103 The Fearless (Unrefined and Unchecked)

The Burning High Court
Central Plaza

Victor swung his weapon with mechanical detachment. His palms were long since shredded, and blood trickled down between his fingers. Around him, his kin fell one after another, yet the human forces only gathered in greater numbers, seemingly endless in their onslaught.

"Brother! We can’t hold them much longer! If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!"

Vladit, Victor’s younger brother, rushed to his side, pleading incessantly.

"If you want to go, then go!" Victor replied. "If the High Court falls, my survival would only be a disgrace."

Victor looked at the blood-soaked Vladit, already prepared to meet his end with honor.

"Brother! You are our backbone; we all rely on your leadership! You cannot let anything happen to you! Please, we must go!"

Victor remained unmoved, staring up at the sky and sighing powerlessly. "Look around you. Do you still not understand?"

Vladit froze. He could not comprehend why his brother, who had insisted on evacuation just yesterday, had suddenly changed his mind today.

***

The chaotic battle had raged for nearly an hour. The Ratmen were clearly losing; without the cover of city fortifications, their raw fervor was no match for the humans.

By now, the center of the plaza had been seized by the humans. The guard unit beneath the tower had been annihilated, and a group of dwarven warriors was queuing up to storm the watchtower.

At the summit of the tower, Snikch the One-Eyed was utterly exhausted, clinging to life solely through sheer force of will. He pulled his bamboo blade from the throat of an enemy, only for another to crawl up immediately. The onslaught was infinite.

Watching the human warriors cramming the stairs beneath him, a sense of despair took hold of Snikch. Was this truly the end for the Ratmen? Was there any chance left? Who could come to save them?

Snikch crouched on the tower’s edge, his right hand braced against the ground, his limbs trembling from fatigue. A cold wind howled, threatening to cast him from the heights at any moment, but the Three-Rat Battle Banner behind him danced in the wind, infusing him with a final, surging well of spiritual strength.

Suddenly, he felt a chill on his head.

It was water!

Slowly, raindrops began to fall, pattering against Snikch’s face—growing more frequent, more dense.

It was raining.

After more than two months of drought, the Northland Plains had finally welcomed the first rain of summer. The entire city of High Court, like a newborn infant, greedily drank in the heaven’s mercy. The raging inferno began to falter under the intensifying downpour.

"It’s raining!" The Ratmen within the city threw their arms wide to the sky, overcome with uncontrollable excitement!

"Snikch!" A roar rose from beneath the tower. Snikch looked down to see Johnny rushing toward him, and seeing what was strapped to his back, he instantly understood his comrade's intent.

***

I… cannot fall yet. We Ratmen still have a chance!

He kicked a rope down from the watchtower. "Come up and die, you little dwarves! My life is right here—let’s see which of you has the skill to take it!"

A surging battle intent reignited everything within Snikch. Only a fight to the death remained!

Below, Johnny wove through the fighting lines, leaped up, stepped onto the shoulders of several dwarf warriors in succession, and grabbed the rope Snikch had dropped, climbing rapidly. Within a minute, he had reached the midsection of the watchtower.

"Archers, ready!"
"Aim at that Ratman!"
"Volley!"
"Fire!"

Gimli, observing the battlefield from the center of the dwarven ranks, had locked onto Johnny the moment he broke through. He commanded the archers to unleash a barrage toward him. A rain of arrows descended, but Johnny deftly kicked off the outer wall of the tower, tucking himself into a blind spot away from the crossbowmen, and continued his ascent.

The rain fell continuously, slapping against Johnny’s cheeks. The battle raged on below; the Mountain King remained unstoppable. But Johnny had his own mission.

Seeing the arrows miss, Gimli ordered the archers to close the distance.

Three minutes later, as Johnny neared the top, another volley erupted. Unlike the last, these arrows came from all directions. There was nowhere to hide!

*Thwack!*

A piercing pain surged through him as two arrows struck him squarely in the back. The searing heat nearly caused him to lose his grip and plummet.

"AHHH!"

In this desperate moment, filled with resolve, Johnny summoned a fearless strength and surged toward the tower’s summit.

"Shoot him down!" Gimli snatched a longbow from a crossbowman and aimed at Johnny in mid-air.

Johnny could feel another volley of arrows hurtling toward him from behind. He was still twenty centimeters from the top.

Just then, a wet, furry, rat-like hand reached down from the summit and gripped his palm. Feeling the strength from above, Johnny pushed off the outer wall with his feet, his left hand successfully catching the edge of the tower.

*Thwack!*

Another arrow bit into Snikch’s calf, causing him immense pain. With a surge of strength from both hands, Johnny hauled himself onto the top, narrowly dodging the following hail of arrows.

***

After dispatching the last dwarf on the platform, Snikch used his final reserves to pull Johnny up. At the very last moment, he passed the torch of protecting the battle banner to Johnny and collapsed into unconsciousness.

Filled with rage, Johnny stood at the summit, shielding the Three-Rat Battle Banner behind him while repelling the ascending dwarves. At thirty meters in the air, with no railings or safety measures, standing against the gale alone proved him a warrior of true ferocity.

Under the excessive weight, Johnny could clearly feel the watchtower beginning to sway violently. With the wounded, unconscious Snikch to protect, the banner to guard, and enemies climbing the tower, his time was running out.

"Get everyone down, the tower is about to collapse!" The Mountain shouted to the warriors on the structure.

"The enemy is already finished, keep up the assault!" Gimli retorted, overriding the Mountain’s command. In the military hierarchy, Gimli outranked the Mountain by two levels.

But the Mountain ignored him entirely. "Those are my clansmen! Our blood may flow, but it shall not be shed in vain! The enemy clearly intends to take us down with them. We can just pull the tower down with ropes from below."

"I am the supreme commander here! I ordered you to stay on the tower—are you defying me?"

Though Gimli was much shorter than the Mountain, his presence was no less imposing. "I don’t care! If I have to, I’ll face the Chieftain myself and accept any punishment! But as long as I am here, I will not let my kin die for nothing! Everyone, retreat from the tower immediately!"

The Mountain gave Gimli no face. Given the severity of the situation, there was no point in arguing further. Although Gimli was the deputy commander, the warriors climbing the tower were the Mountain’s own kin; they would not heed Gimli’s orders.

Soon, under the Mountain’s direction, the dwarven warriors retreated from the summit.

Johnny, bathed in blood, pulled the Storm Lion Horn from his back, gripped it tightly, and slowly raised it.

***

On the Northland Plains, the raging fires of the High Court began to dwindle.

At the top of the swaying tower in the Central Plaza, a small, rat-like figure bristling with arrows stood against the biting wind and howling storm.

With every ounce of his remaining strength, he blew the horn in his hands.

The King’s Horn would resound through the High Court one last time.