"It seems our role in this dungeon is that of heroes who learned about the beast tide and rushed here from afar to offer support," Zara said.

Claire nodded. "A beast tide of this scale couldn’t have formed overnight. The human kingdom must have detected it long ago."

"I didn’t expect we’d have complete freedom of action. I thought that general would have us follow orders," Olivia Lin said.

"Since we’re called heroes, we must have a certain level of strength. How could we be treated the same as ordinary soldiers?" Rose said with a smile.

The group chatted and laughed, showing no trace of panic—a stark contrast to the soldiers around them, whose faces were tense and filled with fear.

This was only natural. All of them had experienced a Ghost-Level Calamity, and each had slain countless Demonized Monsters on the battlefield. No matter how vast or terrifying the beast tide in this dungeon might be, could it truly compare to the catastrophe that had once swept across the entire world?

Influenced by their calm demeanor, the tension among the surrounding soldiers eased slightly.

But only for a moment.

Soon, the atmosphere tightened once more.

Because the beast tide had arrived.

The Beast Tide Assault was a Tier Three Nightmare Dungeon.

At this level, Tier Three creatures might be rare, but Tier Two monsters were everywhere.

Ordinary city walls were completely useless against Tier Two beasts and could not stop their advance. That was why the walls of Blood Dark Fortress, built with the full strength of the Human Kingdom, rose hundreds of meters into the sky.

Countless intricate spells and magic patterns were engraved into them, making every section of the wall incredibly sturdy. Over the years, they had been stained with the blood of countless demon beasts.

Noah and the others stood atop the towering wall and looked down.

From the distant horizon, an endless tide of demon beasts surged forward. There was no end in sight. As they advanced, the ground trembled and roared beneath their steps.

Noah moved slightly, and in the next moment, he was already soaring into the sky.

The beast tide stretched across no less than a hundred kilometers. Blood Dark Fortress stood like an unyielding boulder, blocking their path. From above, Noah could see that a portion of the tide was veering toward the interior of the Human Kingdom, but the majority surged straight toward the fortress.

Before the beasts could even reach the walls, the human forces had already launched their attack.

Large scale magic detonated within the tide.

Rain of fire fell from the sky. Spikes of earth erupted from the ground. Violent tornadoes tore through the charging beasts.

This dungeon was a world of swords and magic. The destructive power of high level spells was no weaker than missiles in the real world.

Countless demon beasts were blasted apart, leaving behind vast empty gaps within the tide. Yet in the blink of an eye, those gaps were filled again, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Hiss..."

On the city wall, Rose and the others inhaled sharply.

"Is this really Nightmare difficulty?"

Ethan’s face turned slightly pale. The scene reminded him of the Demonized Monster invasion from the Western Desert.

Comparing that invasion with the current beast tide only made its terror more apparent.

In the Western Desert, Starfall Country had deployed powerful military forces. Here, within the dungeon, the Human Kingdom also possessed formidable armies, so the situation was not entirely unfavorable.

But the number of Awakeners on both sides was vastly different.

Fortunately, they had Noah, the ultimate powerhouse. Otherwise, none of them would even dare to think about surviving a beast tide of this scale.

"Let’s make our move as well," Rose said in a low voice. "At the very least, we can slow them down and prevent Blood Dark Fortress from falling too quickly. That way, Noah won’t have to step in ahead of time."

"Alright."

Smith and the others responded one after another.

Before entering the dungeon, they had already made thorough preparations.

Large scale weapons were difficult to carry, so each of them had brought a compact tactical nuclear missile.

Moments later, small mushroom clouds rose within the beast tide, erupting one after another and inflicting massive casualties.

Although the gaps were quickly filled by the endless waves of demon beasts behind them, Rose and the others showed no disappointment.

At the very least, they had earned dungeon contribution points. In any case, none of them expected to eliminate the beast tide with a few tactical nuclear missiles.

"Insight."

Noah gazed down at the surging tide of beasts.

[Gale Wolf (Ordinary)]

[Rank: First Order]

[Attributes: Strength 300, Agility 400, Constitution 300, Spirit 300]

Skills omitted.

[Gale Wolf (Elite)]

[Rank: First Order]

[Attributes: Strength 700, Agility 800, Constitution 700, Spirit 600]

"Hmm?"

Noah’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He noticed something new in the information he was seeing. The monsters were now classified as Ordinary and Elite.

"Was this distinction always there? I just couldn’t perceive it before... and only now, after awakening the Insight talent, I can see it?"

Noah fell into thought.

In the past, monsters in dungeons had only been categorized as normal mobs, elites, and bosses. It was a crude and overly simplistic classification.

"So what exactly defines Ordinary and Elite?"

With a slight shift in his thoughts, the answer quickly surfaced in his mind.

This was a classification based on a monster’s template level.

For First Order creatures, the attribute range lay between 100 and 1000.

Ordinary monsters possessed less than fifty percent of that range, meaning their attributes were below 500.

Elite monsters ranged between fifty percent and one hundred percent.

Beyond Elite was the Leader level, with attributes between one hundred fifty percent and two hundred percent.

Above that stood the Lord level, whose attributes ranged from three hundred percent to five hundred percent.

As for anything beyond the Lord level, Noah suddenly felt a sharp increase in mental strain.

Without hesitation, he shut down Insight.

"Looking at it this way, Elite monsters correspond to Elite level, while dungeon bosses are essentially at the Leader level."

Noah mentally reviewed the dungeons he had experienced before.