Chapter 172 – The Lord’s Last Stand
The Great Hall
The Great Hall of Westmarch had become a mausoleum waiting to be filled.
Knights stood in layered formation.
Shields forward.
Blades ready.
Breathing steady — or trying to.
At the far end of the hall stood Margrave Alaric Vaeloe.
His greatsword rested against the floor.
Runes dim.
Waiting.
Opposite him—
An Alpha werewolf.
Tall.
Scarred.
Golden eyes burning with predatory amusement.
Around him, elite beast assassins crouched like shadows with claws.
“Human Margrave,” the Alpha drawled, voice thick and amused.
“Must you insist on dying tired? Lay down your life. It saves us both time.”
Alaric did not blink.
“Waste your time then, beast. My knights and I shall fight until our final breath.”
“Men!”
Steel sang from scabbards.
“Hi! Ho!”
The Alpha’s grin widened.
“Good.”
His head tilted back.
HOWLLLLL!!!
The hall shook.
And the beasts surged.
First Clash
The knights held.
“Now!”
Spells erupted in succession.
Fireball.
Water Lance.
Wind Cutter.
Stone Bullet.
Explosions tore into the charging wave.
Some beasts fell.
Most didn’t.
They barreled through magic with brutal momentum.
Steel met claw.
Bone cracked.
A knight screamed as he was lifted from the ground and torn open midair.
Another vanished beneath fur and fangs.
The Alpha seized a knight by the helm—
And bit down.
Crunch.
The head separated.
He chewed.
Swallowed.
Smiled, blood dripping from his muzzle.
“Fear seasons the flesh beautifully.”
Formation trembled.
Several knights broke ranks in fury.
They died for it.
The Alpha did not merely fight.
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He dismantled morale.
The Margrave Steps Forward
“My lord!” the knight captain hissed. “Please—!”
Alaric stepped through his own line.
“If I remain behind you while you die for me… I deserve neither title nor breath.”
“…After this, drinks are on you, my lord.”
“Sure, if we’re both alive not just you but everyone can drink until they’re drop dead.”
His greatsword lifted.
Runes ignited in earthy glow.
“I am Alaric Vaeloe, Margrave of Pinta, Defender of the West.”
The floor trembled.
Stone pillars erupted from below, smashing into lunging beasts.
Two assassins were crushed against the ceiling.
The Alpha’s eyes sharpened.
“Earth-attribute magic blade?”
He laughed.
“I will enjoy taking it.”
Tramble.
Stone erupts from the marble floor — not as a wall, but as a ring of jagged pillars.
They rise unevenly.
Thick enough to block a charge.
Wide enough to leave slits between them.
A stone cage.
But not a sealed one.
Through those narrow gaps—
Blood.
Steel.
Men screaming.
Beasts howling.
Alaric’s voice remains steady.
“Form around me.”
The Alpha grins.
“You think rocks will save your men from me?”
“They are not to save my men nor me,” Alaric replies.
“They are to trapped you with us.”
The cage isolating the Alpha inside a ring of pillars with Alaric and his elite guard.
Outside—
The assassins continued slaughtering.
Inside—
Predator versus lord.
Alaric’s plan was simple:
Kill the head.
The body falters.
Unfortunately—
The Alpha thought the same.
The Predator Revealed
He was faster than predicted.
He didn’t trade blows.
He broke rhythm.
He leapt over strikes.
Twisted midair.
Clawed from blind angles.
Retreated before retaliation.
One knight fell.
Then another.
The captain remained.
Alaric held.
But sweat beaded under his helm.
This creature wasn’t just strong.
It was calculating.
It enjoyed watching hope shrink.
The Alpha licked blood from his claws.
Hope seems lost.
But then —
A pressure change.
The torches flicker sideways.
Wind does not belong inside a sealed hall.
“… What?” one assassin mutters from the other side of stone pillar.
A faint silver light streaks across the battlefield—
“[Gale Impact].”
BOOM.
