97 Blood on the walls

Seeing the Guild Master and a few of the elite soldiers of the garrison accurately dismantling the catapult and carefully carrying the bombs, Seron could only look around at the incoming skeletons.After his orders were given, the numerous waves of skeletons that were swarming the foundation of the ramparts were no longer reduced to only a few groups. Only white could be seen, and not a single patch of grass was visible from the tall walls of Archet. Whether it was thinking about the ground or not, but Seron quickly realized he had forgotten something.

"Damn it, stones! We didn't prepare a single projectile, are we such fools? Too late anyway, it will be even more exhausting for the men to pick up a heavy stone and throw it rather than just swinging their swords. Too late, too late."

The surrounding guards could hear him mumbling something, but they were far more focused on the moving bones that were clumsily climbing the stone walls. By now, many of the archers were replaced by guards wearing a more appropriate outfit. It didn't mean that those that were leaving the walls will be slacking off, but arrangements were already made since the beginning. Unless the ramparts fell before they came back from the main garrison, whether they were present or not will not make a difference.

Because none of the gigantic skeletons had managed to reach the city, the situation on the battlefield was still immensely favorable to the side of the humans. Allowing them to use more efficient ways of managing their troops, albeit with a far bigger risk in case of an emergency. Looking at a new recruit near him, Seron could only be sorry. Because the first wave will be the less dangerous, most recruits were part of the first batch of soldiers.

Many veterans were mixed in, but it was not difficult to find a young man barely old enough to have a kid. The fact that they were not already running in fear was a feat in the eyes of many, but they couldn't really rely on them. The more they will fight and the more they will lose their innocence and be more composed. There was still the risk of the breaking down completely, but such a thing was not important right now.

CLANK

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Dozens of bony hands gripped tightly the battlements, only to be destroyed instantly in so many ways that it seemed to be a contest in that regard. Swords, axes, pikes, halberds, gauntlets, and even reinforced boots pushed back the undead as quickly as they arrived. The only relief the human side had was the fact that none of the undead had any sort of equipment.

This provided relief to a lot of those fighting directly with them. Sometimes, they were grabbed by a skeleton, and could only praise the blacksmith that built their armor for the fact that they suffered no damage. The initial worry and fear were replaced by excitement. They were facing an enemy that couldn't attack them, while each of their slashes killed one of them. The stalemate held for a few minutes until a panicked scout came running toward Seron.

"Captain, captain, the northern side has run out of ammunition for the scorpions. A giant is approaching. He should already have reached the wall." Before Seron could even react, another scout arrived from the South, bearer of a message extremely similar. The rate of healing of those giants was too terrifying, needing only a minute without interference to be completely formed.

This caused a constant barrage of projectiles on them, just to stop it. Unfortunately, while the undead seemed innumerable, each time a ballista fired meant one less shot in the future. Shortly after, everyone could hear that the usual resounding of a siege weapon's shot was no longer audible. The crossbowmen and the few marksmen that were still up looked with worry at the giants that were beginning to walk once more.

Even when focusing on them, they could only barely slowing them down, not having the firepower to truly maim it. Those that were fighting too close from those larger foes could only begin to slowly step back a little. Unfortunately, that proved to be a disaster, allowing the skeletons to finally put a foot on the walls. The intensity of the fights was greatly increased since the two fighters were on an equal standing. It was no longer just pushing back the undead, but truly destroying them for good.

ARHOOOOOOO BUMMMM

The gigantic foes slammed down their arms on the ramparts, crushing a few guards that were unlucky enough to be on their path. It was the first time, the side of Archet first had a casualty, and it was such a gruesome one. But only a few seconds after, at the same time many were trying to rescue those that were only immobilized under the massive bone arms, legions of undead began to descend the massive bodies.

Instead of desperately trying to climb a smooth and nearly intact wall without any good ways of doing it, the undead began to use the bones that composed the body of those giants as ladders. From the beginning, dozens and dozens of skeletons had killed themselves just when trying to reach the top of the ramparts and injured those under them.

Another issue that arose was the fact that the flow of people that could walk on the ramparts was disrupted. The arms of the giants blocked the way, and the scouts and officers were having a harder time transmitting information from a side of the wall to another. A few portions of the walls were even completely cut out off any reinforcements, not having any access to a stair. Without any choice, the soldiers in those situations were forced to jump off the ramparts, sometimes injuring themselves in the process.

The heavy armor they wore proved to be a huge drawback, and they could only shudder when they saw the skeletons following them executing the same jump. To their surprise, however, they saw that none of them survived the ordeal, and it seemed comical to see undead crashing down on the ground. It only lasted for a few seconds, and no other skeletons tried to do the same afterward.

