Chapter 124: Hold the Walls
Mithra watched Arthur disappear across the rooftops before turning toward the wall. "Don’t die," she said quietly. Then she smiled. "At least not before I can make fun of you."
Sun laughed. "I’ll remind him you said that," he said.
Another impact shook the city.
Boooooom!!
Everyone immediately turned toward the wall.
Mithra tightened her grip around Kusa. "Let’s go," she said.
They sprinted, Goblin warriors following behind them. As they climbed the final staircase, the wall shook again, dust raining from the battlements, several Goblins stumbling.
Then Mithra reached the top, and she stopped.
Her eyes slowly widened.
An endless sea of monsters stretched across the valley.
Stonehorn Behemoths marched together, each nearly fifteen feet tall, their bodies looking carved from living mountains, golden cracks glowing along their enormous horns. Every synchronized step shook the earth.
Behind them, Titan Boulder Apes tore boulders from the mountainsides, some larger than houses, others laughing while casually tossing them between each other. Crystal Serpents disappeared beneath the ground, only glowing crystal trails remaining behind them. Fire Lizards crawled between monster ranks, every breath becoming another river of fire.
Farther back, Thunder Chimeras stood in formation, lightning constantly jumping between their manes, the entire battlefield flashing blue with every crackle.
Sun slowly lowered Long. "That’s," he said, "a lot."
Even the Goblins fell silent.
One young Hunter whispered, "How are we supposed to stop that?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
Mithra drew Kusa. "We don’t," she said.
Everyone looked at her.
"We only stop them for today," she said.
The first Stonehorn Behemoth reached the wall.
Boooooooom!!
The impact echoed through the city.
The wall trembled.
Dust poured from ancient stone.
Mithra immediately took command. "Goblin Archers! Only shoot climbers! Don’t waste arrows!"
The Archers immediately spread out along the battlements.
"Goblin Mages! Support the Riders!"
The Mages nodded, mana circles appearing above their raised hands.
Flames.
Wind.
Earth.
Water.
Every element gathered at once.
"Goblin Riders!"
The Riders lowered their spears, and their Blazefang Lions roared in answer. "Burn them!" Mithra called.
Nine Lions leaned over the battlements, fire gathering inside every mouth.
Boooooooooom!!
Columns of fire rained downward, entire sections of monsters disappearing beneath blazing explosions.
The battlefield vanished beneath fire.
Fire Lizards screamed as the torrents swallowed them whole. Several Titan Boulder Apes raised their arms to shield their faces, their thick fur igniting as they staggered backward. Crystal Serpents surfaced directly beneath the flames.
Their crystal scales glowed bright red before shattering under the relentless heat.
One Stonehorn Behemoth disappeared inside the inferno.
The Goblins leaned forward hopefully.
Then...
A massive horn burst through the flames. The Behemoth kept walking. Its rocky hide glowed like molten stone, smoke pouring from every crack, but it never slowed.
A second Behemoth emerged beside it.
Then a third.
The burning giants continued marching through the sea of fire as if refusing to fall.
Sun scratched his head. "That’s unfair," he said.
The Goblin Archers quickly realized something. They couldn’t waste arrows. Not against this many enemies.
One Goblin Hunter shouted, "We’re out of spare bundles!"
Sun looked around to see broken barricades and collapsed houses nearby. His eyes lit up. "Use everything!" he shouted.
Immediately, the Goblins tore apart abandoned wooden fences, training spears, broken carts, roof beams; anything long enough became a spear. Within moments, hundreds of wooden spears covered the battlements.
Sun grinned. "Now this," he said, "I understand."
He spun Long before slamming it into the spear.
Wham!!
A wooden spear became a blur, punching through a Fire Lizard.
Kong immediately copied him. Except he grabbed an entire stone pillar instead.
Sun blinked. "Show off," he said.
Kong proudly puffed out his chest. The monkey spun once, twice, then launched the pillar. Boooooom!! It crushed multiple Crystal Serpents where they had surfaced.
Nearby, Mithra never stopped moving.
She kicked one spear upward, caught another, spun, and kicked three rapid kicks. Three spears became streaks of light, each striking a different monster. One pierced a Fire Lizard. Another buried itself inside a Boulder Ape’s shoulder.
The third drove a Crystal Serpent back underground.
The Goblins stared. "She kicked them," one whispered.
Sun laughed. "Don’t question it," he said.
The beasts suddenly stopped rushing. The battlefield became strangely quiet.
Mithra frowned. "Something changed," she said.
Then every Stonehorn Behemoth lowered its glowing horn.
Sun’s smile disappeared. "Brace!" he shouted.
Boooooooooom!!
Every Behemoth slammed into the wall together, and the impact shook the entire city wall. Several Goblins were thrown off their feet, and dust exploded upward.
Then a tiny crack appeared.
Nobody spoke.
One elderly Goblin slowly looked down. "The wall cracked," he said.
Silence spread across the battlements.
Nobody attacked or shouted.
Every Goblin stared at the thin line running through the ancient stone. Some had lived their entire lives believing these walls could never fall. Others had only just found their lost kingdom.
Yet now...
The impossible had happened.
The city had begun to crack.
Another charge.
Booooooooom!!
The crack spread farther.
Crystal Serpents immediately reacted. The ground burst apart, massive crystal spikes erupting beneath the battlements. Goblin Archers were thrown into the air, several crashing painfully onto the stone.
Healers rushed over to them.
