thedancenovel Chapter 849: The Floodgates of Baltimore
Chapter 849: The Floodgates of Baltimore
The wind screamed as Asmodeus tore through the sky.
Clouds split around his body, his black and grey wings cutting through the morning haze with enough force to scatter the gulls circling above Vel’Ashera. The capital vanished behind him, replaced by green fields, broken cliffs, and the distant silver line of the western sea.
Yet the closer he flew towards Baltimore, the worse the air became.
Thick with salt, smoke and a strange, rotten stench that reminded him of spoiled milk and beneath it all, something foul and metallic, like blood left inside a rusted bucket.
’Something isn’t right here.’
Soon, the grand spires of the city appeared beyond the cliffs, surrounded by high, brilliant white stone walls and watchtowers flying Lumeria’s banners.
Normally, Baltimore was loud before noon with dock bells, fishmongers, and sailors screaming insults over cargo prices.
But right now, the lower harbour resembled a kicked anthill.
People ran through the narrow streets as if possessed, and soldiers formed shield lines at the entrance of the citadel and the dock entrance, refusing all entry. Though some priests donning holy robes appeared to be helping the confused citizens, dragging them from the black-stained canals, everything seemed chaotic.
Asmodeus hovered in the sky, his eyes roaming across the land until he saw something peek from the surface of the sea.
A Small Leviathan.
The spawn of the great Abyssal.
Rather than true children of the Origin Abyssal, perhaps they were but warped imitations born from her flesh. Each one was the size of a carriage, with eel-like bodies wrapped in black scales, needle teeth, and countless pale glowing eyes buried all over their bodies inside their flesh.
With a horrific squelch, one snapped its jaws around a fleeing horse.
The animal neighed desperately before quickly disappearing.
Asmodeus dropped lower.
A black shadow passed over the harbour.
The creature lifted its head just in time to see him.
"Move."
His voice cracked across the district like thunder.
The soldiers below barely had time to throw themselves aside before Asmodeus crashed into the beast’s skull, driving it through the pier in an explosion of rotten timber and black water. and with a single arc of his halberd tore the creature’s body in half.
Boom!
The sea erupted around him.
For a heartbeat, everything vanished beneath foam, splinters, and oily spray.
Asmodeus slowly rose from the wreckage, one hand gripping the shredded creature’s head, its body still twitching despite being torn apart.
The harbour was silent.
Paul stood near the barricade, armour stained with soot and seawater, his face pale beneath his helmet.
He came.
Thank the gods, he actually came.
"Your Majesty!" Paul shouted excitedly.
"His Majesty!?"
Many of the guards and knights suddenly gasped before lowering themselves to Asmodeus.
He crushed the remaining part of the monster’s skull as it finally stopped writhing like a worm, and he tossed the dead creature aside.
It slammed into the stones with a wet, heavy thud.
"How many?"
Paul swallowed. "At least twelve emerged from the lower docks. More beneath the water. We sealed three streets, but the refugee quarter is panicking."
"And the cult?"
Paul’s expression twisted.
"They opened the floodgates before we reached them."
"Can you hold them here if I destroy those abominations?" Asmodeus trusted Paul greatly, his skill, intuition, and ability to take action.
Asmodeus’ silver eyes sharpened as he glanced at the dozens of monsters emerging in synchronisation ever since he appeared. The black water inside the canal began to rise, bubbling as though something enormous exhaled below the city.
He turned back and shouted. "Speak to me, Paul!"
Paul flinched, then slammed the butt of his spear against the stone.
"We can hold!" he shouted back. "But not forever!"
Asmodeus turned toward the soldiers gathered behind the shield line. Most were young. Some had blood on their faces, others vomited on their boots from the stench of the canal, but none of them ran.
Their hands shook around spears and swords, yet their feet remained planted.
"That’s enough, just hold for as long as you can. Their lives are too precious to die so easily; fall back before it becomes too dangerous."
His voice rolled across the harbour.
"If even one of these things passes you, the refugee quarter dies. If the refugee quarter falls, Baltimore falls. If Baltimore falls, the western coast becomes a graveyard."
Though the soldiers stiffened for a moment, his two statements made it clear they were also included in those people who couldn’t die.
Paul drew his staff, now fitted with a blade at the tip, almost a spear, but used more for casting combat spells.
"You heard His Majesty! Shields forward!"
The first line stood shoulder to shoulder as shields slammed against the ground, digging into the concrete.
Thud!
The second braced over their shoulders.
Thud!
Spears slid between the gaps like iron teeth.
...
From the black canal, three Small Leviathans surged at once, their slimy eel-like bodies scraping across the stone, countless pale eyes blinking in every direction.
They moved disgustingly, nothing like beasts, but like someone dragging a bunch of writhing worms along the ground. Their mouths split into four folds, exposing rows of needle teeth and fleshy cords twitching in their throats.
