Vol.8 Ch.222- Gurgling Drains.

I moved down the wall back to the firing ballista, clearing surviving undead and burning corpses. From time to time, I looked down at the open field to catch a glimpse of War God Vasquez moving at inhuman speeds. With the support of mages and the ballista, he leapt over trenches, sprinted across open ground, and systematically went to every Corpse Golem. If they were still put together, he sliced them down, followed by a massive torrent of red fire to consume the monsters.

Things were going far better than expected, but it was also far too soon to celebrate. Every time War God Vasquez leapt into the fray directly, he could only safely kill and destroy a few more Corpse Golems. Even he wasn't untouchable, and it was worrisome to rely on him surviving alone in the midst of the undead horde with only fire support from a distance. In the distance, I could see that four Corpse Golems had pulled back, allowing the endless waves of undead to shuffle into the trenches and impale themselves on the defensive spikes. And unfortunately for us, they had nearly reached the walls. There was less than a mile of trenches that separated us.

But the question is, what will be their next move?

Their swarm of flying monsters was only slightly effective, while their Corpse Golem assault was stopped dead in its tracks. Surely, the undead weren't in a rush to take the city. In reality, we had no backup coming as it could take weeks to months for Tel'an'duth to send any forces. And I had yet to hear a word about Krunbar or the City States assisting. And if there was even the slightest of credence behind Amon-Ra controlling the undead and the entire invasion being a Holy Kingdom ploy, then they were well aware of that fact.

So, what was their next move? I highly doubted that the Liches would begin showing themselves to strike the walls with magic so soon. If it were me, I would use the millions of undead to slowly siege the city and start to surround it on all sides. Force their defenses to thin while tiring my enemy out and draining their supplies. After all, every single one of us who died and wasn't immediately burned would eventually join the ranks of the enemy. Luminar and Curia were on a timer to defeat the source of the invasion. The undead had all the time in the world.

I sent my spear into the skull of a reviving bird monster with bright, snow-colored wings. Its flesh was dripping off it, and I silenced it with that one strike. As I burned it to ash, the same warm feeling washed over me. It was a wonderful, euphoric feeling that was utterly foreign in nature. I had no idea why I experienced that feeling, but also, just like last time, I only felt it when the undead was completely destroyed, most likely because the Liches were technically keeping the undead "alive" or at least their souls.

Does that mean that the feeling only triggers when I kill the souls of these unfortunate creatures? Am I even able to "kill" a soul? My Dragoneye and Soulsight have given me no new information either. Even as I watch the corpses fade to dust, the light of their soul simply flickers out and disappears along with the body, just like when I kill a person.

I sighed deeply as I cleared the last of the bodies in my immediate vicinity and rejoined the mages near the ballista. Now that the undead were closer, I began lobbing Fireballs into the endless horde. Each explosive blast sent limbs and undead flying while the fire burned at their flesh. My mana pool was still holding firm as I hadn't used taxing spells just yet. But even I was starting to get tired, and my mana would drain over time.

I was not the only one, either. Many of the mages around me were not nearly as strong, nor was their mana pool as large as mine. Many of them were struggling to keep up with the demand of burning corpses and slowing the push and would need to be rotated out with a fresh group. When I looked behind us at the morning sky, I saw that it had definitely been at least two hours since the start of the attack.

So, until it was my time to rotate, I would continue to fight.

—

My rotation came and went. I was sent to an outpost in the city not too far from the wall upon my request. I could have returned to the castle or barracks but refused as I wanted to be close in case of an emergency. I immediately went to grab some food despite not being hungry in the slightest. At that point, the stench of rotting and burnt flesh had overtaken the entire city in a disgusting miasma, dashing any appetite. Regardless, calories were calories, and I needed to eat and rest while I could.

I found a shaded place tucked away by a ransacked shop that didn't reek of death and wasn't overflowing with people. The street was bustling with troops and civilians moving supplies, going deeper into the city, and people piling the flying monster corpses away for burning. Thankfully, that outpost wasn't hit very hard; damage was minimal, with few casualties and wounded. I sat down, rested my back against the wall, and before I knew it, I had fallen into a light half-sleep.

However, I was awoken by a set of rather serious stares that were directed my way. I opened my eyes and asked, "Are you two stationed here?"

