[The First Day of Destruction, 20:36] [The Inner Wall: The Collision]
The initial impact shook the deep, ancient bedrock of the city.
Fifty Vanguard Paladins struck the dense center of the undead horde like a localized meteorite impact. This engagement bore no resemblance to the standard clash of ringing steel against steel. It manifested as a brutal, deafening collision of divine kinetic force slamming into an immovable, suffocating tide of rotting mass.
Sir Kaelthas anchored the very apex of the wedge formation. Carrying the immense, unified forward momentum of fifty heavily armored knights at his back, he drove the thick rim of his colossal tower shield, bound entirely in heavy iron, directly into the kneecap of a charging Bloodmilk Hulk.
The sheer velocity behind the vanguard's maneuver shattered the giant's alchemically hardened ribs upon contact. Sickening noise echoed across the frontline, slick with dark blood. It mimicked the violent, cracking report of an ancient oak tree snapping in half at the height of a severe hurricane.
"Hold!" Kaelthas commanded.
The raw volume of the order tore the lining of his throat, yet he did not waver. Digging his heavy sabatons, plated in thick steel, deep into the fractured cobblestones, the Vanguard Commander deliberately dropped his center of gravity. He prepared his skeletal structure to absorb the inevitable retaliation.
The monstrous Hulk roared above him, refusing to stagger despite the catastrophic damage to its lower extremities. It retaliated by bringing a massive, bloated fist down like the rusted pile driver of a siege engine.
Anticipating the downward trajectory, Kaelthas angled the heavy enchanted oak of his shield to deflect the incoming blow. The resulting kinetic transfer equated to catching a falling boulder. Enchanted wood splintered violently under localized pressure.
Splintered violently under, a jagged, glowing crack ran directly down the vertical center of the bulwark, sending painful shockwaves that rattled the bones straight into Kaelthas's right shoulder socket. The distinct, metallic taste of copper flooded his mouth as internal capillaries burst. His knees buckled under the immense weight, further fracturing the stone paving beneath him, but his boots remained firmly planted.
For her, his mind screamed through the blinding haze of physical agony.
The mental image of his daughter's frayed blue ribbon burned against his collarbone like a branding iron. He would not take one step backward. The wedge had to maintain its structural integrity, or the entire company would be swallowed by the dead.
High above the claustrophobic slaughter, Commander Vane leaned over the cold stone parapet of the outer defenses. His calculating eyes tracked the blinding tip of the white wedge as it sank deeper into the suffocating dark of the endless swarm.
Tactical logic dictated their next move. The vanguard was losing its initial momentum and required immediate thermal support to prevent the flanks from collapsing inward.
"Artillery! Now!" Vane's magically amplified voice thundered over the chaotic din of the battlefield. "Burn the corridor!"
Positioned in tight batteries along the high ramparts, the exhausted casters unleashed the last desperate reserves of their bleeding mana pools.
Two towering, parallel walls of [Holy Fire] erupted on either side of the Paladin wedge. Blindingly hot flames incinerated the swarming lesser zombies and brittle ghouls attempting to compromise the flanks of the formation.
This highly coordinated spellcraft created a narrow, brilliant tunnel of safety. It stood as a fragile corridor of roaring white flame carving a relentless path through the viridian night. The heavy scent of cooking meat and ozone permeated the battlefield air.
"Forward!" Valerius laughed.
It was a terrifying, manic sound cutting straight through the roar of the surrounding flames. The scarred pyromaniac did not bother stepping around Kaelthas. Using the Vanguard Commander's armored shoulder as a physical springboard, Valerius vaulted directly into the air, heavily choked with falling ash.
He was no longer just a man swinging a sword. The warrior had become a descending comet of human fire. Landing heavily upon the cracked cobblestones, Valerius drove his superheated claymore straight upward. He bypassed the thickest armor plating and buried the glowing blade deep into the vulnerable underside of the Hulk's jaw.
The caustic alchemical sludge pumping through the monster's thick veins immediately boiled upon contact with the intense heat of the blade. Shrieking a high, unnatural sound that defied its massive vocal cords, the Hulk frantically clawed at its own melting eyes as pressurized steam hissed violently from its ruined skull.
Valerius ripped the heavy blade free with a savage twist of his wrists, coughing a wet, hacking spray of hot blood across the interior of his own visor.
The unfiltered, continuous output of his [Inner Furnace] martial art was rapidly burning his internal organs. Spitting the acidic blood out through the ventilation slits of his helm, the swordsman grinned with cracked lips and kept swinging his glowing weapon into the encroaching tide of rotting flesh.
The armored wedge drove deeper into the breach. Ten meters. Twenty meters. The sheer momentum of fifty divinely blessed heavy infantry marching in perfect synchronization presented a terrifying, unstoppable force.
The enemy possessed no capacity for fear. The undead collective only calculated and adapted.
"Flanks!" Elena shouted from the highly protected center of the wedge formation.
Her physical eyes were stark white and bleeding freely down her pale cheeks from the immense strain of maintaining her celestial connection to the upper echelons of the heavenly host.
"Wing Two, suppress the right! They are trying to pinch the corridor!"
A flock of Archangel Flames swooped down from the suffocating sky in direct response to her urgent command. Their burning, ethereal swords harried a specialized, elite squad of Death Warriors as they attempted to vault over the towering walls of holy fire.
These undead fighters were terrifyingly agile, moving with a jerky, unnatural speed that defied their rotting musculature. Spinning and slashing with dual, jagged blades, they physically cut the glowing angels right out of the contested airspace.
Bright explosions of dissipating celestial light popped over the Paladin wedge like horrific fireworks. Heavy drops of golden ichor rained down upon the visors and pauldrons of the heavy infantry below, hissing as it made contact with the cold steel.
Despite the severe aerial casualties, the desperate distraction fulfilled its tactical purpose. The agile Death Warriors were too preoccupied with fighting the sky to halt the relentless forward march of the grounded vanguard.
Then, the heavy armor moved to intercept.
Three towering Death Knights stepped in perfect unison into the center of the glowing, fire-lined corridor. Their massive, heavily armored frames entirely blocked the only viable path to the outer gate. They did not immediately draw their massive, cursed flamberges to engage the Paladins. Instead, the imposing giants raised their gigantic tower shields and interlocked the screaming, blackened metal edges.
This synchronized maneuver formed an impenetrable barricade of solid obsidian and dark magic, standing ten feet high. The sheer physical weight of the obstacle halted the Paladin wedge in its tracks.
"They are blocking the lane!" Father Oryn yelled.
Viciously smashing an advancing skeletal archer into white dust with a localized, concussive shockwave from his glowing mace, the battle priest stared at the towering wall of black iron denying their salvation. The ambient temperature in the corridor noticeably plummeted.
"We cannot break that weight! It is solid!"
"Yes, we can," Vane's shouted. "NOW! HAMMER DOWN!"
Hovering just beneath the churning green clouds of the apocalyptic sky, the elite Principality Peace angels received their final, uncompromising mandate. Operating under total obedience, they folded their burning wings inward to eliminate atmospheric drag.
Rather than flying downward to engage the enemy, they fell.
Gravity combined with concentrated divine magic accelerated the celestial beings into terrifying blurs of blinding, cerulean, and white light. They became localized kinetic missiles dropping from orbit. Their physical forms were entirely surrendered to the generation of destructive speed, sacrificing their immortality to break the unbreakable wall.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.