The first drop of rain that fell on Stas's shoulder guard resounded deafeningly loud in the momentary silence. It trickled down the beautifully carved armor, leaving most of itself behind before finally dropping to the stone floor.
There was no gradual build-up to the rain. A wall of water crashed down abruptly, filling everything with a suffocating noise.
The supreme Mizuno, having activated their prana, saturated the sky with energy to such an extent that moisture began to condense in monstrous amounts.
There they were, standing on completely dry fortifications, and then, the next moment, entire streams of turbulent water flowed beneath their feet.
The builders of the defense system had anticipated excess moisture, so there were numerous drains under the warriors for the water to flow away. Ironically, this design was originally used by the Sumada to combat the Mizuno, not to cooperate with them.
Meanwhile, the wind began to strengthen. The clearing of all nearby trees and the leveling of multi-kilometer areas by techniques clearly had a negative impact on the ecosystem. Now, there were no obstacles left around to hold back the swirling air currents. Or perhaps it was due to the Avasaki who had turned to chaos?
Thunder roared deafeningly, lighting up the surrounding "beauty" with bright flashes. In such moments, the world took on the flair of an unnaturally sharp, alien place.
Standing under the cold, slanted rain streams was far from pleasant. The clothing under the armor quickly got soaked, uncomfortably chilling the body, but the living were little bothered by these inconveniences compared to what was now approaching.
An endless wave of rot followers was drawing closer, allowing details to be discerned.
And the more of the horrific truth was revealed, the greater the fear grew.
The first to be noticed were the corrupted and mutated yokai.
Like towering towers, they rose above the ordinary chaos infantry, slowly and leisurely stepping, covering dozens of meters in a single stride.
Their appearance was horrifying and inspired nothing but disgust mixed with the urge to empty one's stomach. They had long passed the point where flesh and skin were just flesh and skin, becoming someone's tormented tool.
The rot flowing in their veins undeniably endowed them with mutations, but far more terrifying was what the warlocks had done to them.
Utilizing the monsters' immense sizes, the chaos servants boldly implanted into their bodies belfries familiar to Kaede and Ketsumi, whose piercing tolling drove the surrounding mutant troops mad with joy.
Moreover, the constructions embedded in the monsters' backs spread a clearly visible trembling wave of air, apparently acting as walking energy barriers. Each of these "shield bearers" covered an impressive part of the horde.
No matter how hard Stas looked, he saw neither the presence of warlocks, corrupted warmasters, nor the chaos champions.
Ahead were only endless ranks of crazed and disfigured humans, a bubbling mass rushing straight to their death.
"They're trying to wear us down," grimly said Teruko, the Imperial Turtle. "Chaos loves to play this game. To throw against us our own people. To watch as we kill them, spending strength and energy, and then to strike when we least expect it. Twisted, filthy monsters."
Those around silently agreed with the great spirit's expert opinion, for the scene unfolding before them sparked only anger.
The assault had long begun, but the stream of people did not seem to abate. The land in front of them and up to the horizon was so densely covered with mutated flesh that there was nowhere even to spit.
Likely, the lands to the north had completely depopulated.
Still, someone aware of the capabilities of the supreme warmasters might be surprised why they didn't strike right now? A joint strike from such powerful beings would be enough to annihilate everything, alive and not, up to the horizon!
But that's exactly what chaos was waiting for. For the strongest of the allied army to start spending prana and spirit on ordinary peasants while the most dangerous part of the cultists remained in complete safety.
Moreover, the yokai-belfries would be much tougher, so they would require even more energy to deal with. Take, for example, the Gashadokuro, giant skeletons, which felt quite comfortable among the waves of the altered.
Their bones were covered with ugly sores, and the belfry attachments were sometimes fused with the bones themselves.
Nor were the carnivorous trees, the Jubokko, any less grotesque, for which almost nothing needed to be attached. Their branches themselves served as attachments for the "bells."
The ogres got off "simply." Their belfries grew right out of the spines pulled outward.
However, it was time to focus, as the clash wasn't far off.
"Prepare yourselves!" the roar of the samurai echoed far and wide, causing the warriors covered from head to toe in armor to raise their katanas, ready for the first strike.
