True Battle IV

Jacob turned to the hoard, spotting a large peacock leading their charge.

It was an odd thing, a ridiculously long neck held up its ridiculous-looking head. Although, it was much less ridiculous when you eyed the razor-sharp beak that appeared to be made of a metallic substance.

Luckily its body seemed much less intimidating.

He smiled slightly as he had an idea.

Less than a second later his gun was aimed, shot, and put back down into a passive position.

The bird crumbled to the ground, rolling wildly, and creating an impromptu roadblock.

Jacob had chosen not to disable his foe this time, opting for the base of the beast's neck.

His logic was simple, since it was leading the charge now that the rescue team was behind enemy lines, it must have originally been at the backline of the beast's forces.

Coupled with the bird's long neck, Jacob assumed that its primary strategy involved using its beak to cause damage from a safe distance. In this case that meant using its fellow beasts as shields.

Based on that he further concluded that the rest of the creature's body was most likely vulnerable, or at least not so tough that it could survive a bullet to a vital area.

Jacob had slowed the beast's charge somewhat as the flailing bird tangled some of the closer ones, but that was hardly the end of it.

The warriors barely reacted when the bird went down, taking the advantage in stride.

The servants on the other hand required another shout from Jacob to be prompted back to work.

Less than 10 seconds later the beasts were upon them.

Thanks to Jacob the warriors were not lacking in setup time.

They had placed portable spears around to help defend blind spots and 2 of the warriors now held large shields, ready to take the brunt of the creature's attacks to allow their comrades room to breathe.

The spears were nothing fancy, they were simply shoved into the ground at an angle, held up by weight that seemed to be focused almost entirely on the base.

But that was the genius of it.

The beasts were not exactly intelligent, but they weren't completely driven by instinct either. They had the capacity to recognise the threat of the spears and realise that charging them would lead to grievous wounds.

They could also tell that if they were to focus solely on moving or destroying the spears then the humans would be able to easily kill them.

The best part was they lacked the intelligence to come up with appropriate countermeasures. Their thoughts stopped after deeming the spears as something to be avoided.

In this way, the purist faction had created an easy-to-deploy barrier that worked against most manner of beast.

Jacob stood in the backline of the warriors as the beasts reached them.

They charged those standing in the front line. The dust road was turning into something of a hallway of dust due to all the moving feet upon it.

Through the dust a wolf bashed against one of the shield warriors, the impact staggered him slightly, but he managed to hold fast.

Soon enough one of the fellow warriors intervened, a spear, for combat rather than setup, pierced the wolf's chest quickly before being tugged out.

Blood sprayed slightly as the beast's body grew limp, only to be pushed away by the shield warrior, lest it be used as a foothold for a beast that which to jump over him.

Jacob did his best to suppress his shock, it was the first time he had seen a living thing die so close to him.

Earlier the distance made it harder to make out details but now, with his overclock activated at 2x and only meters between him and the wolf, he saw everything.

He saw the crimson life spill from the jagged puncture wound in its skull.

He saw how its eyes widened, almost in disbelief at its demise.

He saw fear, fear of the unknown, and fear of becoming nothing.

He saw its heart beat for the last time, and he saw its once-grey fur becoming matted in blood.

He saw all of this in only 2 real-world seconds.

But he knew he would never forget it.

He gritted his teeth, forcing the expression that had yet to fully form on his face to become clear.

He maintained a concentrated look as he overclocked to 3x for a few seconds, calming himself in the process.

But a real battle doesn't wait for you to compose yourself.

Another of the beasts charged the warriors, then another, then another.

Jacob pulled his focus from his memory of the wolf's demise as the warriors began to show signs of struggle against the onslaught.

His head whipped left and right as he identified major targets within the beast's fold.

He had 4 bullets left and wanted to conserve one for emergencies, which left him with 3 occasions that he could assist without putting himself at risk.

Jacob took his first shot quickly, aiming at the head of what appeared to be a butterfly with scythe-like legs.

He could tell that the moment it reached their formation it would cause havoc since it would be able to easily avoid the spears.

Thankfully it didn't appear to have any particularly strong defences, a fact Jacob had guessed due to the constraints of weight that any airborne creature possessed.

The butterfly fell quickly, falling into more of the beasts and causing a minor delay in the middle of their ranks.

Jacob could hear those at the front line shouting at the beasts, attempting to draw them back into the original fray and away from the rescue team, but it was to no avail.

For whatever reason the beasts seemed intent on slaughtering the rescue team specifically.

Jacob had 2 more bullets that he was willing to spare.

But he held back from using them.

This decision had 2 reasons behind it.

The first was a tactical one, if he held on to the bullets it would give him the ability to easily deal with unknown factors.

The second was more sinister. If he only used the bullets to save the lives of the men here, they would be more likely to feel gratitude at having been pulled from the jaws of death. If he simply stopped the danger before it approached, then the feeling would be much less impactful.

Jacob took his opportunities and, on both occasions, made shots against beasts that were inches away from ending the life of one of his warriors.

The warriors only had time for a quick look of gratitude before they were pulled back into the fray.

Beasts continued to hound the shield warriors, several cuts and small bites began to adorn the shields and even the arms of the warriors.

Exhaustion was taking its toll as the small team felled yet another of the beasts that wished them dead with such ferocity.

That was when they heard it.

No… they didn't just hear it.

They felt it.

A rumble in the ground, a howl that split the wind and a stench of death so thick it made soup seem like water.

Then he saw it.

Through the thicket of trees at the end of the dirt path, its outline became visible.

It towered over them, the size of an elephant, with none of the roundness. Its marred, yet long and thick tails swayed behind it in a controlled hypnotic manner. Wolflike paws scratched the earth as it stalked forward. The horn on its head showed many chips but seemed no less deadly than any blade carried by the warriors, while the body of the beast seemed to be made of thick skin and covered in an even thicker coat of dark fur. Finally, its massive teeth held the remains of blood and flesh as they rested within its mouth, it almost appeared to be grinning. Finally, its eyes held a catlike joy, the joy of a hunter.