Night before the defense:

It was strangely bright.

It was not from the stars hanging in the sky nor the image of the moon painted under the mirror lake. Soft blue moonlight seeming came from a non-existing source shining the entire realm. It illuminated enemy scouts lurking beyond the barrier.

A quiet whistle cut through the air and stopped as monster clawing at the magical wall. The arrow punched a hole through its shadowed body and dove into the lake.

“Tch. I couldn’t get a headshot.”

“It’s not a bad shot from this distance.”

“So, how many points do I have?”

“Sixty one. Still eighteen points away from me, haha.”

“You had actual training.”

The wait was brutal. Each minute felt like time dragged on and on. And so, captains gave permission for soldiers to launch projectiles at the enemy to pass on the time. There were those deep in thoughts, perhaps making their prayers or to calm their ragged breathing. Others anxiously kept themselves distracted pacing back and forth or monitoring the enemy. Afterall, they were only a city containing roughly ten thousand armed individuals.

Those watching could no longer see the white line marking the horizon.

“Man, they’ve totally covered the edge of the world. They’ve completely outnumbered us.

“They’re limitless. Also, our side’s supposed to have less soldiers than the other gates.”

“To be honest, I hoped the Saint told us about this sooner.”

“She did. You just zoned out and didn’t listen, didn’t you?” His friend slapped his back. “Well, she was a beauty. I don’t blame you.”

The Alvain Soldier pulled his helmet down, long droopy ears reddened. He cursed his friend’s perceptibility. Did he have to be that forward about it? There were chuckles all around him, but he felt it wasn’t directed to just him. There were faces that were just as guilty as him, even his friend’s.

To distract himself from being embarrassed, he snatched the bow out of the archer’s hand and plucked an arrow from its quiver.

“You guys don’t exactly have a different reason to why you joined. Anyways, it’s my turn, right?”

“Don’t act cool all the sudden. Your score’s the lowest, mister ten points.”

“Shut up. I’ll get that headshot, so someone get over here and be my spotter.”

He tested the tautness of the bowstring, planting his feet firmly then chose his target. It took considerable strength to draw the longbow and to keep it steady, but he slowly got used to the weight. From previous attempts, his shots were aimed too low and adjusted his angle accordingly.

Then he loosened it.

As the arrow soared through the night sky and finally struck down an enemy, murmurs began spreading.

“Did I do it? Is it a headshot?” The Alvain soldier suddenly thought everyone was curious about his shot. “Why are all of you standing up?”

“Sorry, I can’t see anything but trouble.” His friend then turned to the others. “Light the brazier! Sound the horn! It’s starting!”

A thick cloud of miasma cloaked everything several miles beyond the barrier. Screechers unleashed a terrible unified howled, signaling the beginning of the siege battle. At the same time, bells rang throughout the city to warn of the enemy’s assault. Everyone stood at the edge of the walls with bows drawn, waiting for orders.

Crawling out of the wall of black fog was a wave of Shadowed Monsters. Some were very large, and many were tiny. They swarmed like the raging sea and crashed into the barrier to force an opening. Fortunately, it was holding, giving the defenders enough time to launch a barrage of fiery boulders, magic and arrows.

Large geysers splashed up as large projectile hammered into the enemy only to be filled seconds later. Though dozens of monsters were taken out, it didn’t give defenders hope seeing their foes easily replenish what was lost.

“Keep unloading on them! Relieve the pressure off the barrier!”

“Over there! There’s a crack forming!”

“Focus fire at that direction! Don’t let them break through!”

“Too late!”

A hole cracked open as a stampede of monsters swarmed towards the gate. Even if it was a small gap, hundreds of them quickly poured in. It hadn’t even been thirty minutes and the walls were already being scaled.

The first to reach the wall were Screechers in their regular forms. Their raven black claws dug against the stone bricks and steadily climbed up. However, they were stopped before they climbed up about halfway.

Two lines of archers broke off from formation and aimed at enemies underneath machicolations. Some had access to roll boulders down while others flung javelins and spells down.

“Another opening broke!”

“More of them are breaking through!”

The enemy flooded past the barrier like a sinking ship quickly taking in water. Thousands of them gathered by the gate and began attacking it. Soldiers above could hear the pounding at the reinforced doors below them. They could not help but worry how long until the gates fall and when would they need to retreat.

Then some bickering was happening behind them.

“S-Sir?! What are you doing?!”

“I’m going for a ride. Fire away!”

“That’s dangerous-!”

Turning around, the Alf spotted an Elf causing a ruckus for the operators manning the catapults behind him. The Elf ignored the soldiers and threw a knife at the rope holding the payload. The Alvain Soldier saw a man soared above him. He carried a surfboard shaped greatsword, flying through the night sky in his casual streetwear with padded armor over some parts.

