Chapter 412: The Wall of Bodies

Octavius’ eyes shot open as he heard the distant rumbling. He knew instantly what it meant and clenched his fist and teeth. "This fucking guy." Getting up, he quickly put on his light leather and chainmail armour. Horns blew throughout the valley walls, signalling another attack as the soldiers ran around to prepare.

"You should put your armour on." Ramiel came up from behind Octavius and tapped his shoulder.

"I don’t have time." Hearing that, Ramiel frowned and looked at Octavius’ face. Much like his own, Octavius had deep black circles under his eyes as he clenched his jaw to not yawn.

"Leave," Ramiel said coldly, shocking Octavius. As he opened his mouth, Ramiel spoke, "You’re a hindrance now. You are struggling to stand out of your armour and exsuhsted."

Octavius wanted to throw the words back at Ramierl but held his tongue and looked down at himself. It was only then that he realised he had forgotten his shield in his quarters. "You’re right." Although he didn’t want to admit it, Octavius knew that he wasn’t in the right mindset to lead another defence. "But you must realise your own state."

"Someone must remain behind to lead. If you were to be captured, Magnus may execute you. You are Emperor Julius’s strongest supporter. However, I am a Grand Templar of the Church; if I may be captured, I will be a bargaining chip to make Constance leave the war."

"That is why you must leave aswell." Octavius looked over the wall and saw Magnus’ forces closing in. The wall of bodies below brought them some time, but it would only be a few minutes. "ARCHERS! FIRE!" Seeing the enemy close enough, Octvius gave the order to his archers.

"We need the Church’s support right now. You cannot risk falling into enemy hands to provide them a bargaining chip." Ramiel frowned.

"Who will lead the defence then?" Ramiel questioned, and Octavius sighed.

"An underling of mine arrived last night. Let me talk to him." Octavius didn’t waste time and ran across the wall, seeing the second most senior member of the military within the walls.

"Commander Calvus," Octavius called out, making the man stop what he was doing and salute.

"General."

"At ease." Waving him off, Octavius looked deeply into his eyes. "Commander. I need you to lead the defence of the valley." Calvus froze at the order and looked at Octavius’ face. It soon became clear why he was being ordered. The tired eyes that looked back at him showed Octavious was on the brink of collapse, only moving through sheer will power to make sure the wall was prepared. Looking at his body, he only then noticed he was out of his steel armour.

Slamming his fist into his chest, Calvus lowered his head, "I will do as you order." Octavious nodded and patted Calvus on the shoulder.

"You may surrender only after the reserve force has managed to leave. But hold as long as you can. I trust your judgment not to call a surrender too early." Calvus nodded and lowered his head again, "If you do not return, I will make sure your sacrifice is remembered. I swear on Sol’s name."

Octavius knew what his men wanted, especially the commanders under his command. Seeing Calvus’s eye light up, he could already picture what the man was imagining. With a nod, he ran off back to Ramiel’s side and told him to leave. Returning to his quarters first, he grabbed his gear and tied it to his back before slipping out. Crossing the large plain to the reserve camp, he grabbed the horn on his waist and blew.

Around ten men arrived in front of him and saluted, "Prepare to retreat, the castle will be lost soon." None of the ten questioned and followed Octavius’ orders. The large camp slowly moved, packing its tents, gear, and food.

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Cassius saw the wall of bodies before him and felt his heart go cold. Arrow fire rained down from behind it as the shield wall in front of him blocked. The occasional arrow would slip through, killing a man, but the line of soldiers never stopped moving, not paying attention to their comrades. They had seen enough war that death no longer affected them.

Yet the wall of corpses was different. It was a perfectly prepared scene of horror, prepared in the dead of night by their enemy. Cassius had seen movements in the valley the previous night after the assault ended, but he ignored them, choosing to sleep for today’s attack instead.

It wasn’t tall, about the size of a man with a child sitting on his shoulders. Yet it made Cassius frown.’They must have padded the middle with stones or something else. There’s no way this man died.’Cassius knew how many men he had sent to die, and he could roughly guess how many they had taken down with them. That being said, it didn’t matter if the inside was padded or not. Whilst it provided a wall to block arrow fire, the effect of seeing the bodies of men piled atop one another made even the most hardened men feel sick.