"Don’t worry, I won’t let you guys face them."
Asmodeus moved first.
His wings snapped once, launching him low across the broken pier. His halberd swept in a silver arc, cleaving through the nearest monster’s jaw before the blade hooked beneath its skull and tore upward.
Squelch!
Black blood sprayed across the stones.
The creature’s body twisted violently, tail smashing through crates and sending rotten fish, broken rope, and seawater flying across the road.
Another lunged from his blind side.
Paul shouted, "Left!"
"Hahaha, nostalgic!" Asmodeus cried with laughter, remembering how Paul had taught him almost everything after he came to this world.
He spun and caught the beast’s open mouth with his free hand, squeezing enough to force its jaws apart until the bone cracked beneath his fingers. The monster convulsed, eyes rolling wildly beneath its scales.
"Disgusting."
He drove his knee into its throat, then rammed the halberd straight down through its skull.
Boom!
The impact split the paving stones.
The third creature slipped past him, racing toward the soldiers with its belly dragging over the harbour road. A knight panicked and raised his shield too high, leaving his abdomen exposed.
Paul’s body shone bright green as wind collected around his ankles.
He darted forward like a cheetah, twirling his staff and slamming the blade into the approaching fiend’s throat.
As the monster recoiled, Paul shoved him back into formation.
"Keep your shield low, remember if you fall, so does the brother behind you!"
"Y-Yes, Sir!"
Asmodeus watched with folded arms and a wide grin.
"Well, what would you know? It seems Paul has gotten into the role properly."
The Leviathan spawn slammed into the shields.
The entire line buckled.
Several soldiers screamed as black water splashed through the gaps, hissing where it touched exposed skin. Priests immediately dragged them back, pouring holy water over their arms while the men writhed through clenched teeth.
"Push!" Paul roared.
The soldiers pushed.
Their boots scraped against the wet stone.
The monster’s head forced halfway through the spear points, teeth snapping inches from Paul’s face.
Then Asmodeus landed on its back.
The creature flattened beneath his weight.
With one brutal thrust, he drove his halberd through its spine and pinned it to the ground. The beast thrashed, cracking the stones beneath it, but Asmodeus pressed down harder until the body stopped moving.
"Good work, my honourable knights."
"K-Knights?!" One of the young men muttered.
"Ah, all men who survive this battle will become knights of Lumeria. Serving directly beneath me, the Emperor!"
His smile almost beamed with light as he vanished from sight, once again diving into the midst of countless fiends.
However, while he was fighting an almost endless number.
More shapes stirred beneath the canal.
Far more than twelve.
Paul saw it too. His throat moved as he swallowed.
How many of these things are hiding beneath our city?
"Asmodeus!" he called, forgetting rank for half a second. "The floodgate controls are below the eastern watchhouse! If they opened them completely, the lower canals are connected straight to the sea!"
"So they are using the canals as a nest."
"That is what I fear!"
A deep groan echoed beneath the harbour.
Stone trembled.
Somewhere below, iron chains strained against mechanisms never meant to hold back monsters.
Asmodeus glanced toward the eastern watchhouse. The structure stood near the far end of the harbour road, half-surrounded by rising black water. Several bodies lay near the stairs leading down, their armour crushed inward like paper.
Whether they were cultists, soldiers, or dockhands was impossible from this distance.
"Paul!"
"Yes!"
"Take every civilian away from the lower harbour. Collapse the market bridge if you must. Nothing reaches the inner city."
Paul’s face tightened. "That bridge is one of our main supply routes."
"If these things reach it, there won’t be supplies left to move. Let me worry about supplies and other things, you just focus on keeping our people safe!"
Paul hesitated for only a heartbeat.
Then he nodded.
"Understood!"
Asmodeus spread his wings again.
The moment he rose, several Small Leviathans burst from the canal together, drawn by his mana like sharks tasting blood. Their bodies leapt from the water in ugly arcs, mouths open, eyes glowing, black slime trailing from their scales.
Of course, Asmodeus didn’t dodge their attacks, but met them in midair.
His halberd flashed countless times, drawing dazzling arcs of black, white and gold in the air, flickering with his aura.
Bodies split apart above the harbour, raining chunks of flesh and black blood into the sea below. One monster wrapped its tail around his leg, trying to drag him down, but he grabbed the spine protruding from its back and ripped it free with a wet crack.
The creature fell into pieces.
Down below, soldiers cheered despite the horror.
"Hurry! This is your best chance to move Paul!"
".... Don’t get injured, Your Majesty!"
"Heh, who do you think I am?"
Asmodeus twirled his halberd, Axiom’s blade humming with delight as it devoured the excess abyssal energy like a delicate snack. The danger wasn’t the small monsters but... the mother lingering in the depths of the ocean.
If she moved now, it would destroy any plans Asmodeus made.