Socrates's dark blade cleaved through another monstrosity when he lost his footing under a tremor. He steadied himself moments before an earth-shattering roar pierced his ears.
He stared in the direction from which it had come; his mask of indifference slipped for a moment as his expression grew dark.
The War Grades had arrived.
He stepped to the side, avoiding a spiked tail, and thrust his sword back to end the beast in one motion. He sprinted sideways, avoiding another, and began to make his way deeper into the horde.
In another part of the battlefield, One Eye emerged from under a pile of corpses. Both blade and armor had been drenched in the dark blood of the fallen beasts.
He bent low, the huge arms of a purple-skinned ape missing his bald head by a few inches. The beast that was stationed behind him was carried forward by its own attack, a broad blade severing one of its legs and bringing it to its knees.
The blade followed up with more strikes, and its two arms were decapitated.
Then One Eye did the unthinkable: in the heat of battle, he dropped his weapon and stood defenseless.
The ape lunged forward on its single leg, its terrifying maw widened to kill the human that had caused its suffering.
One Eye evaded it with ease, a wide grin still plastered across his face, and threw his armored fist at the beast.
The force of the blow cracked the ground beneath him and hurled the beast forward. He caught its purple coat and drew it back toward him, his gauntlet streaking through the air to deliver another blow.
He held the beast with one arm and pummeled it with the other. Its large chest caved in slightly, and the madness in its eyes began to die down.
Seconds later, he dropped its limp body to the ground.
Another drop into his sea of corpses.
A triumphant laugh echoed through the battlefield.
"How good it feels to beat an opponent in its own field of combat, huh Vivian?"
His gaze lowered past the bodies to land on a moving figure that was very hard to miss.
Vivian didn't bother to reply, her movements evasive as another creature fell by her rapier.
She and One Eye had gone the deepest into the horde; monstrosities rushed toward them, while the wiser ones rushed past.
But it was undeniably certain that they had killed the most beasts.
Her rapier flew, aiming to end another life, when she felt it.
The air around her stilled for a moment; in these seconds, she didn't feel in control. It was as if the battlefield she had traversed so far was now foreign.
The thump in her chest grew louder.
Her blade missed; a devastating roar plagued her senses.
The beast she had aimed to kill moved to capitalize on the opportunity. Its claws scraped across her armor.
The screech brought Vivian back from her stupor; her blade slid under its throat and ended its life.
She looked to One Eye; he also had felt it—the suffocating presence that had walked into the chaos.
His wide grin, which had been casual, now looked strained and forced. The grip on his broad blade was much tighter than before. He glanced at Vivian; her face was pale, but her eyes still brimmed with their usual cold resolve.
With a nod, they both moved forward. Whatever birthed abomination had walked onto the battlefield, they aimed to kill it.
The adventurers in the defensive line watched as their superiors rushed forward to face another monstrosity. Their shields were still held high and their spears still felled creature after creature.
But their eyes… they were filled with dread. They had all heard the roar and the authority it carried.
All living things had an instinct, the primal constitution of their being. Theirs told them to run—to flee as far as possible from whatever creature that roar had originated from—and yet they stood.
Yes, none of them were soldiers. They had never vied for glory or lived by honor.
They were mercenaries and parties of adventurers who had come together under the Sword Saint.
But all of them, those that had fallen and those that stood, shared one thing in common.
They all had something to lose.
That was why they fought; that was why they stood despite the fear.
Their families and friends had been evacuated, but where would they go if the town fell?
This was the resolve of a hundred men and women that threaded the battlefield.
The beasts could come; at the end of it all, one side would wipe out the other.
The Sword Saint gripped her longsword tighter and gritted her teeth; she regretted the fact that she wouldn't be able to join the rest.
She had to remain at the vanguard and lead the defensive line in Vivian's absence.
She would have to trust the rest of her party and One Eye to eradicate the War Grades.
Hopefully… they'd survive.