บท 67: The Horde Arrives

The sun was beginning to set in the St. Ancestral Mountain Range as those on the outer walls began to hear the frightening roars of the approaching horde. The sky was filled with rich tones of red and orange, and if not for the devastation which would soon follow, many families would be enjoying the beautiful sunset before heading into the warmth of their homes for dinner.

Ye Zong's commanding voice boomed out with clarity and resolve across the entire wall. He was utilising a common amplification technique used in the army that was activated and powered by his considerable soul force.

"The demon beast horde is here! Today, is the day we take a stand for the survival of humanity. We sacrifice so that the defenceless families within can live on. For Glory City!!!"

There was a roar of acknowledgement from every soldier within the vicinity as each of them lifted their right arm and thrust their weapon into the air, feeling their blood boil with the anticipation of the oncoming battle.

"For Glory City!!!"

A recruit on the wall stumbled and he caught himself from falling by planting his spear into the ground.

"Are you afraid?" an old soldier with grey hair and scars covering his face asked kindly.

The new recruit bit his lip and nodded tentatively.

"Don't worry!" The experienced soldier threw back his head and laughed out loud. "Everything will be all right once the battle starts. A white blade enters, and a red blade comes out. At that time, there'll be no time to think about being afraid."

In the St. Ancestral Mountain Range, there were countless numbers of ferocious demon beasts, of which the majority of them were Snow Wind attribute beasts. This meant that many of the special abilities that they would be facing would be ice-based attacks. Glory City would also have to face a variety of different types of beasts, some from the air and some from the ground, but all deadly, especially in such overwhelming numbers.

The first thing the city defenders could see was a large flock of Snow Wind Sparrows scouting ahead for the horde. There was an unusual screeching sound as these beasts pointed the way for those travelling on foot.

Soon after, those standing along the wall could feel the ground beneath their feet vibrating and rumbling as the horde approached within three miles away. Ning'Er could see numerous varieties of beasts which formed the terrifying mob that approached them, mainly consisting of Snow Wind Behemoth Lizards, Snow Wind Great Apes, Snow Wind Giant Beasts and Snow Wind Banshees.

It was fortunate that a lot of her preparations targeted Snow Wind attribute beasts based on her previous experience with Nie Li. However, the sheer numbers heading their way were making her feel nervous. It would be a battle of attrition, where her goal would be to wear them down and weaken them before the Fighters and Demon Spiritualists of Glory City took over for melee combat. However, the demon beasts would also try to overwhelm them through sheer numbers and ferocity.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

As the horde approached the final one mile mark, the defenders could see swirling blizzard power of the Snow Wind abilities being stirred up with battle intent. The demon beasts broke into a burst of full speed as they saw the seemingly weak human walls so near ahead of them, but something strange began to happen as they sprinted forward.

Many demon beasts were stumbling into the pits that had been dug by the soldiers, and even when the front layer began to sense the potential danger, the unstoppable momentum of the horde behind them pushed them forward until more and more tripped on the holes. As the unusual oily potion within the pits splashed onto the fur of the beasts, the liquid would immediately explode, forming a sea of flames in an instant.

The demon beasts were too packed together to do anything and the explosion of intense fire quickly burst over the entire front line of the horde. The air was quickly filled with the sound of painful roars and screeching, as thousands upon thousands of beasts were engulfed in the voracious flames within a very short time.

The soldiers on the wall cheered as the air began to be filled with burning flesh. What Snow Wind demon beasts were most afraid of was its natural nemesis, fire. However, they were also rather resistant to ordinary flames.

Under instruction from Ning'Er, the Alchemist Association had added various catalysing ingredients into the potion of red oil, including crushed mica rocks and the sap from the Thistle Seed plant. Combined in the proper way, the moment this concoction touched skin or fur, there would be a severe reaction, igniting into a blazing fire that burned many times hotter than any naturally formed fire.

The devastating fire caused splinters of demon beasts to head off in different directions, looking for a safer route, and they would eventually reach the East and West border access points. However, the same pits filled with dangerous thick, fluid had been prepared there as well. Nevertheless, the bulk of the wave of demon beasts remained, and pushed forward, choosing to sacrifice many of their weaker comrades in the front in order to exhaust the limited amount of oil prepared.

While this seemed like a cruel way of sacrificing their own, it was actually ruthlessly effective because once the flames on the Southern border began to fade, the demon beast horde had only lost around two hundred thousand Bronze and Silver Ranked beasts, which barely scratched the surface of their colossal army.

During this time, the flock of Snow Wind Sparrows had reached the walls. Although these demon beasts did not have high attack power, they could be a nuisance swooping down in clumps and trying to attack the eyes of the soldiers manning the ranged weapons. Recognising this, those with aerial abilities began to soar and unleash abilities that targeted large areas instead of individual opponents.

