Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 165: The Grenades!

However, when Reody turned his head back to check on the two humans following in their wake, his expression shifted to one of surprise. While the giants were wading through the monsters like they were mere tall grass, Ricky and Cissel were clearly struggling.

The disparity in power was surprising. While the Bulltors moved with an unstoppable violence, each strike of their heavy weapons reducing a yellow monster to a mesh of flesh, Ricky and Cissel were forced into a desperate dance of coordination.

It took three, sometimes four, strikes from their blades to kill a single yellow monster. Seeing this, Reody couldn’t help but ponder the gap in power between their species. Was it the lower quality of weapons they held, or was it simply the vast difference in their physical bodies?

Regardless, as he watched the two humans holding their ground with grit and determination, he pushed the worry to the back of his mind. He had his own sea of monsters to drown.

"Move left!" Ricky’s voice suddenly cracked over the sound of clashing steel and the roars of the skinless creatures. "Don’t get too deep! Reody, stop pushing forward, or you’ll get us surrounded!"

His order was the only thing keeping them from being swallowed whole. Left to their own nature, the Bulltors would have simply charged into the thickest mass of the monsters, revelling in the slaughter. But doing so would leave the humans isolated in the wake of the giants, where the monsters would quickly surround them like a closing wound. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Ricky’s intervention forced the Bulltors to pivot, shifting their formation so they acted as a mobile, rotating slaughterhouse that kept the humans protected in the centre of their destructive show.

"Damn! How did John ever think of fighting ten thousand of these guys?!" Cissel shouted, her breath coming in short, ragged bursts.

Watching the Bulltors in this fight was a revelation. She recalled their first encounter with these giants, the struggle, the fear. Back then, they hadn’t seemed this invincible.

What she didn’t realise was that during their initial meeting, the Bulltors had been the walking dead: exhausted, frightened, and riddled with untreated wounds. Now, after several days of hospitality, rest, and Elena’s delicious meals, the giants were operating at their peak strength.

"I don’t know," Ricky panted, his swords a blur, yet starting to feel heavy. "They’re fighting like how John does... But we only have one John!"

His words carried a bitter truth that stung more than the sweat in his eyes. Despite the giants’ power, they lacked John’s magical abilities and tricks, which would have helped them fight more efficiently. Without John, they felt hopeless and powerless, like how humans in the Bulltors’ eyes should be!

As the Bulltors tried to adjust their pace to keep the humans from being left behind, their momentum slowed. The yellow monsters, sensing the pressure drop, began to surge. Within minutes, the formation was bogged down, and the encirclement began to tighten.

On top of the walls, Elena had been a silent, terrified witness to all this. She hadn’t moved since Ricky and Cissel left the safety of the walls, her knuckles white as she gripped her sledgehammers. Her heart hammered hard when she saw her friends and the Bulltors surrounded by growing masses of the yellow monsters.

"They’re in a tough spot," a voice croaked beside her.

She jumped, turning to find Luke standing there, covered in sap and dirt. He had finally returned with the three Bulltors, dragging the broken, sturdy branches of the Blue Serpentile trees.

The task had taken far longer than anticipated; the wood was notoriously stubborn, resisting their weapons in a way that made Luke miss John’s help. But the sight of the battlefield rendered the wood irrelevant.

Luke didn’t need to ask about what happened. Just the terrifying sight of close to twenty thousand monsters down below was enough to tell him what forced the two down there.

"They’re getting surrounded," Luke whispered, his eyes narrowing as he analysed the shifting mass below. "It’s not a total disaster yet, but if they don’t find a way out in the next few minutes, they won’t make it back to the walls."

"We need to get down there and help them then," Elena said. It wasn’t a suggestion; it was a command. "We can’t just stand here and play spectator!"

"Sure, but look at the field, Elena!" Luke gestured wildly at the chaos. "We’ve only got five Bulltors left. They’ve got six down there already, and they’re still drowning. There are thousands of those yellow bastards between them and us, not to mention we’d have to run through the kill zone of the cannons and towers. One stray plasma shot and we’re vaporised!"

"We have to help them!" Elena turned on him, her eyes carried a desperate plea. Luke didn’t disagree, every instinct in his body told him to move, but the nightmare of the lots of obstacles and variables weighed him down.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

A series of violent explosions suddenly erupted at the very heart of the encirclement where Ricky and Cissel were trapped. These weren’t the searing shots of plasma from the walls; these were orange, fiery blooms of fire and smoke clouds. The blasts were fierce enough to shred the yellowish monsters, instantly clearing a wide, smoking path through the tightening ring.

"These grenades are badass!" Ricky’s laugh echoed through the chaos. He had just thrown a handful of the grenades John got from the machines before. "Let’s rain a few more down and clear the whole area..."

"No! Stop!" Cissel grabbed his arm, her face stern even through the grime. "We have a limited supply of those. We need to save them for desperate situations!"

"Look around, Cissel! We are in a difficult situation right now!" Ricky bellowed back, pointing at a fresh cluster of monsters running towards their position, rapidly filling the gaps the grenades created.

He pulled another pin before throwing the grenade towards the incoming monsters. "We need to kill as many as possible right now, or we’re doomed before the eighth wave even starts!"