Many of those fleeing from the coming wave of slaughter were of random races. Minotaur, Centaur and even a tribe of Native Humans calling themselves the Obarde, had shown up. They claiming their people were taken prisoner. They came from the Mountains all the way down to the norther pass, beyond the Mudmen brood puddles.
"What a huge City. How many people live here?" The Zao City Guard kept their mouths shut as refugees flooded through the gates with questions. There were other people to handle such matters and taking their attention away was considered abandonment of their duty.
The Patriarch had ordered not to release information, it wasn't that he wanted to hide things from the people but in times of crisis, people do the most despicable things under pressures they don't understand.
When the Obarde people reached the doorway to the Tower, Qu didn't immediately allow them to enter.
Materializing one of his Avatars just inside the doorway, Qu took a hard look at the group of tribesmen and whispered a bit before his figure flickered out of view.
The Doors slowly closed behind the Obarde and the Tower Guards stepped back a bit.
"You dare try to trick me!" Qu laughed.
Pulling out a large and colorful stone, the tribal leader threw it at the entrance to the tower. The Tower shield seemed to fluctuate slightly.
As the tribesmen ran toward the sealed exit, Wu Hai strengthened the shield barrier to destroy their hopes. It was never dissipating, Qu and the Prince wanted to know their method of attack. Even if they had chosen to kill them all, their method, the thing that gave them the confidence to take action, would go unnoticed. The Sect needed to know how they would choose to respond, in truth, Wu Hai was toying with them.
The entrance had gone through extensive remodeling since Wu Hai had laid claim to the Tower Pagoda.
The ceiling and four story hammer came down to crush the Tribesmen. They saw it coming but there was nothing that could be done. No matter how fast they rushed to the light at the end of the hallway, there was never an escape.
Standing on the far side of the Hallways in the lobby, Wu Hai started to talk. His voice traveled altruistically, it filled the minds of the Obarde with fear. They had trespassed and openly come to pillage during a disaster level event.
"Your first mistake, was thinking we were weak." With a snap of his fingers Wu Hai brought the entrance down. He had been preparing a second statement but the happening was very anticlimactic.
The pitiful screams for survival didn't even have a chance to occur, a moment later, Qu used his ability to lift the Hammer Vault Entrance.
Mangled stickiness clung to both surfaces as the Hammer entrance opened wider, the sight was ghastly.
The corpses were not wearing rings but bracelets on their arms for storage. It was only worth noting because bracelets were a bit more uncommon for storage devices, they were one of the few items to survive the extreme weight, which further proved their value.
Among the items recovered from within the devices, a number of foreign animal skins that Qu didn't recognize were found. Everything was packed off to the storage floors for sorting. Qu was faithfully organizing all the trophies, loot and knowledge collected by his new Master and the Clan. While the Owner of the Pagoda changed and all those who were able to retain it had been good men, not all of them were interested in knowledge.
Qu felt a sense of belonging and was happy to see so much life in his surroundings.
The mashed bodies of the Tribesmen had stained the metal hammer ceiling, it required cleaning.
Retrieving what was useful from the mangled corpses, Wu Hai left everything for Qu to sort through.
Qu stopped Wu Hai before he could walk off. "Master Wu. There are a bunch of organs and poisons in the storage, I didn't expect to deal with black magic. We don't have defense against that type of attack. Also let us try to kill them outside from now on instead, yeah?.. the blood stains will leave a rust smell. This trick won't work on strong opponents, you should avoid letting such trash approach the Tower in the future. While you own the Pagoda, a strong enough opponent could easily wipe you all out and seize me. They wouldn't get my cooperation but they could easily strip me bare and break me down for parts. Your confidence could bring unseen harm in the future, learn well Young Master. The Threats loom in all directions."
Wu Hai nearly threw up, he had overlooked this poison before passing it off to Qu and If he had handled the Armbands contents himself, he could have died right then and there.
Among the contents, Qu found that a fantastic amount of rare herbs had been soaked inside the organs while they turned to rot. It was surely something to do with alchemy, Wu Hai wasn't particularly greedy with his studies, alchemy was a bit of a mystery to him still.
It didn't take but a minute for Harris to show his face.
