376 War: Blessings (1/2)

One roar signaled the start of it all…

The sound was heard by everyone who's waiting for their arrival.

At first it was just a few of them, but as they approached the kingdom closer, their numbers easily surpassed hundreds of thousands, and that number quickly became millions.

The sight of their forces was unnerving. At a distance, they looked like a swarm of locusts but as they got closer, they grew in size and became a horrifying force. Their combined presence caused the sky to darken even more. It was as if they were bringing the storm with them.

Some people found it hard to believe that there are this many Demonic Beast living in this plane, yet the sight of their army gave them a brutal awakening.

Needless to say, there was no escaping this. They have to fight, or else they will lose everything that they hold dear.

Marching along with the demonic beasts are the accumulated forces of the Black Curtain Guild.

Most of their forces had gleaming red eyes, and were even acting wilder than demonic beast themselves. No one could see it clearly due to their black veils and masks but most of them are wearing savage smiles underneath those masks. It was as if they were driven mad by something that also caused to them lose their sanity.

Luis stood tall on top of the walls, beside him are King Alexander, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Balmung, the veterans and the rest of the Golden Knights.

His cold gaze observed the approaching army while his arms are crossed. Once they entered a certain distance, he shifted his gaze to one of his men and nodded. The man nodded back and raised his hand, he then roared:

”Trebuchets!”

Sounds of gears and mechanisms were heard. The man kept his fist raised and waited for the perfect timing. Once he saw it, his eyes gleamed. He pushed his fist forward and roared:

”Fire!”

*Woosh!* *Woosh!*

Each trebuchet fire off projectiles that arched towards the beast horde. Some of the smarter beasts evaded the boulders while some weren't paying attention and was hit by them.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

Huge explosions rocked their ranks, causing chaos on their march. None of them knew that the projectiles fired by the trebuchets had an additional effect. Some of them had Explosion Runes with them, causing the projectiles to explode into shards. Some of them will release deadly poison, causing death and decay to those unfortunate to inhale them. Others burst into flames, some are made out of metals, and etc.

The chaos was amongst their ranks are so severe that it caused their approach to slow down. The explosions kicked off clouds of dust, reducing visibility on the battlefield.

*Roar!*

Pained roars, desperate whines, dying noises, all of this was caused by the traps that the Lair Hunters prepared before hand. These traps includes spike traps, snares, poisons, pit falls, explosives, and etc.

By now, at the casualties of the Beast Horde are quickly rising. However due to the great number of beasts marching towards them, the amount of the fallen seems negligible

”Archers, Catapults, Cannons! On my mark!” Luis roared as soon as the horde came closer.

He raised fist high up in the air as the soldiers waited for his command. Observing their speed and making calculations on his mind, he waited for the perfect timing before he gave out the order.

As soon as Luis made an announcement, Anne summoned her eagle and flew towards the firing squad with bow on her hand. Her pupils gleamed as her vast aura was felt by the firing squad.

”Blessing of the Wind: Calming Gusts.”

Gusts of gentle winds comforted every soldier, a warm green light emerged from Anne's body and permeated through their souls, giving them confidence and a boost of strength.

Her blessings caused the worries of the firing squad to melt like snow under the glare of sunlight. Their uncertainties about their aim and their performance in the war, was replaced by utter confidence and calmness that Anne brought with her joining them.