However, that chance was denied and sealed away by the cold gate before them.
The Quagoa had a saying; the worm that hides deeper grows bigger.
One of the Quagoa was so angry at being so close but so far that he tried biting the gate. Naturally, he did nothing more than scratch the surface.
Seeing him, several others tried the same thing.
However, regular Quagoa could not harm it at all. They could try for a hundred years and still get nowhere.
Even when they thought to burrow through the rock and bypass the gate, they found that the walls were reinforced by lattices of the same metal which made up the gate.
Regular Quagoa could not breach that gate. Their rare elites like the Blue or Red Quagoa were held in reserve as a secret weapon and not assigned to those assault teams. In other words, their advance was briefly halted here.
Anyone would be frustrated by being denied their glory at their very last moment. However, they were not anxious. This was because they had already reported this to the vanguard commander. If the great Yozu was here, he would surely think of a way that they could not.
Even so, they formed up in clans to rest, because they did not know how much time it would take.
If they were regular troops, they might fidget and wander from stress, or start fighting with other clans. However, everyone here was the best of the best. They rested when it was time to rest, saving their rage and strength for the next battle.
And then, after resting for some time, the Quagoa suddenly looked up, as though their heads were mounted on springs.
There was a low bass creaking that sounded like it came from deep beneath the earth, and the gates began to slowly open.
The assault Quagoa looked at each other.
The Dwarves had sealed the gates in a panic. Why had they opened them again? Did they want to surrender? There were many Quagoa who thought that way, and they laughed mockingly as they bared their teeth.
As if they would accept a surrender.
Their plan was to exterminate the Dwarves. They would not give the Dwarves the time to spout useless words.
They would flood in like an avalanche through the opened gates and brutally slaughter all the Dwarves in their way. After that, they would trample the city underfoot and massacre with all their strength.
A gap slowly opened before the bloodthirsty Quagoa. It was still too small to fit through. One of the murderous Quagoa worked his arm into that gap.
He ventured his sharp claws forth, trying to murder any Dwarves in front of the Gate.
And then—
“Gyaaaaaaaaah!”
The Quagoa who wanted to be number one screamed and rolled back. The arm he thrust in was gone, replaced by a fountain of fresh blood.
Their shock at this development was like dumping cold water on the fires of their bloodlust.
It was easy to imagine what had happened.
In all likelihood, someone had cut his arm off with some kind of weapon, but was that even possible?
The Quagoa special ability was that they were extremely resistant to the weapons which the Dwarves typically used. During their surprise attack on the fortress, some of them had been hurt but none of them had died. That should have held true as long as they were not hit by electrical attacks.
But then, why had their comrade’s arm been chopped off?
There was only one reason for that.
That would be the existence of an extraordinary swordsman, who could easily cut through the arm of a Quagoa, a member of a race whose skin and hide repelled all blades.
In other words, there was an unimaginably powerful warrior behind the slowly-opening door.
The Quagoa stepped back, gripped by an emotion they had not yet felt in this battle — fear. During this time, the gap in the door continued to widen.
“Why are you backing down?” called a powerful voice from the rear of the assault team.
“There are no cowards among Clan Pu Rimidol!”
“Ohhhhh!”
That cry of agreement must have come from the members of Clan Pu Rimidol who had been chosen for this assault team. Panicked, those from the other clans shouted as well, proclaiming their strength.
“Clan Po Gusua knows no cowards either!”
“Nobody from the Zu Aygen Clan will lose to the Pu or the Po! How can we let our ancestors laugh at us from the Land of Derey?!”
To the Quagoa, the valorous dead would watch their children prosper from the Land of Derey. It was said that the ancestors would mock those who shamed themselves.
Those words were the trigger that reignited the fighting spirit of the Quagoa.
They dragged the disarmed Quagoa aside, to the wall. The assault teams kept their distance and took a close formation, ready to slaughter this mighty swordsman.
“Charge! No matter how strong he is, the enemy only has one sword! We’ll hit him with more people than he can handle,” someone said.
“No, we just need to rush straight ahead once the door opens. Once we knock him down, we’ll trample him. Then we’ll sack the city.”
“Then, let me take the lead!”
There was a mineral called Nuran which was crushed into powder and mixed into paint. The courageous would take this paint and draw two stripes through their fur as proof of their bravery.
The Quagoa gathered behind one such brave soul. If he was struck down by that sword, they could still shove him in.
The gap in the door was now big enough for a single Quagoa to pass through. While it was too cramped to burst through, they would be losing men for nothing if they hit the entrance with the lightning magic from just now and then closed the doors again.
“Charge!”
With a valorous cry, over 10 Quagoa made their move.
The brave Quagoa at their head stiffened. The people pushing him from behind felt him being killed by the swordsman. However, they could not stop. If they stopped now, they would be insulting his courage.
Because of that, the Quagoa from behind pushed forward with single-minded intensity, intent on letting their momentum carry them into the Dwarven city to loot and pillage it…
— And then they stopped.
No matter how hard they pushed, they could not carry on. It was as though a thick, massive wall was blocking them.
One of the Quagoa raised his head and looked forward.
It was only natural to wonder if the Dwarves had made a wall.
Because indeed, there was a jet-black wall there.
All their eyes could see was the wall. And then it started moving.
“OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
It was a mighty cry that made the air quiver.
What they had thought was a wall was in actual fact a gigantic shield.
The Quagoa had no history of weapon or armor use, but they had seen the Dwarves use them before. However, they had never seen anything this big. Before them was a shield that could have been mistaken for a wall.
As the Quagoa were baffled by this development, the loathsome creature behind the shield revealed itself.
It was a creature sheathed in black full plate armor, its crimson eyes glowing with hatred.
Even the ignorant Quagoa could understand that it was evil, it was violence — it was Death itself.
A pyun! rang out.
In that instant, the heads of three Quagoa took flight as one.
“UUUOOOOHHHHHHHH!!”
The roar battered at the bodies of the Quagoa.
The hair-raising impact made the Quagoa want to run away with all their heart.
Within their tribes, they considered themselves courageous warriors who did not fear death. However, they had never imagined a being like this in their wildest dreams. The monster before them obliterated their courage.