After giving the crowd some teasers on the Pandamonium forums, the people demanded to see what else was happening, which enabled Mr Patsu and Bear Cub One happy to fulfil their wishes. They turned on the big screens and showed them curated bits and pieces of the current Dungeon World’s fight.
From the continuous blast of artillery to the chemical gas attacks and subsequently the superior anti-air weapons the goblins had used. Kiyu had done a wonderful job choosing them as people got hyped up, more so than ever before, and eager to enter at any time.
Too bad for them, it wasn’t their time to shine just yet. Still, many held onto the anticipation that they could enter soon enough.
Their patience eventually paid off as the Demon Mages managed to blow the chemical gas away. Now it was light enough for the foot soldiers to breathe, and thus there would be room for the cultivators to battle without perishing in the gas through ‘friendly fire’. (or gas)
The demons had also created temporary bridges over the bodies of the fallen Horned Armoured Knights and other unfortunate demon soldiers who had attempted to cross the ditch.
Just as the remaining Horned Armoured Knights were getting confident about the way things were proceeding, one of them felt a sting in his underbelly. Looking down, he realised while it was but a flesh wound to him, the mage that he had been holding on to with the cover of his shield was already dead from the sudden slit in his throat.
“WHAT?! THESE STATUES CAN MO-” A short clay blade was thrust from beneath his helmet, causing him to choke on his blood. Yet, his quick shout had been sufficient to alarm the rest of the group. The clay statues which the goblin craftsman had painstakingly built were finally put to the test.
Hespesta and the others were watching the scenes from the new Home Island Instance they were situated in. At last, they got to see the powers of Jespa’s terrifying rune magic. The Horned Armoured Knights were all furious that such non-living items had sneakily killed a comrade of theirs. Still, the mages they were carrying quickly understood the scary implications about these clay figures.
Without a soul, without an organic body, they appeared to be fearless killing machines that could make it through the (dispersed) yellow haze without suffering from it. Worse, they were the perfect creatures to benefit from fighting inside of it, stopping at nothing to defeat the enemies in front of them.
If they were all of one design, that would have been fine. After a bit of time, the demons could have discovered their strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, the clay statues seemed to have their own hierarchy. Some were designed to look like an assassin, others as a heavily staunched knight like themselves.
All the clay craftsmen watching the show from the comfort of their homes were unable to do anything but root for their own inventions to wreck as much havoc as they could before the clay statues were disabled. The System even allowed them to bet with System Points on which one of their creations would wreak the most havoc, survive the longest, and take out the most creatures of a type.
As if that was not enough, rains of arrows starting pouring in and since their clay statues were invulnerable to pain(and arrows), the goblin archers were not hesitant to fire indiscriminately onto the battlefield. Also, to make themselves stand out by contributing much more to the battle, the goblins engineers had crafted an improved version of crossbows, a minigun variant!
The first iterations had been criticised as being a little too slow. And so the engineers had gone back to the drawing board and returned with a multi-tube variant.
20 by 20 tubes were stacked upon each other until they resemble a square worth of tubes. Arrows were inserted from the top of the stack like a large clip, and it was fired simultaneously. Thus, the rate of fire from these multitube arrow carts was enough to bring down an ogre in under 10 seconds.
Generally, the number of arrows used was massive but considering how the Industrial Sector was able to manufacture them by the thousands of those in less than an hour, numbers were not an issue.
While the Horned Knights were impervious to the heavy shower of arrows and their shield were quite massive they were unable to cover the whole army. The rest of the soldiers surrounding them had no choice but receive them with open arms or with reluctance. Some jumped into the ditch for cover only to begrudgingly discover that was where all the yellow gas had been pushed towards by the mages.
With the arrows serving as a distraction against the knights, those mindless clay statues continue to seize the opportunity to take the lives from the living foot soldiers.
Just when the situation became dire for the demon army, an enormous magical circle appeared in the safe zone. It quickly dispelled the chemical gas and protected the enemy from the arrow of showers, demonstrating its magical might with their arrival.
The remaining Knights that were desperately trying to survive saw the glimpse of the shining beacon of light coming from the safe zone itself. It shone so brightly that they could only make out the silhouette of the army.
Yet that greyish light was already an indicator of the commander who had come to their rescue. A cloaked figure with a pair of raven legs came forth and destroyed the clay statues that were plaguing the knights with multiple air blades, allowing the injured to fall back.
Raven legs, grey lights, and with the power of wind in his grasp. Without a doubt that particular commander could only be one person. With his hood on, the iconic owl by his shoulder dispersed any doubt about his identity. A being which even their Duke, the One-Winged Armoured Angel would have to bend the knee to.
It was none other than Prince Stolas.
Earl Furfur had been very lucky in that he managed to catch him early in the Royal Palace. He had pleaded his help to fight against Moloch. However, it was not Furfur’s plea that spurred the Demon Prince to enter the battle. No, it was a personal vendetta against Moloch.
Once his royal mentor, Prince Stolas quickly realised that studying under Lord Moloch would bring him to heights even his father could not reach. Yet, because of a certain incident, their time together was a brief one.
Moloch had been reduced to a simple lord and cast out of the metropolis to handle some remote Dungeon Fortress. Making matters more mysterious was a Royal Decree which had been passed the same morning, announcing Moloch’s demotion as well as mandatory isolation from the rest of the Demon Court Nobles.
What he hoped for from this fight was not revenge, but a serious man-to-man talk. With Moloch officially betraying the Demon King, it appeared that the only way he would get that talk would be by using his swords which he did not mind that.
In addition, Stola’s army was not some ragtag army of poorly armed foot soldiers. With wealth equivalent about 10% of his father’s, Stola possessed one of the stronger, more reliable troops in the city. Highly trained soldiers that knew some levels of magic, including years of dungeon experience and had participated in several battle skirmishes too.
Prince Stolas himself possessed such an elite group of people, was not only through wealth but achievements. He was not some spoiled prince under King Baal’s care and had personally gone through several battles, earning him the reputable name to keep this set of elite soldiers under his wing.
Many also knew how logical his tactics were, (Courtesy to the teachings of Moloch) and being the few princes who do not have any specialised units in his army, many veteran soldiers wished to be headhunted by his commanders. That was why they were able to execute their arrival decisively which other Duke’s units could not.
With a nod of his head, Stolas’s mages repaired the ditch by filling it with rocks right above the bodies of the fallen soldiers, allowing his troops and subsequent reinforcements to move unhindered. Though the Horned Armoured Knights were a little bitter the way their fallen comrades were treated, they knew there was no time to be picky with their allies.
After all, they will resurrect again after the battle, right?
