Chapter 191 – Final Stand

The battle between the girls and the old monsters didn't last for very long. They eventually called a draw, the reason being that Dream stepped in. Verbally. 

Time was of the essence, and while he appreciated the girls' lust for battle, they needed to direct it elsewhere. So after he talked to them and the old monsters, they decided to hold off for now and head out.

The place they headed to was the vanguard troop of the demons that were heading toward the Haven. There they wrangled over nearly 80 class 4's and battled them all, killing them off one by one. This was to decrease the demon threat as much as possible before they reached the Haven. 

In fact, over time, this actually led to them delaying the arrival. Turns out, the old monsters really were as powerful as the legends made them out to be. They could handle all the class 4 demons with ease, and it accelerated the girls' killing speed by leaps and bounds. After only a day of fighting, they had killed nearly 400. This made it so that the demons missed their estimated arrival time, and the Haven was given a longer period of peace. 

Unfortunately, that was only so for the Haven. On the other side of the world, the Enchanted Mountain wasn't nearly as safe, and the demons arrived just on time. 

When they did, the same scene played out just as with the other Empires. The demons surrounded the city, and the few ships that were taking off with the last batches of people were obliterated by class 4's. Fortunately, everyone with any kind of combat ability was already evacuated. Though that also meant that everyone at the Mountain was weak, and they had no chance to defend themselves against the horde. 

And so, a few hours after the demons arrived, Dream gave the order, and the city was momentarily razed to the ground. A few hundred million were killed, putting the demon population below a billion. 

However, from then on, all life on the planet was gathered inside the Haven. Aside from them, the planet had been taken over by demons. 

Knowing this, Dream felt both hopeless and hopeful. Everything rode on the Haven's survival, but he had made many preparations, and he was mostly confident about success. At least with the Haven, he only had to defend one place. 

So with the destruction of the final human Empire came the focus of Dream's efforts. He disregarded everything outside the Haven and did everything he could to prepare for the oncoming invasion. 

............

12 hours after the demons were originally estimated to arrive...

At this time, Luna, Iris, the old monsters, and every other class 4 that existed in the world was standing on the surface above the Dwarven city. They all looked off into the distance at the oppressive oncoming aura.

Over 100 class 4's stood side by side. All dwarves, elves, animals, and humans were there. Not a single one was missing. The only person at that power level who was missing was Dream, and he was inside the Tree.

However, only those 100+ class 4's were there. There were no other troops, no other support. This was according to Dream's plan, and they were following it. 

"...I can't believe it's come to this."

Idona muttered as she watched the oncoming horde. She, like most of the other class 4's, had lived long lives. But in only a few years, things had gone from normal to apocalyptic. Everything they knew was flipped upside down, and for things to have come this far greatly disturbed them all. 

Ciroc was also beside her, and he similarly shook his head, sighing. Both of them had been taken care of by Dream, ensuring they were never present when mortal danger came. Even when they had been put in danger, he had made sure they would escape. When things had gone south in the world, they were told what his plans were and what to do. That resulted in their families being moved to the Haven and settled down safely. 

But now, nothing was guaranteed. The last remnants of civilization were all sitting in a hole in the ground, and they were the only ones who could defend it. If they fell, everything was for naught. There was nowhere left to run to. 

"Remember, we need to kill them consistently. We can't get overwhelmed. We only need to defend for a day and a half. After that, we retreat and seal ourselves off."

Luna spoke loudly as the horde got closer. She was the one leading them all, and none of them would disobey her. This was because of her power and her connection to Dream. Iris was also a factor. Everyone was somewhat scared of her after seeing what she did to her own grandfather.

"Here they come!"

Iris shouted with a wide smile as she sensed the approaching class 4's. While she knew that this was basically the end of the world, she couldn't help but feel her blood boil seeing the approaching wave of enemies. 

And soon, they arrived. Only a few miles from them, 80 class 4's rose into the air.

"Now! Kill as many as we can while we outnumber them!"

"Raahhh!! Kill them!"

Brandishing his dual blades, Ciroc let out a war cry and shot into the air. He and his brilliant armor shone as he sailed toward the class 4's. 

"Hahaha! Yes!"

Laughing, Iris left soon after. Luna followed her, and with that as the signal, all the other class 4's also took to the sky, preparing their best magic. 

