NOVEL NEXT 564 Deadlands
Bethel groaned as her sore ass continued to burn against the bumpy skeleton horse's back, her clothing and belts continued to grind against her skin as her chest heaved in boredom.
Her prior 4,000 strong dhan army was reduced to approximately 3,400 who were still capable of fighting, another hundred were still alive and breathing, but was injured beyond combat. Which resulted in their army slowing down as more weight was placed upon the supply wagons they carried.
If it wasn't for Clam's constant bantering and questions that were simply random and pointless, perhaps boredom would've driven her insane, as she continued to ride at the vanguard of her force, gazing off into the deadlands that had hardly any green, depicting only a lifeless landscape like a dried up swamp. Missing Par'Talucca's cherry blossom filled skies and streets, Bethel was within the midst of their daydream when she sighted humanoids approaching her in rapid momentum.
Seeing as they were charging from the south, from the kingdom of humanity's direction, she didn't have to spend much thought on it as she roared her orders to the warriors behind her.
"Form the lines! wagons at the back! Men at the front! Summons at both flanks!"
As trained, the thousands of dhans ushered into their positions as they kept relaying the orders they had received like Chinese-whispers, which ensured both Chloe Bedevere and Violet were equally aware of the threat that loomed over them, as the rear guard was so far off, they couldn't even see the front.
Whilst it was reckless, and dangerous to have their flanks enter their positions so late, Bethel argued within her internal0diaogue that it was fine, that having a hidden army appear mid combat would utilize the element of surprise. A perfect simple stratagem for a force designated to flanking.
Highly satisfied with the men's training and discipline, that ushered them swiftly into their positions like a well oiled machine, Bethel remained behind the wall of katanas and katars whilst Clam was busy silently praying for health and fortune. Her red eyes glistened as mana flourished within them, amplifying her vision as binoculars would, allowing her to see greater distance and with greater clarity.
"Clam, they're dekans..."
All that were within ear shot of her murmurs stiffened, their hearts pounded and heightened in speed, as their mortal enemy were kicking up a great dust cloud whilst charging towards their position. Whilst they fully aware of their purpose, the orders they had received, and the enemy they were sent to fight, suddenly meeting them had caught dozens of the warriors mentally unprepared. After all, they were supposed to be a hammer, to crush the dekan force in between Del Lagos' castle walls. Fears, nerves, worries began to spread like a disease as they recalled the suffering and ruination the dekans had inflicted upon their kingdom, sending Par'Talucca into a state of abandonment.
"Hold your ground men! This is the moment you've been waiting for! You're warriors! Not cowards! Look closely, they're not coming towards us with bloodlust, that's fear! They're running away from Thrud's army in retreat!"
Whilst the men couldn't control their mana into specific organs and body parts to enhance their functions, wishful thinking took over their minds as they imagined the dekans running with their tails between their legs.
"HAHA! I see it! They're running away like headless chickens!" Clam deliberately laughed aloud, hysterically clutching his stomach as tears fell from his eyes. With the amount of confidence Clam had within every word he spoke, every laugh exhaled, even the dry wheezing, the confidence in the men, their hearts began to fill with courage as dozen by the dozen, the dhans joined the charismatic man in laughter.
She knew not, whether Clam was actually scrutinizing and mocking the dekans who were covered in injuries and wounds, but she made a mental note to treat the man to a mug of beer when all was said and done.
"Hold the lines! Let them waste their energy, let them tire themselves out before we engage! Hold!"
Being just 100 yards away from each other, which was the size of a standard football pitch, the two armies were staring down one another whilst the dragonkin continued to aggressively charge on, as the dekans at the rear were ruthlessly slaughtering the ones at the rear due to their slower speeds, deeming them to be in the way. To the dekans who had a clear shot of Thrud's dragon head materialize in its glory and might, they no longer cared about their orders or king, as they considered the world to be ending and all notions to be pointlessly, nihilistic in nature.
No better than cannibals, the dekans only sought to satisfy their only sources of serotonin and dopamine, sex, rape, killing and eating. As such, the moment they noticed the dhan army before them, they all shifted their prioritized towards war and consumption, regardless of any military orders as it was a chaotic free for all, a buffet that catered to first-come first-serve.
