The arriving Captains and Commanders had barely crossed the breached wall when another group of wolves rushed toward them.
The Northern and Southern Commanders moved first.
The Northern Commander’s sword entered through one wolf’s mouth and came out from the back of its neck. The creature collapsed before him while the Captains spread out and killed the remaining monsters.
The Southern Commander cut off a deer’s path, and his Captains ensured no monster entered the slums.
Vincent watched their formation from behind the children.
These men were exhausted and their uniforms were covered in blood, but they were still far more experienced than the Railguards fighting throughout the slums.
’They are already swarmed by monsters. But they don’t know that all the monsters aren’t so hostile. A few of them can be sent elsewhere...’
Vincent glanced toward the damaged house.
The four Railguards he sent to save Elliot had only just reached the entrance. Two wolves moved along the street behind them while something large pushed against the collapsed wall.
There was no time to think for long.
"Knights!"
The former Knight Order knights turned to Vincent.
The Grand Commander rushed to Vincent’s side.
"Your orders, My Lord," he placed a hand over his chest and said.
Vincent pointed toward the damaged house. "There’s a six-year-old child trapped inside. Send a few men to help the Railguards."
The Grand Commander nodded and called for a few Captains.
The Captains along with the Northern Commander made their way toward the Grand Commander.
The Grand Commander issued the order and the men looked toward the house.
One of them frowned and turned to Vincent. "My Lord, the breach should be our first priority."
Before Vincent could answer, the Northern Commander placed his sword against the Captain’s neck.
"Did His Lordship ask for your opinion?"
A thin line of blood leaked from his neck. The Captain gulped visibly and dared not speak.
The others shut up as well.
"Leave the child’s safety to me, My Lord," the Northern Commander said and immediately left with the men.
Vincent was slightly surprised to see the competency of this group.
The Grand Commander stood by his side. "Please let me guard you, My Lord."
Vincent shook his head and pointed toward the slums.
"The Railguards are having trouble evacuating the people. With everyone fighting against the breach, monsters won’t come near me. You need to ensure..."
Vincent explained the behavior of these monsters. They only attacked if someone was in their way.
The place he was currently in was quite safe with everyone keeping the monsters away.
The residents could be saved, so they should be saved.
Vincent turned toward the rest.
"Let one person take the main road and hold the breach with the Railguards."
"Four can spread across the alleys and stop anything moving toward the evacuation route. Two more can help get the residents out."
He then pointed toward the scale-piercers being carried nearby.
"Those are effective against the snakes and anything with scales. Don’t waste them against wolves."
The Grand Commander listened without interrupting.
"I understand," he said with a nod. "But you’re in a vulnerable position, so it’s my humble request to please retreat the moment you feel a threat or shout for help."
"Don’t worry about me," Vincent said and urged him to leave.
The Grand Commander left after giving a respectful bow.
Vincent saw him move the knights and felt slightly relieved.
The arrival of these Commanders and Captains made an immediate difference.
Rifle formations replaced the scattered shooting near the breach. Knights moved between the Railguards and struck down the monsters that reached the barricades. Orders passed through the streets faster, and residents who had refused to leave were dragged from their homes.
The four Railguards reached the damaged house.
One kicked through the broken door while two others held the wolves back. The Captains arrived soon after and cleared the street.
Vincent stayed with the children.
The little girl clutched the edge of his coat and stared at the house without blinking.
A minute passed.
Then another.
The Railguards and the Northern Commander finally appeared through the smoke. A small boy was held against the Northern Commander’s chest.
"Elliot!"
The girl released Vincent and ran forward.
The Northern Commander lowered the child.
Elliot coughed and was covered in soot, but he was alive.
His sister crashed into him and hugged him hard enough to make both of them fall.
The children around Vincent rushed toward the two.
Vincent felt the tension leave his shoulders.
’At least something went right tonight.’
The moment this thought appeared, a deep rumble came from the western wall.
Stone cracked.
The section beside the original breach tilted inward.
"Move!" someone shouted.
The wall collapsed.
Dust swallowed the street.
A much wider opening appeared between the slums and the monster tide outside. Wolves and boars rushed through first, followed by serpents and creatures large enough to scrape against the remaining walls.
The newly formed lines broke almost immediately.
"Fall back to the second barricade!"
"Protect the evacuation road!"
"Bring more scale-piercers!"
The Northern Commander’s voice resounded through the streets.
’Son of a bitch! I definitely raised a flag there!’ Vincent cursed himself.
He turned toward the Railguards and pointed at the children.
"Take them east!"
Two Railguards led them away while Vincent moved closer to the second barricade.
The Captains and Commanders were fighting everywhere.
One Commander held the main street with a group of knights. Another had been forced into an alley after a scaled boar broke through the first line.
The Northern Commander immediately moved between both positions, helping whichever group was about to fall.
Even with them, there were too many monsters.
A burning roof collapsed across the eastern road.
Residents screamed and changed direction.
A wagon overturned on the southern path and blocked half the street. The people behind it tried to push through, creating a bottleneck.
Vincent looked around.
"Move the wagon!"
"We don’t have enough men, My Lord!"
"Then break it apart!"
Railguards struck the wheels and wooden frame with axes.
Another howl resounded nearby.
Vincent turned and saw Anastasia in the middle of the street.
She had moved toward a group of orphans and injured residents trapped behind the collapsed roof.
Wolves surrounded them from three sides.
Anastasia’s sword moved.
A pale trace appeared across a wolf’s chest.
She repeated the movement.
The second slash should have followed the first, but the trace shifted to the side. The blade only cut through the wolf’s shoulder.
