The Emperor Class

Before Dreu’s group could engage the enemy, elemental fire and ice spells flew over their heads at the incoming demon, killing them instantly.

“Keep them at bay and we’ll finish them off,” said one of the spellcasters.

More demon soldiers swarmed through the portals to replace those that were killed earlier. While the human frontline held the line, the spellcasters repeatedly launched spells down on the demons emerging from the portals. Despite cutting through several demons and the spellcasters were doing their part, Dreu felt more took the place of the fallen demons. The spellcasters’ mana was finite and he wasn’t sure how long they could keep up their attacks. When he heard several screams behind him followed by the ceasing of the spells, Dreu cursed under his breath.

Looks like there are demons scaling over the walls. I doubt the spellcasters can aid us anymore.

Once again, Dreu was envious of Bayard’s height as the footman could easily discern what was happening behind them. He couldn’t see past all the spellcasters, not that he could afford to do so while he was engaged in combat. All the front liners couldn’t disengage to fight the demons scaling the walls. Therefore, the spellcasters were on their own with the new threat.

How are they scaling these tall walls? I didn’t think the demons had ladders close to tall enough.

Dreu had to have satisfy his curiosity.

When you get creative, portals can achieve the seemingly impossible. They probably got it to work while the rest of us are focused on the portals.

Dreu waited for elaboration but Bayard was focused on the battle. With the spellcasters preoccupied with the new threat, those dealing with the portal demons found themselves steadily pushed back as well. The footman had to fight multiple demons at a time, though they were hardly a challenge for the veteran. The loud screams of the spellcasters only suggested their fight was going downhill. With the human forces sandwiched in between demons who never seemed to run out of soldiers, Dreu realized how precarious their situation was. He couldn’t see how the rest of the castle was faring but, even with a section of the walls falling under the demon's control, the momentum could easily shift in favor of the demons.

Just then, a notification came up.

< Congratulations! You have unlocked Summon Footman (Lvl 2). >

< Footmen limit increased by 1. You may now summon up to 3 footmen. >

It’s about time for me to come out once more!

Dreu heard the familiar voice and checked his recall list.

< Unit Recall List:

Footman (Lvl 5) [Zhao] - Available >

Zhao, it’s good to see you again! Ready to fight the demons?

I am ready!

Dreu recalled Zhao and the footman went in the opposite direction. He leaped over the spellcasters onto the battlement and the young man could hear cheers from the spellcasters as they praised the footman. While Dreu and his party dealt with the portal demons, Zhao fended off the demons behind them and gave the spellcasters time and room to regroup. Due to their rear being protected, Dreu and the others fought with more vigor than earlier. Then, a dragon glided down a few meters above the demons on the walls. Its fire breath not only incinerated the demons but also destroyed the nearby portals. The destruction of the portals allowed all the humans to reform their battle lines to focus on the remaining portals.

While the battle line was reformed, Dreu took a few seconds to observe the carnage around him. Many spellcasters were slain while they were forced to fight the demons in hand to hand combat. The ballista was no longer manned as the crew members were slaughtered. Even the skies felt more empty as only a dozen or so griffins and a dragon took to the air. There would be more corpses scattered everywhere on the walls if the dragon hadn’t burned most of it earlier. As for the dragon, he noticed it being overwhelmed by multiple wyverns before he had to focus at the threat before him.

Roughly how much time just passed? Dreu asked Bayard.

I’d say thirty minutes or so. In the heat of the battle, it feels longer. Sadly, we aren’t at the finish line yet.

Dreu couldn’t disagree with the assessment. He was exhausted from the combat so he was certain fatigue was settling in on the castle defenders. The dragon had improved their situation but this was only a small section of the wall. During the time to reform their battle line, the young man glanced briefly at the rest of the wall and it didn’t look pretty. There were far more demons than humans fighting on the walls with the balance shifting more in favor of the attackers by the second. If what they experienced happened elsewhere, he very much doubted there were many human spellcasters left. The battle was a bloodbath that was clearly favoring the demons.

How are the demons sending so many soldiers? Do they just have an endless supply of soldiers to throw at us?

The demons have some powerful leaders in charge of this invasion. Bayard did a quick swing with his sword. I don’t recall them being so devastating last time I fought with them. A lot has happened since the last few centuries. They are now a formidable force that the kingdom simply lacked an answer to.

Dreu shuddered at the thought of the demons continuously improving their approach in defeating the humans. Despite his summons siding with the demons and his first impression of Eglallin wasn’t terrible, the young man still sided with the humans due to him being a human. Regardless of how justified the demons felt they were with the invasion, the death of so many humans including innocent people made the demons the undisputed villains. Whatever happened to Bayard was something he knew nothing about. What he did know was the destruction of towns and cities at the hands of the demons who had yet to cease their violent ways. If he had to pick between defending the kingdom and defeating the demons, he would pick the former without hesitation.