Time was running out for everyone; it was nearly impossible to evacuate two million residents before the Chaos Creatures reached the city.
Tension and panic escalated among the people, especially among the soldiers of the Awakened.
"If only we had fled," one of the merchants lamented.
"Didn't I tell you the chaos would reach us soon in Anvil!"
"Damn it, they arrived early! What are we going to do now?"
"I knew it since the Avaghida Village incident."
The merchants were in a state of despair, blaming each other for not leaving after that incident five months ago.
Due to the crowd and the rush of people trying to board the carts, there were already many injuries and cases of fainting.
Some residents decided to flee on foot, while others took shelter in their homes, hoping it would keep them safe. Some had already lost hope...
The Chaos Creatures hadn't arrived yet, but the ominous feeling and the foul stench had already begun to permeate the city.
Outside the castle stood the vanguard of the Awakened soldiers, including the leaders Elena and Morgan, along with five other commanders.
There were supposed to be two saints for each city, but Anvil's saints were already out of the city.
The fate awaiting these soldiers was death.
It was impossible to defeat a demonic chaos without at least three saints present.
Yet, none of them trembled or fled, for the fall of Anvil would be a crushing blow to the entire continent.
Anvil alone supplied 54% of the continent's medicinal crops each year. The loss of these crucial supplies would have a devastating impact on everyone.
Elena sat on a stone beside the gate, looking ahead as she awaited their arrival.
"Do you think we will survive, Morgan?" Elena asked.
Morgan cracked his neck as he replied, "I want to hope so."
Elena sighed, intertwining her fingers. "How many soldiers do we have available?"
Morgan sat beside her, resting his chin on his sword. "We have 53 Awakened and 300 regular soldiers."
Elena bit her lip. "What about the saints?"
Morgan sighed in despair. "I believe they're inside some portal because they told me they'd be absent for a week."
She looked at Morgan with sad eyes. "What terrible timing."
As they spoke, both of them shivered and looked ahead at the same time.
"They're here," Morgan stood up.
He then called out to everyone with a strong voice, "Prepare yourselves, our guests have arrived."
The soldiers and the Awakened soldiers moved outside the castle, while the archers and the long-range Awakened took positions atop the castle walls.
One of the soldiers, with a somber expression, looked at his commander, perhaps for the last time.
"I'm going to close the gates now, sir."
Morgan smiled, "Good luck to all of you."
Then the gates closed.
Everyone stood, holding their weapons, looking ahead.
The nature of the creatures before them became clear as they ascended the slope.
Elena, who was usually calm and composed, was now trembling.
Morgan's eyes widened in shock as he looked ahead.
The soldiers' eyes widened, and they began to sweat in despair.
"This is impossible..."
Before them were hundreds of massive golem creatures charging towards them.
Each of these creatures was at least three meters tall, their bodies made of stone and thick clay.
Their arms were so massive that one hand alone was the size of seven humans standing side by side.
They had three heads fused together, each expressionless, with crimson red eyes.
Morgan steadied his trembling hand and raised his sword with both hands, shouting, "Attack!"
Morgan wanted to fight farther from the city to avoid harming the civilians.
The archers raised their bows and prepared their arrows, imbued with fire magic stones, while the Awakened prepared their various powers to launch.
Morgan was the first to move, followed by Elena.
The rest of the soldiers surged forward to clash with the creatures.
Morgan used his lightning ability, channeling it into his sword as he prepared to strike.
Then he shouted to everyone,
"Don't be afraid, don't falter, defeat them, destroy them, leave them no hope."
"Boom!" With a powerful, lightning-empowered swing, Morgan struck, destroying three golems with a single blow.
He moved his body to face the next golem, but four golems were already surrounding him, their massive hands poised to strike.
"Watch out!" Elena used her abilities to fly over the golems.
She swung her sword vertically, sending sparks flying, and cut through all four golems in an instant.
The other soldiers joined the fight against the creatures.
The sound of clashing swords and explosions filled the air, and then the sky rained arrows down on the golems, exploding several of them.
Elena moved left and right, swinging her sword.
One of the golems kicked at her from behind, but she blocked the kick with the edge of her sword, flying back from the impact.
Three of the commanders joined her, one wielding a spear.
He moved his spear swiftly, delivering multiple consecutive strikes. "Die, all of you!"
The other two commanders fought valiantly as well.
One of them had a physical enhancement ability, making him able to withstand the golems' attacks.
He countered by delivering powerful punches that shattered the golems into pieces of stone.
On the other side, Morgan attacked with his lightning, illuminating the area with his powerful bolts.
The number of golems was overwhelming. In a matter of minutes, half of the soldiers had already fallen.
"I'm going to die, no, no, please, God," one of the soldiers pleaded before a golem's foot crushed his head like an insect.
"Don't any of you dare to surrender" Morgan was coughing up blood as he called out to the soldiers.
Elena was already reaching her limit, panting heavily. "Damn it, why won't they stop?"
