City of Desire: Chapter 1036 Undead’s Offensive (Patreon)

Proofread by Thomas F

Ina Knox

“General, they are in range,” informed the officer.

I looked at the ships covering our coast; large, with frayed and torn masts. Undead ships do not need good conditions, since they house the undead.

They do not need to eat or breathe. So, these ships are designed such that they could fit hundreds more undead on a ship than humans in the same-sized ship.

Still, they have brought a massive number of ships. It is a sight to make anyone shudder.

The undead inside are easily over half a million.

“Baron Fenleigh,” said General Trask. The man nodded and activated his skill; with it, others also activated their skills.

“Fire!”

General Trask ordered, and immediately, the small and big cannonballs fired toward the ships, along with ballistas and trebuchets.

They responded immediately.

“It’s a mighty force they have brought, mightier than any I had fought in skirmishes when I was in the navy,” he said, his eyes focused on the ships.

There are nine nobles in Panar. Well, two right now, as some went to Greltheaven while others escaped to Inam and Namdar. Of all of them, no one had been as useful as this man.

He advised not only on the port but also on the navy.

His help had been instrumental in building back the port, but now, the undead will destroy it once again.

I had built it once; I will do it again.

Our cannonballs and ballistas reached the ships. Some ships moved to dodge them, while others had shields appear in front of them; spells and arrows were shooting some.

Still, some could get past and strike the ship; one of the biggest ones blasted a ship apart.

Gailhorn has the highest number of cannons; more than Greltheaven and Panar.

The only places in Dominion that have more cannons than us are Mirador Hold and Bram Fortress, but they couldn’t be counted since they are fortresses.

“Respond,” ordered General Trask as their cannons approached us.

Immediately, skills activated and spells shot out along with the arrows. These are special archers who trained with Blackwel’s archers.

It is more economical to use them to blast the cannonballs than to use spells.

Though not all could be shot down, and when they come close, spells would shoot them down, before finally using the defensive spell as a last resort.

“Governor, please return to safety. It’s not safe here anymore,” advised General Trask.

I am not as powerless as I had been a year ago, but this is a battlefield, and I am not a warrior. He let me stay this long only because I could protect myself, but now it’s time to leave.

“Best of luck, General,” I wished, touching his hand, and activated Governor’s Blessing on him before walking toward the steps.

…

General Trask

Her touch surprised me, but I was immediately drawn to the power it brought.

My mind became faster, my senses sharper, and there was a vigor running through my veins. The enhancement felt incredible.

I heard she had a skill like that, but she had never used it on me before.

She was around the same level as me. I thought as I watched her leave. Feeling relieved. If something happened to her, there would be a consequence.

The only reason I had even let her stay this long was that she could protect herself.

I watched her leave with her guards and the priest. Seeing what happened last time, a priest is necessary. There is a good chance the undead might try to attack her.

I will not allow it!

I still felt ashamed. It is my duty to protect her and every citizen, but when the assassins attacked, I was outside, powerless to do anything.

A moment later, I turned back to the battlefield.

“What do you think, General? Will they just send undead with the powerhouses?” asked Baron Fenleigh. He is quite good, good enough that I lose four out of ten in my spars against him without my spear.

“I don’t know, but we are prepared for both,” I replied, looking at Archbishop Alanis.

General Stone sending most of the dusk’s forces here had been a great surprise. I thought it would be a mixed force, but it is not, and I am glad.

Divine magic is better at dealing with the undead than any other type of magic.

The cannons kept blasting, forcing the undead to defend and blast their ships. We didn’t come unscathed either, but nobody is dead.

“Their ships are falling back,” said Colonel Skarn, and my expression turned somber.

“Be prepared,” I replied.

Ships moving away mean only one thing.

It didn’t take long, and finally I saw the movement.

“They are here; prepare to defend the wall,” I said, activating General’s Orders. I also activated Alert Army as the undead raised out of the sea flooded into the port.

“My God!”

One of the new officers gasped. Some recruits had never fought the undead before. So the scene could be shocking; even I felt fear seeing thousands upon thousands of them march out of the water.

Within seconds, they became an endless tide.

“Conserve the ammo; these are only the lowest-level undead,” I ordered. They want to tire us out with these weak undead. So, when the powerful come, we won’t be able to deal with them.

Soon, they are only a hundred meters away from the wall.

“Open the drums.”

The lids of hundreds of drums opened in quick succession by the soldiers. They all practiced it over and over.

“Archbishop,” I said to the woman not far away from me. She nodded and turned to her people.

“Holy Mist,” she said, and the staffs of low-level clerics lit up, and a moment later, the mist came out of the water and moved toward the undead like a thin fog.

Suddenly, it stopped.

I could feel the skill, a powerful Lv. 40 skill is stopping the mist.

My Battlefield.

I activated the skill and pushed against it. The other side is powerful, likely higher level than me, but Gailhorn is my domain, and they are the aggressor.

So, I pushed it back; it’s hard, but I did, and slowly mist moved toward the undead before it started enveloping them.