Tsarra and Varnir both smiled meekly as they nodded their heads. "We are…but…are you…okay? You know that you are covered in blood, right?" Varnir asked.

I looked down at my black and red armor which was splashed with dried blood. I got most of it off, but there was no point in trying to clean all of it. It would just get bloody again in a few hours.

"It's not my blood…mostly. I'm fine and don't really have any injuries to speak of," I answered.

"That's good…" Tsarra mumbled quietly as she bent down.

She started wiping my face, and dirty, dried blood appeared on the clean rag. It was rather embarrassing, but…what did it matter? She was my aunt, so a little familial help wasn't anything to be ashamed of.

"You two don't look injured. I heard this outpost was attacked," I said.

"We are fine. We were a bit surprised at first, considering a giant swarm of rotting animals came from the sky, but nothing we couldn't handle. Especially since your mom was here…she basically did everything by herself minus burning the bodies," Varnir said.

"I see…" I said.

My mother was one of the War God capable people, but she was placed in the city and was tasked with rotating around the outposts to respond to incidents, just like what happened with the birds. In a few hours, she would join the defense of the wall, and another War God would take her place.

"Thank you," I said as Tsarra finished.

"So, how was it? Are there a lot of them?" Varnir asked, somewhat anxiously.

"There are far more than you can imagine," I answered honestly.

Varnir chuckled nervously as he shrugged to himself. "Sorry for asking…just wanted to hear it from someone I trusted, you know?"

I waved his concern away. It was clear both of them were nervous despite everything that led up to them being here. This would be their first actual battle. And it was a battle that had everything on the line, their lives included.

"It's fine. Why don't you two get some rest? You still have a few hours until your rotation, right?" I said.

"Then we'll join you…if that's okay?" Tsarra asked meekly.

"Sure, be my guest," I said.

The two of them sat down next to me, and the three of us made ourselves comfortable. At least as comfortable as a city under siege by rotting corpses and a cold stone ground could be on an early spring morning. However, I was not able to fall asleep as another person joined us.

My mother wore armor for the rare occasion. It was just a simple Dwarven steel chest plate, gauntlets, and enough armor to cover her legs as well on top of a white outfit. It was a poor choice considering the enemy, as it was already completely stained in blood. Regardless, she sat down next to me without a word. I looked over to her, and she just smiled softly, ran a hand through my hair, and gently guided my head to her shoulder.

"It's been a long time since we've done something like this," she whispered quietly.

"I don't think you and I have ever been in a siege together," I said jokingly.

Mom chuckled quietly to herself and said, "Yes…let's hope this is our last siege ever."

"Agreed," I said, lying to myself more than anything.

If fate had its way, this would not be the last siege by any means.

"Just get some sleep, Kal," Mom whispered.

"I will…." I said softly.

Before I knew it, I had actually fallen asleep that time. Perhaps it was because I was more tired than I realized despite not actually needing to sleep, or maybe it was just my mother's comfort. I chose to believe in the latter.

But sleep was not destined for me this day.

My eyes shot open to the sounds of yelling, blood-curdling screaming, and combat. The four of us shot up, wide awake, as we sprinted toward the commotion. I heard it before I saw it: a mutilated dog-like creature with rotting, pestilent skin. It broke through a crate and lunged toward the exposed back of a soldier who was helping someone off the ground.

My mother's throwing knife was the first to hit it. The lightning-charged blade struck the monster straight in the head and dropped it motionless to the ground. That same scene was all around us. Various animal-like monsters, that ranged from dogs to rats, were slaughtering civilians and being cut to pieces by guards and soldiers.

A group of civilians was huddled against a shop front, and Varnir immediately sent the roots from his shield toward them. The vine barrier protected the people from the gnashing teeth of the monsters that were about to descend upon them. A bolt of golden lightning arced from my hand and through the air and silenced four monsters in the blink of an eye.

We descended into the madness, my spear thrusting through some rotting corpses. My mother's lighting clad swords danced and sliced apart monster after monster in rapid succession. Tsarra stood behind us and fired fast-moving balls of water that crushed the smaller monsters to death on impact. I set to work burning the corpses while I moved through, as we made a defensive line with the soldiers and guards. The still-living civilians ran past us to safety, and we set to work clearing the area of undead.