The archers had been firing their arrows non-stop, but their supply was running low.
The long-range Awakened had nearly exhausted their spiritual essence from overusing their powers.
A huge number of golems had been destroyed in the fierce battle, and dozens of Awakened soldiers had been killed.
Yet, it seemed the number of golems hadn't decreased at all; if anything, it appeared to be increasing.
Morgan seethed with anger and gritted his teeth fiercely. "You fucking wretches."
Then his eyes changed color, becoming a white light, and Morgan rose into the sky as if flying.
Gripping his sword like a spear, the entire blade turned into a white glow of lightning.
He threw the sword with great force over a crowd of golems, causing a massive explosion that shook the ground.
The force of the explosion destroyed dozens of golem monsters in succession, creating a disruption in their formation, causing them to stagger.
Then the lightning faded from Morgan's eyes, and he collapsed to the ground, smiling with blood in his mouth.
"I can't move anymore... I'm counting on you all."
Morgan's majestic scene as he gazed at the chaos creatures with fierce eyes, despite his exhausted state, was stunning!
It filled everyone with excitement and strength. "Attack! Don't miss this opportunity!" one of the leaders shouted, and they pressed on.
They moved with all their might, crushing a vast number of golems.
Everyone gritted their teeth, bleeding as they gave their all in the fight.
The strength displayed by the fighters was beyond what could be mustered in any other non-warlike city like Anvil.
Elena continued to wield her sword, sometimes cutting down dozens of creatures, other times defending the remaining awakened ones.
Until her eyes began to bleed from the excessive use of her ability.
Morgan's eyes widened in shock as he screamed loudly, "Elena, run!" shouted with all his might, raising his hand high.
A demonic statue appeared out of nowhere beside Elena!
The stone sword of that demon was long, positioned right in front of Elena's head.
In a swift reaction, Elena blocked the strike with her sword in a cross-cut motion. But when the swords clashed, Elena's sword broke in two like a wooden stick.
The demon's sword continued toward Elena's head...
Elena's beautiful head with her stunning red hair was sent flying in the sky, with blood splattering everywhere. Her eyes, wide with a mix of shock and frown, remained on her severed head, while her body was forcefully thrown against the castle walls, and crushed into it.
At that moment, a powerful sword wave appeared after the swing from the demonic statue.
The strong cutting sparks rebounded towards the soldiers, killing dozens with just one swing from the demonic statue.
Morgan looked at the scene in utter shock, his eyes starting to bleed as he glared furiously. "You vile fiend."
Morgan had feelings for Elena, and now he saw her die before his eyes.
He cursed and screamed angrily towards the demonic statue, but one of the golems' feet came down on Morgan's head, crushing it completely.
Dozens of remaining soldiers tried to flee, running as fast as they could towards the walls.
Everyone lost hope, surrendering and throwing down their weapons.
"Please save us!"
"Open the gates, please!"
"I'm going to die, I'm going to die, please, no, no!"
"Aaaaah, nooooo, no, no!" a girl among the soldiers screamed, crying.
But with a swift movement like a bullet from the demonic statue, all their bodies were torn apart in an instant.
The demonic statue stood afterward, its sword dripping with blood, gazing with its crimson red eyes towards the archers on the castle walls.
The archers knelt in fear, unable to speak. At that time, hundreds of golems were at the castle gates.
With several punches from the massive golem hands, the gate couldn't withstand the force and broke down.
The stunned and terrified residents watched as the golem horde began to overrun the city. Panic and terror ensued; everyone ran.
The golems crushed the thin bodies of the residents like insects.
Stones flew, and debris from houses soared over the fleeing residents' heads.
Infants and children were crying everywhere, all being trampled mercilessly.
Anvil fell with everyone in it; anyone who tried to escape was killed, either by the golems' hands or the demonic statue's insane speed.
After a few minutes, the city was destroyed completely. The eleven saints arrived at the city's outskirts.
Park looked at the body of Sai and the other soldiers who was already dead behind a tree overlooking the city.
"My God, it's Sai," he said sorrowfully.
"We need to move quickly," said Saruman, urging everyone to move swiftly.
They moved on to witness the horror firsthand. Dozens of bodies lay outside the city walls.
"For heaven's sake, what is this!" one of the saints, named Martin, exclaimed in dismay as he looked at the bodies.
Lamar looked at Elena's head lying on the ground, then knelt to close her eyes. "Rest in peace, young lady."
The saints entered the city to see thousands of crushed, broken, and torn bodies.
Before them stood hundreds of golems, and overlooking them from above was a single demonic statue, emotionless.
Leonard swallowed hard. "I don't think all of us will make it out alive from here."
Saruman focused his gaze on the demonic statue. "A demon of the statue class, this is rare."
Everyone stared in awe at the crimson-eyed demonic statue.
The eleven saints were all shivering with fear from it. Saruman calmly suggested, "Leave this demon to me, Leonard, Lamar, and Park. The rest of you, handle the golems."