World creator system

And then, from behind a shadowy buttress in the Wall close to them, half-concealed by one of the trebuchets, a head suddenly appeared, snagging his attention.

Beyond the din of preparations —the clank and creak and scrape of machinery, the pounding of drums, the bellowing of orders— the sound that had pulled them all up short in front of the stockade door, the screeching and wailing, as of a thousand tormented children, had been growing steadily louder. Now it was loud enough to start drilling into their heads, to send shudders of primal fear through their bodies.

The river in the distance, which seemed to mark a border between the Wall and the jade mountain, was seething and churning, as if the water had turned boiling hot. Foam and spray were rising in the air, sparkling in the sun. But there was something in the spray, something dark that seemed to move with a kind of frantic purpose.

The creatures now bursting from the smothering cloud of spray, revealed for the first time beneath the unforgiving desert sun, were not animals but monsters. They barreled en masse towards the Wall, hundreds of them, thousands of them. And as they came they screamed their terrible, wailing war cry; a sound of rage and hunger and misery. It was as if they had burst from the very depths of Hell, bringing the screams of the tormented with them.

Each one of the beasts was the length of a grizzly bear, or a great ape, with a solid, muscular body that was nevertheless lithe enough to propel them across the desert sand at an incredible speed. Their skin, plated like armour, was green and crocodile-tough, with a ruff of hyena-like fur on their backs, and although it was hard to tell at a distance, each plate seemed to be marked or inscribed with a translucent pattern of swirls. Their heads were massive and shark-like, dominated by huge, blood red mouths filled with countless rows of sharp, jagged teeth. Their eyes, by contrast, were small and deep-set, and were positioned not on their heads but on either side of their wide, barrel-like chests.

These monsters were racing across the desert on all fours, impeded not in the slightest by the fact that their claws were huge, club-like, and inset with curved, black, razor-sharp talons.

Up on her sky rig, Lin Mae gripped her two long lances tightly and tried to stay calm. The wind, which she could feel blowing through her hair, brought the awful screeches of the Tao Tei, which alone would have turned an ordinary man or woman's guts to water. But she had trained for this. She had been born for it. She took long, deep breaths and tried to find the point of stillness in the center of her body. When it came to the battle she would draw her strength and her focus from that stillness. Whatever happened today, she would not be found wanting. Still standing on top of his command tower, Wang beside him, General Shao silently observed the oncoming horde. He was anxious, though not for himself. He feared for the city of Bianliang, which the Wall had been designed to protect, and for the one million people who lived there. If the Tao Tei breached the Wall… If they reached the city… He quashed the thought. The Tao Tei would not breach the Wall. He and his troops would not fail. He would not allow it.

General Shao looked at Merlin and thought."If he can provide us more time, we will be more prepared."

He watched the Tao Tei approach. He stood silently, waiting for them to get a little closer… a little closer… Wang looked at him anxiously, but still Shao waited. Come on, he thought, come on… And then suddenly he sprang into motion, startling Wang. Wheeling first left, and then right, he bellowed the order: "Long distance weapon!"

As the war drums quickened, and General Shao's order was relayed quickly along the Wall in both directions, the Tiger Corps warriors, responsible for engineering and artillery, leaped to the fore. Within the machine-like workings of the inner Wall, huge cannon balls were winched carefully from cauldrons of boiling oil and placed on iron chutes. Beside the chutes waited more Tiger Corps soldiers with burning brands, who set the cannon balls aflame and then launched them, trailing flames and heat, down the metal slopes of the chutes towards their destination. The chutes passed through channels in the Wall, allowing the flaming cannon balls to roll into the iron holders of the dozens of trebuchets ranged along the battlements. As soon as the cannon balls were in place, a trigger was activated and the trebuchets fired. Once their cargos had been released the trebuchets were primed again and the action repeated.

Perched precariously on the buttress, their hands still tied behind their backs, William and Pero watched as the sky became filled with massive iron fireballs. The noise as the trebuchets, one after another, launched burning metal death towards the advancing horde of green monsters was tremendous, almost but not quite loud enough to drown out the ceaseless screeching of the creatures themselves. And the effect of the fireballs was devastating. They rained down on the horde, smashing many of the creatures into instant extinction, and creating a barrier of rising flame between the Wall and the incoming tide of attackers.

