The Rank 3 captain lunged forward, finishing stance unfolding like a storm. His spear shot out in a straight, lethal line. Leonidas barely twisted aside, the blade carving a shallow cut across his ribs. Blood splattered onto the dirt.
Before he could regain balance, the captain pivoted, spear sweeping low.
Leonidas jumped—too slow.
The strike clipped his thigh, forcing him to stumble. He landed on one knee, gasping.
The captain didn't relent.
He advanced with relentless, measured precision. Each movement cut off escape. Each step narrowed the distance. His spear rose overhead—
Vlad appeared at his flank again, dagger flashing.
The captain twisted mid-strike, slamming the butt of his spear into Vlad's face so hard it echoed.
Vlad skidded backward, blood running down his temple. He laughed breathlessly. "Ah… he hits like a hammer."
Leonidas used the brief distraction to leap back to his feet, bracing his spear with both hands. His breath came sharp, fierce, focused.
The captain turned back toward him. "Your allies are persistent."
"So am I," Leonidas growled.
He charged.
Spear met spear, sparks flashing as metal ground against metal. Leonidas' strikes were fierce, fast, but the captain countered each with flawless efficiency.
The captain swept low.
Leonidas jumped.
The captain thrust at his midair form.
Leonidas twisted—aerial pivot—and landed behind the captain, stabbing for his spine.
The captain spun the haft, blocking by instinct.
But Leonidas' blade cut a line across his armor.
Liam saw it from the rear wall. "He hurt him again!"
Orin slammed her shield into another climber. "Leonidas is pushing him—!"
A scream tore from the wall. A militia man was pulled off the parapet, dragged down by three enemies climbing the ladder. Orin lunged, shield-bashing one away, then stabbed down desperately.
"Orin, WATCH OUT!" Liam shouted.
A spear thrust upward from a climber below.
Orin twisted just in time, the blade grazing her hip instead of piercing it.
She winced but stayed standing. "We can't let them reach the top!"
Sun Tzu shouted, voice cutting through the chaos, "Reinforce the rear wall! Shift your weight inward! Keep the high ground advantage!"
Villagers scrambled, forming a wedge to push climbers back. But more ladders went up. More hands grabbed the edges of the parapet. Liam stabbed one soldier in the face, but another hand reached immediately to replace him.
"We're losing the wall!" Liam yelled.
"Hold it!" Orin shouted back through clenched teeth, parrying a strike from below. "If we fall HERE, Leonidas falls THERE!"
Down near the bridge—
Leonidas blocked another flurry of strikes, but each contact rattled his bones. His arms trembled under the captain's power. His breath grew harsher. Rank 2 qi sharpened his reactions, but his body still bled, still bruised, still grew exhausted.
The captain thrust forward with perfect timing.
Leonidas deflected.
But the force jarred his shoulder so hard he nearly dropped his spear.
The captain's gaze sharpened. "You weaken."
Leonidas spat blood. "I stand."
The captain circled him, spear pointed low. "You are skilled. You are brave. But skill without overwhelming force is merely resistance. And resistance breaks."
He stepped in.
Leonidas stepped forward too.
Their spears collided—CRACK—and Leonidas' spear shaft splintered under the force.
Liam froze on the wall. "His weapon—!"
Orin's scream tore through the air. "LEONIDAS!"
Leonidas stared at the broken half of his spear. For a heartbeat, he hesitated.
And the captain attacked.
A sweeping strike came for Leonidas' neck.
He ducked, rolling sideways across the dirt. The blade sliced the air above him.
The captain stabbed downward.
Leonidas rolled again, dirt and blood smearing across his skin, then kicked up at the captain's knee.
The captain staggered—only slightly—then thrust again.
Leonidas grabbed the broken spear half, blocking with the thick end. Wood cracked under steel. His arms shook violently.
He could not endure this forever.
Sun Tzu shouted from the wall, "Leonidas! Retreat to the trench! Control the angle!"
But Leonidas didn't move.
He had no space.
The captain pressed forward like a falling mountain.
Leonidas was forced back step by step—
Until his heel hit the edge of the bridge.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
The captain recognized it, raising his spear in a final killing line.
Liam shouted hoarsely, "MOVE! LEONIDAS, MOVE—!"
Orin screamed his name louder than ever.
The captain lunged.
Leonidas tried to pivot—
But he was a fraction too slow.
The spear tip pierced his side, deep.
Blood burst out in a crimson arc.
Leonidas gasped, body freezing.
Orin's scream shattered into raw agony. "LEONIDAAAAS!"
The captain pulled the blade free with a smooth motion, stepping back to watch Leonidas sway.
Leonidas clutched the wound, blood dripping between his fingers.
The captain spoke softly, almost respectfully. "You exceeded expectations. Let your final moment honor that."
He lifted his spear again.
Sun Tzu's face twisted in rare desperation. "Leonidas—FALL BACK NOW!"
But Leonidas wasn't listening.
He didn't retreat.
He didn't run.
He didn't collapse.
He stepped forward.
Just one step.
Blood pouring.
Eyes blazing.
His voice was low, unwavering.
"I said… I outlast you."
The captain hesitated.
Just enough for Vlad to appear behind him again, a blur of motion—
The captain whirled, spear slicing Vlad's side, but not cleanly. Vlad hissed, leaping back, blood dripping down his ribs.
"You cannot ignore me forever," Vlad whispered.
The captain narrowed his eyes. "Annoying parasite."
Leonidas used the distraction to stabilize himself, planting his feet deep in the dirt despite the blood soaking his side.
Up on the wall—
The rear defense was failing.
A climber reached the parapet, stabbing a militia man through the chest. Orin knocked the attacker off the wall but took a cut to her arm. Liam nearly fell as another soldier swung at him; he ducked and stabbed desperately.
Sun Tzu shouted, "Hold the wall! You MUST hold the wall!"
But the defenders were collapsing.
And below—
Leonidas and the captain clashed again.
This time the captain aimed to finish it fast.
Leonidas blocked with the broken spear, absorbing shock after shock that rattled through his entire body. Each strike pushed him farther back. His vision blurred at the edges.
He was dying.
Everyone could see it.
Even the captain.
"You fought well," the captain said softly. "Yield in death."
Leonidas' voice was barely a whisper.
"No."
The captain thrust.
Leonidas raised the broken spear—
But his arms failed.
The weapon dipped.
And the spearhead tore toward his throat—
A shadow fell across the battlefield.
Something slammed into the captain's spear, knocking it off course at the last instant.
The impact rang like thunder.
Everyone froze.
Leonidas blinked through the blood and sweat.
A massive figure stood beside him.
A familiar voice rumbled from above.
"Your fight… is not over yet."
Liam stared from the wall, eyes widening.
"WHAT—WHO—?!"
Vlad grinned through blood. "Ah… the next blade joins the field."
The figure beside Leonidas lifted a long, heavy spear, stance iron-stable.
The Rank 3 captain straightened, eyes narrowing dangerously.
The battlefield held its breath.
Liam checked the Ledger in disbelief.
[NEXT SUMMON: 24 DAYS]
It wasn't a summon.
So what—
The figure stepped into the light, revealing himself.
A Ridgebrook villager.
But not the man he had been before the siege began.
His body radiated faint qi.
His eyes were sharp.
Leonidas whispered, as recognition dawned:
"Elias… broke through."
An unknown man in Ridgebrook had just become its next Rank 1.
And he had saved Leonidas' life.
The siege was not over.
But hope had reentered the battlefield.