Looking at the current situation, despair filled Aria's mind. Marion returned to Aria while dragging an injured knight. "Hey, Aria! A little help here! Cast healing magic on this man!"
Aria snapped back to reality and healed the knight while Marion returned to the plain in search for survivors. In the midst of healing, Scarlet came running while questioning Aria about the new monsters.
"We cannot win against all those monsters. All that we can do is trying to find ways to escape while saving as many people as possible." As Aria was casting her healing magic, the knight opened his eyes and wore a surprised face. Aria continued casting healing spells until the knight regained enough strength to grabbed onto Aria's hand, causing her to stop casting.
"Silva... hair... miss..." The knight struggled to speak, but he willed himself to continue. "Guild masta says... ya.. warn 'im... bout... ta mons... comin... cough! cough!"
"Don't talk. Let me heal you just a little more. Yes, I did inform the guild master about the possible monsters appearing due to the herds of Popos. I did not expect them to come all at once. I am sorry."
"Nah... our bad... miss... we... hun em Popo... too much... we... let... loose our... appetite... fer gold."
"No, there is no way any of you would have known. Right now, we need to find a way to chase those monsters away from the city, especially those gigantic beasts. As of right now, even if we all work together, it may not be enough to subjugate all of them at the same time. If all of the knights and adventurers worked together, we may be able to repel them."
"Mayor has... decided... ta bandon... this city..." The knights slowly sat up while taking a few deep breaths, seemingly better. "We need ta... thin out... ta beasts on north n south... let 'em citizen out..."
"Are you really going to abandon your hometown!?" Marion returned while carrying another injured knight whom she placed down against a log. "Are you going to let these monsters trample over your birthplace!? We should be repelling these invaders out instead!"
"Marion, our chances of successfully repelling them is abysmal and will results in many deaths; the figure of authority has given his verdict to evacuate the city whist saving as many people as possible. As I have said, this is the best solution for the current crisis."
"But..."
"Marion, you need to wake up! We are not god." Aria grabbed Marion's shoulder while looking directly into her eyes. "The locals have decided to stand up on their own way and that is by sacrificing the city in order to save the people. They believe that the heart of Roantar lies in the citizens, not the city."
Marion stayed silent and looked back at Aria before closing her eyes, accepting the situation. "Fine. We shall assist them in the evacuation. Now then, we will start with the distraction of those monsters closest to the city gate."
"Just in case, you may have forgotten, we are not in good shape either." Scarlet interjected as she drank a mana recovery potion to restore her magic power. "We are dealing with large monsters we have never seen before and although the number of those weaker monsters have reduced, especially around here, there are still a lot of them near the gate. The number is not low enough to allow the civilians to escape safely."
"Agree, all we have to do is to dwindle the number or lure them away. Which gate will the civilians be escaping from?" Marion questioned the recovered knight.
"Southern gate... Most f ta meat r at ta north... We're dumpin' 'em out ere while killin' a few ta hopefully reduce ta chance fer 'em ta go south..."
"From here, I do not see any gigantic monsters around the southern side of the city; although it is difficult to be sure, the numbers of Baggis, Blangos and Giapreys seem to be lesser." Aria finished healing the other knight and observed the situation. "At least, the situation cannot get any worse."
As Aria finished her sentence, a monster burst out of the snow, hurling several Baggis and Blangos into the air. The monster dived into the thick snow and swam around the eastern side of the city while flinging snow all over the battlefield. The beast had a large sharp black horn on its frontal head that it used to cut the snow and ice as it traversed. It had a slim head, stocky body and short fins that gave it a streamline body. Its scales were black and muddy yellow in colour with ice covering all around its vulnerable area.
"Beotodus." Aria and the rest stared in disbelief. "I think I just jinxed it."
"So... right now we have a bunch of bipedal lizards that make people sleep, a gang of white apes, 1 large toothy cat that sneezes storm, 2 fishes that think snow is liquid water, a walking earthquake with horns and that orange beast..." Scarlet pondered for a while before facing Aria. "What characteristic does that beast have? The Tigrex?"
"It weaponises its roar." Aria replied while pointing at a monster. "By the way, those monsters with fancy stripes do not spit a sleeping medicine. They are called Giaprey and I am surprised that I did not see their leader, the Giadrome, around."
"So, a screaming blockhead and some bandits with no leader."