Not long after, massive shockwaves of mana were released that even killed some of the demons below. Everyone went all out to kill the demons as fast as possible, and their ruthless attacks did indeed give them results. After only 10 minutes, 50 demons fell, and the killing rate increased greatly after that. 

Unfortunately, as the hordes advanced, batches of demons appeared and joined the fight. Although no single batch usually had more than 50, it was enough to keep everyone on their toes. They needed to keep killing if they didn't want to get overrun. So they focused entirely on the fight in front of them, not paying any heed to the millions of demons below them. 

This was because when it came to the hordes, there was already a special plan in place for them. In front of the hordes was a huge cave and a pathway that could fit tens of thousands within. All the demons funneled straight into the cave and traveled down the long path. They didn't know nor care where they were heading. All they knew was that there were humans and animals through that cave, so they went through it.

...........

Within the Haven, Dream stood on the edge of a hole inside the Tree. From there he looked upward, his senses penetrating the few miles of dirt above him and stopping on the entrance to the dwarven city.

The entrance was wildly different from before. Everything within 3 miles of the entrance was totally cleared out, and on the edge of that 3 mile perimeter was a half-moon shaped wall. All along it were dwarves, elves, humans, and beasts. Tens of thousands stood at the front of the wall, and tens of thousands stood behind them. This went on for nearly another mile, filling the area with crowds of people.

Among them were also metallic soldiers. There were even more soldiers than people and they hovered up above, creating swarms in the air like insects. All of them held rifles, and every rifle was aimed intently at the entrance. 

Finally, all around the metallic soldiers and people were turrets. Big guns, small guns, long guns, and multi-barreled guns lined the walls and ceiling, even hovered in the air with the soldiers. Some guns shot bullets, some guns delivered magic, some were controlled by people as weapons, and others launched explosives. There were thousands of all kinds, and they were purely weapons designed to rain hell upon their enemies. 

All machines and people had their focuses aimed at the entrance to the city. They created a seemingly impenetrable blockade that stemmed not from defensive power, but offensive power that would cut down anything that entered their line of sight. However, despite the unfathomable firepower that spurred courage among the people it was defending, the atmosphere was still a bit bleak. 

"They're coming."

Dream spoke as he watched the entrance. Everyone could already feel rumbling caused by innumerable footsteps. A charging horde could be felt coming through the entrance, and everyone knew what that horde consisted of.

"Demons!"

*Screech!*

Everyone felt chills go down their spine as they heard the bloodcurdling screams echo through the huge tunnel. Not long after, the first few hundred demons could be seen peeking through. That number quickly went from a few hundred to a few thousand, and then to ten thousand. With each second the pressure increased, but the people also steeled themselves. 

Soon, one of the foremost bots raised its arm up high. It was Dream's avatar, and it stood out enough to catch the eyes of both demons and defenders alike. Seeing it raise its arm, all the people snapped fully to attention and prepared their spells, knocked their bows, or aimed their fancy new guns.

"Fire."

*Fwoosh!*

*DSH!*

With the pull of a trigger, the wave of an arm, or the release of a finger, all the prepared attacks were loosed, and hundreds of thousands of projectiles sailed across the air, creating brilliant rainbow-colored streaks. It was beautiful, as was the aftermath.

*BOOM!*

Under the impact of so many projectiles, the entrance to the city as well as the tens of thousands of demons within it were obliterated, going so far as to create shockwaves that shook the ground. However, it only stopped the demon advance for a few seconds.

*SCREECH!*

Soon, tens of thousands more demons were piling through the entrance as if they didn't see how all their comrades were turned to pink mist. With no regard for their lives, the demons moved as quickly as they could, even taking to the skies.

"Keep firing!"

Many of the humanoid soldiers shouted as they saw the demons. Although the machines didn't stop firing, they had. But seeing how one volley did so little, they understood that this would be a long battle. 

*DstDstDstDstDstDstDstDst!*

*Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk!*

*Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!*

Thousands of guns were constantly raining down their projectiles upon the oncoming hordes. Even the mages and archers were consistently shooting out low or mid level spells, creating even more vibrant streaks that sailed across the air before disappearing into the cloud of blood and dirt that had been kicked up. 

The battle raged on as tens of thousands of demons were killed every minute. Everyone constantly saw notifications stream down their vision, and many started getting some level ups. However, the people could only keep attacking for so long, and after a few hours, the first set of people on the wall were drained. 

