The massive undead horde did not pause at all. It crashed against the walls of Witherwater City like a dense black tide.
Witherwater City only had two city gates: the east, and the west. Watchtowers and bastions made up most of the towering walls, while powerful ballistae and rapid-fire crossbows could be seen peeking out from the battlements. Every one of the bolts on these crossbows was two meters long and as thick as a baby’s arm. The bolt itself was forged with refined iron, making them gleam with a cold light in the day.
As the tide closed in on the city, the bolts rained down from the walls, whistling through the air, passing through the undead, and turning them into skewers on the ground.
This terrifying scene would have scared the wits and morale out of the attackers, had they been human. However, the undead of the witches had no such problem. They continued to howl and lunge at the twelve-meter-tall wall against the rain of arrows.
The walls of the orcs were made of rough and hard stone. Countless sharp wooden stakes had also been placed on the wall. These stakes were meant to be used against the large-scale beast stampedes that occasionally occurred. No one had ever expected them to be used against these terrifying undead.
The undead tide surged near the wall, gathering into clumps of flesh and pushing against each other as they tried their best to scale the wall. The zombies were exceedingly slow and had extremely clumsy movements. However, as the pile of bodies continued to grow in size, the undead started to extend toward the top of the wall slowly.
The faces of the orcs who were throwing rocks down the wall were green with terror. Even their limbs were trembling from the very sight of the enemy.
From their vantage point, all they could see were the reckless and vicious undead and their ugly mugs. These undead did not seem to know the concept of fear. They continued to reach with their filthy claws and howl at the enemies above them, even as rocks fell upon their heads and arrows descended on them.
They were not living beings, only dead corpses moving under the effects of magic!
If an orc were to be devoured by such undead, their soul would probably fall to the lower worlds for eternal torment, even with the blessing of the Beast God.
It was such an understanding that caused these usually pious believers to feel a trace of fear from the depths of their heart. A strong desire to flee quickly followed!
However, the savagery and strong will deep in the soul origin of the orcs washed away their fears immediately. The soldiers roared and continued their assault on the undead beneath the wall.
The bows were firing, and oil was splashing everywhere.
A single fire arrow followed, and a massive flame erupted on the ground below.
The pungent and vomit-inducing smell of burning corpses immediately filled the air.
Greem couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh as he watched from behind the lines.
The undead army might be cannon fodder made by the Death Witches, but they couldn’t be so recklessly thrown away either! Planar wars lasted for a long time. One had to be prepared for a drawn-out conflict whenever they wanted to conquer a fully-developed plane.
Now that the portal had been closed, these were all the undead that the witches had in Strongwoods. If all these undead were killed at the start of the war, what were they supposed to use to stop the real army of the Orc Empire later?
It seemed like he would need to help the undead tide a little.
With Greem’s instructions, Split-Off Brain Gru once again led the Archers slowly toward the city walls. Gru stopped the machines once they had reached a suitable position. He then ordered the Archers to unleash all their firepower toward the top of the wall to suppress the garrison there.
Three hundred Archers outfitted with magic energy guns stood on the spot and let out beams of red lights from their rifles. These volleys of shots, each with three hundred Scalding Rays, was more than enough to cover a sixty meter stretch of the wall.
The orcs who had parapets to hide behind were fortunate and managed to evade this ferocious attack. However, the orcs who were throwing rocks at the undead beneath them were not so lucky. Their bodies were riddled with holes as they fell from above, crying in agony.
Orcs were ferocious and fearless. Orcs were the most powerful and mighty warriors of Strongwoods Plane! However, there was still no compensating for the massive gulf in equipment between them and their opponents.
The equipment of the orcs was made of materials from the desolate northwest plains. The plains lacked sizeable metal reserves as well as blacksmiths skilled at forging excellent weapons and armor. Consequently, it was hard to find excellent equipment on an orc warrior.
They only had their thin animal hides and their own tough bodies!
The orcs might be powerful, but their bodies were still ultimately made of flesh. Apart from dodging as well as they could, there was nothing they could do to defend against the volleys of Scalding Rays.
Dava, who was watching the battlefield from within a fortified bastion fort, punched the sturdy stone wall furiously. Crushed rock fell from the point of impact, where a massive crater had formed.
“These damned witches, where did they find so many metal golems. No, we can’t let the soldiers defend while under such concentrated fire. Go, tell the cyclopes that it’s their turn to fight.”
A messenger immediately ran out of the room.
A short moment later, a dozen cyclopes slowly ascended the city walls under the lead of another cyclops.
Their appearance immediately attracted the attention of the witches below.
Cyclopes that could throw boulders? It seemed that those were the only long-range forces of the orcs!
Greem couldn’t help but be anxious when he saw the cyclopes appear.
These three hundred Archers were his main force in this planar war. Greem would probably die of heartache if they were destroyed at the hands of these Second Grade cyclopes.
Thus, Greem grit his teeth and forced out a laugh. He lifted his hand and threw out two magical golem cores, summoning two five-meter-tall Flame Fiends. He roared and transformed into a giant Flame Fiend shrouded in flames.