"HOLD! HOLD THE LINE!"
Innate desire for war, to slaughter their mortal enemy, adrenaline and nerves that inched the men forwards little by little, the dhans struggled to keep themselves from advancing.
"FUCKING HOLD THE LINE!"
[THUNDERSTORM] !
Screeching through the clouds in sudden impact, golden electricity spread and fell like a glacial hail of ice. The AOE skill being too weak to even kill a single one of them, at the very least sent waves of electricity through their nerves like a stun-gun, zapping them and causing them to trip and fall within their feverous charge.
[SIEGE SHOT] [TEMPEST STANCE] [APOLLO'S BOW] !
Siege shot disabled Chloe's mobility, but it mattered not as the half-elf was riding upon a skeleton horse regardless, tempest stance in conjunction with siege multiplied her ranged attack stat and attack speed stat upwards, turning the woman into a highly mobile hwacha, as dozens upon dozens of [Kael's Arrow] volleyed over the vanguard and into the sea of blue, severing their arms, legs and tail, turning the dragonkin into hedgehogs instead.
Chloe being lighter in body weight, was just moments quicker to arrive prior to the dark-elf, who wasn't enjoying how her breasts were bouncing and swaying from the rough ride to the frontline.
[Summon Skeleton] !
[Summon Skeleton Knight] !
240 undead skeletons broke out of the dirt right in front of the dhans, taking the brunt of the assault as the dekans unaffected by the initial volleys were trampling over their own forces due to their uncontrollable desire to rape and eat the living-beings before them, the beings they deemed to be lower upon the food chain of the world.
[Bone Artillery] !
Coordinating her attack with Chloe's, who would turn her targets into pin cushions, causing them to either fall or trip as they would helplessly expose their necks, Violet's powerful bone javelin was utilized as a guillotine, severing and decapitating the heads as soon as they were revealed.
As their initial charge was completely ruined, halted and impeded as they were dying by the hundreds, tripping and falling over themselves without structure or order, Bethel saw fit to finally appease the desires of their hearts, the dhan's desire for revenge.
"CHARRRGE! HIS MAJESTY WILLS IT!"
Roaring, cheering in feverous momentum, the army found great satisfaction in seeing the dragonkin suffering and dying helplessly.
Finally being let loose from their shackles, the 3,000 warrior dhans fearlessly advanced into the chaotic-melee of dekans and skeletons, charging and climbing across the small slope of corpses that were steadily increasing as arrows and bone javelins continued to fly over their heads and into enemy ranks.
Whilst the men knew that such attacks were friendly, a few couldn't help but piss themselves as such deadly projectiles flew just inches away from their faces.
As one man was trying to find a gap to enter the fray, he caught sight of a pink bird flying over the entire army. Curious, he glanced up to realize it was Bethel, their commander who had launched herself into enemy lines with a great sword that was larger than herself. He couldn't see it, but he could feel the ground suddenly crack and rumble, and the following shrieks of pain and death that came immediately after as bodies of dekans were soon after seen flying around, as if they were batted and swatted away like baseballs.
"MOVE IT! MOVE IT! FUCK OFF YA CUNT!"
Clam shoved the men aside, literally rugby tackling the larger dekans as he ignored the tails and claws that bounced off his armour. In great effort to heed his duke and lord's orders, he did his utmost to remain close enough to Bethel to continue protecting her with [Defending Nature] that continued to transfer little trickles of pain and stings onto him.
..
At the rear, Chloe and Violet continued their combined ranged assault, mentally subtracting points away from Bethel's performance as she had once again thrown herself into the deep end of the ocean.
"Why is everyone trying to fight like the duke?"
Rather than keeping an eye on Bethel and Clam, Violet was more concerned with the thousands of dekans who were still charging towards them, as the rear of the hostile enemy appeared larger and stronger. Other than that, her underwear was already wet and her nipples perked up, as [Masochist] [Soul Eater] and [Summon Skeleton] kept hurting and healing her in cycles with every cast. In fact, the dark-elf was extremely close to an orgasm, as she struggled to keep her mind in reality and away from the clouds.
