Archura felt a sharp pain inside her heart as she patted the head of her children beneath and around her, all flapping their wings and screeching at the people a few hundred meters away from them. They all had bright, gleaming feathers like steel. Color of red, of course, like her hair. Looking around, counting them once more before attempting to gather attention for her weak lords, she clenched her hands. Then she gazed over at the Yadratafos.

The barrier, like a torch, still covered the small immortals on the wall with flickering dashes of lights. It was a simple one, just a huge half-sphere above the earth and another half below the ground. Unlike other types of barriers-Hexagonal, Aegis, Square, and Spearhead- it was the most Qi efficient. And, again, unlike the other types, its shape did not allow for any weak points. From wherever they struck, it would be no different for the defenders. So she searched. She had to protect as many of her children while suffering the least amount of damage. It was, seemingly, impossible though. Two path openers at the east and west walls were keeping an eye on her. As puny as they were, with no help from her children she wouldn’t even be a match for her two munchur servants. So, she had to care more about them rather than the ominous wielder of the stars, the one who blotted the sky with his aura. After all, the vice-knight of the hall had proclaimed the man his own prey. It was just a matter of time before their clash.

Though she wished it would be much later. If her children got caught among the tempests and shockwaves of two men of that caliber, there was no doubt about what their fate would be.

Though her train of thought was cut off in a few seconds as she focused on the upper parts of the barrier. A place where mounted cannons couldn’t aim at in a rush and non-rangers would have a hard time protecting themselves. Feeling sure of the place, then sending the respective alerts to the vengeance seeking munchur siblings to do whatever they wanted, she raised her hand and pointed towards the city.

‘’My children, my horde,’’ She called out to both flying wood spirits, and the now stalled beast horde below. ‘’Don’t let down your mother!’’

*********

Kowalski’s legs went weak.

He watched with horror as the thousands and tens of thousands moved together once more, all dawning upon the barrier in frenzy with no courageous men from immortals facing them. Lightning imps clustered around the surface again, clawed and bit down to tear apart the barrier. Goliaths took a simpler approach. They leaped above the others and slammed with their bodies, punched with their fists, kicked with their short legs. A few hundred people with bows and javelins rushed down the walls to get a better angle at the monsters and prepared their volley. In a few seconds, flaming arrows and exploding spears flew over Kowalski’s head, right as he was cutting down another lightning imp with his halberd, yet failed to hit the maddened beasts. The branches of the tree monsters, much quicker than themselves, shielded them from most of the harm. Even the few who dropped dead or wounded, if there was any, couldn’t be seen because of the roots.

Sweat trickling down both his back and his forehead, Kowalski took several steps back until he was at the edge of the wall. He snuck a peek behind to the ground, then threw a fearful glare towards the clumped and crowded lightning imps. He felt horrible inside. From fear, from shame. The shame of wanting to run away. And for each second he looked at the monsters, the voice telling him to run boomed again and again. Then several streaks of light fell in front of him and exploded. The lightning imps, caught right among the lights turned into pools of blood and pieces of flesh. Some even painted his clothes beneath the armor. The stench, however, turned more unbearable as the owner, owners of the strike came in front of him.

‘’Hey! Stop standing there like a fool!’’ One of them shouted. Kowalski looked at the man, nodded and grasped his halberd tighter.

‘’Go down the walls if you can’t fight.’’ Another one’s voice reached his ears as a tremor passed through the bulwarks. ‘’Help the corpsman to carry men.’’ They said and departed without looking at him back. They ran towards the source of the tremor, a few golden goliaths who struck the part of the barrier with the mounted cannon.

Kowalski watched them leave and felt his fear lessen to an extent. More tremors passed through and more blood spilled down. In the air, harpies and wood spirits sent ten times of their numbers worth of sharp feathers flying towards the barrier and cracked it for a second. Howls and screams of the monsters bolstered the morale of the horde and they struck fiercer than ever.

Yet, Kowalski looked none of that. He just turned to look over at two huge giants approaching through the sides, one green one red. Red one donned a fine armor and held a haberd identical to his, only largened to thirty meters long to suit the monster’s needs. The green came with only a cloth strapped to its waist and a huge gaping mouth on its belly. They came, their feet hit the ground, and with a sweep of both of their hands a blast of Qi struck the crack the aerial monsters created. Two balls of Qi, also green and red, flew over to intercept but they were a moment too late.

