'They got us!'

Councilman Finn's face was littered with beads of sweat as he carefully observed the battlefield.

'Using Undead… this was not only unexpected, but completely unaccounted for in our plan against the Giants and Monsters that we were told about.'

Unlike living creatures, Undead felt no pain. They also didn't perish until you got rid of their core. As such, their blasters would only slow them down at best, and unless they were able to fully destroy the body of an Undead or completely incapacitate them, their efforts were simply in vain.

'If we had more time and distance between us, this wouldn't be such a big issue, but… it seemed they already accounted for that.'

Why else would the enemy cause their forces to spawn right in front of the first battlement?

'We've lost our advantage!' Councilman Finn clenched his fist as he glared at the Monsters who now neared the battlement with little to no resistance stopping them.

It made him even more anxious.

'They made us exhaust our first round of attack before making their move, which means we're currently sitting ducks. Even if the blasters can be reloaded in time, the larger canons need time to cool. Those blasters could be enough to slow down Monsters and Giants… but not Undead.'

And it wasn't just because of their tenacity.

'The Miasma… it's weakening the impact of our attacks. That pool of death… it's a big problem.'

Not only were their attacks rendered less effective as a result of the black swamp, but anytime they took down an Undead, or gravely injured one, the swamp sucked them in and spat out even more able-bodied and powerful Undead.

'Is the Swamp repairing the Undead… or does it just have many Undead within it? How does it even work?' Unfortunately, they didn't have the luxury to think about any of those at the moment.

After all…

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!~

… The Undead were already ramming at the gates.

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!~

Each attempt to tear down the gates caused a deafening roar to burst into the air. These creatures were using their very bodies as cannons—or whatever was necessary—to tear asunder the sole barrier that stood in their way.

Just from the way the first couple of impacts sounded, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before they broke through.

'This would have been the time for melee, but due to the dense Miasma, that isn't even an option.' Councilman Finn gritted his teeth and frowned even deeper than before.

'We have technology for handling that, but we weren't expecting any Undead armies, so we didn't bother bringing it with us. Transporting it and preparing it for use now would take too much time. Plus…' Once again, the Dwarf Leader cast his gaze on the blackened battlefield.

'... I don't think we can handle something of this magnitude.'

It was too much!

Any further engagement would only lead to the pointless deaths of Dwarves, and that was the last thing Councilman Finn desired.

"Retreat! Abandon the First Battlement!" He gave his order in a loud roar.

This was the most optimal solution he could think of in such a short span of time, and this was for multiple reasons.

'We need time. The first walls won't hold them down for too long, but it'll be enough to make the proper preparations to counter them.'

By retreating, none of the Dwarves would have to die needlessly too.

'There's nothing they can do to stop them at this point.'

Abandoning the first battlement was, of course, not without its consequences too.

'There's no time to transport them, so we'll have to let go of the cannons and every other artillery that we've stationed there.'

Councilman Finn planned to initiate self-destruct sequences for all their weapons at just the right time, so they could take out as many enemies as possible—some kind of last-ditch effort to make the first Battlement useful before the Undead reached the second one.

'At this point… this is the best choice to make!'

Just as instructed, the Dwarves all abandoned their posts and hurried to the Second Battlement. There were tethers that could cause them to travel to the second battlement at high speeds—almost akin to teleportation.

As such, evacuation didn't take too long at all.

'Alright! Now that we're done evacuating, we should have a few minutes to catch our breath and come up with a more effective strategy for the enemies.'

Since they would be attacking from the gates, it meant they would be spilling into the open area from a very closed-off space.

That would mean they couldn't overwhelm them with their numbers.

'We can take them out as they appear in smaller numbers, thanks to the gate limiting how many can invade at a time.' The Councilman smiled, nodding to himself as he desired to further plan how to go about it.

Unfortunately, his entire thoughts were halted in their tracks.

After all…

"W-what… what is that?!"

… Emerging from the dark swamp were a group of colossal creatures—entities larger than anything Councilman Finn had ever seen face-to-face in his life.

He recognized them, though… 'Dragons!'

This group of Dragons—six of them with four horns, while a bunch of others with three—all opened their massive jaws and let out crackles of power that converged in a single location.

This group of fifteen Dragons all gathered their energies in a single place, causing the swirling storm of multicolored energies—all trapped in a purple layer of repulsive light—only grew larger and larger.

Until… it became even larger than the Dragons themselves.

"N-no… No way!" Councilman Finn already knew what would happen the moment he witnessed the ever-expanding orb that was now being aimed.

"NOOOOOO!"

As soon as he screamed, the blast was sent straight towards the sturdy battlement gates.

There was no resistance at all.

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!~

The gates melted instantly, before being dispersed very easily like they were nothing but chaff.

That wasn't all, though.

The blast began to move, thanks to the dragons changing aim, and rest of the battlement soon crumbled under the destructive impact of the powerful ray.

In one single moment, less than a minute after the retreat—

"Haa… haaaa…!"

—The first Battlement fell.