It took some time to eliminate everything in the vicinity, but the monsters had been reduced to corpses as they tried to reanimate back to life. With the help of everyone, the bodies were continually killed, smashed to bits by Squeak and Padraic's crude hammers as they were piled up for burning. But just as we were to finish up and take stock of what had happened and how the undead got into the city, another wave came from the western alleyways.

I burned the corpse pile just as the wave hit us. We were stuck in another pitched fight, but the monsters themselves were not particularly dangerous. Most of them were sluggish, lacking the uncanny speed and agility that monsters typically had. But it was their sheer numbers that were the problem.

My mother launched herself into the thick of it, slaying monster after monster in a flash of light. Her body clad in lightning was a spectacle for sure, but we had no time to marvel as one of the sides of the line collapsed as a larger monster the size of a deer used its broken front antlers to impale a guard through the chest.

I formed a spell core for an Earth Spike, and a giant spear of stone erupted from the ground and pierced the monster in the chest. With a wail, the creature went airborne, suspended by my spike, desperately trying to free itself. Another Earth Spike, and I impaled the creature's skull, ending it for the time being.

Varnir's roots snaked through the ground and exploded upwards, impaling multiple monsters in an instant. The guards capitalized on the momentum and, using their hammers, smashed the monster's heads in or crushed their bodies until they stopped moving. It was a bloodbath, but we once again repelled the undead.

"Damn! Where are they coming from?!" Varnir hissed as he speared a giant rat through the head.

"I don't know, but we have to find the source. There is no indication that the wall has been breached, so they must be coming from somewhere else," I said while burning the remains.

"These ones came from the west. It must be around there," Mom added.

"Then that's where we are going," I said.

Once the area was secured and the bodies burnt, we gathered a small force and went west. We cleared a handful of monsters along the way as we moved through the alleyways and across streets. The sound of battle could be heard in every direction now, not just at the wall. It was clear that the undead, or at least some of them, were inside of the city now.

We arrived at another encampment that had been completely devastated. The remnants of people were around: blood splatters, torn clothing, dropped weapons, and shredded armor, but…that was it, just remnants.

The corpses were already gone.

"By the gods…are they taking the corpses away themselves?" a guard muttered in disbelief.

The answer to his question was apparent to everyone. In the encampment, there were clear signs of blood on the ground as the bodies were being dragged in a singular direction, west. Varnir swallowed hard next to me, and I motioned to Mom to keep moving. The sounds of monsters could be heard up ahead. We moved through the empty and bloodied streets and into a large open shopping area; at the center, the ground had caved in, and there were dozens of undead beasts spilling out from the hole and plenty more dragging bodies into it.

Those of us who could would use magic prepared spell cores to launch into the mass. It seemed we were spotted the moment we started, however the beast-like creatures seemed to lack their keen senses as it was far too late for them. Fire, water, wind, and earth spells raced off and barraged the entire group of undead. Our spells ripped the beasts apart, burnt them to dust, and sliced them into bits. With a yell from the guards, we charged into the remaining group and made quick work of the creatures.

We once again set out to stop their reviving and cremate the bodies as we secured the hole. The stench of rot and sewerage was pungent, to say the least. But at least we found the culprit.

"I was told the sewer system was secure…" I grumbled.

"That doesn't appear to be the case anymore," Mom said grimly.

The sewer system lined most of the city, which very well meant that undead could already be piling out everywhere. The only saving grace was that the undead weren't bringing their entire force to bear just yet. This animal undead must have just been the vanguard.

"But still…why are they taking the corpses?" Tsarra muttered.

"I bet the Liches are just out of range. They probably need to be closer," I said.

"So…we are going down there, right?" Varnir asked hesitantly.

"We are going down there. We have to collapse the sewers at the entry point to stop the flow of undead, and the longer we wait, the more that will flood in. If they start assaulting the wall from behind, the city will collapse in a matter of hours," I said.

"Damn," Varnir cursed.

I ordered the guards and soldiers to split up; half were to leave immediately and report the situation to the castle and barracks, while the other half secured the sewer breach. There was a good chance there were multiple breaches, so every breach covered was less undead in the area. And the faster the castle got the information, the sooner reinforcements came.

That just left Mom, Tsarra, Varnir, and me to plunge into the sewers of Curia.