The moment it did, the blisters began to appear on the undead. Black marks spread on skeletons while the flesh of zombies boiled.

This is holy water that the Church of Dusk had been producing for months. It’s difficult given the divine power it requires.

Still, they did it.

The undead fell, but many kept moving. The cannons blasted those that did not, but their numbers were massive, and they kept moving forward until they reached the wall.

“Ember balls,” I ordered.

Immediately, the soldiers began to drop the fist-sized balls on the ground; as they did, they burned. The fire was strong, but not strong enough to harm the wall or us.

Most importantly, they are bless by divine spells.

“The strategy employed form the island is quite good,” said the Colonel. To that, I nodded. This is defense plan was not an original strategy, but the one we borrowed from Mayhurst.

They have been fighting these undead for years and have developed strategies to deal with them.

This is one of them.

Minutes passed, and they kept coming, despite us killing ranks of them, and slowly, they began to climb using the ever-growing piles of their own falllen bodies.

This is the greatest strength of the undead. Their sheer numbers: no matter how good one is, if they keep sending enough numbers, they will eventually defeat their enemy.

Once they do that, they turn their enemies into the undead and also reuse the bones of the already undead.

It’s why they are so difficult to deal with.

“Mages,” I ordered, and they quickly destroyed the piles and blasted the bones away, but that did not stop the undead. They kept coming, despite our relentless killing.

Over an hour must have passed when the things changed.

“The concentration in them is much higher,” informed the mage. She didn’t have to tell me; one look at them is more than enough to tell the difference.

The new undead are coming out of the sea.

They are larger, powerful, and have weapons in their hands that didn’t look like they would break with a single strike.

They came, and mist covered them. It burned them too, but not enough to make them fall, only enough to weaken them. When they reached the wall, we burned them, but they began to rise through it.

So we poured tar down and burned it; it too was blessed with divine spells.

It worked for a while, but step by step, the undead piles rose until they reached the height of the wall.

“Engage and hack them!” I ordered.

The soldiers moved and began hacking them as the crested the wall. At first, it was easy, but soon, more and more piles of the undead rose despite our attempts to stop them.

“Should we use the big guns?” asked Colonel Skarg, but I shook my head.

“Only against the pillars.”

They are only sending the undead. If I use my powerhouses against this clutter, I will tire them out, which is what the undead are waiting for.

I will not give them that opportunity.

Soon, it was past midnight, and the undead had stacked the entire wall with their bodies. The tide was climbing through it and attacking while my people hacked them.

I looked at them and the discipline with which they moved. They were hacking at the undead as if there were no tomorrow, but was not without a cost.

There were injuries and deaths. The toll would have been much higher if not for the priests' healing.

I looked at the tide and looked toward the sea, and a few seconds later. Large undead had come out; they differed from the ones we were fighting.

The ones until now were normal-sized and minimally modified; these were highly modified.

The smallest is two meters tall, while the largest are over five meters tall. Not all are humanoid; many are beasts. Some are a fusion of the two.

The special undead.

“Captains and lieutenants, be ready,” I said. The officers, who had until now only been commanding, unsheathed their weapons and stepped forward.

It didn’t take long before they were on us.

“So, the easy battle is over, huh?” asked the Baron. I was about to reply when the General’s intuition warned me. I sensed immense danger, and not toward me.

‘Archbish’

I barely spoke the words when I heard a clash and saw the handsome man with a violet cloak appearing in front of Archbishop Alanis, with his blades locked with a silvery-haired elf with a short sword burning with black fire.

The elf I saw, and beside him was a knight.

Not a knight, a Paladin.

He was hacking his halberd toward Archbishop Alanis at incredible speed, having already crossed more than half the distance toward her.

The edge was covered in foggy grey light of divine magic, and it was no common blade either, but an artifact.

I watched as she moved her staff toward the blade.

Not swinging it, just moving, like she was moving to tap something, not defending against a powerful attack.

Seeing that, my breath froze as I watched the blade fall on the staff. I was expecting the tearing sound. Instead, a dusky shockwave was released, throwing the paladin back with surprise in his eyes.

A moment later, the staff blazed, and it released a blast of dusky energy, but the paladin moved his shield forward and defended with it.

“We will meet again,” said the elf, and a moment later, he disappeared along with the paladin.

Thankfully, our rogue didn’t chase.

“Archbishop, are you all right?” I asked as I reached the woman. “I am, General, thank you for asking,” I felt relieved, hearing that, and turned to the violet-cloaked man.

“Now, we know two of their powerhouses,” said the man.

John Sand, Lord Silver’s bodyguard. I am glad they had sent him here. He is very powerful, and he could protect Archbishop Alanis.

She and her people are the backbone of the defense.

I spoke to them for a few minutes before moving back to my position.

“They lured us into monotony before attacking us with their powerhouses,” said Baron Fenleigh.

I nodded

The undead were no simple enemy, and it would serve me well to not forget that in this battle.