On the outskirts of the Crimson Spire, there were no more passages and tunnels in the coral. It was just a solid red mass, an unbroken surface of the strange living substance that had devoured the Forgotten Shore thousands of years ago.
Currently, Tessai was standing on that surface.
Several hundred people were standing beside him, staring at the approaching wave of Nightmare Creatures with horror and shock. All of them knew what was going to happen once they reached the Spire, but even then, the sight of it was terrifying.
He was at the center of the front row of these frightened cowards and his comrades in command of them. With his tall stature and buffed, powerful figure, Tessai stood out among the rest of the Sleepers. Of course he is tall, just a bit shorter than the leader. But… he didn't really want to stand out.
His steel knight armor glistened in the light of the rising sun, and on his shoulder rested his giant mace.
Looking at the rolling horde of abominable horrors with a grim expression, the custodian of the bright castle lowered his head a little and summoned the helm of his armor, which was crowned with a tall crest of blue horsehair. He closed the visor as he lef out a nervous chuckle. He inspected the battle line.
Around him was his company of twenty five comrades after them was a line of normal sleepers led by Effie on the right while Caster on the left. Both ends of the front line were held by a Night Lord company each. Gunlaug's third company was on the right and librarian's tenth on left.
All around his company, people were trembling. Some fool dropped his weapon and took a few steps back, as if considering running away. Even though that was a tempting choice, Tessai snarled and bellowed:
"Stand your ground, wretches! If anyone runs, Harus will kill you!"
…What was the point of running, anyway? There was nowhere to run.
If they were going to die, they might as well die like humans.
Tessai commanded.
"Get ready, soldiers!"
***
Gripping her spear, Effie cast a sideways glance at the two men leading beside her. One of them was Tessai, and the other one was Gunlaug. Who would have thought that one day she and the leader of Night Lord legions were going to fight side by side?
Weirdly, the presence of her past enemy was now extremely reassuring. However, even on his face, there were hints of fear.
The only person who could have stayed nonchalant in this situation was probably Doofus. That pale miscreant was either too crazy or too stupid… or both… to be scared of anything. But he was currently nowhere to be seen. Effie sort of missed the tiny menace.
But Sunny was probably either hiding someplace dark or doing something too insane to be entrusted to anyone else. In any case, she wished him luck.
She wished herself luck, too.
At this moment, Tessai screamed:
"First mark!"
His shout echoed across the chaotic battlefield and was quickly picked up by Nephis of Immortal, Changing Star herself, who commanded the second line, and then carried further back by Izanami somewhere deep in the third. The coordination was perfect—the result of relentless drilling and a comradary forged in the crucible of the Forgotten Shore.
The plan for the battle was as brutal as it was efficient. The first line— composed of the three night lord companies and strong sleepers. They had to weather the initial charge. Their task wasn't to win, but to hold. To become the human wall upon which the wave of nightmares would crash.
Three elite shock companies and one ehco wedge led by Konrad, the night lord would counter charge into the monster horde.
Once the first line stopped the initial charge of the monster horde and reform their line, the shock companies would charge in. Meanwhile the second line would also charge in and create a new front line. When the charge subsides and the Night Lord gose to accomplish his missions the shock companies would fall in line with the new line.
Meanwhile, the third was assigned to strike deep, to slay as many horrors as possible while the vanguard absorbed the brunt of the assault.
But first, they had to survive.
Somewhere behind him, Izanami's voice rang out—sweet and otherworldly, commanding the siege engines to fire.
These massive constructs, cobbled together by the Twelfth Company from the bones of ancient horrors and scrap salvaged from centuries of ruin, now stood poised to unleash devastation. A haunting, melodic creak echoed across the battlefield, and then a sound like a steel chord snapping under tension.
Thirteen spears of iron, two meters long and thick as a man's arm, screamed through the air. The projectiles tore past Tessai and the front lines like divine judgment. He watched as one impaled a monstrous crab-like beast, the tip erupting from its shell in a splatter of viscera. Another sheared off the head of a towering mantis horror, the sheer force carrying through to strike three more beasts behind it.
But there were too many.
The impact was devastating, but the wave didn't falter. In fact, the horrors seemed to grow more rabid. Their shrieks were a hellish chorus, their madness amplified by the blood in the air.
Tessai's skin prickled. He grit his teeth and screamed again:
"Second mark!"
The sky darkened as a barrage of arrows rained down. Hundreds of projectiles struck the encroaching horde of death wounding many, killing some. The humans had employed every trick and tool they could muster. Sleepers with slings, crossbows, exotic weapons. Others unleashed their Aspects: blades of wind, arcs of lightning, gouts of fire and freezing hail.
A series of particularly violent explosion lit up the battlefield as a volley of soul-essence bomb made by the apothecaries detonated, throwing charred corpses in all directions.
Still, the horde came.
A second wave of arrows fell. Another volley of siege spears was released—thirteen more deaths from above. But the monsters were too close now. Too close for ranged weapons to make the difference.
Tessai stepped forward.
He roared, summoning strength into his muscles. His massive form surged as he hurled his enchanted mace with all his might. The heavy weapon spun through the air and struck a tall creature clad in natural armor like steel. The mace shattered it on impact. Bones crunched, gore splattered.
Around him, more projectiles flew. The Sleepers had thrown their Memories like javelins, slaying beasts with enchanted steel. Every one of their weapons pulsed with borrowed power, strengthened by the Crown of Dawn and Changing Star's unwavering will.
The first wave of creatures reached the hidden ditch—a pitfall carved hastily by the Twelfth Company. Dozens fell in, their bodies impaled on sharpened pikes or broken by the fall. The next rank simply climbed over their corpses.
It wasn't enough to stop them, but it slowed them. A little.
And sometimes, a little was all they needed.
"Hold!!!"
That was the last thing Tessai managed to shout before the abominations slammed into the front lines.
Then came madness.
Nightmare Creatures collided with human lines like a tide of flesh and fury. The world turned into a blur of screams, steel, and blood. Tessai met a beast with the head of a hammerhead shark and the body of a centipede. He swung his summoned mace and crushed its skull, blood spraying across his face.
To his left, a creature that looked like a twisted wolf with six eyes lunged at a sleeper. She ducked under its leap and drove a glowing dagger into its underbelly. To his right, Kelvin, his friend, cleaved a beast in half with a two-handed sword that burned with dark fire.
They fought like demons.
Still, for every monster slain, two more took its place.
The screams of the wounded echoed in his ears. The stench of blood and burned flesh filled his lungs. The ground was slick, unstable, a battlefield turned into a slaughterhouse.
And yet they held.
They held.
Through it all, Tessai roared and swung, crushed and broke. He took wounds. A claw tore across his arm. A horn split the armor of his thigh. But he didn't stop. He couldn't.
Behind him, the second line was already preparing to rotate in. The shock companies were already charging in. Soon, the front would change. They just had to last a bit longer.
So he screamed again:
"HOLD THE LINE!"
The wave would hold here, or they would all die trying.