Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

What followed was a nightmarish sound, foot soldiers from both sides found themselves clutching at their ears, knees on the ground whilst the civilians of the fortified city writhed in pain whilst their houses, which they were currently forbidden from exiting, trembled like never before, as though the foundations had been uprooted, and a giant was shaking them in its hand…

This terrible sound was produced as hundreds –If not thousands– Of enormous boulders and stones crashed against one another at high speeds in the air, producing an awful, grinding noise as they smashed into one another, resulting in a rain of rocks showering both sides.

And these were not pebbles, most were as large as heads or fists, even knights inside of the suits of armour were not safe, the sheer acceleration some of those pieces of debris mustered as they soared downward was incredible, one unfortunate junior knight was hit squarely by a horse-sized piece of stone, crushing him inside of his armour.

Multiple dirt-blooded soldiers on the other sides of the wall were splattered by an even larger piece of debris- Similar scenes played all over the place on both sides, but that was only the beginning, a little bonus on the side, even…

Whilst many projectiles struck one another in the air, many more than that, did not encounter any obstacles at all, and were free to continue their courses untethered, giants boulders smashed into the ranks of the dirt-blooded, just as the expert at claimed, the projectiles landed in the center of the enemy formation.

The slight snafu due to collisions meant that the imagined walls of boulders that were supposed to form had a few holes, but that was fine, it could still fulfill its purpose in impeding the opposing army.

Not to mention that the projectiles did not stop exactly where they landed, they preserved some momentum even after hitting the ground, and continued to roll, crushing many more enemies that way, there was no time to admire the damage however, the city lord turned around, they too were under assault.

The magnificent architecture, high buildings constructed across the centuries, their presence a constant reminder of the work down by the ancestors and previous generations, the houses of the people, all was being destroyed, towers came crumbling down, filling the streets with debris, hushed screams responded as civilians were buried alive inside of their own homes.

Worse of all, the identity of those small projectiles that had been spotted just before they were launched, became clear.

They were the disembodied heads of fallen warriors and soldiers, some of those heads exploded like rotten pumpkins upon landing, some managed to evade that gruesome fate, but the results were obvious, soldiers were having their morals directly attacked, having to stare directly into what might be their fate.

"Focus! The enemy is targeting civilians! They are targeting your friends and family, so focus!" the city lord resorted to an old trick to get the soldiers to stop panicking, even if a dread was creeping up their spines, it was undeniable that each and every one of them had taken up the job of soldier to protect their loved ones, knowing that death might await them as a result.

Simply reminding them of why they were standing here and carrying these weapons was sufficient for now, but the overall morale of his troops was undeniably affected nonetheless, losing comrades was one thing, but seeing their corpses desecrated like this was something else entirely, it lead the soldiers to blame themselves for having been unable to bring the bodies back.

Not only could they not present anything for the family to bury, but now, the remains left behind were being used as grotesque tools…

The city lord turned back to the battlefield after shouting a few more orders, and by chance, his gaze landed exactly on Litrakq.

That mad woman had not budged at all, despite the fact that the boulder she was standing upon, was absolutely situated along the center line of the dirt-blooded army, she had been exactly where it was most dangerous, and she should have realised that at some point, but she still didn't move at all, even as two giants boulders smashed right next to her on both sides.

She spat on the ground and waved one arm around, sending forward some of the other siege weapons alongside plenty of troops, including a large battering ram, and mobile towers on wheels.

"Archers! Stop this battering ram!" he yelled, the ramparts of the fortified city were well thought out, granting different levels of elevation and angles for archers to take aim from on the walls, as well as plenty of arrowslits.

Human archers did not hold a candle to whatever acrobatics elven archers performed whilst shouting multiple arrows in multiple directions as easily as they breathed, but the archers of humankind were skillful as well, their arrows cut through the air, hitting their targets nearly every time, though it wasn't too complicated, as the main carriers of the battering ram were dirt-bloods of impressive size.

Troll, ogre and giant blood was clearly the strongest within them, but clearly, of those three bloodlines, that of the troll was favoured as they demonstrated impressive regenerative capabilities.

Aiming at the gaps in the armour they were wearing was already difficult enough, but the creatures seemed completely unfazed no matter how many arrows were fired at them.

"Use fire arrows! Trolls are weak to fire!" an unknown soldier shouted, it was easier said than done however, flaming arrows were not easily made, the fire was likely to go out once you shot the arrow, and there was no guarantee that a little bit of fire would be enough to do anything against their targets.

But it was worth a shot.

Archers dipped their arrow heads in flammable oil, wrapped fabric that would burn easily around the body of their projectiles, and after passing the arrow through the fire of a torch, would quickly take their shot.

The first few to land unfortunately did not carry the flame long enough, and the hurry caused many to simply miss completely.

One archer, standing inside the wall, looking through an arrowslit, breathed in, and pulled back on the string, and as he let go, the arrow was sent right into the eye of one the troll-like dirt-bloods.

And the flames were not extinguished, they spread to the rest of the arrow.

Previously, this archer had aimed at the eyes as well, but it was ineffective, the enemies were too large for a measly arrow to get through and hit their brain, the previous target hadn't even reacted.

But now, as the flames spread, it was found out that indeed, those particular dirt-blooded were rather flammable.

The struck individual was quick to catch fire, letting go of the battering ram as he flailed around, rolling against the ground in a desperate attempt to extinguish the flames.

That was one of them.