Chapter 271 The Demon Onslaught (III)
Amidst the chaos that engulfed the city, Alex stood on a rooftop, his gaze fixed upon a beautiful lady clad in pristine white and silver armor.
She stood behind a makeshift barricade constructed from the rubble of destroyed buildings, blocking a wide street that led toward one of the protected districts.
Lady Zefney was a peak Fourth Rank Elementalist, and citizens with similar strength to her stood beside her amidst a large number of soldiers, working with them to evacuate the city's terrified citizens to the safety of the protected districts.
The city was ringing with continuous explosions and the panicked shouts of its citizens. The cacophony of chaos filled the air as the clash between the demons and Commander Gagiel and his stalwart men had just concluded.
Alex's gaze turned toward the portal, where thousands of demons had gathered. The area around the portal lay in complete ruin, with the two mage towers reduced to rubble, and despite the damage, the two demon warships still hovered in the air, raining down destruction upon the surrounding area.
While some of their cannons had been disabled, and certain sections of their hulls were damaged, the warships remained formidable threats, ready to cause pure chaos in the city.
Several Fifth Rank captains were keeping the two warships at bay, using ranged attacks, doing their best to prevent them from unleashing destruction upon the area where the citizens were still evacuating.
A group of high-ranking demons had formed a protective ring around the warships and were protecting it from the continuous ranged attacks the soldiers were throwing at the warships.
Both parties were not yet engaging in a frontal clash, while the humans were buying time to evacuate as many citizens to safe zones as possible before engaging against the demons and buying time for the aid to arrive.
The demons were building their numbers and creating groups, waiting to have enough foot soldiers to unleash destruction upon the city.
After nearly ten minutes, the demon number grew to over fifteen thousand. At this moment, fifteen groups, each containing more than a thousand demons and being led by ten or more fifth Rank demons, started moving toward various sectors.
While more than thirty peak fifth-rank demons stood suspended in the sky, having spread throughout the city, they did so to keep Commander Gagiel in check because they knew if he was not kept in check, then they would lose many of their stronger demons.
As the demon groups moved, alarms rang through the city, and the groups of soldiers got ready to intercept the demons at various choke points.
As the demon hordes advanced, they left a trail of destruction in their wake, tearing through buildings and homes and killing hundreds of unfortunate citizens who hadn't evacuated in time.
However, the demons soon encountered resistance, as many traps, both pre-set and triggered manually by the defenders, wrought elemental destruction over large areas.
These traps proved deadly, killing tens of demons and injuring even more as the invaders pressed on, but the demons recovered swiftly and kept moving forward.
The demon commanders at the front of the line took it upon themselves to root out the traps, which slowed their march considerably. But after twenty intense minutes, the demon forces were only a short distance from the barricaded area.
The various human captains simultaneously issued the orders to attack, and instantly, long-range attacks rained down upon the demons.
Most of these long-range attacks were tanked by the colossal demons at the forefront, and the formidable demon commanders shielded the ones that they left.
After a few volleys of long-range attacks, the demon horde closed the gap significantly, and then, orders were barked, and swiftly Massive barriers, stretching for hundreds of meters, were erected in response.
The demons, now free from the relentless barrage of attacks, roared and charged forward, unleashing magic spells and brute force attacks upon the barrier.
Six of the fifth Rank captains moved forward, ready to confront the demon commanders head-on, and in mere moments, the area was turned into a battlefield with battle cries and the defining sound of elemental attacks.
The human forces vastly outnumbered the demons, with a ratio of four to one, and they held a two-to-one advantage in Fourth Rank warriors.
However, the demons had twenty-four Fifth Rank demons in their ranks, with seven at the peak of Fifth Rank, whereas the humans only had thirteen and only three at the peak of Fifth Rank.
The barrier stood only for a few minutes before getting broken by a demon commander, and instantly, the clash started with the battleground becoming a chaotic melee.
The Demons charged forward with murderous intent, while the human defenders formed tight-knit groups, defending their lives and ensuring no demon passed through their lines.
Alex stayed at the back lines, not engaging in battle, because he knew that the longer this battle dragged on, the stronger demons would join, and eventually, the humans would be forced to retreat.
The situation on the battlefield evolved rapidly. Initially, the humans held the upper hand as the demon numbers dwindled to nearly half within the first twenty minutes of the clash.
However, the tide began to turn as more and more demons poured into the battle, replenishing their dwindling ranks.
Additionally, the number of Fifth Rank demons among the demon forces continued to grow, bolstering their strength and making it increasingly challenging for the human defenders.
While several Fifth Rank captains had arrived to aid the humans, the demons still maintained the numerical advantage, and more than a dozen powerful demon commanders, each capable of holding back groups of Fourth Rank warriors, were proving difficult to contain.
The losses among the common soldiers were mounting, with hundreds having already perished.
The situation was deteriorating rapidly, and recognizing the gravity of the situation, multiple human captains gave the order to retreat while working together to provide cover for their soldiers by creating barriers.
However, the demons were not inclined to let the humans withdraw without a fight, and what ensued was a bloody charge as the demon's commanders unleashed their full might, employing their most devastating attacks upon the barriers.
The captains responsible for the barrier stood their ground and kept the barriers intact while the remaining captains clashed heads, using their strongest attack to buy a few precious minutes for the soldiers to retreat safely.
The battlefield was filled with chaos as weapons clashed, fighting for dominance, while the sky was engulfed by various elements, sending shockwaves through the vicinity.
After receiving the orders to retreat, the soldiers fell back, spreading in various directions and sprinting to the closest protected districts.
'She needs to worry about her own life, but her actions give me the opportunity I want,' Alex thought, standing on a rooftop watching Lady Zefney carrying an injured female on her back.
Alex looked back and watched the battle among the heavy hitters unfold and the unified barrier that was getting bombarded with attacks and knew that it would only last for a few seconds at best.
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