His sword suddenly lit up with an incandescent glow with a trail of orange flames tailing it. He plunged it into the ground and several wide magic circles formed across the battlefield. Tall burning pillar of fire erupted in front of the outer wall, clearing out the initial wave of attackers.

The Alvain Soldier and several others would feel the intense heat and the air began to shift. Wind swirled around the Elf’s sword as there was a green glow emitted off the surfboard shaped blade. With a slash, the pillar of flames followed the current and merged into one giant firestorm, effectively burning all enemies within several kilometers of the main gate.

This was one of his ancestor’s power, or so he believed. The Alvain soldier and the Elven warrior were races incredibly similar that the only notable difference was the shape of their ears. While his were long and droopy, the Elf’s were pointy and sharp. He couldn’t help but admire and envy the magical strength of such an individual.

“Hell yeah, Kaeth! Go gettem!”

“Do it again!”

Kaeth looked up to those cheering for him and pushed his thumbs up with a confident smile. Taking up his sword once again, he unleashed another set of magic to wipe out thousands of enemies sitting behind the barrier.

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West:

They did not expect three of the four gates to be easily overrun. Monsters flooded through the entrances of the city and within half a day, defenders were forced to retreat off the walls. The monsters crashed through the barrier like heavy waves and in no time, the city was breached.

Buildings near the entrances were razed. Flames spread throughout the city.

Soldiers powerlessly watched new enemies, the Behemoths, marched down the main road. They rival in size of Giants using their [Wars Blood] and took on the shape of cyclops wearing an owl shaped skull for its head with a giant eye at its chest staring at them. They led the charge wielding giant cudgels or terribly long claws. Numerous smaller eyes from its head all the way down to its legs blinked, watching everything around it.

Just then, the sharp noise of an object piercing through the air punctured a hole on the Behemoth’s kneecap. Nonetheless, the abomination collapsed on the ground but continued to crawl.

“Next volley, fire! Get the cannons and explosive bolts loaded!”

Countless [Fireballs] rained upon Tower monsters weaving through the barrage. Given the signal, adventurers formed sorties to dismantle groups of Lesser Shadows and Demons emerging from the aftermath of the bombardment.

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“Yeah ha! Nice shot!”

“Phew. So, what about the Behemoth?”

“I don’t want to be near that thing. Even if it’s missing a leg, if that thing grabs one of us, we’re goners.”

“Enough talking. More are coming!”

“We don’t even have time to rest! We’re outnumbered, so run!”

Little gremlin like creatures nimbly hopped over debris. Their forms were vaguely obscured by miasma, but the adventurers could make out their shape. The monsters carried unusually long claws as long as swords on each finger, threatening to cut their bodies into ribbons. Over hundreds of them charged at the adventurers now fleeing for cover.

Spellcasters rained magic onto groups of enemies. Archers focus fired on larger threats looming among the crowd. Sappers hurriedly repaired the barricade and rearmed siege engines. They even let loose an unmanned vehicle filled with explosives swerving into the wave of monsters.

The adventurers now found themselves safe behind a wall of friendlies. Soldiers stand shoulder to shoulder, in rows of five carrying long pikes. They ranged from all races, but they were rearranged to make the most of the spear wall formation.

“Spears down. Steady…!”

Upon the captain’s command, pikes arced down and point to the direction of the enemy.

“Brace!”

Monsters threw themselves into the spear wall with no regards of their life. Even so, nothing of this scale of attack could get past until a soldier looked to the sides.

“They’re climbing up the rooftops!”

“Stop them!”

A barrage of fiery rocks fell at the building where many hideous creatures latched on. From the billowing smoke, two Behemoths suddenly appeared before them, raising their cudgels.

“Where did they come from?!”

“Retreat, hurry!”

“We’re not going to make it!”

One after another, soldiers fled for their lives. Their formation crumbled.

The air glistened as tiny snowflakes crystalized all around them and clouded the sky. The path was suddenly struck by a blizzard with strong icy winds blowing on their backs.

“O’Glacier. To bring life to a slumber. O’ most unforgiving spirit. May your frozen bite cast fear of all who you touch. Cast the wrath of ice, freeze my foes. Blanket the dancing snow over my allies. Kan, Maks, Sik, Exlas, Ashent, Brac, Val.”

An old figure stood at the top of a platform. As he lifted a deck of talismans up to his cane, dense fog poured around him.

Carefully controlling the weather, the Elder whipped up a storm hurling ice shards targeting the enemy. A thick layer of loose snow, about knee deep, blanketed the main road and encased the Behemoths in ice. It slowed the advance of the wave of enemies following their lead.

“Chain Magic: Pik, Exlas, Brac, Zek, Ruh!”

The trampled snow path sprouted growing icicles. As soon as a Shadow so much brushed its foot at one, the field of spikes exploded, decimating the wave of enemies.

