Valeria spun and fired a water arrow coated with swirling air essence, watching it pierce through a jumping insectoid creature, leaving it twitching on the ground.

The frantic combat had caused her to deplete her essence reserves at an extreme pace now that she had run out of physical arrows.

Checking her core between firing arrows, she had already used up nearly a quarter of her stored essence. Visually, her core looked like a lake of water blown by strong winds, causing the water's surface to ripple in waves.

When she was younger, she had always assumed that the core shrank when it got depleted, but she eventually realised that wasn't the case. It remained the same size, with the only difference being that the consumed part was greyed out in contrast to the rest of the core.

Even though it wasn't raining tonight, it was pretty windy, allowing her to take in more wind essence than usual. This essence helped slow down her usage somewhat as she restored her core by a fraction as she fought. Even though it wasn't raining, there was still enough ambient water essence in the surroundings that she also pulled in.

Most adults could passively cultivate when they hit the peak of the Mortal Shedding Realm, the Denouement stage. She was grateful that many of the swarming Nightlings were also in the Mortal Realm, or their small group would be in trouble.

She looked down at the small form bundled across her chest and smiled at seeing her son there seemingly without a care.

To be young and fearless.

Smiling ruefully, she looked at the tiny figure that caused her protective instincts to flare. She would do whatever it took to ensure his safety.

She struck out physically with her bow, sending a creature stumbling that had attacked her in between firing. A sharp lance of spear essence then blasted through its head, causing it to fall to the ground dead as she moved past it.

She nodded to Felix, who had already moved on to the next target.

Looking up, she realised they had already travelled a quarter of the distance to Mysthaven. They should be able to make it to the wall before they burned through all their essence.

The intense fighting reminded her of that day defending the fort with Marcus. During that fight, they had started with many other defenders, allowing people to rotate in and out of combat at the breach points to rest and recover.

Unfortunately, they didn't have that luxury at the moment, and the only thing that would save them was going all out and reaching the village defences.

Settling outside the village didn't seem like such a bad idea then. Both she and Marcus liked the privacy their little farmhouse provided, giving them some peace from the hustle of the village.

The action tonight made her wonder if they had made a mistake. Usually, people huddle together, creating protective pockets away from the creatures that stalked the night. Only the strong would choose to live outside the walls of civilisation on their own.

They had thought themselves strong, but even the powerful fell to enough little cuts. Valeria watched her husband methodically taking apart any Nightling that attacked from the front, and she felt a little sense of comfort.

His prowess made her realise they were not entirely wrong in settling outside the village. She might not be strong compared to the rest of the legion, but her husband was. It was just a shame he was weakened at the moment.

If he weren't in the middle of his body destruction phase of the Essence Moulding Realm, then even that Terror wouldn't be a threat. When he broke through to body rebirth, even that monster might leave its life behind on his blade.

It wouldn't be long before he surpassed the General, even though he was less than half the man's age. Her husband's talent was monstrous, but it wasn't surprising to her. He did come from that family, after all.

She just hoped he wouldn't do something stupid like pushing to break through faster, which might backfire and injure him. If only they had a little more time, their village would have two cultivators in the body rebirth once he broke through.

There shouldn't be anything in the surrounding area that would be a threat then. All they needed was just more time.

* * *

Thanos caught sight of movement from Mysthaven, and it looked like some of the defenders had come down from the wall and were rushing towards them. He sighed as relief washed over him at the sight of approaching reinforcements.

He had noticed they were just over halfway to the village now. His father had been launching those slow-falling flares into the air, allowing everyone to see what was happening. Some of him wished he couldn't, as they were getting swarmed from all sides.

The darkness looked to come alive as Nightlings of all shapes and sizes were rushing towards them. Most were barely gaining due to his group's rapid speed, but many were already between the village and them.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

It was strange as everything that was going on seemed to take forever, but he wasn't even sure if a few minutes had passed. The ferocity of actual combat shocked him, and even though he wasn't fighting, in a way, it felt like he was due to being directly in the centre of it all.

A deafening roar came from behind them, and although he couldn't see it, he felt the ground vibrate with heavy footfalls, and it was apparent that the Terror had decided to attack. The hissing, growing and clicking noises from the surrounding swarm seemed to move up a notch in response.

"It's coming. Faster," Marcus yelled in between dispatching some of the attacking creatures.

He looked at the monsters that had been attacking, noticing that whilst they had similarities, they all seemed quite different. One that looked like a wolf dropped to the ground dead as an arrow from his mother pierced its head.

Even though it appeared wolf-like in shape and movement, it was still insectoid-looking in many ways. It was all hardened dark carapace that seemed layered into looking like scales as small spikes jutted out in various places.

Another creature that resembled a bat ran across the ground, jumping and gliding some distance before repeating as it quickly closed in on them.

