Doors to the World, 6:28 PM

As the joint Italo-Topan forces on top of the wall scrambled to their positions, an Italian soldier sounded the alarms back at Tormeus. So now all they have to do was wait for backup. On top, Italian guns and Topan enchanted bows took aim at the incoming swarm of trolls, ogres, and demons.

Nosgorath looked bored still. But through his spectacles, he could see that the walls have become... different. There were bright lights, a heavy grey material, and unfamiliar soldiers on top of the walls. The Demon Lord then furrowed his eyebrows as he sat up straight.

To his sides, two ogres taller than their minions eyed the strange wall. The red ogre, who was simply named as he was, looked to his master, "My lord. The walls look different. And I spot strange soldiers on top."

"I'm not blind, Red Ogre. Hm..." Nosgorath then stood from his chair as with a wave of his hand, he ordered the beast underneath that carried him to stop. The Demon Lord eyed his minions before he yelled, "Mere goblins, onward!"

...

Knight Captain Dawlin eyed the incoming horde as beside him was Captain Rizzo looked into the binoculars alongside his Topan counterpart. He then looked to Dawlin as he spoke, "Well then Captain? What do you reckon we do?"

Dawlin then placed down his binoculars as he spoke, "Get every single one of them. Let not one demon get close!"

Rizzo furrowed his eyebrows as he spoke into his radio, "Open fire!"

...

Nosgorath could see sparking lights up above as he looked at this mere goblin men. Screams of pain and death from the little green fools resonated through the snow as he could see them be sliced into mere holes from the unknown bullets. The demon lord then sneered as he spoke, "The Topans must have gotten new magic, surely," he said with a sneer as he further commanded, "Siege hogs! Commence attack!"

Tall man hogs then yelled out their battle cries and with that, they grabbed the rocks and boulders they were bringing together and started to run for the walls to get a better throw. But even at a farther distance than the goblins where they could dodge arrows, each one succumbed to the unknown bullets as all fell to the ground in either a quick or painful death.

Nosgorath furrowed his eyebrows. How on Elysia can those arrows get so quick and reach so far!? His tactic won't work. He needs to rethink this.

Blue Ogre then spoke up, "My lord, their arrows are powerful but they're few in numbers... we are a hundred thousand! They will run out of arrows soon enough!" The ogre said with a gleeful look.

Nosgorath looked to his henchmen before a crooked smirk bestowed upon him, "That is true, Blue Ogre..... Everyone!! Attack!!"

The war cries of demons, goblins, and monsters alike rang out so loudly that one could've sworn the ground was shaking. As they charged, some would be toppled and trampled over and even then they only had one goal in mind: to kill those on the wall as the demonic army came in like a tidal wave.

On top, an Italian gunner went wide eyed before he shook his head as he kept on shooting. There was an invisible barrier between them and the demons. As each petty soldier fell down, some of the corpses started to pile up by that point. There was a temporary stop, as the soldier reloaded his machine gun.

But as this went on for a couple minutes, the demons were inching closer and closer to the wall with each reload.

Nosgorath smirked. There were still waves of demons to toss at them, and eventually those unknown warriors will succumb to his will. But in impatience, the Demon Lord then floated as he watched his two Ogre henchmen running in to join the chaos. With a simple raise of his hand, a group of unmanned wyverns, controlled with telekinesis started to fly to the walls to take down those on top.

Gai kept shooting his arrows at the demons before he looked up, "Wyverns inbound!!"

The soldiers on the walls debated what to do. If even one stops shooting at the demons on the ground, they'd overwhelm them. But the fast approaching wyverns were now readying their fire breathing as they closed in.

But just as the wyverns got close, they suddenly got shredded into a million pieces. Nosgorath went wide eyed as he watch his wyverns fall to the ground while shredded of their former selves stained the dirt below, "What in Elysia!?"

But then he could hear whirring noises, much faster than the wyverns. The two Ogres at this point were now hesitant to continue advance despite the demons around them swarming for the walls like ants. Red Ogre then looked up as he pointed, "My Lord! There appears to be flying machines ahead!"

Nosgorath looked up to see at least six machines. And much like the towers beyond, sudden flashes of little lights coincided with the deaths of his wyverns as bits and pieces of blood and organs rained onto the ground, "What is the meaning of this!?"

Up ahead, Tommaso moved and aimed his sights onto the immense crowd below alongside the other helicopters as he kept his hand firmly pressed. He listened to the sounds of bullets shooting out and piercing the almost mindless demons below. Dante behind him kept a steady hover with the helicopter, but as he watched Tommaso look almost robotic, it would've sent a shiver up his spine.

"I'm losing my patience. These meek humans must have invented new weapons after all these years... too bad I've improved on my own," Nosgorath said with a scoff as a ball of energy started to form in his hand. And with a hard toss, the ground suddenly shook as those dead on the dirt started twitching. No matter how crooked or broken the body, anything with a head rose to life as they started to head for the wall.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Tommaso sneered at this. He then aimed the guns towards the crowd as he shot towards them. The green glowing eyes of those revived quickly dimmed again as they fell to the ground. But up ahead, Tommaso could see a new group of wyverns head for them. Dante behind him then had to lift up the helicopter for a better angle but the moment Tommaso stopped firing onto the crowd, it started to trail closer to the wall, "Shit, which should we shoot!?"

"Those wyverns are a bigger threat right now. Let's take care of them first," Tommaso said rather dully as he started shooting down the wyverns.

Nosgorath up ahead smirked. It wouldn't be long until these mortals will fall. But as he scanned their equipment, he felt rather troubled that some lowly humans have become as advanced as them. But no matter, they will yield to his power.

