House of Amarin - Chapter 186

It was a clear, bright day. One could call it perfect. The sky was blue, and the sun was out, turning the white ice and snow painfully bright. On the walls, the Misfits watched with severe looks as a sea of black grew larger and larger on the Horizon. It would be a lie to say that they were not afraid. Everybody was at that moment.

"At least it isn't night," Raufon stated, breaking the nervous silence and drawing a smile onto the others' faces.

"Or raining," Keily added before both of them received a gentle knock on the back of their heads from Koa.

"Stop it! If you want to jinx us all, why not say it will rain, miasma?! Eeep?!"

It was the first time anyone heard her yelp out like that because Aurora slapped her bottom with a black tentacle from meters away in retaliation. Still, it let out such a loud echo that it signaled she used enough strength to make her really feel it.

"Who jinxes who?" She wrote in the air with a roll of her violet eyes. "Idiots."

"What a superstitious bunch." Ayashi chuckled, standing with her daughter and Lia at a different part of the wall, looking at them with worry in her eyes. She didn't want the younger generation to die here.

"They are just letting some frustration evaporate." Simbad answered, tilting his head, "It is good so they can focus… we have the advantage."

"Do we?" She turned towards him, seeing his gaze looking over his shoulder, towards the huge, freshly erected ice towers and Ceiline standing on one of them, coordinating her many peashooters from there like a conductor.

"Yes." Simbad nodded his head, forming a small smile. "My grandfather was a member of Lady Reyra's adventurer group. When they faced the Undead at Mount Halaghern, he alone held back hundreds at the mountain's depths. He guarded their rear while they retreated, stopping them for hours… Defending an advantageous position is always easier."

"Only we don't have a place to retreat to."

"Because we don't need to!" Lia chimed in, watching the arriving army of the Undead. "There won't be a second exodus this time around!"

The Undead's side stopped on the flat, wide field, slowly lining up in multiple rows, looking like a real army, wearing armor and brandishing weapons. Most of them were simple, non-magical tools, but they counted as low-level artifacts in their hands, coated in their unnatural miasma. The true concern was the 5 to 6-meter-tall behemoths coming in the rear, being brute weapons, prepared to throw them at the walls and wreak havoc freely.

"Stop here!" Io sent his order through his mental connection to the horde, and all the controlling subordinates acted as one, stopping the bodies in perfect synchronization. "We are just outside of the reach of their spells! Start circling the city! Yuya, you go and take up the opposite side at their north-facing gate!"

"Okay." She answered calmly and briefly, deep inside, hoping in this battle she would have a chance to consume his soul and explode forth in strength… with the cherry on top being able to obtain Lia's body.

Watching the horde spread out and completely surround the city almost made Rinzen activate the city's defenses, holding back the last moment when Lia gently patted her back. That was enough to make her regain her composure as the aura from this many abominations was pressing down on them hard. Taking a deep breath, she sent her mana down into the glacier below their feet, and a gentle breeze washed over the city, alleviating the pressure that everybody started feeling. It was like a gentle mother standing behind their backs, holding their shoulders, filling them with the needed courage to face the inevitable. It was the right amount of bravery that everybody required at that moment.

"They are in range!" Ceiline transmitted her message to Lia, getting her answer very quickly.

"Don't shoot yet! They have a lot of weapon-grade abominations! Let them bring those forward first! Fire at them when they get a bit closer! If they know we can shoot that far, they will bring the inactive ones further back. Don't give them a chance so later on, we can cut them off before they can replenish their numbers!"

"When have you studied tactics like this?" Ayashi asked, smiling softly, expecting that it was Reyra who taught her.

"The Headmaster. When I was studying No-Space, he always gave examples of how to use teleportation as a weapon. We went through multiple battle scenarios, and how could it change the course of a battle." She answered with a nostalgic smile and couldn't help but think about Lucian. She really wanted him to be here now… but that was only a fleeting thought.