"Those are not the complete descriptions, but they are pretty accurate." Aria faced the knight. "Anyway, I know that the plan is to gather the monsters to the northern gate and when the time comes, the southern gate will open and the citizens can evacuate; what comes next? There is not enough meat at the northern gate to sustain such a large number of monsters and they will turned their attention to the evacuating citizens who will definitely be slower than those monsters chasing them."
"Plan's ta lift ta north gate... n' let 'em in fer ta meat..."
"And that should incentivise them not to attack the evacuating citizens." Aria finished the sentence and got a nod from the knight. "In that case, we should concentrate in distracting the monsters while getting rid of any that comes near to the southern gate."
"But what about them?" Scarlet nudged her head back, pointing to the several people who had managed to escape into the northern forest.
"I... do not... know..." Aria peered at the escapees who took shelter behind the trees and rocks.
"Leave them be for now." Marion coldly replied. "They abandon their duty to defend their home and escape for self-preservation. They must live with their own choice."
"Quite the cold reply." Scarlet stepped forward and stood beside Marion. "Though, I do agree with you. We should prioritise the majority who are currently vulnerable. Besides, these surviving knights can provide adequate protection for them."
"Wait... Wait!" An adventurer who managed to escape approached them. "It's useless to fight off those monsters anyway. Why are you foolishly risking your life? Isn't better if you stay with us and escape through this forest into the next settlement?"
"As an adventurer, that is a logical way of thinking; we owe nothing to this city." Marion turned her face halfway towards the adventurer. "However, I hailed from nobility and my conscience will not allow me to. If I die, at least I can face Lord Flare with my head held high. Besides, I am chosen by-"
"Alright, stop with the chat! That monster is heading here!" Aria warned everyone as a bloated Zamtrios rolled towards them before jumping in its effort to pin them down. The groups avoided the attack by rolling away, but Aria used her wind magic 'Air Walk' to get above the monster and performed a downward double-slash on the monster's stomach. "We need to deal enough damage on this monster! Use fire or lightning magic!"
Scarlet began chanting and shot out several fireballs that flinched the Zamtrios as it rolled around to ease the burning. Aria and Marion followed suit by unleashing several barrages of cuts on its exposed belly. The recovered knights picked up their lance and joined in the fray to chase the monster away. After sustaining enough injuries on its belly, the Zamtrios deflated as powerful stream of gas escaped its body, pushing away its attacker and returning to its streamline shape. Before the knights, Aria, Marion and Scarlet could recover from the sudden gust, Zamtrios leapt into the thick snow and swam away towards the eastern mountain range.
"It is escaping already?" Marion was confused. "It seems easier than I would have expected."
"Do not inflate your ego over this. That creature just had a filling meal from biting off that Great Baggi. Although it can swim in the thick snow, it prefers to be in water or frozen bodies of water. I believe that it was suddenly thrown into this environment and was just trying to survive by being opportunistic hunter." Aria turned back and looked at the frenzied battlefield. "Besides, those beasts rampaging around the city are much more powerful than that Zamtrios."
"Well, one should savour every little victories, or else the morale will remain low." Marion turned to Aria. "So, I would assume that we will be taking on those monsters separately, focusing their attention onto us while the knight gave the signal to evacuate?"
"Indeed, I will focus on the Tigrex since it is weak to my lightning or thunder weapon while the rest are weak to fire." Aria readied herself. "However, let me warn all of you: do not let your guard down, even for a moment, or you will die."
The remaining knights, Marion, Scarlet and Aria dashed through the thick snow and entered the frenzy. Aria, being the fastest, jumped towards the tail of the Tigrex that had changed its attention to the city wall, probably having smelled the meat, and was about to climb the wall. Aria slashed the beast's tail and rolled along its entire body length while performing rolling slashes, ending with her standing in front of the Tigrex.
As Aria was confronting the Tigrex, the Banboro that was stuck in a tussle with the Tigrex retreated due to several injuries. It headed back to the Green Needle whilst stomping and charging at any Baggis, Giapreys, Blangos and some knights who were blocking its path. Several bodies were flung during its escape, but it managed to disappear into the northern forest.
