Chapter 179: Hell on the Peaks
BOOM!
A deafening roar shook the mountain range from its core. The eastern slopes shattered in a chain reaction as hundreds of demolition charges detonated simultaneously. Tons of rock, dirt, and orange fire spewed shrapnel into the sky, collapsing dozens of ledges. The primary nests vanished in a shower of burning branches and boulders that crushed hundreds of beasts before they could unfold their wings.
Black smoke enveloped the mountain, but the chaos was only starting.
The high-pitched shrieks of panic and rage tore through the air. Disoriented by the explosions and the loss of their nests, over eight hundred giant eagles dove into the void, plummeting into the gorge like a feathered plague.
"Open fire! Kill them all!" Helga bellowed from the southern ridge.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A volley from fifty rifles echoed with a thunderous crack. Lead bullets punched through the wings and chests of the first wave; dozens of beasts plummeted like stones, slamming into one another in a heap of feathers and shattered bones.
"Reload and fire! Don’t let them regroup!" Lennis shouted from the canyon floor as the bolts from the three siege ballistas impaled two or three beasts at a time, pinning them against the stone walls.
In the midst of the slaughter, Kellar emerged atop Ignis, who ignited his flames to full capacity, becoming a beacon of pure fury.
"Lightning Spear!" Kellar roared, thrusting his hand toward the thickest cluster in the sky.
A massive bolt of lightning erupted from his fingers, piercing five eagles at once and incinerating their wings mid-flight before they fell wrapped in flames onto the rocks below. Without wasting a second, Kellar chained his spellbook relentlessly, utilizing the totem bond to spread his curses like a disease.
"Poison Curse! Slowness Curse! Panic Curse!" Kellar cast in rapid succession.
Clouds of gas seeped into the predators’ throats, choking them on their blood while their movements turned heavy. The magical panic sowed hysteria among the younger specimens, who began attacking each other mid-air, gouging out eyes and tearing through necks with hooked beaks.
Brak, drenched in the blood raining from the sky, severed the neck of a wounded eagle with his axe while laughing in satisfaction.
"Feel this, you birds!" Brak roared, dodging an agonizing talon swipe.
The valley, transformed into a slaughterhouse, was a display of dry rifle cracks, devouring fire blasts, the reek of burning flesh, and a rain of mutilated beasts falling from the heights. Kellar’s contingent pressed forward through the carnage, finishing off the creatures that lay agonizing on the rocks.
Suddenly, the ground trembled with a vibration that seemed to freeze the air.
A thunderous shriek shook the canyon with a shockwave so powerful it swept away the sea of black smoke in a single gust. From the highest, darkest peaks, a colossal shadow emerged, eclipsing the dawn.
It was the Eagle King.
With a wingspan exceeding one hundred meters, the mythical beast made the other eagles look like insignificant sparrows beside it. Its feathers, hard as iron scales, gleamed with a green sheen as it descended, whipping up a blizzard that knocked several soldiers off their feet at the bottom of the gorge.
"Damn it! Look at the size of that thing!" a hunter screamed, paralyzed with terror.
"Traverse left! Target the giant beast!" Lennis barked at the top of her lungs, maintaining her composure. "Load the heavy explosive-tip bolts!"
The crews of the three ballistas adjusted their mechanisms at breakneck speed. The bolts, armed at the tip with contact demolition charges, launched with a brutal snap.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two of the projectiles struck the Eagle King in the chest and right wing, unleashing two explosions mid-air. The monster let out a shriek of rage as hundreds of iron feathers rained down wrapped in flames, but the shrapnel failed to bring it down. Driven mad by pain, the Eagle King beat its wings and dived into a stoop straight toward the vanguard lines.
One of its talons, the size of a house, slammed into the ballista position, obliterating one of the siege engines and crushing four gatherers before they could fall back. The shockwave threw Lennis several meters against the stone wall.
Chaos multiplied. The surviving eagles, emboldened by their sovereign’s arrival, broke out of their panic and began making kamikaze dives against the riflemen’s positions, digging their beaks into the contingent and claiming the first casualties of Kellar’s army.
"Hold the line! Don’t break!" Helga roared, firing her rifle point-blank into the eye of an eagle trying to devour one of her recruits.
Atop Ignis, Kellar watched his people fall and gritted his teeth, feeling rage burn through his chest.
"Ignis, straight for that thing’s head!" Kellar bellowed, channeling every drop of his energy into both hands.
"Hey, over here!" Kellar roared, raising both hands toward the sky.
CRACK! CRACK!
Three consecutive blasts of [Lightning Spear] erupted from his palms, slamming into the Eagle King’s neck. The strikes blew away iron feathers and scorched the monster’s flesh, forcing it to turn its head toward Kellar in pure hatred.
Ignis bellowed, picking up speed over the jagged rocks with impressive swiftness for his build. Opening his maw, the fire bear channeled a searing mass of heat and launched a fireball into the beast’s chest. The detonation illuminated the gorge, momentarily blinding the winged sovereign and locking its attention onto them.
A few meters away, amid the timber of the destroyed siege engine, one of the wounded gatherers lay in a pool of blood. With a crushed leg and a face caked in dust, the woman used every ounce of remaining strength to crawl toward the frame of the second ballista, where a heavy bolt with a demolition charge remained locked in place.
With trembling hands but eyes burning with fury, she snatched up a fallen torch beside her and pressed the flame directly against the bolt’s fuse.
"Die!" the gatherer screamed at the top of her lungs, slamming the manual release.
THWACK! BOOM!
The bolt launched point-blank. At such close range and with the Eagle King’s head turned toward Kellar, the projectile struck true on the left side of its face. The demolition charge detonated with a blast, completely tearing apart the monster’s left eye in a cloud of blood, bone fragments, and charred feathers.
The Eagle King let out an agonizing shriek that shook the stone walls of the mountain range, staggering clumsily mid-air as blood gushed from its shattered eye socket.