The entire army responded to Unas's command.
The Siege Turtles lumbered around, flames still dancing on the carapaces covering their backs.
They abandoned the tottering second wall and prepared to charge the newly raised Coral Wall behind them.
But Veylin would not let them escape so easily.
Nefarian beat his wings hard, carrying him like a bolt of black lightning along the trail of seeds planted beforehand.
Veylin extended a hand, palm down, and vast life energy drove deep into the seabed like an invisible plow!
Wherever he flew, the seawater churned violently!
On either side of the trapped Many-Armed Folk army, two walls rose from the ground!
They joined the walls in front and behind, forming an enormous four-sided prison.
The seawater was completely cut off.
But this did little to slow the advance of Unas's troops. After all, no matter how many walls Veylin raised around them, he only needed to break through the outermost one.
Standing atop the second wall, Baron Kru watched the scene below, marveling inwardly at how the tide of battle could turn in an instant.
"My lord, shouldn't we carry out our plan too?" the Knight beside him reminded him at just the right moment.
"Oh! Right!"
He turned and issued an order to the soldiers behind him, who had long been standing ready.
"Shoot every last one of the lord's 'gifts' down there!"
The soldiers immediately got to work. In pairs, they attached sealed clay jars to the specially designed bolt heads of the heavy ballistae.
At the commander's order, dozens of ballistae fired at once.
The clay jars whistled briefly through the air, landed in the enclosure below, and shattered against the sea beasts' carapaces.
Thick, dark green liquid splashed out of the fragments, spattering everything nearby and swiftly staining the