Yet unbelievably the creatures kept coming. Many dozens of them, undeterred by the rain of missiles, burst through the flames leaping up around them, as if unaffected by the blistering heat. From his perch William could see that the creatures' advance guard had suffered serious casualties. Yet he could also see that the creatures were so numerous that in the long run the death toll they had suffered from the fireballs alone would be so small as to be virtually negligible. Another cry went up from the black-armored General on the command tower, his stentorian voice cutting through even the screeching of the creatures and the din of battle. William glanced up and across at the General, a distant figure whose black armour glinted in the sunlight, and wondered what he had said. Whatever it was, he hoped it would prove effective against the enemy.

The drums changed tempo in line with the General's new order, which in turn was relayed swiftly along the length of the Wall in both directions: "Raise the mirrors! Raise the mirrors!" Perched on the battlements at the very front of the Wall, effectively standing on the edge of a precipice and peering down at the desert far, far below, Commander Chen of the Eagle Corps gripped his crossbow and waited grimly to be called into action. If all went to plan it would not be long now. The order to raise the mirrors had been given, and already, leaning forward, he could see bricks in the Wall flipping over rapidly, to reveal that on their backs were smooth reflective surfaces that caught the sunlight and deflected it in a shimmering wave of golden light over the advancing hordes of the Tao Tei. Within moments every single brick in the Wall had flipped around, to create a smooth mirrored surface that stretched the length of the Wall. It undulated and meandered through the Painted Mountains, absorbing the blinding sunlight and casting it back as a white glare.

He braced himself on his perch as the first of the Tao Tei approached the Wall at lightning speed and then hurled itself forward. It tried to scramble up the mirrored surface, digging in its talons, but the mirrors proved every bit as effective as it had been hoped. Unable to get any traction on the smooth surface, the Tao Tei sank back to the ground, its claws making a hideous screeching sound as they slid over the glass. Immediately more of the Tao Tei hurled themselves at the Wall, but they too fell back. Soon hundreds of the creatures were packed against the base of the Wall, writhing and squirming over one another in their desperation to rend and tear and devour. Chen smiled grimly. The Tao Tei were now exactly where the Corps wanted them to be. He raised his head, looking to his left and right, and gave the order. "Fire! Aim for the eyes!"

Immediately a lethal rain of bolts poured down on the mass of Tao Tei below. Those creatures that were struck in the eyes died instantly, their life force extinguished in a split second. However those that were struck in other parts of the body only became more enraged, tearing and biting at the bolts, ripping them from their plated bodies and casting them away, as if they were nothing more troublesome than thorns or the stings of insects. Still firing arrows, his hands moving so quickly they were almost a blur, Chen heard Commander Shao, up on his command tower, issue another bellowed order: "Crane Corps attack! Now!" Watching another of his bolts strike home, he felt like a small but vital component of a great war machine. Soon, he thought with grim satisfaction. Soon we shall have victory.

Lin Mae conveyed the General's orders, and watched with pride as the red-armored Eagle Corps drew back, allowing the sky rigs of the Crane Corps to be wheeled forward. The mechanisms and controls of the rigs themselves would be manipulated by the Tiger Corps, each of the different disciplines among the warriors of the Nameless Order working together like harmonious parts of a single entity. As she was moved into position she looked right and left, and saw that the first wave of her Crane Corps soldiers were as poised and ready as she was. Each of them was standing upright on their rigs, proud and fearless, lances in their hands ready to strike at the enemy. Lin Mae knew how eager each of them would be to do their duty, the exultation they would feel as they launched themselves from the battlements. As a Crane Corps soldier, to fly was everything. To soar was the closest one could get not only to freedom, but to divinity. Facing front, she gripped her lances and took a long deep breath, searching again for that point of stillness in the center of her body.

As the blue-armored woman on her flying rig was wheeled forward to take her place at the forefront of the battle, they took turns.

