The Great Wall.
At this moment, a unit of Wall Guard soldiers was rushing toward the city gates.
Leading them was a black-haired young man.
Beside him,
an old veteran spoke up.
"Shima Jiro, General Su has already negotiated with the Lord of Jade City.
Charging in like this… isn't it a bit improper?"
Shima Jiro's expression remained calm.
"No matter," he replied.
"We're not going in.
We'll just stand watch from the outer perimeter, just in case."
"If the city opens and everything goes smoothly, we'll leave the way we came.
But if Lord Yucheng has any tricks up his sleeve…
we'll be ready to act."
"…That… makes sense."
Another man nearby scoffed.
"Rookie. A little merit and he thinks he's invincible.
When we see General Su, I'm reporting everything you've done!"
Shima Jiro said nothing.
He didn't even spare the man a glance.
But deep down,
his mind drifted back to the words of the Peony Alchemist:
"You lost Chang'an.
And I lost something dear to me.
Why don't we help each other?
You help me reclaim what I lost…
and I'll help you win back Chang'an.
What do you say?"
Since that day,
Shima Jiro had come to the Great Wall
and joined the ranks of the Wall Guard.
In secret, he kept close contact with the Peony Alchemist.
And now,
he had received a warning in advance.
The day the city gates opened,
the demonic horde would descend.
Great losses were inevitable.
As the one who agreed to open the city,
Commander Su Lie would undoubtedly take the fall.
The Peony Alchemist had already made his arrangements.
And Shima Jiro was certain that, after today,
his own contributions would lead to a promotion,
one step closer to taking command of the Wall Guard…
and reclaiming Chang'an.
"…It's finally beginning,"
Shima Jiro murmured to himself.
Gate City.
At that moment,
many within the city had already spotted the approaching demonic beasts.
After all, a number of people were near the gates,
and some of the monsters were massive.
Even a casual glance toward the entrance
was enough to see the looming tide.
It was impossible not to notice.
"M-Monsters…"
"How could this happen?!"
"Wasn't today supposed to be the joint opening by the Wall Guard and Jade City? Why are there monsters?!"
"Wait! My books, !"
"Forget your stuff, run!!"
In an instant,
the once bustling and peaceful gate city plunged into chaos.
Civilians scattered in every direction.
Merchants abandoned their goods, fleeing for their lives.
After all,
everyone here lived near the border.
Whether from the Great Wall or Jade City,
they all knew how terrifying the demonic beasts were.
Even battle-hardened Wall Guard veterans took losses against them,
let alone unarmed civilians.
So, naturally,
the vast majority chose to run without hesitation.
Only a rare few with combat training
stood their ground to fight.
For example…
A white-haired teen running a stall.
His beast-like ears twitched.
His gaze sharpened.
Grabbing a massive rifle, nearly as tall as he was,
he sprinted toward the gate.
Elsewhere in the city,
a purple-haired man was browsing a collection of Li Bai's poetry.
"Gallo said Su Lie-senpai was friends with Li Bai… seriously?"
Just then,
he too noticed the swarm of monsters at the city entrance.
Drawing his curved blade,
he dashed toward the chaos.
As the monsters drew ever closer
and the city descended into panic…
A dark figure floated above the gate.
Carl.
The moment Su Lie posted the mission,
Carl had accepted and warped into the world of Kings.
But before that,
he'd gone home to grab his black battle suit.
Might as well look good while saving the world, right?
He had two, no, three, suits.
Would be a waste not to use them.
And besides…
black was just cool.
In a flash,
Carl took in the entire scene from above:
Su Lie…
The demonic beasts…
The terrified people below…
That kid hauling the giant rifle, was that Baile Shuyue?
Shen Mengxi was here too. And that guy with the curved blade, definitely not a background character.
"Tch. What a lively mess,"
Carl muttered.
Then he called down to Su Lie not far below.
"General Su Lie! Hello. I'm Carl."
At that moment,
Su Lie was still locked in battle with three powerful monsters, using his Armament Haki to barely hold them off.
Hearing Carl's voice, he instinctively turned to look.
He had seen Carl's photo in the chat group records before,
so he wasn't surprised by his youthful appearance.
But… floating in midair?
That was another thing entirely.
Tsunade had mentioned Carl could travel through time,
but seeing him fly like this…
was something else entirely.
Still, this was no time to be amazed.
Su Lie shouted urgently,
"Carl-sama! The creatures charging into the city, those are the demonic beasts, !"
But before he could finish,
two beams of blinding red light erupted from Carl's eyes.
They shot out like lasers, striking two of the monsters in front.
In a split second,
those two monsters melted away completely,
not even ashes remained.
Carl swept his gaze sideways.
The red beams followed.
And in less than two seconds,
every single demonic beast in sight was annihilated,
as if crushed by a divine weapon from an ancient age.
Gate City.
The civilians were still scrambling in panic,
but some had witnessed the scene.
One man, frozen in place,
stared wide-eyed as the red light vaporized the monsters.
Someone behind him, still running, crashed into him full force,
tumbling to the ground in a heap.
Groaning, he yelled,
"Hey! You blind or what?! I still wanna live, damn it!"
But the first man didn't respond.
He just pointed at the gate.
"…The monsters… I think they're gone?"
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
Still angry, the man looked toward the gate himself.
And then, he saw it.
The towering beasts that had stood there moments ago…
were gone.
Their group had been close enough to see clearly outside the city walls.
They could even spot General Su Lie still battling the last of the monsters.
But those monsters…
had vanished.
More people began to take notice.
They'd seen the flash of red light,
and the monsters disappearing in its wake.
"Did I imagine that? I swear I saw a red flash, and then… the monsters were just gone?"
"You didn't imagine it, I saw it too!"
"They're dead?!"
"The monsters are gone!"
Those near the gates began to cheer.
As their numbers grew,
even those farther away, who hadn't seen what happened,
began to pause and look around.
Though confused,
they hesitated, scanning for any signs of danger.
But no more monsters came.
And slowly,
relief began to wash over the crowd.
One by one,
they joined in the cheers.