Dark clouds covered the sky, with Blight flying above the fortress.
Soldiers and mages desperately tried to bring down the creatures flying overhead.
Magic, arrows, and ballista bolts were fired into the sky to take down the Blight above them.
The soldiers prepared the cannons to face the next wave of attacks coming from the ground.
Val stood atop the defensive wall, watching the approaching swarm of Blight growing closer.
There was no way out.
Every side was already being watched by Blight from the sky.
If anyone left the fortress, they would immediately become an easy target.
Larger Blight could be seen forming the front line, while the smaller ones remained behind them.
The swarm of ground-based Blight drew closer.
The cannons that had been prepared were finally fired to defend the fortress.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
A barrage of cannon fire rang out repeatedly.
Cannonballs flew far into the distance and struck the swarm of Blight.
The impact of the cannons was devastating.
Countless Blight were killed instantly after being hit.
However, their sheer numbers made it impossible to stop them completely.
“The cannons have quite a long range.” Val was impressed.
He had not expected the cannons to have such a long range, nor had he expected them to cause explosions upon hitting their targets or the ground, sending shrapnel flying and striking the Blight nearby.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Another barrage rang out, striking countless Blight, but even that was not enough to stop them from advancing toward the fortress.
Arrows were fired simultaneously, creating what looked like a rain of arrows.
They struck the Blight, but the larger ones were barely affected by the barrage.
Countless attacks were launched from the fortress, all intended to reduce the number of Blight advancing toward them.
On the other side, Sera, who was also helping defend the fortress, had already done her part.
She had shot down countless Blight from the sky.
Every shot she fired struck its target with terrifying accuracy, and the interval between her attacks was incredibly short.
She could fire another shot in less than a second and continue doing so repeatedly.
Sera truly looked like an anti-aircraft gun in a medieval fantasy world.
Seeing the ground-based Blight getting closer, Sera shifted her attacks and began trying to eliminate as many of them as possible.
The impact of Sera’s magic was no less devastating than the cannons.
Her magical explosions were powerful enough to kill three or four Blight at once.
The distance between the defensive wall and the approaching Blight continued to shrink.
The efforts to reduce their numbers were not producing the desired results, as countless Blight were still capable of moving forward.
The large Blight at the front accelerated their pace.
They charged toward the wall without caring about the cannons, arrows, or magic being fired at them.
“They’re going to collide!” a soldier shouted, warning the others.
The Blight slammed into the defensive wall, causing it to shake violently for a moment.
Val struggled to maintain his balance after the impact.
That was when he noticed something in the distance.
A large Blight stood motionless at the rear of the formation.
It looked like a Tyrannosaurus rex, except it had long, massive forelimbs.
Thick, dark horns protruded from its head, resembling the horn of a rhinoceros, except far larger.
The creature stared sharply in Val’s direction.
Val did not realize that the creature was looking directly at him, but he instinctively knew that the T-rex-like Blight was dangerous.
The Blight behind the larger creatures had already reached the fortress.
They began battering the walls and gates, but fortunately, their attempts were unsuccessful.
Even so, they continued gathering in front of the walls, piling on top of one another.
Seeing this, Val felt as though he had seen something similar in his old world—like a type of zombie horde from a famous movie that attacked the entire world.
The Blight continued piling on top of one another, forming a living staircase toward the top of the defensive wall.
The soldiers and mages desperately tried to prevent them from climbing up.
“Now I understand why the walls were built so tall.” Val muttered as he watched the situation unfold.
Several Blight managed to climb over the wall and attack the troops stationed there.
The soldiers immediately drew their swords and fought them off.
The mages, who had previously focused solely on firing their magic, now raised their weapons to defend themselves.
Mages were trained in close-quarters combat to deal with situations like this, so they did not completely depend on their magic.
Sera was the exception, as she had never been a military soldier to begin with.
Casualties began appearing before Val’s eyes.
The soldiers defending the top of the wall could no longer keep up with the ever-growing number of Blight.
Some soldiers were even knocked off the wall.
The Blight that managed to get past the defenses leapt down from the wall and entered the fortress grounds, but the troops below were already waiting for them.
One of the Blight spotted Sera and quickly moved toward her.
But just before it could reach her, a powerful punch sent the creature flying off the wall.
The one who had done it was Val.
With nothing but his bare hands, he fought against the Blight attempting to approach them.
Although he maintained his usual expressionless face, he could feel the pain whenever his fists struck the creatures.
“They’re pretty tough.” Everyone was fighting desperately to defend the fortress.
Even as their bodies were slowly torn apart, they continued fighting for their lives and for the people they wanted to protect.
Val watched their resistance unfold before his eyes.
The moment became deeply etched into his mind, making him increasingly aware that this world was far from easy.
A sword was thrown from the hands of a soldier who had just been killed.
Val picked it up and faced the approaching Blight.
He continued fighting the creatures, but he soon realized something.
The Blight were clearly not targeting him.
Val continued confronting the Blight that approached him, while Sera remained nearby.
Then he saw another Blight approaching from a different direction.
Val decided not to attack it and allowed it to come closer.
Sure enough, the creature simply passed him by and targeted Sera standing behind him.
Val grabbed one of its legs and stabbed it from behind.
Now it was clear.
The Blight were not targeting Val at all.
Val fell silent.
Time seemed to slow down.
He observed the chaos around him as everything moved at a sluggish pace.
The sounds, the movements, even the air itself seemed to move slowly.
Val carefully analyzed the situation and thought.
He gradually recalled the information Sera had previously told him about the Blight—or rather, about the Nullifer: a Blight with intelligence capable of controlling other Blight.
Looking far into the distance, Val turned his gaze toward the Blight resembling a T-rex that had remained motionless at the rear of the formation.
Their eyes met.
The T-rex-like Blight smiled after realizing that Val had noticed it.
The creature opened its mouth wide.
A brilliant red light appeared inside.
A moment later, a beam of light shot from its mouth and streaked across the battlefield.
It struck the fortress gate.
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted.
The fortress had finally been breached.
The shockwave sent everyone standing on top of the wall flying, including Val.
“VAL!” Sera screamed, unable to reach him.
From Val’s perspective, the world was still moving slowly.
He could hear the sounds of panic as he fell.
From his upside-down perspective, he saw Arturia and Meila fighting against the Blight.
He could also clearly see soldiers being torn apart by the creatures.
“What the hell is this…?” Those were the last words Val heard before his vision went completely black.