Chapter 81: City Under Siege

"Hold steady! Be alert!"

"Pace yourselves everyone! We're in for the long haul!"

"Damn pests! Die!"

"Aim properly! How can you even miss when there are large clusters of them? Are you dumb!?"

"Watch out for the Insect Demons, they could somehow avoid the bombardment."

The cacophony of screams and shouts echoed atop the city walls. The current situation was too hectic for everybody and the atmosphere was tense.

Down and outside the city, the growing see of horrors were plainly visible to them. The horde of demons was seemingly endless. Some of them actually wonder if they had enough artillery shells to support this long-term bombardment. This defense will surely cost the city a lot.

Thankfully, even with all the chaos so far, the situation was fairly stable. Only a handful of demons were able to survive the bombardment and those who did were dealt with swiftly by their ground troops.

The sudden appearance of the Insect Demons threw them off guard for a bit but that has passed now. People just don't have time to linger at the surprise. If they do, more of them will die. Thankfully, everybody who's participating in this defense had experience and could adjust swiftly.

So far, they've seen Beast Demons, Insect Demons, and Avian Demons. If anybody was counting the horde so far, they must've lost count already due to how hectic it is here.

The Black Sky was really horrible. Thankfully, the Lighthouse provides them with sufficient brilliance to see their enemies. This battle would've been lost before it started if they didn't have that around.

Of course, the Lighthouse was strictly defended as well. Even though it was near the core of the city, far from the heat of the battle and invulnerable so far, they just couldn't let it be without protection since it was crucial for the defense.

It will only take one deranged fool to turn that thing off and the city will be destroyed. They can't be having that.

On the east side of the city walls, the siege looked more intense. The number of demons appearing on this side seems to be greater compared to other sides.

This caused the people who were originally stationed here to ask for reinforcements, and they received it. Still, they're having a more difficult time even with the backup.

Thankfully though, someone came to help them out greatly...

BOOM! BOOM!

Right, Francine was also one of the VVIPs in the city. Rumor has it that she bought her way to this status, which shouldn't be possible, but like what was mentioned, Francine's family was really rich. With that much wealth, the means available to her would be numerous so the rumor might just be correct.

'I should really pace myself here...they said that the Black Sky would last for a week at most. It hasn't even been a day since this started.' She mused inwardly while weaving spells at the enemy.

'But damn it! These demons are just really insufferable! They're irritating to look at! Seeing them just irks me to the point of violent hostility!'

Boom! Boom! Boom!

'Whatever, I've got a lot of options to restore my mana anyway. If I run out of it, I could always just buy more. I'm sure the System Shop will never run out of them.'

Because of her deep-seated hatred against demons, it took little to no convincing to have help with the city's defense. Arishem visited her once the announcement was made and he didn't need to say much to get her help.

Hell, she even nearly volunteered for it.

Actually, yeah she is a volunteer. While the rest were promised compensation should the city survive this event, Francine has no need for it. Even if they wanted to pay her, she wouldn't accept it because, to her, any rewards she might receive here would just be a spare change in her eyes due to her staggering wealth. So yes, she might as well be a volunteer.

"Hmm?"

Francine seemingly sensed something strange, causing her to peel her attention away from the enemies below her. She turned towards the city and narrowed her eyes.

She scanned her surroundings for a bit but failed to notice anything strange. She was skeptical at first but after failing to notice anything, she shook her head.

'I could've sworn I sensed something just now...' she mused inwardly.

She sensed a presence brushing near her range. It was faint and it didn't linger so she wasn't able to latch to it. However, because everything happened too fast, she thought that must've thought wrong.

'Must be some kind of demon using illusions then.' She thought to herself before nodding, 'Yeah, that makes sense. These demons are cunning and wretched. I wouldn't put it past them to resort to such means.'

Having that thought, her hatred against demons was re-ignited. Once again, she released a volley of spells at the horde below. The matter of that mysterious presence was thrown at the far corners of her mind, replaced by the sheer need to kill more demons to appease her anger.

Unfortunately for her, she was wrong this time. She did feel a presence, she just failed to see them because her means weren't sufficient enough.

However, that's fine. What she failed to notice was spotted by someone within the city. She didn't need to worry because that someone would deal with the thing she missed.