Standing in the same front line, the zombies of the Deathbringers bared their fleshless jaws, spreading their limbs with attached blades. An anticipatory shiver ran through their disfigured bodies - the ether locked within them sensed the approaching slaughter.
The funny thing about this was that ether couldn't absorb chaos. The otherworldly energy was in for an unpleasant surprise.
At such a short distance, it was impossible not to see all the maladies and inflammations deadly to ordinary folk, the hanging and bubbling flesh oozing with toxic vapors, the worm-infested wounds, and the pus streaming down the faces.
But the most terrible thing was that this hellish mass was producing a continuous noise. And no, it wasn't screams or groans, as one might think.
Oh no.
It was a guttural, throaty laugh, bursting right from within their cursed bodies. Each of these madmen found everything happening incredibly funny and enjoyable.
Devoid of pain, fear, their own thoughts, and souls, these distorted semblances of people were true toys of the plane of rot, carrying its perverted will into this tormented world.
The banners, made of the tormented humans' skin and skulls, fluttered over the wall of flesh, clouding the vision and whispering vile knowledge into the ears.
But unlike all these fallen souls, confronting them were not ordinary people.
Right now, they were up against the elite of the elite - warriors whose ancestors knew only war. Killers and maniacs whose lives were built on slaughter and the growth of their personal power.
These people felt fear as they looked upon what they had to confront, yet at the same time, they experienced an all-consuming rage.
Chants of the monks' choir swirled in the air, penetrating right into their souls, filling their thoughts with sacred, all-destructive wrath.
Humanity had never been a kind species. Within them, an ugly and vile beast always dwelled. A foul and overly clever hybrid of that very first ape, too sinister to fade into obscurity, thus beginning the path of a new race.
Stas knew all too well how terrifying creatures apes could be to regard his own kind any differently. Which, however, wouldn't stop him from killing anyone for humanity.
The front rows of mutated peasants from scorched villages, townspeople from destroyed cities, and ashigaru from fallen armies were about to hit the steel wall of samurai like a crushing avalanche.
But battles of superhumans have a "subtle" difference: for the most part, they are fought from a distance.
A piercing command shouted by hundreds of throats rumbled like thunder.
"Slash!"
And the samurai blades swiftly descended, releasing into the world shining crescents of green energy.
The front rows of mutants literally exploded, crumbling and scattering into pieces.
Depending on the samurai's skill and will, their energy slices could either simply cut through someone's flesh or also carry a kinetic charge that pushed the chopped pieces back into the rear ranks.
But those intoxicated by chaos didn't care about the blood of those who came before them flowing under their feet. Jumping over body parts, they rushed forward, only to burst under the relentless meat grinder of green energy planes, literally chopping space into pieces.
Watching the carnage unfolding below, Stas shook his head. What he saw was beyond good and evil. Everything he had seen before paled in comparison to what now lay before him.
The samurai worked skillfully, using minimal movement and energy. Body upon body fell, gradually forming a true rampart, which obscured the warriors' view of their foes, allowing for sudden assaults.
Something had to be done about it.
And the command had already thought about this problem.
With a short roar, dragons stepped forward. A deep breath was followed by streams of fire that began to relentlessly incinerate the rotten dead flesh, also burning the laughing chaos servants.
Flame "corridors" divided the advancing horde into parts, but the corrupted jumped straight into the fire without hesitation.
However, the reptiles were not done yet. A sudden leap, and dozens of carnivorous giants, flapping their wings, rose into the air and menacingly glided forward.
Their target was the approaching giant yokai. Their unholy field could create some problems for the samurai in processing the chaos hordes.
Although the dragons' breath had unimpressive range, it fully compensated for this with its penetrating power.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Strike!
The elemental attacks of the reptiles embedded clashed with the trembling films of the barriers. The bells emitted an unbearable toll, cracked, and exploded, allowing the "flame" to envelop the roaring titanic skeletons, ogres, and carnivorous trees.
Their figures, embraced by fire, ice, or acid, majestically fell down, crushing and killing the ordinary chaos servants. Yet new rows were already climbing over these corpses, not at all bothered by the fact that their feet were starting to burn.
