As the city gates fell, amidst the blinding storm of flying sand, the marauding cavalry stormed in, their banners of nomadic horse blades flapping wildly in the biting wind, like beasts baring their fangs.
Baisa's heart had frozen to its core as he desperately tried to hold the line: "Don't scatter, all units! Take up your spears! Form a shield wall! Form the shield wall!!!"
However, before the bloodthirsty marauders, the shattered remnants of Xilin Town's soldiers had already lost their will to fight. One by one, they screamed in fear and fled aimlessly, their panic-stricken retreat creating perfect opportunities for the light cavalry to strike.
Had they adhered to Baisa's commands, holding their spears and shields, they would have had some fighting chance against the lightly armed marauders.
No cavalry, not even heavy cavalry, would dare charge into a spear formation recklessly.
But now, as they scattered in all directions, they provided these swift horsemen with the perfect chance for slaughter.
"Whoooah!" The desert marauders erupted in their signature battle cry, kicking their horses into a gallop, becoming terrifying phantoms as man and beast charged at full speed into the panicking crowd.
In the span of a single breath, at least thirty Xilin Town soldiers had met their end—some trampled under the hooves of the warhorses, their bodies sinking into a morass of blood and mud; others felled by the sharp horse blades, their limbs torn apart in the midst of their dying screams; some, in a desperate bid for survival, impaled their comrades with their spears, leaving them as bait to enable their own escape.
A blood mist swirled, punctuated by cries of mercy and the roar of battle, staining the marauder banners a deep crimson.
It wasn't just the soldiers of Xilin Town who suffered. It was the dead of night, and the marauders' speed was so overwhelming that many civilians hadn't had time to flee. They were now running in chaotic disarray through the streets, huddling together in fear.
The marauders, bloodthirsty and merciless, cared not for the lives of innocents. They charged into the crowds on horseback, much like butchers entering a slaughterhouse, hacking down unarmed civilians. Their screams and pleas for mercy rang out, but were swiftly silenced under the flashing horse blades, turning Xilin Town into a sea of blood.
The mercenaries, meanwhile, were tightly huddled around Kino, surrounded by at least a hundred marauders. Everywhere in sight, warhorses stampeded, and the glint of razor-sharp blades shone.
Lugo gripped his shield and spear, his face twisted in a snarl as he cursed, "Damn it, looks like you'll have to pay me in your next life."
"I don't like dragging things out," Kino remarked, his gaze fixed on the collapsing city gate. When the last of the marauders charged into Xilin Town, he drew the second Howling Thunderbolt from his pack, igniting it with a firebrand and launching it into the sky.
"Whooosh—Boom!" The deafening roar echoed across the heavens, turning the sky the same color as the earth below.
"Everyone, put on your bird-beak masks!" Kino ordered.
"Bird-beak masks?" Lugo paused in confusion, fumbling for the mask at his waist, muttering curses. "Damn it, you're not..."
Moments after the Howling Thunderbolt exploded, a chorus of eerie roars rose from the distant night. The sounds had become muddled and indistinct after traveling through the air, but even at this distance, their overwhelming presence was undeniable.
More astonishingly, everyone could feel an invisible pressure emanating from that direction, as if a wall of air was pressing down on them, suffocating them in its wake.
At that moment, even the most elite of the marauders involuntarily held their breath, a deep, unexplainable fear seeping from every pore of their bodies, sending primal warnings through the battlefield.
Gradually, the warhorses beneath the marauders began to grow restless, their movements difficult to control—a sign of only one thing…
A monster was approaching.
The marauder at the front swallowed hard, instinctively raising his torch. As the flickering flame illuminated the approaching dark shape, his body froze in terror, and he screamed, "Plague beast!!!"
"Raaaah!!!" The twisted shadow lunged forward, its massive hands grasping the marauder's head, ripping him from his saddle and lifting him into the air.
The marauder's skull couldn't withstand the overwhelming force, and cracks began to appear in his skull. Despite the excruciating pain, he gripped his horse blade, attempting to strike the creature.
But to his horror, the sharp blade had no effect on the monster. It let out a ferocious roar, blood spurting from its body as it snapped its shark-like teeth, sinking them into the marauder's wrist and, amidst the screams of agony, tearing him apart.
Blood sprayed, and the creature crushed the marauder's head in one hand and his legs in the other, twisting his body like a bundle of twine, drinking the blood as it spilled out and then consuming him whole.
The torch fell from the corpse's hand, and the onlookers finally glimpsed the true nature of the monster.
The Plague Beast, a creature twisted by the late stages of the plague infection.
Though it retained some semblance of humanity, its muscular form was covered in black, diseased tissues, like grotesque, writhing maggots. Its veins, resembling worms, bulged beneath the skin, appearing a deep, sickly purple. Its back even bore a decaying arm, the fingers sharpened into claws, dripping with blood and flesh—likely some kind of weapon for battle.
The plague transformation was brutal. Once infected, there was no cure; the disease could only be kept in check by blood treatments.
If left untreated, the disease would worsen, transforming the infected into these monstrous beings—creatures neither human nor beast.
In Dorrland, aside from the use of salt crystals to prevent infection, blood treatments to control the plague, and alchemists searching for ways to cure it, infected Plague Beasts were often used as live subjects for experimentation.
Thus, under normal circumstances, Plague Beasts were not to be killed. They had to be captured alive, caged in iron enclosures, and quarantined in lower-level plague zones, waiting for the alchemists to gather samples for study.
These beasts had no humanity left—only primal instincts. They hunted any living creatures that emitted a different scent, and their mutated bodies gave them strength far beyond that of ordinary men.
The deadliest aspect was that every Plague Beast was a source of the disease, and contact with them could result in infection.
Uller's scalp tingled as he observed the sudden appearance of so many Plague Beasts. He barked at his messengers, "Spread the word! Everyone, apply salt crystals!"
As he spoke, he took a piece of the blue salt crystal from his pack, rubbing it on his nostrils, lips, and around his eyes, and swallowing some for internal protection.
The marauders, upon receiving the same orders, followed suit.
Kino narrowed his eyes, taking note of the desert fire and salt crystals. The secret alchemical knowledge of Dorrland seemed to be in the hands of these marauders.
Was it just a coincidence?
Or was it…?
Before Kino could dwell on the thought, the sound of battle cries interrupted his musings.
Just like the bird-beak masks, the salt crystals protected the user from infection. The marauders, now undeterred, raised their blades once more, charging forward.
Lugo, shield and spear in hand, laughed in the midst of the chaos, "So this was your backup plan? Wait until all the marauders enter the city, then open the plague zone and unleash the Plague Beasts."
Kino raised his crossbow, shooting a marauder with deadly precision. "If you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears."
"Oh, no, no, no, this tactic is awesome!" Lugo roared, raising his shield to block the beast's claws. He dropped his spear, drew his sword, and sliced the creature's massive head clean off. "Of course, it would be even better if they knew how to avoid us."
From behind them, a grim voice spoke: "Plague Beasts can only distinguish between their own kind and others. To them, whether we are marauders or not, we are all just prey."
Baisa, hearing this, turned around in joy and shouted, "Paladin!"
Paladin, wearing a bird-beak mask and still dressed in mostly intact clothing, cursed as he muttered, "I was just a little too late. I nearly got devoured by the Plague Beasts, but luckily I ran fast enough."