Chapter 91: Albino Gorilla
’...A ritual circle?’
From a distance, the countless corpses had looked like nothing more than casualties of the battle.
But now they all looked like they had been arranged deliberately.
Even the charred remains vaporized by the Watch Towers had fallen into strangely consistent patterns.
They formed concentric rings around the mounted commander.
The Headless Nightmare itself stood at the exact centre.
He immediately focused his vision on the surrounding area.
The constant flashes from the Watch Towers illuminated the battlefield just enough for him to make out faint lines connecting one corpse to another.
The blood flowing from thousands of Nightmare corpses hadn’t seeped randomly into the earth.
It had gathered inside shallow grooves, forming enormous crimson patterns around the mounted figure.
The Headless Nightmare wasn’t ignoring the casualties, it had wanted them.
Every Nightmare killed by the Fortress had become another piece of the formation.
"Fuck!"
Edgar didn’t waste a single second changing the direction of the Watch Tower’s Ballista to attack the commander.
The crimson beams they had been sweeping across the horde abruptly shifted.
Every barrel rotated toward the motionless commander standing at the centre of the ritual.
BOOOOOOOM!!
Ten crimson pillars tore across the battlefield. The ground exploded beneath their path.
Every Nightmare unfortunate enough to stand between the towers and the commander was vaporized instantly.
The beams converged on a single point as they hit the Headless Nightmare.
A massive cloud of dust, burning flesh, and shattered earth erupted hundreds of metres into the air.
The surrounding corpses were blown apart.
The carefully arranged rings collapsed under the explosion.
’...Did it work?’
Edgar had just wondered when a violent torrent of wind dispersed the dust.
The Headless Nightmare was still standing tall with a faint translucent screen protecting him.
The scattered corpses began to rearrange themselves in an unnatural way around the monster once again.
’...Is the Ritual Circle made to protect him from incoming attacks?’
Edgar’s thoughts raced, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it served a far greater purpose than a mere shield.
Still, he had no intention of giving the Headless Nightmare time to complete whatever it was planning.
BOOOOOOOM!!
Another volley of crimson beams roared across the battlefield.
The converging blasts struck the mounted commander head-on. The surrounding corpses instantly blackened, their flesh shrivelling into ash.
The ritual circle dimmed for a brief moment, but as more corpses were added, it began to glow once again.
Without waiting for the smoke to clear, Edgar gave another order.
"Again!"
BOOOOOOOM!!
The crimson barrier reappeared just before the beams landed.
This time, it flickered erratically.
The corpses nearest the Headless Nightmare rapidly withered, their blood evaporating into scarlet mist that was immediately absorbed by the formation.
The protective screen stabilised once more.
Edgar clicked his tongue. "Tch. So every time I attack... it sacrifices the dead to maintain the barrier."
Edgar forced himself to calm down.
’Think. Don’t just keep shooting because it’s the easiest option.’
He had to keep changing the direction of the Ballista.
If he kept attacking the Headless Nightmare, then the other Nightmares would come too close.
He had to maintain the balance in order not to get overwhelmed.
He carefully studied the glowing formation once more, trying to find anything noteworthy.
"Huh?"
Just as Edgar was thinking of a solution, he noticed a hoarse voice.
’...What the fuck.’
A bunch of ape-like Nightmares were now attacking the Fortress from the front.
---
On the other side.
[A few minutes earlier]
Gordon looked speechlessly at all the Nightmares that were being cooked alive by the Flamethrowers.
But despite the endless burning, the ape-like Nightmares kept coming for the Fortress.
"...Why would they do this to themselves?"
Gordon knew these Nightmares had minds of their own.
They could think and reason.
Under the current conditions, it would be wise for them to just retreat.
He had no idea why they would waste so many of their own people just like that.
The two Soul Guardians below him remained perfectly motionless, their azure eyes fixed on the blazing tunnel.
Every corpse that burned remained inside the tunnel.
Each burning body gradually piled upon the last.
The entrance, once wide open, was slowly becoming clogged with charred flesh and collapsed earth.
While he was wondering what their end plan was, Gordon saw something flash in the Eternal Night.
’....What?’
Gordon felt like the ground was shaking because of something.
He focused on the distance, only for his face to turn pale.
From the Eternal Night, an enormous figure burst into the light.
It resembled an albino gorilla standing nearly six metres tall.
Snow-white fur covered its massive frame, though patches had been scorched black from running through the inferno.
Its crimson eyes glowed with savagery and intelligence.
"...A commander," Gordon unconsciously muttered.
His words had just left his mouth when the two Soul Guardians’ eyes flickered.
Without any order, both of them rushed toward the monster, who was coming at the Fortress with terrifying speed.
Without fear, both raised their blackened fists.
The albino Nightmare didn’t even attempt to dodge. Instead, it swung one colossal arm.
BAAAAM!!
The impact echoed like a cannon blast.
One Soul Guardian was sent flying through the air, crashing into the Fortress wall hard enough to leave a web of cracks across the stone.
The second Guardian drove its fist into the giant’s ribs.
CRACK!
Several ribs visibly caved inward, yet the albino gorilla merely snarled.
It grabbed the Guardian’s skull with one hand.
"...Impossible."
CRUNCH!!
The Guardian’s head exploded into a shower of black bone fragments and pale azure flames.
The remaining body collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
The giant Nightmare beat its chest once.
BOOM! BOOM!
Then it lifted its burning crimson eyes and stared directly at Gordon atop the wall.
’...Fuck.’
The albino gorilla roared from the top of its lungs and grabbed a boulder.
It hurled it toward the Flamethrower, damaging the tower enough for it to stop.
And as if on cue, more and more ape-like Nightmares rushed out from the darkness right after it.
Those monsters howled and yelled and moved all over the Fortress as though they were surrounding the entire thing.
The albino gorilla was just about to attack the Fortress when it turned toward where the Headless Nightmare was.
With a snarl, the enormous Nightmare began to move to the front.