Atop the northern wall, Vincent, Vanessa, Leona, Felicia and Anastasia stood, staring at the distance with binoculars.
The unpaved road emerging from the forest was packed with people.
Villagers in worn, dust-covered clothes pulled handcarts and drove livestock toward Copper Town. Bedding, tools, grain sacks, and cooking pots had been piled together without care. Some carts leaned dangerously to one side as their owners struggled to keep them moving.
Children too exhausted to run sat atop the luggage, clutching one another whenever the wheels struck a stone.
Behind the villagers, leaves rustled.
A wolf howled somewhere within the forest.
Cows struggled against their ropes. Pigs squealed and pulled away from their owners. Chickens beat their wings against their steel cages, while several rabbits and pheasants escaped from overturned baskets and vanished into the grass.
The silhouette of the town gate came to their view. The villagers felt a surge of energy and rushed madly.
The distant howling of wolves got increasingly loud.
Adjusting his binoculars, Vincent saw a wolf burst through the undergrowth.
It caught one of the pheasants between its jaws. Blood scattered across the ground but the wolf did not stop to eat it. It continued to run with the limp bird hanging from its mouth.
More wolves emerged behind it.
Then came deer.
Horned boars crashed through the bushes, followed by black serpents thick as barrels. Smaller creatures scattered beneath their feet.
The wolves snapped at whatever stumbled too close, yet none stopped to feed.
Predator and prey were running in the same direction.
"Vincent."
Vanessa lowered her binoculars.
He looked at her. "Yes?"
"Get them through the gate." She rested her spear against her shoulder. "I’ll hold the road."
Vincent’s attention shifted from her to the northern road.
He knew his sister was an anomaly, it being [Combat Causality Inversion] as per the system.
She was a great warrior and due to her condition, she would only grow stronger as the number of and strength of her opponents increased.
She could continue fighting without feeling pain, advancing through injuries that would make anyone collapse.
That was exactly what concerned Vincent.
Not feeling the pain did not mean her body could not break.
Vanessa might continue fighting despite her body reaching its limits. Pushing further would only result in consequences Vincent didn’t want to imagine.
However, the road had to be held.
The villagers were their people and protecting them was important otherwise word would spread about D’Arc abandoning its own people.
People around the county would start rioting and the Royal Court would get involved, pushing them further down.
If Vanessa said she would hold the road, then she definitely could.
Vincent had no basis for this trust, but he didn’t need one. She was family and believed in her wholeheartedly.
Vincent glanced at Vanessa.
He saw absolute calmness and determination in those red eyes.
He could not stop her from leaving.
However, he could ensure she returned.
"Before you leave," Vincent said, "promise me something."
A trace of puzzlement entered Vanessa’s eyes.
"What?"
"When you hear the bell twice, you will drop everything and retreat."
Vanessa stared at Vincent for a good second.
"Even if people are still outside?"
Vincent stared at her seriously.
"Even then."
The slightest change appeared in Vanessa’s expression as his words settled in her mind.
She nodded.
"Fine."
She stepped on the edge of the wall, and pushed herself forward, disappearing from the battlement.
A second figure followed her.
Felicia gave Vincent a professional smile before leaping from the wall and landing on a tiled roof of a building below.
Vincent did not waste time watching them.
"Let’s go."
He descended the stairs with Leona and Anastasia.
Several Railguard Captains were already waiting near the northern gate. The tolling bell had drawn soldiers from the surrounding streets, while townspeople watched from windows and alleys.
Vincent approached the Captains. They reported him a few things, and after listening to them, he began issuing orders.
The Captains straightened.
"Separate the entrance into two lanes. Children, injured people, and pregnant women enter through the left. Everyone else takes the right."
The Captains nodded.
"Keep the center of the road clear," Vincent continued. "Vanessa should get an unobstructed retreat."
"Yes, my Lord!"
"If a cart breaks down, abandon it. Just focus on preserving grains, medicine, and weapons. Ask the villagers to leave furniture and tools behind."
The Captains kept it in mind.