He had spent the better part of the last few years studying the books in Master Jiang's collection within the library. While Harris didn't have a pedigree in Alchemy and his skill was quickly earning fame within the Clan. Harris was a gifted researcher, a gloomy recluse with social problems.
"Give the Armbands to me.." Harris reached out for the armbands, as one of the head alchemists, he was quite capable of researching the poisons and disease to a degree of safety that other's could not.
'Still, his manners are something else..' Wu Hai stared at Harris, then nodded.
"Get on it, their vanguard will be here in days. I wouldn't put it past them to send an additional advance kill team. I've already told Darkwing's Stealth Group and the Air Corp to scout, they have orders not to engage." Wu Hai stayed for a bit and gave advanced orders to those that were still present, after spending most of his time within the library, his tactical ability had grown like the City, immensely.
The City's Population had already grown significantly by the end of the second year. What was 148 became over four thousand Clan Members. Shops and businesses were owned by the Clan for the most part. A few traveling Traders rented shops from the City Business Center for a reasonable rate or percentage of goods; Whichever was better for the City.
Over the past four years when someone settled into the City, there was rarely talk about leaving it behind. To the Travelers that set up shops, this City was their newest Home. Pride was at an all time high and then, a week later alarms were ringing in the Sect.
The Army still approached.
Patriarch Ooran had sent out every one of the metal and earth magic users to build covers for the buildings with a thick hide. He didn't expect to save everything but anything was better than watching their hard work be destroyed.
Starting at the beginning of the day, they were done with the outer buildings by the afternoon.
"Prepare the Defense Wall!" … Abi shouted.
"Bring the Civilians into the Tower, close the Shops and have Qu set up whatever external barriers he can. I know we all hoped they would sweep around the Mountain but they seem set on climbing their way to the Sect. If they are coming this way, we can't watch them burn everything! The Zao Clan is going to hold this Mountain!" Patriarch Ooran had roused the morale of everyone that heard his speech, standing at the balcony of the Castle, his voice carried, reaching the soldiers still beyond the city walls..
Fei brought down cloud cover to the City.
Many stopped for a moment and faced the Castle Entrance as it seemed to blend the City Walls from sight, it could fool low level Monsters and the Ignorant but everyone was worried about the more powerful of beasts and Undead that were approaching.
The Pagoda Tower had been loaded up with all the Citizens, then sealed and stored into Wu Hai's Storage Ring. Most of the Citizens that were not participating in battle were taken into its safety, if the Sect fell, they stood a slight chance of survival. There was plenty of space for the entire City's Population and the Refugees inside of the Tower. It was only a minor discomfort and annoyance for Qu to keep an eye on so many.
Now, with the approaching hoard headed up the Mountain, there simply wasn't any choice in the matter for any of them. Sensitive areas had been sealed off entirely and Qu had blocked the upper floors within the Tower. Qu didn't fear robbers inside the Pagoda Tower, he feared the coming stench of death that rolled in with the wind. He prepared himself for the worst in all matters.
Wu Hai thanked Fei for adding additional barriers that pushed the turbid air away from the Soldiers. It was a lot of work before battle, yet, the fatigue had already begun to show on some of those who stood guard.
The Fear of Death was something most individuals could not escape.
Distant howls grew louder. It was only a matter of time before the battle began.
"Commander Khan Ni will lead the Air Corp with Jiao Jiao at the lead. Darkwing will take charge of the Dragon Troop for City defense during the bombing runs and the Cheng Twins will lead the Qilin Forces. All flight capable Elementals should go along for backup." Zao Zhan's Voice resounded over the Sect.
"After the initial air-strike, the Aerial forces will not enter into solo battle! Return and allow the Forces to regroup so that we can strike until they change tactics. Only after we've softened their numbers can we afford to split our Forces." The situation was critical and Prince Zhan's voice had started to strain.
Wu Hai cut in and laid out the remainder of the battle plan, "Once the situation changes, we'll have to adapt. The Enemy will absolutely come this way once we strike but if we watch them destroy the Mountainside we'll have nothing but ourselves to blame when we choke on our own Ashes."
"Air Corp, Grab a Spacial Ring each." Commander Khan Ni shouted..