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So, a ten meter long breach appeared on the barrier. Then several shadows flew inside.

*********

Ubel watched as more and more corpsmen left the castle and fewer came back. They were either caught up in the fighting, or had trouble reaching back to the castle. Either way was no good. His selfishness wished that they would come back much faster. It was unbearable to stay with men on the brink of death and pleading for their lives. That is, if they could. And he didn’t listen that. Even as he struggled to escape from one dying to another, pretending to be busy with wounded who needed none of his treatment, a few corpsmen came through the open gates of the castle. Their faces told of the horror outside. Sweat and blood coagulated on their cheeks and under their eyes. On their backs were the results of the horror and the cause of their expressions.

Corpses. Not wounded men, nor men struggling to stay alive. They were mangled, pierced, cut, torn apart bodies. Lifeless, lacking the light inside the living’s eyes.

But in here, even living had none of that shine.

One who carried them came over to his side and dropped the corpse right at his feet with no words. It fell with a thud and blood splashed to the white marble of the castle. Eyes rolled to the side, and gray. An overwhelming tone of gray sprang out of the man’s perhaps once colorful eyes. The man who dropped the corpse cast a quick glance to Ubel, their eyes met. Ubel saw the same gray, not so potent, yet so apparent. He subconsciously nodded to the man and the other let out a bitter smile. Ubel felt like hugging the man for no reason. Was it his conscience? He didn’t know. Just...he wanted to. To soothe himself. To suppress the filthy feeling inside his heart.

Then the man left without any words, just like he came. Others, also, ran after him and his entourage. This time more of them. One stumbled on his feet and collided shoulders with Ubel. ‘’Sorry,’’ he said and cast an apologetic gaze before rushing off. Ubel shook his head to clear away his head. Then he looked down at the corpse. His face wasn’t familiar- well, if it was even familiar he couldn’t identify him because of the sunken jaw and tattered skull. And eyes, with a color like that, he had no way of knowing who.

He wondered. If Kowalski’s body came like this man’s, would he be able to recognize him? Perhaps not. With a quick sweep of his eyes, Ubel understood that the man -corpse- in front of him took a lighter wound. Shattered skulls and shredded limbs were the most common of the conditions. And stinking green matter flowing out of their glabellas, the poison of those tree monsters. That, too, seemed frequent.

Ubel didn’t want to look further into them. Instead, he took out the helmet of the man and placed it backwards, so as to close his head from sight. Then he walked off towards another corpse. He did the same, then did again to others. He kept going back and forth between the dead bodies. Then once they were done, he came near to a man who was taking one of his last breaths. He put one hand over his body to alleviate his pain with Qi, then smiled at the man.

‘’Take care, senior.’’

For he, in his opinion, thought it would be better to remember a smile rather than tears before death.

*********

They landed on the crowded walls and took off their cloaks. Six forsakens, each grasping their own spear, looked at the dozens of immortals around them with slight grins. Deadly ones. Among them, one with the youngest age, took a step forward and leaped into the encirclement. In a moment of breath, screams and wails erupted as blood flowed like a river on the walls. He was their little junior, a new acceptance to the Hall Of Revenge. And the vice-knight, their biggest senior, paid a good amount of wealth to the hall to take him here.

After all, a chance to fight immortals came only in a few decades.

Since their biggest senior hid himself to fight with that hallmaster equal of immortals, the decision making was left to their second biggest senior. He was also a vice-knight, but with less power and authority. Still, he was still their senior and had the permission to act how he saw it fit. So, they were here. On the walls, watching with amusement the death of immortals while waiting for his orders.

Then he spoke and flashed out his golden tipped spear.

‘’We will take care of the barrier.’’ He said and motioned for their second biggest senior to come to his side. She let out a victorious tittering and stood side by side with their senior. ‘’You can take care of the cannons, or fight with the ones you see equal to yourself.’’ He swept his gaze over them and glared.

‘’And let me make this clear. Don’t underestimate them. None of you know how immortals can fight, never hesitate when using your spirit. Or else, your families will be the one who will suffer.’’

‘’Understood!’’ They all replied.

‘’Oh, look. Junior found someone worthy already!’’ He looked over to see their junior, exchanging blows with an immortal. He bore a small sword at his hilt and had raven black hair falling down to his waist. After assessing the man and finding him no threat to his junior’s life, he turned around to look at them again. ‘’Watch their fight and take lessons.’’

He then gazed at the castle.

‘’Let us depart.’’