Chapter 28: Slaughter

Their faces, alerted by the sound of my steps, turned to look me in the eyes. The usual nonchalant expressions are nowhere to be seen. Instead, all of their factions are frozen, their eyes have developed dark and deep bags. In their eyes, I see what awaits us—death.

Moving past them, I take a look outside, just to confirm the obvious. We are indeed doomed. The sheer numbers of their army crush all my expectations. There are easily 10.000 beasts down there at the horizon. We don’t even know if that is the main force or just the tiny bit sent to obliterate Draka.

They are still too far to see the details. I can’t figure if there are different units other than what we saw at the mines. What if suddenly they’ve got more mages? Can they ride horses or other animals? The questions start to pile up on my mind. The last thing we need is more surprises.

We are 10 to 1. I shake my head; I can’t afford to lose my temper. I must focus, command this war the better I can. “EVERYONE!” I shout as hard as I can, startling Lillia and Mike in the process.

“EVERYONE!” I repeat even louder, threatening to tear my vocal cords apart. “We may very well be 10 to 1 in the next battle. However, our mission still remains the same. Remember!” Yes, now that saving the town is clearly impossible, there is only one thing left to do.

I pause, adding a dramatic effect to my following words. My punches are tightly pressed, I lean forward towards the edge of the tower, and pour my soul. “SLAUGHTEER!” With one punch raise to the air, I continue. “For every one of us they take, we shall kill 10 of theirs!”

Horns, whistles, and claps once again flood the air. I turn around and have some more words with my friends.

“If we can save anyone, we will. But, I must be frank with you, the cha-”

“Don’t worry, Mark.” Lillia’s half-broken smile accompanies those words. “We know it. We will make them pay. We will slaughter them.”

I take Mike and Lillia by the shoulder, as they are the ones standing right next to me, and look at each of them. “I would rather die here with all of you today than know we hid and let a massacre happen. Let’s kill those bastards!”

We wait for a few more minutes until their units are individually appreciable. So far, nothing too extraordinary or far beyond what we had already seen. A hell of a lot of ranged units, even more bare-foot soldiers at the front, both with shields and swords, and a moderate amount, comparatively that is, of mages at the back.

What bothers me, almost makes me shout in range, is that at the back, protected by the whole army, I can see that stupid King, or Monarch, or whatever he was! It’s an irrational ire because, deep inside me, I know someone or something is orchestrating this war. But, right now, the visible head is the King, and that’s where my rage is directed.

Now, the best strategy would be, without a hint of a doubt, staying up here, far from the danger. Let the others dwindle down their numbers and then charge in. If we had some ranged classes, it would actually be just perfect. However, even if all the above were true, we would still be facing far more enemies than we can.

Thus, not even discussing it first, we all head back down, towards the spot Dorian suggested. It is not a particularly advantageous position, but it will provide enough cover. Midway, still a few meters away, we hear a deafening roar coming from outside.

“Today, we sshall desstroy thiss town and remind you of the true ruler.” Without using any spell for as far as I can tell, the King makes his voice surround the whole town. I fail to understand how a creature capable of speaking our language decides to use its intelligence for war instead of peace.

By the time we take our positions, the first arrows already whistle in the air. Like a sudden cloud looking for the ideal place to discharge, they begin their fall. “Cover! Run! Shields!” The shouts flood our vicinity. Everyone rushes behind houses, raises their shields, casts protective magic, or watches with impotence what is coming.

Those too slow to take cover, or simply unfortunate, are the first to suffer from our enemies. Some can be seen running with arrows nailed to their legs and arms. Others have been foolish, too fast for their own good, and have removed the head from their flesh. The result, in most cases, is slowly but surely bleeding out. They won’t last much, and it’s too early to cast heals.

After three waves, the barrage momentarily stops. I slowly raise my head to the air, a gesture that everyone mimics. Why would they stop? As if to answer me, a sudden flok of blazing birds soar through the sky. But of course, it’s not birds, just deadly arrows with flammable tips.

Those houses made of wood, which unfortunately make up the vast majority of the town, rapidly catch fire. And I suggested making bonfires… the irony is not lost on me. Of course, they could use that strange dark magic, and we effectively-prepared against it. But why use complicated magic when you can simply burn the whole town to ashes?

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Their army is still advancing. Our tiny ranged forces are trying to fight back their constant mess of arrows, but they find little success. We have had few mortal casualties, although some groups have had to retreat already. We are adventurers; we can handle this much, even dying is not a real threat.

However, the screams and moans that came with the fires tell a completely different story. The air is filled with a strong odor, a mixture of wood, ashes, and burnt flesh. Several luckier families have managed to escape their lethal wooden traps. but are now running all over the town without any apparent intentions. Perhaps, a dark thought pops on my mind, the lucky ones were those who died with the fire.

I’m forced back to the battle when the sound of metal against metal wakes me from my trance. Kobolds are already around us, and our improvised defensive lines have engaged in close combat. And, to be honest, it’s not looking well.

