[9:45]
“Tsk. Undead werewolves. I wondered when we would eventually run into a werewolf. But, certainly not like this.” Absalon clucked his tongue as he looked over the undead forces’ latest reinforcements.
L.N.E had three types of werewolves, separated by blood purity. The purest werewolves (direct descendants of Lucius’ line) retained most of their hume traits after transformation with tufts of fur growing along their back, arms, and legs. Zuri belonged to this category.
The second type was created when Lucius’ later descendants infected innocent humes outside their bloodline. These werewolves transformed into bipedal monsters more akin to western werewolf depictions.
Finally, the most diluted bloodlines produce werewolves that transformed into massive wolves whose size rivaled stallions.
The undead army sent out dozens of second-phase and hundreds of third-phase werewolves.
Werewolves were innately resistant to most magic and their undead bodies were also highly resistant to physical damage. Due to these two characteristics, the undead werewolves instantly turned the battle on its head after charging out of the forest.
The drakul did their best to assist the main forces, but the undead army sent out many more aerial units to occupy them.
The diversion allowed the werewolves to approach the walls with ease after shrugging off a majority of the mages and rangers’ missiles. Even more frustratingly for the Maggot Coalition, the werewolves easily scaled the walls with their clawed paws.
For the past thirty minutes, the soldiers on the wall had been fighting off these terrible monsters with everything they had. Unfortunately, the wall was so narrow that the bigger werewolves only needed to shrug a little to crush a soldier against the battlements or throw them off.
“Absalon, the dwarfs have completed their mission!”
Absalon ducked under a second-phase werewolf’s swipe, and then softly tapped the beast’s stomach. A mandala appeared on the undead werewolf’s stomach as the general softly whispered, “[Reverse Gravity]”
The mandala pulsed, and the werewolf let out a shocked yelp as it suddenly ‘fell upward.’ Once it was about ten meters above the ground, an arrow stabbed into its skull and then exploded in a rain of petals.
Only after confirming the werewolf’s death did Absalon turn to look at the person who called out to him earlier.
Nyte’s eyes held grim determination as he pushed his way through the battling soldiers. A significant portion of his shoulder was missing from a werewolf’s vicious bite. It hurt like hell, but Nyte did not bother seeking out a healer because relaying this was most important. “The dwarfs have completed their mission. What do we do?”
Absalon looked at the wall with a clenched jaw. The werewolves had the complete advantage in this close-quarter battle. At the moment, the coalition was using numbers to stifle that advantage, but that would soon change at the rate they were dying.
Absalon could determinedly hold the wall regardless of the sacrifice, but two things held him back. First, he had no guarantee that the werewolves were the undead’s trump card. Absalon did not dare underestimate the enemy’s commander. More than likely, they had another force waiting to reap the benefits of the thinned coalition.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, Absalon did not seek a pyrrhic victory. This was the soon-to-be Rosen Empire’s first official joint exercise. He wanted them to return victorious and proud, thereby sending a warning to the rest of Destia.
Absalon would not permit any unnecessary loss.
With these in mind, Absalon tossed away any baseless pride and announced, “We’re retreating to Corridor C. Inform all squad captains. I want a clean retreat. No panic!”
Nearby, Leila shot down a werewolf and turned to Absalon. “We’re abandoning the wall?”
Absalon nodded. “We can’t afford to lose any more men to a hopeless battle.” He chuckled as he added, “To begin with, our original plan did not include this wall. Syèl already bought us two hours. We can handle the rest ourselves.”
With those words, Absalon channeled rare ice magic. “Luckily, I’ve been practicing this spell, or I’ll look like a fool.” Absalon swiftly recited a chant and then pointed his staff at the battlement facing Oni Hill. “[Ice Slide]!”
Following Absalon’s chant, their air coagulated into small clumps of water that then rapidly froze into a thick sheet of ice. The ice slide extended from the edge of the battlement and then sloped a few dozen meters to the distant earth.
Similar scenes played out across the wall as dozens of ice slides simultaneously appeared. Once again, the spectators watched in awe as the Maggot Coalition displayed uncommon order and cooperation. The soldiers jumped down the slides one after another, with the stronger members shielding their brethren’s retreat.
Once the soldiers hit the ground, they quickly moved out of the way and entered into formation, slowly forming a brand new hume wall.
