The Battle Beneath the Walls [Part - 2]

"What?"

Brinda narrowed her eyes.

"The armor is enchanted..."

The Ogre King suddenly grabbed one of the burning logs scattered across the battlefield and hurled it toward her.

"Eon!"

Without thinking, Eon rushed forward.

He swung his Giant Battle Axe upward.

Boom!

The burning log split into dozens of flaming fragments before reaching the wall.

Brinda looked down at him.

"Idiot! Stop trying to protect everyone by yourself!"

Eon looked up for only a moment.

"I don’t have time to argue!"

"You’ll get yourself killed at this rate!"

Another Ogre roared nearby.

The second Ogre King continued dragging its fortified scaling ladder closer to the walls.

Brinda clenched her fists.

"If you only keep blocking attacks, you’ll never stop them!"

Eon’s breathing had already become heavier.

His clothes were stained with blood and dirt.

"I know."

"Then stop fighting like a wall!"

Brinda shouted angrily.

"You’re carrying a Giant Battle Axe, not a shield! Break the ladder! Kill the Ogre! That’s your mission!"

Her words struck him harder than any punch.

Eon’s eyes shifted toward the massive fortified scaling ladder.

"...She’s right."

He had spent the entire fight trying to overpower the Ogre King directly.

That was exactly what it wanted.

The ladder was the true objective.

A determined smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Guess I was thinking too simply."

He adjusted his grip on the Giant Battle Axe.

This time, he lowered his stance.

Instead of waiting...

He charged.

His boots pounded across the battlefield.

The Ogre King roared and threw another enormous punch.

Instead of meeting it head-on, Eon slipped beneath the massive arm.

Whoosh!

The fist passed just above his head.

He sprinted directly beside the giant.

The Ogre tried to turn.

Too late.

Eon poured every ounce of strength into both arms.

"HYAAAH!!"

His Giant Battle Axe descended with overwhelming force.

BOOOOM!!

The reinforced wooden beam supporting the fortified scaling ladder split apart.

Cracks spread across the enchanted structure.

Another swing.

Boom!

A third.

Boom!!

Finally—

CRAAACK!!

The massive fortified scaling ladder shattered into hundreds of broken pieces that scattered across the battlefield.

The Ogre King’s eyes widened.

Its mission...

Had failed.

Eon didn’t stop.

Using the momentum from his final swing, he spun his Giant Battle Axe once more.

The blade buried itself deep into the Ogre King’s exposed neck.

Blood sprayed into the air.

The giant staggered backward before collapsing onto the battlefield with an earth-shaking crash.

Boom!!

Seeing one of the ladders destroyed, cheers erupted from the defenders atop Fantom City’s walls.

"Eon did it!"

"One ladder is down!"

But Eon didn’t celebrate.

He slowly pulled his Giant Battle Axe free before looking toward the second fortified scaling ladder still advancing through the battlefield.

His expression immediately became serious again.

"There isn’t time to rest..."

----------

While Eon destroyed one of the fortified scaling ladders, the second Ogre King continued advancing without slowing down.

Its enormous feet pounded the earth like war drums.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The iron chains dragging the massive fortified scaling ladder groaned as they scraped across the shattered earth, throwing bright sparks into the darkness. Around it, countless skeletal warriors surged forward like an endless tide, their hollow eye sockets burning with eerie light as they guarded the towering siege weapon with unwavering purpose.

High atop the walls of Fantom City, Headmaster Max watched the approaching ladder without blinking.

His sharp eyes tracked its every movement before he spoke in a steady voice.

"Another ladder is almost here."

Several instructors from the Knight Academy stood beside him, their once-pristine armor now scarred by countless battles. Blood stained their cloaks, and exhaustion showed on every face, yet not a single one stepped back.

Behind them waited nearly two hundred academy knights.

Graduates.

Instructors.

Senior disciples.

Every one of them had chosen to stay behind and defend the city instead of fleeing to safety.

An instructor wiped the blood running down his cheek with the back of his gauntlet before looking toward Max.

"Headmaster... if that ladder reaches the wall..."

Max gave a slow, confident nod.

"It won’t."

His calm voice somehow rose above the deafening sounds of battle below.

"The academy exists to protect humanity."

His hand rested on the hilt of his longsword.

With a slow, deliberate motion, he drew the blade.

The polished steel caught the crimson glow of the burning battlefield, reflecting fire, smoke, and countless lives fighting below.

His gaze swept across every knight standing behind him.

"Listen carefully!"

The response was immediate.

Every knight straightened instinctively, their backs rigid, their eyes filled with determination.

"The city guards have reached their limit."

"The adventurers are still holding the battlefield outside."

He lifted his sword toward the advancing ladder.

"Our duty begins now."

His voice thundered across the battlements.

"Knight Academy!"

The reply came like a single heartbeat.

"YES, HEADMASTER!"

Even amid the chaos, their united voices echoed across the city walls.

Max pointed his sword forward.

"First Formation!"

"Iron Wall Formation!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the shield-bearing knights rushed into position.

Heavy steel shields crashed together.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The impact echoed across the battlements as they locked tightly into one another, forming an unbroken wall of steel where the enemy ladder would soon land.

Not a single gap remained.

Behind them, the swordsmen quietly drew their blades, spearsmen their Spear, sheildbearer their sheild and Archer their bow and arrows.

Cold steel shimmered beneath the firelight as they settled into their stances.

Further back, the spearmen lowered their weapons, gripping them with practiced precision.

The final line consisted of crossbowmen loading heavy short-range bolts, each of them silently waiting for the command to fire.

Max’s orders never faltered.

"Second Formation!"

"Cross Spear Formation!"

The spearmen stepped forward in perfect unison.

Their spearheads slipped neatly through the narrow openings between the shields, creating a deadly forest of steel pointed directly at the incoming enemy.

Anyone attempting to climb over the wall would be greeted by dozens of razor-sharp points before they could even find their footing.

"Third Formation!"

"Storm Blade Formation!"