Dust swirled across the training fields of Ironmist Academy as I watched the transformation unfold. What started as ragged refugees—starved farmers clutching pitchforks, wide-eyed kids from border slums—now marched in rough formation, spears gleaming from Vulcan's forges.
"No elites," I told the drill masters that morning. "Just loyal. Train them to fight for homes, not glory."
A farmer named Old Wei, hands thick from ploughs, swung his first qi-infused strike. The dummy shattered. Beside him, a baker's daughter parried blows with steady grit. Farmers became blacksmiths by noon, hammers ringing beside swords. Blacksmiths hauled supply carts at dusk. The mortal army grew—not flawless, but unbreakable.
I walked the lines personally, correcting grips and sharing water skins. "You protect each other," I said to a nervous boy. "That's your power."
He nodded fiercely. "For the north, Sovereign."
But paradise cracked beneath. Tremors shook the peaks daily. Scouts whispered of the Abyssal Flame Wyrm stirring deeper, red cracks glowing in caves. Trade routes choked—beast tides pouring from mountain passes, drawn by the wyrm's leaking qi. Caravans halted. Refugees panicked. Foreign kings' tribute waggons turned back.
The desperate race began.
"Defences tested," Lin Dao reported grimly in the war hall. Moon Shadows marked beast waves on the glowing map—thousands strong, blotting roads. "Wyrm awakens in weeks. Beast tides are warning shots."
Yue Zhilan gripped her spear. "Shadows handle scouts. Mortals hold lines."
Mo Han paced, flames licking his armour. "My Hellfire Legion ends this."
I shook my head. "Reveal too soon, panic spreads. Mortals first."
That night, the mortal army rose. Farmers-turned-soldiers manned walls with academy graduates. Blacksmiths forged barricades mid-battle. They held the outer passes—rough, but holding. Beasts died by the hundred, but tides swelled endlessly.
By dawn, trade routes bled. A massive wave crested the central ridge—ten thousand border beasts, eyes mad with wyrm-taint, threatening every caravan artery.
I knelt before Mo Han in the command tent. The demon general loomed, red eyes burning. Silence stretched. Envoys watched from corners, breathless.
"General," I said quietly, head bowed. "Your legion. Clear the tide. Save the routes."
Mo Han stared, then dropped to one knee—crimson armour clanging. "Hellfire Legion serves only you, Sovereign. Your word is fire."
He rose roaring. Horns blared across the north. Ground split crimson. Five hundred demon elites erupted—towering warriors in hellflame plate, halberds wreathed in black inferno. No mortal army matched them. They feared nothing but my command.
The beast tide met hell that night.
From the ridge, I watched flames light the horizon. The Hellfire Legion charged like living volcanoes. Halberds swept arcs of annihilation, melting fur and bone to ash. Demons laughed amid roars, armour drinking beast blood for fuel. A thousand claws shattered on one shield. Flames leapt ridge to ridge, consuming waves whole.
Beasts panicked, trampling kin. Mo Han's voice boomed: "For the Sovereign!"
By midnight, silence fell. Ten thousand corpses smoked. Not one demon fell. Border beasts wiped clean in hours.
Northern borders went quiet... too quiet. No howls. No tremors immediately. Caravans rolled again by dawn, richer for the safety.
Trade boomed harder. Foreign kings sent double tribute, kneeling deeper. The mortal army swelled—refugees begging ranks after seeing demons kneel to me.
But Lin Dao frowned at the empty maps. "Too still. Wyrm slumbers deeper, gathering strength."
Yue Zhilan nodded. "It watches now."
Vulcan hammered chains in his forge. "My bindings weakened. Needs reforging."
The system chimed faintly.
"Ding! Mortal Resolve Quest Complete. Army Loyalty: 96%. Beast Tide Purged. Reward: Legion Command Upgrade—Mortals gain +20% vs beasts. Hidden Alert: Wyrm Activity Spikes Underground."
I walked the bloodless fields the next morning. Farmers clapped my shoulder. "Demons knelt to you," Old Wei said, awed. "We fight harder now."
Mortals rose—not born soldiers, but forged by need. The Hellfire Legion vanished back to shadows, legend sealed.
Borders stayed unnaturally still. Caravans sang. But beneath mountains, something vast shifted—eyes opening slowly in endless dark.
The wyrm tested us. We answered. But true awakening loomed.
Quiet wasn't peace. It was the breath before the storm.