The nearest beast assassin is crushed against the stone wall before it even understands what hit it.
Crash
Through shattered stained glass high above the hall, two figures descend like falling stars.
One lands lightly, silver hair whipping behind her.
The other lands beside her, blade already mid-swing.
Wind spirals around them.
“[Silver Ward]…”
Wind cutter ripped the air and slash the beast around her
“[Silent Edge]…”
A second voice follows like a whisper behind steel.
Slash
Three clean strokes.
Tendons split. Arteries severed.
Not killing blows — disabling blows.
The beasts stagger.
The knight mutter in disbelieve.
“We’re… not abandoned…”
Then—
“… Reinforcement…?” Knight captain breathes.
The silver-haired girl and blue hair both does not declare their name.
Only adventurer alias.
They both says in unison—
“We’ve come to help.”
“Men! Hold Formation!”
The knight captain roar with joy.
Open the gap in his defense by mistake.
TWACK!
Claw through abdomen.
Blood sprayed.
Margrave yell.
“Ruderic!”
The captain smiled faintly through crimson teeth.
“My lord… forgive me…”
He was thrown aside.
He hits the pillar.
Slides down.
Still.
Eyes half-open.
The Alpha rolled his shoulders.
“This exceeded schedule slightly.”
He stepped forward.
“Now, Margrave. No shields left.”
Alaric raised his blade.
Help has arrived.
And more will came.
He cannot let his men die in vain.
He must live.
Stone walls erupted one after another—
Crushed.
Shattered.
Torn apart.
The Alpha advanced through each barrier like a nightmare refusing to wake.
Alaric’s back hit the end wall.
Nowhere left.
The Alpha crouched.
“GOT YOU.”
He leapt.
The Impossible Entrance
Time slowed.
And then—
Glass shattered.
A window exploded inward.
Something—
No.
Several somethings—
Crashed into the hall.
First—
A massive armored man in full plate planked midair, shield beneath him like a sled.
Behind him—
A knight clinging to his back, screaming in absolute terror while still holding shield and sword upright.
On top—
A cat-woman standing balanced like she was riding a board downhill, eyes gleaming with joy.
Above them—
A green-robed magician flying by wind, face pale from mana exhaustion.
The absurdity hit before the impact did.
CRASH!!!
Bram slammed into the Alpha’s flank, shield absorbing the worst of the impact.
Aldric followed, tackling the beast in mid-recovery.
Nyssa flipped off Bram’s back, spinning elegantly before landing with claws extended.
Seraphine descended shakily, already uncorking a mana potion.
The Alpha rolled across the stone floor.
Stunned.
“Who’s the frick came up with this absurd plan!”
“Me me me? Let’s do it again next time kay?”
“Fuck no! thank you!”
Nyssa jump up and down with excitement while Aldric spat.
Bram lie flat down not moving like a corpse.
The Margrave stared.
“…What.”
Aldric staggered upright, still trembling from vertical trauma.
“We are the Silver Rank party—Four Bastion!”
He paused, swallowed bile.
“And we’ve come to rescue you, Margrave Alaric!”
Nyssa pointed dramatically.
“Best entrance ever.”
Bram, still face-down, slowly raised a thumbs up.
He was alive.
Probably.
Parallel Front – Silver Ward
Elsewhere in the hall—
Ivaline felt it.
She saw through the gap.
Her bracelet pulsed.
‘You came.’
‘To your rescue, my love.’
Even in battle—
Warmth.
‘Your party?’
‘Except Nyssa… I think they would manage.’
‘Need help?’
‘We can manage. Focus there.’
‘Love you.’
‘Love you too.’
Connection cut.
Steel resumed.
Ivaline and Vaelis stood against remaining assassins.
Behind them—
Wounded knights.
Ahead—
A dozen elite killers.
The Alpha rose slowly.
Ribs cracked back into place with wet sounds.
He grinned wider than before.
“Good.”
His golden eyes burned.
“Now the hunt is interesting.”
