There were all kinds of Nightmare Creatures who had apparently decided to take a nap on the flat concrete surface of the coastal highway.
Bestial maws opened in vicious snarls, sharp mandibles dripping with viscous saliva, jagged claws, curving bone scythes, and various implements of death that Sunny did not even know how to describe… all of it was flying toward the convoy, drawing closer and closer with each second.
The faster the vehicles moved, the faster the abominations converged on them.
'Damnation…'
Sunny was standing on the vibrating roof of the Rhino, drawing Morgan's Warbow time and time again. In a short span of time, he had let loose a veritable rain of arrows, slaughtering at least a dozen of the approaching Nightmare Creatures.
His muscles were already protesting the unforgiving pace, but augmented with all four of his shadows, Sunny knew that he could keep the same rate of fire for much longer.
The battle was only starting, anyway. Although the menagerie of monsters rushing toward the convoy seemed ghastly and dangerous, these were only the dregs of the Chain of Nightmares. They were the lone stragglers or small packs of abominations that had broken away from larger swarms and hordes, and as such, did not pose a real threat.
For now, they were also only attacking the column from the front. Very soon, Sunny and his people would be surrounded and forced to resist attacks from all directions.
To postpone that, Samara finally opened fire. Most of the Nightmare Creatures on the highway were obscured from her by the other transports and the wide shape of the Rhino, but she had a clear shot of the mountains slopes and the abominations that were rushing down the treacherous surface of the icy stone to attack the convoy from the side.
A shining slug flashed through the air, and one of the distant silhouettes ruptured, mangled remains sliding down the steep slope. Even before the echo of the first thunderous shot dissipated into the cold air, the powerful rifle was already humming with electrical whine once again, charging to spit another devastating round.
'I am not fast enough to kill all of them…'
For now, Sunny was conserving his essence. He was only using one of the active enchantments of his mighty bow, [Soul Arrows], which did not demand a lot of it. The Dying Wish was also inactive, for now, since there was no need to draw the attention of abominations away from the civilian transports yet.
He considered summoning the Strike of Thunder for a moment, then decided against it. Their charge toward Erebus Field was going to be a marathon, not a sprint. They had to be frugal with how to spend their power and resources…
Instead of laying waste to the approaching Nightmare Creatures with a strike of lightning, he picked the most threatening ones and concentrated on taking down these high-priority targets first. Abomination fearlessly dove into the mass of enemies, tearing them apart with ruthless determination.
Since there were very few Fallen creatures among this first wave, most were much weaker than the massive Echo.
Blackie, however, was in danger of being slain if he was not careful. The smaller hound separated and dashed to the edge of the highway, concentrating on attacking the outliers of the rushing mob.
'So far so good…'
Sunny killed most of the Nightmare Creatures that could seriously threaten the Rhino, but at that point, the APC was already only meters away from the swiftest of the attackers.
Moving at its top speed, the enormous bulk of the Rhino smashed into the lunging abomination, practically pulverizing it into a cloud of crimson haze. The second creature crashed on the concrete with an arrow in its eye, and then, the convoy was in the thick of the disorganized crowd of Nightmare Creatures.
Some of them were quick enough to change direction and dash toward the civilian transports, the others were too slow and allowed the column to flash past, then wasted precious seconds to stop, turn around, and hurry to pursue the speeding vehicles.
The turrets of the military vehicles barked, sending poisoned bullets toward those abominations that were fast enough to catch up with them, and ignoring the rest. It was not their goal, nor was it realistic, to slaughter every single Nightmare Creature across six hundred kilometers of the coastal highway — but then again, there was no need to.
They only had to kill those that the convoy could not outrun.
Samara continued to fire her rifle, choosing to concentrate on the more powerful targets, just like Sunny had. On the next civilian transport, Kim was using her carbine to cut down those that managed to get close to the column, while the nameless Sleeper was sending one arrow flying after another.
Belle was using a small throwing hatchet that gruesomely sliced the abominations apart, and then magically returned to his hand.
Dorn was armed with a set of iron javelins that seemed to hit much harder than they were supposed to, even with his prodigious strength.
The convoy cut through the first wave of Nightmare Creatures, leaving broken bodies and bleeding corpses behind. Its defenders continued their barrage, finishing off those Nightmare Creatures that were now gaining on the column from the back.
Sunny rotated his shoulder and winced slightly, then nocked another arrow on the string of his bow and froze for a moment. Peering into the distance, he tried to evaluate the situation.
His face darkened.
'Curse it…'
A few hundred meters ahead, a stream of Nightmare Creatures was spilling on the highway from the mountain slope. And ever further away, behind them, the whole width of the road was blocked by a dark mass of monstrous bodies.
…This time, it was a proper swarm.
One of many they would have to fight their way through, most likely.
Sunny studied the swarm for a split second, then quickly glanced at the ocean.
...At least the dark waves were calm, for now.
With a contemptuous sigh, he sent the arrow flying in the direction of the mountain slope, and then drew his bow again.
This time, his fingers were illuminated by the furious light of a caged lightning.