Deadmeat Saga

Chapter 49 – Elkington Village vs Goblin Legion(1)

Behind the western wall-

Over a hundred Missile Men, equipped with bows and thick helmets, were aiming their shots. There were also many archers and spear throwers climbing the wall ramparts. Zora remained stationed on the watchtower, observing the goblin army situation, and signaled Hannes.

"160 yards! Make Ready! Aim! Fire!" Hannes ordered and shot an arrow, the villagers shooting right after him. "Make ready!" Hannes shouted, already loading the next arrow.

Over a hundred arrows shot over the wall, accurately hitting 160 yards away. The wails and screams of dying goblins were like music in their ears.

Zora, who saw the result, shouted while shooting the goblins herself, "Off by 8 yards, South-West-West!"

Hannes nodded and made the necessary adjustments. "153 yards! Aim a bit to the left!" Hannes shouted, his next arrow ready to fire.

The archers quickly adjusted their aim and shot another volley. There was no panic in their eyes, and the operation was smooth. It was like a well-trained archer army, seasoned through countless training sessions. They shot a volley every four or five seconds.

The archers on the wall, including Kasper and other expert archers, had more accurate shots, and about eight to nine of ten shots hit a target. Although most hit the shields, some still hit exposed parts, leading to casualties.

Outside the walls-

"Infantry, Shamans, Spear Throwers! Turtle Formation and Advance! Archers, Slingers! Stay put and return fire! Riders! Get out of their range and wait!" Krozz, the Hobgoblin General, shouted, hefting his shield as he slowly advanced with his soldiers.

Wrurx took out a horn bugle and blew it.

Too* To* To* To* Tooo*

"Double Lines! Sparse! Prepare to fire!" One of the Hobgoblin Centurians commanding the archers called.

The archers and slingers immediately entered a formation, keeping a wide berth to reduce the enemy projectile hit rate, returning fire, and pelting the wall and village with their bows and stone pellets to cover the advancement of their main troops.

On the watchtower, Zora saw the incoming volley and shouted while hiding behind the wooden battlements. "Brace!"

The missile men on the ramparts immediately ducked behind the battlements, but the archers behind the walls were not so lucky.

Woosh* Woosh* Woosh* Thud* Thud* Thud*

"Argh!"

"Uwa!"

"Gya!"

Screams of pain erupted from some of the archers, sprawling on the ground and writhing as arrows and stones struck and penetrated their bodies. Most of the missiles did not hit a target, but those that did caused some damage, crippling or fatal.

However, even fatal wounds did not kill immediately. Since they wore thick helmets, their brain, the most vital organ, was intact. However, some got hit in the arteries, lungs, or even their hearts and would die within hours to several minutes if not treated.

Usually, they would die from grievous injuries or blood loss without the aid of a high priest or saint. But luckily, they had the next best thing!

"My time to act..." Gerhart muttered as he rushed from behind a building with a door-sized shield to block all projectiles.

Several other strongmen also followed him, carrying shields to protect the wounded and take them to shelter and treatment.

Briefly glancing at the wounded, Gerhart selected the ones in most need.

Status: Disabled Arm, Bleeding.

Status: Severed Femoral Artery, Bleeding(Severe, Coma in 4 minutes, Clinical Death in 7 minutes, Brain Death in 10 minutes)

Status: Brain Trauma, Internal Brain Bleeding(Light), Coma 

Status: Pierced Heart, Dead(Brain death in 3 minutes)

Status: ...

Ignoring those with disabled limbs or merely comatose, Gerhart focused on those whose lives were in danger or considered dead but savable. Reaching a man with a pierced heart, an arrow in his chest, piercing through his light leather armor, Gerhart covered him with the shield and began healing him.

Thud* Thud*

An arrow and a stone struck his shield while he was healing the man. A dozen seconds later, the archer took a deep breath, shakily got up, his wound healed, and the arrow out.

"Thank you, my-"

"Keep firing!" Gerhart yelled and ran to help others who were dying.

In the meantime, the strongmen also carried severely injured villagers to the village center, where the Statue of Conquest was. Hope and two dozen youths were there.

