In the distance something fell from the clouds, a black dot grew bigger and bigger as it approached the lines of soldiers.
"SCATTER!" shouted one of the knights riding beside the marquis, urging them to leave the shadow covered spot.
But moving away wasn't enough.
Upon impact the gigantic boulder that fell from the sky sent a quake through the planes that reached as far as where Anne and the others are. The dust cloud alone swallowed the entire army.
"Holly fucking tree…"
"They are doomed…."
Some of the men mumbled, watching the scene from a distance. From that alone, just from that alone, half of the troops were wiped out, crushed by the massive rock, or buried under the collapsed ground.
"Where is it…. where is it?" the large woman said, her voice shaking as did the rest of her body.
Anemone tried her best to keep calm, unlike the rest of the men who showed preparation for escape, she swallowed air through her dry throat and pointed at the boulder amidst the pool of blood."… It's there"
The gigantic mass, towering above the castle city great walls, started cracking. Big shards of it fell to the ground, the center part slowly rose up revealing a hole. From there tongues of flames spread burning the unlucky few that were in its direction.
"I was told it resembles a turtle, but I never thought it really – it's a fire spittin' freakin' mountain!"
"That wasn't a fire attack, it's just the hot air Rorocks use when flying."
"WUT!"
Following the report Siegfried gave, Anne did her best to learn about the monstrosity they were facing. In a book, one surprisingly written by an eternal, she found all information about many of the discovered dragon types, among other monster species.
It described Rorocks as giant turtles for the way their shell resembled normal ones, though unlike normal turtles, only the head of a rorock can be retracted completely. In that state it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish them from a normal cluster of boulders.
Also, as they are extraordinarily good at digging, they tend to bury themselves completely sometimes; a trap which Siegfried had fallen into during his investigation. A terrifying enemy, indeed. But those at the receiving end of its rage had little choice.
Commanders yelled at the surviving soldiers, getting them back on their feet and pushing them to attack the monster.
"CHAAAAAARGE!" yelled Marquis Greydeer.
The soldiers picked their swords and spears shouting war cries. But the closer they got they realized, more than a boulder or a rock, that thing was a mountain.
The best they could do was aim at its legs, and every time they did, their weapons would either bounce off, or break at worst. Archers let their arrows fly but those that pierced the uncovered skin of the monster's neck didn't seem to have much of an effect.
"USE THE SPEARS! CONCENTRATE ON THE JOINTS!" the marquis continued shouting directions at his subordinates.
"Why did it turn out like this? It's not supposed to turn out like this!" he thought to himself. Although he has the title of a marquis, and has been to many battlefields, this was his first time facing this imminent death.
Some of the soldiers at the back stepped in, changing places with the injured ones. The weapons they held were a little different with the spear heads painted red and with much thicker handles than the rest.
They got as close to the monster as they could, then threw them with all their might hitting the targeted spot and upon impact the spears exploded.
"ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA," the Rorock released a pained roar as smoke rose from the wound.
"It works!" the soldiers cheered, and the marquis ordered them to continue hitting the same place to bring it down. The explosive spears aren't of the highest quality, but it's the best they could mass- produce without the materials brought back from the eternals' hunts.
The spears rained down on the rorock and with one of its legs severely wounded it lost its balance and collapsed to the ground.
"HAHAHAHA! LOOK AT IT NOW! A DRAGON? IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE?"
"WHO NEEDS THOSE DAMN ETERNALS! WE COULD TAKE IT OUT OURSELVES!"
"GO FOR ITS NECK! IT'S THE LEAST COVERED PLACE!"
Explosions resounded and an optimistic, yet somewhat sinister smile formed on Marquis Leopold's face. He slowly approached the monster on his horse with his hand on the hilt of his sword.
The decorated piece of equipment looked quite normal on the waist of the richest man in the city. However, the jewels on its hilt were particularly eye catching as they glowed faintly under the beast's shade.
"Huh…" In the gap between the rain of attack the round man heard something. With a cracking sound the rorock pulled in its legs, tail, and head, retreating inside its shell.
In this state all they could see was one huge unmovable boulder not effected by any of their weapons. "Don't tell me…" the marquis was dumbfounded for a moment, then in the next one he turned to the opposite direction and kicked his horse screaming. "Retreat! RETREEEEAT!"
The rest of the soldiers were late to react.
With a roar shaking the ground wind of purple color blew from beneath the rorock filling the shattered ground beneath it before sending the soldiers close to it up several feet in the air.
The purple wind covered the area in a large cloud filled with nothing but screams and death.
This was what Siegfried warned them about. The Rorock's deadliest attack.