Our groups of 4 or 5 people fight as equals against maybe 6 or 7 of them. But of course, the reality is that as soon as they start battling, several times that number surround and brutally murder them.

We also move forward, not to the frontlines, but to aid in local skirmishes. We intercept two mice assassins that were wreaking havoc on our mages. We quickly dispatch them but have to move to the next party of 6 rats that, just now, are stabbing to death one of ours. We are firefighters extinguishing the metaphorical fires that spread through our backline. And we are losing.

At least 100 groups have already fallen. I conservatively estimate by quickly counting the number of human corpses around us. I haven’t used any heal yet; either they were surrounded and were as good as dead, or as in our case, we could handle the battle quickly and without taking damage. Overall, we are killing lots of them, but nowhere near enough to win this battle.

“Retreat to the main square!” I desperately shout.

Maybe there, having the tanks absorb the damage and using the defensive spears, the mages can burst some damage. “Melees in front. Ranged and mages in the middle!” I shout as we get near our last defensive position.

“Rand, I’ll keep you topped up, go wild! Lillia, I’ll try to spare some heals for you. Dorian… I don’t...”

“It’s fine! See you back in the city!” He cuts me, downplaying the gravity of my words with some hand gestures.

As quickly as everyone can, the formation I devised starts taking place. “They are upon us! Be brave, and don’t hold back!” Maybe half of our units remain, it’s now or never.

The few rats that chased us are soon joined by a vast multitude. From all the streets connecting to the plaza, which destiny decided to be five, a constant influx of enemies stack up around us. They don’t mind stepping over the dead bodies of their own kind. They are neither afraid of dying. They just come, smash, stab, cut, and slash like barbarians.

“Heal!” Rand is tackling one shield-bearer while four rats are denting him down. And that’s just him. Right next to his left, another one is taking onto three more of the monsters. Everyone is acting as a meat shield. “Heal!” Blood from the battle starts flowing through the cracks on the stone pavement and painting the scene red. “Heal!”

Spells are flaring up and crashing into the enemy lines like there is no tomorrow. “Heal!” This one is for Lillia. Fire. Ice. Electricity. Earth. Elements I don’t recognize. Every possible form of magic starts hitting the enemies. And its effects are obvious, their corpses begin to pile up everywhere. We’ve gained some terrain, but not enough.

“Heal!” Even though my constants heals, Rand is at half his life. “Materialize! Mana drain!” I let go of all appearances and target whatever rat I see. If I drain it out or it dies, I’ll just switch to the next one. I need to keep my friends alive, even if it means taking my life in the process.

“Heal!” Fuck, two more at most, that’s all I can do even after the Mana Drain.

[Your party member Dorian has died]

There goes our first casualty. The other groups are faring the same or worst outcomes. I don’t think our frontline will be able to hold for more than 30 seconds. Actually, probably less, 10 seconds if we are lucky.

[Your party member Lilia has died]

“Fuuuck! Heal! Mana drain!” Maybe one more? Just as I think that an arrow goes through me and impacts a mage behind me. That means… I quickly check around me and confirm it; almost all our tanks are gone. They’ve got us… they took their time, but they are finally targeting us.

With our frontline almost gone by this time, we start receiving blows in the inner circle. One by one, I see how my allies get killed and disappear, leaving behind inert bodies.

“Hea-”

[Your party member Rand has died]

Fuck, just a second... I keep on draining some enemies, wishfully thinking it will at least distract them. The slaughter continues, but none of it affects me, though, as the kobolds seemingly have decided not to use any magic. Our side refuses to submit. Mike’s column of fire goes off right before his death is announced.

[Your party member Mike has died]

Ah… I didn’t even get to ask him if he could evolve his class. Soon, instead of being cramped along with all my teammates, I find myself trapped in a mound of corpses. With most spears broken and the inner-circle overflowing with monsters, we barely remain twenty. Nineteen, I correct myself.

If I have to die, at least I’ll do it on my own terms. Fifteen. I stop my Mana Drain as soon as my mana is a bit over 25%. This means I have barely 40 hp less, a bit short of half my health pool. Five. I will have to make do. Two. And finally, to my right, the last one falls, making me the last one standing.

I watch as countless rats and mice take turns at stabbing, slashing, scratching, biting, and whatever they think might work on me. I can’t help but bitterly smile at their puny display. If only they were a bit brighter and tried to use magic, they wo- A sharp screech vanishes the smile from my face and makes all of them abruptly stop.

“Why iss it that you are sstill alive?”

The King approaches me until it’s at a step distance. A little overconfident, aren’t we? I bend my knees to get at its height, and earnestly answer.

“I was waiting for you.” That’s my cue, my entry line. I use 25% of my mana to raise the closest Kobold’s spirit to the King.

“You were waiti-”

“IMMOLATE!”

[Immolate has gained a level]

[You have died]

[You have entered Stasis]