Runes - A Tale Of The Abyss 57 Chapter 51 - The Battle to Survive - Part 1

The figures of the adventurers clad in leather and steel armor, swords of all shapes and sizes dashing from the gates of the enormous wall was encouraging for the rangers on top of the wall.

Reiner was one of the adventurers down in the frontlines, and his strong voice could be heard all around the battlefield.

"ALFRUM! ADVANCE! DON'T BACK DOWN!"

The adventurers fiercely clashed with the undead blaze hounds, surprisingly severing the limbs of some, pushing them back.

"Rangers! Get ready!"

Leebus shouted as he raised his hand. Griff reached to the now dead ranger's quiver which had about 20 arrows in it.

He nocked an arrow. The trees kept tumbling down as something kept advancing towards them. The ground was shaking stronger now.

"The blaze hounds are only the fastest of them! That's why they made it first! Don't let your guards down!"

As Alatar finished his sentence, out of the forest thousands of monsters started to appear. Monsters of all sizes and species. Hordes of goblins, bands of orcs, several tall and strong trolls, wild kobolds wielding their spears.

Griff's eyes widened at the sight.

'There's too many of them. How the hell is a bow and arrow supposed to hold them back now!'

Leebus turned to Alatar who gave a nod of confirmation. He could see that all of these monsters too were indeed dead. Undead monsters, built into an artificial horde. The power was frightening.

The troll king was still no where to be seen.

"Let's just hope the troll king is slow enough for us to survive our current enemies... Men! Release your arrows!"

Hundreds of arrows were sent flying over the clash between the undead blaze hounds and the adventurers, raining down the new arrivals. Arrows that were soaked in oil and lit aflame were proving to be effective, yet the monsters kept advancing slowly but surely.

"Master, I'm going down!"

Griff tossed his bow without a second though, and tossed his quiver at the man besides him, and started running down the stairs of the makeshift wall. Leebus didn't have time to stop him or to actually force him to do something. It was his decision, he had a responsibility to all of the adventurers right now.

[You sure you can handle this?]

'You were the one who put this in my head.'

"You really are stupid!"

A voice said behind him. He turned to see Sylvie running down the stairs with him.

"Don't go off alone there. You haven't seen how chaotic a battle can get."

[Looks like you've made a reliable friend with that knucklehead of a brain of yours.]

'Hey! I still made one though!'

They made it to the ground, and looked at the gates of the wall. The sound of clashing steel and claws could be heard.

"This was your idea. Don't chicken out now."

Sylvie said as she slapped the back of his head gently, and started to walk.

Griff gripped his fist, and his signature black flames manifested around it, alongside his trusty sword.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Let's go!"

The outside was even more chaotic when looking from ground level. The other undead monsters were closing in, but the adventurers hadn't finished off the blaze hounds yet.

Sylvie kneeled on all fours, and slightly leaned forward. A second later she dashed forward, the ground beneath her cracked slightly from the shockwave. She dashed past several adventurers, slamming right onto an undead blaze hound.

[The Berserker skill of demi-humans is why they aren't liked here. I guess you can see why...]

'Yeah, she's powerful...'

Griff ran towards her, his blade in hand. He wasn't an expert swordsman per se but when the enemy were undead monsters who had lost any small bit of intelligence they had, he could handle himself.

He was slicing through the blaze hounds with ease as with each slash, his flames would engulf one of the undead. The adventurers around him were heartened by this, and those who could use fire magic started to copy him.

The main force of the artificial horde was about to make first contact now.

"Regroup!!!"

Reiner's war cry could be heard as the adventurers that were spread out started to retreat to the walls once more.

Griff slashed off the last blaze hound near him, and turned to look for Sylvie. She too had finished off her last blaze hound. Before he could open his mouth she dashed towards him on all fours again like a beast.

"COME ON!"

[Think faster you fool. This is a battle.]

He nodded and ran back towards the walls. The adventurers were taking a semi-circle position in front of the gates with the rangers amassing their arrows towards the main force.

"They're not as tough as we expected..."

Griff said to no one in particular as he joined in the formation with his sword in hand.

"Those were only blaze hounds. Sure they're fast, but apparently they can't work as a pack when they're dead. These guys however... they're humanoid monsters. This is where the real danger begins."

Sylvie said as she readied herself.

The remaining blaze hounds ran back towards their comrades, and stood in front of them. The undead horde suddenly came to a stop as it seemed to be an organized army for a second.

Everyone was silently waiting to see who would make the first move. The rangers were nervous if it was right to fire or not.

The rumbling was immense now. The trees had stopped falling. The troll king was here... or what was left of him.

As everyone had been expecting, the forest was split open as a 7 meter tall, green skinned and heavily muscular orc appeared. It was dragging what seemed to be a club which was about its size. It's face was as hideous as one would expect of a monster. White smoke was coming out of its nose as it looked towards the wall.

Griff's eyes were wide open as he was looking at it.

'You're telling me someone managed to kill that thing AND all of these monsters, turned them to undead and sent them on a rampage?!'

[Necromancers are twisted individuals.]

Even sylvie looked hesitant at the towering thing.

"That's no damn orc!"

Someone shouted in the crowd.

"It's the Troll King of this region. It's bound to be... uh big."

Someone else stated.

Suddenly the troll raised its gigantic club to the air and released a roar that caused everyone to cover their ears in pain. People were screaming in agony, some even had bleeding ears.

When the roaring stopped the undead screeched as they started to run at abnormal speeds towards them.

"THE HELL WAS-"

A man screamed, but was suddenly jumped on by several undead goblins that started to club him to death.

Scenes like this were happening all around the formation as the confusion caused by the Troll King's scream gave the time the undead needed to advance.

A goblin jumped up on Sylvie who was very painfully holding her hears which were bleeding, but Griff grabbed it by its face as he was also covering his right ear, and slammed it onto the ground. His mana was chaotic right now. That scream was some kind of spell.

The undead troll king could be seen slowly walking towards the wall with its club raised high. The arrows being rained down the rangers were having no effect on it as all of them bounced off like needles...

"This is madness..."

[This is war.]

Griff was dragging Sylvie back as he tried to use his free hand to blast away small goblins or any of the agile undead that leaped towards them.

Reiner was no where to be seen during this chaos, but Griff could make up a voice that had a resemblance to him.

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!"

Griff quickly picked up Sylvie, and ignoring everything around him he started to run towards the gates. His face was drenched in sweat and he was breathing erratically and in fear. This was madness. All around him people who had volunteered to fight for the city were dying.

The undead ripping them apart, biting their heads off, slashing or piercing them. Their sheer numbers and their new found strength was horrifying for Griff. For the second time in his short life he felt it again.

The fear of death.

Chapter end