Chapter 90: Time of Purification (4)
Chapter 90: Time of Purification (4)
A wicked host numbering in the hundreds surged toward them. Most were man-sized demon wights.
"Loose!"
At Eugene's command, the taut bowstrings sang in unison.
Brilliantly gleaming silver arrows streaked toward the tide of evil.
The sound of torn flesh that followed was not the usual 'THUD!' of an arrow striking flesh.
FWOOSH!
The silver arrows, imbued with purifying power, evaporated the wights' skin and chewed through their flesh.
SSSSSS!
Silver became poison to the undead, further withering and shriveling the rotting corpses.
The shinbone of a wight struck by an arrow rapidly eroded and snapped.
"KRRRK—!"
As befitted an undead creature, it crawled forward on its arms even after losing its legs, until an arrow buried itself in its forehead.
Shiver, shiver.
Its hand remained stretched toward the line of shields, trembling for two seconds.
CRACK!
Its head burst apart spectacularly and it collapsed. White steam of purification rose from the ruined head, which looked like a gnawed-open watermelon.
Demon wights riddled with silver arrows collapsed in every direction, spewing steam.
RUMBLE.
More wights charged over the corpses.
THUD-THUD-THUD!
THUMP!
Those creatures fell to silver arrows as well, and new ones charged over their bodies.
After the pattern repeated several times, the monsters finally came within ten meters of the formation.
"Now!"
"Thrust!"
Dozens of silver-plated pikes greeted the abominations.
THUNK!
Monsters pierced through the face, neck, chest, and belly tumbled backward.
The sounds of flesh being skewered rang out endlessly, and the stench of burning flesh filled the air.
The smoke was drawn straight into the ventilation system.
HUMMMMM!
The castle vibrated with joy like someone savoring a cigarette for the first time in a thousand years.
"GURGLE—!"
A demon wight whose heart had burst on a pike sprayed bloody foam from its mouth and thrashed wildly.
SSSSS.
FWOOSH!
A pike blade was several times wider than an arrowhead. With that much more silver burning the unclean flesh, some of the wounds actually burst into flame.
A wight turned into a ball of fire, its lungs cooked, gaped in a soundless scream before going limp.
SWISH!
WHIZZ!
Even with arrows passing a handspan above their heads, the heavy infantry kept their eyes on the enemy without flinching.
If they did not fear enemies that had crawled up from hell, they had no reason to fear their own allies.
The clan warriors atop wagon-mounted Scaling Ladders could fire over the formation without obstruction.
"SKREEE—!"
At last, monsters that had broken through the silver arrows and pikes hurled themselves against the shield wall.
But the faces of the shields bristled with spikes a handspan long.
Cost made silver-plating the spikes impossible, but they were more than enough to disable the monsters.
THUD!
WHAM!
The monsters had practically impaled themselves, spurting blood from huge wounds as they were flung backward.
"GRAAAAAH—!"
The ghoul flew into a rage at the sight of wights falling like autumn leaves without getting a single bite of flesh.
It roared with evil magic in its voice, but the effect shattered like a wave against rock.
The warriors felt the ghoul's breath brush their cheeks. It was nothing but a foul stench, not the least bit frightening.
"Watch overhead!"
Black, hazy evil spirits flew through the air toward them.
Dozens of beast-shaped monsters also came racing along the ceiling and walls on all fours.
"If they drop in from above, the formation will collapse! Deal with them first!"
At Eugene's command, bows loaded with silver arrows swung upward in unison.
CRACK!
CRACKLE!
Evil spirits pierced by silver arrows scattered sparks in midair before disintegrating and evaporating.
THUD!
BOOM!
The carcasses of beast-shaped monsters shot down in the same way crashed to the floor.
But their three-dimensional movement was so agile that the clan warriors had to give it everything they had.
"GRAAAH—!"
With the frontal arrow fire gone, the ghoul that had been waiting for an opening charged.
It had been born from demon corpses. It was larger and stronger than the one Eugene had encountered on the way to North Fork.
What blocked its path were the two enormous iron shields at the center of the formation. Mounted on wheels, they had gone beyond being mere shields.
They were an invention Eugene had ordered built in imitation of a body bunker.
"It's coming!"
"Drop the anchors!"
At the mercenary captain's order, the shield-bearers kicked the locking mechanisms. The wheels lifted off the floor and the anchors bit down, locking the shields firmly in place.
A moment later, the ghoul slammed bodily into them.
CRASH!
A deafening crash rang through the hall, and sparks flew from the anchors driven into the floor.
The shield-bearers held. The mercenary captain had not been exaggerating when he thought they could stop even a troll.
"GRRRR—!"
"Ugh."
A mercenary groaned at the sight of the ghoul's burning eyes right in front of him, but did not retreat a single step.
Moved by his subordinates' courage, Eugene swung his flail. The cluster of silver-plated mace heads at the end tore through the air with a savage howl.
CRASH!
Two mace heads struck the chest, and one hit the side of the face.
FWOOSH!
The flesh covering the ghoul's cheek evaporated, fully exposing shattered teeth and jawbone and a crushed cheekbone.
"■■■■-!"
