The curtain of water pouring from the heavens turned the world a chaotic gray.
The swamp's water level rose visibly, and muddy waves were already battering the base of the black vine wall.
The plateau had become an island.
"Shh... shhh... hhh..."
The scraping sound from deep within the swamp pierced the rain, drawing ever closer.
Suddenly, a huge plume of water erupted in the distance.
An angry roar unlike any crocodile's drowned out the thunder.
Everyone on the wall turned toward it.
Through the rain, a beast larger than a freight wagon struggled in the muddy waves.
Thick hide like stone slabs covered its body, and the single horn atop its head churned the water.
"It's a Rockshatter Rhino! A level-three magical beast!" an old mercenary cried out in shock. This was already beyond anything they could handle. "Why would it come here?"
A moment later, he had his answer.
Five enormous crocodiles clung to the Rockshatter Rhino like a festering disease, their jaws locked around its limbs and neck.
"ROAR!"
The Rockshatter Rhino bellowed furiously, its eyes bloodshot, its survival instinct overwhelming its fear.
It twisted violently. A faint glow lit its horn as it thrust upward with savage force!
Squelch!
The rhino's horn pierced one crocodile's skull through its lower jaw, spraying filthy blood and brains.
A desperate counterattack.
But that desperate counterattack sealed the rhino's fate. By a cruel twist of chance, the dead crocodile remained firmly impaled on its horn, and several attempts failed to shake the carcass loose.
The largest crocodile seized that opening. Every muscle in its body bunched as it unleashed the killing move engraved in its bloodline.
Death Roll!
The sound of snapping bones and tearing sinews set everyone's teeth on edge.
An enormous splash erupted. The Rockshatter Rhino's thick hind leg was brutally twisted into a corkscrew, and its massive body crashed down.
More crocodiles surged forward.
They sank their teeth into different parts of their prey and began rolling one after another.
The water became a seething frenzy.
In less than five minutes, the powerful, terrifying Rockshatter Rhino had been torn apart alive.
Its tough hide was barely damaged. The Rockshatter Rhino had become a gigantic sack of minced flesh, bobbing in the water.
A deathly silence fell over the wall.
The patter of rain striking armor mingled with the clacking of chattering teeth.
"We... we can't hold them..."
A young militiaman's spear clattered to the ground, and he turned to run.
"We'll be torn apart just like that rhino!"
His breakdown infected the other cowards, and several more fled after him.
Old Walker stood frozen, his cloudy eyes reflecting one contorted face after another.
He saw a half-grown boy who had wet himself in terror, slumped in the mud and crying for his mother; he saw a man who had once boasted of hunting wild boars abandon his weapon and scramble desperately to push through the crowd.
His own heart sank inch by inch into an icy abyss. They could not hold.
This was the swamp's true face. This was the fury of the Weeping Moon, a natural disaster no human strength could withstand.
He silently turned his back on the wall, his murky tears mingling with the rain, ready to disappear into the fleeing crowd like an old dog resigned to its fate.
Just then, his gaze happened to stray toward the top of the wall. The young lord, Weilin Klein, still stood there like a spear nailed to the corner tower.
Rain washed over his youthful face, yet he was still waving his arm and shouting something at the mercenaries.
Why wasn't he panicking?
Why wasn't he running?
What did it matter to him whether people like us lived or died?
Why was he risking his life to defend this place, these villagers, and... an old fool like me who was about to run?
A surge of burning shame and anger shattered the fear in Old Walker's heart.
Why wouldn't he run? Why was he still protecting a bunch of... old fools and cowards ready to flee?
"AAAH!"
Old Walker let out a beastlike howl. He spun around and grabbed the collar of a young militiaman trying to squeeze past him. Astonishing strength erupted from his scrawny arm as he slammed the man against the slick wall bricks.
"Run? Where the hell are you going to run?" Old Walker's eyes were bloodshot. "Look at our lord! Look! Do you want your wife and children to die in those beasts' jaws?!"
He drove his cane hard into the mud, his voice hoarse and resolute. "All of you... get back behind the battlements! If we fall apart, we're all finished!"
That furious shout briefly halted the chaos.
At that very moment, the stretch of water where the Rockshatter Rhino had just been slaughtered began to churn again.
More than a dozen pairs of cold, merciless slit pupils rose from the water and fixed as one upon the high ground.
The richer concentration of life here had drawn them in.
"Shh... shhh... hhh..."
The scraping sounds merged as the giant crocodiles slowly submerged.
More than a dozen trails of ripples cut through the water, creeping toward the camp.
Barrett stood behind Veylin, watching the enormous beasts surround the camp below like a wolf pack encircling its prey. His grip on his sword hilt was so tight that his hand had turned white.
He had once commanded ten men in the empire's border army and fought through countless brutal sieges and defenses.
But none had ever left him feeling as helpless as he did today.
Could walls woven from vines really withstand the crocodiles' astonishing bite force?
He looked at Veylin's back.
"My lord," he said in a low voice, "our crossbow bolts have limited penetrating power. Their skulls are too hard."
"I know," Veylin replied calmly.
"Once the wall falls..."
"It won't."
Veylin cut him off.
Rain ran down his bangs, over his composed face, and across his palms slick with cold sweat.
Before his eyes was the system panel that had finally identified the giant crocodiles.
[Gray Swamp Crocodile] [Level: 3] [Bloodline: Rot Dragon Crocodile (silver tier) 33%, mixed bloodlines 67%] [Abilities: Death Roll, underwater breathing, heavy armor] [Overall assessment: A powerful magical beast that hunts in groups. Extremely strong tearing ability, strong defenses, and adept at underwater combat.]
His gaze swept across the ground below.
The giant crocodiles had finally reached the high ground and climbed onto the still-unflooded ground at the foot of the wall. Just as Veylin had predicted, the bastion's sharply angled projections naturally divided them, turning a wolf pack moving in unison into scattered groups of two or three.
Now they could only crawl along the angles of the walls, exposing their vulnerable flanks to fire from above.
The star-shaped layout was already working, but could the materials hold up?
Veylin was not certain, but he still had an ace up his sleeve. They were merely a pack of stronger crocodiles. He was far from powerless against them!
He raised his hand, and the cold rain washed the sweat from his palm.
At that moment, every sob and scream in the camp fell silent.
Every despairing, terrified, bewildered gaze converged on the young knight standing atop the wall.
"First squad!" Veylin's ringing voice pierced the torrential rain and thunder, reaching every mercenary's ears.
"Prepare to fire!"