29: Chapter 29 One Man, One Gun: I Am the Northwest Wall

The beast tide was advancing faster than estimated.

The broadcast said thirty-six hours, but in reality, the vanguard arrived in less than twenty-four.

The first wave charging at the very front was a pack of Bloodthirsty Wolves, mostly 2nd-Rank, with a small number of 3rd-Rank mixed in.

There were at least several hundred of them, howling as they surged over from the wasteland, reaching within three hundred meters of the city wall in a matter of minutes.

The firepower points on the city wall opened fire.

There were six firepower points in the Northwest Section in total; two of them jammed, one had a misaligned sight, and only three could actually fire.

The ballistae fired, blasting down a whole row, but those behind immediately filled the gaps.

"Hold the line! Keep the ballistae firing!"

The temporary Commander of the Po Feng Battalion was a veteran named Commander, a 4th-Rank Great Martial Master who had been hanging around the fortress for four years and was considered a seasoned veteran.

He stood on the city wall, commanding, his voice nearly cracking from shouting.

"What is going on with the third firepower point on the left flank? Did it misfire?"

"Report! The ballista string snapped! The spare one is also broken!"

Commander cursed under his breath.

How bad was the equipment aging in the Northwest Section? The ballista strings were supposed to be replaced last year but weren't, and the spare parts were defective items from inventory. No one cared about them during normal times, but everything was exposed once the beast tide arrived.

The first wave of Bloodthirsty Wolves reached the base of the city wall.

The jumping ability of 3rd-Rank magical beasts was enough for them to leap directly onto the five-meter-high city wall.

When the first Bloodthirsty Wolf climbed onto the wall, the nearest recruit was so scared that he dropped his blade.

The wolf opened its mouth, its fangs gleaming with a cold light.

A long spear swept across horizontally from the side.

The shaft of the dragon gall golden spear struck the Bloodthirsty Wolf's waist, combining the hardness of an S-grade alloy with the arm strength of a 9th-Rank Martial Spirit.

The wolf's body folded into a V-shape in mid-air, its internal organs spewing from its mouth as it flew more than forty meters outside the city wall, slamming into the ground and creating a bloody crater.

The recruit who had dropped his blade stared blankly at the back in front of him.

Li Zhengyang stood on the wall, the dragon gall golden spear held horizontally in front of him.

The second one climbed up; Collapse Technique, the spear tip pierced through the center of the wolf's skull, bringing out a spray of brain matter.

The third, fourth, fifth.

Three spear shadows, too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Five wolf corpses fell off the city wall within three seconds.

"Everyone, retreat ten meters behind me!"

Li Zhengyang roared.

The sound wave, mixed with the pressure of a Martial Spirit Rank, spread out. Regardless of whether the Po Feng Battalion soldiers on the wall heard clearly or not, their legs went weak, and they automatically retreated.

Good, the people had retreated; he had no more constraints.

Qi released.

The Qi of a 9th-Rank Martial Spirit exploded from his body, forming a translucent wall of Qi on top of the city wall, covering the entire front of the Northwest Section, nearly two hundred meters long.

The Bloodthirsty Wolves jumped up and slammed into the Qi wall.

It was just like flies hitting glass.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

More than twenty Bloodthirsty Wolves were bounced off by the Qi wall, falling from the heights onto the piles of rocks outside the city wall; some died on the spot, while others had broken legs and rolled on the ground.

The soldiers on the city wall were all stunned.

Commander was just cursing about the firepower points, but when he turned his head and saw this scene, the cursing got stuck in his throat.

Qi forming a defensive wall?

What kind of realm is this?

Li Zhengyang did not keep the Qi wall up; this thing consumed too much and wasn't worth it.

He withdrew the Qi wall, lifted his spear, and jumped off the city wall.

Jumping outward.

"Is he crazy?!"

"He jumped down! He jumped down alone!"

What was outside the city wall?

It was the incoming beast tide.

Li Zhengyang landed on the open ground five meters outside the city wall, facing the overwhelming army of magical beasts.

He planted the spear tip on the ground, filling it with his blood and Qi.

Three blood grooves lit up simultaneously, their dark golden radiance exceptionally glaring in the dark night.

The first group of Bloodthirsty Wolves pounced over.

Mountain-Splitting Spear Arts, sweep.

With the S-grade weapon combined with the blood and Qi infusion of a 9th-Rank Martial Spirit, the sweeping wave of Qi directly formed a crescent-shaped slash.

The slash cut horizontally, thirty meters wide; wherever it passed, the wolf pack was sliced neatly into two sections.

The upper halves still maintained the posture of pouncing, while the lower halves remained in place, hot blood spraying all over the ground from their severed cavities.

One sweep, more than twenty.

More were still surging from behind.

