The students encircled him. They had adorned their armor and wielded their weapons at hand.
The battle was ongoing right in front of them.
The beasts were relentless, pouncing at the guards, attacking from anywhere they saw an opening.
They climbed the stacked corpses to reach the palisade, and each dead beasts only added to that pile.
At a time, a beast managed to breach the defenses and get inside the palisade, causing havoc before being killed.
The result was dire and the troops were hanging by a thread.
"Separate yourselves into three groups. Mages, Shifters and Knights"
They shuffled themselves into those categories without a hitch as it'd been part of their training.
"Now, I've reinstated myself as commander" he announced.
"From what I've been briefed, chances of reinforcements arriving any time soon are very slim"
He put his palm up to shut any mouth.
"It means we'll be protecting this place on our own for as long as needed"
"Now, mages, you will join the archers. What we need are long range attacks, preferably those that reduce speed. Archers should join them too"
"For us Knights and Shifters, it's simple, we'll tackle these beasts head on"
They were nervous, so Ezra busted out his silver tongue.
"Remember your training" he began, staring them in the eye.
"Remember the cold nights and the hot mornings, remember why you endured so much"
"Was it not to grow stronger?!" his voice boomed.
"Was it not so that you'll never have to cower in fear of beasts ever again?"
"Stand tall and stand proud, because you did not go through all that to die? Or did you?!"
"No"
"I can't understand squealing!"
"NO!" they chanted.
"Good. Archers, mages take positions"
He whispered to Benjamin, who was secretly amazed.
"Place the archers in position"
"Shifters and Knights pan out. I want you to make sure nothing gets past you. We will show these filthy beasts to their graves"
"Yes Boss!"
They were riled up.
"Those from number two to ten, follow me. We'll battle them, personally"
They simply nodded, with Ezra leading them to the gates.
With a wave of his hand, the metal gate was pushed open.
"AH!" with his shout, he ran out through the gates and the students followed right behind him.
Valencia (the blood mage) was to battle as a long ranger as was Westin, a plant mage, so he stayed on the palisades.
Coming out, Ezra's sword drew an arc of white lightning and, with it, he cleared out a perimeter by electrocuting the beasts and blasting them away.
Surely, they could have fought from on top the palisade, but the problem was that they weren't killing the beasts fast enough.
Furthermore, most of the beasts didn't, no, couldn't, reach the palisade, and were hoping to break the door instead.
This was the main reason why they were able to hold more than ten thousand beasts with a bit more than six thousand men.
The students pumped that number to ten thousand, but it was far from enough.
Ezra's arc of lightning raised the hairs of the soldiers on top.
A few mercenaries were glad in their hearts that they hadn't challenged him.
It wouldn't have ended well.
"Hahaha" Ashton burst into laughter, punching the hell out of a wolf with a gauntlet coated with aura.
"Weak!"
Valentine was spraying lightning as well, occasionally warping to provide support where she thought it was needed.
Theron had the spiked head of his halberd elongate, as it was connected with a chain, smashing it into the head of the beasts, clearing them out.
Velora was cutting them down to size, flashing across the battlefield at an insane pace.
Roxanne had her whip sword slither across the battlefield, slashing and slicing.
Umeron was dishing out punches and kicks while Emerson had transformed, going beast to beast as he ripped them apart in a most brutal fashion.
Johan was cutting them down with his twin sabers, while Ezra decimated them, killing ten to thirty at a time, giving them small wounds with a poison coated blade.
His blood had grown so corrosive that the skin of beasts melted on contact, and because of the agility runes, he was practically warping across the battlefield. The clarity rune had his senses at the peak, but even without those, the beasts were as fast as a shadow slug in his eyes.
If they didn't die after a single cut - which was highly unlikely - their movements would slow down as the poison attacked their internals.
Even at this, Ezra was holding himself back tremendously.
Their insanity was proven when none of the beasts retreated even when staring at their dead comrades. Rather, they ate them and attacked more viciously.
Ezra knocked down the stairs of carcasses the beasts were using to climb up to the palisade.
As a result, the pressure the remaining knights faced was lessened tremendously.
