order the attack despite witnessing the tidal wave of the monsters filling the snow field. He just waited, and waited even more.
When the stench of blood and meat coming from the monsters started to reach the soldiers' noses, his sword burst into flame.
"Fire!"
The tremendous energy was shot to the front from his silver blade.
Baaam!
The aura blade stormed through the monsters' front line, and the firing sound of the arrows from the scouts and the archers resounded right after.
Whish!
A silver rain of arrows fell down the deep blue sky.
Pow!
Pow!
Pow!
Pow!
The monsters collapsed back upon getting hit by the arrows, but the wave didn't stop. Stepping and chewing on their peers, they kept swarming towards the castle walls.
"Fire!"
The arrows pierced the wind, fired from the quickly reloaded crossbows and bows. Even after the second and third volley of arrows, the monsters didn't stop their march. They started running towards the walls like crazy.
"Kuaah!"
The moment the ogre that finally managed to reach the castle was about to smash the gate with its huge fist, Milland's sword flipped.
Slaam!
The sword, surrounded by astral energy, slashed at them repeatedly to rip the ogres and orcs apart completely.
"Defend the castle walls! Don't allow them to climb!"
Encouraged by his overwhelming might, the soldiers swung their swords and thrust their spears into the ocean monsters climbing the castle walls.
Everyone kept swinging their weapons and firing their arrows until their fingers ached, but the monsters' madness didn't stop. They climbed the frozen castle walls like a flatland and swung their gluttonous claws.
"Gasp!"
When the troll that jumped up the castle wall was about to tear the soldier's head, Raon started moving.
Slash!
He used the Fangs of Insanity to cut the troll's ankle and pushed it under the wall. He tried making the soldier stand, but a knoll climbed up using a hook right next to him.
"Kieee!"
He cut the knoll's head as it was about to thrust its spear, then moved to the right and sliced the chest of an orc that was holding an ax.
Boom!
An exploding sound could be heard. When he looked around, a brown smoke was rising on the castle walls. It was the poison mist of the ocean monster swellfish.
"Argh!"
"Kuaah!"
Upon contacting the poison mist, the soldiers covered their heads and stepped back.
Slam!
Raon ran into the poison mist and swung his sword. The crimson wind coming front the sword pushed back the poison mist towards the orcs.
"Kuaaa!"
"Krrra!"
The orcs that inhaled the poison mist started scratching their skin, falling down the castle walls.
"Th-Thank you."
Raon nodded his head to the soldier expressing his gratitude, then ran towards another place where a scream was coming from.
He had a feeling there was a very long day ahead of him.
* * *
The battle that started before sunrise continued until the sun set on the western mountain. The wave of monsters was truly endless, making people wonder where they could've been hiding.
The soldiers that used to be brave on the castle walls were now floundering from the cold and exhaustion, and the fingers of the archers that were mechanically firing their arrows were now covered in blood.
The faces of the swordsmen and knights that were restlessly using their aura to defend the castle walls turned yellow because of aura exhaustion.
Everyone bit their lips, saying that it was the worst wave ever.
Ironically, the most unaffected person in that hellish battlefield was Raon, who had been in Habun Castle for less than three months.
Using unique cultivation techniques like the Ring of Fire and the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation to relieve his body's exhaustion and recover his aura allowed him to stroll through the battlefield.
The soldiers he saved numbered over a hundred, and the monsters he killed were close to three hundred.
Slam!
Raon beheaded the troll climbing the castle wall and pushed it down.
"Haa…"
Raon straightened his stiff back. Even though the sun was setting, the battle didn't end. The fact that the situation would continue for several days was really making it a living hell.
"Uryaaa!"
Dorian was throwing the logs that he used to use to make Snow Strikers suffer down instead of using his sword.
He knew Dorian was good at carrying heavy objects, but he realized again how strong he was. The orcs and knolls fell like autumn leaves upon getting hit by the logs.
Slaam!
The earth-shaking sound could be heard from the castle gate. It was Milland. He was slaughtering the monsters rushing at the castle gate with the exact same expression from the beginning.
Because of the steadfast commander holding the line, there was no damage on the castle gate and castle walls around it.
Raon raised his head. The sun was setting towards the ground, and the real fight was about to start after that. He hoped that everyone would manage to hold out, then shook off the blood from his sword.
"Haa."
He slowly caught his breath and used the Ring of Fire. As he was about to move once again, a brand-new presence could be felt from his ocean of perception.
Only the scouts and a few swordsmen remained in the right outer border, as the knights had withdrawn temporarily to maintain their weapons and armor, and a dark object was flying towards it.
'What is that?'
It was a monster with a strange appearance, covered by black hair and the size of a troll's head. It was running towards the castle wall, as if reaching it was the sole goal of its life.
No one else was paying attention to it, as if they didn't even feel its movement.
'I have a bad feeling about this.'
The fact that it was a monster he had never seen before, and the fact that it was running towards the current weakest spot, gave him a bad premonition.
Thud!
Raon kicked the ground and ran towards the castle walls on the right side. He shot his aura blade towards the black monster.
Baam!
Even though he managed to cut it before it reached the castle wall, it was apparently too late. An ominous energy coming out from its divided body exploded right after.
Rumble!
The crack spreading like a spider web exploded, and the castle wall collapsed from the center.
"Arrrgh!"
"Ugh!"
Around thirty soldiers and swordsmen that used to be on the wall started screaming as they fell down to the ground filled with the monsters' flesh.
"Aaaaaah!"
"M-my leg! My leg!"
"Sniff!"
"S-save me! My arm got stuck! I can't move my body!"
Bloody screams came out from the soldiers that had fallen under the collapsed castle walls, those that missed their landing.
"Keuh!"
"Don't go down!"
When Raon was about to move, Milland's voice could be heard.
"The castle wall hasn't been destroyed yet! Defend the castle wall! Chasing a smaller goal will result in a bigger loss!"
He chewed his lip, looking at the soldiers fallen under the walls. It was the decision he made as a commander, rather than a mere swordsman or soldier.
He was right. Trying to protect them would result in the half-collapsed castle wall being destroyed completely.
'But I…'
Looking at the monsters showing their teeth, Raon brandished his sword.
All of them were his comrades of war, who'd been on a mission with him before, and companions he'd personally checked the postures of.
Their stories he happened to hear, and their objectives they declared with pride were throbbing his heart.
'I'm not a commander.'
Milland's order was to save as many soldiers as possible he could possibly save. Raon decided to follow the mission he was given in the first place.
"Raon!"
"Sir Raon!"
Hearing Milland and Dorian's voices striking his back, he jumped down the castle walls.
What a crazy bastard.
Wrath's shrill voice sneered.
'I have a plan.'
Facing thousands of madness burning inside the darkness, Raon smiled lightly.
'I'm looking forward to my growth, once I manage to survive this place.'
…You really are crazy.