"When we arrive at the Ramparts, don't drop directly next to someone else. Scatter and don't get too low, stay out of Arrow range. Two runs, that's the most I give this strategy before we attract the flying beasts. After that they will be coming for us, all forces will withdraw back to the City and coordinate with ground defenses."
"DRAGON CORP!" Darkwing readied his Squadron to fight alongside Abi and the rest of the fliers.
Normally Darkwing stayed with the Stealth Corp, he had always been better when operating in the Shadows, even before his transformation. To be counted among the first wave, he was thrilled for the opportunity.
"HOOCH, HOOCH, HOOCH" The Cheng Twins led a chant for the Qilinkin, knocked their Hammers onto the ground and began grunting. The sound of feathers and wings was only drowned out by the Hammers.
"LETS MOVE. I WANT TO SEE WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!" The Young Captain William called out while roaring to the sky and releasing a breath of fire.
William had always loved RPG Games. When he finally had the chance to polish his skills for real, he poured all of his concentration into strengthening himself. His practice battles in the air, had led to the admiration of most of the fliers and his battle techniques which were closer to Earth-based Military exercises, were quickly taken as part of the regular training.
Abi, Jin, Mike and Darkwing were going to lead the bombing runs to protect the squadrons.
Khan Ni and Abi led different Wings of the attack and with their forces in tow, they immediately shot out. Flying into the Sky, all of the Forces that had come were moving in formation.
As they climbed above the clouds they saw the size of the approaching devastation. The overall side of the Army turned from a rush of Troops into a marching calamity that had come across the plains.
The high winds from the Mountain Cloud Spirit kept the smoke thinned, however Fei couldn't help them during the battle and protect the ground forces from the roiling smoke at the same time. She was limited to the City itself and remained behind.
"Keep your eyes open. Follow my Lead." Commander Khan Ni dove down while riding on Jiao Jiao's back. She saw the watershed of enemy troops on approach, many of them were setting fires, burning the Grasslands and the Foot of the Mountain.
The Soldiers of the incoming horde were leaving nothing unturned. If it moved, they slaughtered it. If it was something else.. they destroyed it.
"Ok Jiao Jiao, Now!" Khan Ni ordered and the Spotted Leopard Jiao opened its mouth.
A Golden Light Charged to the front of his jaws. A streaking beam cut into the enemies that were just past the front line. Immediately afterward, the the front line saw a series of explosions surrounding them.
The Plains were a flat, Ancient Sea floor.
When the Beam came down, it instantly began to turn to a desolate place littered with pock marks and random corpses. The burning flesh left a foul smell of bile and ugliness to linger. As the horde continued to march, the smell was tracked across the landscape in bloodstains.
A voice came out over the enemy forces, a command to ready themselves. The first strike had not slowed their advance at all and they were alert.
"ARCHERS!" A slender man with gray hair in a robe bearing the Emblem of an Eclipsing Sun, was standing on top of a Flying Bicosaur. He was leading the front line of the forces to clear the path for the main division of the Army.
"FIRE, FIRE.." Elder Massif had been in charge of campaign to search for the Cassius Compass and weapon for the past year.
After Elder Gong had leveled Herl and the Capital City of Portano, he set troops into the plains. They searched for months but all tracks ended suddenly after a huge sinkhole. When searching the Sinkhole they found a lot of dead Minotaur and it turned out to be a huge waste of their time. He had even been punished severely for his failures.
Once the trail was gone, they had no choice but to track down all routes they could have gone. The Dark Sun Sect were forced to search everywhere and everything. They couldn't leave a single stone unturned nor a single home unburned.
'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM' 'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM' 'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM' 'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM' 'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM'
Over a hundred explosions rang out in an instant, the dust from the plains completely covered any visual of the battlefield.
Elder Massif started chanting. Two seconds later a Shield started forming in a line across the ramparts.
Despicable faces crossed everyone in command.
When the dust finally settled, Elder Massif's face twitched. Nearly a quarter of the front line had been blown to bits and the culprits were flying away.
"Archers, wait until they come back to fire. Regroup behind the Shield Wall." Commanding his remaining front line troops to fall back Elder Massif was furious, they were forced into a stall. Having fallen for one trap, they were not willing to fall into another.
