Chapter 399
They’d been in combat for exactly thirty seconds.
Demon Elite Strike Results:
Human casualties: 27 killed, 19 woundedDemon elite casualties: 3 killed, 7 woundedTactical result: Significant human casualties inflicted, demon elites successfully withdrew
But now the human infantry knew demon warriors were present and had adapted tactics—blessed weapons, concentrated fire, coordinated response.
The next strike wouldn’t be as successful.
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Central Gates
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The battering ram continued its methodical work.
Kelvin commanded sixty defenders at the gates, knowing they couldn’t hold forever against sustained assault.
"Drop more oil! Set the ram on fire!"
Defenders poured oil over the walls onto the ram housing below. Flaming arrows ignited it. Fire spread across the wet hides covering the ram.
But the ram crews had water barrels ready. They doused the flames, maintained the assault.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
"How long until the gates break?" Kelvin asked Thrak through the network.
"The gates are damaged from artillery bombardment. Under sustained ram assault? Another ten minutes maximum."
"Can we kill the ram crews?"
"They’re protected by the housing. You’d need to get soldiers down there in close combat, which means exposing your defenders to overwhelming numbers of human infantry supporting the ram."
"So we can’t stop it."
"Not realistically. When the gates break, pull back to secondary positions. Don’t die defending gates you can’t hold."
Kelvin absorbed this tactical reality.
Ten more minutes until the central gates broke. Then human infantry would pour through in overwhelming numbers.
"Lyra, central gates will fail in approximately ten minutes. After that, we can’t hold the gate area."
"Understood. When gates break, conduct immediate withdrawal to prepared positions fifty yards inside the perimeter. We defend from there."
Western Wall
Skar’s forty-two serpentfolk fought the ladder assault with natural advantages.
Serpentfolk were faster than humans, more agile, and had superior reflexes. When human soldiers reached the top of ladders, they met defenders who could strike three times before a human could react once.
But the humans had numbers. For every ladder the serpentfolk pushed away, two more went up.
A human soldier named Garrett climbed a ladder, shield raised against expected attacks. He reached the top—and a serpentfolk warrior named Viss struck with spear too fast to block. The spear punched through Garrett’s shoulder. He screamed and fell, crashing onto soldiers below.
Another ladder. Another soldier climbing. This one had better luck—the serpentfolk defender was engaged with a different soldier, creating a gap. The human soldier reached the wall top, pulled himself over, and for three seconds was inside Third Line’s defenses.
Then Skar himself appeared, moving with serpentine speed. His spear struck twice—stomach, throat. The soldier died before he could cry out.
But more ladders were going up. More soldiers climbing.
"Western wall is being overwhelmed by sheer numbers," Skar reported. "We’re killing their soldiers three-to-one, but they just keep coming."
"How long can you hold?"
"Fifteen minutes maximum. After that, they’ll have enough soldiers on the walls to overrun our positions."
"Fifteen minutes, then withdraw to secondary positions."
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For three hours, the battle ground on with brutal intensity.
Eastern breaches: Human infantry pushed through in waves. Settlement defenders conducted hit-and-run attacks, inflicted casualties, withdrew to next defensive line. Repeat.
Central gates: BOOM. BOOM. Finally—CRACK. The gates shattered under the ram assault. Human infantry poured through the broken gates in a flood of steel.
Western walls: After forty minutes of ladder assault, enough human soldiers reached the wall tops to establish footholds. Settlement defenders were forced to withdraw rather than be overrun.
By Hour Four, human forces had penetrated Third Line at all three sectors and were pushing deeper into the settlement’s defenses.
Settlement casualties were mounting. Defenders were exhausted, wounded, running low on arrows.
Lyra watched the tactical situation deteriorate from her mobile command post—she’d moved three times as human forces advanced, staying ahead of their push.
"We’re losing ground everywhere. Casualties are unsustainable. We’re down to approximately four hundred eighty effective fighters from six hundred forty at dawn."
One hundred sixty casualties in four hours. Twenty-five percent losses.
Against human forces that still numbered nearly twenty-one hundred soldiers.
The odds were brutal.
"Seraphina, we need the corruption specialists. It’s time."
From her concealed position three hundred yards behind Third Line—hidden in a network of buildings and underground passages far from the walls—Seraphina received the order.
"Corruption specialists, prepare large-scale attack. Target the human forces inside Third Line perimeter. Full power."
Two hundred corruption specialists had been waiting in concealment for hours, preparing their magic, coordinating their spell patterns.
They weren’t combat fighters. They were curse specialists trained in area-effect corruption magic, similar to yesterday’s contamination spell but more focused, more lethal.
Each specialist began channeling dark purple energy, building power for a coordinated strike.
Seraphina herself coordinated the two hundred individual casters into one massive spell, her demon lord power amplifying and focusing their combined magic.
The spell took three minutes to prepare.
Then Seraphina gave the command.
"RELEASE!"
Two hundred corruption specialists unleashed their magic simultaneously.
Dark purple energy erupted from their concealed positions, arcing through the air like lightning, converging on the human forces inside Third Line’s perimeter.
The spell manifested as a wave of pure corruption that swept across the battlefield, targeting living beings with demonic energy designed to decay flesh, break bones, and shut down organs.
Eight hundred human soldiers caught in the spell’s area of effect felt it immediately.
Those with weak holy protection fell first—corruption energy burning through their bodies like acid. They screamed and died in seconds.
Those with moderate holy protection suffered but survived—skin blistering, organs failing partially, but staying alive through their blessed amulets and priestly protections.
Those with strong holy protection—blessed warriors, priests, soldiers carrying holy relics—felt the spell but were largely protected. Discomfort, pain, but no life-threatening damage.
Corruption Specialist Mass Attack Results:
243 soldiers killed (those with weak/no holy protection)
387 soldiers wounded but surviving (those with moderate protection)
170 soldiers mostly unaffected (those with strong protection)
Total human casualties: 630 affected, 243 killed