Hearing the falling rubble of the wall, the young woman grabbed her short sword and dagger. Looking back at the structure, she saw the wall being slowly damaged; soldiers were falling off the wall by force or willingly, wanting to escape. Only to be crushed to death by the falling stone bricks.
The tanned man stepped forward, turning to the group of silver-armored warriors, and shouted, “Order of Tomorrow! When the sun is no longer in the sky to protect the people of this world from darkness, it is our duty to protect them. When the light no longer scares the tide monsters, we shall be their new fear! Let us see tomorrow’s sun!” The man took out his long sword and lifted it up for everyone to see. The blade was slowly enveloped in flames, shining like a beacon of hope.
The warriors stomped one foot against the ground and pressed their hands against their chests, all at once answering: “Let us see tomorrow’s sun!”
All of the warriors took out their weapons, awaiting the monsters that were behind the now unstable wall. The sound of cannon fire became less frequent. Then fewer of them were shooting at the enemy as Barnacles appeard on the wall, changing the task at hand for the soldiers.
An anchor fell to their side of the wall, making the floor collapse underneath its weight. The chain attached to it was slowly being pulled, and once it stopped because of the wall, with one sharp move, the wall had been breached. A crack appeared in it, and then a loud pounding made the whole wall shake. The bricks moved toward them, and the construction could no longer hold it together. The collapsing bricks made a gap in the wall, wide enough for a person to pass through.
Barnacles poured into the street from the gap in the wall. At first, the soldiers and hired guns were keeping them at bay with constant fire. As more of them passed through the broken wall, they pushed the bricks, slowly widening the gap.
As one of the soldiers pulled out his saber, the tanned man approached him and grabbed him by the shoulder. His shaking head was enough to dismiss the thought of fighting the monsters.
“Soldiers and mercenaries! Fall back! We’re going to engage in close combat!” The man’s words carried a formal order which all of them obeyed. “Prepare your blades!” The man shouted as he lifted his long sword and checked if everyone had their weapons in their hands.
“Order Of Tomorrow! Protect this city!” At his command, the warriors in silver armor began their charge. Swords, spears, axes, and hammers alike were swung to kill those creatures from the depths of the ocean.
The Barnacles weren’t strong, but they were many. A single soldier was able to fend off two barnacles at a time, but with so many of them, they were outnumbered and brutally killed. The ones who ended up facing the Barnacles with swordfish’s skull instead of their hands met the swiftest end. While the ones with normal hands scratched and tore the flesh, leaving the soldiers in agony before their death could come.
The warriors of tomorrow were different than the Beronian’s soldiers. They were trained in close combat with blades in their hands, landing quick and decisive blows. What made some of them stand out the most were the unordinary powers.
A soldier was separated from his group by a fallen shell. He had to run toward the wall as the Barnacles were after him. He lifted his musket and tried to aim. His whole body was trembling, making his first shot barely scratch the Barnacle’s face. Pulling the trigger the second time did nothing. In panic, the man forgot he had to reload the musket. He looked down for a second to check where his saber was. Once he took it out, he saw the face of a Barnacle closing in on him. The soldier fell down, nearly getting grabbed by the creature's rotten hand.
“Help… HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!” Shouted the soldier as he cried on the ground, trying to crawl away from the group of monsters.
With a whistle of the wind, all of their heads were cut off. Blue blood squirted out of their bodies as they fell prone to the ground. Once the soldier opened his eyes, he saw a young woman in silver armor. She was extending her hand to help the man stand back up on his feet.
“Tha- Thank you…” Said the soldier as she helped him stand up. His whole body was shaking. Cold sweat was shining on his neck as he still had the view of Barnacle from up close in his mind.
“Fall back to the second wall. We’re going to slow them down. Go!” Said the woman as she rushed the man.
The soldier took his musket from the ground and, with a single glance to spare, he ran toward the nearest group of musketeers he saw.
The soldier took his musket and ran away toward the group of musketeers. The woman looked around for other soldiers in need, as it was her biggest priority to save people. The wind gathered around her feet, making each step lighter and much faster. She dashed forward with unbelievable speed, cutting down more monsters on her path.
A massive silver hand with claws went through the gap in the wall and pulled, making the gap wider and revealing the shark’s head hidden behind the wall. It disappeared for a moment, only to destroy the bricks and send them flying into the city. The soldiers were too focused on the enemy in front of them that not many of them were able to react to the flying rubble.
A single flame ran through the groups of soldiers and monsters, like a torch moving in the darkness. “I’ll take care of it!” Shouted the man with a flaming longsword as he ran toward the gap in the wall, swiftly cutting down or burning the Barnacles on his path.