Seeing this, the army let out a triumphant roar. Proud cries of the dragons echoed it, which, however, quickly ceased when demonic runes of spells flared in the skies, knocking several reptiles down.
The sky masters got carried away, flying too far from their positions. In this part of the air, other forces ruled.
The remaining dragons, having either defended themselves or dodged, hurried back to the protection of the rest of the army.
"Something's wrong here," Yamato unnaturally flared his nostrils, inhaling the cold air. "I sense some kind of trap."
"Wait, there really is something," said the Nine-Tails, initially casting a contemptuous glance at the dragon, now knitted her brows. "Chaos warlocks are weaving something, but I can't understand what!"
Stas turned and cast a quick glance behind their backs. There, again in the lowland, was another underground complex, which housed a hospital. From their positions, many tunnels led to it, meticulously guarded in case the chaos servants broke through.
It was on the hospital's defense that Stas's people were stationed. The earthling didn't care about Mari and Kaede's displeasure, so he planned to keep them as far from the influence of rot as possible.
Kenta also supported this idea, promising to look after the "kids." Ordyntsev believed that Mari's father had enough sense to do everything right.
Stas turned back and eyed Minoru, who stood next to Katashi. Apparently, the head of the water-wielders had found the right words to win the loyalty of this crazy yokai.
Ordyntsev could only wish him luck.
Meanwhile, the battle did not stand still. The "shielded" yokai occasionally forced the front to retreat a bit to avoid too many casualties. But when under the barrage of dragon breaths and samurai strikes the monsters fell, the first line regained its positions, marching right over the corpses of their opponents.
As they had to burn and destroy mountains of flesh, heavy, greasy ash flew around in some places, sometimes reaching knee height.
It was at this time that the warlocks chose to reveal their presence. Their hunched, grotesque figures were barely visible behind the heavy armor of the champions of rot, inscribed with chaos runes.
Next, behind the backs of the fodder troops, those who raised the most questions began to appear: the corrupted warmasters.
Driven mad warriors, adept at using prana and having lost none of their combat skills.
The "blessing" of rot had completely freed them from the fear of death and pain.
However, even so, they still did not go on the attack, waiting for something. And considering that Yamato felt something, the command of the allied army decidedly did not like the current situation.
Chaos had planned something, and they didn't know what it was, which was deadly dangerous.
Nevertheless, the warlocks clearly were not about to give the defenders a rest.
A piercing roar made the nearby samurai stagger as they were hit by sound waves. A disgusting illusion, cast on the waves of mutants, rippled and dispersed, revealing chaos spawn concealed among the altered peasants.
These ugly creatures were created from beings that, unable to contain the "gifts of instability" within themselves, were still unlucky enough to survive. Even the smallest of them were almost twice the size of an ordinary person. Thick skin covered in bodily fluids, inhuman reaction speed, and numerous deadly limbs and tentacles made them a problem even for a prana user.
And although the illusion of chaos allowed them to approach the defenders' ranks at a dangerously close length, the commanders seemed to have been waiting for this.
"Warmasters! Destroy the chaos filth! Strike!" and the warmasters struck with all they could.
Yes, the second line was made up of only advanced and ordinary warmasters, mixed with yokai of roughly the same power.
But their numbers allowed them to create such a barrage of techniques that chaos clearly did not expect!
Stones, fire, water, and air - the entire legendary circle of elements converged that day together, wreaking true devastation. Pieces of chaos spawn, blown apart by fire, were knocked back by air strikes, ground by water vortexes, and crushed by stone clamps.
Moreover, some of the warmasters and yokai possessed their own lineages, adding their unique techniques to the mix. For example, Stas knew for sure that the Rinako clan, to which Mari's father formerly belonged, had also joined the battle.
Nevertheless, the spawn were not considered such dangerous creatures if everything could end so simply.
The concentration of chaos in their bodies greatly weakened the impact on them. And techniques expected to be capable of killing dozens of spawn at once, in fact, were able to finish off, at best, a few.
When the wave of mutants, "seasoned" with corrupted yokai and spawn, finally rolled up to the positions of the samurai, the battle became serious.
