Both armies distanced themselves and changed to mid and long ranged weapons. The only creature attacking relentlessly at short-range was the Heavenly slayer.
From the two hundred thousand elite soldiers that Sile brought, at least thirty thousand were critically injured or dead and fifty thousand more were moderately injured. Although the injuries of the rest could be considered light, it would be hard to find someone among all the army who was not tired right now. Not only they were attacking relentlessly an almost impenetrable fortress, they were badly outnumbered, they were in an open terrain with almost no options for defense. Had the troops Sile brought not been the best of the border armies, they would haven been wiped since the first day.
Although every soldier of the human army was a veteran soldier and they knew that in the midst of a huge scale battle it was normal for hundreds, or even thousands of them dying in a single exchange, although all of them were ready for sacrificing their lives on the battlefield for a greater good, the moment the demonkin army gave them some space they couldn't help but sighing in relief, they knew that after a retreat it would take some time for any army to reorganize and launch another wave of attacks, even if they were in the front door of a demonkin citadel and could die at any given moment, being able to rest for some time after the first direct clash with the demonkin army was a huge deal and released a lot of the pressure and stress they had.
However...
*Thump... Thump... Thump...*
*ROAAAAAAAR*
All of a sudden the land started to throb slightly and mad roars akin of hungry beasts started to resonate loudly on the battlefield. Normally, something like that would not be a big deal, the real problem was that the army was still a couple of kilometers apart from the walls of the demonkin citadel, and the volume of the roars could be heard very vividly, but the most disturbing thing was the mini quakes that could be felt from the foots. The sound could be faked or just amplified by magic, but what kind of beast could make the ground quake slightly from such a distance?
*BANG*
*Crack crack crack*
The roars started to intensify and the walls of the citadel started to tremble. The expressions of everyone turned serious and an ominous feeling filled the atmosphere. Normally only those with affinity towards the light or darkness could feel if there was a change in the auras of their surroundings, however, the thickness of the dark aura that was being emitted from the citadel was so high that everyone could feel it.
A sense of grave crisis was born on Sile's heart. She had the bad feeling that whatever was making such ruckus behind those walls was comparable in power with the Heavenly Slayer. She knew that there was an even worst possibility, but she didn't even dare to think about it. She tightened the grip on the second nearly exhausted jewel on her hands and then shouted with a resolute voice, "Full defensive formations! Focus on retreating the injured soldiers from the front lines! Those who are able to assist in pouring power to the summoning circles of the Celestial Guardians do so! Whatever comes from those walls, we will persevere!"
"Yes, my Lady!"
The soldiers started to move immediately and as a well-built windmill, all of the pieces orderly worked and assumed their respective positions. While the roars and pounds grew even louder, they noticed that the demonkins were assuming some weird formations.
The quaking and the roars stopped for a moment but none of the soldiers felt relieved, on the contrary, they couldn't help but becoming more tense. A deathly silence filled the battlefield for a few moments which was interrupted by the sound of the main gate of the citadel opening slowly. Although that door was opened previously when part of the demonkin army poured out from the citadel, the pressure the human army felt this time because the opening of those gates was on a total different level.
*Creack creack creack.... BANG*
The door was fully opened revealing five enormous carriages, each one carrying an enormous cage, the smaller one had at least a height of ten meters. The size was astonishing by itself, but the killing aura that came from those cages was terrifying. Although whatever was inside of those cages was no longer roaring madly, the low growls they were emitting clearly stated that if they were to be let loose, they would start a carnage!
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
*UUIIIIIIIIIIIIIII*
One of the cages was opened and the thing that was inside let out a loud shriek, then it started running towards the human army without hesitation. It was a twelve meters tall boar with a monstrous frame. It's muscles were bulging and wriggling abnormally, as if there were thousand of huge worms beneath its pitch black skin. There were stitches all over its body that prevented the rotted and decaying flesh from falling apart. A viscous foul liquid seeped from the pores of its body. The eyes of that hellish boar were dyed with the color of blood. There was foam all over its mouth and its nostrils were fuming a black mist, if you looked very closely you could notice that there was some sort of fire burning inside his throat. Its left tusk was broken, yet the right tusk seemed as if it didn't belong to the boar. In fact, the boar was so bizarre that it seemed that most of its body didn't belong originally to it.
Without hesitation the Heavenly Slayer moved to intercept the charging boar. It unleashed a variety of divine abilities trying to take down the boar from far away but the liquid that covered the body of the boar transformed in a mist that was capable of repelling the attacks of the Heavenly Slayer. Sensing the hostility of the Heavenly Slayer, the boar let out another enraged roar and rushed towards it. The Heavenly Slayer positioned the blade in front of him in a way that he was going to use the own force of the boar's charge to impale it.
However, to the astonishment of all the onlookers, when the blade made contact with the boar's skin it actually bounced off. The Heavenly Slayer was incapable of damaging the boar!
The Heavenly Slayer received a hit from the boar's charge and was sent spinning backwards. It only took an instant for it to recover and charge again against the boar. Although it wasn't able to damage the boar easily, the boar wasn't able to damage it either. The fight between the Heavenly Slayer and that boar caused the land to quake and the sky to dim. They were actually evenly matched in terms of strength!
Everybody was so focused on the fight between those two titans that they forgot an important detail for a moment: there were another four cages! It was only the sound of those cages opening that woke up everybody from their stupor. The roars and shrieks of another four hellish beasts filled the battlefield. An almost twenty meters tall ape, a fifteen meters tall rhinoceros, a sixteen meters long bat, and a thirty meters long earthworm were released. Although their general appearances were that of an ape, a rhinoceros, a bat, and an earthworm, each one was as bizarre as the boar, their muscles were abnormally huge, their skin was pitch black, they were covered in stitches, and that viscous foul liquid that transformed in a black mist covered them.
Sile was inwardly shaken when she saw that the Heavenly Slayer could at most match evenly with the boar. If it was as its peak condition, maybe it would have the upper hand right now, but even then it would probably take a huge deal of time to kill that monstrous boar. However, she wasn't even sure if she could sustain the summon of the Heavenly Slayer long enough for it to beat the boar when she was in her peak condition, let alone now that her second Emperor Jewel was almost empty. Sile was intrepid and fearless, she wouldn't hesitate to put herself in danger if it was needed for whatever mission she needed to accomplish. She really wouldn't hesitate if it would ensure or increase the success rate of a noble cause, let alone a mission that could determine the fate of an entire race. However, she knew that there was a fine line between courage and stupidity that should never be crossed, and staying here to fight against five creatures with a power comparable to the Heavenly Slayer didn't require courage but extreme stupidity.
"Retreat! Everybody retreat!" Sile commanded without hesitation
Isiurem Sicer was looking from its tower with an evil smile at the developments on the battlefield, he laughed coldly and murmured in a sinister tone, "Do you think I would let you escape after delivering yourself at my doorstep? Hahahahaha."