Chapter 1079 - 514

As the warm sunlight fell upon the face of Knight Blais, he remained in a daze long after stepping out of his room.

He wondered, "Did I really survive?"

Yet the people and scenery around him were so vivid, almost as if he had returned to his hometown of Wild Wolf City.

"Make way!"

Medical staff carried a stretcher through the doors of the infirmary. Further down the street, though pedestrians were sparse, a few people could be seen walking under the eaves, conversing in hushed tones.

Blais’s injuries were not severe. To be precise, the doctor had simply diagnosed him with extreme physical exhaustion. With a period of rest and recovery, his body would return to its peak condition. Therefore, seeing his insistence on leaving the sickbed, the doctor had only offered a few mild words of dissuasion before letting him go.

Walking the streets once more, he felt a momentary sense of disorientation.

"Blais! Why are you out of bed?"

It wasn’t until a familiar female voice rang out behind him that he snapped out of his trance. He turned around. Sure enough, a familiar face greeted his eyes. It was Vera, a fellow female Knight from his hometown and a member of his squad.

"I was just about to visit your ward to check on you." The Knight strode over briskly and reached out to support him.

"The doctor said I wasn’t badly hurt." Seeing his comrade, a visible wave of relief washed over Blais’s face. "Thank the gods you’re all safe too." After a moment of hesitation, he asked in a low voice, "By the way, how are Burn and Harrison?"

"Don’t worry, they’re both fine. They should be resting in their inn rooms." As if guessing what was on Blais’s mind, Vera gave him a straightforward answer. Her words set his anxious mind completely at ease.

"That’s good. That’s good." Blais let out a long sigh, a heavy weight finally lifting off his chest.

As for their captain, who had had half his body devoured by that giant worm earlier, he didn’t ask. He knew that under those circumstances, unless a god descended to the mortal realm, there was absolutely no chance of their captain surviving. After all, half of his body had been bitten off on the spot.

"By the way, who was that Dragon-man that saved us at the very end last night?" The doctor from earlier hadn’t seemed to know the specifics, forcing him to suppress his curiosity in the ward. Now that he had reunited with a teammate, he couldn’t help but ask.

"That was Lord Gauss, the commander of the Red Dragon Team. Furthermore, he isn’t a Dragon-man. Those wings are likely just a special ability of his."

Blais froze for a moment upon hearing this answer. Associating it with the name ’Red Dragon Team,’ he vaguely felt that the man’s name sounded familiar. He must have heard it through some channel back when they were in the Ancestral Province.

"There’s an ability like that?" He was still somewhat skeptical about the wings. From what he had observed at the time, those wings were truly made of flesh and blood, as vivid and natural as a normal human’s arms and legs.

However, seeing Vera so certain, he didn’t find it appropriate to argue. After all, he had passed out shortly after the encounter.

"Walk with me for a bit." Blais canceled his plan to report their intelligence. He knew that Vera and the others must have already recounted the movements of the massive monster tide surging from the Giant Tooth Highlands to the local commander in full detail.

As the two walked down the street, visible signs of war damage could be seen on the town’s roads and buildings, though it wasn’t severe overall.

"Has this place not been dragged into the war yet?" Blais asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Judging by the scene at the infirmary earlier, he felt the town shouldn’t be in a state of peace. Yet, the conditions on the streets were far less dire than one would expect during wartime. Civilians were even beginning to venture out in small numbers to purchase supplies. It looked more like an ordinary town under martial law.

"No, this place has been embroiled in war for several days now," Vera said, shaking her head. "Currently, the main monsters attacking here come from the nearby Jade Forest.

"It’s just that the local commander, Gauss, and his Red Dragon Team were exceptionally well-prepared, so the monster tide hasn’t caused much destruction within the city."

Since staying in this town temporarily concerned her own safety, Vera had spoken with ordinary Adventurers and soldiers about the town’s recent history after reporting her intelligence. Coupled with her own patrol of the city, she was astounded by both the sheer volume of monster materials constantly being hauled in from the wilderness for processing and the number of defense personnel stationed in the town.

In her eyes, the estimated size of the monster tide based on the corpses was completely disproportionate to the number of defenders. Logically speaking, even if they could hold the line by relying on favorable terrain, the city shouldn’t be as peaceful and intact as it currently was.

Therefore, the only explanation was exactly what those reverent soldiers described: the man named Gauss possessed terrifying strength. The power he had displayed when rescuing them last night was merely the tip of the iceberg.

Later, she had stopped an Adventurer to ask for more information about Gauss. She had only done so on a whim, never expecting the enthusiastic Adventurer to rattle off Gauss’s exploits with practiced ease, recounting them endlessly.

She finally understood Gauss’s level of strength and the reason he had appeared in this unremarkable little stone town.

Vera led Blais up the city wall. Both the wall and the area outside had just endured a battle. Looking down from their vantage point, the moat, the base of the wall, and the plains outside were littered with corpses, with severed limbs and scattered remains visible everywhere.

The number of monster corpses was simply staggering. Yet, the soldiers on the wall and the corpse collectors using tools to salvage the bodies wore remarkably calm expressions, clearly accustomed to this sight.