“Go!” Rudega roared as he crouched and aimed a rifle at an incoming third phase werewolf. A Merriheim dwarf shouted “thanks” as he jumped onto the ice slide, while Rudega squeezed the trigger. Boom! Half of the incoming werewolf’s head exploded, but the monster’s charge did not stop.
Just when it seemed like the werewolf would bite Rudega’s head off, an ax flew from behind and struck the werewolf head-on. The ax sliced the monster in half from head to tail, before crashing into the chest of a second-phase werewolf.
The divided halves fell on either side of Rudega, ruptured blood vessels bathing the poor dwarf in disgusting black blood. Rudega did not even get a chance to express his disgust when he felt someone lift him by the collar and then toss him onto the icy slope.
Rudega just about had time to turn and see Durst slam shoulder-first into the charging second-phase werewolf. “I’ll be waiting at the bottom!”
“Nggh!” Durst growled in reply as he pushed the werewolf several steps back. In the process, he yanked his ax from the monster’s torso. The werewolf stumbled, but rather than press the attack, Durst turned and grabbed out with his left hand.
Pa! Durst sneered at another werewolf who tried to bite his hand to no avail. The monster successfully clawed at his chest, drawing copious amounts of blood.
Ignoring the pain, Durst turned and slammed the werewolf into the first. He then roared as he raised his ax and cleaved through both monsters, tearing them in half.
“Ugh.” Durst took a step to balance himself. Toxins in the werewolf’s claws slowed down his healing factor, so the injuries sapped more of his strength than they normally would. He could see why werewolves were considered vampires’ natural enemies.
Bark! Bark! Durst grimaced as five third-phase werewolves charged at him. Two ran on the battlements, while the other three charged from his front and back. “Damn it. You bastards won’t let me rest!?”
Durst stumbled to his feet and raised his ax. He braced himself for the attack when a jagged sword suddenly flew past his face.
Durst felt a bout of déjà vu when a green whirlwind blew past him. The werewolves suddenly yelped in pain as the whirlwind continued past them. Red lines appeared along the monsters’ fur and subsequently burst open, causing guts and blood to fly.
The whirlwind slowed to a stop, revealing a heavily panting Ragnaf. The young orc flashed the older Durst a teasing grin. “What’s the matter, old man? Feeling tired already?”
“You are ten years too early to say that to me.” Durst snorted as he rose to his full height and slammed his ax into the werewolf charging from his back. The beast exploded in guts and blood and then Durst hefted the ax on his shoulder as he looked across the wall. “Go west, I’ll go east. Cover the retreat and I’ll see you at the bottom.”
“Alright. See you at the bottom.” Ragnaf retrieved his second sword and then ran down the wall. Like a force of nature, he tore apart whatever werewolf he came across, greatly aiding the Rosen coalition’s retreat.
All along the wall, similar scenes played out. The guildmasters took charge, taking point to aggro the werewolves while allowing the regular soldiers and dwarfs to escape via the slide. The process was so smooth that it was difficult to imagine these armies only had a few days to coordinate and prepare in Orez.
The timely retreat did not escape the onlookers’ eyes.
Atop Oni Hill, Queen Alia frowned. “Mark Absalon as a Tier-1 priority.”
“Per your command.” A shadow murmured behind her before disappearing.
Even higher, in the skies, Tritan, the Transcendent Pirate King slapped his thighs and happily exclaimed, “Kyaa! Look at that retreat. Damn, I’ve seen many battles in my time, but nonna even comes close to this. That Absalon’s a frightening commander.” He then glanced at Yong-ki and said with a smirk, “Hehe, you think your guys will win when we’ve got those monsters on our side?”
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“What a selective idiot.” Yong-ki sneered in reply. “The wall battle’s unimportant. Are you willfully ignoring the massacre in the forest?”
“Urk!” Tritan stammered, temporarily unable to respond. Indeed, the coalition’s performance in the forest was woeful. Even without the Chaos Order’s intervention, they were backstabbing each other in the face of grand loot.
At this rate, the Chaos Order could easily weaken them to the extent that would prevent them from reinforcing the Rosen army should the need arise.
