The stronghold of Meteor City's remaining forces stood at the center of the district. They had hastily built stone walls around it and set up three lines of defense.
The first and second lines had both been breached.
The Chimera Ant army had stormed into the district, and near the third line of defense, it was locked in a brutal street battle with Meteor City's fighting forces.
Calling it brutal was almost an understatement. The brutality was mostly one-sided: the fighting forces often had to sacrifice many lives just to temporarily halt the man-eating demons.
The torrential rain had quietly stopped, but the air of slaughter had only grown thicker in the night. Blood pooled in the countless pits and hollows across the ground.
Once the Chimera Ant army had formed an organized force, it was terrifying. Its attack had become a bloody hunt. Hungry or thirsty, the ants had "supplies" scattered all over the ground.
Meteor City's fighting forces had no choice but to fight to the death. If the third line of defense fell, only the final stronghold would remain.
And in the stronghold, as well as in the air-raid shelter beneath it, most of those gathered were women, children, and the elderly who could not fight. Only a small number were combatants.
If this human shield fell too, it would all be over. The fate of the people of Meteor City inside the stronghold was easy to imagine.
The battle had long since become the final showdown. With things so desperate, one of Meteor City's last two Elders had gone to the front lines to oversee the fighting in person.
Besides him, the Phantom Troupe's new Leader, Shalnark, had also appeared at the forefront of the battle. Without question, he was one of their main fighters, and