A Rattling Monster - Chapter 108：Noise in the Night

At dawn of the next day, the sight that could be observed from the third wall should have been terrifying. An army of ghouls, surrounding the wall, with behind them some lich. I had an army big enough to cover every side of that rampart, not like one ghoul in each meter, but each undead could see another one far away. By now, the previous defender that was permanently seen, the guards, are all extinct. I guess that they were all defending the second wall when I launched my assault, and their garrisons were nearby. Now, the defenders are all knights, from the kingdom or men of the Church. I can see some squires too and a huge number of magicians and priests.

I will probably lose a lot of troops on the multiple fronts. But that way, I will still make them spread their defenses, in all the directions. Meaning, not a lot of troops that will face my direct assault, with the support of my Chosen and my skeleton magicians. But I am patient this time, I wait, I still have time. It is still the first week of my arrival, meaning that the reinforcements are away. Or maybe not even warned yet, but I won’t hope that. I keep making all those humans stay awake, fearful of a sudden attack. While my lich keeps creating new ghouls, and me new lich.

At dusk, no one has left the wall yet. Even after the first hours of the night, they were all focused, with the holy knights, priests, and paladins lighting the ramparts and their surroundings. Midnight, no change at all. And when the sun rises for the second time, I can finally see some signs of stress on their faces. Some are even clearly tired, wanting to sleep at any moment. But the priests are casting something each time they hear someone yawning. Probably a blessing related to vigor.

Seeing this, I try to remember any movies or theories about battles. More specifically, sieges. So, you can either destroy their food and water. Can’t really happen, since I have no idea how much food they have. And I have a window of opportunities, while the majority of the army is away. Prevent their sleeping. That’s a good thing, I have enough undead to do that. I ask my ghouls to grab anything metallic near them, that is able to produce a distinct sound. After everyone ready I order them to slam them between each other.

I can hear multiple sounds, horrible sounds, form near me and far away. That should be audible from the wall. First, that will keep them awaken, secondly, that will make them a lot more stressful. I have to say, those sounds, if I was still a human, I will pierce my ears just to not listen to that. You have some acute sounds, some low-pitched sounds. But that’s not enough. Knowing that my undead can all talk, I order them to shout a word, permanently.

GROND GROND GROND GROND GROND

Yes, I know, I shouldn’t be allowed to do this. But I am on Astria, who knows the hammer of the underworld. And I find it quite fitting, I mean, I am surrounding a fortress, the white city of the holy kingdom of Aria. I just hope that no one will shout me to death behind me and kill all my army. That would be really bad, and too ironical.

During the second night, a little before midnight, I see some movements. Oslo informs me that less than 5% of the defenders have left the wall. Following this sudden discovery, I wait for ten more minutes, to let them travel to their beds. And then I attack. I throw dozens of orbs on the wall, acid, and shadows mixed. Only that, and I can already some weaker magicians died because of my shadows. Apparently, this spell is able to pierce the magic shields, and only the men of the Church are capable of dealing with it.

I approach the heavy door, still with all my undead shouting the same word. Well, I can’t really punch the door, so it will be only one hit and not four. But I can still have my Chosen act like trolls and kill every brave soldier behind those doors. I activate my domain, but this time, for a full 15 seconds. The door is too close to the center of the Church, meaning it is highly resistant against magic. But that’s not enough to prevent me from entering. Funny thing, I destroy the gate, not by melting it, but by making the stone supports disappear. After that, the two doors are slowing falling toward the interior, while my Chosen were already rushing after it.

Behind them, dozens of ghouls, waiting for the first line to be breached. The magicians are all too busy defending against the spells from my lich and skeleton magicians, not capable of preventing the undead to enter the city. While I keep walking with my troops, spreading my aura of terror around me, removing the blood from any living humans too close of me.

But I have to admit, those holy knights are really strong. They are currently clashing against my Chosen, and not losing at all. Axes against shields and swords, dark bloodied armors against silver and shiny chest plates. Undead pitched against humans. With me still a little far away, they were capable of repelling the onslaught of my warriors. But, with both me and my ghouls arriving at the same time, they had to slowly retreat. The wall was pushed, step by step and even the numerous priests behind them blessing the knights and cursing the undead, nothing was changed.

The number of victims from both sides was rising, the North was already void of ghouls and the West and East were slowly crumbling too. None of my lich died, that’s the good thing. Not wanting to waste any more time and let the other sides help the southern gate, I activate my domain, filling the air with shadows. Facing this, the already tired priests quickly succumbed, putting the knights in a hard position. Without the support of the Church, their already losing fight turned into a desperate last stand.

But in the end, the gate was breached, and the wall of shields, broken. However, the lost were too big for me too. I lost 2 of my Chosen, their armors destroyed and the rest clearly need some repairs. Nearly all my ghouls were killed by the rest, and my magicians destroyed as well. I have to retreat, and that’s what I do. On last time, I cast the biggest wall of darkness, thanks to my [Nightfall]. I have already instilled fear into their hearts, making them scared of just the shadows. Allowing me to retreat without any problem.

That was a pyrrhic victory for the humans, and while I can replenish my troops with a little bit of time, they can’t. Every dead stay dead, or even worst, rise again inside my army. But right now, my lich are already creating new ghouls, and by the end of the day, more will be invoked. That is the power of a necromancer, having an army that never sleeps, never eat, never contest your orders and are reborn after each fight.

I still don’t forget the basic and make them scream and make more noises once again. Of course, without the support of the ghouls, it is less noisy, but still not bearable for the men on the walls. Maybe even the royal palace, that is visible from where I am standing, can hear my army. I bet they are not sleeping well either. I can see multiples tents laying in the streets and plazas beyond the wall. Now that I think about it, can’t I just levitate high in the sky, bypass the wall, and then either create some undead or kill all the refugees?

(No, you are in the fief of Aria, she can see everyone here. And you are the most important threat to her, so she will monitor your movement the second you are passing this rampart. So, by the time you are close to the ground, you will have many magicians, waiting for you with all their spells, ready to annihilate a spiritual ratman.)

But I can still stay in the sky, and just throw some orbs under me?

(Yes, and what is the point? Killing some normal humans that won’t grant any experience? Waste mana? Because you know that won’t kill any knights or magicians.)

Seeing that from that point, you are right, it is both useless and a waste of mana. No matter what happened after my victory, they won’t be able to escape the might of my undead. So, letting them live for one more day, that won’t change their fate. As for me, I guess I will have to wait for one more day. And this time, I should be able to finally destroyed the last hope of Aria, for her believers.