Three hours had passed ever since the start of the defensive battle of Whitebridge City.
The defenders were about to get tired in fighting against the seemingly unending horde of monsters that were now doing their best to climb up the city walls, even if it meant using each other as a stepping stone to breakthrough the line of defense, which all the Dwarves were painstakingly trying to maintain.
Aina panted, catching her breath, as she swung her sword to cut off a monster's claw, sending it falling from the wall, crushing its comrades down below.
Although her guild, Eternal, had now taken the lead in the rankings, the doll-like beauty was more concerned about the welfare of her guild members.
The mages were exhausted after continuously casting spell, after spell, after spell. The archers had already run out of arrows, and those who could use their own magical energy to create elemental arrows, were suffering from mana exhaustion just like the mages.
The warriors, who boasted great physical strength, could only barely lift the weapons in their hands and swing them at the enemies that were now scaling the walls of the city.
There was also the issue of flying monsters that would harass them from the sky. It wasn't easy for the archers and the mages to shoot them down. However, after running out of ammunition and mana, the hundreds of flying monsters that remained posed a serious risk to the struggling defenders, who were now on the verge of collapse.
'Not good,' Aina thought as she swung her sword to save one of her Shield Warriors who could no longer lift his shield to defend himself from a wolf-type monster that had jumped over the wall.
Just after Aina successfully blocked the wolf's attack, a six-meter-long serpent appeared behind her and lunged at her blindspot.
"Sister!" Colette shouted as she smashed her mace against the underside of the serpent's jaw, giving it an uppercut, and changing the trajectory of its attack.
The Serpent was a Rank 3 Monster called Blue-Scaled Mamba, so the only thing that Colette had done was make it angrier. When the monster was about to launch another attack against the two Dwarf girls, an energy ball composed of light and dark magic smashed into its head, which pushed its serpentine body off the wall, making it fall down on the other side of the wall.
"Thank you, Whitey, Blackie!" Colette shouted as the Angel and Devil Slime flew above their heads to continue helping the defenders fend off the monster army.
"To those who are no longer able to fight, retreat to the plaza of the city!" Aina ordered. "Those who can still wield their weapons and cast spells, rally to me!"
""Yes!""
Aina's call was answered by her loyal guild members. Those who were unable to fight any longer had to force themselves to follow the order because they knew that they would just burden their Guild Master, who had already stepped up many times to save their lives.
Those who could still fight, gritted their teeth as they fought with everything they had.
'Everyone is nearing their limit,' Lux frowned as he scanned the surroundings.
He had already summoned Ishtar, and his Skeleton Grand Archers to attack the flying monsters that were doing sneak attacks from the sky.
The Skeleton Fighters were assisting the retreating members of the Eternal Guild, and protecting them from harm.
In order to lessen the burden that the Eternal Guild was facing, he even ordered Diablo to stand directly under the wall where Aina's Guild was defending. Unfortunately, the other guilds didn't have the inexhaustible Undead Warriors to help them protect their stations, which were now being overrun by monsters.
'Scarlet, are you sure that no Reapers are left in Whitebridge City?,' Lux asked through telepathy. All the creatures under his command could be talked to in this matter, as long as they were within a two-mile radius from Lux.
'I am not entirely sure,' Scarlet replied. 'But, I already killed four Reapers. I don't think they would send more of them, knowing that Sid and I are the ones that are supposed to kill you.'
Lux could only take a gamble right now because he needed all the help he could get at the moment.
'Scarlet, for now, continue to monitor if there are any Reapers around,' Lux ordered. 'Also, your priority is to protect Aina. As for you, Sid, stop defending Aina and just focus on eliminating as many monsters as you can in this location.'
'I understand, Master,' Sid replied. 'I will do my best.'
The two Assassins were Initiates, so they were more than capable when it came to dealing with small fries that were scaling the walls. However, since there was still a threat of assasination, he could only order Sid to go deal with the offense, leaving Scarlet with the defense.
Just as Lux was about to summon Orion to help with the defense, he heard a loud shout come from behind him.
"Everyone, brace yourselves for impact!" Nikola shouted.
As soon as this warning reached everyone's ears, a loud explosion took place, sending Aina and her guild members, who were near her, flying off the wall of the city.
Lux, who was dozens of meters away from the point of impact, could only gasp in shock upon seeing a three-meter-tall hole on the wall where Aina and her defenders stood a minute ago.
The Half-Elf's sixth sense screamed for him to get off the wall as soon as he could, so he immediately jumped off the wall, just in time for a second explosion that hit where he was standing just a few seconds ago.
A rocky hand reached out and caught the Half-Elf as he was about to fall on the ground.
"Thank you, Orion," Lux said as he glanced at the ramparts that were now partially destroyed due to the explosion.
A minute later, he saw a long tentacle-like arm grab hold of the rampart. What happened next made the Half-Elf shudder.
A creature, which he was seeing for the first time, appeared in front of his eyes. It had a humanoid appearance, with the exception of its two heads, which didn't even look like heads. They were more like one of those carnivorous plants with razor sharp teeth in its maw. However, instead of one head, there were two of them, making Lux subconsciously shudder.
Out of reflex, Lux activated his Elysium Compendium to appraise the monster above him. The information before his eyes made him draw cold breath.
—-
< Lesser Demogorgon >
– Abomination from the Abyss
– Wandering Field Boss
– Alpha-Ranked Argonaut Monster
Health: 70,000,000 / 70,000,000
Mana: 17,500,000 / 17,500,000
Strength: ?????
Intelligence: ?????
Vitality: ?????
Agility: ????
Dexterity:????
– A Lesser Demogorgon is a monster born from the abyss. It has incredible strength, and is proficient in close and magical combat. Anyone below the rank of a Rankers are just prey to this beast. If you happen to see one during your journeys, it will be best to run as far away as you can before it sets its sights on you.
– If you stare into the abyss the abyss will stare back at you.
—---
"S-Sh*t." Lux could feel the color draining from his face as he stared at the Monster that had come from the abyss.
He had long heard about these Abyssal Monsters from his Grandma, and she said that they were the natural enemies of both Elysians and Solaians alike. Now that he was staring at one of them, he now understood why they were considered a universal threat to every living creature in the world.