Pulling out a talisman, he slapped it onto the side of his Bicosaur and the Flying, Dual Horned Lizard lost all of its color, fell dead onto the ground and reanimated itself. When the Bicosaur rose from the dead, it grew by five times.
Elder Massif was not going to be the next failure along the campaign. "FLIERS!" He directed his mount into the sky and started to give chase.
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Regrouping for their next Run, Khan Ni saw the air Corp return to formation, they were already assembling for the next final bombing run.
"This time, don't hold back. Use whatever is left in your storage rings but don't engage in Melee and watch out for attacks from the enemy, they'll know were coming this time and will be ready for us." Patting Jiao Jiao gently on the side of his neck, Commander Khan Ni plunged back down toward the incoming Bicosaur and the group of incoming flying enemies.
Jiao Jiao was already charging his beam as he rushed.
Passing the Bicosaur entirely, Khan Ni had the Jiao openly fire its beam into the bulk of the enemy ground forces, the shield was torn apart like tissue paper. When she was pulling up again, she released the remainder of her storage rings contents into the air.
The Chaos Bombs that were released had started to detonate when she was far enough away to escape the blasts. However, when the bombs fell, the thermal reaction, a blast of heat caused many of the beast mounts the army was riding to flee in terror.
Explosions rang out again over and over in every direction..
'BOOM' 'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM' 'BOOM' … "BOOM Boom BOOM 'boom..' … 'BOOM' 'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM' 'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM' 'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM' 'BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM''BOOM' … 'BOOM..' … 'BOOM'
The remaining Bombs fell but the Enemy was prepared and many had raised Shields. Of the 200,000 troops that made up the Army, only about forty thousand had died from the second round of Explosions.
That still left more than a hundred thousand enemies.
With a City Defense force of less than five hundred, four thousand people lived in the city but were not seasoned fighters. The Zao clan a tough time ahead of themselves, they were determined and had staked everything on their survival.
"Retreat, Fall back" Khan Ni heard the Explosions slowing in number and called out for their tactical retreat.
Turning around Khan Ni saw the Bicosaur heading straight for Jiao Jiao's throat. It had dismissed the rest of the opponents and gone directly for the part that would hurt the most in retaliation.
With the Bicosaur bearing its fangs toward the Jiao, Jiao Jiao grew by 10 times and ate him.
Even Khan Ni was surprised at the change, Jiao Jiao had always been a large beast but she had no idea the he was able to gain such a size.
Flapping in a noiseless sky, the Bicosaur was minced between rows of sharp teeth. The crunching noises from the Jiao's mouth spread across the battlefield. As it swallowed the Undead Bicosaur whole, the scene made Khan Ni's skin crawl. She had expected to have to fight at that moment and had even drawn her bow in self-defense. 'Did he eat the rider too?'
A strange yet somewhat familiar silver light was coming from his body, Jiao Jiao suddenly jerked and threw Khan Ni from its back while it convulsed.
Rushing back to the City after Khan Ni grabbed onto its feet, the Jiao landed on the ground in agony.
As it spasmed and shuttered, Khan Ni's expressions went from bad to worse. Just when she was about to burst into panicked tears, she understood why the light was so familiar.
Jiao Jiao was evolving. His long and slender body took on a narrow shape and scales covered his body. He looked like a Bastet with spotted scales as he shrank into a fetal position.
Khan Ni was puzzled at first and the tears of pain soon turned into tears of excitement and anticipation.
Looking up at the returning Forces, Khan Ni saw Wu Hai leading them back. "This isn't the time to relax." speaking to herself softly, she got up. She put her emotions aside and whispered, "Jiao Jiao.. Hang in there and do your best."
Jiao Jiao had been with the group for almost five years. Guarding his changing form, Khan Ni looked at the soldiers in the sky. "Prepare the defenses!"
The Centaur and Minotaurs that had come to the City had nerves, some of them fled but the ones that stayed were good enough to use for resupply needs at the City Walls. Nothing was going to be getting through the Walls, they would have to come over the Walls or through the Front Gate. The Main Gate to the City was always open, there were fighting positions in place to take down enemy troops as they entered with hails of Arrows in a bottleneck.
Fei came down with Lei and they prepared to keep the city safe. "Auntie Fei, the smoke..." Zao Lei called out and watched as a thousand arrows came over the city wall.