Luckily, this was planned for. Behind the wall were hundreds of thousands of other people just waiting to check in. With every batch of soldiers that left the wall, another would replace it. This kept a consistent influx of fresh troops that continued to throw out magic and arrows. 

The machines also paced themselves. Turrets and metallic soldiers alike fired in sequences to get the best effect per volley. The ammo wasn't unlimited, and they had to fire for nearly 40 hours straight. With the AI that had been loaded on board the soldiers though, setting this up was easy, and the demons were fully held back with the most minimal amount of firepower possible. 

Like this, a rhythm was set and the demons were held back without worry for sudden curveballs. The wall of flying death effectively held the demons off, and the bodies that were stacked at the entrance also did a good job of hindering their advance. However, this advantage steadily decreased as the more powerful demons came through. 

Class 1's could easily be made combat incapable with a bullet or two. However, class 2's and 3's couldn't. Not only could they take more hits, but they could defend against more, and they were smarter. So as they started funneling through by the thousand, things got more complicated. 

Although they seemed stupid, the demons were notoriously devious. This wasn't pronounced individually, but with their hive mind like functionality. And once again, it was beginning to show.

From within the tunnel came out neatly organized rows of demons. They all charged forward at top speed while holding either shields or magic barriers, collectively blocking the projectiles hurtling towards them. And although many were cut down, the killing rates noticeably decreased, and they started making steady advances. 

This wasn't uncalled for though. Dream had prepared for everything. 

Not long after the stronger demons systematically made their advances, battalions of troops flew out from the wall and headed straight towards the entrance themselves with seemingly no regard for the volleys of projectiles. However, all the bullets slid right past them. This was something only allowed by the uncanny precision and accuracy of programmed machines. The demons weren't the only ones with a hive mind.

After arriving at the entrance, the bots shot over toward the demons defending against the volleys and attacked. They slithered over toward the sides or backs of the demons and attacked with deadly blows, forcing the demons to choose between defending against their front or back. Either one would result in dire consequences.

And this tactic was indeed effective. Although some bots were destroyed, the demon's vanguard lines were broken, and their collective shields destroyed. This allowed the volleys of bullets to kill faster, and the demons were kept from making progress. 

Like that, another several hours went by. The class 4 battle above the city and the defensive battle within the city were raging fiercely. However, things wouldn't stay like that for long. 

On the 10th hour, the first class 4 on the Haven's side was killed!

This death was only the first though. On the 13th and 15th hours, two more were killed. More and more class 4 demons kept showing up, and maintaining a strong offensive for hours on end was taxing. To keep killing totally fresh and peak strength class 4's was difficult.

Luna and Iris knew this, but there wasn't much they could do. They couldn't control how many demons kept showing up. They were endless. It's why they were so dangerous in the first place. To hope for anything different was unrealistic. 

They just had to buckle down and keep fighting. Luna started using her guard ability and healing on others while Iris did her best to supply energy to Luna. That took away from their own defenses though, and while the injuries of everyone else decreased, their energy output and injury rate increased. 

But it helped. Everyone was able to sustain themselves longer this way. But whether or not it would last for another 20 hours was questionable, and as Dream watched them all get tired, he thought up ways to help. 

"...Send up some of the railgun platforms. Keep them safe as best you can. We don't have many."

[Alright.]

After giving the order, Dream saw 15 railgun platforms stationed within the city pack up and fly off toward a secret exit. Those platforms had originally been providing a way for them to easily pierce through class 3 barriers down in the city, but they seemed to be more needed up above.

He really didn't have a lot either. In fact, the majority of Dreams army was destroyed as they went on raids prior to this. While he kept pumping them out, they could only be built so fast. Now he only had a fraction f a percent of his original militaristic power, and all of it was present inside the Dwarven city making one final stand.

"...I may need to head up there as well."

[Should we remove Aegis?]

"No. The Tree is top priority."

"My lord, my armor body can go with you, and I can channel it energy through you."

Aegis spoke as Dream was about to leave the Tree. The armor portion of Aegis also hastily flew over to him as if afraid he would leave without it. 

[He's right. He can send energy through the Nexus skill and into the suit. Although it'll be less efficient, it's better than nothing.]

"...Okay. As long as it doesn't hinder the growth of the Tree."

[It won't. He's not exactly lacking anyway.]

"Then let's go."

Saying that, Dream equipped Aegis and flew away from the Tree, leaving the heart inside to keep powering its growth.