บท 17: The rat's horde (3)
The onslaught was relentless; many brain crystal powers got activated, until finally, the Yevyagit fell. It lifelessly fell to the ground, causing a tremor that traveled for hundreds of meters, but also shock and relief rippling through the surviving soldiers.
But victory had come at a great cost. The outpost's gate had been breached. It wasn't something unmanageable, but with the soldiers and the defenses having to focus on the monstrous thaid before it could create another breach, many Densophs rushed inside the base.
Besides, that also made the soldiers unable to focus on their surroundings, and many of the more powerful thaids accompanying the Densophs took their chance to kill them.
The area was littered with the bodies of those who fought to protect their city. It wasn't an unusual event, but it was surely bigger than usual.
Raveena stood amidst the chaos, her eyes sweeping over the scene. She could smell the acrid smoke from the spreading fires and hear the low moans of the wounded. She didn't fight the Yevyagit but could see Roma's team battling it on the northern side of the gate.
She was currently taking care of a small group of thaids who came too close to the southern side. These had been a real hell to deal with, but not as the Yevyagit.
Raveena then retreated to the safety of her team ranks. "It's too much for us," said one of them. She, too, lost a team member due to the sheer number of thaids. The woman then squashed a Densoph under with her feet.
A moment of distraction was all it took for the man to be killed.
"Fucking monsters… I hope he didn't realize what killed him. He would be too embarrassed."
"Things like this can happen," Raveena said. "This is exactly why Densophs' hordes are not taken lightly. There is a limit to how many blows we can parry and how many attacks we can evade. Remember that a battleground is nothing more than a place filled with chaos and random events. At least from the soldiers' perspective."
The others nodded while killing thaids left and right.
"No, despite how much you want to mourn, we still have a job to do, private. Private matter will have to wait," Raveena said, loud enough for the others to hear. She couldn't show hesitation. They prevented the monster from entering the city, but the Densoph were still there.
"Did we have words about the thaids who entered?" a soldier asked.
"Most are thaids, but some slightly bigger ones entered."
A thousand strong group of Densoph ran toward their position.
"Incoming!"
"What do we do, sir? We are only four!"
"These are just fucking Densophs! If we play it well, we might come out of this unscathed. Don't let them overwhelm you, and you will be safe! Cover each other, is that clear?!"
"YES, SIR!"
Raveena charged. She had to give the example, and since she was the strongest team member, she had to take the lead.
She pointed her finger at the incoming group and...
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"
Raveena's power was not as fancy as that of Roma, but it was equally powerful. She could basically shoot energy blasts from her body, which she often compressed at her fingertips, as she had a gun.
The energy pierced into the center mass of the incoming monsters, making a good chunk of them explode in bits of innards and brain matter.
The blast sent thaids flying, causing them to collide with others and topple over. Moments later, another explosion rocked the battlefield—this one unleashed by the brain crystal power of one of Raveena's squad members.
The explosion illuminated the area momentarily; the light disappeared after a quick second when the blast dissipated. It left behind scorched grasses on its path.
A squad member instead rushed toward the thaids with a sword in hand. The weapon was coated in an electric field that caused a deadly current to travel along its blade.
The blade was relatively valuable, since he bought it from Etrium, and was sharp enough to even cut through some of the toughest Thaids' bones out there. However, if that didn't finish the monster, the electrical current fried them from the inside.
That didn't mean he was infallible. Thaids might still resist the current; the blade might not be able to cut the skin. Densophs were going to die, though.
He slashed his way through several monsters until he reached Raveena's position. "A group of Leylarhad is coming, sir!"
"Fuck!" They slashed more and more, the number of rats decreasing but not the number of thaids. Densophs weren't the only monsters on that battlefield, and they had to consider that.
The wolf-like monsters quickly reached the group. As it happened on the rest of the battlefield, they didn't target the other Thaids.
"You three, you keep the Densophs occupied while I try to kill those fuckers."
The soldiers nodded. Raveena pointed her fingers at the monsters, and then her power flared, sending shockwaves throughout the air. The blasts struck three nearby thaids simultaneously, killing each instantly.
One, two, five, ten, twenty. Another one of the monsters fell, but what Raveena did wasn't enough. While some ran away in fear, others got to them.
Raveena and her team were battered and exhausted, but they couldn't stop.
"Form a defensive circle!"
The four moved. The melee fighters had to keep the Densophs, the Leylarhads, and whatever other thaid lunged at them at bay, while Raveena did the best she could to kill the most dangerous monsters.
The problem was that the horde was too damn big. For each one that fell, it seemed two more took their place.
