Way of the Knights

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A spiked black tower shield was thrown to intercept the attack of the Crimson Crow King, a Tier 6 Demonic Beast.

An attack that would normally wipe out hundreds of Knights, was completely neutralized by Paul's Black Tortoise Shield. It didn't even budge nor shook from the impact. The pillar of flame was completely absorbed by the shield without letting anyone harmed. 

"Right back at you." Paul said as he gestured with his hand. 

The shield rotated and shot a powerful beam of energy similar to the Crimson Crow King's attack, albeit doubled in size and strength. 

The Crimson Crow King wasn't expecting its attack to not only be neutralized but also returned stronger. It dodged at last second but it didn't came out unscathed. The beam of light nicked its wings, causing it to fall to the marching horde. 

Cheers erupted as the soldiers saw how easily Paul deflected the attack of a powerful beast. This further boosted the morale of the troops, causing their blood to boil and their thirst for battle to rise on another level. 

The Black Tortoise Shield flew back to him, he then looked at Luis and nodded. The latter got the message and nodded back.

"Charge! Meet the enemy! Defend our homeland!" Luis roared as he gave out the command. 

"AAHHHH!"

"LET'S DO THIS!"

"DEFEND OUR HOME!"

"FOR THE KINGDOM!"

"FOR THE KING!"

"FIGHT!"

"TAKE NO PRISONERS!"

The roars and battle cries of the soldiers flooded the entire battlefield. The earth shook, the sky darkened even more. Flashes of light and explosions occurred everywhere. Bits and pieces of flesh were scattered om the ground, blood stained the soil and a foul smell permeated through the battlefield. 

"Shall we, everyone?" Old Lee stepped forward and asked his fellow Golden Knights. 

The rest nodded and without wasting any more time, all of them blurred into motion. 

Old Lee and Mark seemingly turned into lightning as they ran towards the horde with their blinding speed. Ellen and Leona flew into the air with their wings made out of fire, sending orbs of concentrated flame which temperatures are high enough to reduced anything it touches to ash. Anne and Morel stayed in the air, providing supportive fire using their arrows of spears made out wind. 

And despite being the slowest amongst them, Paul had different way to catch up to them. 

He threw his spear in a graceful arc. He gathered strength through his legs and jumped high up in the air. 

His spear landed amidst the marching beast horde, it hit the Crimson Crow King and nailed it to the ground. Paul then crashed in the middle of a horde like a blazing meteor, causing a powerful quake to disrupt the momentum of the charging horde. 

*Boom!*

The earth shook and several demonic beast were sent flying due to the impact of Paul's landing, those beast were then shot by Anne's arrows shortly after. 

Pail crushed the pitiful beast that got impaled by his spear. He picked up his spear and flared his overbearing aura amongst the ranks of the horde. 

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!"

A guttural roar sounded from Paul's throat, causing a huge disturbance in the horde. A silhouette of colossal sized Snake-tailed Black Tortoise appeared behind his back, looking down on the horde with arrogance and radiating with an Ancient Aura. 

As the black tortoise appeared, majority of the beast felt their blood freezing. Their hearts tightened as a profound fear washed over their bodies. 

Meanwhile, every single soldier who heard his voice, were suddenly covered by a blue barrier. This barrier has a total of nine-layers which will protect them against life-threatening attacks and will not dissipate until all nine layers are used or Paul falls unconscious. 

Still, Paul's powerful display isn't over. 

With most of the beast experiencing suppression from the ancient might of Snake-tailed Black Tortoise, Paul decided to take advantage of this situation. He assumed a defensive stance by placing his shield forward and activating the next form of Black Tortoise Shield. 

"Black Tortoise Shield 2nd Form: Spiked Barricade!"

The black tower shield on his arm expanded at a visible pace. It turned into a long barricade that spanned for at least one kilometer in length and several meters tall. The beast who failed to stop their charging momentum were impaled by the spikes on the barricade's surface, causing them to die on spot. 

"Woah, he's going all out." Mark said after slitting the throat of someone from the Black Curtain Guild. 

The appearance of the barricade even came as a surprise for their allies, since they never saw this kind of spectacle. 

Paul legitimately erected a barricade in the middle of the horde, effectively diving their forces in half. This did not only lightened up the load for his allies, it also raised their survival rate. 

Dozens of beasts tried to destroy the barricade he created but no matter what they did, wasn't even enough to leave a scratch on it or push Paul back.

Paul was at the center of everything, his feet were firmly planted on the ground. His face was earnest as his desire to protect raised an all time high. And the barricade wasn't just for defense either. 

His spear was mounted on the barricade. Each time he thrusts his spear forward, the spikes on the surface of the barricade will extend, stabbing through the crazed and unsuspecting beasts.

Back at the walls, even the King himself was impressed by this sight. Ian who's watching the war through the array, felt pride rising from the depths of his heart. 

He found it quite hard to believe that this snotty brat grew up so fast, to the point that he became one of the most reliable people throughout the kingdom. He wasn't even paying attention to the impressed faces of his peers and the words of flattery coming out of their lips. All he felt was joy and pride.

'Come on!' Paul said to himself through gritted teeth. 'At worst, I'll be sore for the rest of the week after this. But for now, be strong enough. Hold your ground, don't fall. This is a simple task, you can do this.'

It wasn't even that long since he came to the battlefield yet his body is already covered in sweat. Maintaining the 2nd Form of his shield isn't really tough but the impact from the relentless charging of the horde was hurting him. He endured them all, he believed in himself. He kept on telling himself that he didn't endure a torturous training only to fail here. He might appear relaxed but that's just because he didn't want to worry anyone here. He wanted to do his best and protect his home, and without Raven here, he can't afford to fail.

He was so concentrated on his thoughts that he didn't even notice that Ellen was standing next to him. He only saw her once she touched his shoulders. 

"You're so dumb." She said but her face showed a rare expression of tenderness. "You're not fighting alone, we're a team remember?"

Before he could even say anything, she flew towards the sky and pointed her sword to the sky, allowing her venerable aura to spread through the battlefield. 

Behind her, a silhouette of a massive sized Vermillion Bird appeared. 

And as if the suppression from the Snake-tailed Black Tortoise wasn't enough, here comes another Divine Beast. 

A sonorous cry was heard all over the place. Every beast who heard the cry of the Vermillion Bird, felt another suppression pressing them down, making it hard for them to exert all of their force. The appearance of the Vermillion Bird also caused the flying beast to fall from the sky. The Vermillion Bird is the King of the Skies, and no other winged beasts shall take flight without its permission. 

Ellen landed beside Paul and held his hand. She smiled sweetly to him and said: "Let's add fire to your barricade."

Bright red flames fueled by Fire Laws encased the barricade that Paul erected. Not only did it increased the temperature of around them, it even caused the spikes on its surface to be covered in flames. Now, each time Paul struck, the spikes will not only impale the nearby beast, the flames will incinerate their organs as well. 

This effectively lightened up some of the load on Paul's shoulders and also helped on preserving his stamina in the long run.

Even amidst the war, Paul felt incredibly lucky. He felt a little stupid, thinking that just because Raven was absent in the war, he had to step up and endure the pressure all alone. If Raven was here, he would've not hesitate to smack his head and give him some lectures. Not even Raven himself would dare to face all of this by himself, so what Paul's doing right now is incredibly stupid. 

Paul's not facing this war alone. He had allies. There's only so much he can do alone, he needed to rely on his comrades because winning this war will only be achieved if they work together. 

"You know what? You're so hot right now." Paul said as he felt the pressure on his shoulders lightened.. "No pun intended of course."

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