29.

Erak had a moment to look at the monster that the lancers rode. Insectile with emerald green carapaces, six legs ending with capped steel spikes that dug into the stone boulevard like it was cheese. The round head was eyeless and had a pair of waving antennae that twitched and shifted with every second. Mandibles clacked, coated in blood and with scraps of flesh dangling.

The Gnull Riders lowered their lances, forming a wall of death as the horn cried out once more. Imperial Soldiers backpedaled, fear crushing their morale as the echoing blast of the horn rolled over them like a blanket. The gnulls lunged forward, eating ground with a brutal pace, cutting the distance in a heartbeat. The second tank fired, desperate to blunt the wall of steel and chittering mandibles.

The robed figure rose up in their saddle, hands swiping and the tank’s blast ricocheted up into the air to detonate harmlessly. Erak shoved Nevia to the ground and beneath Del’s tank, the rest of her squad following behind. Erak covered the edge of the tank, holding his sword to the side as the lancers swept the field in a flood of death. Imperial soldiers were ran down, cut down, speared, and crushed.

Erak struck a stray lance that was aimed at him, the momentum of the rider numbing his sword wrist as he diverted the blow. His return strike was slow and the sword scraped a layer off of the creature's thick shell, but no blood flowed. He had to duck behind the tank as the second wave of lances threatened to take his head.

“We need to kill that guardian!” Nevia said as she huddled in the shadow of the tank. Del had dropped into the safe interior of the tank as it fired its secondary weapons into the mass of lancers. The lancer’s armor deflected most of the bolts and the gnulls simply ignored them, the bursts of heat scorching their shells but not piercing them.

Erak looked to where the Fire Guardian rode, a cluster of higher level lancers around them. The commander and the herald both rode at the frontlines and had begun to spin in the wide cul-de-sac to begin the second charge. Scores of dead Imperials now mixed with the demons they had just finished killing. The lancers had lost one or two, their armored corpses laying, shining in the light.

Erak nodded in agreement and looked for his spear. The sword didn’t have the distance he needed to compete with the long weapons of the riders. He had last seen the spear wedged in a demon corpse and he saw it with a quick scan. The long spear was still sitting in the midst of a gory mess and Erak knew what he had to do.

He brought up his status screen and saw the three levels he had earned.The fifteen points sitting there. He dumped five into processing as the demons were moving in quick bursts of speed he had trouble keeping up with. Then another two into perception, and then the remaining eight went to strength.

Erak Bloodsworn lvl. 13

Strength: 41

Vigor: 21

Durability: 21

Perception: 20

Processing: 20

Aura of Bloodlust lvl. 2

Spear Strike lvl. 1

The world slowed down as his body pulsed. Blood flowing through his veins, infused with strength. Every limb trembled in anticipation as Erak lunged into the swirling mass of bugs and demons. He struck down a lancer, sword wedging in between the neck and shoulder and ripping the lancer off its mount. The gnull turned, mandibles clamping down on its former rider's legs as Erak dragged the demon free.

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The monstrous mount dragged the screaming lancer into its maw, crunching metal and bone with equal ease. Erak wrenched his sword free from the lancer’s neck and left it there to be consumed, continuing into the fray. Screaming Imperials raced about, the few remaining officers trying to rally their troops. More Imperial troops were coming out of the broken down line of houses, but it was a meat grinder of strafing lancers, firing small hand held casters into the mostly unarmored Imperial soldiers.

Erak shoved a dismounted lancer off its feet, the armored figure not seeing him until Erak’s shield was in its side and lifting it off its feet. The demon was smaller and more compact than the Hellspawn or Infernal Soldiers, and Erak chopped down on it with the long sword. Erak split its armor like it was cheap tinfoil and demon blood ran fresh again as Erak stepped over it and picked up his spear.

He looked about the lot and found the guardian riding in its huddle of lancers near the hold Imperial troops were trying to force open. Both the tanks, and the remaining Imperial Soldiers, were trapped inside of the cul-de-sac, with over a hundred mounted lancers holding the line to prevent reinforcements from reaching them.

Erak looked to where the lancers had ridden in from and his heart sank. Another company of foot soldiers, tightly packed together with more dried skin banners. Behind the packed rows was a knot of gnull riders, another of the Fire Guardians in the center. One problem at a time.

He tracked the original Fire Guardian as they held the line, hands waving about to block the waves of caster fires from burning the gnull riders. Erak took a skip step and then the spear cut through the air as he threw with all his might. The extra energy and euphoria burning through him put extra emphasis on it.

The freed sunlight reflected off the rare grade spear as it pierced the Fire Guardian’s back. The hooded figure arched their back and froze, arms outstretched, Essence fading away from its hands. The gnull riders were shocked as suddenly the cast fire hit them full force. Shining armor held for a moment, but then began to pierce, bodies slumping off of their mounts. Gnull’s themselves thrashed about as the concentrated fire began to blacken their sides.

Erak lifted his sword and looked about for the Gnull Rider Commander, not caring about the rank disparity. The commander was whirling its bloody sword around, trying to gather its command to it. The herald blew its cursed horn again and the scattered lancers began to coalesce together. They were beginning to push back, to head towards the block of infantry protected by the other Fire Guardian.

The whir of straining metal caught his attention and he looked at Del’s tank. Nevia was perched on the side, yelling into the hatch as the cannon pointed at the commander and herald. Erak smiled as the tank fired and the commander and herald disappeared in a flash of light.

The haunting notes of the horn faded away and some of the panic that had been consuming the soldiers of the Empire faded, their commander’s voices suddenly piercing the fog that infected their minds. Nevia stood tall and proud on the top of her tank and roared, her voice soaked through with Essence.

“FORM LINES! FACE FRONT!” Erak rushed to the tank, leaping atop of it to raise his shield just as bone spikes came flying at her. Bonespitters came scuttling to the sides of the infantry block. Hellspawn choked the skies as the burst of wind faded away and smoke began to choke the world again. The lancers scurried to the sides of the cul-de-sac, racing their mounts as tank fire and squad levels of fire targeted individual members.

Most of the lancer company was still alive, but they were broken and disorganized. Imperial soldiers flooded through the broken houses, filling the gaps and tanking cover in the shadow of the two tanks.

“Fucking trap! Kill the last guardian and we will break them.” Nevia shouted into his ear. Erak nodded, still riding the high of pushing so many points into his stats. The tight blocks of infantry were marching forwards, spears first in a pike formation. The guardian was waving their hands frantically to stop the caster fire, but bolts still streaked through.

Erak picked up Nevia and sat her down behind the tank again before turning his sight on the block of infantry coming down the way. The mass of infantry was nothing more than Essence waiting to be collected. Erak stepped in front of the tank, sword on shoulder and shield raised as he began to advance.