"Everyone else, prepare to engage!"
Another soldier swallowed hard and asked, "Sir... what about that man down there?"
The officer’s jaw clenched.
"No time for that! Leave him! We can’t spare a single arrow!"
"..."
Fenric’s senses were monstrous now. Even from the base of the wall, he could hear the Captain’s low-voiced battlefield commands as clearly as if the man stood beside him. Vision, too—razor sharp.
But he did not shout for help.
With his current strength—and the iron steadiness gifted by the Heart of the Brave—begging for rescue before even seeing the enemy was impossible.
Instead, he stood calmly beneath the wall, thought for a beat, and drew the Black Blade, Shusui from his personal space. The dark hummed faintly in his grip.
Still the handiest thing I own.
The tremors in the earth rolled closer.
Above, the Captain’s order rang out:
"Seven taotie in total! Archers—shoot for the eyes! Do not let them reach the wall! Everyone else holds position until the Palace Commander arrives!"
Taotie?
[TL/n: Taoti is a mythical creature often depicted as a mask-like monster with a large, gaping mouth, prominent eyes, and stylized horns or ears, commonly found on ancient bronze and jade artifacts]
Fenric blinked. As in the myth-beasts?
He didn’t have time to puzzle it out.
The first creature crested the ridge and thundered into view.
Hideous.
Massive.
It had a huge head—but no eyes there. Only a slab of bone, flared nostrils, and a gaping maw packed with hooked fangs. Its eyes were set in the armpits, sunken and shielded when it hunched forward to charge. Thick hide armored its body; its four limbs were overdeveloped and heavily muscled. In mass it was three times a man—and it moved with the terrifying, battering momentum of a war rhino.
More bulky shapes surged behind it. All seven.
Recognition hit.
So this personal instance... is that world.
The Great Wall!
[TL/n: The Great Wall movie is about a group of European mercenaries searching for gunpowder in ancient China gets caught in a battle on the Great Wall, where elite warriors defend the empire against hordes of monstrous creatures called *Taotie that attack every 60 years.
—Plot—
* William Garin (Matt Damon) and his companion arrive seeking black powder.
* They discover the **Nameless Order**, an elite army defending the Great Wall.
* The real enemy isn’t human—it’s a massive army of Taotie, mythical beasts that threaten to destroy humanity.
* Together, they fight to stop the monsters before they breach the Wall and reach the capital.]
"Loose!"
Arrows darkened the sky.
The taotie reacted instantly—front limbs clamping inward, plating over their vulnerable eye-pits. Shafts struck hide, skittered, snapped, or bounced. Their skin was thick like layered horn; the volley barely scratched them.
Not a single beast dropped.
The Captain’s face blanched. "Archers fall back! Pikemen forward! Brace to receive!"
At that range archery was useless; the beasts were already hammering toward the foundation stones. Only cold steel would matter now—and even that, not much.
Spearmen shuffled into line atop the wall. The men shook. Some glanced down at the lone, oddly dressed youth outside the gate. More than one gaze held pity.
Taotie didn’t care if prey was armed or helpless. All humans were food.
From where they stood, the fate of that stranger was sealed.
"..."
Fenric watched the charging beasts, expression unchanged.
If they’re anything like in the film, they hit hard... but they’re not invincible.
"Rrrraahh!
The lead taotie locked onto him and lunged, jaws yawning wide.
Men on the wall winced. A few couldn’t bear to watch.
But Fenric did not retreat as they expected.
He charged.
Three long strides—fluid, explosive. At the last instant he slipped past the raking foreclaw, pivoted inside the beast’s arc, and cut.
"Swish!"
A single, flashing stroke.
Shhk!
The taotie landed behind him.
Fenric didn’t even look back. He was already sighting the next target, Shusui angled low, the sword’s blackened edge gleaming.
But before he could take another kill, a crisp chime echoed in his mind:
"You killed a Taotie. Reward: +100 Samsara points."
Fenric’s eyes lit.
One beast—one hundred points?
Those hulking monsters that terrorized armies... were suddenly adorable in his eyes.
He strode toward the remaining six like a butcher closing on market stock.
Only then did the first beast die. Its body shuddered, split cleanly from chest to gut, and collapsed in a spray of dark green blood.
Bisected.
Every soldier on the wall froze.
Even the captain stared, jaw slack.
No one—no one—had ever slain a taotie that easily in single combat.