Free Web NovelWind and snow poured into the shattered watchtower, and the smell of blood and spore fluid mixed into a nauseating stench. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Willis stood on the broken battlement of the city wall, staring at the giant object slowly emerging from the misty snow in the distance.
He gripped the hilt of his sword, but found his fingers trembling slightly.
Even though he was already a High-ranking Knight, he couldn't control the heavy, uneasy feeling of suffocation in his chest.
That was the Mother Nest.
It was larger and more bizarre than he had imagined.
Like an overturned tree trunk, or the spine of some creature that shouldn't exist, it dragged an entire river of writhing Worm-Eaten Household across the ice plain.
Willis gritted his teeth and looked down at the territory behind him.
This small valley was built by him over a year.
He remembered every stone road, every house, and the name of every resident.
He had sweated and bled for this land, personally checking at night whether the stone wall joints were tight, and pulling log carts with the residents during the day.
Now—perhaps everything would be destroyed.
He couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh: “Even if the Mother Nest doesn’t attack me first—it’s my turn.”
The two territories closer to Frost Ice Mountain Valley than his had already fallen.
The intelligence brought back by his scout knights contained only vague screams and flames, and they couldn't even find complete corpses, only holding out for half a day.
The Mother Nest didn't even bother to waste time fully devouring them, hurrying on to its next prey.
“Can I last longer than them?” he muttered, his eyes somewhat hollow.
Willis knew very well that what he had faced before were only vanguard units.
Those black-shelled, undead Worm-Eaten Household were merely appetizers for the Mother Nest.
And he—had already lost nearly one-third of his knights clearing them, and this was with Louis’s warning, knowing their weaknesses.
Now that the terrifying Mother Nest had arrived in person, could he withstand it?
At the end of his vision, a massive shadow appeared like a sunken ship in the fog. It dragged countless writhing tentacles, and wherever it passed, the snowy ground turned into a spore fluid mire, the forest groaned, and the earth seemed to tremble.
But upon seeing its physical form, he almost threw down his sword and fled south.
But just then, he recalled the letter Louis had written.
That letter, written in extremely simple sentences, which he had read three times, word for word.
“Your location is the Mother Nest’s next target. After I resolve things here, I will send people to support you. The longer you can hold out, the more people you can save.”
When he read “I will arrive” at the time, he had an urge to laugh for a moment.
That kid actually thought about saving people? Actively facing such an enemy? Who did he think he was?
But he also understood that only Louis would truly dare to say “I will arrive” when the Mother Nest was pressing down.
Willis turned his head and looked at the dilapidated but still standing stone wall.
Retreat? Of course he could retreat.
The knights were there, the warhorses were still there, and even the flank escape route was prepared.
He could ensure his own survival.
But when he thought of the residents still hiding in cellars, by warehouses, and under broken walls, when he thought of their eyes looking at him, and that these were the people he had personally protected for a year, he couldn't turn back.
He also didn't want to turn back.
“...Let’s hold out a little longer,” he said.
He gritted his teeth and roared, “Just a few more hours—just a few hours!”
Flames rose from the command tower behind him, and he swung his sword forcefully.
That was a signal, and a vow.
“All personnel to defensive positions! Don’t let these beasts step one inch into Red Tide Territory!”
Even if he died, he would use this blood-stained snow to carve out a path to welcome reinforcements.
The Mother Nest’s main body finally approached.
Its mountain-like body, like a living mountain of disaster, slowly emerged from the dense fog and wind, dragging hundreds of writhing limbs.
The Worm-Eaten Household followed closely, surging into the valley like a black tide. The snowy ground beneath their feet turned into a spore fluid swamp, and the air was filled with the stench of decay and death.
The soldiers on the city wall turned pale, some holding their weapons but unable to stop trembling.
Willis, fully armored, with his cape like blood, raised his long sword and roared, “The defense line will not break! The enemy shall not enter Red Tide Territory one step!”
Morale was boosted for a moment, but quickly fell into deeper despair.
Because he saw that terrifying sight with his own eyes.
He saw that abyssal beast, like the mouth of hell, seemingly capable of devouring all courage and hope.
He was speechless for a moment.
Even though he was an Elite Knight, a lord, and the guardian of Red Tide Territory.
But at that moment, he wavered.
Willis forced himself not to look at the valley residents hiding in ruined houses and cellars, not to listen to the children’s cries.
He forced himself to believe: “Just hold on a little longer, just a little longer—”
But he knew that this time, rescue might truly not arrive.
When the Mother Nest suddenly swung one of its limbs, as thick as a city wall, completely tearing off the western defense line.
At that moment, soldiers were thrown into the sky like sandbags, and the entire section of fortifications collapsed with a roar. His inner resolve also collapsed with it. Willis murmured, “I’m sorry, everyone—”
He was about to order a full retreat.
Just then, “Screech—!!!”
From the horizon, a piercing shriek tore through the air.
A projectile with a fiery tail streaked across the night sky, its speed and momentum like a meteor crashing into the mortal world.
“Boom!!!”
At that moment, heaven and earth seemed to rupture.
A massive explosion erupted on the Mother Nest’s chest, flames rolled up in a hundred-zhang-high wave, and the scorching shockwave crushed everything.
The Worm-Eaten Household were instantly incinerated into charcoal or thrown into the sky, and even the surrounding air seemed to be sucked dry, creating a vacuum-like pressure.
The Mother Nest, that behemoth that had just been pressing down like death—
It let out a scream, low and distorted, like the entire underground abyss roaring.
