Rejected by the Alpha, Awakened as the Blood Queen

Chapter 16: S-Class Beast Tide

That ancient tolling of the bell, like a rusted iron hammer, struck heavily against Kyle’s soul.

It wasn't an alarm—not the sharp, piercing kind that heralded an enemy's approach. No, this sound was heavier, more ancient, filled with a mournful wail rising from the depths of the earth. It didn't seem to be warning the living so much as it was awakening the dead.

The color drained from Kyle’s face instantly, replaced by a horror purer and more primal than even what he had felt when facing the Vampire Queen. His lips parted slightly, his golden pupils constricting violently as if he were witnessing a vision of the apocalypse.

“No... it’s impossible...” He squeezed a few broken syllables from his throat. “How could it be ringing? It shouldn’t be ringing...”

He lunged out of bed, staggering toward the wardrobe and blindly grabbing his leather armor. His movements were frantic and clumsy, devoid of the composure and authority usually expected of an Alpha leader. The tolling of the bell had stripped away all his pretenses, leaving behind nothing but naked terror.

“That’s the ‘Mourning Bell’!” he roared without looking back, his voice thick with despair. “It only rings for one reason—when the seal on the Chaos Frontier cracks, and an S-class disaster is about to consume everything!”

A flash of silver-white blurred past, and Isabelle was already standing at his side. Her blade was drawn half an inch, emitting a clear, sharp ring. She stared intently at the churning dark clouds outside the window, her jaw tight. “How long can the barrier hold?”

Her composure acted like a needle, piercing through Kyle’s frayed nerves. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Grabbing the longsword from the wall, he charged out of the room without looking back. His heavy footsteps receded rapidly down the corridor, echoing with the tragic heroism of one marching toward death.

***

Kyle rushed like the wind onto the highest main wall of Silvermoon City. The biting wind, laced with rain, lashed against his face, but he felt no cold. Blood surged through his veins, driven not by the will to fight, but by a fear that had seeped into his very marrow."What’s the situation?!" he roared at the captain of the guard, his voice nearly torn away by the howling wind.

"Alpha!" The captain was a battle-hardened veteran, but now, his face was pale and filled with despair. He pointed into the darkness beyond the walls, his voice trembling. "See... see for yourself, sir."

Kyle rushed to the edge of the battlements and looked down.

In that instant, he felt the breath stolen from his lungs.

Beyond the walls, the familiar Blackrock Forest that had served as their natural barrier had vanished. In its place was a writhing, boundless "ocean."

A living sea of countless monsters!

Dreadclaw bears as massive as battering rams, packs of shadow wolves swarming like locusts, and those loathsome, soft-bodied monstrosities covered in tentacles and eyeballs that he had only ever seen in the most ancient scrolls... they converged into a black torrent, pouring endlessly from the rift in the Chaos Border, surging toward Silvermoon City.

The air was thick with a heavy stench of sulfur, rotting flesh, and metallic blood—a reek potent enough to make even the strongest werewolf warrior gag. Countless pairs of crimson eyes, gleaming with madness and hunger, lit up in the darkness like a billion candles lit in hell.

"Assemble every werewolf fit to fight!" Kyle forced himself to stay calm, roaring at the herald beside him. "Activate all defensive wards! Archers, ready! Get all the fire oil up here now!"

Orders were barked out one after another, and the battlements were instantly plunged into a frantic chaos. Guards ran and shouted, their faces set with the grim resolve of those facing certain death. But they all knew it was futile.

Against a beast tide of this magnitude, the walls they took such pride in were nothing more than a sandcastle before a tsunami capable of swallowing the entire continent.

*Boom!*With a deafening boom, the vanguard of the beast tide slammed into the city's defensive barrier. The pale blue curtain of light flickered violently—a glass dome struck by a heavy hammer. The initial impact was withstood, but more monsters followed immediately, frantically battering the barrier with their claws, fangs, and bodies.

With every impact, the light curtain dimmed further. Kyle could feel the energy sustaining the barrier being rapidly drained.

"It won't hold for long, Kyle," Isabelle said, standing beside him and tightening her grip on her warblade. "We must thin their numbers as much as possible before the barrier shatters."

He nodded and drew his longsword. The blade reflected the glinting red light from the eyes of the distant monsters, as well as the dead gray despair in his own.

How many could they cut down? A thousand? Ten thousand? There was no end in sight to that black ocean.

