106: Chapter 106 She is the Shield of Light

On the western defense line, the Beast Tide was like an endless black torrent.

Murong Xue's cavalry unit had already charged three times, and her silver armor was covered in the blood of Savage Beasts.

The deep crimson blood of the Savage Beasts bloomed on her silver armor like red plum blossoms, as if the wildest red had been splashed onto a silver canvas; each red plum blossom represented the cost of a fallen Savage Beast.

Her Barbarian Horned Horse had also sustained light injuries, with several bloody claw marks from Savage Beasts on its grayish-brown fur. The Barbarian Horned Horse's hooves slipped on the mud soaked with the blood of Savage Beasts, but Murong Xue did not retreat.

Her breathing had become noticeably heavy after three charges. Beneath the silver armor, her fit, athletic body was like a furnace wrapped in silver, with heat steaming out from the gaps in the armor, as if a mass of magma about to erupt was hidden beneath the silver plating.

Sweat slid down her slender neck, dripping into the hollow of her collarbone like dew falling onto silver petals. Her collarbones resembled two shallow crescent moons, faintly visible through the gaps in the silver armor, and sweat gathered in the crescent-like hollows, as if the clearest water were held in a silver basin.

Her breastplate heaved violently; with every breath, it was as if silver mountains were rising and falling in the morning breeze. The full, upright contours beneath the silver armor were like two peaks ignited by the flames of war, and every breath caused the silver armor to tremble slightly, as if a silver tide were struggling between the ebb and flow.

The abdominal muscles beneath her waist armor were like the most intricate patterns of the silver armor, faintly visible as she bent. Her slender waist was like a silver willow branch that bent but did not break in the storm of brute force; every inch was filled with power, but that power was fading.

The consumption from the three charges was nearing her limit; after the three charges, less than thirty percent of her Barbarian Warrior Level 3 spiritual energy remained.

The Beast Tide came wave after wave, just like black ocean waves crashing against a reef, and Murong Xue was that reef.

Her Holy Light Spear was like silver lightning in the blood of the Savage Beasts. Thrust, parry, sweep, slash—every movement remained clean and efficient, as if a silver blade were carving countless silver arcs of light through the Beast Tide. However, the tip of her spear was trembling slightly; it was not fear, but exhaustion.

Just as the western battle reached a stalemate, Zhao Linger's Spirit Sound Affinity captured a new movement.

"The north! A group of Savage Beasts has bypassed the western defense line and is coming around from the upper reaches of the Lingxi River!"

Zhao Linger's voice, coming through the communication spirit stone, was filled with gasps and the background roar of Savage Beasts, like a silver thread trembling in a storm.

She lay on the watchtower of the defensive wall, her big, round eyes bloodshot. The price of maintaining Spirit Sound Affinity for nearly seven hours made her pale, doll-like face appear as if the finest brush had drawn more cracks on white porcelain, yet her voice remained as precise as the most rigorous performance of a Spirit Sound Master.

There was no defensive wall on the north side, only the Lingxi River acting as a natural barrier, but the Water-type Barbarian Beasts in the Beast Tide could cross the river directly.

A dozen Water-type Barbarian Beasts had already crossed the Lingxi River and were charging toward the north side of Guangming Village, like enemy troops bypassing the main position to flank from the side.

Murong Xue received the news and pulled on her Barbarian Horned Horse. The Barbarian Horned Horse panted in the pool of blood, its thick hooves leaving deep prints in the mud soaked with the blood of Savage Beasts.

She turned back. Her silver-armored, blood-stained figure stood out against the black background of the Beast Tide like a silver statue of a war god, but a flicker of emotion she had never shown on the battlefield flashed across her brown eyes.

Hesitation.

Only for an instant.

She took a deep breath; her chest beneath the breastplate rose and fell sharply with the deep inhalation, and the curve of her blood-stained silver armor resembled a silver rose blooming amidst the flames of war in the morning light.

Her voice was no longer its usual brisk, heroic self, but was like a silver spear—cold and firm.

"The cavalry unit will continue to support the west. Only one person is needed to hold the ferry crossing in the north."

"Murong Xue, you're alone." Xiao Yuqing's voice in the communication spirit stone carried worry. The Rainstorm Archer's neat short hair fluttered in the morning breeze, and her arm drawing the bow paused for an instant, as if the bowstring had been pressed by an invisible hand.

"I can do it."

She turned the Barbarian Horned Horse and charged toward the north.

Her silver armor became a suit of armor woven with flowing crimson and silver-white from the blood of the Savage Beasts. The Barbarian Horned Horse's hooves crushed the corpses of the Savage Beasts in the west, and she streaked toward the upper reaches of the Lingxi River like a silver meteor.

Her silver armor was covered in a mixture of Savage Beast blood and sweat. Her breastplate heaved violently with the running of the Barbarian Horned Horse, like a silver tide struggling between ebb and flow. The full, upright contours beneath the silver armor resembled silver mountain ranges tempered by the flames of war; every time the Barbarian Horned Horse kicked off the ground, her body bounced slightly, like waves of a silver tide one after another. Her waist armor accentuated the slender curve, like a silver willow branch that bent but did not break in the flames of war; the abdominal muscles were like the most intricate patterns through the gaps of the silver armor. The leg armor wrapped around her long, powerful legs, and every time the Barbarian Horned Horse kicked off, her thighs clamped onto the horse's belly like silver iron tongs, immovable as forged silver.