The first line of men reached the wall of corpses, and pushing aside the disgust in their hearts, dug their hands into it and began to climb. Others began clearing away for the siege ram to roll through. Those who climbed held their shields in front of them, and the targeted arrow fire was easily blocked. Cassius quickly followed behind, as his hands dug into the wall, the cold flesh stuck to him as his hands were covered in grime, blood and guts. He didn’t wish to look, but every time he opened his eyes, he would see a new sight. The face of a dead man with their eyes wide open. A hand of a man reaching out, begging for his body to be pulled free. A trail of blood that led to a lump of entrails on the floor. The stench of death was overwhelming, forcing many to suppress thwoing up the meals they ate earlier.

Cassius reached up and grabbed the top of the wall of corpses with his left hand and slightly slipped as he pulled a body off the top. Blocking arrows shot at him, he slid down the front of the corpses, feeling their fingers touching his back. He joined the shield wall and moved forward to hold the line until more joined him.

He held the line for a few minutes, more and more joining them. Ladders were thrown over the wall, carefully caught by those who risked not protecting themselves from the arrow fire.

"CHARGE!" When he saw the ladders all passed over the wall of corpses, Cassius gave the order. Hundreds of soldiers ran at the wall as they slammed themselves into it. The ladders were quickly put into position, and the first set of men began their climb. Cassius noticed the lack of boulders being dropped on their heads and smiled to himself, realising his theory. ’They used all of them to create that wall.’

It was obvious the reason. They wished to strike fear into their enemy, much like Magnus had tried last night, while also delaying the siege equipment. But it was a lapse in judgment. His men were forced to climb over bodies just to reach their target. They had to cover themselves in the blood of their comrades. Just looking at his soldiers’ faces, he could see many were more pissed about the situation after getting over the initial fear and disgust. All they wanted was revenge.

Cassius followed behind his men and began his climb. Arrow fire shot from both sides as the ladder next to him fell with the cries of its climbers. He could see the top of the wall and, touching the cold stone, he pulled himself up and jumped over. Pushing out with his shield, he crazily swung his sword to force the enemy back as he joined the others to solidify their breach.

His mind was clear, seeing himself surrounded as he held firm. Swords tried to pierce through the shield wall he and his men created around themselves, but each strike failed. In the small opportunities created, Cassius and his men countered. There was no technique in their strike; they only wished to force the enemy back, so they could take more space.

Across his left, he saw another breach made. The defenders jumped at the opportunity to close the breach and slaughter those who managed to get up. Despite that, each breach created another as the defenders on the wall were stretched thin, containing the already established breaches and preventing new ones.

Cassius took a deep breath and looked behind him. Seeing enough of his men, he smiled, "ATTACK! SPARE NO ONE!" Cassius cried out, and like a well-oiled machine, he and his men pushed against the defenders, forcing them back. Cassius used the chance and stabbed forward, killing an attacker. Pulling his sword out of his chest, there was no sound as the man fell, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

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The ram finally had a path cleared for it and approached the gate. The debris from the one that had blocked it the previous night lay there blocking its path but was quickly cleared. With the battle atop the wall raging, they no longer had to worry about arrow fire and easily sorted out the issue. Ash moved forward and saw the gate on the verge of breaking. With his cold, empty eyes staring at it, he heard the booming explosion of the ram attacking the gate echo, overshadowing the noise of the battle.

He watched for ten minutes as the gate struggled to hold on against the ram. The oil that had fallen the previous night was nowhere to be found, as the wooden door finally gave way. It exploded inwards, sending shards of shrapnel towards the men lying in wait behind it. Taking the lead, Ash stared at them with an empty gaze as his mercenaries followed behind. At his side, Asmond had a thin smile.

The defenders showed none of the fear they felt for him last night, as they stood firm, not leaving a single gap. Everyone could tell the fort was going to fall; it was just a simple question of how long it would take. Ash moved forward. His slow steps turned into a jog before a sprint, and he plunged himself headfirst into the battle.