“I see. So, that was your goal from the beginning.” Damah Dumm muttered as he glanced at the rapidly changing battlefield. “On the off-chance that some people resisted the loot’s temptation, your forces would reinforce the undead to attack them. By then, the other armies in the forest would be too fractured and distrusting of each other to launch an effective counter-attack.” The merchant remarked with a small smile, “Your commander is a frightening woman.”
“Our queen is a frightening woman.” Nhikli Grayhunter coldly corrected Damah Dumm’s ‘disrespect.’
“Of course. My apologies.” Damah Dumm surprisingly revealed an apologetic smile.
Nhikli frowned. It was disconcerting how nothing seemed to phase this man. Damah Dumm, according to existing intel, was the most enigmatic existence in all of Destia. Ultimately, she buried her discontent and turned her attention to the battlefield. She would soon get the chance to unmask the charlatan.
On the battlefield, Rangnaf and Durst grunted as they jumped onto ice slides. With the help of Asha, Nyte, Blade, and the guildmasters, they had successfully covered the soldiers’ full retreat.
The orcs slid down the slope which rapidly melted as the mages dispelled the magic to prevent any surviving werewolves from pursuing.
Fortunately, the mages’ efforts did not seem necessary. The undead werewolves did not chase, but rather let out victorious howls. They then waited as the undead army threw ladders against the wall and began climbing.
Within a few minutes, hundreds of zombies successfully climbed the wall. They then began jumping off, falling several meters to the ground. Some of the undead shattered their bones after falling, but the bones instantly reconnected after a second.
Roughly one hundred meters away, Absalon stood at the head of the Rosen coalition with Lunette by his side. The old general coldly stared at the undead forces rapidly increasing by the wall. Dozens... Hundreds… Thousands. The general did not move a muscle and subsequently, neither did the army behind.
Finally, only when several Dullahan and Death Knights climbed onto the wall and glared down upon the army did a twinkle appear in Absalon’s eyes.
“It seems ‘they’ won’t be showing themselves, after all,” Leila muttered, her voice tinged with slight disappointment.
Absalon revealed a cold smile. “I expected as much. Liches are notorious cowards.” He snorted and said as he raised his hand. “No matter...”
As if by fate, the Dullahan commander on the wall also raised its hand to order the undead to charge.
Absalon noticed the Dullahan commander. However, rather than panic, his lips curled in a sardonic smile. “They were not the target anyway.” With those words, he clenched his fist.
BOOM!
The earth lurched, trembled, and shattered as an apocalyptic explosion erupted from the wall! The flames rose as high as the skies, the searing heat melting sections of the earth into glass. Shockingly, the explosion and heat were contained in a thirty-meter radius, preventing any of the damage from reaching Absalon’s army.
The explosion subsided after a moment. The residual smoke and dust then cleared, revealing a deep gully in the ground where the wall used to be.
Predictably, no undead survived that explosion. There was nothing but sand and dust where the army had gathered.
“Hahaha! Did you see that!?” A dwarf engineer burst out laughing as he pointed at the gully. He grabbed a Metalbrand guildmember and guffawed. “Gunpowder and magic. Gunpowder and magic! To think we could create something like that!”
Just_Matt stared at the space with blank eyes. He glanced at his rifle and his lips softly twitched. “Supplementing hot weapons with magic. It seems this is truly the future of our guild.” Just_Matt, who once feared his guild would become obsolete at higher levels, covered his eyes to hide his tears. “Thank you, Kashi… really.”
While the Rosen coalition celebrated, chaos exploded in the skies above.
“What was that!?” Onishi Rai, the cerulean, transcendent monk shouted, eyes wide in shock. He gripped his armrest, unable to calm his heart’s palpitations. Could he have survived that attack?
No matter how many times he ran the calculations, Onishi could not see himself surviving that explosion. That explosion was on a Transcendental level!
“You broke the rules!” Onishi angrily roared as he pointed at Damah Dumm. “You cannot blame me for interfering if you’re secretly harboring Transcendents.”
Within his heart, Onishi shivered. ‘To think the Summoned could grow this fast. They’ve already broken past level 200!? This summoning must succeed no matter what!’ He made to get up but froze in place when tremendous pressure locked him down.
Onishi glared at Nornesh. “You can stop me. But can you stop all of us?”
“You dare test me?” Nornesh’s gaze turned vicious. The Divine Dragon almost erupted with rage but relented when Damah Dumm tapped his shoulder.
