Even Aum, Our Ally, Was Stunned by the Sight
Even Aum, their own ally, was stunned by the sight. His command came a beat too late.
He bellowed at the Nod warriors manning the ballistae. “Fire!”
Thung! With a heavy thud, a massive bolt like a giant spear shot out in the blink of an eye.
It collided head-on with the accelerating charge of the skeleton cavalry. Crunch!
The bolt pierced through a gap in the skeleton's armor but failed to fully penetrate its body, lodging there instead. But that was enough.
Dozens of skeleton riders couldn't withstand the impact and were hurled from their skeletal mounts.
“N-Now! Surround them!”
“Without mobility, we're superior!”
“Overwhelm them with numbers!”
The Nods swarmed like zombies, mercilessly hacking at the fallen skeletons with swords and axes. Dozens of frenzied blows. The skeletons shattered and slowly faded away.
As more than a few dozen met this fate, the remaining skeleton cavalry ground their teeth in rage and retreated to their main lines.
“Ballistae? Using siege weapons, no less...! Ha! This is getting fun!”
Loki's red eyes gleamed with interest.
Even if ballistae were slow to reload and less accurate, their range and power were unmatched. Facing them head-on, it was no surprise the skeleton cavalry couldn't hold.
But charging without a wedge formation would just sacrifice mobility and lead to encirclement and pointless annihilation.
“Second wave: skeleton warriors...? No, that won't work either.”
Skeleton warriors wielding greatswords boasted tremendous attack power but were vulnerable defensively. A barrage of ballista bolts would wipe out more than half before they even closed in.
“Then... we'll go all at once.”
Loki maneuvered his rook-like mount. At his signal, skeleton shieldbearers from the left and right flanks gripped their massive shields and advanced to form a wall. Behind them, the skeleton warriors aligned in ranks, greatswords at the ready.
They began to move.
“Aim!”
“Once they're in range, blast 'em all!”
Buoyed by repelling the skeleton cavalry, the Nods cheered wildly as the ballistae targeted the approaching undead.
At effective range, the ballistae fired with a resounding thung!, shaking the chariots. The massive bolts flew toward the lead shieldbearers—but they bounced harmlessly off shields gleaming with a faint dark sheen.
“...!”
The enormous shields barely budged from the impacts, without so much as a scratch.
“What the hell?! A siege weapon blocked by shields?!”
Like an iron fortress, the bolts bent or shattered on contact.
-Kraaaah!
As the shieldbearers screamed, hundreds of long spear shafts sprouted like thorns atop their shields. They shielded the bodies while thrusting blades through the narrow gaps.
Unbreakable shields with over a hundred spear tips like a porcupine. The advancing undead legion's majesty was overwhelming. Impenetrable even head-on. A moving fortress!
That's how it looked to the Nods. Though slow, the steady advance made them falter back.
“...Don't panic! They have no cavalry now! In close quarters, we win!”
One chieftain drew his sword and shouted.
“Charge! Smash them head-on!”
“Waaaaah!”
“W-Wait! Stop everyone! You can't break what siege weapons can't!”
Aum's urgent order was drowned in the roar. Drunk on warlust, the Nods ignored reality—especially riding high from their recent victory over the cavalry.
One confident warrior charged, and the rest blindly followed, ignoring their rear commander's desperate cries!
“Damn it! Listen to orders! Ugh! Can't control them! This is why Nods are called muscle-brained barbarians! Damn it!”
The shieldbearers' eyes gleamed as the frontal assaulters approached. The skeletons readied their pike spears.
As the Nods entered range, they thrust with full force. Pop! Air burst like an explosion, blood spraying everywhere.
The skeletons retracted and stabbed repeatedly in the blink of an eye. Each time, blood rained down like a storm.
“What?! What's happening?!”
The charging Nods suddenly recoiled. Each spear thrust pulverized humans like siege hammers.
“...M-Monsters!”
“Fall back! Frontal's impossible!”
Someone judged the front unbreakable and yelled.
“T-Target the flanks!”
The Nods moved to left and right flanks, but blood soon painted the scene there too. Slash!
Nod bodies split in two. Skeleton warriors had swung their greatswords.
The lead skeleton warrior, seeing the hesitant Nods, provocatively beckoned with fingers clad in jet-black gauntlets, head held high arrogantly—as if inviting them anytime.