“Guildmaster!”

“Young ones, please forgive me for being late. I have managed to recover my magic even if it’s only a slight amount.”

The Elder knew the enemies came at them relentlessly, but he didn’t anticipate the battle up until now tired him out this easily. He had been swapping shifts with other spellcasters to keep the wave cleared.

To make up for today’s losses, he must hold this outpost for at least two days. After observing today’s result, that standard seemed near impossible.

“Guildmaster, the next wave is coming!”

The enemies seemingly increased its army for each wave. Over thousands of Demons rushed alongside the Shadowed creatures at the barricades and they brought flocks of Winged Demons to support them. Another seven Behemoths stomped past the broken gates.

There was no choice.

“Don’t let them get above us!” The Elder rallied archers to loosen a volley of arrows at the Winged Demons. “I’ll clear the area in just one moment, do hold them off until our allies are safe.”

He anchored his cane into the crate filled of paper talismans placed in front him. While he recited the lines for casting magic, his lips moved so fast those around him could hear words overlapping and sounded gibberish.

Dark clouds swirled above him as a layer of permafrost ran down the stone paved road. Enemies crossing the slippery surface were soon immobilized by an icy grip. Using this chance, cannonballs struck the helpless Demons trapped in ice.

The Elder’s robe fluttered in snowy winds as he raised his cane to the sky, catching a lightning bolt. He hoisted its crackling sharp end pointing at the Behemoths and steadied his shaky arm. Powerful gale force winds tunneled down the main road sparking electricity.

“O’Thunder. Convert this bolt of power to bring destruction on those who challenge my mission. O’merciless spirit, as you bellow the roar of thunder, blind with the flash of lightning, burn with the wrath of the Creator’s finger. Strike those who know not of your might. Doram, Pik, Gruk, Nalus, Val, Holk, Zepar, Brac, Jeltz!”

He hurled his cane with all his might and sent forth a beam of light down a straight line.

Everyone within a kilometer became blinded by a flash of azure light, deafened by the intense crash of thunder. The cyan colored lightning bolt thrown by the Elder flew true and straight in the direction of the Behemoths, disintegrating everything in its wake.

When their senses came to be, the army of approaching Demons vanished. All that’s left was scorched ground between devastated buildings leading to a large gaping hole through one Behemoths’ chest. The trail of blaze continued towards the horizon where they could see the end of the world for once.

Soldiers were speechless at the silence the Elder’s magic brought with it. Though the enemies gathered at unprecedented speed, they could not advance due ice rapidly reassembling itself along the blazing road to slow their invasion.

“Now young ones, rest up while you can. This won’t hold them off for long, but it’s the best I can do.”

With such luxury, warriors immediately withdrew behind the barricade and dropped to the ground. Though they were spirits, they do not require food nor water, or rest, but the battle was mentally taxing.

The Elder was proud he was able to buy a moment for the young ones to rest, but the powerful spell he casted did not come without consequences. His entire arm tingled like millions of tiny needles stabbing him and his body felt like it was on fire. This was mana burn and if he were to cast one more spell, he would risk being incapacitated.

“Hey Guildmaster. For you to do that, it means they were right to send reinforcements.” Alam said. “How bad are things?”

“Young Alam.” The Elder curled his lips slightly. “Apologies for having you to come all the way here, but as you can see, we’ve been driven back quite a bit. How are the others?”

“Lemi’s side are holding out at their first checkpoint. Meanwhile Old man Kridas is in the same position as you. Kaeth seems to not have lost the south gate yet.”

“What of Young Kihet?”

“He’s at main base. Shibata can’t risk sending him until things get really bad so he sent himself north to help.”

“I am relieved to hear that. We absolutely cannot allow Young Kihet to die. The situation will only get grimmer.”

“No matter how bad this is, we’ve already died once. Regardless of if we’re going to win or lose, I’ll take as many of them with me.” Alam punched into his palm and looked straight at eleven Behemoths marching down the road with a smirk. “Rest up, Guildmaster. We’ll be needing you up and running as soon as possible.”

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North:

With time, Defenders were able to minimize the rate of losses on the second day. In fact, the invasion of the north wall was contained, and monsters didn’t advance further into the city. Permission was given to those up north to amass an army to reclaim a checkpoint.

Kridas and his fellow Giants their [Wars Blood] form clashed with Behemoths. He dug his fist into a Behemoth’s chest where its large singular eye was. Ectoplasm covered his entire fist as the power of titan’s punch was enough to send shockwaves into the air and lift the Behemoth’s feet off the ground. His opponent soared in the air and crashed on its back where it crushed dozens of smaller enemies trying to slip by.

“HA!” Kridas raised his axe and hacked the skeletal mask the Behemoth wore, exposing its core for a second strike. He turned to look at his fellow comrades. “Stay in line! We must hold the big ones off!”

