Titan's Throne

Chapter 105 - Battlefront

Yani city itself was situated on a large desert island. the island itself was about the size of a small country. The daemon horde usually came from the far south east region of the island where there was a vast jungle that had not yet been consumed by the desert. While the inhabitants of the city could leave whenever they wanted, the island happened to be rich in one thing: minerals, and lots of them. This is what had drawn humans to the island and forced them to stay. Now the city was thriving and it was too late to turn back.

As Kit scanned the horizon all he could see was sand and trees until the point where the sky touched the ground. But there was no doubt about it, the horde was coming. He turned around on Valo, to face his men.

"Listen." He said, calmly. His voice was loud and clear, and as the archers on top of the walls were all cultivators he knew he didn't have to speak very loud for them to hear him. "Can you hear it?"  as the wind faded into the background the sound of a horde the size of which none of them had seen before charging towards them could be made out. "What does it sound like to you? Most men would say that it's the sound of death, come to take us all to the next life. Most men would tell us that it's the sound of our doom! That it's the sound of our demise!" Valo was now pacing up and down the front lines, making the horses somewhat uncomfortable even though over time they had grown accustomed to her menacing presence. She could hear the horde coming better than any man there, and she could smell it in the air. Daemons are widely varied creatures. They are also hard to understand. The eastern island hyenas were high up the food chain in the eastern islands. They were known for ferocity and an odd intelligence. Sometimes it seemed as though they were as smart as humans once they had reached a certain cultivation level. Valo was currently letting out a low growl, ready for anything.

"But we aren't like most men." Kit continued, "No, we are the shield that guards the realms of men! (AN: Sorry for that, game of thrones fans.) We hear the horde approaching and we do not fear it, for we know that it is not death or our demise that approaches. It is the sound of Glory from glorious battle!" Kit raised his spear to the heavens. The sound of rampaging daemons was growing near, but kit and his men steeled their resolve.

Out in the horizon a faint dark border between the ground and the sun formed. Kit knew the severity of the situation, but at the moment he felt confident. Even if all else failed, he had one epic trick up his sleeve.

Now the horde could be seen. This was only the first wave, but the daemons were still so vast in numbers they formed a tidal wave of destruction riding hard with no other intent than to annihilate anything in their paths.

Now that he saw them clearly a frightening thought crossed his mind. There were only two types of daemons in this wave. Usually, there was no order, pattern or tactics to an attack by daemon hordes, and if it weren't for the daemons Kit saw before him he wouldn't have noticed anything out of the ordinary. Now, with the enemy in his sight he realised something about this was wrong.

Thunderbirds. Countless thunderbirds soared toward them. They were large with streaks of colour that made them stand out from most daemons. Being too large to actually fly they relied on the fact that they are wind elemental daemons. Bat-like and monstrous their skulls were the size of carts with a set of serrated jaws that were more like swords. The flap of their monstrous wings was thunder. The creatures had no eyes, so they felt the wind, any displacement by anything that was alive and they would attack in a twisted frenzy akin to winged piranha.

Then there was the largest herd of rhinoceros behemoths any of them had ever seen.  Each one was at least five tons of fury. They were rock elemental daemons which made them tough enough to withstand anything you threw at them. Fortunately, the cultivation levels for both were low, too low in fact to be ranked.  But what kit had come to realise was that the rhinoceros behemoths were meant to dismantle his ground forces, the same way his cavalry men would do to an opposing army. The thunderbirds would then ignore the battle completely, and proceed to the city. Certain daemons were known to be intelligent, but kit had to admit that whatever it was leading the horde had just left doubt in his heart as to if he would be able to defeat it as the only one in his army who had advanced to the last stages of the Foundation Realm.

As the first wave approached he raised his hand quickly brought it back down. In an instant his archers let their arrows loose. Countless red streaks flew over the battlefield, covered in fire qi. The temperature seemed to rise as a malevolent red glow cloaked the soon to be battlefield.

Hundreds of thunderbirds fell from the sky, but there must have been thousands of them. For each one that fell from the sky with an ear-piercing shriek ten more took its place, flying hard to the city. The battle had begun and there was no stopping it now.

"Hold the line and push them back!" he shouted as the small mercenary army charged at the stampeding herd of rhinoceros behemoths.

The sound of arrow-lances bathed in bright red fire qi ripping through thunderbirds high above Tor faded into the background as without thinking he urged his steed forward, with his long-sword drawn at the ready. He was a middle fighter about to progress into an upper fighter. From what he had heard the first few waves wouldn't be much of a challenge for someone like him, but still...