Sensing that the entire battlefield was getting more and more chaotic, Seron could not do a single thing. The chain of command was already cut off, and the only reason why they were still holding on was the fact that their enemy was too weak and lack weapons. But the longer the fight went on, the more disorganized it became. This only profit the undead, that was still seemingly infinite.

More and more soldiers were getting injured, and the adventurers were getting more and more lawless. While the fight was still in their favor, they acknowledged the orders and acted like obedient dogs. But sensing the weakness in their masters, the dogs came back biting the hand that was protecting them. If they were not plain out fleeing in panic, many simply disregarded the formation and backed off when the pressure was too high.

This provoked the downfall of many groups of guards that were counting on the adventurers to fill in the blank. An officer that was fighting three skeletons at once could only shout in fury when he saw a well-known group of adventurers meekly fighting while pushing undead toward others. Crushing the three skeletons in front of him, he could not take another step before five others arrived in front of him. That small distraction made his attack uncertain, allowing the undead to gang up on him and disarmed the veteran.

Without his weapon, the man was overrun, and that portion of the wall had fallen. The surrounding guards could only cry and scream while retreating, barely maintaining their formation. The garrison of Archet could only retreat step by step, and blood was spreading more and more on the stone floor. The moment one was caught by the undead spelled his doom since they could easily dismantle their armors and torn their flesh apart.

From North to South, many officers could only let those under their orders retreat toward the stairs, not without making sure that no one was left behind. Some companies of crossbowmen and archers still had a few projectiles to spare, allowing an easier retreat. But others were not that lucky, and few could not reach the stairs in time before being swallowed by the sea of skeletons.

Even Seron and his trusted aides could not stay any longer on the ramparts. They had all received a training vastly superior to the common guard and were all veteran of the army of Avenio. Even if Archet was not threatened by anything and had lower defenses compared to some city near the frontiers, that didn't mean that incapables were in charge. Seron was singlehandedly hacking every giant nearby, even if it seemed useless.

Every time he saw the numerous bones falling down, he could see a few skeletons merging with the giant and healing the damage. It was like extinguishing a fire with a single cup of water. It provoked smoke, it did reduce the fire a little, but the outcome didn't change. Turning his head during a small moment where he was not killing undead, he tried to see inside the darkness where the two liches were hiding.

But it had already been so long since the beginning of the battle, and the night was already old. Coupled with the fact that the light of the only visible moon was extremely dim, nearly obscured by the clouds above, it was impossible to see anything beyond the light of the torches. Not even lifting his sword and violently kicking the skeleton on its chest, Seron could only begin to retreat as well.

"Retreat! Obstruct the stairs and do not let the single undead make an additional step inside Archet!"

His tall voice reverberated in the night, and the words spread quickly. This also made many adventurers reluctant at truly escaping while it was still chaotic, and most remained near the stairs. All the troops had already fought many times, and all were tired. Reflexes were getting slower and slower, and the strength required to crush the bones of the undead was causing some issues. Sometimes, even after hitting a skeleton, a guard could find himself still facing the same undead, albeit with a huge crack on the location where the sword landed.

On the other hand, Malakov was complaining to himself about the incompetence of the two liches he trained. Not talking about the giants, that was actually his idea. Because they couldn't crush the opposition so badly that victory was assured, they had to realistically lose. That was very hard on the envoy of Leilade, since he was very reluctant at doing something so embarrassing like that.

The main issue was the ramparts, if that problem was not resolved, it would be impossible to enter the city. And they needed to reach Gwendoline and display the braveness of Meridiana and Davion to their maximum. The best way would be that they save a few nobles or other important people inside Archet. Even the Mayor was a target, but it would be stupid to think that he didn't have anyone protecting him personally.

Therefore, he forced the two liches to create those giants, bypassing entirely the tall and sturdy walls. But to his surprise, he noticed that they had already lost a huge portion of the expandable skeletons. But the tactic was still the same, those two idiots didn't take profit about the fact that the humans were getting tired and tired. He had to make several changes, and he was even beginning to doubt whether he should just personally take control of the army. The risk of being caught later was far less threatening that failing the current task Leilade gave.

At worst, one could provoke some problems later, while the other could reduce his worth in the eyes of Leilade. In this planet, unfortunately, being worth in the eyes of her was probably the only reason one could survive. Even if she won't kill him for failing one time, it didn't mean that he was the first to be called her Herald. He just hoped that he will be the last, and from what he was seeing, it was not very hopeful.