Luckily Lei had seen them in time, only a few people were wounded briefly from the incoming volley. With her Psychic ability and Telekinesis, they were able to stop most projectile weapons without much effort. Magic on the other hand, could cause some serious problems if it wasn't mitigated somehow.
"Get ready! Take out the Archers and Magicians, if you see someone out there healing the enemy.. take them out first." Patriarch Ooran was shouting atop the City Wall. Zao Wu Hai, Zao Zhan and Genba had been leading the preparations, they would be vicious.
"GIVE THEM HELL!" Darkwing Cheered and started condensing Lightning in his hands, the smoke from the burning landscape gave him all the shadows he and his group needed. As they zipped through the arriving enemy, they went completely unnoticed and took the heads of many that tried to scale the walls.
Swarms of the enemy surrounded the City, the pounding on the gates became louder. The Demon-beast Mounts of some of the troops had started to grow angry, restless and annoyed at the forces under their own feet.
When chaos broke out by the door, one of the beasts began to eat its own rider.
A flood of creatures were crashing against the walls, more had come through the fog. Fei and Lei could no longer shroud the City, when they released their control over the fog, it dissipated quickly.
"Archers and Ranged Attackers, Protect the Gates!" Wu Hai's battle cry got peoples blood boiling, they were waiting for something to happen.
When he saw the trail of blood coming under the Main Gate, he knew they would have a hard time opening the door and take steps to get over it.
"Defend the Walls, watch out for incoming attacks." Mike thundered as he rose into the air and launched breath attacks with the rest of the dragon forces. They were cleaving enemies from the walls.
The City Walls reached over 100 meters high and had no handholds. When the incoming ground enemies couldn't get over the walls, they backed off and waited for the rear forces to arrive.
The City of Zao was under Siege.
"Patriarch, the Enemy Forces have started to pull back but, they look like they are only waiting for reinforcements and I believe their commanders will soon arrive." Jin briefed Patriarch Ooran at the Castle Precipice. They could see the forces gathering outside of the City along the mountainside.
"Send word to resupply, make use of everything." Giving his order the Patriarch looked at Wu Hai, Mike, and Kuzunoha.. "You know what to do, Good Luck." Zao Ooran watched the brave back of his son and his loyal friends as they went their separate ways.
The Earthlings took to the new world like fish to water. Acting on Orders, they got ready. Mike was sent to guard the Northern Wall. Wu Hai was sent on a recon mission with a Stealth Unit. Kuzunoha had a formation prepared to stop Undead, the Onmyoji specialized in such things. It would not take long for them to reach their destinations and the dangers that awaited.
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Dipping into the shadows, Wu Hai met up with Darkwing, Chōuyān, Hao Hao, Guzhe and Luiwang.
"What took you so long, it's time to go. We need to know what the enemy is doing. There seems to be someone setting up a command tent about 5km out, We took a look from the Training Terrace earlier and saw nearly half a million soldiers in the distance on approach." Chōuyān was unhappy with the wait.
Chōuyān was thrilled that he could be a Rogue in the new world, being part of the Stealth Unit was like he had been given his true purpose in life.
Darkwing signaled, everyone dipped into the shadows and made it over the wall without detection. If they wanted to, they could all fly but then everyone would see them leaving.
Signaling for Hao Hao to hold the rear and distract the enemy if things went sour, Luiwang rushed out to the next position. He was signaled to strike with hidden weapons as to not alert the guards immediately. The goal and tactics of the encroaching army were still unknown, all the Zao Clan had seen was the billowing ruins tramped by the incoming horde. If the Sect had decided not to act and watched as the army approached, the City still would have been discovered. There was no turning back and now that the enemy forces had started to set up camp outside of the City it was even more important to act.
The City was under siege, and while the monsters hadn't started their attack just yet it was still early in the Night.
"I wonder what all this fuckery is for, like.. why bother with coming across the plains at all?" Guzhe was not wrong when he said it was strange that they haven't started lobbing rocks or catapult.
Wu Hai ushered them to shut the hell up. He knew the answers, at least, from the emblems on the soldiers, he could make a guess.
{No mages? 6hrs and nothing} Luiwang wanted answers but he wasn't the leader, after signaling his thoughts about the situation, he crouched down further.
