Chapter 652 (1/2)

When the Wight attack came for Southpoint Beach, even Randidly was stunned by its scope. Mere 6 hours after they had landed at the harbor, they were forced to retreat as hundreds of thousands of Wights rushed in their tiny boats to assault the shore. There were so many that it was almost impossible to see the water for all the boats cruising forward towards them.

Looking at how thickly packed the groups were, Randidly cursed bitterly that he still had almost seven hours left on the cooldown for his Mana. If he had spells… especially Hammer of the Dawn, or Incendiary Eruption…

But even so, it was hard to imagine making a dent in the vast sea of Wights.

“I didn’t even think there were this many Wights alive,” Skarch said, scratching her jaw. The four of them, (Randidly, Skarch, Azriel, and Sergeant Platton) were standing on a small hill behind the main part of the base, giving them a clear view of what was occurring on it. Platton assured them that they would be able to do nothing to help, and pulled the group in the way.

Silo was currently off in the wilderness wrestling with an ever larger flow of strangely corrosive Aether, but the vibes that energy was throwing off were bad enough that he didn’t bother to inform the rest of the group that he knew where Silo was. Whatever was going on, this seemed like something the weirdo had to work through himself.

At the time of forming the original ambush plan, Randidly had been somewhat non-believing. But even he was exhausted looking at the enemies coming towards them. He rubbed his chest and winced. Sometimes there were small flickers… He wasn’t completely sure that surgeon had removed all of the crystal fragments. But Randidly understood the difficulty in doing so. It just made him uneasy.

Or perhaps he was just paranoid in the face of so many enemies.

“Can they defend?” Azriel asked Platton.

Platton shrugged, his face twisted into a frown. “...it pains me to say it, but no. Colonel Euthna is strong, but this…” He spread his hands out helplessly.

The group agreed with him, although no one voiced their opinions. The rest of Sergeant Platton’s squad was already moving ahead, setting out points for them to ambush the attacking Wights. But this group remained to bear witness to the base’s final moments. Luckily, Randidly could spot no Witch Kings, so at least that threat wasn’t hanging over the base.

“Is there no sort of equipment to fend off large groups? A canon or something?” Randidly asked, already knowing the answer.

Sergeant Platton struggled. “All beautiful things are imperfect. That is why we love them. So is our world.”

Randidly said nothing. What was there to say? It was hard not to think that the spear users had perversely chosen this end by so single-mindedly pursuing the spear.

The Wight boats hit to shore and the strange, fragile bodies leaped off and began to charge towards the base. Although their limbs were slim and sharp, their diaphanous cloaks around them gave them a strange sense of size. They seemed to be a school of vengeful jellyfish rushing out of the deep to murder the land dwellers.

When the lines met, the spear users crushed them. Then they crushed the next wave. Then the next and the next.

One by one, spear users along the line began to die. And very quickly, there were so many Wights that they could flank the group of spear users, and all the spear users along the edge of the grouping began to be surrounded and die.

There was a breaking point, and all at once the Wights were ripping through their lines everywhere. Randidly narrowed his eyes, and he could distantly trace several spear users that seemed transcendent in their ability to kill Wights. Those few held together the last bit of resistance against the sea of bodies that were surging forward. Those few were the aegis of the spear users, and around them, none would fall.

“Do you think it foolish? That we refused to embrace other Paths to strength? I want each of you to answer,” Sergeant Platton said slowly. He turned and gave Randidly a wry smile. “...you last. I suspect I know what your answer will be.”

“No,” Skarch said simply. “What else could we do? There are no weapons that would have been better suited to this battle than the spear. It is truly perfect.”