She yelled out an order, and then without hesitation dived from the battlements, lances extended.

Launching herself from the top of the Wall, Lin Mae knew that her life was in the hands of the Tiger Corps warriors operating her sky rig. If they made the slightest mistake she would die, but she had the utmost faith that that wouldn't happen. As she soared into the air, she knew they would be operating the winches to slacken the ropes of the rig, allowing her to plunge towards the sea of green flesh and ravening jaws below. Holding on to the point of stillness within herself she readied her lances and focused on making her contribution count. At the apex of her dive she felt herself tipping, falling, the desert wind battering her body and the sails of the sky rig with increasing force as she hurtled towards the ground. It was easy to panic here, to lose control, to spin and twist in mid-air. But she maintained her shape and concentrated on picking out her twin targets and sticking to them. There! The eyes of the creature rearing up towards her, like a dog leaping to snaffle a scrap of tossed meat, were small and black, but as she plunged towards it, they seemed to grow larger, to fill her world. She adjusted the position of her lances slightly, and then, just at the right moment, thrust them downwards! The creature shuddered and died as the lances embedded deep in its eyes bent in two perfect arcs, slowing her fall. As her downward momentum was arrested, Lin Mae calmly and expertly flipped her body round in mid-air, from a diving position into a sitting position, at the same time bending her knees and drawing them into her body, tightening herself into a ball. She knew that up above the Tiger Corps soldiers would be frantically turning the winches in the opposite direction, pulling the ropes of the sky rig taut, so that she could spring back up into the air, out of danger. For a couple of seconds, though, she was vulnerable. And sure enough, as she let go of her lances and watched the dead, impaled Tao Tei sink back into the morass of wriggling green flesh below, another of the creatures surged up from the throng, using the bodies of its comrades to propel itself towards her.

Just then on top of the all, the air above the Great Wall crackled with a rising hum as Melisandre stepped forward, her crimson robes billowing in the wind. Her eyes glowed with a fiery intensity, and as she raised her hands to the sky, a shimmering red aura enveloped her, pulsating like a living flame. The light around her dimmed, as though the world itself bent to her power, and the glow of her aura intensified, casting eerie, shifting shadows on the stone battlements.

With a sudden, explosive surge, streams of glowing red energy erupted from her palms, spiraling upward before condensing into dozens of ethereal arrows.

Melisandre stood unmoving, her hands directing the arrow with fluid gestures. With a flick of her wrist, it looped through the battlefield, impaling a Tao Tei lunging toward the Wall—piercing cleanly through its chest with a crackling burst of energy. Before the beast could collapse, the arrow ripped free, its glow intensifying as it shot toward another target. Another arrow hit a second Tao Tei, mid-roar, barely turned its head before the arrow drilled into its eye, silencing it instantly. As the creature fell, the arrow veered again, darting low to impale a third beast through the shoulder, severing its arm and spinning it backward into the horde.

The red fiery arrows moved at blinding speed with streaks of fiery red light that zigzagged unpredictably across the battlefield. Each strike sent bursts of glowing embers and dark ichor spraying into the air, the energy from the arrow leaving smoldering, cauterized wounds in its wake.

The Tao Tei soldier's were helpless against the supernatural speed and precision of the assault. The arrow darted from one target to the next, striking with such rapidity that the creatures had no time to react. It moved like a predator among prey, tearing through flesh and bone with unrelenting fury. Occasionally, it looped back toward Melisandre, hovering momentarily in front of her glowing hands as if recharging before she sent it out again with another commanding gesture.

In one breathtaking sequence, the arrow performed a wide arc over the battlefield, slicing through five Tao Tei in a single fluid motion. It plunged into the back of one, tore through its torso, and emerged to pierce the skull of another leaping creature. It ricocheted off a third's armored shoulder, pivoted mid-air, and drove straight into the heart of a fourth, before returning to slice cleanly through the neck of a fifth. As the final beast crumpled, the arrow streaked back to Melisandre, spinning briefly in her aura before coming to a shimmering halt, poised and ready for its next devastating flight.

