The battle resumed with Alex fiercely striking using his enhanced strength, making full use of the weight of his greatsword to deliver powerful blows that would take down his opponents.

The gnolls, on the other hand, quickly incapacitated the soldiers in the rear and three of them mounted the wagons to advance the caravan.

While the Fheres gained speed, the group slowly began to withdraw successfully, and they were close to mounting the wagons when the wind started to change direction. A wall of flames slowly began to rise in front of them. Alex could tell that they wouldn't make it through before this wall was fully formed, and he had no choice but to stop his caravan.

Soldiers and other imposing figures were slowly approaching from the city, and from the wall, the mage who maintained the wall of fire could be seen.

The situation had spiraled out of control. Only now did Alex realize how much he had underestimated the city's defenses. It was evident that they had powerful individuals since he hadn't seen any magic since he arrived in this world, and he had overlooked it. However, he now remembered how powerful it could be.

Along with this realization, desperation slowly began to flood him. He had broken several laws, and his chances of leaving unscathed were minimal. Although he might be able to call in a favor from the Marquis, he was sure that it would bind him to their faction for life. Additionally, Alex turned his head to look at his gnoll companions who even in this situation stood shoulder to shoulder with him, and he began to regret. Unfortunately, there was no cure for regret, and now he had to take responsibility.

Seeing his group slowly being surrounded, Alex was drowning in anguish. He closed his eyes momentarily, repeating, "Forgive me, Mother," in his mind over and over until he finally found the resolve to face his death in his father's words: "Many people are dead in life, they walk without purpose and die without meaning. If the time comes, always choose to fight for what you believe in, trust your heart, and if necessary, die on your feet like a warrior instead of living on your knees."

Of course, his mother gave him a monumental scolding after he uttered those words, but he refused to back down. He firmly believed in dignity and honor, just as Alex did. He could never become someone's lapdog.

When he opened his eyes, the situation wasn't so bleak. He had his armor, he had his sword, he had his gnolls. What more could a man need?

Alex began to circulate his energy with the intention of using Ashen Bastion again. However, at this moment, he was determined to overcome the challenge. Although he had studied the Forest's Sigh technique from the collar for a short time, he knew there must be a way to improve his own technique. Unknowingly, he blended some cultivation concepts from both techniques.

The result was that his technique evolved into one he called Last Stand. Like Bastion, its power increased, but this time, it exceeded its limits and even doubled them. His own strength increased by 100%, and he was able to affect the gnolls around him, increasing their strength by 50%.

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Crimson light emanated from Alex's eyes, which was also visible in the gnolls' eyes, though dimmer. Even though the strength increase was already potent, the crimson glow slowly spread through their bodies, making them even stronger.

This situation led the garrison troops surrounding them to finish the matter quickly, as they lacked the cultivated warriors needed to stop the empowered gnolls. This was the case because most of the city's defense troops were loyal to a particular house or faction and wouldn't help if there was no clear danger to the city or a trade opportunity for them.

The city guards initially attacked by surrounding each gnoll with at least three people, but soon they realized the power disparity was such that if they were hit and didn't receive help in time, they would likely die. This led to them surrounding each gnoll with five to seven people.

On Alex's side, three newly cultivated warriors with freshly established energy channels advanced to meet him. These were new warriors being independently cultivated by the garrison.

The three of them rushed into the attack with overconfidence, underestimating their enemy, thinking they would absolutely have the upper hand since their master had told them he didn't detect energy channels in Alex, although this information was outdated, even before Alex had used his Ashen Bastion at the city gates.

Quickly, Alex began gaining the upper hand and pushing back his opponents. At one point, he knocked down two of them with a powerful horizontal strike.

Instead of going for the kill and finishing off the newcomers, Alex decided to advance rapidly through the enemy ranks to reach the mage who still maintained the wall of fire behind him.

This bold move caught the garrison off guard, and only a rookie warrior who happened to be in Alex's path stood between him and the mage.

This rookie attacked disorganized with a weak blow, which Alex simply received on his shoulder pad, then tackled him and pushed him to the side with his shoulder. Even though the young warrior didn't cause any damage, he managed to slow Alex enough for another warrior to intercept his blow with his greatsword.

The warrior went flying like a ball after receiving Alex's full-force blow, but the mage was now out of his reach, as reinforcements reacted, surrounding him and slowly pushing him out. Due to the embarrassment of having one of their mages come close to being harmed, several high-level warriors decided to take action, and while they weren't using their full power, it was enough for the others to corner Alex without him having time to attempt anything.

Although the battle continued for a few more minutes, by this point, the gnolls had been captured, and only a determined Alex stood, resisting blows with great difficulty, unable to strike back.

In this situation, suddenly the young human's ability and skill began to sublimate unprecedentedly. With the calm of an accepted death, he started applying every bit of information he had learned from each fight he had had so far. Effortlessly, he distilled a combat style that could only be described as beautiful.

Alex used all his skill and power to stay on his feet and avoid being brought down. His speed had become as fast as the wind, swinging his greatsword from side to side, using just enough force to deflect blows, and making precise movements to avoid wasting time.

Eventually, he ran out of energy to maintain his Last Stand and fell to one knee. However, by this point, Alex had already forced several prestigious fighters from the city to attack him seriously, demonstrating a level of expertise never seen before.