The storm had finally passed, although dark clouds still covered the sky. The Wolves' army had a significant number of casualties, but their desire to fight didn't falter. With each fallen member of the clans, the rage that drove them was only pushed further. This wasn't a war about honor, or justice, or even territory. What compelled them to attack was pure hatred, an unrelenting desire for revenge.
Hera was on the left side of the army, together with her team and the group of kobolds. This time, they would forgo all the illusion and just focus on moving quickly. Ferunir already gave them the thumbs up for the operation. Now all they had to do was wait for the signal to indicate the time for their attack. The drums echoed through the plains as the armies rushed at each other once more. Large flaming boulders crossed the skies, only to be intercepted by powerful lightning bolts capable of turning the rocks into little more than rubble.
This time, the Dragon Kin also sent a few battalions to meet the Wolves in the field. They rushed towards the swarm of canine kobolds heading towards them and set up defensive formations. The wolves were great warriors on their own, but they had serious issues when fighting as a group despite all the talk about strength and strategy. A simple phalanx was already enough to hold them back. Still, the wolves kept attacking, trying to overwhelm their enemies with sheer numbers.
More than half of the Dragon Kin's army was on the right flank, leaving only some small groups of archers and siege weapons spread around the rest of the area. Combined with the crossbows, those weapons were more than enough to hold the Wolves' army at bay. The small patches where the projectiles couldn't hit were filled with warriors from both sides facing against each other. The troops to the left were much closer together than on the right, allowing them to cross most of the expanse in under a minute. On the right side, the walk could easily take 30 minutes.
Suddenly, lights illuminated the clouds in a blinding flash. A massive bolt of lightning came crashing down in the middle of the battlefield. Before Alan could even say anything, the entire team, as well as the kobolds that came along, dashed through the field. This was their window to cross the plains, and no one wanted to let it go by. The Dragon Kin were distracted by the loud noise. It could be just for fear of the attack or because the thunder could be misunderstood as the roar of a beast. Either way, they were distracted for enough time for Hera and the rest to start their attack.
Even though they had longer legs, the humans started to lag behind. They were about halfway through the field when a lizard kobold noticed the movement. It yelled, and soon, several crossbows were pointed at them. The bolts started to fly quickly, but aiming at a fast-moving group at an angle wasn't the Dragon Kin specialty. They were more proficient in firing against targets coming in a straight line. Hera was amazed by how excessive the weakness that both sides had seemed. The Wolves of the Night couldn't fight as a team and were easily deceived even by the most obvious traps, while the Dragon Kin had several tools but could barely use them properly. Even the ballistas took five to six shots before they could hit anything.
Rose and Alan warned everyone to stay away from the area where the ground would open. Not only would the earthquake create a seemingly endless abyss, but after a few moments, lava would fill the chasm. It wouldn't come without warning though, there would be a small quake first, then sometime after that, a larger one that cracked the earth. 5 minutes after the crack, the last earthquake would happen. It would be massive, making both armies stop fighting while the abyss appeared. It would then take some time for the lava to fill the hole, but it shouldn't be more than half an hour. The time between the first and second quakes would vary, depending on how many spells and how much mana was used during the battle. Unfortunately, it wasn't something they were able to predict, much less control. In each run, the strength of the Wolves' mages would vary. They could have anything from a large group of apprentices to a massive group of masters, or anything in between. Their power was something very confusing as well. Each clan would praise their own mages as the strongest of them, making it nearly impossible to get a definitive answer.
Shilo and a few of the Omegas were the first ones to arrive at the other side. They proceeded to attack the small teams of crossbowmen, stopping the arrows from going towards the rest of the incoming group. Soon the other Wolves' joined the battle. Even though the Dragon Kin present were mostly levels 4 and 5, they were able to push back the canine kobolds as if they had the same strength. This was all because of the dungeon. Before the last day, when the morale debuff was activated, each Dragon Kin would have a buff making them sturdy enough to face 4 Wolves on their own. Their offensive capabilities were still just as low as expected, making the fights turn into a battle of attrition. However, that was only true when the kobolds faced each other. Humans could deal damage as usual to the Dragon Kin since they were not affected by the dungeon constraints.
When Hera and her team arrived at the battle, the tide quickly turned. Among the 30 Wolves of the Night, ten were already injured, and one had perished. This all happened while fighting the first group of 20 Dragon Kin, who suffered no combat losses. Alex flung a single wind blade, a spell that was a step up from the wind cutter, and formed the silver shape that Hera had seen since the first day. The attack was enough to decapitate two Dragon Kin, making the lizard kobolds around them panic. Peter started to fling arrow after arrow, while Chloe wrapped the enemy forces with water and ice so the archer could have static targets. Tiff and Kenji rushed to the front, their large swords carving through the Dragon Kin. Blue followed right behind them with her electric buff already charged. Each punch was supposed to send out a small electric current, but instead, each strike created a little lightning bolt that was enough to knock someone out. Even with someone else having to deal a lethal strike on the target, it already was a massive improvement. Little by little, the assault team pushed forward, reaching one of the catapults.