"Lay them here and go fetch more wounded!" Hope ordered the strongmen.

"Yes, Envoy!" The strongmen did as told and ran to fetch more wounded.

The two dozen youths ran to the wounded and carried them to the Statue of Conquest, where Hope started healing them. Like brand-new soldiers, the villagers stood one by one as if it were nothing and ran to rejoin the battle.

It was the attrition tactic they came up with. Using accumulated points, Gerhart and Hope mimicked the role of priests and healed the supposed fatalities, returning them to battle. Of course, regular priests didn't hold a candle to their efficiency.

On the other hand, by the time the goblin infantry advanced those sixty-odd yards in their turtle formation, the archers and slingers sustained heavy casualties after around fifteen volleys. On average, every volley injured or killed five goblins, which meant over a quarter were already out of commission!

"Keep firing!" The Hobgoblin Centurians yelled.

However, they felt something was weird. They did their math and knew out of the villagers, likely less than half of them were combatants. And yet, there were so many archers, and they were so accurate, fast, and consistent! Their archers were a few notches worse. Also, the number of arrows fired should have decreased with their casualties, and they initially did, yet they noticed the number slowly increased again.

"What is going on?! Do they have so many reserve archers?! And how are they so good?!" They wondered.

Unfortunately, Krozz was too busy advancing and blocking arrows to notice the abnormality.

"These humans have powerful marksmen! We already lost several dozen of our men!" Nuq, his female deputy, yelled.

As they got closer, the archers on the wall already hit them 10 out of 10 times, and they more accurately hit the gaps in their shields and armor.

If only a handful of the archers were like that, it would be one thing, but when ALL the archers were like elite archers, they began doubting themselves. The humans were at least as competent as Hobgoblin archers!

"Are all human archers that good?" Krozz asked himself.

However, his thoughts were interrupted when he saw dozens of magicians on the ramparts casting spells.

Irene, leading the Water Magicians, cast the most effective 3rd-circle long-range water magic they had. For a minute, they were preparing the spell, and they could now unleash it.

"Ice Lance Volley!" Irene shouted, an arm-sized sharp icicle forming in the air.

"Ice Lance Volley!" Two dozen magicians also shouted as they shot their spells.

Woosh* Woosh* Woosh* Woosh*

Suddenly, 75 Ice Lances, akin to ballista bolts, shot at high speed toward the tight-knit formations.

Thud* Thud* Thud* Thud* Thud* Splat* Splat*

"Gugya!"

"Gya!"

"Ugya!"

Ice Lance was a 2nd-circle spell, and Ice Lance Volley shot three Ice Lances. Each Ice Lance was comparable in raw power to a small ballista shot, making it a potent weapon against armored units. The effect was soon apparent, as the 75 Ice Lances pierced through the goblin shields like paper, skewering the wielders. The ones fired by Irene were even bigger and faster than the other lances, each skewering several of them!

Of course, some goblins used Aura to reinforce their shields, lowering the damage, but most of them were out of commission!

"Wrurx!" Krozz called out to his deputy, whose arm got pierced by an Ice Lance through his shield.

If he didn't use Aura on time, he would be dead like the many other goblins.

"I-I'm still alive- Thud*"

Before Wrurx could finish his sentence, he was shot in the head, right between the eyes through a gap in the shield wall.

Using the breach in their formation, the archers on the ramparts used the opportunity to snipe vulnerable goblins. Instantly, dozens of more goblins were killed before they could defend themselves again.

"Dammit!" Krozz cursed.

"How do they have so many high-level shamans?!" Nuq cried out.

After studying the humans long enough, they discovered that almost all villagers were warriors. Hence, they were unprepared to face a magician army.

"After using that spell, they likely exhausted their mana! Signal the riders!" Krozz angrily shouted, keeping a rational mind under anger and pressure.

The wolf riders were their shock troops and most valuable unit. After the enemy wasted their trump card on them, it was time to sic the wolves on them!

Nuq took out her bugle and blew it.

