A New Dawn 96 So it begins

"Right now, is it better to prolonged as much as possible the beginning of the battle or should we start right away? Can those two liches truly have such a large army without any issues on their side is what I mainly want to ask. If that's not the case, let's just destroy those two skeletons."

The two people questioned took their time before answering. They already had their idea, and with a closer look at the skeletons, their worries were not irrationals. The undead didn't seem like they were either incomplete or clumsy. Right now, they were already in the range of most scorpions, and near range of some of the best archers among the adventurers.

"Captain, there doesn't seem to be any issue on their side, meaning that those two liches can probably sustain their forces without any problem. That also means that the more undead we will kill, the higher the chances will be that one of the two enemies will personally start casting spells. As for assassinating them, we don't have anyone qualified for this mission. Unless you know someone, Guild Mater?"

The latter simply shook his head. "Waiting will be useless. I already had a very hard time convincing those men and women to fight with us, I won't be able to promote what seems to be a suicide mission. Anyway, I support the idea of battling as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more apparent will be the difference between a living being and an undead. The battle won't be finished in just a day, I am afraid."

The main difference the Guild Master was talking about was the fact that the needs of the undead were basically inexistent. They only required a source of mana, either internal in the form of a core or external. They were never tired; they were never hungry nor thirsty. They could walk for an entire month and still be in their most optimal condition.

On the other hand, races like the humans were particularly frail in term of survival. Even if they were provided basic necessities, they could still crumble under the pressure of their mind and soul, succumb because of a disease and such. Even goblins were slightly more durable, albeit far less intelligent and strong. Turning around, Seron signaled to the two archers near him to unleash their arrows.

The projectiles formed two beautiful arcs and pierced respectively the skull and the rib cage. The sheer strength knocked the skeletons down, provoking some shouts among the guards. The undead that was beheaded merely tried to raise its hand, but soon froze and crumbled on the ground. On the other hand, after only losing a few bones, the other slowly tried to get back up. After receiving another arrow that severed his spin, his fate was the same as his companion.

Even after this, there was a small period of silence when the cheers of the humans faded and the undead were still not reacting. At such a short distance, the moment thousands of skeletons will begin their walk will be easily heard. But there was nothing, only making Seron frown. The longer the battle was delayed the worst it would be for them. Looking toward the North, he saw the sun getting redder and redder, nearing the end of its course.

Calculating for a few seconds, he guessed that only one hour was left until the sun was gone. "I want a report about the torches and the oil!" The scouts quickly dashed and began to compile the state of the ramparts, from North to South. Even after they ran for dozens of minutes, the undead army still hadn't made a move. The good news was that everything was ready for the night, the braziers and pole for the torches were already ready, only needing a flame to light them.

"Good, good. Tell them that the moment the undead begin to move, light up the torches. Better be wasteful than sorry." With the darkening sky above them, the faces of many adventurers couldn't help but be worried. It will be nearly an hour in a few minutes that the white sea had first appeared in front of them. But besides two kills, they had done nothing but worry while idling. And without the clear light of the sun naturally easing their minds, darker ideas were already growing in their brains.

Karamord Morakan

Karabos Guanakor

Two otherworldly voices resonated the moment the last sunray disappeared in the horizon. Even if the sun was gone, there was still enough light to distinguish the army in front of them. And largely enough to see that a certain point inside that sea of white was getting incredibly more black, like a hole devouring everything. Unfortunately, as much as everyone wanted to know what were the contents of those four words, none knew.

Click Klek Klock Cluck Clek

With the interference of that black magic, only the sound was giving them an opportunity to peek inside the shenanigans of those liches. But what they heard only stumbled them even more, because it sounded like a waterfall made of bones. Imagining the water to be replaced by thousands of bones, all crashing into one other. What kind of sorceries could provoke it? By the time Seron thought of this, he deeply regretted to have ever think about that.

Standing in the darkening plain, a colossal giant made its appearance. Even from such a distance, it was easily visible from the sea of skeletons surrounding it. Unfortunately, it was not the end, for more and more were forming in its surrounding. The previously tall walls that could force the undead to use their own bodies as ladder were no longer as solid as they seemed.

Stomp Stomp Stomp

The numerous bony giants began to advance toward Archet, followed closely by the rest of the undead. The whereabouts of the liches were unknown, and Seron could only shudder because of this. "If they create a few of those in the West, the walls will fall before we even get there. But I can't allow anyone to leave this place."

The captain of the guards could only hope that they weren't any problem. Only a small fraction of people were left in the western part of the city, and anything beyond one thousand skeletons could defeat them, even with the support of the wall. Looking in front of him, he had a far bigger problem to first solve.