The ghoul howled in the language of hell and writhed in agony.
"Kill it!"
At Rex's shout, arrows from all sides trained on the ghoul, and it raised an arm to shield its face.
CRUNCH!
But another swing of the flail shattered its forearm and swept it aside, leaving the face exposed to a volley of silver arrows.
"WAAAAAH!"
A fierce cheer erupted as the ghoul died and collapsed.
As if picking up the cheer, Marbas finished his incantation and reached out a hand.
"It is the law of the world that corpses serve the living! O dead! If you cannot become sustenance, become a wall to shield the living!"
Dozens of wight corpses around the ghoul responded to the spell.
The dead flesh burst apart and fused into a single mass. A barricade woven from bone and flesh rose in its place.
THUD!
The monsters hurled themselves against the barricade, but it did not budge. They bit, clawed, and smashed at it, yet flesh and bone simply knit back together, making a frontal breakthrough impossible.
They had no choice but to go around the sides or laboriously climb over the top.
"Excellent, Marbas-nim!"
Pikes and arrows concentrated on those chokepoints and swept away the monsters even more easily.
"GRRRR—!"
At that moment, a second ghoul appeared.
It was a colossal specimen nearly five meters tall. The demon corpses that had served as its womb must have belonged to medium-to-large species.
"Good heavens!"
"A monster!"
Even the mercenaries, brimming with fighting spirit, went pale before its overwhelming bulk.
The ghoul carried a huge axe that looked as though it had belonged to a demon. Its haft was made from the bones of the dead, and its blade from otherworldly metal forged in the lava of hell.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Each time the creature bounded forward, the floor shook and the sound echoed through the hall.
BOOM!
The barricade of bone and flesh that had stopped countless wights collapsed under a single body slam.
"Hold out, whatever it takes!"
"Damn it!"
"The hazard pay's triple, but the danger's way more than triple!"
At the mercenary captain's order, the shield-bearers at the center cursed.
No one retreated, because there was no one else there who could do their job.
Those who only a year ago would have run away saying, "This isn't a job for a mercenary," held their ground with a soldier's spirit equal to any knight's.
The massive axe struck the extra-large shield.
CLANG!
A shower of sparks flew, and the locking anchors snapped.
Eugene countered by swinging his flail into the axe-wielding ghoul's arm.
Chunks of flesh and blood burst away, but the ghoul, befitting its size, endured the blow.
GRAB!
It even caught the cluster of mace heads in its other hand.
SSSSSS!
Its hand was large enough to grip perhaps ten human heads. Even with its palm burning against the silver, it held on for a moment.
"Let go!"
But even this giant ghoul could not beat Eugene in a contest of raw strength.
"■■■?!"
Eugene jumped down from his horse and hauled back with such strength that the ghoul was dragged toward him instead. It stared in shock.
"I-is that the strength of a human?"
"Which one's the monster..."
"Shut up, dumbass! Want to get whipped?!"
They knew their employer possessed prodigious strength, but they had never imagined it was this extreme.
The dwarves and dark elves stared in shock. Only the human heavy infantry who had followed Eugene from Bonyard remained calm.
They had seen Eugene sink ships with javelins and single-handedly drive a battering ram to grind through gates and infantry formations.
"GRRR—."
Ghouls were notorious for their cunning even among monsters. Despite its confusion, it made the best decision available.
WHOOOSH!
It brought its axe down on the chain connecting the iron handle to the mace cluster.
SNAP!
When the chain broke, the ghoul threw the mace cluster behind it and kicked the hated central shield wall.
CRASH!
Its anchor was already broken, so it had no way to hold.
"Aaaagh!"
"Agh!"
The central shield-bearers went flying, screaming in pain.
The only shield capable of standing against the ghoul was gone.
The ordinary shield-bearers and pikemen were exposed, and monsters poured into the breach.
"Krrk—."
The ghoul did not attack Eugene immediately. Wary of him, it picked up the enormous shield it had knocked down and hurled it at him.
'Damn it!'
Dodging would have been easy, but then the troops behind him would be crushed.
Eugene snatched a shield from a nearby shield-bearer and caught the thrown shield on it.
BOOM!
Unable to brace properly in time, Eugene was launched backward by the impact.
"Sir Knight!"
Soldiers rushed over to help him up while the mercenary captain shouted.
"U-shaped formation!"
Trying to hold the line stubbornly in this situation would have been stupid.
"Do as you were trained!"
The shield-bearers abandoned the breached point and fell back.
The shield wall changed from a straight line into a U-shape, surrounding the monsters that had broken through.
Where the shields could not close the gap quickly enough, the Hammer Brotherhood stepped in and bought time.
"HRAAAH!"
Led by Centurion Rampage, the dwarf warriors swung their two-handed hammers and smashed the monsters down.
"Withdraw!"
Rampage kept watching his surroundings even as he fought. The moment the shield wall was restored, he pulled his men back.
The monsters chased after them, unwilling to let them escape, only to meet shields and pikes once again.
"GRAAAH—!"
The giant ghoul grabbed several wights in front of it and threw them over the formation.
"SKREEE—!"