Monsters from the other side of the world didn't care about wounds and their own death. In some places, the second line of warmasters and yokai had to engage in hand-to-hand combat when the samurai could no longer withstand the increasing pressure.
For the first time, the third line began to join the first two.
The air magic of the onmyodo weakened and slowed the spawn, giving the others precious seconds to destroy them. Still, it had to be understood that onmyodo were highly specialized, and most of their spells were used against yokai and no one else.
Nevertheless, even their remaining spells were quite enough to seriously complicate life for the chaos servants.
The scales of balance that had wavered were restored to their state. The crisis passed and, encouraging themselves with furious cries, the samurai, supported by zombies, onmyodo, warmasters, and yokai again set out to reclaim their initial positions.
Now, the Deathbringers had to fight as well. Their undead servants wreaked real havoc in the ranks of the mutants, but unlike living people, they almost did not defend themselves. As a result, their numbers rapidly decreased, and very soon, the Deathbringers had to switch to techniques.
There, a black elongated oval flashed, releasing long tentacles that began to pull in the chaos servants, simultaneously draining them and replenishing its own power.
Stas recognized this technique. It was called "Cursed Octopus" and was ranked pretty highly. After all, it possessed some intellect, allowing it to control the tentacles itself while being self-sustaining and self-nourishing.
It was a pity that only a few Deathbringers could create such a technique. These black octopuses "single-handedly" seriously weakened the pressure of the fodder, as they methodically processed it.
Unfortunately, chaos was distinguished from order by its excellent ability to adapt.
Several ugly spawn huddled together to simultaneously spit out green pus, which disappeared in the etheric technique. The latter, unable to withstand, contracted, trembled, and exploded into quickly dispersing black streams.
Within a few minutes, the same fate befell the other "octopuses." The Deathbringers tried to create their techniques again, only for them to be immediately destroyed.
Stas carefully observed how orderlies grabbed and carried away the wounded and was pleased. His conversation with Michiro had been not in vain. It turned out that Hideo's former senior disciple had also taken some steps to improve the situation.
Funnily, after the battle with the Alliance of Small Clans, he took Stas's own hospital as an example.
Now, after another conversation where Ordyntsev methodically explained why he did exactly so and not otherwise, the result turned out even better.
They parted with the head of the hospital, if not as friends, then as very good acquaintances. It was no wonder. When Kizashi did not mind that Michiro would take the place of the head of the hospital, the senior disciple developed a genuine respect for the alchemist and his sensei.
As Ordyntsev suspected, his reaction was a wild mix of his personal gratitude and all that rubbish about clan interests and service to the clan, even contrary to his ambitions.
However good the situation might have looked at the moment, the mood at the command headquarters was only heating up.
The demonstratively mocking stance of the corrupted warmasters and warlocks was getting on everyone's nerves.
It was important to realize that the enemy warmasters were not only advanced and ordinary. There were supreme ones, too!
Yes, there were fewer of them than in the allied army, as Hizoru and Avasaki had significantly thinned their own forces before, but even so, these were still formidable forces.
And they were doing nothing, following some sort of plan.
"I think I understand," the Turtle narrowed her eyes, absently looking up into the sky. "They are gathering the free chaos emanating from the slain corrupted. Also, this wave of violent deaths is having a very bad effect on the world's energy. All these cultists were specifically tuned to release as much energy as possible. They… They are trying to open a chaos rift!"
Ordyntsev nodded lightly. Now the plans of their enemies became much clearer. Also, judging by the direction of Teruko's gaze, the rift was supposed to open right above their heads.
"Let them screw themselves!" shouted the Nine-Tails emotionally, decisively joining in closing the rift. Her red hair lifted slightly and began to flutter in the invisible wind currents.
Both great spirits fully immersed themselves in closing the rift.
Stas mentally grimaced. He could feel the changes happening and see the effect they were having, but he couldn't quite understand it. What the great spirits were doing belonged to a completely unfamiliar magical art that actively used the surrounding natural energy.