The sudden appearance of three Flame Fiends caused all eyes on the battlefield to fall on Greem.
The two Flame Fiends of Terror followed Greem’s lead on his left and right. The three giants walked before the Archers and started summoning large-scale Scarlet Firestorms, Meteor Showers, and Doomsday Volcanoes at Witherwater City’s walls.
The offensive power of a Second Grade spell might be a limited threat to Third Grade creatures, but it was no less than an apocalypse for low and intermediate-grade orcs.
Several meteors crashed from the skies, causing devastating damage to the walls in the distance as the flame shockwaves blasted outward. Scarlet pillars of fire, ten meters in diameter, erupted all over the walls, devouring two to three dozen orc warriors every time they appeared.
These magical fires burned on the city walls. Those First Grade orc warriors were reduced to ashes in the blazing flames without the time to call for help. Even the Second Grade orcs could only rely on their strong bodies to escape from the flames. Even then, their bodies were charred here and there.
Moreover, these magical fires would not simply disappear. Instead, they continued to burn and even ignited the wooden siege machines on the city wall.
Witherwater City was immediately thrust into chaos!
Chapter 823 - The Battlefield Settles For Now
In terms of pure combat prowess, Greem’s existence in this battle was not outstanding in any way.
However, as the universally acknowledged sweeper of the battlefield, fire adepts posed a huge threat to the enemy when they were allowed to cast their magic. In fact, they might be an even more significant threat than those high-grade adepts.
Right now, three five-meter-tall Flame Fiends stood shoulder-to-shoulder, using their terrifying fire magic to engulf the entire stretch of the battlefield rapidl
y. The five hundred meters on this side of the city wall was plunged into a sea of fire in an instant.
Fires blazed as the sea of flames continued to rise.
All the orcs who were engulfed by the flames either fell to the ground in agony or ran around madly while the fire ate away at their flesh. Still, the only outcome was turning into scorched bones and ash.
This tragic sight instantly roused the powerhouses of the orcs to action.
Huhuhu!
Six giant boulders, two meters in width, crashed down from somewhere on the wall.
They flew straight at the Flame Fiends.
Greem and the two Flame Fiends of Terror turned the direction of their firepower without any hesitation. First, a series of magma fireballs destroyed these boulders. Then, an even more ferocious volley of spells flooded the spot where the rocks had come from.
Ah, ah!
The unique cries and shrieks of some large creatures rang out from the walls.
The cyclopes had been engulfed in the sea of fire and could only escape, screaming in pain as they did so.
Though the fires burned strong, they were successfully able to escape to safety due to their sturdy Physiques.
Unfortunately, the bastions and watchtowers on the walls were far too low. They could not hide the tall bodies of the cyclopes. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be that easy for Greem to burn them either.
The cyclops king was a Third Grade existence. How could he possibly be afraid of a mere Second Grade fire adept? The cyclops king let out a deafening roar. The one eye in the center of his eye shot out a yellow beam and created a massive boulder in his hands. He then threw the boulder toward Greem with all his strength.
His powerful Third Grade strength caused the boulder to whistle against the wind. Its speed was so exceedingly fast that it even started burning from the friction against the air. A simple boulder now appeared like a meteor racing through the sky!
The blue light gleaming deep in Greem’s burning eyes started to send him blaring warnings of danger.
The enemy’s attack was far too powerful. It was no longer something he could hope to stop with his fire spells!
Greem roared, “Dodge.” Meanwhile, he and his Flame Fiends instantly teleported away.
The army of Archers standing behind Greem immediately scattered to either side under Gru’s command.
A massive boom rang out. The meteor crashed at Greem’s original position, leaving deep marks in the ground as it continued forward. Two Archers at the rear of the formation couldn’t avoid the meteor in time and were hit directly. Their bodies made of pure metal instantly exploded into countless metal shards and pieces.
Another explosion rang out as the flaming boulder exploded into thousands of rocks when it stopped rolling. An area of thirty meters square was engulfed in a sea of fire.
Greem emerged from another area with a bang. His heart couldn’t help but tremble slightly as he assessed this attack from the cyclops king.
Third Grade creatures were Third Grade creatures, after all!
Even though he only had the power of earth elementium, he had managed to unleash the might of both earth and fire through his raw, brutish strength. Moreover, the power of his attack rendered Greem completely speechless. If Greem had not dodged the attack, this boulder alone would have destroyed Greem’s body and wipe out two to three dozen of the Archers hiding behind him.
Just as thoughts of retreat slowly crept up on Greem, Death Witch Leader Khesuna arrived behind him on her corpse dragon.
“Male adept, have your subordinates continue assaulting the city wall. We will deal with the enemy’s attacks!”
With Khesuna’s assurance, Greem was finally relieved. He reorganized the Archers and started to bombard the top of the city wall with all he had.
Even the Coldwinter Witches had formed combat parties and gathered where Greem was. They too were using their ice magic to ravage the garrison on the city walls.