When the city was completely surrounded, they could see the hundreds of giant, multi-armed, and though-looking monsters coming to life, shaking up a great amount of snow with every step of theirs. Some looked human, while others were more animal-like. The worst thing was... that they were clearly stitched together, a crude flesh mold created by evil magic. Yet, even with their height, they could not reach the top of the walls surrounding the city. That was when the first spell of the Undead army manifested itself. They were conjuring siege weapons from out of nowhere, summoning them from No-Space, and reinforcing them with their magic. Most were giant siege towers, ready to be pushed towards the walls so the horde could climb up and flood the top, aiming to open the gates.

"Can't you… enter No-Space and destroy their stuff in there?" Rinzen asked while watching, but Lia just shook her head.

"They are not just floating in there… they are using their own separated spaces, like how our holding bags work. Finding and destroying them would take time, and I would miss the battle. But… don't you notice something?"

"Hm?" They asked in unison, looking at the enemy, and it was Sion who realized it first.

"They have no cannons."

"Yeah." Lia nodded, "They either a step behind in technology, being where we were at the previous Dark Age, or they will rely on spells only!"

"The defensive division is ready if that is the case! We can deploy barriers to stop them! If they only use their mana, it is good because that is an extra expenditure!" Ayashi smirked, happy to hear some good news.

"Or they just look down on it." Simbad murmured, tilting his head from one side to the other, "From what Lia told us so far… they are a proud bunch and probably think lowly of anything non-magical."

"Good for us! They will learn it now, then!" Raufon laughed, cracking his knuckles, already waiting for the battle. "And who says our cannons are non-magical? Hehehe..."

He didn't have to wait long as the first line of behemoths brought the first siege ladders forward on all sides.

"You are up, Ceiline!" Lia shouted, and with that, she waved her hand, and the hundred or so giant Peashooters acted at the same time, spewing massive fireballs bombarding the approaching enemy.

Their response was to raise a bubble of miasma that at first managed to withstand the attacks, but Ceiline's creations were relentless. They drew in mana from their surroundings, and their energies were replenished from the ice below faster than they could consume it. The first to blow was at the west-facing side of the wall. The protective miasma broke apart, and when the fireballs landed, it engulfed the structure in flames, the same as the undead beast pushing it. Its human-like form with its four arms caught on fire, and with a roar, it abandoned its post, rushing forward, being the first to reach the walls.

While on fire, it started banging against it and trying to climb it. Every hit it landed made it shake, but the soldiers' response was uniform. People with multiple attributes of spells, be it fire, wind, or electricity, fired back at once, bombarding its body. Even though it was a monster created by vile magic, it was not invulnerable. Meeting such a thing alone or as an adventurer group was to be feared. Maybe even flee from it. But now? Being the target of a hundred spells at once? Its fate was guaranteed as it fell apart, destroyed… but not killed.

Not long after, at the side of the Undead army, another such creation rose from its squatting position. The souls, the cultivators controlling the previous one, simply let their spirits fly back and occupy a new puppet body as they returned to the fray. Soon, multiple siege ladders reached the walls just so the defenders could destroy them, use their magic to push down the swarm and unleash a wide area of spells into their midst.

"So many…" Ceiline murmured, standing on her tall tower, controlling her peashooters to focus on the giant ones while their mages handled the regular Undead. The previously twinkling, white snow was no longer visible, only a sea of white hair and green eyes surrounding the city like a puddle of death. There seemed to be no end to them, and no matter if they killed a hundred, another batch took their place, trying to climb or break through the walls.

"It's time, sound the cannons!"

It was Lia's voice that made Ceiline flinch, and she could see from her tower as the dozens of barrels, facing toward all directions, came to life. Their roar sounded like a dragon's roar, flame bursting from their barrels as magically reinforced cannonballs flew forward near the speed of sound. Some were simple, without any real magic, yet when landing between the ranks of Undead, the lower-class bodies were torn apart, blasted into nothing, throwing them into the air along with the snow below their feet.