With the support from the archers and mages, the beasts faced overkill, and in seven hours, all the beasts were dispatched.
At the end of it, Ezra breathed a sigh of relief. It'd been a long time since he felt this feeling.
Honestly, with the rate at which he battled in his past life, fighting had become a way to destress for him.
Everyone was too shocked to celebrate, especially the original army.
They'd resigned themselves to their deaths, which they deemed inevitable, yet now, they actually survived. Even better, they won.
It was an outcome beyond their wildest dreams.
Besides that, there were other reasons.
The decently powerful - those of Intermediate and Advanced rank - could measure or at least estimate the ranks of the top few by observing them and their attacks.
"They are all Experts!"
That alone was shocking, but then, with a look, none of them could be older than twenty five.
Both soldiers and mercenaries felt their pride melting like ice. Compared to those children, their achievements now seemed worthless.
Then came pangs of envy. If only they had been born to some noble family, they'd have been able to achieve the same, or at least something compatible.
But the students knew this assumption to be untrue. Both the skill and power these few achieved were mind blowing. It shouldn't be possible!
Even after training with them for so long, it didn't make them any less awesome in their eyes, rather, it enhanced their awesomeness because they saw just how much effort they put in.
Ezra shook off the blood on his swords. His clothes were barely stained, severely contrasting the rows of carcasses around him.
Storing away his swords, he called Velora, Valentine and Roxanne over.
"Your weapons" he said, stretching his palm.
They didn't know what he was up to, but they gave them to him.
Cutting himself, he coated each blade in his blood.
"I have the poison blood skill. That's why my blood's black"
The girls understood.
"Make sure you don't touch it, accidentally or not. Get thick gloves so your hands don't melt off"
He handed it to them, having turned their edges to the ground.
"Leave them in the sun for a bit"
He walked away.
Reaching the palisade, he found the soldiers lined up.
The moment he arrived, they split to create a path for him, and as he worked through it, they expressed their gratitude in simple gestures.
"Tell them to get some rest, those beasts will be back tomorrow, and with greater numbers. That's an order"
"Yes sir" Benjamin's attitude had changed as well.
As he devised the strategy for tomorrow's battle, other parties were on the move.
Niton's grandmasters sat across a round table, the Emperor included.
"What have you found out?"
"We think the ones attacking Grandmasters are also the ones who created this beast tide, though we have no proof" Raven replied.
"So, basically nothing?" the Emperor said flatly.
Getrahan spoke after.
"By the time I arrived, Klein had already been killed, but the attackers didn't leave his body"
"They took his body…" the Emperor narrowed his eyes.
"Regardless, we'll get answers from Gaga, Gilliard, Irazet or Larson"
"The situation is critical. We have find out what's causing this beast tides fast and end it"
They stood up to leave, when Jebas spoke…
"Hey, what about the newcomer?"
On cue, they felt a presence, one of their level.
"Would you look at that?"
Fredrick fell right out of the sky, landing on the ground gracefully as he manipulated the soil, making it soluble.
He walked into the meeting room, paying no one any attention, before taking a seat.
"You're late, the meeting's already over"
"Then I must suggest that you sit down. I have information with me"
"What kind of information?" Jebas inquired.
"Sit down" Fredrick answered.
Begrudgingly, they sat down, but Fredrick folded his arms, confusing the others.
"Well, we're waiting" the Emperor said.
"Oh" Fredrick looked surprised.
"I never said it was for free"
The Emperor pulsed a vein and white lightning started coming off of his body.
"Get at it before I lose my patience"
"And then what?" Fredrick genuinely didn't give a F*CK, releasing his aura as well.
"We can go at it anytime you're ready"
"Think carefully, it's four to one. You can't take us all at once"
Fredrick shook his head.
"Tch, Tch, I definitely can. Or do you think I came here without a plan?" he stared them dead in the eye.
"The worst you can do is kill me, during which at least two of you will die. Moreover, you'll doom Niton to destruction. So, choose your next actions carefully"
The aura of five Grandmasters rocked the building, threatening to demolish it, when the Emperor had his aura recede.
"You win" the Emperor admitted.
"Let's hear your demands"