Li Zhengyang did not retreat but advanced instead, charging into the beast tide with his spear.

Startling Cloud Step could finally be fully utilized in the open area; his figure weaved through the wolf pack, every step landing on the head of a magical beast.

The spear flew up and down.

Collapse Technique was responsible for piercing, Twist Technique for shredding, and the sweep for clearing the field.

The three moves switched seamlessly, the spear momentum continuous and unending.

On the city wall, the Po Feng Battalion soldiers lay on the parapet looking down.

No one spoke.

Because the scene they were witnessing had already exceeded the scope of their cognition.

One man, one spear, standing in the middle of a siege of hundreds of 3rd-Rank magical beasts, slaughtering them in a manner that was almost crushing.

It wasn't a battle.

It was a slaughter.

The pack of Bloodthirsty Wolves collapsed.

No matter how fierce 3rd-Rank magical beasts were, their instincts told them that the person in front of them could not be touched.

The remaining wolves bypassed Li Zhengyang and scattered to the sides.

But larger things followed from behind.

Iron-Armored Bear, five of them.

4th-Rank.

Each was three meters tall, covered in iron-gray armor, moving fortresses within the beast tide.

They did not detour but charged straight toward the city wall.

Li Zhengyang stood directly in front.

The first Iron-Armored Bear pounced in front of him, its two front paws slamming down with the full force of a 4th-Rank magical beast.

Li Zhengyang did not dodge.

He gripped the spear with his right hand and thrust upward.

The spear tip drilled into the center of the bear's paw, followed the forearm all the way up, pierced through the entire leg, and emerged from the shoulder.

The Iron-Armored Bear's wail was deafening.

Li Zhengyang pulled out the spear, stepped on the bear's knee to gain leverage, jumped up, flipped in mid-air, and smashed the spear down from above.

Collapse Technique.

The triangular spearhead of the dragon gall golden spear, along with the Qi, chiseled from the top of the bear's skull all the way to its chin.

The first one, dead.

The second one followed closely, charging over.

Li Zhengyang tipped his toes on the corpse of the first bear, moved sideways with the Startling Cloud Step to avoid the charge, and backhanded a spear thrust into the second one's eye socket.

The third and fourth ones attacked from both sides.

The spear split into two—no, it was the spear speed that was so fast it left afterimages.

One spear thrust pierced the throat on the left, and another pierced the heart on the right.

The fifth one turned and ran.

The long spear left his hand.

It drew an arc in the air and precisely nailed the back of the escaping Iron-Armored Bear's head.

The 106-jin S-grade heavy spear, combined with the throwing power augmented by the Martial Spirit Rank blood and Qi.

The bear's head exploded directly.

The headless corpse ran forward for another ten-plus meters before falling.

Li Zhengyang walked over, stepped on the bear corpse, and pulled out the spear.

On the city wall.

The communicator in Commander's hand dropped to the ground.

A veteran next to him stood with his mouth open, and after a long while, blurted out a sentence.

"Is this f*cking a recruit from the Po Feng Battalion?"

The beast tide was still surging.

But in the Northwest Section, not a single magical beast could cross the line where Li Zhengyang stood.

He just stood outside the city wall, one man, one spear, killing for four whole hours.

The corpses under his feet piled up into a small hill, and the blood merged into streams, flowing along the terrain toward the low-lying areas.

Until the sky turned white at the horizon, the tail of the beast tide finally passed.

Li Zhengyang was soaked in the blood of magical beasts, standing on the mountain of corpses, his spear planted on the ground.

He looked back at the city wall.

The Northwest Section's city wall was intact, and the Po Feng Battalion had zero casualties.

Then his gaze crossed the city wall and landed in the direction of the interior of the fortress.

"Tell me about the casualties in other sections via the broadcast."

Commander picked up the communicator with trembling hands and contacted the headquarters.

Two minutes later, his expression changed.

"The Southeast Section... zero casualties. The East Section and South Section have a dozen or so slightly injured."

"What about the West Section?"

Commander swallowed hard.

"The West Section has thirty-seven dead and twenty-one severely injured. They were all recruits."

The West Section.

The area adjacent to the Northwest Section.

It was also the second location where the Po Feng Battalion recruits were assigned.

Thirty-seven recruits died.

Li Zhengyang vaulted up from outside the city wall.

"What was the defensive configuration of the West Section?"

Commander checked the records, his voice trembling.

"Three firepower points, all malfunctioning. No spare weapons were distributed. Reinforcements... the headquarters did not send any reinforcements."

All malfunctioning, no spares, no reinforcements.

The exact same configuration as the Northwest Section.

The only difference was that the West Section did not have Li Zhengyang.

Li Zhengyang slung his long spear onto his back and strode toward the interior of the fortress.

Commander chased after him for two steps.

"Where are you going?"

"To kill."