Of course, preparations were still in order.

Noah used up the last remaining points he had to purchase stamina potions, health potions, stimulants for Krall, and a few other odd pieces of utility consumable like scent blockers.

Once he had everything in order, he began the charge with everyone by his side.

Noah at the vanguard, he had no choice but to accept the other people to his left, and right. He couldn’t survive against the number that was currently in front of him, no matter how much stronger he had gotten.

However, his eyes weren’t on the monsters, but what lay beyond them. The castle. Only he knew that there was a second entrance to their destination. What would occur during the battle? Who would betray who first to rush toward the entrance?

Noah was looking forward to it. All their words about how he was the murderer, he would relish in what happened next.

Only after he got closer did he notice the secondary entrance. It was to the side of the castle, and judging by the thick foliage of bladed thorns–it was just behind those. If he didn’t see it on the map within the fort, it was impossible to tell that there was a door there.

The sounds of the horns, beating of drums, and the screams of goblins, and orcs roused his fighting spirit to the maximum as he gazed at the incoming tide of monsters. It was going to be yet another new experience, but it was just another one that he would add to his Achievements.

He was going to survive, get stronger, and blast away the obstacles in his path to freedom.

“Let’s do it Krall!” Noah screamed alongside his best friend as they smashed into the wall of goblins.

It was a strange sensation. The sounds of war turned muted, and the only noises he could make out were the ones right in front of him. He became hyper focused on only what was going on around him.

He couldn’t hear the shrieks of humans to his left or right, or the clashing of steel in the distance. He was only focused on himself. His heart was consumed with the blazing passion of war that he couldn’t rip his gaze from his opponents–no matter how hard he tried.

Noah, for the first time, activated [Beastly Pike]. A monstrous feeling gripped the hold of his hand, then transferred into his spear. He felt the stamina dwindle within his body by an amount that was around three times that of [Thrust]. Around the shaft of the spear, a phantom image of Krall’s monstrous maw displayed itself.

Without him realising it, his Monster Shard activated itself.

As the attack landed against the first goblin, he was expecting a bigger hole to be made in its body, but his eyes widened in shock in the next instant.

The entire top half of the goblin was erased. Vanished. As if it didn’t exist in the first place. But the attack continued, two, four, six goblins were annihilated. The only trace of their existence were their lower halves thudding to the red soaked dirt floor.

It was as if the image of Krall devoured the monsters.That wasn’t all. Noah could feel Krall himself become stronger. He emitted a monstrous roar, and swung his forearm into the attacking goblins. Just as it was about to make contact, Noah activated [Kill Command]. The strength surged in his companion's body like a steroid as he crushed the goblins bones with one strike.

Noah reeled in the extravagant use of his skills, and only used [Beastly Pike] on its own. He had to manually make sure that his Monster Shard didn’t activate for some reason, but it wasn’t difficult to do so.

On the battlefield, Noah displayed the might that was a mounted warrior. Krall was in charge of creating space, and killing anything that got too close, while Noah snapped his spear out to anything that was stronger. Taking it’s life with a quick move of his spear tip.

Together, they were like a meat grinder that destroyed anything in their path.

However as they continued to kill, Noah noticed that the monsters were far weaker than the ones at the back just from a glance. It seemed like they had sent their weakest members to the front, while the stronger monsters were hanging at the back–ready to pounce when they were weakened.

Well, Noah expected it.

It was another thing he had learned from Peter, and apparently, it was a common tactic used by even those on Earth back in the day. Send the peasants first, then the knights would swoop in, and ravage everything else until they achieved victory–or not.

Honestly, Noah didn’t really pay much in class as evidenced by his failing grades, but it seemed that monsters had the same ideas as humanity. Both were equally as evil as each other, yet there was no right, or wrong. It was just a strategy, and it worked.

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Minutes had passed, but people were becoming tired already. Noah was certain they could fight for up to twenty minutes, if not an hour with their current stats, but it seemed war had a peculiar effect on the less experienced.

Swept up in the atmosphere of the battlefield, they used up more mana, and stamina, than they would have if it was just an ordinary fight.

It couldn’t go on, but thankfully, Declan was the first to notice as his words boomed around the battlefield–empowered by some sort of skill–Noah could feel his own heart calm down. Of course, it lasted only a couple of seconds before his high Willpower cancelled it, but the feeling was still there.

Even the fact that it lasted a couple of seconds was a testament to Declan's high Willpower.