What created a real scene and brought destruction to their ranks were those that were infused with magic and counted as one-time-use artifacts, mostly shot out by the weapons taken off from their warships. One such cannonball landed at the back-lines of the attacking army, hitting multiple, dormant weapon-grade Undead. The explosion brought forth rolling, golden flames, melting through the unnatural bodies, turning them into goo. It was the first time for Io to curse out, hastily ordering his men to fall back, but it was too late. They couldn't tell how far those weapons could shoot, and they were bombarding their most valuable weapons.

"Stop them!" He roared.

He wanted to do it himself. He could have, but then again… no matter how he disliked Killieth, he could see his point. He was amongst the normal Undead, waiting for a breakthrough to rush in. If he revealed himself now… No. It was not time yet, and if Yuya, that hot-headed twerp, didn't lose her head yet, he couldn't afford it. But that didn't mean he couldn't order the Grand Elders to act.

"Protect the beast bodies!" Io demanded, his voice cold and menacing.

A moment later, the next salvo of cannonballs met with robust and green-glowing energy shields, stopping them mid-air, where they exploded and showered the ranks of regular Undead with their magical effects. It was chaos, but the back lines in the southern part of the battle were spared this time.

"Are they the leaders?" Ayashi asked, but both Rinzen and Lia, who were observing, facing towards South, shook their heads.

"Those Undead are not at the Three Ri stage… but… maybe they are the leaders."

"We should focus on them." Rinzen exhaled, and there was a tacit agreement between everybody. The canons turned and aimed directly at them, prompting more Grand Elders to step up to form an even more vigorous defense to resist the cannon fire.

"Keep up the bombardment and bring out more of those fuckers!" Lia smirked, glancing around the battlefield, seeing how thousands of soldiers were battling, using artifact spells, pushing Undead back off from the walls, and doing everything to keep them at bay. Those who were injured were brought away, fresh soldiers quickly replacing them, using their spells without holding back anything.

"What are you planning?" Rinzen asked, seeing her turning away to teleport. "The ship?"

"Yes." Lia nodded. "Draw as much of them in that spot as you can! I will deliver them our biggest gift… True Death!"

Corty

Get your DeLoreans ready, folks; Aurora has arrived!