Its chest exploded open, a large area of crimson internal organs and wriggling sacs exposed. As flesh and blood splattered, the multi-ton giant body actually began to retreat.
Not a slow movement, but a terrified contraction and retreat, like a beast whose nerves had been set on fire.
Willis’s mouth hung open, wide enough to fit his fist without him even noticing.
He couldn’t speak, only stared at the “something” still burning in the embers and black smoke on the ground.
“What is this—?” he murmured, his voice carried by the wind.
He wasn't the only one stunned.
All the knights around him stopped their movements, staring at the fire on the ground and the mythical, terrifying Mother Nest that was retreating after being repelled by a single blow, almost forgetting to breathe.
This terrifying thing had instantly crushed a territory, and in their eyes, it was an almost insurmountable disaster.
But now, it was scared, scared of that terrifying explosion.
“It’s—it’s him!” A young knight was the first to react, saying tremblingly, “It’s Lord Louis—he’s here!”
On the hillside, wind swirled residual snow, and a battle flag with a golden sun emblem on a blood-red background rose high.
That was the banner of Red Tide Territory.
The golden sun ascended in fierce fire and iron flames, as if to dispel this darkness and despair.
Warhorses neighed, hooves kicked up dust, and a young commander dismounted from his warhorse, landing like an eagle. His heavy battle cloak flapped in the wind. He took off his helmet, his black hair reflecting the firelight, his eyes sharp as blades, his voice steady as a hammer striking a drum.
“Fire attack team advance! Flamethrower formation two! Target dense Worm-Eaten Household areas!”
He was, of course, Louis Calvin.
In Willis’s eyes, Louis at this moment was no longer human, but a god descended from heaven.
Bringing fire and wrath, coming on behalf of the Dragon Ancestor, fighting for the desperate.
“Boom—!”
Another heavy Magic Bomb whistled out from a portable launcher, cutting through the night sky, accurately hitting the Mother Nest’s chest. The shattered core completely exploded in fire and roar, as if infused with heavenly lightning. Black blood and spore mist surged out, and the insect shell exploded into fragments.
The Mother Nest let out a distorted wail, half its body collapsed, and dozens of its limbs twitched and fell.
It wanted to escape, to retreat, but was suppressed by the flames, unable to move.
“Flamethrower first line! Advance three steps! Incinerate the bodies with insect spores!”
“Screech—!”
At Louis’s command, dozens of flamethrower knights ignited their nozzles simultaneously. Fire Scale ointment sprayed out scorching pillars of fire into the night, intertwining into a hellish curtain of fire that incinerated the remaining Worm-Eaten Household in swathes.
Those roaring, struggling Worm-Eaten Household exploded, twisted, and turned to ash in the high temperature.
This Mother Nest was more evolved, so it didn’t die after taking two Magic Bombs.
It shook painfully, trying to open its mouth to release insect mist, but was hit in the head by a third Magic Bomb.
With a loud boom, its head exploded, collapsing on the scorched earth like a rotten, festering fruit, unable to move.
The entire battlefield was silent for three breaths.
“...Dead?” Willis muttered, his voice full of disbelief.
Just like that?
This terrifying Mother Nest, in this sea of fire and explosions, was completely ended just like that.
The lingering flames were still burning, and a faint smell of blood permeated the scorched earth.
Willis stood on the broken city wall, his hair singed by sparks, his face covered in soot and scratches, looking as if he had crawled out of a pile of corpses.
He panted as he wiped the blood from his face, watching the fire attack team retreat in an orderly fashion, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Just then, a heavily armored warhorse entered the ruins, and a familiar red and gold cape fluttered in the wind.
“Lou—Louis!” Willis hurried to meet him.
Louis dismounted, taking off his gloves as he looked at him a few times, his tone calm but with a hint of fatigue and concern: “You held out this long, you did well.”
Willis’s previously tense nerves relaxed, and he shook his head with a bitter smile: “I almost couldn’t hold on. If you were a few minutes later, I really would have run.”
“Then I didn’t come too late,” Louis patted his shoulder. “Where are your people? What about casualties?”
“More than twenty knights died, and there are seventy more with light or serious injuries combined. The losses among the militiamen are even greater—you can see for yourself.”
Louis nodded, his eyes showing no blame, but instead listening attentively, and said in a low voice: “You didn’t lose the city, and you saved many people. This battle was not disgraceful.”
After speaking, he looked at the charred piles of Worm-Eaten Household in the distance, then turned back to Willis and said:
“I’ll leave two flamethrower teams and a medic with you. Your people should rest first and clear out the Worm-Eaten Household that aren’t completely dead.
I’ve also put in a request for your supplies with logistics, to try and replenish some.”
Louis continued: “I need to hurry to other parts of Snowpeak County. The defense lines of those nobles to the north are about to collapse, and I need to block the spread of the swarm before it gets out of control.”
Willis nodded, asking no further questions.
At this moment, Willis suddenly realized that he and Louis were no longer people of the same world.
Even though they were both lords, he was a baron, while Louis was only a viscount.
After coming to the North, he hadn't been without jealousy.
He felt that Louis had better luck than him, arriving in the North earlier and thus having so many opportunities to rise.
But at this moment, he felt only admiration and gratitude, and relief.
Relief that when choosing his territory, he had stubbornly chosen one next to Red Tide Territory.
Relief that he had been thick-skinned enough to humbly ask Louis for help.
Willis looked at the still burning Mother Nest corpse, and once again raised his sword, covered in dust and blood, as if responding to the distant battle flag.