The wights immediately attacked without the slightest hesitation, ravenous for the flesh around them.
"Uwaak!"
No one had expected the monsters to get over the shield wall that way, and chaos erupted for an instant.
CRUNCH!
Dwarf warriors immediately rushed in and pounded the wights into pulp.
Their short stature and low center of gravity made them exceptionally good at cleaning up this kind of chaos.
"Sir Knight! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine! Move!"
Eugene, now carrying a pike instead of his flail, shook off his subordinates and charged the ghoul.
But he was still some distance away, and the huge axe was already raised high.
"Aaaah!"
Haind charged in front of the shield-bearers, who saw death coming.
The ghoul, which had been about to sweep away the mercenaries, shifted its gaze to the knight right in front of it.
'I have to hold the line even one second longer. The finest sword has to be free to attack if we're going to win.'
Haind knew perfectly well that this was not a monster he could defeat.
He only meant to draw the ghoul's attention away from the shield wall and buy Eugene an opening to attack.
WHOOOSH!
Haind barely avoided the horizontal sweep of the axe by dropping flat as if diving.
SWISH!
In the same motion, he slashed its shin. The silver blade cut through the thick hide and sheared away part of the shinbone.
The enraged ghoul swung its axe again to crush Haind, but the mercenaries did not simply stand by and watch.
"Stab it!"
"Save the knight!"
Four pikes shot upward from below and pierced the ghoul's massive arm from different directions, pinning it in place.
PATTER!
Dark red blood poured down over Haind's face. Pinned by the united pikes and wracked with pain, the ghoul could not bring its axe down.
SWISH!
Haind slashed the same shin again, cutting it nearly halfway through.
THUD!
A huge palm struck him immediately afterward and sent him flying.
"■■■!"
The ghoul spewed curses from hell at the knight who had crippled it. It seemed nothing short of trampling him to death would satisfy its rage.
At that moment, two dwarf warriors used their short stature to slip behind the ghoul and reversed their grips on their axes.
They brought the pointed pick ends down with all their strength.
CRUNCH!
One pick punched through the top of the ghoul's foot and pinned it to the floor.
CRACK!
The other tore through its ankle and severed the Achilles tendon.
"SKRAAAH—!"
As its scream of agony rang out, Rampage charged from the front and swung his warhammer.
The shin Haind had half-severed shattered, and the ghoul collapsed.
"Fire!"
Dozens of silver arrows poured into the face of the kneeling ghoul, one arm and both legs disabled.
The ghoul protected its face with its one remaining hand, but that was all it could do.
"Well done!"
Arrows were one thing, but a bare palm could not stop Eugene charging with a pike held in both hands.
THUNK!
The pike punched through the hand and the ghoul's jaw, then burst out through the top of its skull.
The massive five-meter body swayed for a moment before toppling sideways.
RUMMMMMBLE!
The warriors felt the tremor through the soles of their feet and went wild with excitement. They banged weapons against shields and stomped hard enough to shake the floor.
'Good, he's alive.'
Haind had gone pale, but he could still stand on his own. Varda, who had been waiting in the rear with the medics, rushed him away for treatment.
"Spear!"
"Here, Sir Knight!"
A pikeman immediately tossed Eugene a spear.
Standing atop the giant ghoul's corpse, Eugene took a pike in each hand and fought with both at once.
"SKREEE—!"
Monsters lunging for Eugene were knocked away one after another by the dwarves' hammers.
"How dare you go after him?"
"If you want your skulls caved in, come at us!"
The dwarf warriors formed a living fortress around their commander. Its walls were low, but nothing dared leap over them.
Evil spirits and beast-shaped demons swooping from above were skewered, cut down, and shot from the air one after another.
Ruuush.
The overflowing blood spread across the hall in every direction.
Despite hundreds of monsters dying, not a single pool of blood formed anywhere in the enormous hall.
Even in places where the angle should have forced blood to pool, it was drawn toward the walls as if pulled by an unknown force.
'Is the castle feeding on it?'
The death and blood absorbed by the Wandering Castle became its nourishment, and some of that nourishment flowed into Eugene.
He did not tire despite the ferocity of the fighting. Vitality distilled from evil poured endlessly into his muscles and lungs.
An ordinary person would have been stained by madness, but Eugene's soul took only the strength.
THUD.
When the last monster fell, silence settled over the hall for a moment.
More enemies still came afterward, sometimes only a few and sometimes dozens at once.
Every group became a pincushion under pikes and arrows that far outnumbered them.
The interval between new groups stretched from one or two minutes to five, then ten, then twenty.
Eventually, nearly an hour passed without a single monster appearing.
'We won.'
That single phrase flashed through every warrior's mind, but they held formation in silence.
Their commander stood atop the giant ghoul's corpse, spear in hand, staring straight ahead. Looking at his back, not one warrior made a sound.
"..."
WHIRL.
THUNK.
Eugene spun his pikes half a turn and drove them into the ghoul's corpse, like planting flags on a captured height.
Eugene turned and swept his gaze over the warriors.
"Good work, everyone."
His low voice held encouragement rather than fighting spirit.
"WAAAAAAH!"
Only then did the victory cry they had held back erupt.