It was a clear, bright day. One could call it perfect. The sky was blue, and the sun was out, turning the white ice and snow painfully bright. On the walls, the Misfits watched with severe looks as a sea of black grew larger and larger on the Horizon. It would be a lie to say that they were not afraid. Everybody was at that moment. "At least it isn't night," Raufon stated, breaking the nervous silence and drawing a smile onto the others' faces. "Or raining," Keily added before both of them received a gentle knock on the back of their heads from Koa. "Stop it! If you want to jinx us all, why not say it will rain, miasma?! Eeep?!" It was the first time anyone heard her yelp out like that because Aurora slapped her bottom with a black tentacle from meters away in retaliation. Still, it let out such a loud echo that it signaled she used enough strength to make her really feel it. "Who jinxes who?" She wrote in the air with a roll of her violet eyes. "Idiots." "What a superstitious bunch." Ayashi chuckled, standing with her daughter and Lia at a different part of the wall, looking at them with worry in her eyes. She didn't want the younger generation to die here. "They are just letting some frustration evaporate." Simbad answered, tilting his head, "It is good so they can focus we have the advantage." "Do we?" She turned towards him, seeing his gaze looking over his shoulder, towards the huge, freshly erected ice towers and Ceiline standing on one of them, coordinating her many peashooters from there like a conductor. "Yes." Simbad nodded his head, forming a small smile. "My grandfather was a member of Lady Reyra's adventurer group. When they faced the Undead at Mount Halaghern, he alone held back hundreds at the mountain's depths. He guarded their rear while they retreated, stopping them for hours Defending an advantageous position is always easier." "Only we don't have a place to retreat to." "Because we don't need to!" Lia chimed in, watching the arriving army of the Undead. "There won't be a second exodus this time around!" The Undead's side stopped on the flat, wide field, slowly lining up in multiple rows, looking like a real army, wearing armor and brandishing weapons. Most of them were simple, non-magical tools, but they counted as low-level artifacts in their hands, coated in their unnatural miasma. The true concern was the 5 to 6-meter-tall behemoths coming in the rear, being brute weapons, prepared to throw them at the walls and wreak havoc freely. "Stop here!" Io sent his order through his mental connection to the horde, and all the controlling subordinates acted as one, stopping the bodies in perfect synchronization. "We are just outside of the reach of their spells! Start circling the city! Yuya, you go and take up the opposite side at their north-facing gate!" "Okay." She answered calmly and briefly, deep inside, hoping in this battle she would have a chance to consume his soul and explode forth in strength with the cherry on top being able to obtain Lia's body. Watching the horde spread out and completely surround the city almost made Rinzen activate the city's defenses, holding back the last moment when Lia gently patted her back. That was enough to make her regain her composure as the aura from this many abominations was pressing down on them hard. Taking a deep breath, she sent her mana down into the glacier below their feet, and a gentle breeze washed over the city, alleviating the pressure that everybody started feeling. It was like a gentle mother standing behind their backs, holding their shoulders, filling them with the needed courage to face the inevitable. It was the right amount of bravery that everybody required at that moment. "They are in range!" Ceiline transmitted her message to Lia, getting her answer very quickly. "Don't shoot yet! They have a lot of weapon-grade abominations! Let them bring those forward first! Fire at them when they get a bit closer! If they know we can shoot that far, they will bring the inactive ones further back. Don't give them a chance so later on, we can cut them off before they can replenish their numbers!" "When have you studied tactics like this?" Ayashi asked, smiling softly, expecting that it was Reyra who taught her. "The Headmaster. When I was studying No-Space, he always gave examples of how to use teleportation as a weapon. We went through multiple battle scenarios, and how could it change the course of a battle." She answered with a nostalgic smile and couldn't help but think about Lucian. She really wanted him to be here now but that was only a fleeting thought. When the city was completely surrounded, they could see the hundreds of giant, multi-armed, and though-looking monsters coming to life, shaking up a great amount of snow with every step of theirs. Some looked human, while others were more animal-like. The worst thing was... that they were clearly stitched together, a crude flesh mold created by evil magic. Yet, even with their height, they could not reach the top of the walls surrounding the city. That was when the first spell of the Undead army manifested itself. They were conjuring siege weapons from out of nowhere, summoning them from No-Space, and reinforcing them with their magic. Most were giant siege towers, ready to be pushed towards the walls so the horde could climb up and flood the top, aiming to open the gates. "Can't you enter No-Space and destroy their stuff in there?" Rinzen asked while watching, but Lia just shook her head. "They are not just floating in there they are using their own separated spaces, like how our holding bags work. Finding and destroying them would take time, and I would miss the battle. But don't you notice something?" "Hm?" They asked in unison, looking at the enemy, and it was Sion who realized it first. "They have no cannons." "Yeah." Lia nodded, "They either a step behind in technology, being where we were at the previous Dark Age, or they will rely on spells only!" "The defensive division is