He’s also focusing primarily on Willpower. Noah noted.

“Everyone remain calm, keep your skill usage to a minimum.” His shout echoed across the battlefield. “This is just the beginning. They are holding the strongest of them for last.”

Unlike Noah, Declan’s words had a much greater effect on everyone else. They took deep breaths and focused on killing blows. Each of their attacks became basic, lighting quick, and accurate. They hadn’t survived until now for no reason.

Each of their sword strikes were well practised. Hundreds of times, thousands. Their bodies had been forged since early on to handle this exact scenario. Each of them were the prides of their families, and the sponsors they had only fueled them to try harder–to kill quicker.

Noah was the same. He only ever used his skills when he met a large cluster of enemies he could wipe out in a single attack, making it more effective to use his skill, than striking six, or seven times instead of using the skill once.

An hour passed, and the corpses of goblins lined up behind them. But they just stepped over their still warm bodies, and continued to fight.

However, unlike before, as Krall swiped another group of goblins to the side, two orcs made their appearance. It wasn’t just them either. Expanding from one side of the army to the other, the orcs had come out to play in force.

Noah and the survivors had annihilated the weaker goblins at the front, only to display the stronger forces at the back. But to Noah, they were all the same. They were destined to die from the tip of his spear. It was that confidence that urged him forward.

Still, he refused to use his skills. The orcs, although much stronger, still didn’t require him to tire himself out needlessly.

Level 35 - Orc.

Level 36 - Orc.

Level 39 - Orc.

Krall blocked the successive hits of all three while Noah pierced the openings with a flick of his arm. Red seeped down from the wounds, and although it wasn’t enough to kill the durable humanoid, it only took one more to finish the job.

Grabbing hold of the orcs' cleaver-like sword arm, Krall reared up on both back legs, and with the other hand latched across the green man’s throat, Krall pulled. There was strong resistance, but Noah used [Kill Command], and the arm was torn from its shoulder.

The orc screamed in pain, but Krall slammed it to the ground, then chomped on its skull.

The other orc tried to save its ‘friend’ and swung its cleaver in a mighty arc toward Krall’s head. However, Noah was like an overseer on the back of Krall. He could see everything, and noticing the attack, Noah sliced the arm of the orc–causing it to lose all power in its attack.

Thud.

It crashed against Krall’s armoured skull, but it seemed to do nothing but piss him off.

Krall swiped his mighty arm at the tusked man’s legs, tripping him up. He followed it with a stomp to its skull. Crack. The orcs' legs twitched for a second before they stopped.

Just as Noah was about to finish his own opponent, a massive humanoid monster appeared out of nowhere. It hefted an enormous club, and with a wide swing–it sent the last remaining orc flying through air as it crashed against the other orcs to the side.

Level ?? - Ogre.

It immediately turned its focus onto Noah and Krall. It readied its club to swing once more, when a fire skill, and two arrows pelted its face.

Noah had no time to see that Declan had ordered others to help him, as the full wrath of the ogre was upon him.

It was an attack that Noah himself had to handle as Krall couldn’t become seriously wounded here. Activating [Beastly Aegis], he tanked the full hit of the monstrous club strike. He felt a warmth bubble up within him, but he grit his teeth, and readied an attack of his own.

He used [Overpower], [Beastly Strike], [Kill Command], and both of his Shards. The monster shard, and [Kill Command] empowered Krall, hence powering up Noah in turn.

His attack exploded forth as a monstrous roar from his spear commanded everyone's presence on the battlefield. Like a primordial monster that had awakened from its slumber, it was aimed straight for the hulking ogre.

In a blinding chomp from his spear, the entire body of the ogre disappeared as Krall exuded a primal might that swept across the red soaked land.

Noah’s heart turned calm. He was the centre of the storm, and despite the lack of energy in his body, he would devour the pests that threatened him.

Mission updated.

| Only five can enter the main entrance of the Castle Dungeon.

Everyone's faces turned to desperation. However, the final wave of monsters rampaged forward. Straight for Noah and the others. And one in particular caused everyone's hairs to rise from its thumping might.

Then, something that perhaps only Noah expected took place.

Maera and her knights abandoned them and bolted for the castle in the distance. In the end… she chose her own people.

Noah’s lips curled into a savage grin. Once again, he had been betrayed. But he was already expecting it to happen at some point.

It just happened sooner, rather than later.