Soon, the sound of footsteps grew louder and louder, and everyone's hearts tightened as they faced such a large number of Demonic Beasts for the first time.
Roar—!
Accompanied by the roar, countless Demonic Beasts sprang from the forest, rushing toward 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 on the city wall lit the cannons.
Boom boom boom!!!
Boom boom boom boom boom!!!
A barrage of cannonballs shot toward the Demonic Beasts, exploding among the horde.
"Woooo—!" Many 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 charged forward to fight them.
"Continue—!"
The soldiers on the city wall kept loading cannonballs, firing them at the distant Demonic Beast horde, clearing the area below the city wall for the army and swordsmen to handle.
Watching the scene before him, Kevin 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. It 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 exclaimed in surprise.
Nine-Star Demonic Beasts could generally only be dealt with by Nine-Star Swordsmen; any Eight-Star Swordsman facing one was practically committing suicide.
Buzz—!
The Unicorn Blood Ape gathered blood-colored energy on its sharp horn.
"Damn it! It's about to attack!!"
Whoosh—!
A beam of blood-colored energy shot toward the swordsmen below the city wall.
"Blaze Slash!!"
A fiery slash met the energy beam.
Boom—!
The energies collided, erupting in a violent impact.
A young man emerged with a sword and said, "I'll deal with it!"
"It's the Nine-Star Swordsman, 'Flame Sword' Allen!"
Kevin was stunned to see him. Wasn't this the unlucky fellow he had instantly defeated 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 to engage it in battle.
"Nine-Star Swordsman, 'Thunder Sword' Clay!!"
The person who arrived was another unlucky fellow defeated by Kevin. However, Kevin had held back, so both Allen and Clay had only suffered minor injuries and retained their peak combat strength.
"Roar—!"
A heaven-shaking roar, and a lion with huge wings on its back flew out, soaring directly toward the city wall.
"It's the Nine-Star Demonic Beast, Kui Lion!!"
"Flash · Cross Slash!!"
A cross-shaped light slash shot toward the lion.
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, the Kui Lion quickly stood up again, seemingly unharmed.
"Roar—!"
The Kui Lion roared at Arthur, ripping up the surrounding ground with powerful sound waves.
Some weaker Demonic Beasts were stunned into unconsciousness.
Many on the human side covered their ears in pain.
"Flash Sword!!"
Arthur charged forward, forcing the Kui Lion to stop roaring.
"Why are there so many Nine-Star Demonic Beasts this time?!"
"Yeah! In previous tides, even if there was a Nine-Star Demonic Beast, it was at most one. Now, three have appeared. Could it be that this 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 likely even more terrifying monsters behind them.
"Howl—!"
A tall, giant silver-furred wolf rushed out of the forest.
"Oh no! It's the Nine-Star Demonic Beast, Silver Moon Wolf!!!"
Erza said with a solemn expression, "Kevin, protect His Majesty the King. I'll deal with this guy!"
"Re-equip · Blackwing Armor!!"
Erza quickly completed her re-equipment and flew from the city wall. Three Nine-Star Swordsmen were already dealing with three Nine-Star Demonic Beasts. If this giant wolf broke into the human ranks, it would 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 swordsman.
But just as Erza engaged the Silver Moon Wolf...
One after another, giant monsters appeared, and the faces of everyone on the human side turned pale.
"Mammoth Elephant King! Dark Panther King! Hellfire Tiger! Three-Headed Cold Bird! Earth Tyrant Bear!!"
"How can this be?! 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 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 Kevin 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. Only Mr. Tsugikuni Yoriichi could save this country.
The people around him all shook their heads; no one had seen Tsugikuni Yoriichi. It seemed he had disappeared after the Sword Tournament ended.
At this moment, Kevin saw so many powerful monsters appear and knew 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!!"
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