Lily pressed on. It was like being trapped inside a nightmare.
The storm of shells and magic was unrelenting. The sounds of destruction, of war, reverberated everywhere. People lay dead, blood soaking into the ground. Corpses with torn limbs scattered around the landscape. Some had died instantly, others had fought long and hard before succumbing to their wounds. Many, many more would die over the next few hours.
Suddenly the game launched into a new cutscene in the point of view of Officer T’alik.
> T’alik looked at the sky. The clouds had grown darker. The storms were growing stronger. This day was going to be a bad one.
>
> He turned to his remaining squad. Men and women who had fought together for decades. They had been through hell and back. They knew what they had to do. But most importantly, they knew who they were fighting for: Father.
>
> "Forward!" T'alik shouted. "Don't stop, don't slow down, and don't hesitate. Even if you can't see the enemy, keep firing! Keep sending that divine light to smite His enemies. They will fall before us."
>
> His voice boomed throughout the field, echoing off the hills and mountains. As far as the eye could see, thousands upon thousands of men and women of the Grand Army of the Light were engaged in a battle that could not be won.
>
> And it was a bloody mess.
>
> As the sun set over the horizon, the artillery continued to blast away at the monsters. The shells fell everywhere, some landing on the enemy, others landing among his own troops. The screams of dying soldiers filled the air. Every once in a while, a scream of pain and agony would cut through the din.
>
> If the Legion of the Beast had been a regular army, it would have been a slaughter. But instead, they were a swarm of creatures. They swarmed the battlefield, ate the flesh and bones of their enemies. They tore through the lines of the Light, leaving a path of carnage behind them.
>
> So much death.
>
> T'alik's heart pounded loudly in his chest. He had killed many before this, but the sheer number of bodies in front of him was overwhelming. The thought that so many of his fellow Malakhim were dead… it was unbearable.
>
> Even with the shells raining down, the legion kept coming.
>
> "Prepare to charge!" T'alik shouted. "Forward!"
>
> Two hundred men and women charged forward, raising their weapons. The fear vanished from their faces as they met the first wave of the Legion of the Beast. Their halberds and swords swung and slashed, piercing the inky flesh of the monsters with ease. They were fearless. They were determined. They were unstoppable.
>
> A tentacle came swinging toward T'alik. Its fingers were like the blades of a scythe. He dodged, barely avoiding the razor-sharp appendage. The beast followed up with a blow to his shoulder. T'alik twisted out of the way, turning his momentum into a swing of his own. He hit the creature in the gut, pushing it back five yards. His comrades cheered him on.
>
> Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
>
> Another tentacle rushed toward him. He blocked it with a single hand. The beast attacked again and again. Each time, T'alik parried with his halberd. The beast grew enraged, spitting and growling. With each strike, he dealt blows to the creature, but none more devastating than the one he struck in the forehead.
>
> The beast exploded into a puddle of black goo.
>
> "Officer T'alik!" a sergeant yelled. "There's a big one coming our way!"
>
> T'alik turned and saw a gigantic shape moving quickly toward him. The armored shield shimmered, allowing him to see the black tentacles that seemed to defy gravity. The creature moved faster than any creature could. Faster than all of them.
>
> "Charge!" T'alik shouted. "Follow me! Let's get this over with!"
>
> T'alik ran toward the massive beast. He raised his halberd, bracing himself. As fast as he could, he brought it down upon the monster. It smashed through the protective shell, cutting into the beast with a sickening sound. The beast wailed, sending vibrations throughout the entire battlefield. The tentacles whipped about, striking at T'alik, who blocked them with the halberd. The beast reared up, reaching for him.
>
> T'alik jumped backward, narrowly escaping being crushed. He spun around, bringing up his sidearm. A stream of blue energy shot forth, slamming into the beast. The beast let out a monstrous roar, shaking the ground. T'alik could feel the power coursing through it.
>
> "This isn't going to work," he said aloud. "We need more firepower."
>
> He lowered his sidearm. T'alik knew he was dead if he didn't do something. What could he do? There was no way Father would allow him to die here. He looked down at his halberd, laying on the ground twenty feet away.
>
> I'm… I'm not strong enough.
>
> T'alik remembered the training Father had given him. He closed his eyes and spoke three words. "Light, Shield, Halberd."
>
> A shimmering shield appeared over him, protecting him from harm. He walked to the weapon, picking it up, and placing it over his shoulder. He stood tall and raised the halberd above his head, facing the oncoming horde of the Beast.
>
> "Forward!" he shouted. "Forward!"
>
> His soldiers followed his lead. As one, they charged into the barrage. The shots of the artillery cut through their ranks, cutting off tentacles as easily as the blades of a guillotine.
>
> T'alik could barely hear the screams of the dying behind him, the cries of the wounded. He could hear nothing but the dull thud of his own heartbeat.
>
> "Forward!" he cried again. "Forward!"
>
> His men kept moving forward, carrying him along with them. He saw the black mass of the Beast. A shape, a mass. He could make out some of the limbs. Some of the eyes. A dozen more shells fell.
>
> "Forward!" T'alik shouted again.
>
> The third volley hit. The Beast was reduced to a pile of ash and blackened remains. T'alik watched as his men moved forward, pushing past the mess of flesh and gristle, searching for more enemies.
>
> He turned to face the battlefield. His men had done their job. They hadn't allowed the beasts to escape. But there were other forces in play now. Forces that could be just as deadly as the creatures themselves.
>
> The field was littered with the bodies of the creatures; thousands upon thousands of bodies. Tens of thousands, maybe more. Dead, destroyed, obliterated by Father's might.
>
> But the Beast was not truly dead. Its body lay in ruin, but it still existed. It still lived.
>
> "Get your weapons ready!" T'alik shouted. "We're not going to give these monsters a chance! Charge!"
>
> The men scrambled toward where the shells had landed. They found a wide, muddy field of carnage. Corpses were scattered everywhere, many of which were missing limbs. Others had been torn apart.
>
> T'alik scanned the area. There were no more shells, yet the bombardment continued. He looked around. At first, he didn't see any movement, then he saw a dark mass in the distance. He sprinted toward it, his men following.
>
> "Form up!" T'alik shouted. "On me!"
>
> They formed up, two rows deep. T'alik pulled out the detonator and smashed it against a nearby corpse. An explosive flash erupted, sending shrapnel flying in every direction.
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