The Barioth finished its last chunk of Popo meat outside of the city wall and turned its attention to the northern gate, aiming to blew it open to access the resources within. Marion and several knights leapt into action with the knights throwing several spears they picked up from their fallen comrades while Marion chanted her wind magic. The spears hit and deflected from the hard shells of the Barioth, garnering its attention. As it turned its head, Marion came down with a downward slash on its head and followed up with an upward slash on the beast's softer throat after she landed. Without missing a beat, Marion unleashed a barrage of cuts on Barioth's underbelly as she stepped closer underneath the monster. The beast jumped back to escape Marion's attacks, but Marion stuck close in pursuit where she shot out wind magic to propel herself forward. The knights closed in and put pressure on the beast by surrounding it and stabbing it with their spears.
Scarlet, concerned about the citizens, ran past the battlefield and towards the Beotodus swimming close to the southern gate. She chanted her magic and shot out several fireballs that exploded as they came into contact with the snow around the beast. Steam rose around the impact zones and Beotodus leapt out of the snow to escape the heat. It dived into the soft snow and swam around Scarlet, marking her as its enemy.
"Why am I even doing this?" Scarlet grumbled as she locked on the Beotodus that was circling her. Several Blangos, Baggis and Giaprey were circling her as well, but the knights swoop in to exterminate them. Beotodus dived out of sight into the snow and headed straight towards Scarlet at high speed. Leaping out in order to bite her, the large monster opened its maw, but Scarlet had prepared her fire magic and unleashed a fire ball into the gaping mouth whilst avoiding. "Take that, fish!"
Beotodus writhed in pain as it frantically swam around the snow, shoveling the cold snow into its burning mouth. Scarlet used the opportunity to escape the encirclement by running north while shooting several fire shots at the beast, making it angry and chased after her. "Hmph, as expected, you are just a beast that is easy to lure."
Aria used the wall and her wind magic to increase her dexterity while clashing with the Tigrex. While she managed to dodge several lethal attacks from the wyvern, she was also unable to inflict any substantial damage onto the monster. Tigrex's explosive movements and charges kept Aria on the edge, unable to get in for counter attack. Several knights' assisted, but were equally overwhelmed by the sheer power of the monster. "As expected, this beast's ferocity is no joke."
As more knights surrounded the beast, the Tigrex that was mostly in crouching position raised its torso up while taking a deep breath. Aria, noticing the warning sign, shouted for everyone to get away from the Tigrex, but due to the chaos of the battlefield, her voice did not reach the knights. The monster unleashed a powerful blast of sonic wave that violently shook its immediate surrounding while exhaling a powerful blast of wind that hurled several knights away from it.
Aria was luckily located behind the Tigrex and just covered her ears to muffle the roar. Several unlucky knights were knocked unconscious, including those who were perched above the city wall since the Tigrex roared while facing the city wall. After the roar, the Tigrex crouched down and spun around to dispel its enemies that were surrounding it.
The roar reverberated across the entire arena with the Barioth shaking its head in discomfort before shooting out its icy breath that created a small tornado that wrecked havoc to the surroundings, including the city wall. New cracks appeared on the stone wall while older cracks got larger, signaling the sheer damage to the structural integrity of the northern wall from repeated attacks by the ferocious beasts.
Aria became concern, but she noticed Scarlet shooting fireballs at the Beotodus that was flopping around the surface like fish out of water, presumably due to the damage caused by the Tigrex's roar.
"She manages to draw the Beotodus up north. This means the southern gate should be relatively safe to open and evacuate." As soon as Aria had this thought, a low pitched bellow resounded from within the city, albeit it was soft due to the distance to the southern gate. All the brave souls who were fighting to stall the beasts up north were relieved and held onto their determination.
***
The southern gate opened and a group of calvaries rushed out to open a path for the citizens to evacuate. The cavalries spread out while taking down several Blangos, Giapreys and Baggis that were directly in the evacuation path. Following the knight cavalries, noble and merchant caravans rushed out while surrounded by several knights on foot. The knights held their position while ushering citizens to escape, holding off any attacks from the nearby monsters.
"Feward! Dunna let em near ta evacuees!" A calvary knight with golden coloured armours shouted at the top of his lung while commanding his units. He skillfully maneuvered around the snowy plain on his stockily built horse to cut down the beasts that was roaming around the escape path. His long halberd cleaved several Baggis and Giapreys while the stockier Blangos were hoisted away by the lethal blows. His men faithfully followed his command and effectively scattered the monsters.
