Ch 13.
"Ignore the ladders, shoot the giant, kill the damn giant!" Dwarf Shaman shouted as every single firearm user shot all their red bullets at the giant's head, the neck which was the most vulnerable area was guarded by the sandbaggs.
If did not work, the rifles wounded it, but not enough to kill it.
So they used the cannons they pilfered from the overlord's nest.
"Fire!" Fighter said as the cannons shot at it, they used arrowhead shaped minnie projectiles, specially made by Dwarf Shaman that were more efficient than cannonballs.
The giant was struck right in the face, yet it was still alive, it raised it's club, and was ready to smash Heavy Warrior to pieces, just as he was decapitating 3 champions with one sword blow. After he did this he quickly fell to his knees in shock and elation, he had made long a go a vow of chastity until he could achieve this feat.
Pity it seemed like he would still die a virgin.
"Look out!" Female Paladin shouted and managed to block and deflect the club to the side, preventing it from killing Heavy Warrior.
"Thank you!" Heavy Warrior said and quickly did a downward slash of his great sword on the giant's club hand's palm, cutting the whole thing off!
The giant staggered back in pain, clutching his bleeding stump of a hand
"Partner!" Spearman shouted and Witch nodded and execute her spell.
"Great upwards boost!" She said and propelled Spearman up to the giant's eye level.
" Double Great Spear Thrust!" Spearman said and gorged both of the giant's eyes out, with that the huge creature fell to it's knees.
"Decapitation slash!" Female Paladin said and with one great blow of her sword he cut of the giant's head.
This was a moment of triumph for them!
Unfortunately as he fell the giant slid forward, leaning it's now headless torso onto the very top of the fortress, turning the dead foe into a makeshift siege ramp, after which the goblin horde followed.
As this happened the giant;s right hand fell in such a way that it breached the wall section of the wall that was nearest to the goblins, exposing the peasant militia to the goblins!
"Fall back to the tower!" Axe Warrior shouted to his group of miliția. He and several other more experienced adventurers were used as captains for the peasant forces and he war cursing his temporary promotion!
He commanded about 50 plebs, 5 had been killed by the giant's hand and the rest were being swardmed by goblins!
They fought as they withdrew, Axe Warrior the most of them all as he served as the rear guard for his squad, whom each peasant killed 2 to 3 goblins each.
The problem was that there were at least 10 goblins for each peasant of his squad.
This breach was a dissaster!
But not something they could not recover from!
The towers, besides being better vantage points, also had a role to play for this kind of situation.
"There is a black and white bear that I once saw în a market. He ate the leaves of a tree whose body was divided with inner walls " Goblin Slayer bas told them when they built the first wall around the old elven fort.
With that Axe Warrior and his group finally managed to withdraw to the nearest tower and closed the cage door that separated it from the wall section breached by the goblins.
He and started out with 50 men, now he was down to 30.
" Help!" And there had been a cas who did not manage to make it to the tower în time and they we're being ripped to pieces.
The goblins then turned from that and tried to squueze past the bars, so as to try and attack the defenders.
But the bars were to narrow for a Goblin to pass trough them.
Yet they were wide enough for Axe Warrior and his squad to do downwards slashes trough them and smash to death the nearest goblins.
They could hold their positions from here!
But they we're still less than a hundred against almost a thousand goblins.
Just then axes from behind Axe Warrior.
They neared him with blinding speed and flew right past and into the goblins on the other side of the cage door.
50 axes flew, 50 goblins died.
" Leave none alive!" The Dwarf Thain said as he lead how 50 warriors, which had been kept în reserve for situations like this, forward to aide Axe Warrior and his squad în holding the breach.
Now there was not less than a hundred versus almost a thousand. But less than a thousand goblins versus almost a hundred warriors!
And Warrior grinned as he killed two goblins with one axe blow.
So far so good.
At the old elven fort the champions, hobs and goblins thar were not climbing the dead giant were trying to batter the fortresse's gate open.
But that would not happen!
The gates had been blocked by over 300 bags of earth în order to prevent that. În fact the defenders and to use rope ladders to enter the fortress after the ambushes which began the battle and hoist the rescued women up with harnesses.
So the goblins were pouding the gate for nothing. But they we're getting killed by rolls from above and arrows from the walls.
For now the balance bar war still undecided.
KWAAWAWAWAWAWAWAAWWA!
A horrifimg screech said as the Spider Queen climbed over the dead giant's corpse and the carpet of Goblin bodies that lithered it and reached the top.
It raised two of it's great legs, each thick as a horse and tall as a house, and plunged them into the line of adventurers that were fighting the goblins, hobs and champions.
Lizard Priest quickly did the spell that gave him prima strenght and he caught both Spider legs with his hands and halted the blow from striking the adventurers în melee.
He then pushed back so hard that the Spider Queen actually reared up on it's hindleggs!
"Now!" Goblin Slayer said, rushing în front of Lizard Priest and taking out a reroll from his pocket.
" Spell amplification!" Wizard and every single magic casper that knew and could still do the spell said as Goblin Slayer opened the scroll.
Lizard Priest fell to his knees from exhaustion as a tidal wave smashed the Spider Queen and swept it, along with the goblin horde out of the interior courtyard, drowning them.
" That still only counts as one!" Spearman said to Goblin Slayer as the defenders all either leaned against the wall or fell on their buts from exhaustion.
Cow Girl immediately started healing the wounded and giving stamina potions to the rest.
"It does not count at all
"What?" Spearman asked în comision as they looked over the wall as the tsunami water war starting to drain away down the hill.
The breach în the walls and the fort were not safe with the giant's body swept away and the dwarfs were already repairing the breach.
Thousand of goblins and hundreds of champions, hobs, and beasts were dead.
" The Spider Queen war not a Goblin. And we were counting goblins." Goblin Slayer sais as from the thousands of dead goblins about 800 still alive poured trough the second gate.
" Guess that's true. So it's about 364 to 345 în my favour then?" Spearman said with a grin as they watched as the goblins getting picked off by arrow fire.
" No, that is not my score."
" What? But you said the Spider Queen didn't count!"
" It didn't, but there were 19 goblins on it's back. "
Goblin Slayer said as immediately Spearman grabbed Goblin Slayer by the collar.
And pulled him immediately from the impact zone, where the Warboss landed with so much force that the whole hall seemed to shake .
" 19 then? So that would be 364 to 364...And it looks like it's time for a tie breaker." Spearman said as he grinned and pointed his spear at the Warboss.l, while those of Slayer Keep and the adventurers that could fight, got up for the decisive clash.
" You up for a little sudden death?" Spearman asked and pointed at the goblin warboss.
" Always." Goblin Slayer replied
With that I captained a ship, that I had no idea how to, and lead a crew that I did not know how, in order to fight battles that I wasn't trained for, all set during the various mini wars and full blown wars over the years leading up to The Great War.
Just another day in the Imperial Fleet I suppose.
And that my readers, is how my inglorious career began.
With poisoned drinks, crazy luck, a lot of pain, and my personal favorite stupidity; And of course the eternal questions of:
Why such a combination exists?
And what it has against good and honest folk?
And me of course?
Commodore Metternich per Pelasgiamus, Freelance Potions Maker
BALADA: A Song of Stars