This combination of ice and fire instantly plunged the Witherwater garrison into a hell of extremes.
There was a sea of flames on one side and a rain of ice blades on the other. The orcs had a difficult time just staying atop the wall.
The enemy’s barrage instantly stifled the orc defense. The orcs could only be bothered to dodge the terrifying spells. They had no more effort to spare to deal with the undead horde swarming up from below.
Greem immediately capitalized on his advantage and started to extend the bombardment even further, keeping the orcs inside their watchtowers and bastions. The undead tide that climbed up the wall quickly spread out and clashed with the orcs lunging at them.
Perhaps because they had realized the destructiveness of these elementium adepts, the orcs immediately sent some powerhouses to deal with Greem secretly. Unfortunately, they ran into the most powerful person on the witches’ side.
How powerful was Death Witch Khesuna? Greem might not have known this before the battle today, but he had a thorough understanding now.
One couldn’t underestimate her for being a witch. She was far more savage and ferocious than most male adepts.
Khesuna forcefully beat a Fourth Grade orc blademaster and a Fourth Grade centaur ambushing in unison. In fact, one died in the end, while the other escaped with severe injuries. Such immense power was beyond Greem’s imagination!
With the defeat of the garrison and the deaths of the powerhouses, a massive vacuum of military presence had appeared in Witherwater City, which was still suffering from the attacks by the shadow creatures. Thus, the horde of undead swarmed into the city and started slaughtering the orcs.
Some of the orc powerhouses had long since escorted some of the citizens out of the city and toward the plain when they first saw the winds turn. However, nearly thirty thousand orcs were still trapped in Witherwater City. They were now sheep to the slaughter with nowhere to run.
By the time night fell, Witherwater City had changed owners. It was now a city under the rule of the Northern Witches.
The unruly orcs had already been dealt with and turned into magical materials for creating new undead. The remaining orcs were forced to become tragic and pitiful slaves under the witches. They became slave labor used to conduct large-scale reconstruction of Witherwater City.
The sea of fire on the city wall had been extinguished and the undead tide quickly stationed themselves on top of the wall. They now played the part of loyal lookouts. The various witch branches entered Witherwater City and started to search for the rumored spoils recklessly.
Strongwoods Plane was indeed an unbearably impoverished plane!
Almost every single orc could fight. As such, they very rarely hunted or toiled the earth. These lowly jobs were left to the subordinate races. That meant the orcs were a scary and combative, yet unproductive, race! They had relied purely on their barbaric strength to enslave and rule over all others in the plane!
Unfortunately, this time, they had run into a steel wall. They had run into the even more powerful, even more organized, and even more advanced Nothern Witches.
Those who could cross the planar door to arrive in Strongwoods Plane were almost entirely elites among the Northern Witches. It was only natural that the orcs were the ones getting crushed when such a powerful force clashed with the tiny Witherwater City.
It indirectly demonstrated the might of the Northern Witches!
Night fell, and cold winds descended.
It was unusually cold and miserable near the outskirts of Witherwater City during the night.
Alice’s Fate Witches had been assigned to the northwest corner of the city.
That had been the manor of an orc powerhouse in the past. However, times had changed now, and it was no more than a temporary shelter for the Fate Witches.
The buildings of the orcs were typically made of rough gray stone. They appeared to be tall and magnificent but were in truth crude and raw upon closer inspection. After all, the orcs hailed strength as beauty and prided themselves on the
ir rough manners. They weren’t as appreciative of beauty as the humans and elves were.
Consequently, their architecture had no aesthetic appeal nor comfort to speak of.
It was a massive manor of a Fourth Grade orc powerhouse, and there were no luxurious goods to be seen. There were only simple furniture here and there.
Still, the orcs had quite a lot of slaves in their manors. Moreover, they were of various races.
For instance, butlers responsible for accounts were of the rabbit people, cooks of the boar people, and maids of the rabbit, fox, and snake people. These subordinate races weren’t as courageous or bloodthirsty as the orcs. Instead, they were like fearful and cautious worms.
They did not even know how to resist the undead when they attacked. Apart from shutting their doors and hiding under their blankets, they could not do anything else. That was why they surrendered without any hesitation when the witches executed an orc powerhouse before their eyes.
When Greem stepped into the manor with his subordinates, trembling silhouettes could be seen kneeling on each side of the door.
At this moment, all orcs that dared to rebel against the witches had already been slaughtered.
The witches had only kept the subordinate races here to take care of their daily needs. After all, the undead tide was only suited as cannon fodder. Asking them to cook food and heat water was an impossible task.
Greem had already returned to his human form now. His black eyes swept through the crowd of people and discovered no abnormalities. He then turned to his subordinates and said, “We have worked hard for an entire day now. Let us have a simple rest here! If any of you are interested in them, you may take them away as you please.”
Having said that, Greem hastily entered the manor.
He couldn’t be bothered even to dine or wash himself. He ordered someone to clear out a room for him before lifting the corpse of the Third Grade orc shaman into the room.
Right now, Greem was extremely interested in the tattoos and totems of the orc shaman.
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