After the speech, the roar of the soldiers still echoed across the battlements while the monstrous tide continued to surge closer over the plains.

Dust rose behind the horde in vast clouds. Trees broke beneath their charging bodies. Countless eyes glimmered in the distance like scattered embers rushing toward the walls.

Yet the mood upon Leonora’s defenses had changed completely.

Only moments earlier, many knights had gripped their weapons with hidden fear. Many mages had forced steady breaths through dry throats. Now those same men and women stood firm.

Their king remained beside them on the wall instead of hidden behind palace stone. That simple truth hardened their hearts more than their armor ever could.

Shield lines locked tighter in front of the outer walls. Spears lowered in perfect ranks. Battle circles spun brighter around the staffs of the mages.

Even the youngest soldiers lifted their heads and stared forward with renewed resolve.

The king himself watched the advancing horde in silence. His expression no longer carried only fury but sharpened into thought.

"There must be something to learn from this."

If the world was changing, then every attack carried meaning. Every beast that charged his walls might reveal something about the unseen enemy beyond them.

He turned and strode toward the cluster of senior battle mages stationed behind the main line. Their layered robes snapped in the wind while they maintained detection arrays over the battlefield.

The eldest among them, a grey-haired mage with a scar crossing one eye, bowed quickly.

"Your Majesty."

"What do you sense within that horde?" the king asked. "Is there a commander among them? Or a source driving their frenzy like this?"

The senior mage closed his eyes briefly while streams of light circled around his fingers.

"From the Magic energy I feel, there is indeed a directing force behind them," he said slowly. "But the origin of that force comes from a place I cannot identify."

The king narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean you cannot identify it?"

The old mage opened his eyes again, anxiety visible through his face.

"It means Archmage Velrion spoke the truth. The invading power does not belong to our world. Every force native to this realm leaves recognizable signatures through land, bloodline, or Magic current. This one leaves none of it. It touches our beasts, but its root lies elsewhere."

The king turned back toward the horde, his jaw tightening.

So the danger truly came from beyond their own sky.

He remained silent for a moment before asking again, "Then can we gain nothing from this army of beasts?"

The senior mage studied the charging mass with thoughtful focus.

"Perhaps we can," he said. "If we examine their corpses after death, traces of that foreign influence may remain. We may learn how it enters our world."

The king gave a short nod. "Then wait until they drop first."

The mage bowed deeply. "As you command."

The king returned to the front line and took his place among the knights. Wind whipped across the battlements while the beasts rushed into clearer view.

Their snarls now rose loud enough to shake nerves. Stone-plated wolves bounded ahead of the pack. Boars crackled with sparks. Winged predators descended in spirals overhead.

He lifted his sword.

"Archers," he commanded. "Open fire."

Rows of longbows bent as one.

Then the wall answered.

A storm of arrows darkened the air and fell into the front ranks of the horde. Sharp impacts burst across the plains. Smaller wolf-beasts collapsed in the middle of the charge and tumbled through the dirt.

Winged creatures shrieked as shafts pierced their wings and sent them spinning to the ground. Leaner predators dropped one after another beneath the relentless volleys.

Another command rang out. A second wave followed the first.

More bodies fell. Momentum broke in sections of the rushing tide. Beasts behind crashed into the dead and stumbled over heaps of their own kind.

From atop the walls, Leonora’s defenders watched the first blood of battle stain the land.

However, even while the smaller beasts fell beneath the rain of arrows, the larger ones never slowed.

The front ranks of corpses were trampled flat under massive paws and iron-like hooves.

Stone-plated wolves the size of carriages leapt over the dead with savage momentum. Horned boars wreathed in sparks lowered their heads and thundered forward like living battering rams. Serpents as thick as pillars twisted through the chaos, crushing fallen bodies beneath their coils while driving straight for the walls.

The arrows that killed lesser creatures now struck thicker hides and heavier armor. Some shafts snapped harmlessly against plated skulls. Others buried shallowly in muscle but failed to halt the charge.

The king saw it at once.

He raised his sword toward the captains waiting beside him along the battlements.

"Captains," he commanded. "Start moving."

They moved with no hesitation.

The knight captains saluted sharply, then vaulted from the wall one after another.

Enhancement Magic flared around their bodies as they descended to the ground below.

Some landed in crouches that cracked stone while others were caught by prepared wind circles and swept directly into position.

Their voices rang across the field.

"First shield cohort forward!"

"Left wing brace!"

"Third spear line with me!"

The gates of Leonora opened in controlled sections and armored knights surged out in disciplined formations rather than reckless charge. Heavy shield units formed the front in interlocked walls of steel.

Spear ranks moved behind them in layered files. Mobile sword squads spread to the flanks to intercept anything that broke through.

Then the two forces collided.

The impact boomed across the plains.

A horned boar smashed into the first shield wall and sent several knights skidding backward through the dirt, yet the line held. Shields locked tighter. Boots dug into earth. Men roared through clenched teeth as they pushed back against the beast’s crackling fury.

Stone wolves lunged into the right formation with jaws snapping at helmets and arms.

Swords flashed downward. Two wolves fell, but another wolf crashed into the ranks and bowled a knight aside before being pinned by three spears at once.

Everywhere steel struck fang and claw.

The beasts were monstrously strong. Each swing of a paw could break a bone. Each charge threatened to split formation apart. Yet the knights of Leonora fought with unity that raw strength could not easily shatter.

The king’s speech still burned in them.

They shouted together whenever pressure mounted.

They drove shields forward one step at a time. When one knight staggered, another knight filled the gap instantly. When one line bent, a reserve unit rushed to reinforce it.

"Hold!"

"Push!"

"For Leonora!"

Their cries rolled through the battlefield like drumbeats.

The captains watched for the exact moment when beast momentum began to slow against disciplined resistance.

They moved through the chaos with trained eyes to read weakness amid fury.

Then the signal came.

"Spears ready!"

Lines shifted in perfect rhythm. Front shields angled aside just enough to create killing lanes.

"Thrust!"

Hundreds of spears shot forward together.

Iron heads pierced throats, eyes, joints, and open maws. A charging boar screamed as six spears buried into its chest. Stone wolves collapsed with shafts driven beneath their jaw plates. Serpents writhed violently after volleys of steel punched through their scales.

The counterattack rippled across the field in wave after wave.

What had been a desperate defense began to turn into controlled slaughter.

The king raised his chin, feeling proud of his army.

—