A large crowd of evacuees ran behind the carriages, carrying whatever they could. They eventually reached the slope where they descended down to enter the domain of Lutem Viscounty. The large number of people rushed downhill in an organised manner, but several people were pushed away by panicking individuals.
The crowd continued their descend while the knights protected them and as the last few neared the southern gate, several loud thuds were heard from the north. The entire crowd descended into panic as they deduced that the northern wall had been breached and started to push each other out of fear. Several knights tried to calm the rowdy mass, but the deafening roar that occurred moments after the breached sent them into a state of frenzy. The evacuation became chaotic.
"Outta m'way! Em' monssa camin!!" Screams of panic echoed as the crowd scrambled to the gate. Some turned around and saw several buildings crumbling down in a distant followed by the silhouette of a monster jumping onto another building, shattering the wooden walls. The crowds grew rowdier and when another large monster barged into the fray, the refugees went into full panic.
The few knights that stayed behind went to confront the beasts while a few of the greenhorns tried to calm the citizens. Equipped with their halberds, the knights rushed at the incoming threats that had reached the city market center where the Popo meat were gathered and processed. When they arrived at the open market area, they saw a gigantic striped monster munching on the Popo meat and stopped when it spotted the knights who arrived.
With chunks of meat hanging on its large maw, the Tigrex raised its head. It took several steps forward while swallowing the meat before lowering itself into a pouncing position to charge at the knights. The tension was pulled tight and with a snap, the string was cut when the Tigrex ferociously charged at the knights.
The knights dispersed when the Tigrex charged at them and tried to flank the beast, but it turned after sliding on the ground. It scrambled in order to stop its momentum and pounced on the knights with intense bloodlust. Several structures were destroyed with each steps that the Tigrex took and when the knights tried to evade, the beast spun around its own axis, hitting the knights who were unfortunately slow in their reaction.
The Tigrex eyes turned a shade of red as its blood pulsated along its arteries and veins, giving it an even more menacing look. The nearby knights who survived the initial onslaught trembled at its aura. The wyvern stared at the puny beings surrounding it and began its relentless assault as it charged, spun, swiped and hurled debris at the struggling knights. The humans were systematically being annihilated as their armours were ineffective in dispersing the impact from the pure brute strength of Tigrex's attacks. Their halberds as well, were unable to injure the beast other than giving it some superficial wounds.
In the midst of the killings, a lightning bolt struck down at the Tigrex, staggering it. The remaining knights were surprised, but quickly took their chance and stabbed the beast from all direction. The Tigrex quickly recovered and gave out a deafening roar that, this time, staggered the knights.
Before the Tigrex could swiped at the vulnerable knights, Aria joined in the battle by slashing at the beast's tail and spun along its back akin to a circular saw before ending with a powerful dual slash on the head. Aria landed on a wooden structure and rushed forward to continue the assault.
The stunned knights were amazed at Aria's agility, but they quickly regained their composure and aided Aria in halting the rampaging beast. However, as the minutes passed by, they knew that despite Aria's graceful dance, she was losing her breath and her thunder blades were not powerful enough. In addition, her small stature and damaged armours showed that she would be incapacitated if any one of the Tigrex's attacks connected.
As the Tigrex rampaged, another creature entered the battlefield by riding on the torrent of storm that it spewed out. The Barioth let out a roar before wolfing down the scattered chunk of Popo meat, but the Tigrex was unhappy with it; Tigrex pounced on Barioth and swiped the latter with its powerful forelegs, flinching the white beast. In retaliation, Barioth used its wing spike and tackled the Tigrex. Both exchanged blows after blows.
Seeing an opportunity, the knights approached the beasts and waited for a window to charge in with their halberds to inflict serious wounds. Aria, however, scoffed at them, knowing that their weapons could hardly pierced the scales and shells of the monsters. She decided to warn the knights, but before she could do so, she noticed the Tigrex lifting its torso. "Get away as far as possible!"
Tigrex inhaled and let out a deafening roar that shook its immediate surroundings. A couple of knights that got too close fainted from the powerful sound wave while the others groaned in pain from possibly their ruptured eardrums. Those who were further away and those who were positioned behind the Tigrex, including Aria, were spared from the attack. The Barioth however, bearing the full brunt of the roar, rolled and landed on its back, exposing its vulnerable underbelly as it writhed on the ground.