“Relax, Nornesh.” Damah Dumm smiled, and then looked at the opposite Transcendents. “I will offer an explanation.” The enigmatic merchant smiled and then explained, “That explosion was not resultant of a Transcendents' powers.”
“Do you think I’m blind?” Onishi sneered. He would not be fooled so easily.
Damah Dumm took the disrespect in stride. Unperturbed, he continued, “It is a result of science and engineering. The coalition ingeniously mixed gunpowder with some mana spells. Even I am unsure of how exactly they accomplished this.”
“Be that as it may, that power is on par with ours,” Bellmaster Rene softly argued. Unlike Oisnhi, he faced the merchant with grace. “We have the right to interfere if they can challenge our forces with that power.”
“Heh. Buncha idiots.” Tritan snorted through belittling laughter. “Have y’all never heard of chain explosions?”
When everyone turned to him, Tritan raised his nose. “Cha—”
“Chained explosions are common on the sea when gunpowder on ships explode as a result of enemy fire.” Yong-Su smugly stole Tritan’s thunder. “From what I saw, that explosion was caused by igniting hundreds of smaller bombs in close quarters. The final explosion is not as simple as adding one-plus-one but rather exponential. Of course, the yield was boosted by mana.”
“You—” Tritan wanted to strangle Yong-Su, but Palu held him back.
“Chisoa’s Wisdom. When did they have time to plant the bombs?” Palu questioned. “If they were truly in the hundreds, the time between the werewolf attack and now could not be enough to plant all those bombs.”
“What if the general planned on abandoning the wall from the very start?” Adaewulf proposed as he burst out laughing. His teeth spread in a dangerous toothy grin as he peered at Absalon from the skies. “I must say, I love this general’s style. I cannot wait to meet him on the battlefield.”
“From the very start…” Arasell Cloudlance, the mechanical-feeling halben muttered under his breath. He looked at Absalon with a pair of judgmental pupils. “If that is truly the case, then he is a man to be feared.”
Down below, Absalon looked at the gully with grave eyes. “It was earlier than I hoped, but the outcome is not so bad.” He then raised his eyes to the distant forest. “Alright. I traded my wall for a large portion of your forces. What will you do next?”
SCREEE!
As if in response to Absalon’s question, a shrill cry exploded from the forest. The terrifying sound filled all who heard it with visions of death, chilling them from their core.
Several soldiers stumbled or fell, but Absalon’s eyes flashed as he glared at the forest with determined eyes. “So, you are finally making a move?”
Just as Absalon theorized, the forest trembled as hundreds of trees fell in quick succession, clearing the path for a giant throne carried by dozens of undead. The figure seated on the black throne looked to be about six to seven meters tall, evoking memories of the ancient giant race.
The lich pointed its bony finger at Absalon’s army, and then let out another shrill cry. Following its command, hundreds of brand new undead charged out of the forest. They reinforced the fortunate survivors outside the explosion’s blast radius and then charged across the gully toward Absalon’s army.
Absalon, in turn, revealed a grim smile as he glared at the distant lich. “Brace yourselves. These should be its final trump card.”
“What a trump card.” Leila’s brows furrowed as she tightly gripped her bow. She forcefully suppressed her palpitating heart as she readied herself for the incoming battle.
What could scare Absalon and Leila this much?
Well, anyone would falter if they saw an army of undead orcs charging at them!
“It’s not over yet. We haven’t used our trump card, either.” Absalon laughed and then calmly shouted, “Overseer, it’s time!”
Following Absalon’s shout, the skyboats, which had inconspicuously remained at the rear, suddenly took the skies.
“Thank you, Absalon-san.” A lovely voice emanating from the middle skyboat spread out over the battlefield. Instantly, the soldiers exclaimed in shock as the shrill voice’s nightmares instantly ceased, restoring their strength and clarity
The coalition looked up, hope and joy abundant in their eyes as an angel dressed in a white flowing gown stepped onto an extended gangplank.
Lunette took a deep breath as powerful drums and violins exploded around her. Like a gigantic tidal wave, the empowering instrumentals washed over the soldiers. Their fatigue instantly washed away, and their muscles bulged as their bodies pushed them beyond their limits.
At the height of the instrumental crescendo, a single voice seized the airwaves. “Fight ON!”
Pandemonium exploded.