Two more Behemoths attempt to subdue him. Kridas quickly threw his axe, chopped of one of their legs and proceeded to wrestle down the other one.

“On me! We’ll take it out before it causes more damage!” Shibata commanded.

The Devil Folk led a group of thirty warriors to challenge the fallen Behemoth. He slashed at its many eyes on its outstretched arm, preventing anyone from being grabbed.

“Sir, we have other monsters charging at us!”

“Wall them off! After this wave, we’ll advance! Hold the line until the Behemoth’s been dealt with! You’ll get support from archers and spellcasters!”

At his command, defenders dropped their shields to the front and formed ranks with pikemen to create a shield wall. The shield bearers shoved the Shadowed monsters while pikemen thrusted their spears like their lives depended on it. Spare spearmen quickly relocated themselves to reinforce the mid section and poked their weapons between the gaps of each shield.

“We got big ones charging! Brace!”

Despite projectiles raining down at enemies, a group of Greater Shadows suited in heavy armor endured their barrage and rushed them. As soon as Greater Shadows rammed into the spear wall, a strong force pushed against their arms and with a bang, the Greater Shadows were stopped by a shield.

“Keep thrusting! We won’t let them by until the Behemoth’s dead!”

Kridas filtered the enemies trying to reach the checkpoint. However, smaller creatures easily slipped by him which Soldiers were there to contain. Any others that somehow got by were taken out by Adventurers guarding the fight against the Behemoth.

Of course, where a battle was, there were casualties. Soldiers would quickly reinforce the frontlines whenever a comrade fell. If there were no soldiers left, adventurers raced to hold until reinforcements arrived. They wouldn’t perish so long as there was someone to retrieve their soul to Elenora and be resurrected.

Though they overcame one obstacle, they quickly found themselves in the face of another. The sky was filled with dots and rained down. Through training, shield bearers immediately set into formation with shields overlapping with one another protecting spellcasters who further fortified their defense with barriers.

However, Kridas’ team did not possess shields.

“Shibata. We are withdrawing. My group cannot endure their projectiles.”

“We’ll call for you when more Behemoths show up.”

While Giants were durable and strong, they weren’t invincible. If they were to ignore damages accumulated over the fight, they would eventually succumb to defeat, and their Titan form would be sealed until the next day. With Kridas and his soldiers leaving the battlefield, Shibata ordered the soldiers to steadily march on under the barrage.

The downpour of projectiles didn’t lessen but instead increased. Their shields were strong enough to deflect oncoming arrows, but many of the shield bearers began to feel their stamina rapidly draining.

Looking at the fallen arrows, Shibata discovered the enemy were using blunt tipped aimed to make the arrows heavier. Something wasn’t right. He could feel the ground slightly shaking and when he peered through the gap of the shields, his eyes widened. Racing towards them were Shadows Creatures riding on Demonic beasts in numerous wedge formations.

“That’s-, Iron Rain Stampede!”

There were no such information of the enemy using tactics up until now. This formation was one of Xu’s favorite breakthrough strategies. Normally, coordination is necessary to ensure the lag time between the last arrow launched and the beginning of the charge as little as possible. The Shadowed Creatures have no need for such coordination.

More importantly, the enemy used it much more effectively as their calvary possessed no fear of death and were limitless. They galloped through the hail of projectiles that was also suppressing Shibata’s soldiers.

They simply weren’t prepared for the enemy adopt the use of tactics. This behavior different from their usual reckless charge sent a shiver down his spine.

There was no time to stand in awe. “Spellcasters, launch all offensive spells you can muster at the enemy immediately! Use all your catalyst!”

The situation was dire. Spellcasters without magic would immediately end the operation to reclaim one of the checkpoints, but Shibata needed to return to headquarters to report such valuable knowledge to others.

In no time, the road was filled with an array of light. Magic producing all sorts of forms and colors annihilated the enemy charge.

There was silence between the two forces with the middle clouded by smoke, preventing Shibata from peering through. The arrows have stopped, the enemy’s charge failed, and his spellcasters were out of magic.

He then heard bold rhythmic footsteps, marching in unison. When the enemy revealed themselves from the wall of smoke, he found them mimicking their shield wall formation made of tower shields. Enemy calvary who survived were waiting behind preparing for a second charge. Behemoths were an additional to the change to keep Kridas’ platoon busy.

He recognized the “Great Marching Garrison” formation. A flash of an unpleasant memory of the face of his father smiled at his shock. This was used against him in his rebellion against the Tyrant Emperor, his father, and he remembered many of his retainers were defeated by it.

Shibata ignited a whistle head arrow and launched it into the air.

“Even in here, you continue to haunt me. But times changed. Let’s see how you like this!”