BXBX NOVEL Chapter 183: Fight!
It felt like a stone pressed on their chests, making it difficult to breathe. The only saving grace they had it the hope that they 'might' make it out of there alive.
The Demon Horde was coming, that is for certain. And every cadet who happened to be caught outside the walls must stand their ground and fight for their survival - that's their only choice if they want to make it out of here.
'It's like the Black Sky all over again.' Cedric muttered inwardly, recalling the events that happened to the Black Thread City. 'The only difference is that the black smog creeps below instead of up.'
'They essentially function the same - to conceal the horde of demons marching inside. But while the Black Sky is a natural environmental hazard that happens because of how deeply corrupted the world was, this black fog is caused by Smog Belching Demons, whose entire purpose in life is to spew that pestilent smog.'
The Black Sky is something that not even the army stationed on the Great Wall could stop completely. It brings millions of demons along its march and the army could only shave their numbers as best as they could before letting the rest bleed out to the civilization they're protecting.
Besides not being able to completely stop the horde, the army allows some demons to pass to temper their civilization. Because while it is the army's duty to protect their people, in this era where everyone has the ability to fight - even with a non-combatant class, they should experience a taste of the real world to serve as a reminder.
The army is strong, yes. But it's not omnipotent. It can't defend against everything, they could only try their absolute best. When shit hits the fan and the army faced a problem that they can't solve on their own, it would be for the best if the people they're protecting also knows how to protect themselves until order was restored.
That's why they're letting demons attack the cities and empires behind the walls.
A Demon Horde, on the other hand, is different. This falls under the army's responsibilities and isn't something they can allow to pass the walls.
'A Medium to Large-sized horde, huh?' Cedric mused inwardly as he drank some water. 'A medium horde consists of around 500,000 demons of all shapes and sizes, it might also contain a Demon Lord (Planar Traveller level) or two.'
'A Large-sized demon horde is double that, and it's the minimum. It can go anywhere between 1 to 2 million rampaging demons and dozens of Planar Traveller level demons.'
'I guess we should count our luck here. Fortunately, it's not a Catastrophic-sized horde. Otherwise, the entire army - not just those who were stationed on the walls; North, East, West, and South...all of it, will be alarmed. After all, the catastrophic level means that a Demon King (Star Traveller) is on the move.'
His attention then turned to the large brown cloud with purple lightning swarming the walls above. Try as he might, he couldn't see through it. Something was preventing his senses from inspecting what it actually was aside from its appearance.
'The Demon Lore doesn't contain anything of that sort.' He frowned deeply before turning his attention elsewhere. 'It might be a conjoined attack of Demon Lords or one of their weapons at least. God forbids that it's an attack from a Demon King or else we will be toast.'
Cedric inhaled deeply, wincing as he caught a whiff of the pungent smell of corruption. Thankfully he has high resistance towards it or else he would've gone mad after doing that.
The rumbling of the earth got more intense the closer it got. They're within sight now, but because of the pestilent smog covering them, nobody could actually see what they'd be dealing with.
"#40." Cedric called out to one of his teammates.
"Sir?" The member replied.
"Arrow rain at 1:00, 800 meters away. It's the part where the smog is the thickest."
At his order, #40 unhesitatingly drew her bow and used the skill: Arrow Rain, at the spot Cedric pointed out.
Upon unleashing the skill, a hail of arrows rained down on the target area. They heard several cries and bellows of demons who were affected by the attack.
But aside from serving as the initial fire, the Arrow Rain also accomplished something else; it killed a Smog Belching Demon that's causing the, already awful, visibility to drop. Upon its death, the pestilent smog it was releasing dissipated as well.
Without the cover, the entire squad was finally able to see what they were dealing with - Beast and Insect Demons were the majority that showed up on their side.
Since the target was exposed, the squad was able to strategize better, and their chances of survival increased.
Cedric then tapped his badge rhythmically to connect to other Squad Leaders and help them by giving him hints:
"Order your ranged units to search for areas where the smog was the thickest. That's most likely where the Smog Belchers are hiding. Kill those and you will see what you're dealing with."
Cedric then turned to his squad and said: "This will be a test of endurance. You all have seen improvements in your time with me so you're way better than before. However, this horde will test that to the extreme. If there's any time to break your limits, it will be now."
"Fight smart, not hard. There's no honor on this battlefield, only survival matters. Use dirty tactics if you must, so long as it won't harm your teammates, it's allowed. If it brings your enemies down, use it."
"Also, try your best to stay near the extraction zone, don't go too far so that HQ can beam you up as soon as they can once the systems are back online."
"If you're feeling scared and uncertain, use Ki Pulse, or any equivalent of that, just in case, the corruption is getting stronger, I can't have any of going mad and forcing your teammates to put you down. Don't be a liability."
"Most importantly, have faith in yourself and your comrades. Hold on and don't lose it. We will make it out of here alive. That's it for me. We're about to be busy so focus on your task. Godspeed, everybody.
#1 over and out."
As soon as he's done saying this, the fight has already started...
BOOOOM!!!
The signal was fired by their comrades atop the walls, releasing volleys of shells and ammunition towards the horde. Explosions rocked the earth and fires billowed out of nowhere.
Once it began, it didn't stop. This caused the situation to turn chaotic instantly.
However, instead of complaining. The cadets who were stuck outside the walls saw this as a good thing instead.
The live fire and bombardment which seemed like fireworks were seemingly sending a message. A message that says: 'You're not alone in this fight.'
And that's the truth, isn't it? In the face of a Demon Horde, how could the iron-willed soldiers of the men stationed on the walls let these little cadets fight on their own? Where would their pride be after that? Where is the unity they're very proud of? What happened to their sworn duty to protect, if they let the kids do their job?
The cadets don't know this but every men-in-uniform practically launched themselves at the cannons. Each one wore a hardened expressions as they faced the serious threat marching towards them.
More importantly, they could hear Cedric's words thanks to his link with the other Squad Leaders and knew of their predicament. Knowing that the kids might die because of their lack of preparation, how could they stay put?
While they might not be able to kill every single demon that would pose a threat to the squads that remained outside, they could at least shave their numbers into a manageable size or even outright force the horde to retreat.
Besides, this isn't the first time the Eastern Wall Army faced a demon horde of this size. This one's just a little scarier because of the unknown variable lurking at the gates in the form of a large brown cloud with purple lightning.
With the signal fired, the fight commenced at full force.
All the trapped squads were engaged in battle. Cedric's orders rang in their ears, giving them the confidence and support to not crumble down in front of the terrifying horde,
Multi-colored lights flew and streaked through the air, leaving trails of destruction and explosions. Staves blasted magic, swords, and shields clashed with bright sparks, and skills and spells were thrown left and right.
Humans against Demons - an age-old fight that has never stopped since it began.
As Squad #1 continued fighting for their lives, they occasionally looked at how their leader was doing and couldn't help but feel immense awe.
Cedric was there, he hadn't said a single word since the fight started, but his posture was ramrod straight and his presence was like a towering pillar - sturdy and eye-catching.
With his sword billowing with overwhelming sharpness and bright orange flames that melted any corrupted creatures that came close to it, his pair of golden eyes fearlessly stared at their enemies.
Anyone who saw him like this couldn't help but feel like they were in the presence of a Hero.