Chapter 14: Unsettling Twist.
Black gaseous mass began to ooze from every dead Eidolon Damien touched. Their bodies twitched violently, limbs jerking at unnatural angles as if something was forcing life back into them.
They had returned from the dead, but not as living creatures.
"Kill."
Damien’s command was absolute.
The newly risen undead immediately hurled themselves into the Eidolon front line, colliding with their former kin and reducing the pressure on Chad and Yuri.
The battle was unfolding almost exactly as Damien had envisioned. He already controlled six undead Eidolons, and as the front line continued to move toward the entrance, more corpses were being left behind. More corpses meant more undead, and more undead meant they could continue pushing forward.
Chad’s performance was especially terrifying. He drove his fist into an Eidolon and tore its face clean off. His status effect was on full display. He was starving, exhausted, covered in injuries, and yet he continued to overpower opponents that should have been his equal.
No matter how fiercely the Eidolons resisted him, Chad always seemed to generate slightly more strength than they could.
The Eidolons eventually began to notice.
More and more of them shifted their attention toward Chad, some even abandoning the undead entirely to attack him from blind spots with their spiked clubs.
Their strikes came from awkward angles and unpredictable directions, but Yuri remained close enough to intercept them. Her blade flashed repeatedly through the chaos, knocking aside attacks before they could land. Every time an Eidolon thought it had found an opening, Yuri was there to ruin it. The creatures could do little more than roar in frustration as their attempts were foiled again and again.
"Rise."
Damien’s voice sounded once more.
Two additional corpses began to convulse on the blood-soaked ground before forcing themselves upright. Their bodies joined the growing ranks of undead, and for the first time since the battle began, the tide was no longer moving in the Eidolons’ favour.
"We’re winning," Seris exclaimed, trying her hardest to suppress the joy in her voice.
Another arrow left Damien’s bow and buried itself in an Eidolon’s eye, killing it instantly. He was surprisingly deadly with a bow. The only downside was that Seris had to keep venturing dangerously close to the battlefield to recover his arrows. She was their healer. If anything happened to her, everyone else’s mortality would suddenly become a lot more apparent.
"More arrows," Seris said before stuffing them into the quiver on Damien’s back.
"Seris."
Damien’s voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Hmm?"
"That’s enough. Stop getting so close to the fighting. Yuri already has her hands full protecting Chad and keeping herself alive. You should stay behind me. It’ll be safer."
Seris remained silent for a few moments before replying.
"No."
Damien blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," she said stubbornly. "Why should I be the only one standing safely at the back? I’m in the Tower too. I’m awakened too. I don’t want to keep pushing everything onto everyone else".
Her voice faltered near the end as she struggled to keep her emotions under control.
Damien stared at her for a moment before speaking.
"You need to carry your own weight."
Seris froze.
Then she nodded gently.
Damien smiled in acknowledgement and immediately pointed toward the battlefield.
"Alright then. Go fetch my arrows. These Eidolons aren’t going to murder themselves."
Seris nodded strongly before turning, but when she did, she froze awkwardly, what was going on exactly? That was the question that was resonating in everyone’s mind.
The herd of Eidolons suddenly stopped attacking. Instead, they raised their spiked clubs in a defensive stance.
"Everyone, wait."
Damien quickly ordered his undead to hold position. If the Eidolons wanted to stop for a truce, he would take the chance without hesitation. Yuri was already coughing blood and looked close to collapsing. Chad wasn’t in better shape, blood leaking from several wounds, especially around his abdomen.
The Eidolons weren’t in good condition either. Most of them were covered in blood, some missing limbs, others with cracked horns or broken weapons. The undead had been especially brutal in the clash.
"What’s going on?" Yuri spat between breaths.
Chad wiped blood from his face and tightened his grip on his spear. Everything on him was stained red with the blood of Eidolons.
"This behaviour is unusual," he said quietly. "Unless there’s a high-ranked clansman nearby... it could be the one we saw before escaping from the stone dais."
Yuri shook her head immediately.
"That one should still be a young priest. His rank shouldn’t be high enough to control this many Eidolons. It could be their chieftain, perhaps he returned from the frozen wastelands."
Damien stepped closer as he heard the last part.
"What’s the frozen wasteland?"
Yuri answered without looking away from the Eidolons.
"It’s where the human encampment is. There are at least six hundred awakened living there."
Damien nodded slowly. He already knew there were more people in the tower, and also knew they were outside the ruins of humanity. What he didn’t know was that the Eidolons were also attacking them, that definitely explained why they risked their lives to infiltrate the ruins, escaping from here was no doubt of utmost importance.
"This chief... are you sure he’s the one commanding them?" he asked.
Yuri shook her head.
"It’s mostly just speculation, you see... Only two types of Eidolons can command the rest, the chief and the priest. And the priest is..." She paused and glanced at the undead priest standing nearby.
The Eidolons ahead were already retreating in formation, step by step, in an organized defensive line, it was deeply unsettling.
"They’re afraid to disobey whoever is commanding them."
Chad and Damien exhaled at the same time.
Just when it felt like things were finally turning in their favour.
"This doesn’t change anything," Damien said. "We secure the entrance and figure the rest from there."
He signaled his undead forward again, and they went to the front and barricaded Chad and the others, they were going to march to the entrance, with twelve undead as their meat shields.