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Alex and Hera were keeping to the back, helping everyone out with spells. When most of the Dragon Kin who were working the siege weapon left their post to block the attackers, they moved back and around the fight heading towards the catapult. In contrast with the ballista, this weapon had a much more elegant design. Boulders worked as wheels, giving them much higher maneuverability than the versions used during medieval times. Thanks to that, it was easy to see where they could destroy to make the weapon unusable. It had just fired a bolder, and the arm was still up. Alex cut the rope, making it impossible to bring it down, while Hera used her grease fire to burn down the structure. It was a bit of overkill, but that way, they made sure to destroy their target.
While rushing back to the group, a kobold managed to cut Hera's hand. She slammed her handaxe on its neck as a response. Alan's barrier had run out. Arriving back at the group, they asked for a new healing barrier just in case. The catapults were a bit far from each other, which gave them some room to breathe, but at the same time, there was a constant stream of Dragon Kin attacking the group as they moved. There were about 25 siege weapons spread around the field. Between killing the Dragon Kin and moving around, it took approximately 10 minutes to destroy a catapult and 8 to break a ballista. That was only counting the ones away from the main bulk of the army. In that area, there were another 75 catapults, all being blocked by the mages. After doing some quick math, Bonnie let everyone know that it would take about four to five hours to destroy all the siege weapons. Considering that the battle would take about seven hours, it was more than enough time to complete the quest, as long as nothing weird happened.
"Let's stop here for a moment and rest. We need a break, and going back is not an option," Alan was panting. The group destroyed 15 siege weapons, losing 23 kobolds during the process. Although the humans were never severely injured, they were all tired and running out of mana.
The notification about the alchemist had yet to appear. According to Rose, it would depend on how low the Dragon Kin morale was. The best group she was a part of only got the notification after 19 siege weapons had been destroyed, and the worst one took 35. At that time, they had to advance towards the main army. They were lucky to have some strong mages that could burn the catapults at a distance, but it was a difficult task nonetheless. She believed the group to be in better shape since they had done more quests. Still, they likely needed to destroy almost all the ones away from the main force.
They left a catapult standing just to provide some cover while they rested. No one believed that the Dragon Kin wouldn't know their position, so it wasn't exactly a hiding spot. Two minutes into their rest, something pushed the catapult, making it spin around. Hera and her group dodged the siege weapon, but Shilo got hit and went flying back a few meters. The culprit behind the attack was a large lizard kobold with green skin and no shirt. The creature had one fist out as if he managed to push the catapult by punching it. Hera quickly activated her [Observe].
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Ruvna – Dragon Kin Commander – Level 10 (Physical Affinity)
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"It is level 10, and it's good at close range," Hera yelled.
The kobold stepped forward, staying in a martial arts stance. Behind him, another 50 Dragon Kin approached with swords, spears, and shields. Hera's group was grossly outnumbered, but that wasn't an issue. The problem was the Commander. If he was strong enough to punch the catapult away, fighting him wouldn't be easy.
Both sides started to measure each other, getting ready for the fight, when suddenly the ground began to shake. All kobolds looked around, not understanding what was going on. Most of the human team seemed less frazzled, but for the majority, it was a first. Hera already knew the feeling. When she was little, she lived by the coast where earthquakes were not that uncommon. She saw Blue trying to hold on to the catapult to stay up and quickly pulled her away from it. The last thing they needed was someone getting hurt because of falling debris. The vibrations stopped after a few seconds, and only a couple of Dragon Kin ended up losing their footing.
Ruvna was the first one to move. He quickly dashed towards Hera and Blue at an incredible speed, punching them both at once. It took less than 2 seconds for him to cross the distance. They were distracted after the earthquake and failed to see the incoming attack. The impact was so strong that it sent them flying back to land inside the arm of the catapult that was ready to fire. Hera looked up and saw Alex moving her arms, about to send a wind blade towards Ruvna.
"Don't!" Hera yelled in a panic after realizing the trajectory the spell would take, but it was too late.
Alex sent off the attack. The silver blade surrounded by wind flew towards the kobold. Ruvna simply crouched, allowing the spell to hit the catapult behind him and cut the rope responsible for holding the arm back, making the siege weapon fire with both Blue and Hera still inside it.