Evilus explosives breached every gate in Orario simultaneously.
A massive wave of dark forces flooded the city.
The commotion drew the Adventurers' immediate attention. Guards stationed throughout the districts stepped forward to intercept the enemy horde.
The clash between the two sides produced heavy casualties on contact.
"Get the wounded to the rear! Transport them to Airmid!"
Whenever an Orario Adventurer sustained a crippling injury, they retreated.
Initially, the Evilus cultists mistook this tactical fallback for cowardice. As the battle raged, they realized the truth. Opponents they had just gutted were reappearing in the vanguard, looking vibrant and full of life.
Were they burning through potions? Could it be Elixirs?
Impossible.
Elixirs cost five hundred thousand Valis a bottle and the Guild could not afford to squander them on this scale.
Evilus organized three distinct waves of attacks, but the resistance from Orario proved far more stubborn than they anticipated.
"Damn it, why is it you again?" an Evilus vanguard screamed.
He watched a man whose stomach he had personally run through twice charge the frontline once more!
The Adventurer offered no answer, he simply grinned and pressed the attack.
After a brief exchange of blows, the Evilus cultist fell to the ground.
His own sword pinned him to the dirt, driven through his shoulder and lodged deep in his sternum.
Even in death, confusion and bewilderment masked his face.
'Are these Orario bastards immortal?'
...
Hum—!
Three kilometers behind every active battlefield sat a medical station. Every primary healer within those tents wielded a knockoff Tenseiga.
To prepare for this day, Rayleigh had worked without sleep or food to forge ten replica Tenseigas.
In the hands of these carefully selected healers, the swords' performance exceeded their limits, magnifying their restorative magic on a massive scale.
Standing atop the city wall to observe the chaotic battlefield, Valetta, the "Arachnia," was livid.
"Is this a joke?! These useless wastes... we hold the numerical advantage! Why haven't they broken the line?!"
Valetta lashed out, snapping the shin of a nearby subordinate with a brutal kick before shoving him off the high wall.
"Aaaaaah!"
Splat!
The Orario Adventurers paused as the cultist hit the pavement, flattening into a bloody mess.
From her vantage point, Valetta finally deciphered Finn's troop deployment.
Massive ice walls ringed Babel and the Central Plaza, erecting a dedicated fortress of frost around the tower.
Valetta clicked her tongue.
Finn had deduced their true goal, ice walls of this scale were the unmistakable work of "Nine Hell," Riveria.
'That trash Elven royal.'
'Tch. Playing these little tricks. Don't even think that this shit is enough to stop us, you Orario garbage!'
....
"Report! A horde of monsters has emerged outside the walls! They are attacking Orario!" Raul shouted, detailing the latest development.
Royman, the Guild Head, turned pale and shrieked, "What did you say?! Monsters? Actual monsters?"
His shrill voice startled even Raul.
Finn rubbed his ear in annoyance. "Calm down, Royman," he ordered smoothly.
"You are telling me to calm down?! How can I possibly be calm?! The city created by the ancients is about to be trampled by filthy beasts!" Royman shouted.
"Do something, Finn!"
Finn met Royman's panic with stony silence.
After watching the Pallum's expression, Royman froze.
"You... did you already guess the enemy would do this?"
Finn nodded.
"I did. If I were in their position, I would do the exact same thing—attracting the beasts living in the surrounding wilds to launch a pincer attack. It was not hard to predict that, the problem is that my thumb is still throbbing."
Finn rubbed his right thumb.
This was his unique intuition, whenever danger approached, his thumb throbbed with pain, acting as an early warning system.
The severity of the approaching calamity dictated the intensity of the ache.
A pain this intense marked only the second occurrence in his entire life.
It highlighted the sheer gravity of their situation.
'Evilus... what else do they have up in their sleeves?'
...
"Aaaaaahhh!!" "Hey, what is going on!" "Why are monsters spawning inside the city?!"
A massive horde of monsters charged out from the alleys and sewers within the city, joining forces with Evilus to encircle the Orario Adventurers.
Caught in a pincer attack from three sides, the Adventurers began to lose ground, even with the restorative power of the Tenseigas backing them.
"Minotaurs!"
"There are Orcs too!"
"They are too strong! These are Dungeon spawns, their strength operates on a different level compared to surface monsters!"
Monsters running rampant inside the city walls.
This provoked polar opposite reactions from two specific observers. Guild Head Royman watched in heartbreak as the ancient city faced ruin.
Valetta, on the other hand, laughed maniacally from her perch.
"Hahaha! Monsters running rampant in the streets, slaughtering the Orario trash... what a beautiful sight!"
..
"Dammit, the line is breaking! Bring that thing out!"
"Are you sure?"
"Did they not order us to save it for a critical moment?"
"Does this not look critical enough, you idiot?! Bring it out!"
Following the frantic exchange, an Adventurer sprinted forward carrying a heavy object wrapped in white cloth strips.
The silhouette outlined a large blade.
Written in stark ink across the hilt wrappings read a single name: Bakusaiga.
"I just have to swing it with everything I have, right?"
"They said it automatically absorbs magic power to fuel its strike. My magic stat is decent, Let me try."
The Adventurer snatched the wrapped blade.
'The work of that Zanpakuto creator... I finally get to wield one!'
The eager man gripped the hilt with both hands. A second later, his magic power plummeted.
The sword devoured his mind reserves.
He tightened his grip. A fierce blue light radiated from the blade, shredding the white cloth bindings.
An oppressive aura flooded the street as the blue light condensed into the spectral visage of a demon.
"It... it's draining too much!"
"I cannot hold it!"
His comrades watched his skin begin to pale from Bakusaiga's heavy toll and urged him on.
"Hurry up and swing it!"
"Hyaaah!"
The Adventurer hoisted the heavy sword above his head, aimed it squarely at the charging monster horde, and slashed downward.
The world flickered between black and white as a devastating shockwave erupted across the ruined street!