According to Castro I became even more deadly even with a missing arm. I don't remember it well though. It was like fighting entirely on instinct, but I guess it was fighting entirely on my ability.
All I know is that I killed hundreds of creatures single handedly that day which is way beyond a normal day's work.
After the fight I passed out from mana exhaustion and when I woke up my arm was back. Apparently, it regenerated in my sleep.
So…
I survived.
I did what needed to be done to survive, completely unconsciously too.
That is my ability, as best I can describe it.
The rest of my team took positions in the second row, stepped in the gaps left between Castor, Douglas and I.
We waited in tense atmosphere as the rest of the formation got in position.
This entire operation is a risk.
The battlefield is about 2 kilometres from our position, and we will have to march a fair way before the battle starts.
But this is much better than getting ambushed as we set up.
The biggest problem with being so far away though is that we don't have an accurate read on the situation. We don't have the scouts to spare by sending them into the battle blind to gather intel.
If the siege is anything like what we experienced days before then the town could already be overrun. However, the constant clapping of artillery and the distance flashing of various destructive abilities is pertaining to a much better equipped fighting force than us.
Just the distant sounds of ordinance are informing us that they have far more ammo on hand than we ever did at Brund Morrows.
The commander is standing at the front of the formation, in the middle. He's close enough to discern the concern on his face as he stares at the battlefield. But there is also a glint of hope in his eyes.
That's the one thing we didn't have before that we do have now.
Hope.
If can all get through this battle, then we may get a far better life than what we could at Brund Morrows.
We would still have to fight, as clearly evident in front of us. But the promise of better resources, more ammo, more personnel and more room to move freely is cutting into the pre battle tension like a surgeon's knife.
Before long the convoy was set up. A higher ranked officer approached the commander and informed him his army is ready.
Without so much as a glance the commander waved him off and waited a few seconds for the officer to enter the ranks.
Then, without a word he drew his twin swords. Holding them at his sides, ready but also relaxed, he took the first step forward.
The army stepped after him.
No words were said.
What could he say?
Any hefty speeches about resolve and turmoil would just fall on empty ears.
It would sound hollow.
So instead, he said nothing.
He doesn't have to say anything.
Our backs are against the wall.
The hope in our hearts is enough to motivate us.
It's do or die time.
*****
Our death march was slow and deliberate.
Every step bore the weight of our entire lives. The eyes of each warrior held the grave reflection of a soldier facing their death.
Everyone here is used to facing their death. We did so every day at Brund Morrows and before.
Since the day the first creatures descended upon the unsuspecting masses, everyone has been seeing the reaper over their shoulder in the nightlight.
The tense atmosphere of soldiers toeing that line between life and murder is not a new feeling to us. What is new is not knowing what comes next.
Before Brund Morrows we knew what was next. We knew where the rally points were.
We knew what the military was doing.
Communications and society functioned better at the time than it does now.
In Brund Morrows we knew what came after each fight.
We fought.
We rested.
We fought again.
There was a system.
But what comes after this.
We are going to fight a battle against endless monsters with only 2000 soldiers, limited ordinance, and an ally who doesn't know we are coming.
Then assuming some of us survive. What's next?
Will they accept us?
2000 refugees are not an easy group to settle in at the best of times. Let alone during an endless war against monsters and resources.
They could just as easily open fire on us as they could accept us.
All of these thoughts ran through our minds as we marched to our impending deaths.
The turned to the commander to see his face harden further as the first creatures too notice of us.
The scent of two thousand humans hardly a kilometre away drove the back of the pack to turn on us with hungry growls.
No one said a word as the creatures approached with the vigour of a delighted predator.
The commander slowly raised on of his swords as the beasts approached.
I turned to Vir to see her give me a slight nod.
Reinforcing my resolve, I turned to face the impending stampede of monsters as I witnessed the commander's sword fall, signalling the turrets to open fire.
Immediately the sound of booming thunder filled the air, suffocating the sounds of the battle closer to Wesker.
Monsters fell in plumes of pink mist and severed limbs as bullet hellfire rained over them.
