Although their section of the wall was cleared of demons, the battle was far from over. After a short breather, the survivors of that section gathered together into formation. The frontliners formed the outer perimeter while the spellcasters and the other classes made up the core. The group made slow progress by clearing small sections of the walls at a time. The wounded were tended to and the group faced the question of how to carry all the wounded soldiers they saved. There simply weren’t enough able bodied soldiers to both fight and carry the wounded. It soon became apparent that they had to split up into two groups. .
Dreu and his summons were among those selected to protect the wounded. Their job was to keep any stray demons at bay while the clerics and anyone with healing magic tended to the wounded. The other group would continue fighting and assigned a handful of men to haul the wounded to safety. The hope was that the humans could regroup and, through healing the wounded, they could continue resisting until the Purificator could be activated. They didn’t have to fight to win. They only had to buy enough time for the humans to emerge victorious. Knowing his new assignment, Dreu stationed himself some distance from the battlements. He didn’t want to get caught off guard if the demons attempted to scale the walls again. With fatigue settling in, the young man was certain he wanted more time to react to demon attacks.
Look over there!
Dreu looked towards where Rohese was referring to. A ring of light expanded outwards atop the gatehouse, vaporizing all the demons upon contact. The light dissipated before it could reach the walls and, at the center of it, was a person in heavily clad armor. Due to the distance, the person looked tiny to Dreu and he couldn’t make out any features. The only thing he could differentiate was the holy knight armor that shone brightly from where he stood.
He managed to hold the gatehouse against the demons.
Dreu’s excitement ceased when he noticed another horde of demons closing in on the holy knight. He waited for the man to use the spell again but the only scene was the man slaughtered by the demons. The holy knight didn’t even appear to resist this time. With the loss of the gatehouse, Dreu watched the gate slowly open for the armies of demons still waiting outside. With the gate fallen under demon control, it wouldn't take long for their position to get overrun.
We should worry about our own wellbeing.
Zhao’s comment made Dreu turn towards the battlement where a large pincer appeared. The pincer was easily twice the size of a human. As the rest of the creature came into view, the young man found himself staring at the largest scorpion in his life. Taking account of its tail, the scorpion was easily the height of three humans. Its six eyes scanned the walls while it readied its pincers. Even the stinger looked poised to strike something. Seconds later, dozens of other scorpions appeared at various sections of the wall. Their presence caused chaos where the humans fought the demons and froze the human defenders when the scorpions were the only foes in sight.
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“Those are Demonic Scorpions,” remarked Bayard. “We should avoid angering them by-”
A human spellcaster beside Dreu fired a spell at one of the scorpions but the spell didn’t leave a mark when the smoke cleared. The scorpion turned its attention to the aggressor and struck the spellcaster with its left pincer at lightning speed. Once the poor spellcaster was stuck in the pincer, the scorpion closed it slowly until the man was cut in two. Then, it simply discarded the man aside. The death of the spellcaster brought out a dragged out silence as the humans watched the man breathe his last breath.
“What do we do now?” Dreu whispered.
Despite never seeing the scorpions before, the warning from Bayard and his gut both told him to avoid them if possible. The scorpion’s pincer strike, far too quick for him to discern, was enough evidence. When a bunch of spellcasters coordinated an attack after they recovered from their shock, Dreu shook his head and watched the carnage unfold. The scorpion, likely angered by the attacks, charged far faster than a creature of its size should be capable of. Its large mass bowled over the soldiers while its pincers made short work of the spellcasters who were too slow to escape. Dreu knew a one-sided battle when he saw one and he almost pitied the humans on the receiving end of the scorpion. Many humans screamed in either pain or fear but they were quickly silenced by the creature as it had no interest in taking prisoners. Even with all the attempts by the humans, none of them could get past the scorpion's exoskeleton.
I’m surprised it’s ignoring us.
Dreu made the remark as he forced his legs, frozen stiff by the presence of these massive creatures, to move. He couldn’t take his eyes away should the creature turn its attention to him. Yet, the creature was only focused on those attacking it or those who stood in its way. The young man stuck close to his summons as they stayed well out of the way of the scorpion. The other humans attacked in desperation one after another, not realizing their actions were bringing about their deaths. Before long, it was only Dreu, his summons and humans too wounded to resist on the walls. The single scorpion did what numerous demons couldn't achieve in a much shorter time frame.
I don’t think that thing is even warmed up.
Those humans posed no threat to it. Demonic scorpions are terrifying foes unless you are prepared for it. We are sadly terribly underleveled and under equipped to fight it.
Bayard’s words confirmed Dreu’s worst fears. The scorpion before him was perfectly capable of defeating all of them with ease. If they stayed near it when the scorpion ran out of foes, it would turn its attention on them. He searched for a way out when his eyes focused on the stairs that would take them down to the courtyard.