Before anyone could recover, house-sized boulders filled the sky. The Titan Boulder Apes had begun throwing.
"MAGES!!" Mithra shouted.
Mana barriers rose.
Some rocks shattered against them.
Others punched straight through, and entire sections of the battlements collapsed.
Sun caught a falling Goblin Rider by the arm before he could tumble off the edge. "Not today," he said.
The monsters suddenly changed tactics.
Crystal Serpents dove beneath the earth.
The battlefield rumbled.
Instead of attacking...
Crystal erupted against the walls. Long ramps of glittering crystal climbed higher and higher until they reached the battlements.
"They’re making bridges!" a Goblin shouted.
"Destroy them!"
Goblin Mages immediately answered.
Fireballs slammed into the crystal.
Wind blades carved long trenches across the ramps.
Stone spikes burst upward beneath them.
But every shattered ramp was rebuilt almost instantly as more Crystal Serpents surfaced beneath the rubble.
"They’re too fast!"
Fire Lizards charged first.
Their claws dug into the crystal as they sprinted upward.
Behind them came the Titan Boulder Apes.
The giants bounded from ramp to ramp, covering enormous distances with every leap. Then blue lightning flashed. Thunder Chimeras launched themselves into the air. Electricity danced beneath their paws as they bounded across the crystal paths.
"They’re almost here!" Sun shouted.
The first monster reached the top. Twang! An arrow pierced its eye, and it fell.
Another reached the wall. Twang! Another fell.
Soon there were too many.
"Goblin Spearmen!" Mithra called.
The melee began.
The first Fire Lizard climbed over the battlements. A line of Goblin Shields slammed together.
CLANG!
The creature crashed into them.
Before it could recover—
THRUST!
Six spears pierced its chest at once, and the beast toppled backward off the wall. Another replaced it immediately. A Thunder Chimera landed among the Goblins, and then lightning exploded across the battlements.
Three Goblin warriors were thrown backward.
One nearly fell from the wall, but Sun appeared beside him. And then long swept in a wide arc.
[Point Shockwave]!
BOOOOOOM!!
The Chimera, two Fire Lizards, and a Crystal Serpent were blasted off the wall together.
Kong leaped from Sun’s shoulder.
The little monkey landed on another Fire Lizard’s head. He grabbed its tail before spinning it once and then twice. Then hurling the massive beast straight into a climbing Boulder Ape. Both monsters crashed from the crystal ramp together.
A Titan Boulder Ape reached the top, and it swung a fist larger than a wagon.
A Goblin Spearman froze.
Mithra appeared as Kusa flashed once. The Ape’s wrist separated cleanly from its arm and before it could roar—
A second slash came through its neck. The giant toppled backward, crushing several Fire Lizards climbing beneath it.
Another Chimera lunged toward the Goblin Archers, but Mithra kicked off the battlements.
She met it in midair.
Kusa flashed three times. One slash cut the right, the second cut the left, and the third cleaved through the neck.
The monster fell lifeless before touching the wall. Everywhere she moved, beasts kept on falling. Yet more immediately climbed into their place.
A Fire Lizard reached a Goblin Mage.
The terrified Goblin stumbled backward.
Before the beast could strike—
WHAM!
Long smashed into its skull.
[Point Shockwave]!
The blast launched it off the battlements.
Sun laughed. "Pay attention!"
The Goblin Mage nodded frantically. "R-right!"
No matter how many monsters died, three more climbed over the wall behind them. The battlements slowly became a battlefield of blood, fire, broken crystal, and shattered stone. Minutes passed and then more.
Nobody knew how long anymore.
Goblin Healers ran nonstop between the wounded. Mana reserves dropped steadily among the Mages. Archers collected arrows from monster corpses to keep firing.
Fire Lizards continued breathing flames.
Crystal Serpents never stopped creating ramps.
Thunder Chimeras bombarded the walls with lightning.
Stonehorn Behemoths charged endlessly.
Titan Apes never stopped throwing.
A Rider quietly whispered, "When do they run out?"
Nobody answered because everyone already knew.
They wouldn’t.
Mithra looked toward the horizon, and she couldn’t even see the back of the monster army. It stretched into darkness. "Arthur," she murmured. "Hurry."
The Stonehorn Behemoths suddenly roared together. Golden light spread through every horn at once.
Mithra’s instincts screamed. "Move!!"
Too late.
Every Behemoth charged simultaneously.
Booooooooooooom!!
The ancient wall lurched violently, with stones exploding and entire towers swaying.
Then, craaaaaaaack!!
The crack spread across the battlements, with chunks of stone breaking away and tumbling into the streets below.
Every Goblin looked toward it with looks of shock.
One young Goblin whispered, "The wall... It’s breaking."
Mithra slowly tightened her grip around Kusa, and then she stepped in front of the widening crack. "Then we become the wall," she said.
Sun walked beside her, resting Long across his shoulders. "Guess we’re staying here," he said.
Around them, every Goblin silently stepped forward.
Nobody retreated.
Nobody complained.
Behind the Behemoths, the Titan Boulder Apes suddenly stopped throwing. Instead, one enormous Titan Boulder Ape stepped forward, twice as large as the others. It slowly bent down and wrapped both hands around a boulder far larger than anything thrown before.
The surrounding monsters backed away to make room. Even the Stonehorn Behemoths stopped charging for a moment.
Sun’s smile disappeared. "That," he said, "can’t be good."
Mithra’s eyes narrowed. "No," she said. "It isn’t."