"BALISTAS! FIRE ONLY AT MY COMMAND!" Arrows and crossbow bolts would be useless at taking down such large foes. And they couldn't waste any of those, seeing how easy it was for their enemy to create new threats. Hearing the sound of the footsteps getting louder and louder, as much as the clatters of the naked bones, they could only wait for them to get closer and closer. Looking at the bomb near the Guild Master, he could only hope that they would find their targets quickly enough.

"Hold! Hold! READY …" The sound of his voice was spreading amongst the officers, all repeating the same order. "READY! READY! READY!" Because it was not a living being, targeting either the head or the heart would be completely useless. "AIM AT THE WAIST!" Only if they could cut the massive body in half would they have a chance at stopping them. By now, they could all see that each giant was at most ten meters tall, and its shoulders would be slightly above the ramparts.

"FIRE!!!" Dozens and dozens of spear-like projectiles suddenly showered the undead, piercing deep holes inside the massive fame of those gigantic skeletons. They didn't only do that but also destroyed many undead that were behind the original target. Many giants were cut in half, the upper part of their body twirling slowly and disintegrating while falling. Others just fell back on the ground, under the massive strength that the projectiles gathered.

But under the light of the torches, the faces that were getting excited at that sight quickly turned into horror. From the legs that were intact and still standing, numerous skeletons were climbing again, replenishing the missing part by their own bodies. Even the few giants that weren't destroyed received the same treatment, and all the efforts of the guards ended up doing nothing.

"RELOAD! RELOAD!"

"Give me that quick!"

"What is this? How can we fight this!"

"Shut up and bring me my ammunition."

The giants taking so much focus, no one noticed that nearly all the undead that were destroyed previously were not resurrected. If they had, there wouldn't have been so many guards murmuring prayers for all the gods they knew. While the numerous siege weapons were reloading, the position of the undead army was close enough for the archers to begin to fire too.

"ARCHERS!"

"AIM!"

"FIRE!"

The first volley of arrows destroyed the progress made by the skeletons at repairing the giants. Because a bow was quite easy to reload and that the enemy was not even trying to defend itself, Seron felt that he could let loose the bowman under his orders.

"ARCHER! FIRE AT WILL!"

The order was immediately put into action, and while the damage was less visible, it still stalled the advancement of many giants. Many arrows were not even aiming at them, but in front of such a large force, it always hit at least a skeleton. As for whether it only injured it or destroy it, it was most of the time up to luck.

"CROSSBOWS! AIM AT THE LEGS!"

Seron ordered to destroy the very foundation of the gigantic skeletons. Even if that sequence only lasted a minute, it was enough to prevent anything besides a few undead to reach the ramparts. Fortunately, the stiff body of the skeletons was not the best at climbing a surface like a stone wall, and several of them destroyed themselves while climbing and falling into others.

"Ready!"

"Ready!"

"Ready!"

Hearing that the balistas were armed again, Seron patiently waited for a bigger target. However, he could still that some giants were already completely formed, and couldn't let any of them get closer.

"The three scorpions and balistas near the reformed giants, fire. The rest, stand still." Because the battlefield was getting louder and louder, it was more and more difficult to organize everything. At the same time, the scouts were having a very hard time running in a more and more chaotic rampart. Nonetheless, they still achieved their purposes, and the few remaining intact giants were taken down.

But even after all those things, none one could see accurately where the army of undead ended. The night was getting more and darker, and the sight of many was restricted to a dozen of meters beyond the ramparts. It will not take a long time before only the area around the torches and braziers will be visible.

Looking above him for a brief second, he only hoped that the clouds will not obstruct any of the two moons. Remembering that only one should be clearly visible in this night, he felt that even the gods were not optimistic about them. He knew that they had nothing to do with the moons and couldn't control whether they were full or not. But it was such a stroke of bad luck to fight against undead without any light.

"Captain, the number of ammunitions is drastically getting smaller and smaller. No undead has yet to reach the top of the ramparts, but many arrows are wasted on those that are climbing."

Adventurers and guards alike were firing without any care of all the arrows they had. In a way, that was logical, since they couldn't miss their target in such a situation. The only issue was that because they were not aiming properly, skeletons with a few holes in their bodies were legion. However, the moment they stopped such a deluge of arrows, they will have to fight the undead personally. Feeling mixed about it, Seron could only think of what was the best for him.

"Guild Master, the liches will not visible any time soon. The bombs are too exposed here, retreat with them and guard the device of the White Hand. Only you and those around you right now are allowed nearby. No accident will happen; we cannot allow them. From now on, only the adventurers with a higher grade than K and the marksmen of the garrison can use the arrows. As for the siege weapons, they will only target the giants until they run out of ammunition. From now on, the real fight will start."

Clutching his fist on the sturdy battlement, he could only sigh thinking about all the lives that will be lost in the next hours. "So it begins."

Chapter end