"Mounted Railguards will collect children and anyone incapable of walking. The portcullis remains raised until I order otherwise."
Vincent looked toward the riflemen gathering near the gate.
"No one fires across Vanessa’s position. If you cannot see what is behind your target, you do not shoot."
The captains saluted and separated.
Within moments, whistles and shouted commands filled the gatehouse.
Wooden barriers were dragged into position. Railguards formed two entry lanes, while riders mounted their horses and rushed through the open gates.
Vincent turned toward Leona.
"Those monsters might have scales like the snake at the fountain. Can you find a way for our bullets to penetrate them?"
Leona calmly answered, "I haven’t dealt with monster parts before so it may take some time."
Vincent nodded in understanding. "If you need anything, please relay it to me through the Railguards."
"Understood. For now, could you lend me the dagger?" Leona asked without a change of expression.
Vincent did not hesitate and handed it to her.
This dagger was the only cultivation related tool Leona had access to.
Coming from a humble background, she did not know what cultivation was and her family did not have access to anything related to it.
All her current knowledge came from Anastasia, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to cut the corpse with normal tools.
Spirit Iron was a foundational mineral in the world of cultivation like how normal iron was in the non-cultivation world.
If she could get her hands on more Spirit Iron, she could craft proper tools, but for now, this would do.
"Anything else?" Vincent asked.
Leona shook her head then exchanged a few more words and left for the town’s forge with a Railguard unit as her escorts.
Vincent looked at Anastasia next.
"You’ll stay beside me. Every command I give passes through you. If a Captain changes it, delays it, or claims not to understand it, I want to know."
Anastasia nodded.
"Understood, young master."
Outside the gate.
Vanessa ran against the flow of villagers.
People barely saw more than a black-and-red blur passing between the carts.
A wolf leaped over an abandoned chicken cage and lunged toward her.
Vanessa’s spear left her hand before its paws touched the ground.
The spearhead entered the wolf’s eye and snapped its head backward. The force carried the creature into another wolf behind it, pinning both against a pine tree.
Vanessa opened her hand.
Her soul stirred and her Crest moved.
The spear ripped itself free and flew back toward her, scattering droplets of blood across the road.
Vanessa caught it without slowing.
A horned boar broke through the trees.
It lowered its head and charged.
The ground trembled beneath its weight. Bushes split against its shoulders, and a young tree snapped as it passed with the momentum of a locomotive.
A deer galloped toward Vanessa from the other side.
From a branch above, a serpent uncoiled and dropped toward Vanessa’s back.
She ignored both the deer and the serpent.
Her eyes remained fixed on the boar.
A bowstring snapped.
The serpent twisted in the air as an arrow entered its open mouth and burst through the back of its skull.
A second arrow followed.
It buried itself in the deer’s eye.
The animal collapsed and slid across the dirt, stopping less than a meter behind Vanessa.
On a nearby treetop, Felicia already had another arrow resting against her bowstring.
Vanessa did not look back.
There wasn’t a need to.
The two had fought beside one another for a few years now.
Felicia handled everything that entered her blind spot while Vanessa charged through the front.
The boar closed the remaining distance.
Vanessa planted her rear heel and lowered her spear.
The boar struck the point.
The shaft bowed between them.
Dirt tore beneath Vanessa’s boots as the impact pushed her backward. Her arms trembled, but she did not release the weapon.
She twisted her waist and drove the spearhead deeper.
The boar’s own momentum carried the blade through its skull.
Blood burst from beneath its jaw.
Its squeal became a wet, broken noise.
Vanessa thrust the back of the shaft and it plunged through its body like a skewer in meat.
The bloodied spear emerged outside but the carcass thundered past her.
It ploughed across the road and smashed into a handcart, pushing a villager onto the dirt.
Wood shattered.
The villagers screamed and split around the body.
Three wolves emerged from behind the wreckage.
Felicia released one arrow.
It entered the throat of the first wolf.
Vanessa swung her spear horizontally.
The shaft struck the second wolf across the jaw, throwing it into the third. Before either could recover, she reversed her grip and drove the spear down through both bodies.
