Running to the top of the seal theater they saw that the center of the merfolk army had bowed inward as multiple troll warrior formations had broken the wall and were attacking several formations of orca guards.
To the south there were three troll formations trying to break through the southern wall, with some success, while the northern wall was still in one piece, but it looked like neither army wanted to get too close to the north as there were multiple lord rank fighters doing battle there.
Including a dragon paladin so Chronos had some hope that they would be receiving reinforcements soon. He wasn't sure where the rest of the lords came from but going by what they were wearing they were natives of the swamp.
Behind the troll's monster army were several of the lizardfolk ships moving around to launch hit and run attacks. Seven of their ships were capsized with lizardfolk fighting their way out of three of the capsized ships that had been surrounded by monsters.
There was no movement in the other four, but several ships were working their way into the monsters to rescue any trapped warriors.
The troll shamans were casting spells to control the swamp in an attempt to destabilize the walls and ships, but the matriarchs and singers were countering them while also casting spells into the enemy army.
The monsters just didn't have enough shamans to rival the magic casters of the combined army.
What they did have was numbers, even with the successful ambush the troll's army still outnumbered them nearly two to one but their numbers were swiftly being reduced.
In Chronos' opinion the enemy numbers weren't the biggest threat, the biggest threat was the trolls. Each of them was wearing well-made armor and carrying a shield that was almost as big as they were. Standing at three meters tall and decked out in armor they made an impressive and dangerous front.
He didn't know where they had gotten standardized armor and weapons as you couldn't find those within the wasteland but that didn't matter right now. He needed to focus on the best way to assist the army and how to deal the most damage to the trolls
His friends followed him as Chronos ran towards one of the troll formations in the south while drawing his aura bow. Something he had yet to try was applying [Sever] to his arrows to see if the spatial cutting effect would remain active over long distances.
Fighting Lucan had reminded him that this was a bloodline power not a regular aura ability, it might be more flexible than the description he had been given or perhaps he could alter it like how he could train aura abilities.
Pulling the string back as he ran, he took aim at an injured troll that was trying to retreat and recover. Loosing his arrow, he watched as it cut through both the shield and armor with ease.
Unfortunately, an arrowhead sized [Sever] didn't leave a very large injury on a troll and he didn't yet have a strong enough control over his power to condense an attack until it hit an enemy. It did however pierce through its head causing it to fall to the ground until it recovered or someone managed to kill it for good.
That would be very helpful against these enemies, if he could drop them and leave the finishing blow to someone else, he could change the entire flow of the battlefield with just a few arrows.
He repeatedly released arrows into the troll formations that had broken through the middle section of the walls while running towards the southeastern section.
Jumping up on the wall Chronos was met by a troll that was half-way over the wall. He swung his axe cleanly beheading it before it could react.
Looking over the wall, he took aim at the nearest trolls and released another arrow dropping another troll.
He didn't want to aim too far from the wall as that would allow the trolls to cover for their fallen comrades until they recovered. By taking down the ones closest to the walls the merfolk could behead them and rip out their hearts before they healed.
Losing the head would kill most things even trollish regeneration couldn't regrow a head unless they were in the fourth rank and if they were that strong they would have to exhaust the troll's energy or grind their body to dust to prevent regeneration.
While he was shooting the trolls Gregory was using his threads to pick up weapons and throw them at any monster that came within range leaving a field of injured in his wake.
But he had only trained the Nightweave Thread technique to the most basic level, this only allowed him a rudimentary control of the threads, until he had precise control of the threads intricate maneuvers weren't possible.
Sariah had taken a position amongst the singers and was casting [Lingering Misfortune] as a ritual curse. The gradual slowing of the enemies and small bad luck the spell granted was spreading as black mist and tilting the battle in their favor.
Lyla had leapt over the walls and was currently covered in blood as she smashed another monster's head in, but she was slowly losing steam. Before long she would need to rest and recover from her divine form.
Sure enough 30 minutes later her halo began to fade. Seeing this Chronos drew his heartwood war sword and leapt into the middle of the monsters to rescue her.
"Lyla duck!"
As she dropped to the ground, he spun on his feet doing a full rotation with [Sever] extending from the sword. Every enemy within 3 meters of them was cut in two leaving an open space in the enemy army.
"If I could extend my aura further, I could kill more of them." Chronos complained.
"This is enough. Let's go back to the wall." Lyla said as the final traces of her divine form faded away.
Chronos threw her over his shoulder as he jogged towards the wall of the fort. A foul scent drifted to his nose while he moved.
"You stink!"
"You should not say that to a lady."
"Would a lady be covered in blood and laughing her head off in the middle of a monster horde?"
"Obviously, I do that."
He realized that she really didn't see a difference between what she had done today and the ladies at a court ball.
"I hope you know you're crazy."
"I've been told. Go to the right, the trolls are catching up."
"What trolls?"
Looking over his shoulder Chronos saw several trolls trampling the smaller monsters to get to them before they were behind the walls again.
"Oh dear, they look angry. Next time warn me sooner."
"Of course they're angry. I've been killing most of the ones that you put an arrow through."
That explained why they were target number one and now the monsters in front of them were blocking their path. They must really not want to let them go.
Swinging his sword Chronos rapidly cut through the monsters. They couldn't block his [Sever] without coating themselves in magic or aura and most of these monsters hadn't realized that just yet or weren't strong enough to do so.
Seeing that they were still 10 meters from the wall, Lyla said, "Put me down, we aren't going to make it before they catch us."
"Are you sure you can fight right now?"
"My strength has decreased by 20% and my spirit regeneration is almost nothing, but I can still fight."
"We'll need to find ways to make up for that weakness later." Chronos smiled as he set her down and took a stance beside her.
She smiled in gratitude, relieved that even in her weakened state Chronos still treated her as a comrade, and not like some fragile woman in need of protection.
A group of ten trolls formed a half circle around them wary of the werewolf's strength; they had seen him kicking 3-meter-long Crocodiles out of his way with ease and cutting others in two with a single swing of his sword when he was running away.
Now that he was turning that monstrous strength against them it could easily lead to their deaths if they weren't careful.
For a short time, they kept trying to circle each other until Chronos threw his sword at them like a spear before charging with twin war axes in his hands. He would have preferred to use his spear, but it was currently unusable.
The lead troll blocked the flying sword by extending his shield but was shocked when it easily cut into his shield only stopping when the hilt hit metal. Luckily a troll's reach was long enough that the blade never touched him.
Unluckily Chronos had charged right at the middle of their line where he was standing. With a single wave of his axes, he cut the trolls arm off then attempted to remove his head, but the troll was pulled backwards by his companions
Lyla was just behind him swinging her mace at the knees of the troll on the left, she had exhausted her spirit which stopped her from casting any spells, but her mastery of the mace allowed her to fight on par with the trolls.
At least when it was one-on-one, if multiple trolls came at her together she would lose right now.
That's why she kept close to Chronos at all times, staying within his reach would prevent the trolls from dog piling her.