The Battle Begins

The Titan appearing on the horizon drew the attention of those on the wall, but only for a split second.

However, that was long enough.

One of the serpents surged ahead of the others and, ignoring the laws of gravity, adhered to the wall, slithering up it at breakneck speed.

It seized the moment of distraction to consume its first victim.

"Coy!" Jo saw her companion's head disappear without so much as a sound.

Pushing back her shock, the woman sliced her blade through the air and chopped off the snake's head to even the score. It fell on the wall and rolled off of the side.

But it was too late.

…Or was it?

Coy's body wavered and disappeared before a replica of the man appeared beyond the body of the serpent.

"I'm fine. It was my decoy!" The blurry Awakened had succeeded in making a projected copy of himself, one that was too tempting for the beast to ignore.

Coy was safe…for now.

No one had time to revel in their relief, for the next wave of creatures was already upon them.

"Look out!"

Scores of monsters surged up the wall. Most of them clung to the pink stone, but a few slithered up the white boulders. Catphine used a bow to shoot the one closest to her in the eye socket, sending it plummeting back to the ground.

Yet, another was already in its place. The carmine body surged forward with fangs bared, ready for human flesh.

"Addy!" Catphine pushed the man beside her out of harm's way. The snake clamped down on Catphine, slipping its teeth between the plates of her armor.

The serpent released its prey a moment later, its eyes dimming as the life drained out.

[You have slain a Dormant Monster, Abased Adder.]

Noble paid no attention to the voice. She killed two more of the slithering fiends before Jet and the rescued Addy took her place.

With a break in the action, Noble ran to Catphine's side.

The mentor grabbed her former student's hand as blood flowed from her abdomen. "Cat!"

The girl winced. "I'm alright. It just got my side not my stomach."

She was right, a few millimeters to the left and the lady would have already been a goner. Noble cared about her former student too much to let her bleed out.

"Hamish! Sarai! Help!" The warrior called to her friends.

The redheaded baker tossed her a small vial in between her fiery jabs. 

Uncorking it, Noble dripped the antivenom into Cat's mouth.

Hamish shook his blade, clearing it of the fetid blood of the monsters assaulting the wall. Dismissing the great sword, he sent the floating blood toward Catphine's wound.

It covered the armor and seeped into the breach. The girl gasped.

"Just let it work," Hamish told her, his own face pale.

Sitting up, the young brunette looked as good as new. She searched for her bow, but Noble stopped her.

"Go back to the Waking World, and get reinforcements."

"But!" Catphine objected. Although she knew she was not physically strong, she still wanted to help the citadel.

Jet yelled over her shoulder. "Go! We'll need all the help we can get, soldier! Hurry!"

The recruit nodded, accepting the order. With Hamish's help, she stood and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Take care of yourself," she told her pale-faced friend.

"You too," Hamish turned and recalled his Bloodsword.

Noble gripped her Zenith. "When you get back, tell my family I might be late, but I'll be home as soon as I can."

Cat gave a short nod, hurried down the stairs and ran toward the palace.

Noble trusted her both to get the troops and notify her family.

'At least Rainy won't think I abandoned her this time.'

Now all Noble had to do was survive the onslaught.

And with a Corrupted Titan drawing nearer on the horizon, that was going to be easier said than done.

Just before getting out of sight, Catphine froze.

"You have to get behind it!" She yelled to Noble.

"What?" The professor could barely hear her over the battle.

"That is where you are supposed to be. Behind it." Catphine didn't wait for an answer. She slipped down a side street to make it back as soon as possible.

'What am I supposed to get behind? The wall? I need to be in front of it!'

Flying above the line of soldiers, Noble plunged over the battlement. Floating midway down the barricade, she ran her sword along the length of the stone, catching as many of the snakes as she could in her wake.

The edge of the Zenith dripped with blood. The voice of the Spell overlapped in her mind as the corpses of the abominations tumbled to the ground.

Yet no matter how many fell, countless more took their places.

Soon the wall was covered with a pattern of undulating gold, vermillion, and verdant reptiles as far as the eye could see. They crashed upon the battlement like relentless waves of the sea.

For now, the Awakened were holding their own on the wall. A few had fallen, but many more of the Adders had been annihilated in the conflict. The line between the white and pink stone began to blur, all of it painted red with crimson liquid.

For now, most of the Nightmare Creatures were Dormant or Awakened.

The majority of warriors on the wall were veterans of Antarctica, deftly repelling the force that was intent on destroying them.

That is not to say things were easy. And they would get much harder very soon.

On the once-white stone, Master Chip lifted his Kama Yari defiantly.

Seeing its chance, the Adder leapt at his face. But it was a mistake. The weapon came down swiftly, snuffing the hatred out of the snake's eyes. 

The serpent fell to the ground still wriggling. 

"What the...?!"

Without warning, a brood of tiny vipers escaped from the creature's belly. The little creatures looked like worms compared to their mother, but they were no less bloodthirsty.

They spread along the citadel's wall looking for any crack to breach.

Coy smashed the pests with his boots in a dangerous dance as he continued to tangle with a larger serpent bearing down on his head. The game of high and low would only end in death, and Coy fought against that death being his. 

Beside him, Jo cried out. Coy looked over and spotted the woman gripping her ankle.

One of the fangs had dug through the ankle joint of her armor, and the small abomination pumped the entirety of its venom into her body before being cast aside.

Lowering her foot, the beautiful warrior fell to one knee, her face growing pale.

All around Jo, flames enveloped the floor, devouring the snakes while leaving the humans untouched. 

The tiny creatures hissed before turning to ash. When Master Sarai's fire cleared, Chip rushed to prop up Jo before she collapsed completely. His weapon clattered to the ground.

As the next snake came over the wall, it was met from behind with Bee's baleful blade, severing the spine and buying Chip precious time.

The infuriated Master passed Jo to the third member of their cohort.

"Get her out of here!" Chip ordered Coy. "Get her help!"

Coy obeyed without question, falling back behind the line with the injured woman in tow. Jo limped away, leaning heavily on her comrade as they hurried down the stairs in search of a healer.

A spark lit in Chip's eyes. His face transformed again to make his eyes large as his nose became abnormally small.

"Blasted Asps!" He cried.

Lifting his weapon from the bloodied ground, he used his enhanced vision and shouted to the sky.

"I swear to the Beast God, the next legless lizard that tries to munch one of my squad, I will turn them and all of their siblings into a hat!"

It would be a difficult vow to keep, but Chip would have many opportunities to try. 

The battle was only beginning.

The fight on the wall of Crestfall had begun.