Soon, the sound of footsteps grew louder and louder, and everyone's hearts tightened, as it was their first time facing such a large number of Demonic Beasts.
Roar—!
Accompanied by the roar of the Demonic Beasts, countless Demonic Beasts sprang from the forest, rushing towards the city wall.
"So many!"
All the Swordsmen were startled by the scale of the Demonic Beasts.
"Attack—!"
As the command was given, the soldiers standing on the city wall lit the cannons.
Boom boom boom!!!
Boom boom boom boom boom!!!
A large number of cannonballs shot towards the Demonic Beasts, exploding among the Demonic Beast horde.
"Woooo—!" A large number of Demonic Beasts were blown away, with only a small portion reaching the base of the city wall.
"Move—!"
The Swordsmen at the base of the city wall, seeing these Demonic Beasts, immediately charged forward to fight them.
"Continue—!"
The soldiers on top of the city wall continued to load cannonballs, firing them at the distant Demonic Beast horde, clearing the area below the city wall and leaving it to the army and Swordsmen to deal with.
Looking at the scene before him, Qi Yan felt incredibly shocked. Was this war? It was his first time experiencing it firsthand, and for someone who grew up in an era of peace, it was overly stimulating.
Suddenly!
"Oh oh oh oh oh—!"
A strange cry echoed, and a giant monster, seven to eight meters tall, emerged from the forest. The monster looked like a monkey, yet also like an ape, covered in red fur, with a single horn on its forehead.
"Oh no! It's the Nine-Star Demonic Beast, Unicorn Blood Ape!!!"
Seeing this giant monster, many people couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Nine-Star Demonic Beasts could generally only be barely dealt with by Nine-Star Swordsmen; any Eight-Star Swordsman going up against one was practically committing suicide.
Buzz—!
The Unicorn Blood Ape, a blood-colored energy gathered on the sharp horn on its forehead.
"Damn it! It's about to attack!!"
Whoosh—!
A beam of blood-colored energy shot towards the Swordsmen below the city wall.
"Blaze Slash!!"
A fiery slash directly met the energy beam.
Boom—!
The two streams of energy collided, erupting in a violent impact.
A young man walked out with a sword and said, "I'll deal with it!"
"It's the Nine-Star Swordsman, 'Flame Sword' Allen!"
Qi Yan was stunned when he saw the person. Wasn't this the unlucky fellow he had instantly killed in the preliminaries?
"Hiss hiss—!"
Accompanied by a spine-chilling sound, a giant nine-headed snake slithered out of the forest.
"Another one!! It's the Nine-Star Demonic Beast, Nine-Headed Serpent!!"
"I'll deal with it!!"
Crackling!!
A bolt of lightning streaked through the crowd, heading straight for the Nine-Headed Serpent and engaging it in battle.
"Nine-Star Swordsman, 'Thunder Sword' Clay!!"
The person who arrived was another unlucky fellow defeated by Qi Yan. However, at that time, Qi Yan had held back, so both Allen and Clay had only suffered minor superficial injuries and still retained their peak combat strength.
"Roar—!"
A heaven-shaking roar, and a lion with huge wings on its back flew out of the forest, soaring from the sky directly towards the top of the city wall.
"It's the Nine-Star Demonic Beast, Kui Lion!!"
"Flash · Cross Slash!!"
A cross-shaped light slash shot directly towards the lion in the sky.
Bang—!
The Kui Lion was struck down from the sky by the cross slash.
This signature attack immediately made everyone recognize him.
"Arthur!!"
Arthur plunged his sword into the ground, looking at the Kui Lion and saying, "Don't even think about getting past here!!"
However, very quickly, the Kui Lion shook its head and stood up again, seemingly unharmed.
"Roar—!"
The Kui Lion roared at Arthur, and the powerful sound waves ripped up the surrounding ground.
Some weaker Demonic Beasts were even stunned into unconsciousness.
Many people on the human side also covered their ears in pain.
"Flash Sword!!"
It wasn't until Arthur charged forward that he forced the Kui Lion to stop roaring.
"Why are there so many Nine-Star Demonic Beasts this time?!"
"Yeah! In previous Demonic Beast tides, even if there was a Nine-Star Demonic Beast, it was at most one. Now, three have appeared. Could it be that this Demonic Beast tide wasn't caused by a Nine-Star Demonic Beast?"
Previous Demonic Beast tides were mostly caused by Nine-Star Demonic Beasts, who forced these Demonic Beasts to attack the city. But this time, it seemed different. With three Nine-Star Demonic Beasts appearing together, there were probably even more terrifying monsters behind them.
"Howl—!"
A tall, giant wolf with silver fur rushed out of the forest.
"Oh no! It's the Nine-Star Demonic Beast, Silver Moon Wolf!!!"
Erza said with a solemn expression, "Qi Yan, protect His Majesty the King. I'll deal with this guy!"
"Re-equip · Blackwing Armor!!"
Erza finished speaking and, without waiting for Qi Yan's reply, quickly completed her re-equipment and flew directly down from the city wall. Three Nine-Star Swordsmen were already dealing with three Nine-Star Demonic Beasts. If this giant wolf were to break into the human ranks, it would definitely cause incalculable casualties, so she chose to act.
"Great! It's Miss Erza!"
Erza was now a famous figure in Sword City; everyone who had watched the competition recognized this highly skilled and beautiful female Swordsman.
But just as Erza had just engaged the Silver Moon Wolf...
One after another, giant monsters appeared from the forest, and the faces of everyone on the human side immediately turned pale.
"Mammoth Elephant King! Dark Panther King! Hellfire Tiger! Three-Headed Cold Bird! Earth Tyrant Bear!!"
"How can this be?! How can this happen?! Why are these overlords of the Demon Beast Great Forest all gathered here?!"
"Nine Nine-Star Demonic Beasts?! Do they want to destroy this country?!"
...Almost everyone was panicked at this sight.
Even the King, who had always appeared calm, now had a drastic change in expression, and sweat broke out on his forehead.
He had expected the Demonic Dragon's counterattack to be fierce, but he never imagined that it would send out nine Nine-Star Demonic Beasts.
Currently, in this city, besides the four below, counting himself, there were only five Nine-Star Swordsmen. Of course, if Qi Yan was also counted, that would be six.
That still left three people short, and three Nine-Star Demonic Beasts were enough to destroy the entire city.
Unless that one person made a move.
"Where is Mr. Tsugikuni Yoriichi?! Where is Mr. Tsugikuni Yoriichi?!"
The King quickly asked. Now, only Mr. Tsugikuni Yoriichi could save this country.
The people around him all shook their heads; no one had seen Tsugikuni Yoriichi. It seemed that Tsugikuni Yoriichi had disappeared after the Sword Tournament ended.
At this moment, Qi Yan saw so many powerful monsters appear and knew that he couldn't slack off anymore. If this country was destroyed, who would he collect money from? His prize money hadn't been redeemed yet.
"Let me do it!!"