saiki

ch 22

-Aaaargh!

The Living Armors had reached the moat.

Their advance slowed as they negotiated the water-filled moat, all the while enduring a relentless hail of our arrows.

Still, they proved hardy.

Brushing off the arrow impacts across their armored forms, they crossed the moat and arrived at the base of the castle walls.

-Thump! Thump! Thump!

The leading Living Armors commenced their assault, hammering brusquely on the castle gate.

But the gate, thick and securely fastened, stood firm.

Even these monstrous beings couldn't breach it without proper siege equipment.

Finding their siege of the gate futile, the Living Armors pivoted to an audacious tactic—they began to scale the castle wall.

-Scraaatch! Scraaatch! Scraaatch!

The spectacle of these armored behemoths clawing their way up the wall was chilling, like something pulled straight from a horror film.

-Gulp. Gulp.

Watching from their perch on the castle wall, the soldiers' fear was palpable as they swallowed nervously.

"Hold."

I, too, gulped hard at the sight below, but strove to project a calm facade.

"Hold!"

We'd readied various improvised weapons atop the castle wall—remnants of stones and scrap metal from the fortification work.

The soldiers were poised to unleash this debris on the climbing Living Armors.

The Living Armors had almost reached the castle wall's apex.

Close enough now, we could glimpse the eerie gleam in their eyes through the helmet slits.

With a deep breath, I issued my command.

"Now! Throw them!"

"Throw them!"

"Throw them-!"

In unison, the soldiers heaved all the odds and ends over the castle wall.

-Wooshhh....

-Crash! Bang!

The Living Armors struck by the heavy barrage tumbled back to the ground.

While a good number shattered upon impact, the rest were eerily undeterred, rising once again. I clicked my tongue.

"Damned resilient!"

We had exhausted all the odds and ends amassed on the castle wall. Yet these relentless adversaries began to climb the wall once more despite our onslaught.

Out of options, I rallied my troops.

"Prepare for hand-to-hand combat!"

"Yes! Prepare for hand-to-hand combat-!"

"Hand-to-hand combat units, to the front!"

A little over a hundred soldiers from the melee unit, who had been waiting in reserve, unsheathed their weapons.

The soldiers who had been manning the cannons and ballistae, and those hurling debris, pulled back for a brief respite.

After a short recovery, they would join the melee unit.

As the melee units took their places, I navigated to the system window.

'Reorganize party.'

Jupiter's party had been wiped out, leaving only four members in the main party. It was time for a reshuffle.