The Emperor Class

As soon as Dreu stepped onto the wall, he froze to take in the sight. In addition to the griffins in the sky, he could see pegasi and even three dragons circling above the castle. Such were creatures he only heard tales of and, if he hadn't seen them with his own eyes at the human capital, Dreu might not see them his entire life. The griffins, despite being the more common of the three creatures, were still very rare. Rumors claimed that these creatures, with the body, tail and back legs of a lion along with the head, wings and front legs of an eagle, could only be found in the mountain peaks like Mount Ujun. They were extremely picky with their riders but, once a rider was selected, they would stay loyal for the rest of their lives.

Then, five pegasi flew over him with their gorgeous white wings glowing gently. The magnificent winged stallions effortlessly glided through the air. These creatures were said to belong to a different plane and, during the human’s time of need, several would appear to find riders who were destined to ride them since birth. The riders, clad in white armor, appeared more as an extension of the pegasi as opposed to a separate entity. For a brief moment, Dreu envisioned himself riding one of the magnificent creatures and feeling the same exhilaration he had when the griffin took him to safety. The young man’s thoughts were interrupted when a dragon roared in the direction of the wyverns circling over the incoming demon forces. The dragons had no riders, though one could only imagine how difficult it would to get harnesses on them.

Meanwhile, there were sorcerers, silver knights, holy knights and other professionals standing on the walls. If there was something bards wrote in their songs, this scene would be one of those. The champions of the humans stood at the castle with their backs against the wall. Faced against overwhelming odds, these champions, spurred on by their god, would come out victorious. At the same time, the price they paid for a defeat would be unimaginable. The human race would be wiped out on the continent and the demons would become the new rulers of the land with them as the dominant race. Faced with such a scenario, Dreu could only see the humans fight more in desperation which could be enough to tip the balance in their favor.

We should join the others.

Hearing Bayard comment and noticing the stares, Dreu jogged to join his group. They were stationed along a small section of the wall. A ballista was to their left and spellcasters to their right. Neither the ballista crew nor the spellcasters even looked in their direction. Both groups were completely focused on the demons.

“Fire!”

A projectile was let loose from the ballista and disappeared into the swarm of demons below the wall. Dreu watched as the crew expertly reloaded a second projectile into the ballstia before repeating the action. The projectiles were two meters long and, given their velocity when released, should in theory penetrate through multiple demon soldiers. Due to the distance, Dreu couldn’t get confirmation on the theory. However, he was relieved to not see a single siege weapon on the demon side. The idea of facing boulders and bolts coming his way made him shake at the thought. Given how tiny the demon soldiers appeared, he also shuddered at the thought of marching towards the walls that couldn't be reached through ladders or conventional means.

“Gaseous ghouls!” shouted someone.

At the mention of the name, Dreu turned away from the ballista and searched for the creatures. Following the gazes of some soldiers, he saw the volatile creatures carried by wyverns by air. After seeing how effective the creatures were at demolishing walls, the sight of them carried by wyverns made him shiver, especially with the prospect of them falling from above. Meanwhile, he could see Rohese notch an arrow with his peripheral vision. He turned to see the arrow hit one of the gaseous ghouls resulting in a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, nothing remained of the wyvern. Following Rohese’s lead, the spellcasters on the walls focused their attacks at the ghouls until they eliminated every single one of those threats.

“Portals,” shouted a spellcaster near Dreu.

To the young man’s horror, dozens of portals appeared at various points along the wall. The portals were a few meters above the wall and, without warning, gaseous ghouls came out of them falling onto the unsuspecting victims below. Dreu futilely tried to put his blade between him and a ghoul that fell near his position. Upon hitting the ground, the ghoul expanded rapidly until it exploded violently. The young man expected himself to get sent flying but, when the smoke cleared, he touched his limbs and noticed he was uninjured. By looking carefully, he could make out a barrier between him and where the gaseous ghoul was. He studied the barrier until he located the spellcasters at its center. When he observed other sections of the walls, the structure remained unscathed by the explosion. However, empty sections in the shape of a circle dotted throughout the wall. The demons had dealt a huge blow to their numbers in a matter of seconds.

Before the humans could recover from the devastating attack, the demonic portals dropped down to make contact with the wall and demons exited them en masse. The demons quickly filled the empty spaces left by the humans disintegrated by the blasts and a major battle took place above the walls. Bayard and Guiot quickly rushed to Dreu’s side to cover his flanks. Rohese let loose a couple of arrows before she drew her new sword. The four of them formed a line as they faced the incoming demons. Meanwhile, Dreu noticed the shadows of the air creatures moving over the combattants, concluding that the air battle had also commenced.

Stay close to us! communicated Bayard. We cannot afford to get separated! Together, we’ll get through this!

Understood.

While he felt fear, Dreu also felt comfort knowing that he had Bayard, Guiot and Rohese by his side.

Don’t forget about me!

Zhao chipping in made Dreu smile.