Reincarnated as a step-dad in a fantasy world

Chapter 353 : Green smoke

"At my signal, I want you to order all your men to push the tide away from the city before disengaging and falling back from the monsters," Alex said, looking at both Freya and Drisidd.

"You want us to tell our soldiers to fall back?" Drisidd repeated, a dumbfounded look on his face.

Since the moment Lady Freya had introduced this Arcanor guy to him, Drisidd had done his best to show the man the utmost respect. But after hearing what he had just said, he couldn't help but wonder if this man was actually insane. The soldiers below were risking their lives to hold back the beast tide, ensuring it didn’t overrun the city. Ordering them to fall back was akin to opening the gates to destruction. Was that what he wanted?

Freya had also initially been surprised by Alex’s demand, but contrary to Drisidd, she had absolute faith in the fact that if Alex suggested such a thing, he had a solid reason. So without hesitation, she nodded. "How far should they push back the beast tide before retreating?" she inquired.

"As far as they can," Alex replied, settling into a meditative position at the edge of the tall wall.

"You heard what Sir Arcanor said, right?" Freya asked, glancing at Drisidd. "Relay the order to the soldiers."

Drisidd froze for a moment, unable to believe what he had just heard. He couldn't comprehend how the Matriarch could accept such a reckless demand. 'How much does she trust this man?' he wondered, stealing a discreet glance at Alex.

Regardless of his personal thoughts though, an order was an order. He had no choice but to comply. So, despite his doubts, he quickly sent some of his men to relay the Matriarch’s command to the soldiers fighting below.

As all of this unfolded, Frieda observed the situation carefully. Under normal circumstances, she would have been the first to oppose Freya’s decision to order a retreat. However, she was intrigued by what Arcanor was planning. He had piqued her interest, and since she wanted to bring him over to her side, she refrained from interfering.

The worst thing that could happen is him failing whatever he's trying to do and the monsters actually causing significant damage to the family, Frieda thought, a smirk forming on her lips. That wouldn’t be such a bad outcome for me. The elders would likely hold Freya accountable for the disaster.

Meanwhile, Alex was focused entirely on his smoke element. A green, sinister-looking smoke cloud escaped his smoke mantle, slowly expanding as it spread outward.

"Is there a fire ability user here?" Alex asked out loud.

"Yes," someone responded, raising his hand.

Turning toward the voice, Alex saw that it was none other than the guard who had interrupted him and Freya earlier and had escorted them here.

"At my signal, prepare to use your ability," Alex ordered.

The guard glanced at Freya for confirmation, and she gave a nod.

'Alright, let's do this,' Alex thought, a dark grin forming beneath the visor of his smoke mask.

This was the first time he was expanding his smoke to cover such a vast area and he was curious to see how well he would handle it. Likewise, he was also feeling a thrill of excitement.

"Tell them to begin pushing the beasts back," Alex commanded.

At the same time, the cloud of smoke around him expanded exponentially. Within moments, a massive, ominous wall of green smoke formed in front of them, obscuring their view completely.

The smoke shifted and then surged outward, but instead of thinning as it spread, it only grew denser, darker, and even more menacing.

Shouts and cries of alarm erupted from the people standing near the city's entrance. One moment, they could see the clear sky above them; the next, an immense, roiling wall of smoke loomed before them like a ravenous beast, ready to swallow everything—them and the city itself.

Panic set in as many assumed that the smoke was the work of one or several beasts within the tide. The creatures in the horde reacted as well, pulling and pushing against each other, each desperate to escape the ominous fog descending upon them.

In a way, this also helped easing the workload of the soldiers repelling the tide.

As those in the city and it's direct surrounding watched with wide eyes, the smoke didn’t advance toward them but instead stretched outward, consuming the battlefield beyond the walls.

'What is this?' Among the crowd attempting to enter the city, a man watched the unfolding scene with narrowed eyes. Unlike the others, his reaction was not one of fear—but of anger. 'Who is controlling that smoke?'

This man was none other than the mastermind behind the beast tide, the one orchestrating the attack on the city. His gaze swept upward, searching for the source of the strange power. Then, his eyes locked onto a lone figure sitting at the edge of the city wall.

'Isn’t that the guy the other idiot warned us about?' His expression darkened. Is he trying to get in my way?'

Just as that thought crossed his mind, the man on the wall suddenly turned his head directly toward him.

'Did he notice me?' The mastermind stiffened, sweat forming on his brow as he instinctively averted his gaze.

Thankfully, after a few seconds, the man looked away and cast his eyes upward.

'I must have imagined it,' Alex thought, refocusing on his wall of smoke. A few moments ago, he had felt an ominous presence watching him, but when he had looked in that direction, he had seen nothing. Dismissing the thought, he concentrated on his task.

Even as the Smoke Sovereign, maintaining such an immense concentration of smoke took everything he had. More than half of his mana reserves were already depleted, and with each passing second, he could feel his energy dwindling. He couldn’t afford to waste time on distractions.

Fortunately, his efforts had paid off. By now, his smoke had completely surrounded the entire city of Drisidd.

"Tell them to fall back!" Alex shouted, and at the same time, his smoke surged outward at an astonishing speed, engulfing both the beast tide and the soldiers fighting against it.

Moments later, those same soldiers emerged from the thick green fog, sprinting toward the city as if their very lives depended on it. They had no idea what this strange smoke was or who had cast it, but an instinctive fear clawed at their minds, screaming at them to run.

And they were right to do so.

With the soldiers no longer obstructing their path, the monsters were free to give chase. But before they could advance, enormous smoke arms materialized from within the dense cloud, coiling around the beasts like living restraints.

All across the battlefield, stretching for kilometers, the same thing happened. Gigantic smoke arms erupted from the swirling mist, wrapping around the monsters and halting them in their tracks.

Shit, it's consuming too much mana, Alex thought, gritting his teeth.

He was only restraining the beasts at the very front of the tide, yet even that was draining his reserves at a terrifying rate.

It made sense—after all, just the first row of monsters easily numbered over four hundred. If anything, Alex was performing an incredible feat by keeping them restrained.

But he knew he couldn’t keep this up for long. The moment he was certain that the retreating soldiers were out of harm’s way—at least, hopefully—he turned to the soldier beside him and gave the order they had previously discussed.

"NOW!"

"Aye, aye!" the soldier responded without hesitation. In the next instant, he loosed an immense fire arrow straight into the smoke cloud. Yet, despite its size, when compared to the vast, swirling mass of green smoke, the flaming projectile seemed almost insignificant.

Everyone on the wall watched, their eyes filled with curiosity as the "small" fire arrow disappeared into the dense fog.

Truth be told, most of them—even the soldier who had launched the attack—doubted that anything significant would happen. Still, an unshakable anticipation gripped them, and barely a split second after the arrow vanished into the smoke, their doubts were shattered.

In fact, what happened next left them speechless.

A moment ago, it had been night. The next instant, it was as if the sun had risen.

A blinding light consumed their vision, forcing them to shield their eyes. And then, in the wake of the searing brilliance, the world around them transformed into a nightmare.

The entire mountain on which the city stood trembled violently.