A fourth wolf came from the side.
Its claws tore through Vanessa’s sleeve and opened three lines across her upper arm.
She did not react.
Her spear pierced beneath its chin.
The point emerged from the top of its skull.
Vanessa kicked the corpse free.
Blood ran along her arm and dripped from her fingertips.
She did not appear to notice.
Halfway from the gate, the mounted Railguards reached the fleeing villagers.
"Abandon furniture and tools!" one of them shouted. "Carry food, medicine, and children!"
Several villagers hesitated beside their carts.
"Leave them!" the Railguard roared. "You can replace a table! You cannot replace your life!"
A wheel struck a deep rut and broke apart.
The cart tipped.
Sacks of grain spilled onto the road as two children slid from the luggage piled above it.
The children cried.
Their mother screamed.
A rider leaned from his saddle and caught one child beneath the arms.
Another Railguard seized the second and pulled him against his chest.
"Children to the riders!" the Captain shouted.
Parents lifted their sons and daughters without stopping.
The children with no guardians were carefully scouted and picked by the efficient Railguards.
Mounted guards took the children and rushed toward the gate.
The elderly and injured continued on foot.
Several former Knight Order knights moved toward the rear of the crowd, forming a defensive line between the villagers and the forest. Their swords flashed as wolves approached, while riflemen fired from behind them.
Gunshots cracked through the trees.
One wolf spun and collapsed.
A bullet struck a serpent’s scales and ricocheted away with a metallic whine.
The serpent lunged.
A knight raised his shield just in time.
Its jaws closed around the metal rim and threw him from his feet.
Two Railguards fired together.
One bullet entered through the creature’s mouth.
The other struck its eye.
The serpent collapsed across the knight’s legs.
"Pull him free!" the captain shouted.
More gunshots followed.
Vincent watched the road through his binoculars.
The first children had entered Copper Town.
Then the pregnant women.
Then several injured villagers supported between Railguards.
But fewer than half of the people had reached the walls.
Standing atop the wall, Vincent ordered.
"Keep the right lane moving!"
"Do not stop inside the gate!"
Anastasia repeated the order to the Captains.
Residents gathering near the entrance were forced back.
More Railguards cleared the road inside Copper Town so that the arriving villagers would not create a bottleneck.
Vincent shifted his binoculars toward Vanessa.
She stood beyond the fallen boar, surrounded by corpses.
Her movements had changed.
At first, every strike had been deliberate.
Now her spear moved faster.
A wolf lunged, and she killed it before its front paws left the ground.
A serpent struck from the grass. Vanessa caught its neck beneath the spearhead, dragged it into the open, and crushed its skull beneath her boot.
Another boar emerged from the trees.
Vanessa stepped toward it.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
Vincent frowned as he found her smile chilling.
Then he saw the blood running down her arm.
She had been injured.
Vanessa gave no indication that she knew.
Vincent’s frown deepened.
"Prepare the bell."
The bell keeper placed both hands around the rope.
"Now, My Lord?"
"Not yet," Vincent added.
A Captain ran toward him.
"My Lord! The first group has entered, but there are more people behind them!"
"How many?"
"At least forty still on the road. Possibly more inside the forest."
Vincent looked north.
Beyond Vanessa, another line of wolves emerged through the trees.
They were a bit more than
Behind them, branches shook as something heavier forced its way through the undergrowth.
Vincent lowered his binoculars.
"Keep the gate open."
The captain hesitated.
More than half of the villagers were already inside.
Keeping it open any longer would result in the monsters rushing alongside the second half of villagers.
"My lord—"
"Keep it open," Vincent repeated. "And clear Vanessa’s retreat."
Vincent was not heartless but the second half of villagers would provide cover while Vanessa retreated.
If the gates closed now, they might scatter and make the monsters place their attention fully onto Vanessa.
Outside the walls, Vanessa pulled her spear from the neck of a wolf.
Blood dripped from her sleeve.
Behind her, the villagers continued running.
Ahead of her, the forest moved again.
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