Chapter 147 - Horde Part 3
It was around 10 P.M when the sound of the horn woke up the town people. They had already been informed about the beast horde but no one expected it to be this soon.
"We will go help as well," Reece woke up from a deep sleep and shouted at his wife while putting on armor.
"What?! But what about us? And what are you going to do without any training?" she asked worriedly. Reece was just a normal person without any real fighting experience whatsoever. The most he had fought was when he killed a feral rat in the barn some days ago.
He stopped what he was doing and held her hand, "I'll bring them water, stones, arrows, whatever. There are other ways to help than direct confrontation. They are our only line of defense, if they fall, the city is lost. What good will I do here when millions of beasts come raging in through the gate?" he said while kissing her forehead.
She wanted to follow up but couldn't find the words.
*Sigh*
"Fine, I will go as well," she said while getting up.
"No, you have to take care of mom. She can't be alone in her condition," he shook his head. She sighed once again.
"Alright, but be careful please," she gave him a hug and a kiss.
He walked out of the room and saw Miles and Damian sitting in the living room, already ready.
"Took you long enough," Miles smiled and threw him a spear.
The three boys silently sneaked out of the house, trying not to wake up their mother.
Sophia stood in her bedroom window and looked at the sneaking silhouettes with a half-smile, "They are so much like you," she mumbled while looking at the city wall.
On the way to the wall, the boys met up with a few different groups totaling thousands of other men and women. Obviously, they weren't alone in thinking the guards and Mad Saints needed help.
"Hey, you boys are very young, where's your father? You shouldn't be out here alone like this. It can get very dangerous out there," an older man who seemed to be about 45 years old looked over at the trio and said gently.
"He's out right now so we are in charge," Damian said smugly and puffed out his chest.
The old man looked up at Reece and Miles who smiled in return. He nodded back at them foolishly and then flashed a knowing smile.
"Oh, that's great. It's good to see such young people still helping others out like this. My stupid son is way too lazy."
They walked for a few more minutes until the wall became visible and the sounds of fighting could be heard from the other side.
"Why haven't they activated the defensive formations?" Reece asked with furrowed brows.
"This is just the first wave of the horde. The formations require a large amount of Qi to work so unless completely necessary, they aren't used that often," the old man next to them explained.
"Oh, that's how it is."
"My name is Matea by the way, My son is Luca, he's in the local guard," the old man shook Reece's hand, who introduced himself and the other two as well.
"Come, I know a place from where we can watch," Matea smiled and started walking towards a tower.
"Oi, why the hell are you guys down here?" Matea shouted as he saw some guards standing outside the tower. They all turned around ready to fight but their expressions turned limp as soon as they saw the old man.
"Ah, Ol' cap, what are you doing here? Are you looking for brother Luca?" they smiled sheepishly and walked towards him slowly.
"Answer my question, why are you guys out here?" Matea asked with a frown.
One of the guards shook his head dejectedly, "The Mad Saint captain said anyone without any prior experience has to stay down here and maintain order. He's not even letting us fight. Only his army is fighting."
"What? That makes no sense, you're supposed to send the weak soldiers out first to thin out the beasts before swooping in with the main army. What is this guy thinking?!" Matea said angrily and pushed them out of the way and started walking up the tower.
Reece, Miles, and Damian looked at each other and then silently followed after him as well. The guards simply stood aside and let them past since they saw them coming with Matea, and even though he was retired, they didn't have the authority to stop him.
It only took 30 seconds or so for them to reach the top of the tower. The top was about 30 sq. meters wide and there were already a dozen or so people there, looking outside.
"Attention!" Matea shouted at the crowd and they all jerked around and saluted without a second of hesitation.
"Good, at least you maggots remember your training," Matea nodded, satisfied by their reactions.
"Ah, Ol' Cap, you almost gave me a heart attack!" one of them let out a breath of relief and eased up.
"Old man, what are you doing here?" a muscular guy that looked like a younger version of Matea walked out from the back.
"You good for nothing son, is this how I raised you? Why the hell are you sitting here with your tail between your legs?" Matea slapped the guy's head. This was his son, Luca.
"We don't have a choice, look," Luca said while pointing towards the wall. The guards moved to the sides and made space for Matea and the boys to get a clear view outside.
Matea harrumphed and walked forward but his eyes opened wide upon seeing the scene on the other side of the wall, "WHA- How is this possible?!"
The trio walked up behind him and were left speechless as well.
The other side of the wall was filled to the brim with beasts. There were thousands upon thousands of all kinds of creatures there. They covered every single part of the land. The entire area that held 50,000 people a few weeks ago was littered with beasts of every type.
There were gigantic poisonous bugs, venomous worms, Bloodthirsty wolves, a few giant tigers, and many many more.
"This should not be happening. We are just a small town, why would such a massive horde come here?" Matea mumbled empty-headedly.
"This isn't the horde," Luca walked up behind him and peered outside as well, "This is just the first wave. The main horde has yet to reach Galena."
If Matea wasn't speechless before, he was now. He had served as a guard in Galena for over three decades yet the most he saw was a few thousand beasts at most. And even then they were being led by the city lord who was a profound realm cultivator so it was fine. But now?
He looked over at the place where the Mad Saint captain was standing. They were just a few hundred meters apart so he could see him clearly since he was so tall.
Hao Xuan calmly stood atop the wall and peered down. There was not a hint of worry and agitation on his face.
"Does he have a plan? Are reinforcements coming? Why is he so relaxed?" Matea thought inwardly.
But he didn't ask himself, what good would worry do at this point?
Then Hao Xuan waved his hand and muttered something, which they weren't able to hear. One of the people standing behind him nodded and spoke into a small badge into his chest.
*Fwtooo* x8
Faint sounds came from the middle of the city and huge boulders were seen being flung outside.
"What is that?!" Luca muttered while trying to see into the castle.
*BOOM* x8
But before anyone could answer, the boulders connected with the beast horde outside and exploded, sending body parts flying everywhere. Just that one barrage was enough to take the lives of hundreds of beasts at once. Being so closely packed together wasn't working out so well for them right now.
"Again, a bit higher this time," Hao Xuan said and another barrage of boulders came smashing down.