Fortunately, the soldiers on the walls finally reacted. Seeing that these dwarf blacksmiths could actually kill the giant mantises themselves, many steadied their nerves and began carefully drawing their bows to full draw, firing back at the diving giant mantises.
Having dived toward the battlements, the mantises found their agile movements restricted by the cramped space.
Within moments, seven or eight giant mantises were riddled with arrows and toppled crookedly off the walls, never to rise again.
The other soldiers had already gripped their long blades and begun fighting the mummies that had leaped onto the battlements at close quarters.
One soldier swung his blade hard, striking the mummy before him squarely on the shoulder. He relaxed slightly, only to discover that the blade had lodged in its bones and could not descend another inch.
The mummy, seemingly incapable of feeling pain, swept its claws sideways.
With just one swipe, it easily sliced through the soldier's soft leather armor and the flesh of his chest, exposing his still-beating heart.
Then the mummy thrust its hand forward and scooped hard. As shock and agony filled the soldier's face, its blood-soaked, withered claw closed around a still-beating human heart.
A satisfied smile actually appeared on the mummy's face. Ignoring the soldier who had fallen backward to the ground, it cupped the heart in both hands and began savoring it.
Seeing this, Dick ran forward several steps and leaped, swinging his sword horizontally through the air.
The blade bit some way into the back of the feasting mummy's neck, and a little black blood slowly seeped out.
Dick was surprised. Although he had not brought his silver sword this time and could not deal maximum damage to monsters, brute force with a steel sword could sometimes work miracles too.
Whatever a silver sword could do, a steel sword could accomplish with a few more cuts.
It simply was not as smooth as using a silver sword, and the blade wore down extremely quickly.
Besides, that last strike, delivered with all his strength, should have beheaded the mummy outright.
There was no time to think further. Only now did the mummy react, turning with a furious roar, blood from its meal flying from the corners of its mouth. It began flailing its claws wildly, fighting the witcher desperately.
Dick dodged its attacks and, after several exchanges, identified its traits:
It was not particularly fast, but it was very strong;
Its skeleton seemed far tougher than that of a normal creature. No wonder the soldier had been unable to seriously wound it.
That made dealing with this mummy straightforward.
The witcher switched from slashing to thrusting, specifically targeting its weak points-its temples, eyes, and throat.
At one point, Dick slowly withdrew his sword tip from the mummy's temple, stained with red and white filth, and his gaze suddenly froze.
A notification had appeared on his panel:
Killed [Incomplete Demonic Mummy] x1. Gained Energy Points x5; First kill of [Humanoids]. Gained Ability Points x30; Total Energy Points: 35.
[Humanoids] were another branch of monsters, referring to monsters with human characteristics.
Dick had not expected the Jatu soldiers to turn completely into monsters. But on second thought, with these soldiers transformed into such things, could they still be considered human?
He paused for only an instant before continuing forward to fight the monsters on the battlements.
While battling a mummy, he observed the situation on the battlefield:
The soldiers around me don't seem to be doing too well.
Where did Kebi go?
There he is. Good, the dwarves are protecting him.
Dick swept another glance below the walls. The Jatu army showed no sign of resuming its siege. Even the Jatu archers behind the arrow shields were slowly retreating toward their commander, no longer attacking.
Although he did not know what the enemy was considering, this was at least easier than fighting humans and monsters at the same time.
Putting aside all other thoughts, Dick pulled his sword tip from the mummy's eye socket, having pierced its brain. Ignoring the sweat on his forehead, he ran forward to aid a defending soldier who was about to fall.
Dick kept repeating a few simple movements: dodge, counterattack, dodge, counterattack.
Whenever he truly could not dodge, he used the Protection Sign to shield his vital areas.
Around him, the monsters' roars and the soldiers' cries mingled with the sounds of weapons striking bodies;
The hot, bloody stench and the smell of viscera mixed with sweat as the most primitive activity unfolded across the battlements.
Killing.
Fighting.
Endless fighting.
The victors lived; the defeated perished!
After who knew how long, the witcher was drenched in sweat, his body covered in countless ragged wounds inflicted by monsters.
Fortunately, thanks to his [Self-Healing Ability] and the Swallow Potion he had drunk, these wounds slowly healed. But using [Self-Healing Ability] also made Dick increasingly hungry.
He looked around. Corpses lay everywhere:
Defending soldiers and monsters lay scattered across the ground.
Nearby, Kebi clutched his right shoulder with a bitter expression. It was where a Jatu arrow had wounded him before.
Because this Jatu assault had come so abruptly, his original wound had not fully healed. The fighting had now aggravated it further, but fortunately, he had survived.
It was not the intense pain in his body that made Kebi bitter, but the fact that all the defending soldiers around him had died.
Fortunately, although the blacksmith and his apprentices protecting him were wounded, they had stayed together throughout the battle and miraculously suffered no losses.
Although nearly all the monsters on their stretch of the battlements had been eliminated, several giant mantises suddenly came flying toward them from above the western wall, their wings beating.
Kebi's expression darkened. "Fisher... he must have fallen."
Seeing that only these few remained, Dick knew they were Odinburg's last armed force.
Then, seeing the airborne monsters drawing ever closer while Kebi and the dwarves were all wounded, he hurriedly said, "Hide in the corner tower. I'll handle these monsters."
"But you..."
"Leave them to me. I'm a witcher. Trust me.
"Besides, there are wounded soldiers in the corner tower. We can't let them fight for their lives, can we?"
Kebi gritted his teeth and said quietly, "Zeus, come with me."
The blacksmith did not stand on ceremony. He looked at his apprentices with some heartache; all of them were badly wounded.
Zeus answered and ran straight toward the corner tower.
As he passed the witcher, he said quietly, "Take care, Dick."
"I know."
The four giant mantises were diving toward him.
Dick immediately drew the small crossbow at his waist and fired into the air.
But the witcher's strength was nearly spent, and his aim had deteriorated. The giant mantises easily dodged every bolt.
Without wasting any time, Dick turned and ran down the stairs toward the inner city, luring the monsters after him.
He knew he could not hide in the corner tower. Doing so would deal Kebi and the others a fatal blow.
Sensing the whistling behind him, Dick rolled awkwardly on the stairs. A fierce gust swept past as a diving mantis missed its attack. It gave a hoarse screech and attacked again.
Dick rolled across the ground once more, reaching ground level as he blocked the mantis's attack with his blade, only for the second mantis's bone blade to catch his shoulder.
Rrrip!
A chunk of flesh was torn clean off.
Rending pain shot through his left shoulder. Dick clenched his teeth, seized his opening, and unleashed a Mental Shockwave, striking the third mantis squarely in the face.
Seeing the monster freeze for an instant, the witcher was about to finish it off when the fourth mantis's diving attack came at him from the side.
With nowhere to dodge, Dick gritted his teeth and stopped trying to evade, intending to trade a wound for the third mantis's life.
He thrust his sword swiftly forward, driving the blade straight into the third mantis's neck. Seeing its eyes dim, he did not relax, for a fierce rush of air was already coming from behind and to his side.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bone blade at the tip of the monster's limb gleaming with the cold light of death in the warm sunlight.