The ease with which they did this couldn't help but cause envy. However, as the man suspected, the reason was some sort of... chosen status? Great spirits, according to the surrounding yokai, were meant to serve as world guardians. Logically, they could manipulate natural energy like no one else, as it was a part of the world.
Hearing the Turtle's explanation, the other commanders lightened up a bit. However, their good mood quickly faded when they looked at the warlocks standing in the distance. Once the latter realized their plan had failed, they would launch a real attack.
And what had happened before would seem like the play of foolish children in a sandbox.
However, Stas didn't have time to dwell on this thought. He was alerted by the sudden tension in the Turtle's back, followed by a wrinkle forming on her forehead.
"Wait," her quiet voice captured everyone's attention. "Something is wrong... I don't understand. Their spell shouldn't be reacting like this. Why is it behaving this way? Oh no," Stas saw a frightened great yokai for the first time, and the sight twisted his insides in a deadly spasm. "It's not a rift… It's a teleport!"
In that exact second, as the fateful words still hung in the air and the earthling's mind tried to understand the unfamiliar variation of a familiar term, several very important events occurred simultaneously.
Ordyntsev was saved only because he was not the target of the attack.
A white hand with unnaturally elongated black claws pierced the back of the Imperial Turtle and, with an upward motion, almost ripped out her spine, crushing it into pieces and slicing through her body from bottom to top.
Great yokai possessed incredible vitality in their beast forms. The Serpent King could attest to that. And even in human form, they were very, very hard to kill.
But when all your internal organs, spinal column, and the back of your skull are turned into mush, it's too much even for such beings.
Ordyntsev's eyes, as if in slow motion, followed the owner of the bloodied white limb, locking onto the broadly smiling face of Minoru.
Her eyes were covered with a light, dreamy haze, and if not for the hand still sticking in the back of the great spirit, who was hanging like a rag doll, she might have even looked beautiful.
The Nine-Tails, thinking much faster than any human, let out a desperate roar and, abandoning the threads of her spell, tried to strike the unresisting traitor.
At that same moment, the now-unrestrained teleportation spell activated, whisking the limp Minoru away like a broken doll in a flash of green light.
However, it would have been very strange if the lives of tens of thousands of corrupted, yokai, and spawn had only accomplished this.
Several shadows enveloped the battlefield.
The fighting warmasters sometimes didn't even notice this, continuing the battle, while those who were lucky enough to be more attentive froze like statues, raising their heads and looking up in disbelief.
At that very moment, three epic-sized figures descended upon the allied army.
An observant eye could even recognize them despite the numerous mutations, the steel plates embedded in their "flesh," and the tablets glowing with green light, inscribed with the runes of chaos.
Daidarabotchi - these beings are formally among the yokai, though by virtue of their thinking and actions, they should rather be compared to forces of nature or elementals, if such entities existed in this world. Their essence lies in guarding various places from "evil presence."
No powerful evil spirit will ever settle next to a Daidarabotchi, nor will a chaos cult be founded.
These yokai are often so huge that they easily occupy entire hills. And they turn into them, becoming protectors of hills, mountains, or rivers. Sometimes, people build their homes and palaces at such places.
Daidarabotchi don't mind. Despite their power and size, they are surprisingly peaceful and passive beings.
Now, Ordyntsev could fully appreciate the unique grandeur of what would happen if these titans fell to the side of chaos.
Emerging in an almost imperceptible green flash, the majestic stone-earth-wood yokai hovered in the air for a moment before gaining speed and rushing downward.
Considering their size, mass, and the distance to the ground...
From the triple impact and the shockwaves spreading in all directions, only those who had prepared in time were able to remain standing.
There were also those who met a terrible death under several thousand tons of stone.
It was only fortunate that the titans did not fall on the headquarters, even though the middle one crashed right in front of them, blocking the view.
The defense of the united army was in complete disarray. The unceasing waves of chaos servants, the now-moving corrupted Daidarabotchi, and the severely damaged fortifications instilled a suffocating terror in the defenders' hearts.
The quietly waiting for this moment champions of chaos, bubbling with laughter, took the first step forward. Following them were the uncontrollably giggling corrupted warmasters.
Now, the chaos offensive truly began.