While Lin Mae once gain reached held the top of the wall and held out her hands and one of the Tiger Corps soldiers expertly tossed across two more lances. Lin Mae caught them, and without even catching her breath, but she then saw Melisandre's powers and was in awe, but she snapped out of it and flipped and dived again. Around her she was aware of other Crane warriors rising or plunging as they performed similar maneuvers.

High up in his command tower, General Shao had been watching the battle with a great deal of satisfaction. Their tactics had been working well. They had thinned out the advance guard of the Tao Tei with their fireballs, many of which were still burning; they had used their mirrors to prevent the Tao Tei from scaling the Wall, thus causing the creatures to mill about mindlessly at its foot; and now his Eagle Corps, Tiger Corps and Crane Corps warriors were working together with devastating effect to pick off the rest of the creatures at will.

General Shao stood, his eyes fixed on the sorceress Melisandre as she thinned the enemy ranks, saving Crane Corps warriors with her deadly art. A flicker of hope crossed his war-hardened face, and he muttered under his breath, "We have hope."

He turned his gaze to Merlin, standing a short distance away. The Merlin was surrounded by a palpable aura of power, his robes fluttering in a wind that seemed to emanate from within. Merlin's hands moved in precise gestures, his voice rising in a deep, resonant chant as a glowing blue magic circle flared to life beneath his feet. The symbols within the circle pulsed with arcane energy, casting an eerie azure glow on the stones around him.

As his chant crescendoed, the sky above the Wall darkened unnaturally. Clouds churned and gathered, twisting into a massive vortex directly above Merlin. Lightning danced within the storm, illuminating the battlefield in brief, blinding flashes. The soldiers and Tao Tei alike paused momentarily, awestruck by the ominous display.

A sudden, deafening crack of thunder erupted as a chain of lightning formed between Merlin's outstretched palms, crackling and surging with raw, untamed power. The wizard's face was etched with fierce concentration, his eyes glowing faintly as the lightning coursed through him. Bolts of lightning rained down from the storm, striking all around him with earth-shaking force. The ground trembled, but Merlin remained untouched, the bolts seeming to bow to his will.

He raised his hands high, the lightning strikes converging into his palms in a breathtaking display of power. The swirling energy intensified, the storm above roaring in response. With a final shout, Merlin thrust his hands forward, and the gathered energy exploded outward. A colossal lightning strike shot down from the heavens, slamming into the ground in front of the advancing Tao Tei.

The impact unleashed a dazzling wall of lightning, stretching high into the sky and spanning the length of the battlefield. The wall roared with electric fury, its surface writhing with blinding arcs of energy that lashed out unpredictably.The lightning wall glowing intensely, its edges flickering and sparking with chaotic energy, the air itself vibrating with its hum.

The Tao Tei soldiers charged forward, their monstrous forms relentless even in the face of such a barrier. But as the first of them touched the lightning, they were struck down instantly. The creatures were engulfed in brilliant flashes, their bodies convulsing violently as the electricity surged through them. Their flesh burned and blackened in an instant, and they collapsed into piles of smoldering charcoal, their glowing red eyes fading into ash.

But suddenly Merlin spotted something at a distance, some way back beyond the furthermost ranks of the Tao Tei another group of creatures had emerged from the cloud of mist that now all but shrouded the boiling river. There were around a dozen of them, similar to the Tao Tei but taller and more powerful looking. Impressive and terrifying though these new creatures were, they were slightly similar have dark green quadrupedal, carnivorous reptiles, similar in appearance to ceratopsian dinosaurs and possess elaborate motifs on the crests of their skulls. But these are fewer in number (about twenty or thirty overall), are about the size of an elephant, and are rather ape-like in appearance, with eyes located on their faces and possess retractable frills on their shoulders. They lack tails, have human-like hands strong enough to pick up a small soldier Tao Tei, and have small, flat-faced heads. Bulkier and more armored. It wasn't they that drew the eye, however. Like a ring of bodyguards, the larger creatures were surrounding a being that was truly monstrous.

This one was special and resembles a Protoceratops with an elongated, squat body, overlapping plates on her back, a long whip-like tail and her eyes are located on her face. Her head is rounded with a bulging forehead, and her lips curve upward which give her a permanent snarling expression. Her most distinguishing physical feature is a two-pronged sail on her head which vibrates to signal her troops.