Just then, an even more violent commotion erupted from the rear of the tide. The low-level monsters seemed frightened, parting to either side to clear a path.

A massive, nauseating figure slowly squeezed its way through the opening.

It was an indescribable giant worm, its body larger than their main keep, covered in slimy folds that constantly dripped corrosive fluid. Its head was eyeless, featuring only a gaping maw like an abyss, filled with layer upon layer of teeth, like a meat grinder.

"An Abyssal Worm..." Elder Wolfe muttered, having appeared behind them at some unknown moment. Leaning on his staff, his aged voice was thick with despair. "The leader of an S-class beast tide... The heavens have forsaken the Silver Moon Wolf Clan..."

The Abyssal Worm let out a silent roar—not a sound transmitted through the air, but a pure spiritual shockwave that struck directly at the soul.In an instant, every low-ranking guard on the wall screamed, clutching their heads and falling to their knees, bleeding from every orifice. Even Kyle and Isabel felt a wave of dizziness, as if a red-hot iron rod were being rammed into their brains.

*It’s over.*

The thought surfaced clearly in Kyle's mind.

They weren't even worthy of facing it in battle.

***

On the terrace of Laurel Manor, Elena held a glass of the oldest red wine, fresh from the cellar. The liquid in the crystal goblet presented a deep, heavy blood-red hue, looking almost congealed.

She did not drink it; she simply watched in silence.

In the distance, the city the werewolves regarded as their sanctuary was currently besieged by a black tide. Under countless impacts, the pale blue energy shield flickered like a dying candle in the wind.

"So... noisy."

She frowned. The soul-shrieks of those lower lifeforms buzzed in her ears like countless flies, polluting the tranquility of this rainy night. And the source of that massive, filthy energy—that giant worm—radiated a putrid stench that was positively nauseating.

It was like a massive, festering pile of garbage that had been dumped at the entrance to her garden.

She disliked this feeling immensely.

She set the wine glass down on the stone table beside her and raised her eyes. Her indifferent gaze pierced through the curtain of rain, crossed the chaotic battlefield, and locked precisely onto the Abyssal Worm flaunting its might.

The moment her gaze landed, the giant beast's massive body froze. Its abyss-like maw snapped shut instantly, and its entire body began to tremble violently, like the humblest of believers in the presence of a god.

All the monsters on the battlefield ceased their attacks, looking at their leader in confusion.

Under the gaze of thousands of monsters, the giant worm slowly and with extreme difficulty lowered its massive, hideous head. Facing the direction where Elena stood, it prostrated itself.Its soul wailed and disintegrated before her will, consumed by extreme terror.

Not enough.

Still not quiet enough.

Her gaze turned icy.

In the next instant, under the petrified gazes of every werewolf on the Silver Moon City walls, the head of that S-class Abyssal Worm—a creature as unrivaled as a god—burst apart without warning with a sickening *bang*, like a blood bag pumped with too much pressure from the inside.

Foul-smelling bodily fluids and shredded tissue cascaded down like a waterfall, forming a nauseating torrential rain.

The entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.

Elena withdrew her gaze, picked up her wine glass once more, and gently swirled the deep crimson liquid within.

Now, it was much quieter.

At the moment she retracted her gaze, she sensed a pair of eyes on the city wall piercing through the chaos to meet hers for a fleeting instant.

That look was filled with utter shock, bewilderment, and a kind of... inexplicable familiarity that cut to the bone.

It was Kyle.

She saw him standing dazed on the wall, letting the mixture of rain and monster blood soak him, looking like a soulless statue. His lips moved soundlessly, appearing to form a name he himself dared not believe.

Elena coldly looked away, ignoring him completely.

She didn't notice that in the deepest shadows of the manor behind her, a figure wearing a black suit had quietly emerged. Victor knelt on one knee, fanatical flames burning in his blood-red pupils. Through means she had yet to detect, he was transmitting everything occurring here in real-time to the anxious Emperor waiting in the distant Crimson Court.

And farther still, within the central sanctum of the Crimson Court, a figure seated upon a throne of black crystal abruptly opened his eyes. His eyes reflected the image Victor transmitted: the Progenitor Empress obliterating an S-class beast from afar. A surge of emotion—a mixture of awe, ecstasy, and supreme glory—caused the entire temple to tremble."Prepare the fleet."

For the first time, Emperor Damian's voice carried a trace of a tremor he couldn't suppress.

"I... am going to meet my Goddess."