Even as I called for the charge I was the first into the breach, quite literally at that. I threw myself into one of the openings in the wall of pikes and other polearms that had been created by the Wall Breaker's bombardment. I had all of my combat spells running at full power. Cat's Grace, Bull's Strength as well as Blur and Mage Armor were enhancing my abilities, hopefully giving me the edge I would need in the melee I was throwing myself into. Against any living opponent it would have been enough. Against a horde of ghouls I wasn't quite as certain.

This wasn't the time to doubt myself though. My jump carried me beyond what remained of the enemies first and second rank and into the third. The blade of my weapon found the throat of a ghoul, tearing through it with ease even as I bashed my shield into the face of another. I had my doubts about the shield bash as well but they were quickly proved unfounded. With Bull's Strength to empower it the hit turned the creature's head into a mess that splattered others beyond it. It wouldn't get back up that much was for sure.

I tore my weapon free from the other one's throat, sending its head flying in the process, to swing it sideways with all my might. It cut through another neck and deep into the torso of a third. It splintered the shafts of a handful of weapons as well. I had no time to rest though. Pikes and the tips of halberds poked at me. None penetrated my armor but they were threatening to push me off balance. Without the supernatural sense of balance granted to me by Cat's Grace they might have even succeeded.

Another shield bash dropped another ghoul, denting in its helmet and pulping its head. I tore my weapon from quickly rotting flesh once more and started focusing on the ghouls coming at me from the ranks still deeper in the enemy formation. At this point in time Gash'zur smashed into the advancing enemies to my left. She hadn't abandoned her shield yet, using it like a battering ram of sorts. She sent half a dozen ghouls flying into the back ranks, disrupting their formation further. Now that was a shield bash! It brought a little smile to my face even as I hacked through the neck of another of the shambling dead.

At least the arrows had stopped raining down on me and the rest of my army. Beyond the massed infantry I could see the last archer go down as a rock, probably weighing as much they did, smashed their torso into a pulp. A similar fate had befallen pretty much all other archers and crossbowmen as well. By far not all of them were completely out of the fight though. Even if they would no longer make use of their weapons they still crawled forward, towards us.

One of these wretched things that was missing both legs below the knees, reached for my feet, baring its teeth, hissing at me, as it did so. I stomped its head into the ground, the chain hauberk it wore doing nothing to keep it in one piece, and it finally went still. It wasn't the only one though. I had to watch both the wretched things crawling across the ground and the shambling ghouls still on their feet. Splitting my attention like that almost cost me dearly.´At the last moment I managed to twist my head out of the way of a spear point. It still scratched across my cheek though.

Gash'zur and I weren't the only ones smashing our way through the press of bodies of course. Those who could aimed for heads and necks. Dismembering our opponents, especially in such a way that made sure they would not be able to continue using weapons was fine as well though. It was not easy though and not everyone fared as well as I or the giantess fighting at my side. And even Gash'zur did not get away unscathed. The tips of pikes and other weapons were searching for gaps in her armor, just like with me, and while her armor was good it was not the same as mine.

So far she had only suffered minor wounds, as most human weapons had trouble penetrating deep enough even if they found a weak spot in the armor, but these small injuries would add up. Eventually they would take their toll. She swung her shield like a battering ram one last time, sending more ghouls flying and buying her some room, but she let go of it in the end. She wasn't used to it and it was tiring her out. Instead she switched to wielding her war hammer with both hands.

The heavy weapon was much more lethal anyway. Each swing ended a ghoul, often utterly destroying its head. Each back swing would deal with another. At the sight of this I redoubled my own efforts as well. Time and again I lashed out with my glaive, severing necks if I could or arms or legs otherwise. With the spells empowering me even glancing blows were devastating. The poison of my weapon wasn't killing or rather destroying ghouls as fast as it would have the living though. I was making progress but it wasn't fast.

At the same time stabs and swings missed me by a handspan or more. That was the Blur spell at work. Even those that managed to hit me slid off the Mage Armor more often than not. Only a few hits slid off the scales of my armor in the end. Still, every hit added another little bruise and every breath I took was a little more labored than the last. It hadn't been long since I threw myself into battle but it was taking its toll already. The same was true for everyone fighting alongside me.

Some were a lot less lucky than me. Not everyone was protected by layered spells. Not everyone was as tall as me or even an average demon. Not everyone wore armor that could compare to mine. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed as a darkelf was dragged to the ground and immediately swarmed by maimed ghouls that would have not been much of a threat otherwise. His comrades tried to keep the crawling dead off of their friend but there were too many.

By the time one managed to drag the unlucky man back they had already torn much of his armor off of him and large chunks out of him. There was no saving him as a large chunk of his throat was missing, blood pouring forth freely. He probably wasn't the only one either.

Finally the Wall Breakers joined us in the melee after finishing their bombardment. A big troll brought down a heavy metal ball attached to a chain on a whole bunch of ghouls, smashing several of them into smithereens. I retreated a little, after decapitating one last enemy myself, to give the new arrival more room to properly swing that weapon without endangering me. Others, including Gash'zur, followed suit.

All along our line exhausted infantry disengaged, to give the trolls and giants with their much heavier weapons room. Those meteor hammers, mauls and maces the size of small trees were, in many cases, weapons designed to smash fortifications to pieces. Wherever these things hit they turned ghouls into a mess staining useless armor, no matter if they were standing or crawling along on the ground.

None of us retreated far though. We stayed close to pick off any stragglers that got past this onslaught to keep them from swarming the trolls and giants up close. I took a moment to get a better picture of the battle in general as well. The melee was a mess, more so than usual, but we had it well in hand. I was pretty sure that we were winning. Judging by the sounds there was some fighting going on in the woods as well, but it didn't compare to what was going on here.

Finally I spotted the enemy leader as well. It was a ghoul king for sure, although it wasn't like any I had faced before. I wouldn't have recognized its head wear for a crown but I was sure it was one if the typical gleam of Arkanium was anything to go by.

It didn't actually participate in the battle at all. The thing had kept its distance. It stood atop a chariot, a tool of war I hadn't seen used by humans at all so far. Was there even anyone who still used those things? I was pretty sure that we had abandoned those things centuries ago. As a command platform the wagon with the two red eyed, nightmarish horses still had some use though it would seem. The small guard of similarly garbed ghouls with sickle swords that surrounded it made no move to join the battle either.

What was the damned thing thinking? It had to see that we were winning the melee here, and the fight in the woods as well as far as I could tell. My eyes widened as I felt the ground tremble a little under my feet. It wasn't due to the heavy hits of the Wall breakers either. No, this was something else. Of course! The cavalry!

I cast Lion's Roar once more to enhance my voice. “Disengage! Fall Back! Form up again on the earth wall!” I stomped down on the head of one more crawling dead before hurrying to take my own position up on the low earthen wall. Others of my banner and the rest of Arngard's heavy infantry did as well. Together we formed a new defensive line as the Wall Breakers disengaged as well. Hopefully I wasn't too late.