Yet they stood their ground. However, as the battle progressed, the group got more tired, and they got pushed back.
"We need to leave." She looked above.
The suppressing fire of the outpost was spread too far all over the battlefield, reduced due to the high number of monsters.
"If we stay here any longer, we will just die."
The problem was that thaids were inside. They would get to an easier-to-defend position. They might end up getting help from the other soldiers, but they would still have to fight.
Inside the building, the thaids had already gone past the courtyard and were rushing inside the building. There were soldiers there, but most weren't, and despite having brain crystal powers, they weren't that strong.
Military service had become mandatory, but not too long ago. Not everyone had received combat training. Besides, not everyone pursued power. Many people still preferred intellectual pursuits—studying, creating, and discovering—rather than fighting. These were the types of people now trapped inside the eastern gate's courtyard base. Scientists, analysts, researchers, tacticians. No soldiers.
"Let's retreat!" The woman said. She requested suppressing fire over her position to allow her team to retreat. Now that the Yevyagit had been killed and most of the horde had been destroyed, albeit powerful monsters remained, the fight could be left to the ranged fighters.
It didn't take much for the group to cross the gate. The situation wasn't the best there. Human bodies were there, but most of them were from Densophs.
However, the soldiers hadn't cleared the breach yet. There were too many monsters inside to allow them to reach it. Many were still rushing inside the base.
"We need to clear the building," Raveena said.
"YES, SIR!"
They made their way through the sea of bodies and actually helped clear the courtyard. Roma was there.
…
…
…
Most of the courtyard had been freed, and the breach got closed. But Raveena's job wasn't done yet.
"Let's go."
Raveena and her team rushed inside. Densophs were still there.
They kept killing thaids without pause. The building became drenched in Thaid's blood. But a lot was already there. The monsters that entered were too much for the non-combatant personnel to deal with them.
After clearing the first floor, she and her team went to the stairs leading to the second floor. A group of soldiers barricaded it to prevent the remaining thaids from getting out.
Then Roma reached the woman. The two women noticed the number of people on both their teams decreased. A silent moment ensued.
"How is the situation?"
"Ugly inside. What about outside?" Raveena asked.
"We cleared it. The gate had been secured. The gate's defenses are taking care of the remaining Densophs, while the ranged fighters are killing those too strong for the turrets to kill."
"Good…"
"What now?" Roma asked.
Raveena sighed. "We need to clear the upper floors."
"What about Tiwana?" Roma asked.
"He left to help outside."
"That idiot…"
"Well, he is still here. Actually, out there, he will be able to give better orders."
Roma sighed.
"Let's go…" They opened the barricade and went up.
The corridor upstairs was filled with dead bodies.
The sight was horrific. Some were torn apart, while others were missing limbs. The teams struggled not to vomit.
Roma and Raveena exchanged a look. "Becker was right in instituting mandatory military service."
"Yeah… If these old geezers knew how to fight, they wouldn't have been killed so badly by these critters…"
The smell of blood and flesh was so strong it made them gag at times.
Thousands of feet moved.
"There are a lot of them, Raveena... Yeah, but we should be able to take care of them with our remaining soldiers."
Roma, Raveena, and their teams fought their way up, killing every creature they encountered. As skilled fighters, they could handle the threat. However, the regular people in the building weren't strong enough to survive so many monsters.
As the team climbed higher, they could hear the sounds of ongoing battles above.
Methodically, they cleared each floor.
Once there, they found a stalemate. Few soldiers were stopping the monsters from reaching a group of technicians huddled behind a room, and the remaining thaids were trying to get past them.
The soldiers saw the newcomers, and their eyes lit up. Raveena charged her power, and Roma summoned her flaming whip.
…
…
…
In another room, a lone Thaid clung to life. Desperate to escape its hellish surroundings, it leaped repeatedly, trying to reach an air vent above, from which it felt the wind coming. Finally, the Densoph succeeded, clambering into the duct and beginning its crawl towards freedom.
Guided by the scent of fresh grass, the creature navigated the vents for a grueling half-hour. Upon reaching the exit, it found its path obstructed by metal bars. Undeterred, the Thaid gnawed through the obstacle with its razor-sharp teeth, eventually breaking free.
The monster emerged on the far side of the barrier, where vast fields stretched before it. It was one of the many parks on the eastern side of the city.
The Thaid scampered across the landscape, driven by an insatiable hunger for flesh and blood.
The creature walked and walked, heading north. It wasn't long before the creature stumbled upon wheat fields and later herds of unsuspecting cattle. In mere moments, the verdant pasture was stained crimson as the Thaid sated its ravenous appetite.
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