60 Battle on the Fields of Dawn (I)

The army was pushed to the extremes as they marched as fast as they possibly could in the direction of the City of Glow. It was an exhausting event, but the army had moved at the fastest pace it had ever gone. Eventually, they began to see smoke in the distance. It was clear that the City of Glow as already besieged. They needed to get there as soon as they could. Even if the city could not be saved, they could save as many people as they could.

The Devilbeasts had flown by several times and spotted the army. There was simply no time for the army to stop and set up anti air guns to kill the scouts. So, the demons knew they were coming. So, when the army finally reached the City of Glow, the demons were already assembled outside the city, ready to meet the army head on.

This time, the army would not have the time to prepare trenches or fortifications. It would be a battle on open ground. The riflemen all lined up in formation, forming rows. The pikemen formed lines in front of the riflemen. The machine guns were hastily set up to cover important areas. The army waited as the role of these soldiers would be to hold the line. Meanwhile, the cannons would begin their barrage and force the demons to attack.

The entire demon army was visible, and as the army watched, the demons began streaming forward in a massive tide. The army prepared themselves as the demons approached.

The cannons received their first orders. The Spider Demons had been identified. These Spider Demons would be the largest threat to the army as they could attack at range and bombard the soldiers with large spikes. The cannons were the best option to destroy them. The cannons fired, and the first volley managed to kill most of the Spider Demons. The ground shook with massive recoil from the cannons.

Suddenly, disaster struck. Demons began emerging from the ground. Most of them were centered in the backlines where the cannons were. The demons began a vicious attack and cannons had to be abandoned during the fight. Many groups of God's Punishment Warriors were sent, along with groups of riflemen and several witches to kill the demons. The demons were numerous, and both sides began taking losses as they fought for control over the area.

Then, the Devilbeasts appeared and also joined the fray. The anti aircraft guns began firing and they managed to kill many Devilbeasts. However, some of the anti aircraft gun emplacements were disrupted by the demon attack. Many Devilbeasts were able to land and reinforce the demons already within the encampment.

The demon forces within the camp were being encircled and neutralized. Part of this was because of the God's Punishment Witches lent to the army by Neverwinter. They were excellent fighters and were able to kill entire groups of demons by themselves. Still, the demons had entrenched themselves within the human encampment and it was taking a long time to clear them out. Even after they succeeded, restoring the operation of the cannons would take longer, as ammunition stores were scattered by the attack.

Meanwhile, the demons had reached the human army. The demons engaged in melee with the pikemen and God's Punishment Warriors. Slowly, the pikemen were being killed and even the God's Punishments were being whittled away by the relentless demon assault. The riflemen and witches continued to provide ranged support, killing the approaching demons. Still, even with all the demons they killed, more continued to come.

Jack was engaged in the most intense fight of his life. In the beginning, the battle seemed to go the same as the other ones. That all changed when the cannons were taken out. Now, the veritable flood of demons was overrunning their position. He had just seen one of the machine gun emplacements being overrun by the demons. He steeled his resolve and continued to fire at the incoming demons.

He was focused entirely on his task and he almost didn't see when a demon began rushing at him from the side. Fortunately, he spotted it while reloading and he quickly turned his gun toward it. He took his shot, and the demon fell only several meters away from him. Jack was somewhat rattled by the close call, but he was able to remain calm and continue firing. He remained vigilant of his surroundings however to ward off any incoming threats.

Jack spotted Meera fighting the demons. She was killing demons by the dozens with her wind blades, and Jack found her as impressive as ever. Still, he did not let his awe distract him from his task. However, he spotted a demon approaching her from the side. She had not spotted the demon which was getting closer.

Jack's mind filled with fear as it looked like the demon was about to kill Meera. Jack couldn't let that happen. He quickly turned and aimed his gun toward her. He would only get one shot at this as the demon was already quite close. Despite his fear, he steadied his hands to aim. The shot struck the demon in the shoulder. The demon screamed in pain, but he didn't die from the hit. However, this was able to alert Meera to the threat and she turned to deal with the attacking demon.

Jack let out a sigh of relief, before quickly turning back to fire at the horde of demons. Out of the corner of his eye he would continue to check up on Meera to make sure she wasn't being attacked.

Unfortunately, there was a new threat to be worried about. The remaining Spider Demons had gotten in range. Although there were only three of them left, they were enough to cause issues. Without the cannons to suppress them, they were able to fire with impunity. Spikes rained down from the sky, killing dozens of soldiers. Jack saw his friend Lop, only a few meters away from him, get impaled by a spike. This was a threat that he couldn't deal with.

Worse, the Senior Demon was now approaching the human army. In order to deal with him, the God's Punishment Warriors in the front lines were sent to deal with him. However, as the approached the Senior Demon attacked them. Although they were powerful, the Senior Demon was able to swat them aside and kill them. The Senior Demon was able to progress unimpeded and the powerful striking force was eliminated.

The situation was grim. The cannons were still out of commission and without them, the Spider Demons and the Senior Demon could not be stopped. The army would end up completely devastated.

Steven and the rest of the command staff were desperate. They could not think of a way out of this situation. All of their forces were tied down..

Steven spoke to Zero through the Sigil of Listening to try to ask for advice on what to do. Zero, who was sitting in the tank, responded. "There is only one force left to us. I will go."