{Stay in the shadow. Hide. Retreat if bad. Avoid fighting during the retreat. Remember the mission.} Darkwing gave hand signals and disappeared into the thickets nearby that had yet to be burned. Smoke covered his exit.
No one skipped a beat, everyone vanished.
The Enemy Camp wasn't much a camp as it was a mess, there were over a hundred thousand soldiers or beasts standing on an incline.
No matter where the wind blew, the stench of rotting flesh, rust, guts, and shit could burn nose hair off.
A fanatical environment of chaos and madness, a lot of slaves had been shackled by chains like cattle to drag the remaining carts of the prisoners. They were easy to spot because most of them wore control collars as they dragged caged beasts to the battlefield as fodder.
When a prisoner died, the encroaching horde didn't bother unchaining them. They fed them to the passing beasts, every time someone would die all of them would work harder to not be cast into the mouth of some hungry animal. Some times, the entire team of slaves would be eaten by the beasts next to them.
Controlling the violent nature of a wild animal was not a skill so easily taught.
"Take the slaves near the front-line, use them as bait. Draw the beasts closer to their wall. Their shields and defenses can't outlast us. Elder Gong will be leading the march to the mountain summit himself, he'll be here in a matter of hours. I want a clear path up the mountain.." Elder Ho broke the jaw of a Minotaur man and pulled the collar up around his mouth, across his tongue.
It ripped when he was bridled, he was now on the chain of many slaves, just like the others.
Terrified looks crossed the chain of slaves that was passing. The beat of moving armies trembled the ground beneath them as they were marched up the mountain.
"This way, we don't have to hear them whining and I get to have some fun, The moans of the condemned are so pleasant. Much better than the words of the dying." Grabbing another slave from the cart, she was unwilling. Elder Ho gored her with a hooked rod and danced about in her entrails with glee. After he had disemboweled several of the unwilling, he turned them into Undead and sent them to join the horde of fodder.
There was no escape for the slaves, their only value would be their deaths. Everyone present regularly stood watching as Men, Women and Children were being chucked into the mouth of Pirrans or some other large mouth beast like a cheap road snack.
The Scene was hopeless.
Wu Hai and Darkwing managed to approach the enemy Commander's position. Staying in the shadows of a nearby tree, they listened intently.
The faint plop of organs falling to the dirt and bones cracking could be heard.
{Hold! gather information, good spot} Darkwing gave more hand signals.
Wu Hai felt tense, nodded and kept his mouth shut. It was his first ambush and he was literally surrounded by the enemy, deep in their collective.
Elder Ho was about to leave the Command Tent when he felt something nearby. With a smile, he turned in Wu Hai's direction.
Wu Hai didn't flinch, he was confident in his stealth ability.
When Elder Ho spread his senses out, he noticed someone incoming from the air in the southwest.
Elder Gong had arrived, he was early. Much earlier than they had expected.
"Greetings Elder Gong, we found another town to search. Have you recovered the Weapon?" Elder Ho didn't beat around the bush. There were certain things he could ask, and certain things he couldn't even imply.
"It seems to be well defended, they have a decent defense. They also took out a sixth of our troops before we made it to the City Wall. After we arrived we couldn't get inside, what would you have me do?" Making sure to be as courteous as possible, Elder Ho explained the situation to Elder Gong.
"Failure.." Elder Gongs reputation for brutality was indiscriminate when he was upset, he scoffed. "Sounds like you are out of your league again.. Its been seven years. I'm not interested in excuses, if we have to tear down every building on the continent twice over and search under every rock, we will." Elder Gong seemed more interested in the construction techniques for the wall in front of them while he stood in the camp.
If circumstances were different, I would slaughter you for your failure right now. However, I have use of you." The wall was very smooth and extended higher than any other wall he'd seen so far, it was a marvel of construction. He wondered what measures the city had taken ahead of their arrival but the curiosity ended quickly. He turned back to Elder Ho and slapped him down to the ground.
"The Merchants caught running through the desert said escape said this is called Zao City. If it's part of that Clan, this march across the continent might end and we can return to Lord Eddingar's side. Load the Catapults and see what happens over the next few minutes of firing. I want to see how they respond." Elder Gong started issuing commands and soon soldiers, slaves and stones moved around the front lines.