She also possess elaborate motifs on the crests of her skull.

Even though he was some distance away Merlin sensed that a fierce, unknowable intelligence burned behind them.

As he watched, the creature raised its head and opened its vast mouth, as though chewing the air. Merlin saw endless rows of curved, glinting, razor-sharp teeth, each of which looked as long as his forearm. Indeed, the maw itself, opened to its full capacity, looked capable of swallowing half a dozen men with a single gulp. He looked on with awe and revulsion as horn-like appendages on the creature's head, linked by a web-like film of connective tissue, suddenly began to vibrant, and to produce a hideous, high-pitched ululating sound, which caused many of the soldiers in front of him to cover their ears with their hands. As the sound drilled into his head.

Suddenly the swarm of Taotei soldiers that were running right to the Wall of lighting stopped, it as she was ordering a withdrawal if she is losing too many for little to no gain. Suddenly they started to running back.

General Shao questioned Merlin."Can fireballs be shot through the lightning wall?"

Merlin nodded and answered."Can."

Merlin modified this magic to help against demon invasions.

Thus General Shao smiled and watched as the trebuchets were loaded, one by one, with their deadly cargo. "Fire!" he yelled, and the counterweights of dozens of trebuchets were released almost in unison, the great firing arms flipping up and over.His eyes narrowed in grim satisfaction as razored fireballs flew through the air towards the distant Queen. Surely nothing could survive such a deadly barrage. Within moments the Queen would be cut to flaming ribbons and the Tao Tei would become mindless beasts once more. Then it would simply be a matter of employing their superior firepower to dispatch the creatures until there was not a single one of them left. The razored fireballs flew up and over the main mass of Tao Tei who were still hurling themselves in ordered ranks at the mirrored surface of the Wall. Some of the fireballs, Shao saw, would fall short, whereas others would overshoot their target. More than enough, however, would reach their intended destination. He clenched his fists, knowing it would only be a matter of seconds. Already the first of the razored fireballs was beginning its downward arc.

But then Wang gasped beside him. One of the larger beasts surrounding the Queen had risen to its full height and unfurled what appeared to be great fan-like shields on either side of its head. Shao had no idea what the shields were composed of, but they must have been tougher than steel, because as the first fireball reached the Queen and her cortege of Paladins, Shao saw it hit the shield in a shower of sparks and bounce harmlessly away. Within seconds the rest of the Paladins had risen to their full height and extended their own fan-like shields. Shao saw fireball after fireball hit the shields and deflect away, leaving barely a mark. Enclosed within the protective barrier, the Queen remained entirely unharmed. Directly below, meanwhile, the Tao Tei continued to follow her bellowed instructions, hurling themselves relentlessly against the mirrored surface of the Wall.

On the battlements, Melisandre stepped forward, her fiery red aura blazing as she raised her hands. "Let's see if those shields hold against this," she said, her voice low but filled with grim determination. Her glowing energy arrow materialized, its crimson light intensifying as she directed it with a precise gesture. The arrow shot through the air, a streak of blinding speed and with red trail, aimed directly at the nearest Paladin.

The arrow struck the shield with a sharp crack, its energy bursting outward in a dazzling display of red sparks. The Paladin staggered as the shield absorbed the impact, but unlike the fireballs, the arrow didn't deflect. Instead, it burrowed through the fan-like surface, leaving a smoldering hole before embedding itself into the beast's chest. The Paladin let out a deafening roar before collapsing, its massive body crashing to the ground with a thunderous impact.

Melisandre as another arrow materialized in her hand, glowing brighter than before. She unleashed it with a flick of her wrist, and it streaked toward another Paladin, cutting through its shield and piercing its head in a single fluid motion. The beast fell, its shield folding inward like a broken wing.

But the Queen was fast. She used the vibrating web between her horns to issue an another order, and the remaining Paladins immediately retreated, raising their shields defensively as they moved. Their formation tightened, encircling the Queen once more as they backed away from the battlefield.