Seeing a mighty warrior approaching it, the monster grabbed the anchor by the chain and swung it, slowly raising it above its head. The creature prepared an attack that would destroy buildings in its path and kill many people.
“I won’t let you!” The tanned man grabbed rubble from the ground and threw it at the creature while whispering, “Gate open.” The rocks flew like they were thrown with a catapult, and once they were near the shark-like creature, they began to glow. Then an explosion appeard in their place, as many small bombs exploded at once. The chain was damaged, and the anchor went into the wall, but the creature looked unscathed.
“I’ll be your opponent!” The man shouted as he pointed the flaming sword upward, and with both hands on the handle, he placed it near his chest.
The monster hit the ground with both of its hands, making the Barnacles around it stumble and fall to the ground. Then he let out a roar that shook the bones of the soldiers, but the leader of Order of Tomorrow held strong and didn’t budge.
The man only watched as the monster went for its anchor and didn’t budge as the creature swung at him from above. The warrior spread his legs wider and lifted his sword sideways. As the anchor hit the sword, the ground cracked underneath them, but the man stood there, not a single move or sign of struggle.
“Gate open. Eruption!” As the man shouted, the flames from his sword exploded and repelled the anchor upward. The monster didn’t let go of its weapon as it flew above its head and behind it, making the creature fall to the ground.
As it tried to stand back up, the man jumped on its chest and plunged his sword into the monster’s throat. Even though the wound was fatal, the massive hand was moving to grab him, but he was the first to make a move and shouted, “Erupt!” The flames that were inside the monster exploded and ate its whole head.
From the farthest wall, a man observed the whole battle with a telescope. The man had a black and gold uniform like the rest of the soldiers, except for the coat and a hat suggesting he was of higher status. Another indication was three medals on his chest, given after his successful defenses of other strong tides. The man was experienced with warfare against the tide monsters. He observed the fight against the Anchor and witnessed its defeat.
“It was a good call to summon the Order of Tomorrow. Our nation doesn’t possess many gate users… And capable as them at that. The squad captain easily defeated an anchor. Even if more of them arrive, I know he can handle them.” Said the general out loud.
He stood near the tower where other officers did their work and documented what they saw on the battlefield. One of the officers stood in the doorway to the tower and heard the general.
He was an older man who had a few grey hairs left on his head. “That man can handle strong opponents, but there is another outstanding member that you should take notice of.” The officer approached the general and lifted his telescope so he could look through it and directed his view toward the main street. “The squad vice-captain is butchering the Barnacles. She has already killed more than a hundred of them.” The officer explained as the general observed the woman with a sword and a dagger dash through a group of monsters and cut them all up with swift and fast moves of the blades.
“Brilliant. But they won’t be able to fight forever.” Said the general as he stopped looking through the telescope, a bit of worry slipping onto his face. After all, there were lives at stake.
A messenger ran up to the general. He was breathing heavily as he had to sprint, but he had enough strength to salute the general. “Sir. The first wall has fallen. All the survivors retreated to the second wall.” Reported the young messenger with a bit of blood on his arm.
The general thought for a moment about his next moves. “Go see a medic.” He patted the messenger on the shoulder and moved to the outskirts of the wall. “Prepare the catapults! Aim behind the first wall! Signal for retreat to the second wall!” The general shouted, and the soldiers placed rocks on the catapults and poured dark oil on them.
The bell began to ring with a repeated rhythm of two fast rings and one after a short delay. The soldiers heard the signal and fell back to the second wall. “To the second wall! The catapults are being fired! Fall back!” The soldiers informed the rest of the people as they ran back to the wall.
The man in silver armor with a flaming sword was fighting near the wall. The woman with a sword and a dagger heard the soldier’s orders, but before obeying them, she looked out for him. She ran straight up to the tanned man in the blink of an eye, this time not wasting time attacking the monsters.
“Taizen! We have to fall back! Orders from the top.” She said as she stood behind the man. All the monsters were focused on him, but he managed them without any problem. Even through the fight, he heard the woman loud and clear.
“Got it. See you by the wall, Navia.” Taizen said as his sword went through Barnacle’s chest and set it on fire.
She only nodded at his answer, but there were worries on her face. Navia knew very well that Taizen could take care of himself on the battlefield, but the warning from Beronian’s general about the strength of this Tide made her anxious. She took one last look at Taizen, who was slowly backing away as he killed the approaching barnacles. As fast as she appeared, she vanished from the man’s side.