This is the only opportunity to use our ordinance we will have. The sounds of distant gunfire will alert the allied forces of our presence and as the battle continues, we won't be able to open fire in fear of hitting our unknown comrades.
The gunfire overhead flashed over our heads in streaks of light. The flashes highlighted Douglas and Castro's grim expressions in my peripheral vision.
We've never faced a tide like this before. Our backs have always been covered by allies but the space behind us isn't safe either. We are all fully aware that we could be surrounded here and are simply hoping for some miracle that'll let us survive this hell.
As the bodies of monsters pile up, the ones behind them a slowed by the need to climb their fallen. This gave our turrets more time to rip them to shreds, however, the number of turrets under operation is slowly decreasing as some cars run out of ammo.
A few of the mages with wide area of effect abilities have started firing into the masses, however, they are being reserved with it as well, out of reasonable fear of falling unconscious in the middle of battle. No one is going to protect an unconscious soldier when they can't even protect themselves.
I noticed the distinct change when Vir's turret ran out of ordinary ammo, and she switched to sniper rounds.
Smart.
They use way less ammo and against a tide like this at similar height to her nozzle, each round will rip through multiple creatures before embedding in one final creature, deliberating it.
As the turret fire comes to a standstill, the gunmen join the ranks and the monster's approach. Passing over the corpses of their kin without a care.
At least a few thousand smaller creatures we obliterated in the opening act.
This should undoubtably garner the attention of the soldiers in Wesker who would notice a significant change in presence on their frontlines.
Hopefully they will help us before long.
Barely a few seconds after the turrets stop firing the first of the monsters arrived at our ranks.
Choosing my target, I step forward to cleave a rotting dog looking creature clean in two. Castro and Douglas do the same. The dogs are fast so many of them arrived first.
Thankfully they are easy enough to kill but one scratch from them will guarantee you an infected wound.
The frontline held as intense battle commenced.
I slashed one dog before bashing the attack of a large bipedal bird with my shield. I spun in place to avoid it follow up before slashing it chest, leaving a large wound. The creature screeched before Douglas decapitated it.
Castro took a heavy blow from a troll sized monster with a dog's head before sending it flying backwards into another troll with [Reflect].
I watched Douglas dance through a series of attacks before slashing at the recuperating troll's heels. Damning it to the ground.
I followed up by slashing the first two creature Doug avoided and Castro blocked another's before I stabbed it through the heart.
At that moment I watched a griffin type creature with a human face get a hole punched through it with a sniper round before falling to the ground.
Realising that the corpses were starting to make movement difficult I bashed my shield twice as Doug retreated to my flank.
In practiced unison every soldier in my vicinity took hurried steps back and reformed the line of defence. This was a common practice for ground operations at Brund Morrows. It puts the difficulty of traversing fallen creatures on the enemies' backs.
I noticed a number of positions in my periphery perform a similar manoeuvre.
The commander in particularly was leading the soldiers nearby him with practised ease.
The monsters continued to file in despite the obvious strategic methods of the humans. I slashed and carved at every creature that came close to me, and we continued to move back towards the cars as we did.
It didn't take long before we were surrounded and getting attacked from behind as well.
But we knew this would happen. The flanking sides suffered for it but as the battle progressed the line began to form a circular formation that had the warriors on the outside and the ranged combatants on the inside.
As warriors fell, the encirclement got smaller.
At least half our number had perished by now, but the tide was not easing.
The commander's fluid movement and sheer brutal presence was making the biggest difference in the battle.
He was commander for a reason.
Two members of my team had fallen but Doug and Castro, my strongest warriors were still with me. Vir was still dominating larger units and eviscerating smaller threats from behind, but she was noticeably closer to the frontline than previously.
I hacked at a doglike creature that was drooling acid when I started to really feel the effects of fatigue hitting me. [Survivor] undoubtably improved my stamina and ability to fight under exhaustion but it didn't make it any more pleasant.
My arms were screaming as I continued to fight. Swinging my sword at a creature twice my size that was too close for comfort, I took a heavy blow from another from my side.
At the last moment I got my shield between me and the club coming at me, but my shield shattered, and I felt my arm break into a thousand pieces. The bones were splintering from my skin, but I kept swinging my sword with my other arm.