At that instant, the red ax that was embedded in the centipede's body detached itself from the creature and began to levitate in the air only to return to its owner's hand. Peter stood up and quickly turned in the direction in which the huge red ax had flown.
There, standing on the rubble of what until a few moments ago was the bell tower, was a man. He was at least 1.90m (6.23 ft) tall, of stocky build, and had an abundant grayish-black beard. The man was wearing a pair of black boots and was equipped with full armor made from the scales of a reptilian monster.
"Lord Wildur!"
Just having seen the large red battle-ax he carried, Peter recognized the man even before he saw him. This man was Edwin Wildur, leader of the Red Axe Clan and one of the few Elite-ranked mercenaries in the city.
Edwin was not only the leader of one of the three main Clans in the city but also an inspirational figure. He had grown up and lived his whole life in the port city of Neima. He was a truly committed person to the city and even used to oversee the training of the city's soldiers among other things.
Peter was also among the soldiers who had received training from Edwin although he never stood out above the rest.
"Peter, is that you? " Edwin stepped down from the rubble and approached the young guard "Thank the gods you're fine. I came as soon as I heard the explosions, but the situation is a mess."
Peter looked around and saw several members of the Red Axe Clan helping the wounded soldiers, while others were fighting the monsters and trying to stop more of them from continuing to climb up the wall.
But even with the mercenaries' help, the monsters still had an overwhelming advantage.
"I just hope we can hold out until the others arrive. Where is Astor?" asked Edwin.
Peter tried to answer the mercenary's question, but the words caught in his throat and his eyes filled with tears. He was still having trouble processing everything that had happened. Just 25 minutes ago he was asking the guard captain for advice and only an instant later he entered a nightmarish world where smoke covered the sky and the blood and guts of his comrades adorned the rocks of the wall.
Without being able to say a word, Peter raised his arm and pointed in the direction of the huge, three-meter (10ft) deep hole that separated the wall's path in two.
Seeing the young guard's reaction, Edwin didn't wait for a second and ran in the direction Peter pointed. The young guard followed, albeit at a slower pace.
*Slash*
At that moment an Arsenis ant who had been climbing the wall reached the parapet but was immediately decapitated by the mercenary leader's ax. To a man like him, there was no difference between a common Arsenis ant and a random insect.
"By Rhaiel, Astor!"
Edwin approached Astor's body but didn't even bother to check if he was still alive, for just by looking at the wounds the guard had suffered he knew that the man's soul had already left the material plane.
"Sorry old friend, I was too late." Edwin said with regret in his voice.
The mercenary leader and the guard captain had had a long history together. In the past, they had been brothers in arms and although overtime each took a slightly different course, they still had time to drink a beer at the bar from time to time and chat about the good times.
"May Yhalene light your way down the path of infinite emptiness into the cycle of eternity, so that your immortal soul may be reborn into this world once again." Edwin lowered his friend's eyelids and rose from the ground. " Perhaps we will meet in the next life... Peter!"
"Sir!" Peter wiped the tears from his eyes and waited for the mercenary's command.
"There are still people outside the walls, they are our priority. Go to the control post and have them open the gates."
"Open the gates?! But Sir, the monst-!"
"KIIISH!"
Before Peter could finish what he was saying, a Hargarn spider reached the parapet of the wall.
*SLASH*
But in less than a split second, Edwin swung his ax, chopping the huge spider in two. One half remained inside the wall, covering the parapet with the creature's entrails and fluids, while the other half fell back the way it had come.
" You see to it that they open the doors and activate the damn wall array!" said Edwin as he wiped the spider fluids off his face. "I'll take care of the monsters."
Peter didn't even have time to protest, for before he could articulate a single word the mercenary leader had already jumped off the wall, landing on top of a huge beetle monster.
Edwin concentrated his internal energy around his body, pushing it beyond what was humanly possible, and then coated his ax with a layer of energy.
*CRACK!..SLASH!*
When Edwin landed, the creature's exoskeleton shattered like a shard of glass, and the ax embedded itself deep into the beetle's brain. The monster didn't know what happened until it was too late to do anything.
"GROOAAAH!"
*Slash! Slash! Slash!*
Edwin roared and began a massacre. Slashing monsters like there was no tomorrow.
* Slash! Slash! Slash!*
Every time the mercenary swung his ax several monsters were split in half, their entrails and body fluids watered the ground becoming nutrients for the earth.
For Peter, this was a scene worthy of being sung by bards and minstrels. From his point of view, it was as if the monsters were nothing more than sticks of butter and the mercenary leader's red ax was a red-hot knife.
But the young guard forced himself to snap out of his state of awe and concentrate on what he had to do. Every minute that the gates of the wall would remain closed meant that at least one more person would die. At that moment Peter remembered what Astor had told him and the red cylindrical staff he had given him before he died.
Peter held up the red staff and spoke the activation key to the wall array. "Nabstok!"
*Weng Weng*
The red staff began to glow and the whole wall shook. Runes and inscriptions radiating white light began to appear from where Peter was standing and spread out to cover the entire wall with a thin layer of white light.
At that moment the monsters that were climbing the walls lost their grip and began to fall down the wall. Others tried to climb again but were unable to do so because of the layer of energy covering the wall.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
Peter watched as more energy projectiles slammed into the watchtowers and the wall, but this time the wall suffered no damage.
When the wall's array activated, the guards and mercenaries fighting the remaining monsters on the wall quickly gained the upper hand and began to overpower the monsters.
Seeing that the array had been activated, the young guard breathed a sigh of relief, they still had a chance to win. But it was still too early to celebrate. Peter put away the red staff and started running along the wall walk, heading for the command post.