It had large fangs and sharp teeth bared as it lunged at Marcus, only to be cleaved in two by his blade. They all shared standard features, like black eyes that matched their ink-like blood.

A scream came from their side as he looked over in time to see the sword user with them take a blow from a humanoid-shaped Nightling that sent him flying across the ground.

The monster stood upright, a little taller than a man, but it had long, sharp spikes instead of arms. He noticed red blood dripping from one as it chased after the man.

The sword user rolled and pushed himself to his feet, holding onto his weapon that sent out an arc of light at the pursuing monster. It didn't split the monster in two like his father's attacks, but it still caused the humanoid to fall to the ground with a screech.

He could see the man's other arm hanging limply to the side and couldn't help but wince at the sight.

A flash of distant motion caught his eye, and he turned to watch the large hammer Ajax held smash into a monster, causing it to fire off and ping-pong through a mass of its brethren. The hammer caps glowed like embers, leaving a trail behind as the large weapon moved through a group of creatures, brutally clearing a path.

"Get to the walls. It's nearly here." Ajax shouted, and Thanos could see they weren't far off now. They had met up with the General and three more legion members.

Loud thumps created by the nearing Terror grew louder, and he couldn't help but feel like something was breathing down his neck. He watched Ajax jump through the air, arching way over their heads as he landed somewhere behind them, causing the sound wave of an explosion to rock them.

He wished he could see what was happening behind as the giant man attacked the Terror, the sounds of combat close.

"You three, get onto the walls and rest," Marcus yelled as he sprinted past them, heading towards the combat in the rear.

His mother and the two other men sprinted hard for the wall, and he could see there were just dead or dying Nightlings in front of them, leaving them an open path.

The other legion members that had come with the General seemed to remain in position, allowing them to move unhindered as they reached the wall. He felt his mother hold him firm as the three kicked off the wall several times, landing on the platform just behind the palisade.

"Where are the children being kept?" His mother asked one of the nearby men as they landed atop the wall.

"They all got moved into the mineshaft on the General's orders. You should head over and take your son there for safety." A bearded man replied as he threw a green spear of essence into the massing creatures beneath the walls.

He could look out now that his mother turned to face the direction of the combat as the raised platform they were on gave him a clear view of the battlefield below.

He was shocked at the number of creatures visible as they assaulted the wall. It looked like something out of a zombie movie as endless bodies crashed into the wall, the few flying ones buzzing the heads of the defenders.

Ajax and his father were located directly in the swarm as they engaged in combat with the massive Terror, all the weaker Nightlings giving the trio a wide berth as destructive combat ensued.

"There isn't time. If we don't hold, then the village will get overrun." After some thought, his mother replied and tucked him closer as she lifted her bow and started firing arrows coated with air that she grabbed from a nearby quiver.

It seemed that anyone who could fight was doing. The walls were full of armoured and unarmoured figures locked in combat with the pressing swarm. There weren't many flying Nightlings and any that flew in close were quickly dispatched by a barrage of ranged attacks.

He looked over, slightly concerned, as his father and Ajax battled the Terror. His father danced around, his fluid movements keeping him out of harm's way as he drew shallow cuts on the beast.

The General seemed to have his own fighting style as he traded blow for blow, his immense strength knocking away any incoming attacks.

The Terror was stomping around, and its pointed tails were sweeping around at the duo as its huge maw bit out occasionally. The fight was hard to follow and looked like a blur of action, contrasting with the slower-moving surroundings.

The colossal monster snapped at Ajax, who caught the descending chomp with his hammer, knocking its head to the side into the waiting blade held out by Marcus.

It roared in agony as the twinblade sank into its jaw, causing its attacks to become even more furious, and the duo backed off.

He was cheering in his heart when a pained scream came from behind. His mother spun in time to find a sizeable lizard-like Nightling that had gotten into the middle of the defenders on the wall.

Its hardened body shimmered, reminding him of a chameleon back on Earth as a large tail lashed out, sending some nearby defenders flying.

It jumped forward, claw outstretched as it swiped at him and his mother. He wasn't sure what happened next, but Valeria didn't dodge fast enough.

A sharp claw flew past her shoulder, catching the sling he was in and ripping it free, causing him to fire out like a rock out of a slingshot, arching through the air out over the wall.

He stared, part horrified and thunderstruck that something like this would happen to him. The force that launched him through the air wasn't small, and he found himself relatively high up, overlooking everything.

It wasn't that time slowed but that he seemed hyper-aware of everything happening then. There was no way he would survive a fall from that height, and even if he could, that was not the worst of his worries.

The Terror suddenly barged past Marcus and Ajax and was now in the prime position to catch him as a hungry maw of sharp teeth waited. He heard his mother screaming in the background and could only think one thought.

For fucks sake.