Anastasia frowned.
She tried again.
Another monster entered the space between her and the civilians.
She killed it, but two serpents appeared from behind the buildings. Every time she cleared one direction, something else blocked another.
’What’s happening to her?’
Vincent had seen Anastasia kill the earlier monsters without much trouble. Her movements were still fast, but nothing connected the way it had before.
More importantly, she was moving farther from the trapped residents instead of closer to him.
A massive creature pushed through the breach.
It resembled a bear, but dark scales covered its front and a pair of bone horns curved from its shoulders. Each step cracked the road beneath it.
The beast turned toward the trapped group.
Anastasia saw it too.
"Young master, retreat!"
She saw Vincent from the corner of her eyes and shouted.
She tried to move toward Vincent and the residents.
A serpent erupted from beneath the broken road and forced her back.
The Northern Commander and the Captains noticed the creature, but they were all too far away. Even if they abandoned their positions and ran, the beast would reach the children first.
Vincent’s heart pounded.
"Shoot it!"
The nearby Railguards fired.
Bullets bounced off the scales.
A scale-piercer struck its shoulder and shattered before entering deep enough.
The creature continued forward.
Vincent looked at Anastasia.
She was surrounded now.
Blood stained one of her sleeves. Her sword traces kept shifting away from each other while wolves and serpents pressed closer.
Behind her, the children cried.
’Fuck! I gotta do something!’
There wasn’t anyone to send to her rescue. It was either him or her death!
Vincent reached into his storage pouch and pulled out the axe Vanessa gave him.
The weapon felt heavier than he remembered.
He could barely hold it properly with both hands.
"C’mon, c’mon! I know the technique! Do something! Do something!"
The dream of splitting a mountain appeared in his mind.
His shoulder turned faintly.
His waist followed.
The movement stopped before it began.
He knew the slash.
His body did not.
The horned beast lowered its head and charged toward Anastasia and the children.
Vincent’s hands tightened around the axe.
’Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! System, why is the fragment not working!?’
A line of red appeared before his eyes.
[The memory fragment can only bring instincts and understanding, but the technique cannot be performed without proper training and adaptation.]
Vincent almost fell into despair.
The system wasn’t done and new lines of text appeared followed by the mechanical voice speaking in his head.
[If the host is desperate to use the technique, then the body can be temporarily adapted.]
’How?’
[Fate Resonance can be used with the Martial Memory Fragment.]
[Compatible subject: Vanessa D’Arc.]
Vincent froze.
’Fate Resonance?’
The skill he had selected during the starter pack.
The skill he had forgotten after one crisis followed another.
’You could’ve reminded me earlier!’
[The Host did not ask.]
’You useless piece of—just activate it!’
[Warning!]
[Due to low Entanglement with your sister Vanessa D’Arc coupled with insufficient physical capabilities — Chaotic Fate Resonance would result in severe bodily damage.]
[Does the host still wish to proceed? (Y/N)]
The horned beast was almost upon them.
Anastasia turned and placed herself before the children.
Vincent stopped reading.
’Fucking do it!’
For an instant, everything became silent.
A crimson thread appeared within Vincent’s soul.
It stretched beyond the streets, beyond the walls, and connected to someone resting inside the guardroom.
Vanessa felt a strange stir inside her soul and jolted awake.
Back at the slums, Vincent’s body heated up.
His grip changed.
His left hand slid lower on the handle. His feet moved apart. His knees bent slightly while the axe rested beside him.
The weapon was still heavy.
But his body now understood how to carry its weight.
A savage intent travelled through the connection.
At this moment Vincent understood Vanessa’s ability completely.
Isolation, superior numbers, and stronger enemies—conditions that would weaken an ordinary fighter—drew out greater combat efficiency from her instead.
She does get an ability advantage but responds to the disadvantage and makes the battle itself turn in her favor!
That causality entered Vincent’s body alongside years of experience with an axe.
Then came the memory.
A village beneath a mountain.
An axe raised toward the sky.
A shoulder turning.
A waist twisting.
A lifetime condensed into a single movement.
The horned beast reached Anastasia.
She raised her sword.
Vincent stepped forward.
His muscles screamed.
Blood vessels burst beneath his skin.
The axe rose.
Everyone nearby felt something change.
The Northern Commander turned.
The Grand Commander turned.
The Captains stopped for half a second.
Anastasia’s eyes widened as Vincent’s small figure appeared beyond the monsters.
"Get down!" he shouted.
Anastasia instinctively followed orders and grabbed the closest children and threw herself over the many nearby.
Vincent swung.
There was no explosion.
No thunder.
Only a thin white line passing through the night.
The horned beast stopped.
The wolves and serpents behind it stopped as well.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the beast split from its horn to its stomach.
The street behind it opened.
Blood erupted from every monster caught within the white line. Walls cracked, carts broke apart, and the remaining section of collapsed roof was cut cleanly in two.
The force continued beyond the breach.
A long scar appeared across the earth outside Copper Town, dividing the monster tide and stretching into the darkness.
Silence fell over the western slums.
The two halves of the horned beast collapsed in different directions.
Anastasia slowly raised her head.
The children beneath her were alive.
The path leading toward the evacuation road was clear.
Vincent stood at the other end with the axe still extended.
A crack appeared across its blade.
Then another.
The axe shattered.
Its fragments fell onto the road.
Vincent looked at them.
’Looks like I need to beg mom for another...’
The thought barely finished when his fingers lost all strength.
Blood ran from his nose.
Something tore inside both shoulders.
His knees buckled.
Vincent staggered and could not hear the people shouting his name anymore.
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