Wu Hai looked back at the shadow that was Darkwing, His next actions would set off the start of the battle.
{We have to attack.} Darkwing was in agreement with Wu Hai's statement.
Pulling the bombs from his storage ring, Darkwing readied himself to fly and bombard the enemy in close range.
{Wait for a moment. We go in 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.} Wu Hai was maintaining his stealth when he saw the opening he was looking for.
{Now!} Wu Hai signaled.
The more time they had before they were discovered, the better.
Leaping directly into the air, the Stealth Team had made it 400 meters into the heart of the camp before they were noticed and alarms rang. It didn't matter, the instant before the alarms began to ring, the bombs had already started to hit their targets.
The screams, shock waves and explosions deafened those around the blasts.
The command Tent was torn to shreds but the Two Elders had left it vacant.
"BOOM!" "BOOM..." "BOOM, BOO-BOOM""BOOM..." "BOOM, BOO-BOOM""BOOM..." "BOOM, BOO-BOOM""BOOM..." "BOOM, BOOM!"
The explosions rocked the Mountainside, using them as a cover the Stealth Group flew back to the City Walls as Archers covered their return.
"
HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Khan Ni was with Zhan guarding the wall and watching the scene.
"NOW!, FIRE!" The enemy was in full pursuit and Zhan wasn't taking chances, he had full confidence in the Archers. He had trained them all the same way he had learned in the Fire-Wolf Brigade as a child.
Wu Hai and Darkwing had passed, everyone started to unload their attacks at the incoming swarm of pissed off Flying Beasts. Some of them just flew away but many still had their riders and turned toward the castle at the start of the Counter Attack and Alarms.
War Drums beat in the background and support troops were driving slaves with more caged beasts to the front. Debris blockaded their way briefly but the larger beasts trampled their way toward the outer walls for a footing.
"Ranged defenses get ready, Healers tend to the wounded and move them away from the Wall." Jin and William had most of the Dragon Corp with them, they were taking flight to defend the City from Aerial attacks. The Flying Beasts were scattering and battering at the City but most of them did little damage and all of the citizens had been evacuated.
Elder Gong got onto a nearby mount and prepared to chase after them when he saw the Dragon Corp rise into the night sky.
"PULL BACK!, ARCHERS!!!.... DRAGONS!" Elder Gong wasn't a fool, calling them away was the smarter move.
Elder Gong would be responsible for all losses after he arrived back at Lord Eddingar's side.
"Fire the Catapults right fucking now!" Releasing the first ball from the Catapult with his own hands, Elder Gong started the frontal assault officially. "Don't let up on the catapults, I want those walls torn down." Stamping his feet as he rode to the front of the troops, he pointed and started the charge up the mountainside.
"I don't care if you have to stand on top of each other, get up that wall. CHARGE!" Elder Ho watched as Elder Gong led the path of destruction up to the city gates once again. This time, with the full intent of crushing everything that stood before him.
The pounding of Stone and Hooves drowned all noise in the area, a constant drumming march of death didn't even rattle the Soldiers atop the city walls, there had been many briefings on what to expect. The Mountainside was broad, it was the home territory of the Zao Clan. They had years to prepare City Defenses.
Separating the Mud from the side of the mountain with the most troops, a landslide rushed toward the bulk of the siege troops. The rushing soil and rubble ground many of the more than 400,000 troops into fertilizer.
The few creatures that didn't suffer were already in the Air.
"DESTROY THAT CITY!" Elder Gong felt like he would be skinned alive if he didn't tear through the air. When he got near the city wall, he released a myriad of bloody puppets.
The skinless monstrosities had rods and strings of various materials threaded throughout them. Most had blank expressions on their eyeless heads, a clear sign that they were not Undead, but the Dead.
"Go, My Children.. fill your bellies with the Organs of the Living.. then return!" Sending his puppets to the city for victims from above sent a lot of the guards into a defensive stance.
Black Magic was a horrifying sight, the murdered victims of his torture were perverted to such a state. Animating the Dead seemed to be a talent for Elder Gong.
The twitching skinless were armed with swords and spears. The purpose of the twitching skinless puppets was to create panic, not opponents. They charged randomly at the forces on the City Walls, slashing and hacking on impulses long lost by the host.
