As the murky grey-black fog began to recede and the Eternal Night began to overtake everything, Edgar put down his quill.

He was more or less done with the diagram and was ready to try it out.

’I just hope my system can register it...’

Putting aside the parchment, Edgar stood up and looked beyond his Fortress Wall.

The Night had devoured everything. Only the light of the ’Unbroken Fire’ made the area around the fortress visible.

The expanded range illuminated a circular domain nearly fifty metres wide.

Beyond that boundary was absolute darkness.

In just a few minutes, Edgar felt the countless eerie gazes of the Nightmares creeping onto him.

It remained silent for a long while before a rumbling echoed.

The darkness ahead rippled like a black ocean before dozens of massive silhouettes burst into the light of the ⟨Unbroken Fire⟩.

Edgar immediately noticed their strange appearance, which looked more like bulls.

Each one stood nearly two metres tall at the shoulder.

Their bodies were covered in thick black hide that resembled stone more than flesh.

Pairs of curved horns extended from their heads, glowing with faint crimson lines.

Their massive bodies looked more like heavy living tanks.

’Are they part of the Lizard Commander’s controlled monsters or not?’

Edgar bit his lip and looked down at the Fortress Wall, wondering if it could crack.

Although stronger than before, Edgar had no intention of finding out how many impacts it could withstand.

"Andrew!!"

Edgar yelled while looking inside the fortress.

"Y-Yes, Young Master!!"

"Take everyone inside the warehouse!!"

"Y-Yes, Young Master!!"

Andrew didn’t ask any questions.

Edgar turned to look at the approaching horde and decided to use the ballista from the start.

’I wonder how long the herd is going to last.’

Without hesitation, he activated the ballista mounted atop the ⟨Watch Tower⟩.

BOOOOMMM!!!!

The projectile struck directly into the center of the herd.

Several bulls were blasted apart instantly, and chunks of black flesh and shattered horns flew through the air.

The explosion dug a massive crater into the ground.

For a brief moment, Edgar thought the charge would collapse.

But the monsters never stopped charging.

The surviving monsters simply rushed around the crater.

Their formation became messy, but their momentum never stopped.

’...Do monsters tend to attack large fortresses without thinking about themselves?’

Edgar immediately fed more Nightmare Stones into the ballista.

The runes covering its surface glowed once again.

BOOOOOMMM!!!!

Another bolt of destruction tore through the darkness.

The front ranks were practically erased, yet the ones behind continued charging without hesitation.

Edgar didn’t hesitate to spend more Nightmare Stones to kill the incoming herd.

Even though he did his best, some of the monster bulls reached the wall.

Edgar had just loaded the flamethrower when the first bull crashed into the stone.

CRAAAAASSSHHH!!!!

The impact echoed throughout the entire fortress.

But the wall took the attack without any problem, and the monster fell down with a cracked skull.

The flamethrower began cooking those around the wall while Edgar looked at the approaching horde.

’Let’s see how long you guys can last.’

He charged the ballista once again, aiming it at the center.

BOOOOMMM!!!

---

[At The Same Time]

[Yamhad Clan Main Fortress]

Inside the gently illuminated fortress city, the atmosphere was heavy amidst the Eternal Night.

Soldiers moved across the walls carrying supplies and weapons, while the ⟨Watch Tower⟩ attacked the Nightmares.

At the centre of the city, behind the Level 5 Fortress Wall, the main castle of the Yamhad Clan was situated.

A man in his mid-fifties sat at the head of a long wooden table.

His hair was already streaked with gray, and countless scars covered his rough hands.

This was the current Head of the Yamhad Clan.

Theo Yamhad.

Currently, Theo was reading a report that had arrived with a pigeon.

...That just after the Eternal Night descended, one of their subsidiary fortresses had been attacked.

Leaning back in his chair, Theo put down the paper and asked,

"...What are the chances of them surviving?"

The room remained silent, even though several elders and commanders sat on both sides of the table.

One of the elders mustered his courage and whispered,

"Almost none."His voice was soft. "...There is no way for us to send any sort of help to them."

Another commander said in a deep voice, "A fortress of the Atreus Clan was also attacked by a Nightmare Tide just a while ago."

Theo didn’t respond, he simply looked at the map placed on the table.

Taking a quill, Theo made a cross over two of the nodes representing fortresses.

Excluding Soragon Bazaar, between the Yamhad Clan Main Fortress and Edgar’s fortress, only three fortresses were still standing.

One belonged to them, and the other belonged to the Atreus Clan.

Theo immediately noticed the pattern of the Nightmare Tide.

"They started from the far south," he said in a deep voice. "Yet they left this specific fortress alone... Why?"

One of the elders spoke. "Wasn’t this the old fortress of the Atreus Clan? It’s abandoned, right?"

"No," a commander replied. "The son of their precious Clan Leader is there."

"That doesn’t matter," Theo replied dismissively. "What I need to know is why the old and broken fortress is still standing."

Another elder slowly stood up.

He was an old man in his late seventies, looking at the Clan Leader, he spoke.

"I had sent my scouts to look into it... but they provided some absurd news, so I didn’t entertain it."

Theo’s eyes gleamed with interest. "And what might that be?"

The old elder hesitated for a moment, even now, he felt ridiculous repeating it.

"The scouts claimed the fortress has been rebuilt."

Theo leaned forward slightly. "How much?"

"They claim that the fortress now has multiple Watch Towers, a warehouse, an eerie tower, and..."

Theo urged him onward with a wave of his hand.

"...That the fortress now has a Level 3 or Level 4 Fortress Wall."

Several people burst into laughter.

"Impossible."

"A subsidiary fortress doesn’t have that kind of funding."

"Even if the Atreus Clan supported him, it would take months."

The old man remained silent without saying anything else.

To the normal people of this world, the fortress Edgar had created appeared much sturdier.

It was impossible for them to know that it was only a Level 1 Fortress Wall.

Theo never looked away from the old man’s face, trying to understand his true thoughts.

"You believe the report?" he asked.

"I don’t know." The elder sighed. "But the scouts swore on their lives."

The room gradually became quiet again.

Theo leaned back in his chair and began tapping the armrest in silence.

After a few seconds, he spoke in a deep voice.

"Visit his fortress tomorrow," he ordered. "If it’s true, invite him as an esteemed guest of our clan."