He had to open the gates so that those still outside could enter the city. But even if opening the gates was dangerous Peter had complete confidence that all would be fine. If Edwin was here, that meant the others would not be far behind, or perhaps they were already fighting. The city would not fall, not as long as they were present.
***
"GROOAAAH!"
*Slash! Slash! Slash!*
Edwin threw his great battle-ax. The weapon spun through the air slicing and decapitating at least half a dozen monsters before returning to his master's hand.
"Quick, get into the city, hurry!" shouted Edwin as he drove his ax into the head of a tarantula twice his size.
A group of guards were helping the farmers and those who were wounded to get up and guide them to the city gates. Edwin looked around and saw how the fire was spreading across the fields, burning the farms and consuming everything in its path, while he and his men were doing everything they could to protect those who had not yet entered the city.
The battle had begun only 40 minutes ago, but the situation was in chaos.
Thanks to the fact that the wall's protective array had been activated the monsters were unable to climb up the wall or damage it, which made the situation more stable. As Edwin was no longer worried about the defenses he could now give his all to exterminate the monsters and save as many people as he could.
*Slash!*
Edwin's ax traced a semicircle in the air and embedded itself in the head of a large millipede nearly 9 meters (29.52ft) long. Then the weapon detached from the creature and returned to the mercenary's hand.
'Sh*t! There are too many of them. Where the f**k are the others?'
Although for the moment the mercenaries of the Red Axe Clan and the soldiers of the city had the upper hand, the number of monsters was more than they alone could handle. If this continued any longer, slowly the mercenaries would be outnumbered and forced to retreat.
"AAAAH!"
"AAARGh....!!!"
"RUN! AAH!"
Hearing the shouts of his men, Edwin turned around and his eyes widened like saucers.
About 30 meters (32 yards) away from where he stood was a huge spider the size of a truck. The spider's body gave off a fluorescent green glow and from its mouth, it spat puddles of acid that melted everything in its path regardless if it was metal armor, or the mercenary wearing the armor.
'Sh*t, a Clormhaur spider! Why is there a beast from the 3rd realm here!' Edwin cursed `inwardly when he saw the creature.
Although the Clormhaur spider was not much stronger than other monsters of the same category, its body was covered with a layer of acidic oil that melted almost all weapons. This coupled with the fact that the spider could attack from a distance was what made killing it a headache for melee fighters.
But Edwin couldn't stand still as he watched the monster expel its acid that melted his comrades into puddles of steaming black fluid.
"Need help, old man?"
*SLASH! BOM!*
Just as Edwin was about to order a retreat, a familiar voice reached his ears and a second later a huge energy slash split the Clormhaur spider in two. The energy slash caused an explosion and left a large slash mark on the ground.
"You're late Hans!" Edwin said when he saw the vice leader of the Giant Clan. "Where's your boss?! The situation here is a complete mess!"
"She' s on the east side of the wall with the governor and some knights from the church! The situation there is almost as bad as it is here!" replied Hans as he slashed a monster with his large sword." Those of the Gale Clan and reinforcements from the church are on their way!"
"Then we'll hold out until they arrive! Wanna bet who kills the most monsters!"! The loser pays for the other's drinks for the whole month!" Said Edwin
"Are you sure you want to bet, old man? Since you're too old you're likely to get short of breath halfway through."
"Age is a mental thing and not a physical thing!" Replied Edwin "You call me old man, but while I'm 62 and only have a couple of gray hairs, but you're 35 and already bald!"
"It's because I shave my head. My girlfriend likes it!... Fine, I'll take the bet!"
"HAHAHA... Don't regret it later! Now, let's send these motherf**kers to the next life!"
****
'Wow, this is better than the special effects in the movies.' Thought Marcus, who was perched atop a tree outside the city wall as he watched the battle unfold from a completely safe distance.
Marcus was one of those people who firmly believed that one could not expect to gain something without giving anything in return and that the greater the risk the greater the rewards. But even he knew that it was not worth getting into this battle, for even if he gained a few XP points, he ran the risk of being discovered to be undead or dying amid the chaos.
So when the attack started, Marcus wasted no time, he equipped himself with his new armor and escaped through the west side of the wall where the surveillance was much less, only moments before the wall's protective array was activated.
'They seem to be doing quite well though. I must say that the aura warriors are better than I thought.'
The aura warriors of this world were very similar to the martial artists of the Wuxia genre novels Marcus had read on Earth.
Unlike the magic users who stored Rehi around their heart and brain in the form of rings, aura users stored it in their dantian and then circulated the energy throughout their body to strengthen their physique.
More advanced aura warriors could materialize their internal energy to use it as a weapon and it was even possible for the warrior's aura to gain an elemental characteristic. But that depended not only on the person's talent but also on the cultivation technique they used.
But just like magic-users, aura-users were also categorized into different realms, but apart from them according to the amount of internal energy they were also categorized according to their physique.
'Well, what happens to the city is not my problem. But...' Marcus climbed down from the tree and looked at the Hargarn spider agonizing on the ground.
After reaching the edge of the jungle, Marcus had encountered this spider and several other monsters, though he killed them all with relative ease. But this one he just cut off its limbs and left it agonizing on the ground. The reason for this was that Marcus had noticed something strange about the monsters.
'Let's see what's wrong with you... [Energy Sense]'
The moment he activated his skill, Marcus was able to see the creature's internal energy. But for some reason, there was a thread of energy that was connected to the spider's core.
Looking more closely, Marcus noticed that the energy thread that was connected to the creature extended beyond the range of his skill, in a northwesterly direction.