Chapter 51: The Tide Of Monsters Was Over

Leaning against the wall of a ruined house, Adam was breathing heavily. The warm rays of the sun beat down on his wounded body, but they couldn’t dispel the cold that seeped from within. His vision darkened at times, fading in brief intervals that forced him to fight to stay conscious.

Moments earlier, he had been lying on the ground, unable even to move his fingers. Not even in his most desperate thoughts had he imagined that the system would conceal a function capable of saving him in such a crisis.

With his chest rising and falling irregularly, ignoring the pain that ran through every muscle, he checked the notification floating in front of his eyes again.

The message remained there.

[Do you wish to summon the hero Asterin?]

[Yes/No]

[Note: Currently, your strength is insufficient for a full summoning. The estimated duration is ten seconds.]

A crooked smile appeared on his lips.

When he was strong enough, he could summon Asterin permanently. Just imagining it was enough to understand the weight of that possibility. With someone of that caliber at his side, many of the current threats would cease to be problems… and become mere obstacles.

However, what really occupied his mind was not the summoning itself.

It was that image.

The pillar of golden energy that had descended from the sky.

It wasn’t mana. He was sure of that. Mana had texture, flow, a familiar vibration. That energy was different. Purer. Denser. More… absolute.

He didn’t know what it was.

But he knew it surpassed the mana everyone else used.

The pain returned in waves.

His breathing became irregular, heavy. His vision began to darken at the edges, as if night were slowly advancing toward the center of his mind.

He tried to stay awake.

He couldn’t.

His eyelids finally gave way, and consciousness faded completely.

…

A few hours later, the rain had completely stopped. However, the metallic smell of blood was the first thing that invaded Lucas’ senses when he returned to the wall.

He removed his armor with trembling hands. As he took off the last piece, the cold air hit his open skin: cuts, bruises, and dried blood covered his torso. He didn’t know how much of it really belonged to him.

He didn’t care either.

The tide of monsters was over.

In front of him, the northern wall remained partially collapsed. Three towers had been reduced to rubble, and the houses closest to the perimeter were charred.

Some still smoldered under the midday sun, as if the battle refused to disappear completely.

Lucas took a deep breath.

“Preliminary report…”

He unfolded the sheet with the damage recorded during the tide. The casualties among the knights had not been devastating.

Fifteen in total.

But the soldiers…

More than a hundred had died defending that land.

Lucas’ fingers clenched tightly around the paper until it crumpled. Many of those names were not just records to him. He had trained with them. He had drunk with them. He had listened to their stories.

He exhaled slowly before continuing to read.

As for the civilians, the exact number of fatalities was still unknown.

He felt a strange weight settle on his chest, heavy and persistent, but he pushed the emotion aside and refocused on the report.

The structural damage was severe. The north wall had been compromised, the main gate was unusable, and several meters around it had deep fractures.

However, all was not lost. The corpses of the rank I, II, and III monsters represented valuable resources.

But the real gains were elsewhere.

The rank V lightning wolf.

The rank IV silver troll.

Only those two creatures could partially compensate for the disaster.

Lucas put his hand to his forehead and frowned. Pain coursed through his entire body; every muscle protested at the slightest movement. He could barely stand upright.

And yet, his mind returned to that final moment.

To the female figure who had descended like a shadow, cutting through the chaos.

If she hadn’t intervened…

They found it hard to believe they were still alive.

He stepped outside for a moment. From there, he could see thin columns of smoke rising from the ruins of the city. Doctors ran back and forth, covered in other people’s blood. Civilians dug through the rubble with their bare hands, searching for something… or someone.

Lucas looked down.

His hands were still shaking.

He didn’t know if it was from the effort.

Or from what he had almost lost.

…

Lying on the bed in his room, Adam slowly opened his eyes.

The pain returned immediately, more intense than before, spreading through his body like rekindled embers. He closed his eyelids and clenched his teeth until the wave subsided enough to allow him to breathe normally. Only then did he let out a long, heavy sigh.

He turned his head.

His fiancée and his mother slept leaning against the edge of the bed, overcome by exhaustion. They remained there as if they feared that, if they moved away for a moment, he might disappear.

A slight smile formed on his lips.

Something had changed.

The fate he remembered, the one in which his mother died after the tide of monsters and the subsequent attack by the kingdom of Kamelot, had not come to pass.

Not this time.

But when his gaze fell on Selene, the smile faded.

Even asleep, her eyebrows remained furrowed.

…She still can’t calm down.

Adam knew he had survived.

He knew that, for now, he had altered the course of events.

But he also knew something else.

Next time, he might not be so lucky.

And if he wanted to break those fates completely…

He would have to become stronger.

Adam pushed away the thoughts that threatened to drag him back onto the battlefield. He fixed his gaze on the stone ceiling.

Exhaustion weighed more heavily on him than his armor.

With a barely audible sigh, he activated his status window.

The translucent window appeared before his eyes, floating in the air with a faint glow. He wasn’t interested in minor details.

He looked for a single number.

How much experience do I need… to reach the Intermediate rank?

Adam Hall

Novice Knight [EXP: 500/500]

Talent: A

Trait: Fencing (SSS) Hand-to-Hand Combat (D) Tracking (C) Mana Manipulation (B) Magic (SSS) Mana Perception (S)

Strength: 31 +

Stamina: 47 +

Agility: 35 +

Vitality: 35 +

Mana: 85 +

Statistics points: 0

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