City of Sin

Book 5, 91

Wail Of The Banshee

In any other plane, such a wall would be a powerful defence. However, the battlefields of despair were no ordinary planes. Even the massive walls of the City of the Unsetting Son had lost their defensive enchantments, so what good would come of this temporary construct if an actual expert wanted to get in?

“Too weak,” Beye said after a single glance.

“So a legend, then?” Richard asked. He still wasn’t completely sure of how the Daxdians liked to do things.

“Definitely, but I don’t know how strong he is.” Beye’s eyes narrowed to little slits as she started to lick her lips.

“Oi!” Richard turned to the lunatic, “You have to hold them down, not kill them!” Beye’s idea of a battle was kill or be killed; she would likely kill the legend at the cost of near-death.

“We’ll have to kill them if there’s a chance.”

“Wait. For. Me. If there’s a chance, we group up and kill together.”

“... Ugh. Alright then,” Beye shrugged before disappearing into the barracks.

......

A pillar of flame rose into the skies as a loud explosion destroyed the barracks walls. The camp was like a pot of oil that just had water poured into it, loud roars and screams ringing out everywhere. The Daxdians started to leave their quarters, howling as they searched for the enemy.

Beye suddenly rose to the sky. Although she didn’t radiate energy, the murderous aura she emanated was far more obvious to any powerhouse. A massive black figure rose to meet her, body tens of metres long and covered with thick scales. The disproportionately large tail immediately swung out.

Even with her years of experience, Beye frowned. This enemy wasn’t from any race she knew of, and the way it moved was extremely bizarre. Even flying in the air the four limbs were flailing around, almost like it was actually climbing or swimming. The massive jaw had hundreds of razor-sharp fangs, all covered in some sort of drool.

Richard only looked at the sky for a moment before turning his attention to his own task. The enemy legend seemed powerful but not agile, something that should be easy for Beye to suppress. He wasn’t too worried about her, and the worry that he did have would be suppressed by his trust. Right now, his main task was to kill as many as he could.

He quietly slinked towards one of many caverns in the area, the living quarters of the Daxdians. A few were still vigilant of another presence outside of Beye, but he managed to slip past all the blind spots and get in.

Once he was inside, he immediately grabbed the elven sword and thrust it into a nearby hole. There was some resistance as blade pierced flesh, and a soft schlick was followed by a roar of pain. He didn’t even bother to check, switching hands and sending a fireball into another one of the holes. Another loud scream rang out.

The holes were extremely narrow, just enough to fit a soldier inside. However, the other Daxdians didn’t come out despite hearing the screams. It could mean one of two things; everyone here was injured, or they had just returned from battle and didn’t have the strength to move.

Richard immediately started backing out of the cavern before launching a number of fireballs within. Although the spell wasn’t strong enough to kill everyone immediately, these enemies would be maimed at minimum. Not even looking at the chaos he’d started, he continued to move forward even as he cut off the back leg of a Daxdian that had peered out. The enemy seemed extremely vicious, charging at him despite the destroyed limb, but he was already long gone as he continued to slash and burn several other caverns.

Beye and the enemy legend couldn’t even be seen anymore, replaced by random explosions in the night sky. For a moment Richard felt like he was back in the Deepblue on the Day of Destiny, but then the energy rippled down and burnt everything in range. He quickly returned his attention to the hundreds of Daxdians that were chasing him.

The barracks wasn’t filled with experts like the ursas, sorcerers, or demons. In fact, Richard hadn’t even seen the species here before. They weren’t particularly large nor fierce, most of them even weaker than skaven. These eight-limbed creatures were a race known as slave ants in Daxdus, their main job on the battlefield being construction and other odd tasks like cleaning. In times of need, their numbers also allowed them to be used as cannon fodder.

These slave-ants weren’t specifically powerful, so the battlefields of despair normally spelt their demise. They often just hid in the Daxdian fortresses, borrowing the strength of their darkness formations to protect their lives. They only appeared on the frontlines if the entire army was being mobilised, and even then wouldn’t dare to leave the vicinity of their camps lest the chaotic energy of the Land of Dusk burrow into their body. On their own, they would die within a month even if they weren’t attacked.

Because of how varied the races of Daxdus were, the camp’s terrain was extremely complicated. Caves, nests, hives, all sorts of buildings broke the streets, with many large puddles of mucus and barbed spikes on the ground. However, Richard used this complex terrain to his advantage. After circling around the camp once, he memorised its layout and started weaving through to grab the largest number of enemies.

The barracks wasn’t particularly large, but there were many powerful enemies. Richard felt the pressure gradually increasing as the horde chasing him accumulated, and eventually he had no choice but to speed up. Mana Armament flashed with energy as he started to leave the occasional afterimage behind. Even so, the attacks were starting to hit closer and closer to him. He only managed to maintain the situation because the slower slave ants were blocking their masters.

Richard suddenly slowed down as he reached a clearing, his lips moving as he started a chant. Some of the enemy attacks started to nick him, but that didn’t make him stop. He turned around to look at the chasing horde as he jumped up on a nearby platform, mana starting to flood out from his body. As the Daxdians started to encircle him, his lips parted in the last syllable of the incantation.

The illusion of a beautiful woman appeared above Richard’s head, with long floating hair and hollow eyes. The expressionless lady had bright, tender skin and a shattered dress formed of various shades of blue. Just as everyone stopped at the eerie sight, her mouth widened in a shrill scream!

Energy visibly rippled out from her mouth, blasting tens of metres in every direction. All living creatures felt their bodies contort as their movements ground to a halt. A moment later, a cacophony of screams rang out in the clearing as the Daxdians started hitting the ground.

A scant few managed to shrug off the attack with light injuries. Most fell to the ground, bleeding from all orifices, while the skaven rolled around and clawed at their own heads. The slave ants all perished on the spot. Their brittle souls could not withstand the power of the Wail.

Several large eyeballs that were hung up on a high building exploded, while the rest were laced with blood. The camp went quiet in only a few seconds as the chasing Daxdians instantly lost hundreds of slave ants and tens of powerhouses. Those that still survived had sustained grievous wounds to their souls.