"I NEED MORE SOULS! MORE SOULS!" Elder Gong started changing and a strange red circle started appear before his feet.
He jumped from his mount into the air above the castle aiming at the shields directly.
The monster horde had lost another large chunk of their troops.
The Zao clan was facing terrible odds which were in favor of the Undead horde piling itself like cord-wood to obtain their goal. Some of the Undead still possessed magical abilities, when they were finally within range to attack, the walls the Zao Clan finally knew what it was like to face off with death rather than run.
Hao Hao was using the Darkflame blade. Wu Hai had taken from the back of Cassius when he first found the Crusher, he never truly used it in battle but Wu Hai had long since been using his hand to hand. It was a unique weapon, one that wouldn't go unrecognized on the battlefield.
When Elder Gong saw the Darkflame blade that he had given to Elder Tai when he first joined the Dark Sun Sect, the mere sight of his fallen disciples blade made his eyes shine with determination, blood lust and fury.
"YOU! You killed my Disciple? ..GIVE ME BACK THAT WEAPON!" Elder Gong leapt directly to the front of Hao Hao.
Guzhe saw his teammate in danger and slashed in the appropriate direction before being pushed back. He had been slapped away like trash and nearly struck by the poisonous aura radiating from Elder Gong.
'What!' Hao Hao moved as quickly as he could, Guzhe had given him the chance to escape.
When Elder Gong landed, the very stone he was standing on started to seethe with corrosive fluids.
Elder Gong didn't need to fight, anything he touched was crumbling and disintegrating under his exerted aura. When he missed Guzhe's body, Guzhe's weapon took the hit and started to crumble.
If Guzhe hadn't released it at that very instant, he would have lost his hands and likely his life shortly after.
Jumping backward, Guzhe slid into the shadows just before a Massive Tree smashed against the spot where Elder Gong was standing.
He dodged.
Elder Gong landed on top of it and watched it wither into decay. "KUWAHAHAHAT!"
Elder Gong rushed into the group of defenders and started screaming at the top of his lungs. His aura was rising, it was only a matter of time before he attacked again.
"THE ZAO CLAN WILL NOT ESCAPE AGAIN!" Bursting his poison aura, clouds of purple and green smoke quickly turned orange when it began to swirl around the Elder.
The Wall of the City started to fall to pieces in sections as the gas made its way across the surface.
Charging once again at Hao Hao, Elder Gong was losing his mind over his fallen disciple.
"GET BACK, USE FIRE MAGIC TO SUPPRESS THE POISON!!" Elder Jiang started to produce Dodona Tree after Dodona Tree, soon he had created enough of them to counter the spilling gasses.
Old Man Jiang had to maintain their creation while the battle raged on. Otherwise without his suppression, the gasses would leave the city wide open. Dozens of trees turned to hundreds, when the gas seemed contained for half a second, he drank a potion and surveyed the battle.
Elder Gong saw the effects of the tree magic and whistled for his mount. The Bicosaur he took from the camp swooped down and started to wither the trees with its Undead aura just as fast as Elder Gong had been corroding the walls.
The extra corrosion of the aura quickly destroyed a few of trees that Master Jiang had growing, it screeched and flushed toward him.
Abi brought Kuzunoha over with two other Onmyoji as they created a triangle formation to contain the new Bicosaur that had become a raging issue. The secret scrolls they had in their possession, combined with the knowledge from this world concerning souls, gave them an edge that no one else had during the battle.
Onmyoji were very potent against Demons and the Undead.
The moment they arrived, Elder Gong felt a deep pressure weighing him down and then, he looked above him as four massive hammers dropped onto his position.
The Twins had brought down a Rain of Hammers, quickly tossing them aside when they were too corroded. They had hundreds of hammers but containment was the issue.
"BROTHER, CAGES" The Cheng Brothers kicked rocks to Elder Gong's face and jumped back while they pumped their metal magic abilities to create a four meter thick, steel plated box around Elder Gong. The pressure from the formation was greatly helping them create a cage but at the same time, the cage was continually eroding from the inside.
Cheng Mu called out to his Brother to retreat the moment they finished forming it.
The Seamless Box was not going to hold him for long.