As he watched his two Ogres start to run for the walls, the Red one grinned. "Oh I can't wait to finally eat an elf after so long!" He said as he started to run faster for the wall. But as the gates then opened up, he suddenly felt bullets rain into his body. "AGH!" In a quick retreat, the Red Ogre hid behind a rock as he looked ahead.

Gai and Moah stopped firing their arrows as they both looked down to see what was arriving. In came the iron beasts of the Italians as a man on top shot more into the crowd of the living and undead while the main cannon shot at the bigger beasts behind. What came with them were conventional soldiers assisting with the horde as it allowed the helicopters above to focus on the wyverns.

Michele came through the gate with his group as they take position with the tanks. With Gina and a couple others that joined along, they took aim and started to shoot. This might take a while.

Nosgorath sneered at the sight. "Useless!" He then looked to the Red Ogre and Blue Ogre, both of whom took refuge behind stones as he started to communicate with them telepathically, "You two, climb and traverse the cliffs of the strait and try to take the enemy by surprise on the other side, quickly!"

The two Ogres looked to their Lord as they relayed right back with a simple thought in their heads, "Yes, my Lord." With Red gathering his thoughts and enduring the pain of the little bullets in him, he and Blue Ogre ran to the edge of the isthmus through the pine trees as they jumped off the edge to try and catch the Topans and Italians by surprise.

As wave after wave of the demonic horde swarmed toward the walls, the pile of corpses that was gathering created a sickening wall that made the remaining alive demon forces climb over it as a hill. A foul stench of iron filled the air as Gina suppressed the urge to gag.

As Michele kept shooting onto the crowd, he then went wide eyed as he suddenly felt some sort of trouble coming. And it wasn't the sort of hunch he'd use to get when he was in the family. No, it was something else entirely. As if he could feel the very movement of trouble incoming. He looked to the sides where there was the cliffs of the isthmus leading to the sea. "They're trying to bypass the wall!"

"What?" Gina asked in confusion as she looked to the man before Michele further barked his orders.

"Someone take the south side of the isthmus, we'll take the north! There's something climbing the cliffs!" Michele yelled as his group looked at each other before they followed the man, all the while another group went to the opposite end.

As the Red Ogre traversed the cliffs of the isthmus, he was gonna reach behind the wall soon as he started to ascend. But then he looked up, wide eyed.

Nosgorath realised what was about to happen, "Red, Blue, get out of there!!"

But the only reply that came were the pained screams of the two ogres. Michele and his fellow soldiers quickly shot into the Red Ogre's body. No matter how hard he clung onto the rocks, the ogre fell to the water, bloodied and torn.

Over the other end, the Blue Ogre was shot down as well, this time he fell onto the rocks below as his body was impaled into the stone spikes.

Nosgorath felt his telepathic connection to the ogres be cut off. And with a vengeful look, he growled. "You bastards!! Alright, no more playing with my food!" He said in absolute anger as he then looked to the giant beast below him that carried his wooden throne. This was his best shot left until he'd have to spend more magic to summon his other beasts. And with a glowing hand, the giant turtle-like creature below him roared as its eyes glowed a malicious green and started to run for the gate to take it down. With no regard for the demonic soldiers below and around it, the beast ran.

Michele and the others looked back. They quickly concentrated themselves towards the centre as they started to shoot at the beast. But like Nosgorath and the unknown knight from Louria, it was covered with the same bulletproof material all over its body. Paired with its natural spikes, it was practically a running tank. "Concentrate fire!"

At this point even some of the tower guards up top started to aim at the oncoming threat. Even the shots from the cannons of the tanks did little to slow the beast down, which simply stumbled from the explosions as it was driven by absolute loyalty to Nosgorath's command. And yet it ran as quickly as it could while it ignored the bullets that penetrated its skin. At this point, some of the soldiers started to run to the sides the closer the beast came. Only a handful of Michele's group remained. Gina's heart started to beat quickly. Split between flight and fight, Gina was surely about to be trampled as the ground shook below. Now it was just her and Michele, and the last thing she saw was a bright light.

Time seemed to stop for a moment. Nosgorath watched this in confusion as a bright light covered them. And then he saw it.

The beast flew back, its head split open by a mighty hit as it landed onto the ground, dead. Some of the soldiers looked. Was it a grenade? A rocket? But then they saw Michele. The man suddenly had glowing wings on his back as the uniform sleeve and glove on him was burnt off to reveal linear patterns that were lit up on his arm. Michele had a firm look before he went wide eyed as he looked to his arm, and then to Gina who stammered, "S-sir?"

Nosgorath's jaw dropped. "What— what on Elysia!? It's— a Ravernal!?" It was unmistakable. The linear patterns, the glowing wings, it was the mark of a heavy soldier of the Ravernal Empire.

The elves on the wall stopped to fire as they eyed the angel below them. And what would have been an amazing sight to the Italians was that of fear, "No it can't be!" Moah said in dread. "Is— is he seriously a man from the Ancient Sorcerous Empire!?"

Michele looked to his arm and then back to his wings. "What— what's happening!?" He said in equal confusion and shock amidst the bullet hailstorm.

Nosgorath watched this. Why would someone from the Ravernal Empire be already here? Were they back? No, this one soldier was a traitor! But then he remembered something. Nosgorath used his visors as he zoomed his sights onto Michele. The Demon Lord observed his appearance. And then the patch on his uniform. There were letters on it. Italia, it read. The same letters as the... And then the realisation hit him.

"... Down with the Demon Lord, down with the remnants of the Ravernal Empire, glory to Elysia!"

He recognised the traitor now. A Ravernal soldier that defected and protected the people of Elysia after the Empire's disappearance. A Light Wing Angel that fought with the likes of mere elves, humans, beastmen, and dwarves. He knew who these people were now. And he then knew who they were...

"No... It's the War God Emissaries!!"