The wind blew on the dry grounds of the fourth sector.
The ground was rumbling from two opposite ends;
At one end now nearly 800 meters away from the wall - were brave men who knew not war; nor what it incurred.
But even then marched with courage in the face of the unknown.
At the other end 2 kilometers away were the creatures of unknown origin.
Their synchronization was unparalleled, as if moving with one mind, none collided with the other not even as much as a graze.
-
Back at humanity's last front, a little shadow cast over Heimer.
He looked up - It was a hawk flying around the front of the formation.
He unequipped his weapon, and raised his arm.
The hawk landed on it.
It had a paper rolled up under its feet, with white rope tied around the paper.
"White; the centre top of the wall.
Lana…" He presumed.
Then he proceeded to read the contents.
< Report.
Time: 14:13
They number over 13,000 and are fast approaching.
Approximately 2 kilometres away.
We'll use all the canons on the wall, with our ammo we should be able to clear a whole lot of them.
No sight of the reported 'Large one'
Commander Lana>
Heimer let out a sigh.
[BOOM!] Multiple explosions in the distance.
The sounds were like a melody that calmed the heart of Heimer.
At his command the march ended.
"Peace be with us…" Heimer commandeered his horse forward.
Now after gaining some distance, he turned his horse around.
He backed the explosions in a distance, facing the brave soldiers who stood for humanity.
"I expected some, rebellion and and attempts at deserting.
[He smiled]
But it seems my worries were uncalled for." He muttered to himself.
Heimer raised his axe and screamed
....
And just like that, he incited a full-blown outroar from all the troops.
All their emotions - Frustration, sorrow, fear, pain, grief, rage - funneled out to a single stream of screams.
They had been invigorated, any doubt they had before had been removed.
It took a while for the roar to die out.
"They should let this out now…
This is the last chance for the vast majority of them.
[His eyes looked down]
Myself included.
I have no time to wallow in thoughts…" Heimer shook his head.
He put his axe on the holster on his back hereafter raising his large shield up.
The battalion moved to its true formation, the men with giant shields dropped down from their horses, the horses fled the battlefield.
They advanced to the front, there they crouched with their shields placed in front of them.
They were in a straight line, in an arch with barely any space between them.
Then next came the men with spears, they lined up behind the Shield troops.
The catapults and arrows were situated at the back and the other troops in the middle.
The explosions in the distance had now stopped.
-
Back on the wall Lana looked through her binoculars.
"That was the last of our ammo.
One thousand cannons each with five rounds.
And each hit kills about 3 of them." She was performing mental calculations.
"That would normally amount to 15,000 kills.
But the cannons farther out have lesser accuracy since they operate on feedback and not my direct command.
Many shells also hit the same place, the true number we killed would range from 8100 ~ 9,200"
[Ouch]
"My head hurts.
I've done my part, now it's time for you to do yours elder brother." Lana held her head up in pain.
She slowly crouched to the wall's floor, as she bled from her nose.
And at the same time Ren's horse took Leo through the gate at high speeds.
-
The time had come, the men had eyes that had accepted whatever fate had in stall for them.
The first critters pounced upon the shielded soldiers, they couldn't easily bite through the metal shields.
The catapults shot their explosive rounds and arrows rained upon the critters, cutting their numbers short by a lot.
The spear men stabbed through the the spaces of the shields, or from over them.
Any critter that made it through was immediately cut down by the supreme and the commanders.
The soldiers on horses covered the sides and cut down most critters that came around.
The supreme charged into the heart of the heart of the battle along with the commanders.
With two giant swings of his axe he could kill as many as five; he took as many as 15 consecutive swings.
On horseback he was as mobile as he could be, he attacked with the right and defended with the left.
A critter bit him from behind, his armour protected him as he proceeded to split it in half.
The commanders took down multiple each, especially the one's that wielded the mace and the great sword.
Albeit they also lost four in their ranks.
The little creatures started to overwhelm them with numbers.
The critters took broke through the left side, it was the weakest link in the formation.
The low quality leather armour of the men at the the outer flanks had failed them.
Some were clawed through, others fell victim to the gnaws of the critters.
One critter ripped through a soldiers guts and splattered the entrails.
They had now broken through.
In close range the archers ceased to be reliable, this was the same case for the catapults.
The commander with a mace, as well as the one with a longsword retreated to help out at the back.
The battle had become one of attrition.
***
— 40 minutes later —
The soil of the 4th quarter flows with the blood of man, horse and beast.
The stench was a foul one.
"How many of us remain." Heimer thought as he looked around the battlefield.
Golden turned red, he knelt on the battlefield.
"One, two…only seven?
Including me that's eight" After counting, he shut his eyes in guilt.
Of the survivors only one was a commander - it was the one who wielded a mace.
He dropped his axe and his shield, then unhelmed revealing his dreadful eyes.
Their early dominance had paid off, they were outnumbered but still pulled through.
"Can I be happy with this result" He harboured regret.
He picked up his axe and mounted it on his back, then grabbed his shield with his left hand.
He leaped.
He too had his own fair share of injuries hidden beneath his nearly broken armour.
He and the survivors walked towards the last one that laid on the floor.
"~The sk-y so brig..ht, yet it's ni…ght~
[Cough] He coughed up blood.
~The da…y ma-y be dark…~" The soldier was singing a song while staring into the sky.
Tears flowed from his eyes.
The other soldiers and the supreme were in front of him, but he didn't seem to see them.
On another look, the lower side of his body was missing.
"Sir, what are you doing…" The mace commander was looking at Heimer.
[Thud] Heimer raised his axe and put him to rest.
Heimer sought rest, he now rested on one of the catapults that was still in good condition, while the others walked to the wall by his command.
-
Heimer stared into the open space, he was shaken up, lost in thoughts.
[Fwish]
Heimer's eyes widened.
The giant beast appeared out of thin air.