North Gate, Lingxi River ferry crossing.

When Murong Xue arrived at the Lingxi River ferry crossing, a dozen Water-type Barbarian Beasts had already crossed the river.

The surface of the Lingxi River was like a shattered silver mirror in the morning light; the spray stirred up by the Water-type Barbarian Beasts as they crossed was like dark purple ink smearing across the silver mirror. The dark purple vertical pupils in their eyes were like ghost fires rising from the abyss, gleaming with an ominous, cold light in the morning sun.

She vaulted off her horse, holding the Holy Light Spear horizontally in front of her.

Her silver armor cast a reflection of silver-white on the river surface, as if moonlight had fallen into the Lingxi River, creating a scroll of interwoven silver and deep crimson within the mixture of Savage Beast blood and sweat.

She stood at the ferry crossing, her fit, powerful figure like a silver sculpture. The blood of the Savage Beasts and sweat had dyed her silver armor a color interwoven with deep crimson and silver-white, just like the hardest and most beautiful alloy forged from the war god's armor after thousands of hammerings.

The Holy Light Knight's breathing was slightly ragged.

The silver armor's training lining clung to her fit body; sweat soaked through the lining, appearing like a second layer of skin, hugging every inch of her flesh.

Sweat slid down her slender neck, dripping into the hollow of her collarbone like dew falling onto silver petals, sliding along the curve of her collarbone toward the gaps in the breastplate, like the finest silver thread flowing between silver mountains.

Her breastplate heaved violently, the full, upright contours beneath the silver armor resembling two peaks ignited by the flames of war. Every breath caused the silver armor to tremble slightly, like a silver tide struggling between ebb and flow, and sweat flowed through the gaps in the breastplate like the clearest stream, winding down the curves of her fit body.

The abdominal muscles faintly visible beneath the waist armor were like the most intricate patterns of the silver armor, like meticulously carved lines through the gaps of the silver armor, and the curve of her waist and abdomen was like a silver crescent moon—fit and supple.

Her legs were trembling slightly; the consumption from the three charges was nearing her limit, but her brown eyes were like two burning ambers, appearing like gemstones tempered by the flames of war against the backdrop of Savage Beast blood and sweat—intense and unyielding.

"Come."

She gripped her spear tightly, and silver Holy Light burned at the tip, as if a silver flame had been ignited in the darkness of the Beast Tide.

Her spear was trembling slightly; it was not fear, but physical exhaustion.

After the three charges, less than twenty percent of her Barbarian Warrior Level 3 spiritual energy remained. The silver Holy Light at the tip of her spear was like a candle in the wind, liable to extinguish at any moment, but her hand did not loosen its grip.

A Barbarian Warrior Level 3 Water-type Barbarian Beast lunged at her, its brute force like a black wave.

Murong Xue thrust her spear out, and the Holy Light pierced the Savage Beast's skull. The dark purple vertical pupils regained the savage luster unique to Savage Beasts in the moment of death, as if a gemstone soaked in shadow had revealed its most authentic color before shattering. The blood of the Savage Beast flowed down the silver shaft of the spear, like red silk playing the heaviest note on a silver string.

The second one. A sweep. The silver arc of light severed the Savage Beast's forelimbs, and the blood of the Savage Beast was like black rain in the morning light, splashing onto her silver armor, just like another red plum blossom splashed onto the silver canvas.

The third one. A parry. The Holy Light tossed the Savage Beast into the air, as if the silver spear had carved another silver arc of light through the Beast Tide.

The fourth one... The fifth one...

She didn't know how many she had killed; she only knew that if she took one step back, the defense line of the Lingxi River would collapse, the Savage Beasts would rush into Guangming Village, and the people in the village...

Wang Sheng... He was fighting Chief Shi Ba alone in the east, his Holy Light Battle Armor was already covered in cracks, and his spiritual energy was more than half depleted. She could not let him be distracted by worrying about the north.

She had to hold the line. Not as a duty of a Holy Light Knight, but as...

The person she wanted to protect was somewhere behind her, guarding the same land in a way even more difficult than her own.

Her spear was trembling. The silver Holy Light at the tip of her spear was like a candle in the wind, liable to extinguish at any moment.

Her legs were trembling; the consumption from the three charges plus holding the North Gate alone had pushed her to her limit, like a bowstring drawn to its absolute maximum—if it were pulled even a hair's breadth more, it would snap.

There were already seven claw marks on her silver armor, the three deepest ones on her left shoulder. Silver fragments peeled off like petals, revealing the white lining soaked with sweat beneath, but she did not retreat a single step.

Her feet seemed to be nailed to the stone slabs of the Lingxi River ferry crossing, and the blood of the Savage Beasts gathered into shallow puddles beneath her, reflecting her figure standing with her spear, clad in blood-stained silver armor—like the loneliest and most resolute sentry under the moonlight.

Blood-stained silver armor... a forest of spears.

She was the only shield on the north side of Guangming Village.