To* Tooo* To* To* To* To* Too*

"Riders! Charge the walls!" The Rider Hobgoblin Centurian shouted, leading the Wolf Riders to charge with him.

Dire Wolves had lower stamina, speed, and toughness than horses but possessed unmatched ferocity and agility. In addition, they could climb up wooden walls! A regular wolf could climb a 3m wall easily, and a Dire Wolf could climb up to 5m! The Dire Wolves they rode were Variants born to strong parents and raised on quality meat. Even if Crird considered them inferior, they could carry the riders and climb the walls effortlessly!

Nobody noticed that, immediately after casting their spell, the magicians got off the ramparts, rushing along the walls, away from the enemy firing exchange, and ran to the Statue of Conquest. In their place, elite melee fighters climbed up the ramparts to greet the riders charging over.

"Missile Men! Focus on those damn riders! Get ready for melee!" Thomas, who climbed on the walls, shouted while drawing his sword.

On the goblin side-

Having advanced to 60 yards and the wolf cavalry fast approaching, the Hobgoblin gave his order.

"Spear Throwers, Shamans, Covering fire! Archers, cease-fire, and charge! All other units, charge the walls!" Krozz valiantly shouted, leading at the front.

"Too* To* To* Tooo* Follow the general! Follow his lead! Charge!" Nuq shouted a rallying cry to raise morale, following Krozz.

"Raa!" "Charge!" "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Inspired by their leader's bravery, the goblin army regained morale and charged forward with wild abandon.

However, Krozz didn't notice that the archer units were already at half-power due to continued attrition. In his rough calculations, they should have been at least two-thirds, but for some reason, the number of arrows fired from the village never fell below a certain point and even had signs of recovering. If they could see beyond the walls, they would be dumbfounded at the sight of the dead rising. Even if an arrow pierced their heart or brain and died, Gerhart could heal them as long as the brain didn't completely die.

"They're starting a full assault!" Zora called from the watchtower, clutching an arrow wound in the shoulder. "Archers! Focus on 50 yards!" 

"50 yards!" Hannes yelled, a bloody scar on his handsome face as he adjusted his aim and fired. He then noticed that his third quiver he was close to used up and yelled. "Bring more ammo!"

Teenagers ran out of houses, carrying quivers for the adults before returning to bring more.

Meanwhile, the goblin army began firing javelins and 1st-circle spells at the wall defenders. Unlike the arrows, the spears had greater penetration and weight, destroying the already-worn wooden battlements. The spells were even worse! Stone bullets, fireballs, ice cones, and air slicers were launched by the shamans.

Thud* Thud* Splat* Thud*

"Ah!!"

"My arm!"

"Geho...!"

"Splat*..."

The defenders immediately sustained heavy casualties at the first barrage, with over ten suffering grievous wounds. And that wasn't all. One of the spears, thrown by a Hobgoblin Centurian, stuck one of the villagers with an Aura-Clad spear right in the head. Gerhart saw the status immediately change.

Status: Dead.

There was no saving him. He was as dead as could be. Even if a Saint was here, he wouldn't be able to save him. Gerhart winced at this loss, but he didn't stop saving others.

Romilda, who was next to the dead villager, was immediately infuriated.

"DIE!" Romilda's arm muscles expanded as she used Strength Burst, throwing a spear with astonishing brute force at the offending Hobgoblin.

The Hobgoblin Centurian only saw a dot approaching as its head was skewered and instantly died.

Meanwhile, the expert archers focused their fire on the fast-approaching riders, shooting arrows and throwing spears and axes at them.

Several riders and wolves died during the charge, but they were undeterred as they quickly reached the wooden walls and leaped over the newly dug trenches, latching onto the walls with their claws and climbing up.

"Kill them all! Don't let them pass!" Thomas yelled a warcry as he stabbed a wolf through the neck and kicked it down along with the rider.

The other defenders also fought the ferocious wolf riders, protecting the archers that kept pelting the advancing infantry. Infantry reinforcements formed another line, defending the archers behind them.

Meanwhile, Krozz and the rest of the infantry approached the walls and yelled, "Throw grappling hooks! Climb those walls!"

The true battle has begun!