Profit

"Somebody save my daughter!"

"Get out of the way, bitch!"

Cries filled with desperation resounded throughout the surroundings. As he walked towards the Northern gate, Gray's face became solemn - the situation was even worse than he had thought.

Bodies that had been trampled to death by the raging crowd lay on the streets like broken puppets, with not a single soul caring about them.

Gray carefully navigated, making sure he didn't step on anyone.

The failures that were following him had long disappeared after seeing the terrible situation. Gray would have escaped too, if he didn't have the system. Moreover, his situation was especially delicate; he couldn't afford to let go of such an opportunity.

Gray had a feeling in his heart that if he failed to make good use of this opportunity, he would forever remain a mediocre person, even the system wouldn't be able to help him.

He steeled his heart and ignored the voice that was asking him to turn his head and run as far away as possible, or else he would die a brutal death.

"Guard your position! Don't let the formations break!"

"Brace for the impact, an extremely powerful Phantom tiger is here."

Loud shouts filled with fighting spirit reverberated throughout the battlefield. Soldiers arranged in an 'X' shaped battle formation moved together and resisted the onslaught of the apocalypse beasts.

Each and every soldier was dressed in shabby armor made of run-down material, barely offering any protection to their fragile human frames.

But the brave soldiers didn't seem to care about protecting their bodies; they attacked fiercely, looking more animalistic than the animals themselves.

Surrounding these soldiers lay scattered many corpses of Phantom tigers, some of them as big as an elephant.

At a rough glance, the soldiers of Knight's Heaven City seemed to have been outnumbered by the apocalypse beasts, but they were able to resist the attack because of the four Earthly Knights who had taken action a moment ago.

With the combined attack of the four of them, the situation quickly came under control, giving the tired soldiers room to breathe, and the broken wall was also fixed.

On the stone wall that had protected Knight's Heaven City for years, stood six figures with solemn expressions on their faces, all of their clothes drenched in crimson blood, giving them a terrifying appearance.

If Gray were here, he would have easily recognized these figures - they were none other than the Earthly Knights from the Noble families and Rexton, who had just taken part in the ceremony sometime ago.

Although the situation was looking better now, they felt something was wrong with the way the monsters were attacking - unlike before, the attacks of the Phantom tigers were too organized, as if someone was guiding their reactions from behind.

Some distance away, Rexton looked at the battlefield below and commented in a low voice, "I'm afraid there is a Ranked beast hiding in the shadows."

When he had attacked a moment ago, instead of fighting head-on, the Phantom Tiger had calmly retreated back into the forest, only showing up when the Knights had left the battlefield.

This scene made a chill run down his spine; he constantly felt like someone was eyeing him from the shadows.

Rexton had a splitting headache, his eyes involuntarily glancing at Skylar Blue Swan in the distance.

Handsome in appearance, tall and slender, with peaceful and insightful eyes, exuding a graceful and indifferent aura - he was a handsome young man.

Earlier, most of the heavy lifting had been done by this man, and Rexton had just stood and watched most of the time.

"Is there anything you want to ask?" Noticing his gaze, Skylar asked in a low voice.

Rexton turned his head and didn't say anything.

...

Gray reached the top of the wall, dragging himself up with trembling arms. Sweat streaked his face, mingling with the dust and grime of the battlefield. He collapsed onto his knees, his breath hitching in sharp uneven gasps. His legs felt like lead, but he forced himself to rise.

Seeing his pathetic physical condition only made him more determined to get stronger as quickly as possible.

His eyes widened as he surveyed the carnage below. Bodies--human and beast alike--lay scattered in grotesque heaps,limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Blood soaked the earth, painting a grim portrait of chaos that had unfolded. The stench of death and burning flesh filled his nostrils, making his stomach churn.

The surroundings looked extremely grim; the horde had managed to get so close to the city.

It appeared the city wasn't as safe as he had earlier thought.

"Is this monster still alive?" Suddenly, Gray noticed a Phantom Tiger whose legs were twitching intensely, as if it was in tremendous pain.

Indeed, the monster still had a breath of life left; it wasn't completely dead.

Gray immediately realized this was his opportunity, and his eyes flashed with a strange light.

He immediately thought of how to kill the monster. He couldn't go down the wall, as it would put him in an extremely unsafe position. It was better to stay on the wall and think of a way to kill the monster down below, so he started to think.

In the next moment, an idea seemed to have struck his head, and he immediately rushed towards the bunch of bricks lying in one corner of the wall - mostly the bricks were there to fix the breach.

He seized one,it's coarse surface scraping his palm, and he lifted it with both hands. The weight strained his already trembling arms.

"Just one good throw," he muttered, his voice barely audible over the distant roars of battle.

With a grunt, Gray hurled the brick. It soared through the air in a perfect arc, striking the tiger's skull with a sickening crunch. The beats body twitched violently beofre falling still.

A strange warmth surged through his body, making his breath hitch.

[Unranked, Phantom Tiger killed.]

[+0.6 Origin Essences gained]

He stared at the notification, his hands trembling--not with fear, but with exhilaration.