ready if that is the case! We can deploy barriers to stop them! If they only use their mana, it is good because that is an extra expenditure!" Ayashi smirked, happy to hear some good news. "Or they just look down on it." Simbad murmured, tilting his head from one side to the other, "From what Lia told us so far they are a proud bunch and probably think lowly of anything non-magical." "Good for us! They will learn it now, then!" Raufon laughed, cracking his knuckles, already waiting for the battle. "And who says our cannons are non-magical? Hehehe..." He didn't have to wait long as the first line of behemoths brought the first siege ladders forward on all sides. "You are up, Ceiline!" Lia shouted, and with that, she waved her hand, and the hundred or so giant Peashooters acted at the same time, spewing massive fireballs bombarding the approaching enemy. Their response was to raise a bubble of miasma that at first managed to withstand the attacks, but Ceiline's creations were relentless. They drew in mana from their surroundings, and their energies were replenished from the ice below faster than they could consume it. The first to blow was at the west-facing side of the wall. The protective miasma broke apart, and when the fireballs landed, it engulfed the structure in flames, the same as the undead beast pushing it. Its human-like form with its four arms caught on fire, and with a roar, it abandoned its post, rushing forward, being the first to reach the walls. While on fire, it started banging against it and trying to climb it. Every hit it landed made it shake, but the soldiers' response was uniform. People with multiple attributes of spells, be it fire, wind, or electricity, fired back at once, bombarding its body. Even though it was a monster created by vile magic, it was not invulnerable. Meeting such a thing alone or as an adventurer group was to be feared. Maybe even flee from it. But now? Being the target of a hundred spells at once? Its fate was guaranteed as it fell apart, destroyed but not killed. Not long after, at the side of the Undead army, another such creation rose from its squatting position. The souls, the cultivators controlling the previous one, simply let their spirits fly back and occupy a new puppet body as they returned to the fray. Soon, multiple siege ladders reached the walls just so the defenders could destroy them, use their magic to push down the swarm and unleash a wide area of spells into their midst. "So many" Ceiline murmured, standing on her tall tower, controlling her peashooters to focus on the giant ones while their mages handled the regular Undead. The previously twinkling, white snow was no longer visible, only a sea of white hair and green eyes surrounding the city like a puddle of death. There seemed to be no end to them, and no matter if they killed a hundred, another batch took their place, trying to climb or break through the walls. "It's time, sound the cannons!" It was Lia's voice that made Ceiline flinch, and she could see from her tower as the dozens of barrels, facing toward all directions, came to life. Their roar sounded like a dragon's roar, flame bursting from their barrels as magically reinforced cannonballs flew forward near the speed of sound. Some were simple, without any real magic, yet when landing between the ranks of Undead, the lower-class bodies were torn apart, blasted into nothing, throwing them into the air along with the snow below their feet. What created a real scene and brought destruction to their ranks were those that were infused with magic and counted as one-time-use artifacts, mostly shot out by the weapons taken off from their warships. One such cannonball landed at the back-lines of the attacking army, hitting multiple, dormant weapon-grade Undead. The explosion brought forth rolling, golden flames, melting through the unnatural bodies, turning them into goo. It was the first time for Io to curse out, hastily ordering his men to fall back, but it was too late. They couldn't tell how far those weapons could shoot, and they were bombarding their most valuable weapons. "Stop them!" He roared. He wanted to do it himself. He could have, but then again no matter how he disliked Killieth, he could see his point. He was amongst the normal Undead, waiting for a breakthrough to rush in. If he revealed himself now No. It was not time yet, and if Yuya, that hot-headed twerp, didn't lose her head yet, he couldn't afford it. But that didn't mean he couldn't order the Grand Elders to act. "Protect the beast bodies!" Io demanded, his voice cold and menacing. A moment later, the next salvo of cannonballs met with robust and green-glowing energy shields, stopping them mid-air, where they exploded and showered the ranks of regular Undead with their magical effects. It was chaos, but the back lines in the southern part of the battle were spared this time. "Are they the leaders?" Ayashi asked, but both Rinzen and Lia, who were observing, facing towards South, shook their heads. "Those Undead are not at the Three Ri stage but maybe they are the leaders." "We should focus on them." Rinzen exhaled, and there was a tacit agreement between everybody. The canons turned and aimed directly at them, prompting more Grand Elders to step up to form an even more vigorous defense to resist the cannon fire. "Keep up the bombardment and bring out more of those fuckers!" Lia smirked, glancing around the battlefield, seeing how thousands of soldiers were battling, using artifact spells, pushing Undead back off from the walls, and doing everything to keep them at bay. Those who were injured were brought away, fresh soldiers quickly replacing them, using their spells without holding back anything. "What are you planning?" Rinzen asked, seeing her turning away to teleport. "The ship?" "Yes." Lia nodded. "Draw as much of them in that spot as you can! I will deliver them our biggest gift True Death!" Corty Get your DeLoreans ready, folks; Aurora has arrived! Spoiler collapse