This fighting became a slog worse than running around on rooftops before long. There was a slow enough trickle for the fighting to not be too difficult, but this ease became mind-numbing before long. It was as though we sat in the drain of a large basin, a faucet above us turned just slightly. We couldn't rest, but neither would we get the adrenaline boost from a big fight, and from a more morbid angle, it wouldn't end quickly. I'm sure the Mayor was faring better than I was, the knowledge that I could always fall back on him improved my psyche greatly, but we kept a good distance between us so as to not get in each other's way.
It continued for hours, long into what should've been night, but the sky showed no change, the other-worldly illumination remaining as a constant presence above and within the city. I continued to refrain from looking up as best I could, although my eyes would occasionally glimpse some movement which they'd instinctively dart to, only to briefly swim and cause me a headache. Thankfully, this would never distract me for too long, and refocusing my attention back towards the threat at hand would clear up any ill effects. The presence of only weaker beasts meant I could afford these momentary lapses without too much of an issue, although it still was something I should be avoiding, especially when considering that something stronger could show up at any time.
There had been nothing but small fry until now, but I remained on guard for anything bigger. The two of us had taken out a large number of them before descending into the horde, but I was sure we hadn't gotten all of them. Although we had been fighting now for hours, we had only killed hundreds of beasts while there were thousands that had entered the city. The grounds of the courtyard were littered with dark corpses which had already begun to decay, but thankfully didn't produce the awful smell of rot. That being said, perhaps decay isn't the best word to describe the process their corpses were undergoing, but rather dissolving. Puddles were forming and slowly combining underneath each body while the flesh seemed to break off into little pieces which would float through the air. None of this happened quickly, the bodies dissolving being the ones that had been laying there for hours, not that it meant any of it was normal. Much like with everything else that had happened that day, "normal" seemed to have been tossed to the void a while ago.
As the Mayor had said, the rate at which more things crawled towards us continued to increase, but it wasn't as fast as I had expected, and if I had to guess from the way he phrased it, it wasn't as fast as he expected either. It was as though they were trying to wear us down slowly. This was strange to me, and I imagine to the Mayor as well. The fort was taken likely in a night, and while they may have gotten unlucky with timing or preparedness in some way, it was still a testament to the force of this wave. It also meant that they weren't relying purely on numbers to take us down, acting more like a spear than a hammer. But they were now displaying the exact opposite behavior of what would've let them take down the fort so quickly . Once again, it was something I wanted to get to the bottom of, but I simply couldn't given the situation. This constant worrying an thinking was draining my focus as well, but any answers I could come up with could help us greatly, so I continued thinking.
We continued fighting.
As time went on, more and more bodies piled up. There were now knee-high rings of corpses around the two of us. The ring around me was a good bit smaller than the Mayor's, but I didn't have the strength to throw these things to the other side of the courtyard as he did. Even though I noticed this, I didn't worry about it too much. By now, I had almost forgotten about the existence of the larger beasts, or at least assumed they wouldn't be joining in this scuffle. I estimated we should've been about a quarter to a third of the way through the beasts in the city. I was getting tired.
Then it happened. One of the remaining buildings on the side of the courtyard nearest me seemed to explode in a shower of rubble as a great shadow came flying out, landing directly in my little arena. Without wasting a breath, it directly rushed towards me. I once again side stepped, a movement which had pretty much become automatic at this point, but instead of continuing forward like the others, it immediately struck out with its limbs on its side opposite me, hitting the ground hard enough to crack it and propelling itself into me. I didn't have time to guard before it hit me in the chest, knocking most of the breath out of my lungs. What remained was forcefully expelled when I collided with the corpse wall behind me.
I gasped for breath immediately, inhaling an unsettling amount of airborne Nightmare bits. My back half was now soaked in the liquid they were dissolving into as well, making me significantly more miserable. The beast didn't rush me again, instead choosing to menacingly walk towards me as I struggled to stand. Perhaps it was enjoying my fear in that moment, especially after seeing so many of its weaker siblings felled by my hand. I eventually regained my ability to breathe and stood up, still struggling to regain all the air that had abandoned me. Seeing me stand, it decided to stop its torment of me.
Seeing it start to tense its limbs, I prepared to execute the plan that had formed in my mind. I could tell it wouldn't put all its power into this lunge, fully expecting me to be too weak to move. My left hand tightened its grip around my little shotgun. Our gazes met, one of many times I had looked these things in their myriad eyes today, and it moved. I raised my gun and kicked off with my legs, propelling myself to the side. Just before I moved, I pulled the trigger, peppering those eyes with a large number of small stone pebbles.
I just managed to dodge out of its lunge as it crashed headfirst into the corpse wall, toppling the top half of it. I moved in, now ready for a fight with something stronger than I had ever truly fought. It quickly shook itself off and turned back towards me, blackish-red blood streaming out of many of its eyes. I didn't stop moving, directly taking the fight to it to stop it from rushing me again. Now that it would take me seriously and put its full power into its attacks, I knew dodging it when it rushed me would be simply impossible. As I moved, I swapped my gun for my sword, not having the time to reload.
As I arrived before it, I used a quick burst of speed to close the remaining distance and smashed towards its head-area with the mace. It immediately leaned slightly to the side and moved to flank me, towards my non-sword hand, while striking out with one of its limbs. I jumped away from it, redirecting the mace towards its side while bringing the sword around to strike at its extended limb. The mace struck first, and I used the backwards force to gain a bit of distance. I luckily didn't misjudge the trajectory of the limb and directly hit it with my sword, leaving a deep gash in it, going nearly halfway through. The impact left my arm numb and almost made me drop my sword. My feet skittered a bit when I landed, but I regained my stability quickly and once again made a move towards it.
This time, I attacked sword first, targeting the upper part of one of its foremost limbs with a simple thrust. It wasn't an attack I expected to be super effective, its purpose being simply to gauge its reaction to a different attack. However, its response defied anything I had envisioned. It forcefully stepped towards me, directly taking my sword in a non-vital spot, before viciously striking out at my chest, once again sending me crashing into the corpse wall. I'm sure I had at least a couple fractured ribs, something I lamented briefly while trying to regain my breath again. The attack was more targeted than before, so while it cracked a rib or two, it didn't quite wind me the same. I was back on my feet much faster, although my breaths were noticeably more painful now.
I readied to attack again, not knowing how much longer I could last, knowing it was now life-or-death. Just as I was about to move, a massive, thunderclap-like sound echoed from the other side of the courtyard and, following a very brief whistling sound, the front half of the beast before me disappeared.