“U-Uwaaaah!”
“Run!”
Terror-stricken Nods fled without looking back. Aum let out a bitter laugh.
“Damn, how much blood spilled now! I drilled into them before battle to follow orders...!”
This was Aum's first time commanding so many Nods. Their hot-blooded impulsiveness made control a nightmare.
“Everyone, fall back! Reform ranks! Blind charges just make you prey!”
Aum bellowed until his throat burned. The Nods finally trickled back to formation—but those who didn't hear deserted in endless fear.
Growing overwhelmed by the unruly Nods, Aum gritted his teeth and glared at the pressing undead.
“Still, their mobility sucks. Keep distance, and they can't close. We have counters if not melee... But...”
Aum eyed Loki's distant formation. For some reason, the skeleton longbowmen and assassins merely held position around Loki's palanquin.
Moving just the shieldbearers and bowmen would panic him, but Loki sending troops piecemeal gnawed at him.
What’s his game...?
Before Aum: roughly 100 skeleton shieldbearers, 50 warriors behind. Skeleton cavalry retreated to regroup, but crushing this force meant the remaining bowmen and assassins couldn't handle 5,000 Nods.
Victory hinged on how he commanded now.
What’s he thinking? Some trump card?
Anyone else dispersing forces like this would be a fool—but having faced him, Aum sensed something off in this seemingly ridiculous strategy, like toying for amusement.
...Testing me? How I'll counter? Or... testing something else?
Like a great god amused by squirming mortals. Maybe he was just enjoying the 'game'.
“So damn cocky! Laughable!”
Aum glanced at Kudan.
Kudan could pierce that... but can't lose him here! Save Kudan for the demon!
Aum gritted his teeth and raised his hand. “Per! Take the chariots and hit their flanks and rear! No matter how tough, no shields there means nothing!”
Per nodded, mounted a chariot, and whipped the horses. The chariot unit looped around with superior mobility, slicing into the skeletons' flank in an instant.
Wheels kicked up snow, forming vision-obscuring mist. But as it cleared, Per instructed the Nod warrior aiming the small ballista.
“Aim true, all of you! Don't hit our own on the other side... Huh?”
Per tilted his head, peering at the clarifying undead ranks. Their red eyes fixed on the chariots.
In that moment... something flew and pierced the ballista operator.
“...A spear?”
Per whipped his head toward the thrown direction in shock. Through the clearing mist... where sword-wielding skeleton warriors should be, they held spears—with massive quivers strapped to their backs.
“...Not just sword troops?!”
As Per cried out in horror, the skeleton warriors drew javelins from their backs in unison. The wooden hafts crackled faintly as they gripped them.
They hurled with immense force. Crude spears sharpened from logs, but from greatsword-wielding berserkers, their power was monstrous.
Chariots flipped, sweeping up followers. Nods tumbled off, impaled as a bonus.
“D-Danger! Fire back! Don't give them throwing room!”
Ballistae targeted the warriors. The barrage began! Bolts flew; javelins rained.
Chariot numbers dwindled over time. Most skeleton warriors shattered or faded too—but they never forgot their duty, hurling until near dissolution, heads crushed, limbs smashed, bolts embedded.
“...What happened?”
Aum couldn't see inside clearly through chariot dust and the shield wall. But glimpsing overturned chariots afar, he ground his teeth.
Javelin ranged attacks, no less...!
“Then... strike the king!”
Under Aum's command, the chariots ignored the vanguard and charged the main body.
As they aimed ballistae at Loki on the palanquin, skeleton longbowmen stepped forward. Crossbows front, longbows rear.
They nocked arrows at the rushing chariots.
“...What? Them! At this range...?”
Amid panicked voices, an arrow storm poured down. Skeleton archers' skill, [Penetration]. Ignores 10% defense, vastly boosts range and accuracy!
Charging chariots became pincushions and flipped.
“Damn it! Not retreating after coming this far! Land one hit at least!”
Per's chariot weaved through arrows. It fired at Loki—but!
Clang! Like striking hard metal, the bolt halted against a translucent dark barrier.
Loki atop the palanquin raised a crude staff; a circular transparent wall enveloped him.
“Defense magic?! Such bullshit...!”
As Per cursed, his chariot flipped under arrows. He tumbled onto the ice, bones cracking as he slumped lifelessly.