Chapter 50: 22 The Die Rolled a Six

Chapter 50: 22. Rolling a Six

The head of the wild Manticore slammed heavily against the stockade wall, causing the entire structure to shudder as the wood emitted a bone-chilling creak.

The Duruzi soldiers guarding the Reaper Ballistae raised their weapons, cheering and shouting.

If a siege were to occur, a lucky outcome might still require the consumption of two to four squads of Duruzi soldiers to eliminate a single wild Manticore. The terrain of the walls was purely a liability; no matter how many soldiers were sent, they were merely fodder.

In mid-air, a dense swarm of Harpies dove down. The Reaper Ballistae switched to canister mode, and the rapid-fire crossbows of the Black-Sharp crossbowmen and the harpoon crossbows of the Beast Tamers began to fire as well.

Dacus drew his bow and loosed two arrows, accurately striking the heads of two Harpies.

The volley from the canister-mode bolts swept across a wide area, and the Harpies fell like raindrops, crashing to the ground.

A few Harpies managed to slip through the dense anti-air fire and began attacking the Duruzi soldiers on the walls. While the soldiers feared the wild Manticores, they had their own ways of dealing with Harpies.

At the moment a Harpy dove, the Fear Lancers would place their spears diagonally on the ground, body semi-bowed and shield held horizontally. The Harpies would typically impale themselves directly on the spears, while nearby Gloom Swordsmen would coordinate to sever the Harpies' claws, performing "neutralization processing."

Flanes and Rein raised their shields in front of Dacus, blocking a Harpy's dive. Dacus acted decisively, drawing his Messer and severing the Harpy's claws with one stroke, then bisecting it at the waist with a second. The Harpy let out a wretched scream before falling from the wall.

Of the wave of Harpies that arrived, only a few escaped, and they were missing limbs or claws; one even managed to snatch a spear away.

An hour passed, and nothing happened.

The Duruzi soldiers began to grow lax; to them, this year's Twilight Tide seemed to have ended.

The dinosaurs sprawled across the plaza began to doze off by the bonfires, wagging their tails listlessly.

Two more hours passed, and under the orderly arrangement of the captains and centurions, the Duruzi soldiers began to sit on the ground to rest.

Dacus sat down and asked curiously, "Is it over?"

Flanes remained standing, alert and serious, saying, "My Lord, it should be over."

Dacus shrugged boredly. "What an anticlimax."

Two more hours passed, and Dacus was nearly asleep.

Suddenly, Kallen shouted, "Alert! Something is coming, a lot of them!"

Dacus snapped to attention, tilting his head to observe with half his face exposed, but there was nothing in the woods.

"They're closer!"

Dacus heard the footsteps as well.

The moon, full and round, hung prominently in the sky, having risen to its zenith. It felt as if it were right before Dacus's eyes, close enough to touch.

A tide of beastmen surged out of the forest, brandishing stone weapons and launching a chaotic assault on the stockade walls.

Those who charged first jumped directly into the pit traps. The beastmen then began to form a human wall to launch their attack. One beastman managed to scramble up with great difficulty, only to be struck directly in the head by Wout's leaf hammer. The beastman didn't fall or scream; instead, he paused, seemingly dazed by the blow. Wout wore a look of surprise and swung another hammer strike at the same spot. Dacus clearly heard the sound of bone cracking, and the beastman collapsed instantly.

This type of beastman completely defied Dacus's understanding. He had always believed beastmen to be creatures like the bipedal sheep-headed monsters, centaurs, or minotaurs found in the Old World's Duncanwald or Arden forests.

These beastmen seemed to lack intelligence; they had no ranged weapons or command structure, nor did they carry siege engines like scaling ladders or sandbags to fill the trenches.

Yet, they also seemed quite clever. They attacked only a single point on the stockade wall, where only four Reaper Ballistae could reach.

The large pits had already been filled, and more beastmen continued to pour out of the forest, beginning to swarm up the walls in massive numbers.

"Why didn't that group of Harpies attack at the same time as the beastmen? Why was there no coordination between air and ground?"

Dacus had no chance to join the combat. The width of the battlefield was so narrow that he couldn't even squeeze in, and the Duruzi wouldn't let him.

Facing this tide of "experience babies," Dacus had no need to farm experience. He could only take out his bow and fire a few shots; his arrowheads accurately struck the heads of the beastmen, but the creatures remained undeterred, continuing to climb the walls.

Though the Fear Lancers and Gloom Swordsmen coordinated well, more and more beastmen were rushing up. These creatures possessed immense strength, and the Duruzi soldiers were struggling to hold them back. The line gradually pushed outward, making the battlefield width even narrower. Several Duruzi soldiers retreated, were caught off guard, and were crushed to the ground, dying after a few screams.

Kallen decisively commanded the Reaper Ballistae crews to move the engines to the plaza to fire at the walls.

Edmond positioned five squads of soldiers watching from the other side of the wall and five squads of Duruzi reserves from the barracks to block the beastmen jumping off the walls from reaching the ballistae. The canister-mode bolts were unleashed, pinning the beastmen who had just scaled the walls directly to the wood.

Alisha released four consecutive flaming amber spears, slightly suppressing the beastmen's momentum.

Edmond found Dacus and requested permission to open the main gate, allowing the reserves to sortie and flank the beastmen to widen the battlefield.

A crow suddenly landed on Dacus's shoulder, tilting its head to look at him.

Dacus's heart skipped a beat; he suddenly had a very bad premonition.

"It's too late. We're in trouble. Something big is coming," he said, pointing toward the plaza.

A purple portal slowly manifested in the plaza within the fort.

A squad of Slaaneshi Daemons burst forth.

Dacus recognized them. Among the servants of Slaanesh, the Daemonettes were the most numerous. They were incredibly charming, especially with their long tongues that could induce sleep. Though their faces were hideous, magic could make them appear extraordinarily beautiful. The Daemonettes moved with light steps across the battlefield, their flamboyant tattoos swirling like colorful vortices, strange and dazzling. These bizarre creatures danced amidst the fray, their claws tearing through armor and flesh, allowing enemies to experience a lethal ecstasy.

The Twilight Tide had been described before as being like rolling dice, but this time, Dacus had rolled a six. This "six" held a double meaning: one was that there were an extraordinary number of beastmen tonight, and the other was that six represented the sacred number of Slaanesh, the embodiment of love and excess.

"It really is a six."

(End of Chapter)