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The silence wasn't peaceful.
It was tense, scary, and so brittle that it could snap at any moment.
Nobody dared to speak; some didn't even dare to breathe loudly. Everybody just waited until the moment arrived where everything went to hell.
All sides of the defense walls were manned and equipped with all sorts of defense mechanisms. Soldiers, officers, knight captains, lord commanders, war generals, and high marshals—the entirety of the human army—were all disposed of the duty to protect their homes.
Behind these manned walls were the scared civilians, the majority of whom are hiding in bunkers guarded by superhumans to increase their security. It didn't matter even if they weren't there to see what's happening because they could all feel it.
The silence of the world allowed them to be more in tune with the sounds of nature and the vibrations of the earth. Despite not seeing even a shadow of the horde yet, they could tell that they're coming and that they're close just by feeling how the earth trembles at their march.
The animals felt this more profoundly than humans do, actually. The birds didn't dare to fly, the reptiles curled up in their habitats, and the mammals felt a strong urge to migrate despite not having anywhere to go.
It is safe to say that everybody could feel the incoming threat and respond according to their instincts. Humans were not so different.
OOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Every single living being within the walls jolted in shock after hearing the long and ominous bellow of the war horn. Their sense of crisis dialed up to eleven, and the first salvo that marked the start of the war was released.
Pffft! BOOOOOM!!!
The opening fire that stared at this nightmarish defense came from a special missile launcher created by Tech God Charles himself.
It fired a missle that streaked through the air, leaving a gorgeous yet ominous trail of smoke in its wake. At the peak of its flight, it burst into a salvo of shrapnels that rained down at the first sight of the horde.
Pik Pak Pik Pak!
They sounded like fireworks, yet their terrifying effect was reflected for every soldier to see.
Upon making contact with the ground, they left a trail of ghastly flames. The demons charged through it, thinking that it wasn't anything, only to suffer immensely because not only did those flames contain the profound charm of concept laws, they also started spreading amongst them like wildfire.
A missile launcher that could shoot salvos with the charm of concept laws—a piece of technology that could harness the power of planar laws—only a person such as the Tech God could do something like this on Prime Earth.
Since the first salvo was launched, it's expected that the next wave will come too. Once they saw the firestarter, the rest surely followed. This was no time to hesitate; this was a war for survival. Hesitation means death here.
While the missile launchers of Tech God were destructive, they weren't enough to cull the sheer number of the horde. Moreover, there were varieties of demonkind that could outright ignore or neutralize the string of salvos raining down on them.
The incoming army wasn't passive either. Bolts and orbs darker than ink flew towards the soldiers on the walls. Exploding skulls, leaving trails of ghastly blood, were seen flying around. There were also acid projectiles, corrupted fireballs, the rain of thorns, etc.
With a cold look on her face, she aimed her staff at the horde, and then the fireworks were released.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
It sounds like an opera of percussions. All fifty magical circles released bolts of magic missiles that skewered demons with 100% accuracy. Her rate of fire was so high that her spells looked like a light show.
"H-Hey! Don't use too much mana! I-I wouldn't be able to keep up with you!" The supporting person yelled behind her.
"It's okay!" Erica responded amidst the noise of the battlefield. "I can maintain this all day without any problems."
"Impossible!"
She ignored the guy's disbelief and focused on her task. Frankly, Erica has no need for any support at all, but she had to follow the arrangements of the army leaders.
Pshew! BOOM!!
Because of her high-profile spellcasting, it was inevitable that she would get the attention of stronger demons. And she did. A Demon Lord launched the attack just now; a flaming stake covered in barbs coated with poison was originally meant to kill her, but a timely barrier stopped it from getting anywhere close to her.
A magical circle appeared on the head of her staff as she blasted that pesky Demon Lord to nihility in response, all without instability on the firing rate of other magical circles above her.
"Girl, aren't you using too much mana all at once?"
Erica detected the presence of High Marshal Filius before he even spoke, so she wasn't startled by his appearance.
"I'm fine, High Marshal," she responded. "Believe me, this hardly drains me of energy. I could sit here all day doing this and still be fine. In fact, I would use more destructive spells, but I don't want to scare them so much that they avoid this place."
Filius was hesitant. This was a really bold claim, and he wasn't informed about it before. He wants to believe her, of course, but aren't her claims too outrageous?
Suddenly, a system window appeared before the High Marshal, something that only he could see. It says:
[She's telling the truth. Trust her.]
Filius inhaled sharply after seeing this. He instantly knew that this was Acala speaking to him directly, and frankly, that's all the convincing he needed.
He then turned to the supporting ally behind Erica and ordered:
"Make yourself useful in other places. She'll be fine."
"Yes, High Marshal."
Erica barely paid attention to their exchange. Instead, her eyes were looking at the inauspicious cloud of purple smoke rising in the middle of the horde with a barely visible grin on her face.