The Invincible Full-Moon System - Chapter 1904: To The Last Drop of Blood (3)

“Are we out of our leagues…?”

“I don’t know.”

On a watchtower near the summit of a snowy peak, two dwarves were looking through an advanced spyglass. Both of them have the knack for engineering, more so than the other dwarves, so they were given the safest but really important task.

Keeping a lookout for the crimson horde.

“Let’s assume the worst and say the horde consists of only pseudo tenth-rank realm creatures. With our current arsenal, is it possible to even put up a good fight against them? Because of the Osmalt Ores, we’re quite loaded.”

“If we assume the worst, then we’ll have no chance even with our current arsenal. Stalling is possible, but winning? Total blockade? That’s not going to be possible.”

“I think you’re underestimating the Osmalt Ores.”

“And you’re underestimating the empire’s enemy. Before this, it was the Fifthborn, remember?”

A rough, helpless chuckle escaped the optimistic dwarf’s lips

Even though he wouldn’t be on the frontline with the others, cold feet still crept in and seeped into his bones. He wanted reassurance from his friend, the genius who had an input in every design that would be deployed tonight.

But apparently, genius didn’t come with emotional intelligence.

“Can you say something ho—”

“Ayee—! It’s coming! Forty kilometers northwest! Sound the trumpet!”

Snapping from his daze, the optimistic dwarf took the big trumpet beside him and blew hard.

Its heavy honk reverberated through the air, covering the entire kingdom like a thunderous bell.

“Northwest!” the genius dwarf shouted at another dwarf below. “Northwest, three minutes!”

Almost instantly, chaos erupted.

News about the incoming horde spread like wildfire. Every dwarven unit that was ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice snapped to battle-ready attention. Machines growled to life. Thousands of metal boots struck stone in unison, and the ground shook beneath them.

At the foot of the tallest peak, right outside the wall, the stone slope cracked.

Crash—!

It exploded open as a creature forced its way out and unleashed a devastating roar.

A thirty-foot ice bear loomed into view, its fur so thick that each strand hung half the length of a grown man. Claws the size of human bodies gleamed with dark ice armor—that also encased its vital organs. From its skull swept two deep-blue horns of ice, curving back toward its nape.

And with it came the will of the blizzard.

Just its appearance alone made the snow fall harsher.

An Order Beast, without a doubt.

Riding this incredible beast is King Huvuki, holding a massive ice hammer that he raised skyward.

“Charge!”

Crash—!

Crash—!

A hundred war beasts also burst from the mountain, following King Huvuki closely behind.

Each one of them was dragging along a massive sled that could carry a few hundred dwarves in armor, all pounding their fists against their steel chest plates, creating a metallic collective sound of a menacing army marching to battle.

Dragged behind the sleds were chains interlinked into a massive steel net—a fishnet of iron forged by the best craftsman, its mesh wide and heavy. Given the folds of chainmail woven through it—and the sheer length of the chains, the net could easily blanket an extremely wide area.

And right behind, the mountain peak erupted.

An earthquake spread across the entire kingdom as thousands of Dwarves, Elves, and Dark Elves aided one another to push up a massive cannon with a barrel the size of a house. Each part of the cannon was infused with runes with the goal of enduring the massive power output that it would fire and not break.

From afar, it looked like a dragon emerging from the summit.

Its body is seething with lustrous energy that distorts the air.

Miles away, the Tigerman also spotted the horde.

Maraka, the Champion of the Beast, stood in front of the army with dominating stillness.

Beside him, several Tigermen slammed a steel hammer against a shoulder, driving the pauldron perfectly into place—the final piece. He was now finally complete; the peak of genetic perfection, armed with the best of the Tigerman’s resources.

His entire frame was draped in crimson light armor and traditional sashes.

Both heirlooms were passed down from the Ancient Era.

Each one enhanced his strength past the limit and completed him as the Champion of the Beast.

And with its completion, he gained the Aura of Champion Tiger.

His heart beat as one with nature and his kin behind him.

Everyone’s strength was elevated within his vicinity, and now, it was time to wage war.

“Let’s go.”

Boom—!

Like a comet, Maraka charged ahead, leading the army as he went straight to the crimson clouds in the distance. Because of their kingdom’s betrayal, the Tigerman race is on the back foot within the empire, and as a race that isn’t even at the higher echelon of the middle-ranking Supernatural races, nobody expected anything from them.

Maraka will change it tonight.

He’ll place the Tigerman Race on the radar again.

Gripping the replica of the Amuerus Katana, he charged it with energy and dragged its edge against the ground as he ran, carving a blazing trail of heat into the earth, a signal for his army to follow. ’The debt will be paid tonight!’

Swoosh—!

Both armies approached the horde at a rapid pace.

Bordering on each other’s territory made it easy for their armies to link up like this.

Even the trumpet from the Dwarves could be faintly heard all the way in the Tigerman Kingdom. That’s how close the two kingdoms were. Tension builds constantly between them—but right now, against the horde, that became an advantage.

King Huvuki and Maraka arrived at the place that the two had agreed would become the choke point.

“I was expecting your king.”

“I am representing the king.”

“I heard what you’re going to do, and it sounded like a fantasy. Can you really do it?”

