All the Beastman War Elephants had escaped, and the elites of the Beastman Race had vanished along with them. The bodies left strewn across the ground belonged mostly to Beastmen of average strength.

Li Wutong sat atop a jet-black warhorse, his expression hidden behind a helmet and mask. He knew he had lost this battle. And lost it miserably.

It might have seemed like the Beastmen had left over two thousand corpses behind, but Li Wutong, who had a deep understanding of their ways, knew the truth. The Beastman Race was using this method to relieve the pressure on their tribes.

’Keep only the elites, and cull the less powerful warriors through attrition! The Beastman Race has played their hand beautifully!’ he thought. ’That mysterious and powerful High Priest of theirs must be an incredibly intelligent woman!’

Yes, Li Wutong knew of this woman. However, he refused to believe she was human.

He had never once thought so.

’How could a human possibly infiltrate a Beastman Tribe and become a High Priest more powerful than the Clan Leaders? People are just making assumptions.’

Behind his mask, Li Wutong’s expression turned grim. He knew his elder brother had set him up. If not for his secret informant in Cameron Town, he would have been skinned alive, if not killed outright. At the very least, the Crown Prince would have seized his authority over Cameron Town’s defense.

Looking at the Beastman corpses strewn both inside and outside the city walls, Li Wutong suddenly smiled. He beckoned to a nearby personal guard and whispered a few instructions. Moments later, a message was spreading through every street and alley in the city: The great Southern King, his noble highness the Second Prince, would personally visit and honor tonight’s heroes!

Just listen to that... "Heroes"! What a captivating title! Even the members of the Defense Army, who usually walked around with their noses in the air, couldn’t hide their elation. The wounded ones suddenly couldn’t even feel their pain. The Second Prince himself was coming to see them, calling them heroes. ’Heavens... for a soldier, could there be any higher honor?’

As for the Adventurers, Mercenaries, and the town’s passionate youth, they were all completely stunned. They wondered if they were dreaming. Many of these iron-willed men, who hadn’t shed a single tear during the fight, broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.

Because they all saw him—the man standing high on the city wall, his voice hoarse as he addressed the heroes gathered below, all those who had fought in the battles of the past few nights.

The man was not particularly tall, and his face was hidden behind a Knight’s mask. He even stood with a slight stoop... but it was this very man who seemed to exude an Innate, noble aura. Every word he spoke drove the crowd below to wild cheers and tears.

"Your blood was not shed in vain! The annals of the Empire will record your names!" This was the first thing Li Wutong said to the crowd below.

His words instantly ignited the passion of everyone below. ’Yes! Our names will be recorded in the annals of history... Every single one of us!’

Many of the Adventurers and Mercenaries—men who were often wealthy but had never been officially recognized by the Empire—found themselves moved to tears. These were tough, battle-hardened men.

Bringing honor to one’s family—those five words held meaning wherever the Human Race lived.

Who wouldn’t want to be a hero, if given the chance?

"You have all done well, and those who died did not die in vain! Their names, too, will be recorded in the annals of history!" Li Wutong’s voice grew somber. "And now... let us observe a moment of silence for our fallen heroes."

Among the thousands gathered below were people from every walk of life. There were tailor’s assistants, waiters from taverns, and even the sanitation workers who kept Cameron Town clean. But at this moment, every single one of them stood tall, their chests puffed out, their gazes resolute, their hearts surging with emotion.

Regardless of their past professions, in this moment, they shared a single title: Hero.

Most of them had been strangers before this, but that didn’t stop them from mourning the fallen together. What is the best way to forge friendships? The camaraderie of the battlefield is surely one of the most potent.

As for the students from the Imperial Academy, their very souls were shaken to the core.

The sight before them, the raw emotion of the moment, touched every one of them deeply.

Before, they had mostly been thinking of themselves—of military merits and noble rewards. But now, seeing this vast sea of people, men and women, old and young, their eyes sincere and welling with tears as they mourned the fallen, many of the students could no longer hold back... and began to weep.

What they witnessed today would be forever etched into their hearts, becoming one of the most precious memories of their lives. It would also profoundly influence the paths they would walk in the future.

As it turned out, this particular group of Imperial Academy students who participated in the practical training would go on to achieve more than any before them. Tracing it back to its source, many recalled that the battle at Cameron Town had changed them. It taught them that for a noble, beyond the interests of one’s family or oneself, there was something else that could stir the soul—national pride!

As nobles of the Lanyue Empire who had faced an invasion from another race and successfully defended the Empire’s sacred sovereign territory, they now carried a pride that those without the same experience could never comprehend.

"Our fallen heroes! Their families, their wives and children, will all be cared for by the Empire! We will never allow our heroes to shed their blood on the battlefield, only to shed tears in hardship! So, to the fallen, to the wounded, and to all the heroes who joined in the defense today! Your futures will be secured by the Empire!" Li Wutong’s words sent the crowd into a roaring cheer.

"Long live the Empire! Long live the Southern King!"

"Long live His Majesty the King! Long live the Southern King!"

"Southern King! Southern King! Southern King!" In the end, the thousands of voices, including those of the nearly one thousand Imperial Academy students, chanted a single name. Their eyes burned with fanaticism as they yelled, the sound washing over Cameron Town like a tidal wave.

Behind his mask, Li Wutong’s face broke into a delighted smile.

The anxiety that had been gripping Li Tianluo finally eased. ’Father is truly in a league of his own,’ he thought. ’What a brilliant move!’

Faced with Second Prince Li Wutong’s skyrocketing popularity, the expressions of many people hidden within the crowd soured.

Ling Xiao, however, was secretly stunned. ’I don’t know what kind of man the Crown Prince is, but what the Southern King pulled off tonight was nothing short of masterful.’

’He’s tied all the noble students to the Empire’s war chariot. With just the title of "hero" and the chance to be recorded in the annals of history, he won everyone over.’

’That’s right. This was the first large-scale clash between the Human Race and the Beast Race in hundreds of years, and they actually repelled the attack.’

’And the minor material losses? Compared to an unprecedented great victory for the Empire, did they even matter?’

Ling Xiao couldn’t help but cast a wary glance at the excited Li Tianluo beside him. In his heart, he made a quiet resolution: ’In the future, I must keep my distance from him.’