Ning'Er soared up using her Heavenly Cicada Wings and began unleashing numerous wind blades into thick groups of demon beasts, purposely shaping her explosive soul power to cover a larger area, and reducing the penetrative power because of the relatively weaker bodies of these types of demon beasts. Her Wind Cutter sword rang out with sharp resonant cries each time she released a deadly edge of compressed air, slashing down hundreds of the aerial beasts with each cutting motion.

Next to her, Duan Jian released his innate ability, the Raging Flames of the Black Dragon, which were powerful and mysterious black flames that would keep burning and eating away at an enemy until there was nothing left. This unquenchable fire was undoubtedly lethal to the flying beasts because it was able to spread to any creature within a close vicinity, and would burn until there was no flesh remaining for fuel.

Similarly, Ye Zong had transformed into his Black Scaled Earth Dragon and was shooting out streams of black fire that was of a completely different nature than Duan Jian. The City Lord's demon spirit could shoot out flames of a corrosive nature that almost acted like acid on top of the fire's intense heat.

Along with the other forces of the army with area of effect abilities, the defenders managed to eliminate a large portion of the flock of Snow Wind Sparrows within a short time frame, and the remainder of the flying beasts quickly drew back, deterred by the aggressive response of those on the walls. As if by instinct, they began dispersing in different directions, as though coming to a mutual consensus that they would try their luck at disrupting a different border of the city.

For the other beasts approaching on the ground, they had lost considerable momentum due to the pits filled with combustible liquid but now that they saw the explosions slowing down and the fires fading away, there was a renewed sense of crazy fervour as they began to sprint towards the walls at a breakneck pace again.

As the vanguard approached within a thousand yards of the walls, Ye Zong signaled to the fighters who were holding the bamboo spears filled with the green powder prepared by the Alchemist Association. Prior to this, no one had expected the entry-level fighters to play a big role in the city's defence except maybe as cannon fodder, but now thousands of them were standing with a stack of spears behind them.

At Ye Zong's signal, they began throwing the spears which arced towards densely packed groups of Snow Wind demon beasts. As they smashed against the bodies of the demon beasts, most of the spears were unable to penetrate the thick and armoured skin but when the bamboo pieces cracked and exploded, the green powder sprayed out in all directions.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

The air was suddenly filled with a different type of roar because once the Snow Wind demon beasts inhaled the powder, their eyes would turn red and they would go completely berserk. They suddenly turned on their comrades, and started to bite and claw at anyone around them with insane rage, unable to differentiate friend from foe any longer.

Once again, the momentum of the advancing horde was broken as pockets of demon beasts began turning on any living creature they could see around them, until those who had not been affected by the powder had to target their crazed comrades in order to halt the bloodshed of their own forces.

Every spear thrown could result in ten to twenty demon beasts being hurt, incapacitated or outright killed. The ordinary Fighters roared with ecstatic intensity as they realised the damage they could inflict against these beasts that were far more powerful than them, and the morale of the army began to soar in spite of the overwhelming numbers they were facing.

Ye Zong and Ye Xiu themselves were left in shock after following Ning'Er's instructions. They had thought that, at best, it was something that would distract and bleed the horde before the most powerful experts of the city would be called into action as the beasts climbed over the different layers of defensive walls built. However, with the thousands of spears being thrown into the midst of the rampaging enemy, close to another hundred thousand beasts had been eliminated.

By this time, the first layer of beasts finally reached the wall. As they climbed up using any cracks and footholds they could find, the Fighters rained down arrows and heavy rocks to disrupt the climbing but inevitably, some of the stronger climbers like the Behemoth Lizards and Great Apes reached the top. The demon spiritualists then took over to repel them in melee combat.

At the same time, Ye Zong signalled for all those manning the ranged weaponry to begin firing. He had noticed that mixed into the mob of frenzied beasts, there were now Gold Ranked creatures, and it was time to unleash their catapults, trebuchets and ballistae to target the stronger beasts who were joining the horde between the eight hundred to two thousand feet range. For those closer, the Fighters continued to rain down arrows from their bows.

The ranged weaponry put the humans at an advantage against the direct and uncreative approach of the demon beasts. However, slowly but surely, more and more creatures were reaching the wall like constant, unstoppable waves on a beach, and were overwhelming the warriors there one by one.

As numerous demon beasts began swarming the wall and inducing chaos in the defending soldiers, some of the stronger beasts hidden in the mob suddenly began to make their move and intelligently target some of the sophisticated weaponry created by the Du Family.

This was the moment Ning'Er had been watching out for and concerned about. As two catapults and one ballistae were destroyed in quick succession, she pointed out five key sections of the wall and screamed, "Legend Ranked beasts! We need to get there now!"