“Just do your task, and I’ll do mine.”

Not even heeding the taunt, Maraka advanced toward the approaching crimson clouds with confident steps. He reached deep into the deepest part of him and drew forth his energy—channeling slowly into his right arm.

Red force coiled around the limb like a serpent, and his muscles swelled larger.

So much so that they strained against his skin.

Maraka raised his fist skyward, and it suddenly burned bright like it was blazing with orange flames.

“Nature, listen to my voice… Make way for me this one time.”

Once he was ready, he grunted roughly and drove his fist into the ground with violent strength.

CRACK—!

King Huvuki watched the motion and could feel the energy shoot deep into the earth’s crust. Far deeper than even his expectations. Nature is now stronger within the Second Breath, and yet, Maraka’s energy managed to pierce through very deeply.

It was astonishing.

Smiling, King Huvuki got down from the giant ice bear and also channeled his energy.

He stood beside Maraka and slammed his palms against the earth.

A thunderous crack echoed as the ground split in a straight line, and then curved, making the shape of a flat bowl that swallowed an enormous chunk of land. Making this scar on the earth would be impossible, or at least it would be impossible normally.

But Maraka’s cut to the earth allowed King Huvuki to let his energy shoot deep.

Swoosh—!

Both of them raised their arms to cover from a sudden rush of crimson energy.

One that shot a shiver down their spines.

Growls and the sound of beasts marching reached their ears as the crimson horde approached.

“I don’t think the trap would be enough,” Maraka said, as he now saw a glimpse of the monsters. All of them radiated an aura that almost surpassed him and King Huvuki, and that’s not a good sign. “More. Make it deeper.”

King Huvuki agreed.

He used his affinity to the earth and spread his arms, summoning a massive wall of stone directly behind the scar on the earth. Everything around shook hard as the wall of stone climbed higher and higher, and drained his energy rapidly.

But he kept going, knowing that going overkill is better than regretting not making it higher.

Maraka leaped onto the stone wall as it rose, keeping his eyes on the crimson wolf.

’It doesn’t seem like they were going to circle around us,’ He thought, nodding with quiet satisfaction. The King and King Huvuki had counted on this. Sent by the Blood Moon, the horde should be arrogant enough to never stray from their path, and they had been right. ’Now, let’s see if this plan of ours actually makes a difference.’

Soon, the armies came.

Most of the Tigermen prepared the metal fishnet at a distance away from the stone wall.

As the side with the stronger physical strength, they would be the ones handling the metal fishnet.

On the other hand, the Dwarves were mostly molding the stone wall, fortifying it with their own energy and engraving runes into its surface. Their rune engraving technique is not like the norm at all. Rather than carving the runes directly into the stone, they etched them onto the blunt side of their war hammers.

Then, with mighty swings, they slammed the hammers into the wall.

It branded the stone with runes as if searching flesh.

But the unique part was that they could do it multiple times.

One rune can be hammered more than ten times, making it a bit stronger with each hit.

Preparing in advance before the crimson horde drew near would have been ideal. But none of the scouts sent to pinpoint the horde’s location and direction ever returned. Now, as King Huvuki watched some of his dwarves collapse to their knees, chests heaving, the truth settled over him like a shroud.

He understood why the scouts didn’t come back.

“The horde is instilling madness in anything that gets in its way…” He murmured in worry.

If some of them lost it, then things would get messy behind the wall.

Fortunately, the Dark Elves and Elves that were mining expected this to happen.

All those who came have a spell that could fortify the mind.

Some amongst them are even Mind Elementalists, helping their spells connect to the armies better.

“How much longer?” King Huvuki asked one of his generals.

“A minute or maybe a little bit more,” the general answered—but he doesn’t sound certain. He couldn’t find out exactly how much longer it would take for the stone wall to be fully fortified. “No. More than one minute. We need more time.’

“How far?!” King Huvuki asked with a shout.

“Thirty seconds!” Maraka shouted back. His entire body was now already seething, ready to fight.

“Half a minute?” King Huvuki gritted his teeth and turned toward the tallest mountain. He had no choice now. The cannon had to be fired—even if only to slow the horde. It wasn’t ideal. But war had no patience for idealism.

Unexpected variable is the name of the game, and he’s not going to hesitate or fail to set up the trap.

Just as he was about to make the signal, Maraka stopped him.

“Hold on!” He roared, staring at the crimson horde. “Someone is coming!”

Crash—!

Before King Huvuki could even answer, something crashed not too far from his position.

Everyone was alerted, grabbing their weapon out of trained instinct in case it was an enemy.

It wasn’t an enemy.

“Lord… Kyran?” King Huvuki’s eyes widened, recognizing this person almost instantly.

However, he was utterly stunned when he saw tears drizzling down Kyran’s face. His entire body was mangled and wounded, and he seemed to be in excruciating pain. Of course, the powerful regeneration of a werewolf started to mend him, but it’s barely enough.

It was so bad that blood fell from his mouth in sizeable drips.

Kyran panted heavily and raised his arms.

Slowly, he began encasing the stone wall with ice, helping the dwarves and tigermen to fortify it.

“Help me…” He whispered faintly as he stared at King Huvuki.