"The Beast Queen is acting strangely—it wants to flee!" Strategist Lau shouted from the wall.
General Shaw snapped upright. "Signal the line! Smash its retreat! Block the path behind the Beast Queen—now!"
"Block the Beast Queen! Rear bombardment!" the relay officer bellowed, voice cracking with excitement.
Hope surged through the ranks.
Trebuchets screamed. Massive flaming stones arced overhead and crashed in a burning barricade behind the gargantuan creature, sealing its escape corridor.
Fenric saw the fireline pen the Beast Queen in and grinned. He strode forward, blade low.
The Beast Queen, cornered, had no more room to back away.
It roared and came to fight.
That only hastened its death.
Black Blade Shusui was absurdly sharp. Beast Guard hide, Beast Queen bone plates—none of it mattered. Layered over that edge, Fenric’s Armament Haki hardened his strikes while telekinesis guided angle and timing with surgical precision.
But his real cheat was magnetism.
To Taotie and their Queen, magnetism was kryptonite—scrambling control links, slowing responses, blunting coordination. At half strength, even the Beast Queen was just a massive target.
Steel flashed.
Less than a dozen exchanges later, the Beast Queen crashed to the earth beneath Fenric’s blade.
Ding!
Congratulations! You killed the Taotie Beast Queen. Reward: 35,000 points.
Notice: You have removed this world’s core threat. The world will now acknowledge you. All restrictive protocols lifted—you may freely enter and exit this world.
Across the battlefield, every Taotie—linked to the fallen Queen—shuddered, then toppled like puppets with cut strings. Thousands hit the ground and lay still.
"What—what happened?" shouted a bloodied pikeman.
"We won! The Beast Queen’s dead!" another cried. "Sir Fenric killed it! The Taotie are finished!"
"Sir Fenric is mighty!"
"Sir Fenric is mighty!"
The chant spread in waves along the wall, through the batteries, across the carnage‑strewn field. A roar of triumph punched skyward.
In the center of the corpse ring stood Fenric, blade resting across his shoulder—unquestioned hero of the Great Wall.
Even the usually imperturbable General Shaw laughed aloud when he saw the Taotie collapse. "Dead! The beasts are dead—hahaha!"
Strategist Lau bowed slightly. "Congratulations, General. Never before has such a feat been accomplished."
General Shaw shook his head. "All credit to Sir Fenric!"
Beside them, Lin Mei pressed a gloved hand to her lips. Tears sparkled in her eyes as she watched the lone figure in the killing field.
Fenric was grinning for another reason: 35,000 points for the Beast Queen alone. Add the Beast Guards he’d felled (1,000 each) and assorted earlier rewards, and this personal dungeon had yielded somewhere around 60,000 points total.
Absolute haul. Cool!
Better yet, the world‑blessing notification meant he could return here freely in the future. That had... possibilities.
Battle cleanup began immediately.
Fallen soldiers would be gathered and honored. Taotie corpses—especially the Beast Queen’s body—were to be transported to Bianport for imperial commendation and to proclaim to the world that the northern scourge was ended.
That night, General Shaw ordered a full celebration banquet.
Fenric was the star. Officers, unit heads, and honored veterans lined up to toast him.
While drinking, Fenric discovered two things:
Ancient wine is weak—closer to beer than sake.
Super Soldier Serum metabolism nukes alcohol on contact.
End result: he couldn’t get drunk... but he could fill a latrine.
On yet another bathroom trip, Fenric ran into Strategist Lau.
"Strategist Lau—here to relieve yourself too?" Fenric asked.
"Yes," Strategist Lau replied without missing a beat.
"Then let’s—do that," Fenric said.
They took neighboring spots. For the record, post‑serum upgrades had improved more than Fenric’s height. After a glance, Strategist Lau quietly shuffled half a step farther down.
Business concluded, Fenric turned to leave—but Strategist Lau stopped him.
"Sir Fenric, a moment."
Fenric paused. "Something wrong?"
Strategist Lau coughed, lowering his voice. "What does Sir Fenric think of Commander Lin?"
"Ah..." Fenric replied without thinking. "Very good. Brave. Beautiful. Good temperament. She’s... a good girl."
Strategist Lau didn’t catch every word, but beautiful and good were clear enough. That makes him smile.
"In that case—would Sir Fenric consider becoming the son‑in‑law of the Nameless Order? If you are willing, I would gladly act as matchmaker."