Chapter 29: Beast Tide (Part-3)
Ding! Ding! Ding!...
The bell rang like thunder and seemed to awaken everyone in the city, no matter what they were doing.
Whether they were weak peasants, merchants, mercenaries, or even the nobles, everyone’s expression changed.
The female captain stood on the tall wall and looked at the distant sea of rampaging beasts. "It really has come."
"Notify every noble family and every organisation within the city."
"Mercenary groups."
"Independent warriors."
"The Chamber of Commerce."
"I don’t care who they are. Every able-bodied fighter is to report for battle. Anyone caught hiding their strength or deserting during wartime... will have their entire nine generations exterminated."
Her orders rang across the wall with a calm yet terrifying commanding aura.
The soldiers hurried to obey.
Even so, many soldiers seemed to still be trembling, looking at the incoming beast tide.
A beast tide is a calamity that terrifies everyone, as whenever it happens, numerous cities along with hundreds of thousands of people will disappear without leaving corpses.
And without doubt the most people dying are the ordinary soldiers like them, who in this chaos are just used as cannon fodder.
But even knowing this wouldn’t change anything, as they had to fight, fight for the survival of their friends, brothers, sons, or their families.
The middle-aged man wearing the silver armour silently appeared on the wall, standing next to the captain.
"Sigh, it really is beast tide; how many will die this time?" He looked at the beasts that were already within a few miles of the Flameheart City.
"Don’t worry, the city wouldn’t fall; the house of Flameheart isn’t weak." She said with confidence.
Meanwhile, within the city, everything was in chaos as most ordinary people who lived their entire lives within the city knew what it meant and were trying to find a place to hide.
Inside the inn... Max and the two brothers were drinking as they heard the bell ringing, which seemed like a bell of death for everyone within the inn.
"What happened? Why is the bell ringing? Didn’t it seem to never have rung for like fifty or sixty years"
"Something terrible must have happened!"
The atmosphere within the inn changed immediately, but they didn’t have to wait as soldiers marched through the street and quickly suppressed the panicked crowd. And then a small group of soldiers entered the inn.
One soldier stepped forward and spoke in a commanding voice.
"Everyone capable of fighting—excluding women, children, the elderly, and the infirm—is ordered to gather at the eastern gate within five minutes."
His tone allowed no room for refusal.
He glanced around the room before adding coldly,
"Anyone who attempts to flee or hide..."
"...will be executed."
And then they simply left like they weren’t afraid of them leaving. But this announcement caused everyone within the inn to be surprised, and many smart ones already guessed that the situation was definitely something to do or die.
Many at the inn have already started to guess what was going on, as there aren’t many situations that needed everyone’s attention, even ordinary people and mercenaries like them.
Everybody knows it had to be something dangerous, but nobody tried to hide, and they all made their way towards the eastern gate. The situation here wasn’t as bad as most of the people here were mercenaries or travellers who had risked their entire lives, so they quickly accepted that.
But that cannot be said for things throughout the city.
Ironically... The greatest panic wasn’t among the commoners.
It was among the nobles. Especially the useless heirs and pampered young masters who had never experienced real danger.
They had always relied on their family’s status to bully the weak. Now that death stood at their doorstep...
Many of them were the ones trembling the hardest. But they could do nothing, as this was the order from the Flameheart family, the sole ruler of the city.
If they tried to hide, nobody could save them, even if they were from a noble family. As for leaving, how can they leave in the current situation, where every corner of the city is tightly locked down?
Among the nobles, it wasn’t hidden that the beast tide was coming, and they had a few minutes to be ready. Which is why they were in the beast tide, filled with chaos; no place was safe, and they could die in the mouth of any of the ten thousand beasts.
***
Inside a magnificent estate resembling a small castle, a young, spoiled noble who had recently awakened his bloodline was desperately arguing with his father.
"Father!"
"I only awakened my bloodline recently!"
"How can I fight in a beast tide like this?"
"Why not send those useless commoners instead?"
"They’re nothing but trash!"
"Let them protect the city with their worthless lives!"
The father seemed to expect that kind of answer and looked at his young teenage son.
"It is not possible. We might not care much for other nobles in the city, but House of Flameheart is the only one we cannot mess with, no matter what!"
The father said with a serious expression and an overwhelming aura. And the son could only suppress his thoughts.
"I had to meet with the leaders of all noble clans in the City Hall. You go to the eastern gate of the city, and don’t worry, I will send Elite guards of our family along with Serpent to protect you."
And without any word, the father left.
The young master clenched his fists in frustration.
From the shadows behind him, a man quietly emerged. His cold eyes resembled those of a venomous snake.
"Young Master," he said calmly.
"We should leave."
"...Yeah, yeah."
"I’m coming."
Meanwhile, Max and the brothers had come to the eastern gate, where thousands of people had already gathered.
From mercenaries to soldiers, independent travellers and hunters.
Even members of various noble families had arrived with their elite guards. The colourful family banners fluttered proudly in the wind, standing in sharp contrast to the gloomy atmosphere.
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