BOOOOOOM!!
Thunder roared across the sky.
The giant black portal above the Royal Capital continued to grow larger.
Thousands of crimson eyes glowed within the darkness.
Fear spread through the entire city.
People screamed and ran in panic.
"What... what is that?!"
"Monsters!"
"We're doomed!"
The atmosphere instantly became chaotic.
On the arena floor, Saksham stared at the portal.
His Divine Eyes were trembling.
The amount of dark mana coming from it was unimaginable.
Even General Nocthar's aura seemed tiny in comparison.
Captain Leon immediately shouted.
"All knights, battle stations!"
"Protect the citizens!"
"Evacuate everyone!"
The royal knights rushed into action.
King Alexander drew his sword.
Its golden blade shined brilliantly.
"Archmage Valerian!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Activate the capital's barrier!"
Valerian slammed his staff into the ground.
BOOM!
Massive magic circles appeared around the city.
Blue pillars of light shot into the sky.
A giant barrier slowly covered the Royal Capital.
At that moment—
CRACK!
The black portal opened completely.
Then...
something stepped out.
A creature nearly ten meters tall.
Its body was covered in black armor.
Four crimson eyes glowed on its face.
Dark wings spread behind its back.
The moment it appeared—
BOOOOM!
A terrifying pressure descended upon the city.
Several citizens collapsed instantly.
Saksham's face turned pale.
"What is that thing...?"
Elias narrowed his eyes.
"A Greater Demon."
Even he sounded serious.
Then...
another one appeared.
And another.
And another.
Within seconds...
dozens of Greater Demons emerged from the portal.
The knights' faces turned white.
"This is impossible..."
General Nocthar slowly walked out of the portal.
He looked down at the city and smiled.
"Beautiful."
King Alexander pointed his sword toward him.
"Nocthar!"
The general's crimson eyes moved toward the king.
"Your Majesty."
He bowed slightly.
"Thank you for gathering everyone in one place."
The king's expression darkened.
"You planned this."
"Of course."
Nocthar's smile widened.
"I came here for only one thing."
His eyes slowly moved toward Saksham.
"The Child of Fate."
Saksham's fists tightened.
Nocthar raised his hand.
"Bring him to me."
ROOOOAR!
The Greater Demons descended from the sky.
The battle had begun.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Emergency Quest Activated!
Defend the Royal Capital!
Objectives:
• Protect the citizens.
• Defeat the invading demons.
• Survive.
Rewards:
????
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
BOOM!
One of the demons smashed into the palace walls.
Knights immediately charged.
CLANG!
Their swords barely scratched the monster.
Another demon appeared above the marketplace.
It opened its mouth.
A sphere of dark energy formed.
"No!"
Saksham's eyes widened.
There were still civilians below.
Without thinking—
BOOM!
He rushed toward the marketplace.
"Saksham!" Captain Leon shouted.
The dark sphere descended.
The people below screamed.
At the last second—
"Light Shield!"
A golden barrier appeared.
BOOOOM!
The explosion shook the entire street.
Smoke covered the area.
When it disappeared...
Saksham was standing there.
His barrier was cracked.
Blood dripped from his forehead.
But the citizens behind him were unharmed.
The people looked at him with disbelief.
"He... protected us."
A little girl stepped forward.
"Thank you..."
Saksham smiled.
Then—
ROOOOAR!
The demon charged.
Its massive claw descended.
CLANG!
A golden sword blocked the attack.
Elias stood before him.
"Don't try to do everything alone."
He smiled.
"We're allies now, remember?"
Saksham laughed.
"Right."
The two looked at the demon.
Elias pointed his sword forward.
"Let's take it down."
"Together."
BOOM!
Both of them charged.
Saksham attacked from the left.
Elias from the right.
SLASH!
SLASH!
The demon roared in pain.
For the first time...
it was injured.
Meanwhile...
high above the battlefield...
General Nocthar watched silently.
Then he smiled.
"Excellent."
"The Child of Fate grows stronger every day."
Suddenly—
A new voice echoed behind him.
"You seem pleased."
Nocthar turned around.
A figure wearing a black cloak stood on the portal.
Only his glowing crimson eyes could be seen.
Nocthar immediately knelt.
"My Lord."
The mysterious figure looked toward Saksham.
"So..."
"This is the boy."
Even Nocthar lowered his head respectfully.
The figure slowly smiled.
"The time is near."
A terrifying aura spread across the heavens.
Every person in the capital froze.
Even Elias and King Alexander felt fear.
Saksham slowly looked toward the sky.
His Divine Eyes trembled violently.
DING!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WARNING!
Extremely Dangerous Entity Detected!
Threat Level:
UNKNOWN
Recommendation:
RUN.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
For the first time...
the system told him to run.
Saksham's heart began beating rapidly.
The mysterious figure slowly raised his hand.
And then...
he pointed directly at Saksham.
"You have grown enough."
"Now..."
"It is time for us to meet."
To be continued...