The Tigrex, having taken down its competitor, proceeded to turn its attention to the surviving knights. Aria tried to climb up a nearby building, but its foundation wobbled before crumbling down, surprising Aria as she landed unsteadily. "The vibration from the roar seems to have loosen the ground and damaged the buildings."
"All knights, stay spread out and encircle the beast!" Marion came running while giving out instruction to the trembling knights. "Ran around that monster and throw it with whatever debris you can pick up along the way! That way, it will confuse the creature, enough for it to give an opening for a powerful blow to be dealt!"
Marion came beside Aria and helped her to stand up. "Aria, you should pull back for a moment! I can see you are exhausted beyond belief!"
"So are you! I am not sure if we have the stamina to stall them long enough for the evacuation to be completed! At least I can deal elemental damage with my blades or my lightning magic!"
"We can only pray that they will hurry up! I am worried about the other monster though. I hope Scarlet can take care of it." Marion joined the knights in encircling the Tigrex while Aria began chanting her magic.
***
Scarlet frantically chased after the Beotodus that moved south after suffering from Tigrex booming roar. "This damn snow!"
The Beotodus reached the Southern gate before Scarlet could and spotted the last few evacuees exiting the gate. In its emotional state, it viewed the humans as another threat and launched its icy breath attacks that was luckily, intercepted by the knights with their shields. "Cap'ain, a big mons' ere'!"
"Damn it!" Scarlet ran as she shoveled away the snow. She could see the knights trying to halt the Beotodus that had gone berserk, but with several smaller monsters jumping in the fray, the line collapsed and Beotodus landed in the evacuation route. The beast hurled large volume of snow towards the evacuation road, creating mounts of snow that hindered the evacuations.
Scarlet took out an empty vial that stored her potion and hurled it towards the Beotodus, trying to gain its enmity. However, it continued to terrorise the fleeing citizens and the knights. With the knights occupied, the smaller Blangos, Baggis and Giapreys took their chance to leap on the crowds. Several knights were injured and incapacitated during the chaos, but the citizens, having no armours, fell victim to the brutal attacks as their flesh was torn. Seeing the scene, Scarlet's body trembled and charged in desperately to help.
The screams of pain and anguished filled the air as the defensive line of the knights broke down. Beotodus spun around in the snow, hurling projectiles to the evacuees; the icy snow froze upon contact, inflicting pain upon the flesh and worse, severely lowering the mobility. Some, especially young children, were completely immobilised, leaving them easy prey for the monsters.
A small child was unfortunately struck by a large chunk of snow, burying her in the thick mount, unable to free herself from its icy grip. The Beotodus leapt and circled the helpless child, protruding its head above the thick snow, it locked its sight onto the terrified girl. The father, who was himself pinned down by a Giaprey, noticed the state of his daughter and raised his voice with pure instinct. Running on pure adrenaline, despite bleeding from the wounds inflicted by the Giaprey, fought with all of his might to escape the claws and fangs of the monster. His effort was rewarded when he managed to wrestle free and threw the Giaprey away; he jumped towards his trembling daughter and wrapped her in a tight embrace, protecting her from the Beotodus that bared its fangs.
Scarlet, who saw the heroic scene of a father protecting his daughter, remembered how her own father had done the same to her. She still remembered the warmth of his embrace and the reassurance that everything will be alright despite being attacked by a vicious beast during their travel. Her father's trading caravan was destroyed and the adventurers they hired were either killed or had fled due to the unexpected encounter with a powerful monster; yet her father, despite being injured, smiled at her before being bitten and munched on by the Giant Black Wolf. Despite the pain and suffering, he never let go of his embrace and died protecting her.
As the traumatizing scene replayed in front of her eyes, Scarlet channeled her emotion into determination and fury. "Fire! Fill your furious soul into my voice!"
Scarlet took her magic wand and directed it towards the Beotodus that was about to lunge. She channeled all of her remaining magic reserve into her spell and with much fervour, casted her spell. "Sol Exardescere!"
A powerful burst of fire flowing and intertwining into a stream of heat energy shot out from Scarlet's staff. It was more powerful than what Scarlet had ever released and it hit the Beotodus with tremendous force that it broke the beast's horn. Beotodus was thrown out of the snow and flailed around like fish out of water. The small monsters dispersed after witnessing such display of power.
Scarlet stood in front of the flailing beast, teeming with energy and radiating magical power that she had never felt. Her hands shone brightly as she readied herself to kill the Beotodus.