A breach suddenly opened in the Outer City wall, and Magic Beast Soldiers poured through like a tide.
The collapse threw the city into chaos. Just as the defenders seemed about to break, Mrs. Hilgaf, standing beside Penny, stepped forward. With a clang, she lowered her visor, gave Penny a knowing nod, then leaped toward the breach and crashed down with a boom.
Encased in heavy armor, Mrs. Hilgaf hit the ground like a cannonball, blasting out a deep crater. The shock wave hurled every nearby Magic Beast Soldier away and checked their advance for a moment. Then she roared like a mother dragon and slammed her greatsword against her shield. Infused with Psychic Energy, the blow rang out like a great bell.
At the same time, Mrs. Hilgaf charged with another roar. She became a War Machine and threw herself without hesitation into the oncoming tide.
The defenders' morale had nearly collapsed when the wall fell, but their fighting spirit flared anew.
Mrs. Hilgaf was a born warrior and leader. With her in the fight, they actually held back the Magic Beast Soldiers at the breach!
But it could not last long. Facing enemies who attacked without fear of death, and stripped of the wall's protection, Griffin City-State's defenders were being spent rapidly, as though fed into a giant meat grinder.
From atop the inner city wall, Penny had already ordered a retreat behind it.
Now that Green's army had arrived as reinforcements, they no longer needed to plug that breach with human lives.
They might as well abandon the Outer City outright. Its maze of streets and buildings could still slow the enemy's advance.
A retreat could not happen all at once, however. From the moment Penny gave the order, preparing the inner city's defenses would take at