Lucius’s eyes closed briefly as he sent Tiberius’s orders along via his skills. Only when he was done did he question them. “Torches, sir?”

Tiberius nodded, his head on a swivel for more attackers. “Indeed. At this rate, we’ll be overwhelmed by their numbers and maneuverability. We lure as many as we can into the town as we retreat, then burn it to the ground with them inside.”

“Yes, sir!”

Tiberius nodded grimly. While some would have called it a shame to destroy their newly acquired territory like this, it was actually the least of his concerns. Buildings and infrastructure could be easily rebuilt, especially if they leveraged the materials of Habersville and the mines themselves. No, the part that troubled Tiberius most was the retreat itself.

A retreat and disengagement were oftentimes the most deadly part of a battle. The vast majority of the casualties the Legion received came when they were forced to withdraw, especially when fighting other organized foes. The clashing of their forces and steel against another’s was dangerous, of course, but it was also measured—steady strength against strength, shield against sword and spear.

But when one side turned and ran, that careful balance was disrupted. That was when people got stabbed in the back, shot with arrows, or pelted with slings. Even the best retreating formations couldn’t entirely protect them as they were faced with the choice of being felled quickly or slowly. Men couldn’t even rotate out effectively when they became tired or wounded, compounding the problem further. No, a retreat was when one’s forces were most prone to being ridden down and exterminated.

It was why any commander with half a mind would avoid giving the order at all costs. Once they started, there was no turning back. The butcher’s bill would come due in some form or another. But Tiberius could read the writing on the wall. Delaying it would only increase their losses further—quick and decisive action was the best chance for he and his Legion to turn this situation around. Though they did have some other variables working in their favor as well.

Tiberius’s gaze swept the surrounding buildings. As much of a boon as they were to these creatures, perhaps they could leverage the terrain as well.

He barked out a few more orders, trusting Lucius to convey them as they began pulling back toward the buildings. His men followed suit as the Legion began to retreat one block at a time. They divided their numbers among the streets and alleyways, adapting their tactics to handle the unending tide of grey creatures that continued to harry them from all sides. Shield walls began to prioritize depth and defense from skyward attacks rather than just looking to the front or back of their lines. They moved fluidly together, arranging a second shield wall behind them as they backed up and essentially creating a slowly moving barrier through the street.

It wasn’t perfect, of course—there were plenty of wagons, barrels, and other obstacles in their path that forced them to reposition. During those moments, gaps appeared in their formation—gaps that the enemy exploited in their clever yet suicidal attacks.

As they passed a few stables, the creatures leapt forward, tearing into the enclosed horses in a spray of blood and gore. The Romans hurled a series of torches that carved burning arcs through the air, landing in the dry feed straw piled nearby. In moments it was crackling away merrily, embers and flames dancing through the air and jumping between buildings as the blaze rapidly spread.

Some corner of Tiberius’s mind felt a pang of regret. He would have much preferred to requisition those horses for his officers—he’d never expected the beasts to be quite so difficult to find, and now here they were, watching their first real opportunity for mounts fall under a rain of claws and flames. Still, there was no time to try and salvage the animals, even if any did remain alive.

The retreat continued as torches were lobbed past the Roman lines, setting houses and businesses alight as they moved. The creatures hissed angrily at the flames, skittering away from their heat and light, but refusing to be entirely deterred. They scrambled around to find alternate routes of attack as they continued to harry the retreating Legionnaires. Their progress slowed as the fires grew. It bought them just enough time to hurry their retreat along and extend their lead a bit further.

Tiberius pulled back from the front himself and moved toward the gate, quickly navigating his way up to the top of the wall to get a better vantage of the situation. Legionnaires all across the city continued pulling back toward the walls like water draining between cracks in the street, leaving a trail of flickering flames and emaciated grey bodies in their wake. From here, he could see the mine entrance from which the monsters continued to pour out with no signs of slowing.

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That wasn’t all that he saw, however. Among the retreating soldiers were more than a few displays of nonstandard tactics or even magic. He saw one small group of Legionnaires climbing buildings with the same ease as the ghouls, taking the battle to their foes above. Another ripped planks from houses, only to assemble them into barricades with blinding speed. There was one group that didn’t even seem to be using torches—their very swords seemed to set timbers and ghouls alight wherever they struck. Where such tactics were put to use, his men seemed to have a little more breathing room to pull back.

The Legion weren’t the only ones retreating. Groups of the citizens his men had rounded up were being hastily ushered toward Stonewake’s gates—not that they needed much encouragement. Between the screaming of the eyeless creatures behind them and the steadily growing haze of smoke in the air, it didn’t take much convincing for them to move along quickly.

“Lucius,” Tiberius called gruffly over his shoulder, honing in on a particular engagement. “Order Octavian’s century to join with the men three streets down from them. Warn Augustus’s century that their current path will soon be cut off by the flames.”

He continued rattling off orders for Lucius to convey to the various centuries and sentries as the fire spilled through the city—a city that, despite its name, was built with an awful lot of wood. Tiberius felt each loss of a soldier keenly as before. However, they came less frequently than he’d feared. The retreat was progressing even better than he’d hoped.

However, trepidation filled his mind as he considered the last stages of leaving the town. That would certainly prove ugly. He had no illusions that these walls would pose a barrier to the prodigious climbers, and considering the limited size of the front gate… his men may very well find the chokepoint used against them.

Luckily, the vast majority of the Legionnaires still remained outside of the town, surrounding it. They’d been intended as a screening force, one that would stand ready to protect their new territory from any sort of incoming attack. But if the threat was from within… perhaps it would also serve to keep their enemies contained. At least until they could regroup and sweep the creatures down to reclaim the mines.

Tiberius returned his attention to Stonewake’s interior. More and more of the buildings had been set ablaze, but they hadn’t yet started to collapse. It would be hours before the burning structures truly blocked off the streets and trapped these monsters in the resulting inferno. But in the meantime, it denied them rooftops as a shortcut behind their lines.

He watched in satisfaction as the roof of a building gave way beneath the talons of one of the wretched beasts. It fell through with a scream he could hear from halfway across the city as it began to burn alive. Still, it was only one among many. Even though fewer creatures could get behind them, they still clustered together in loosely-organized groups and worked to cut off his men. The sheer mass of flesh opposing their retreat was not insignificant, and he could see a particularly large pack of the creatures moving to intercept the stream of Legionnaires exiting through the city gates.

With a few more orders, Tiberius diverted several different centuries of men to stop them. But as they encountered resistance, they changed course to weave through the streets, with more and more narrowly avoiding his men, slipping through gaps in their defenses, or climbing over the relatively intact houses the fires had not yet reached.

Tiberius’s jaw tightened. He prepared his men as best he could, positioning them for the inevitable push they’d need to make through a mass of these creatures. If they continued to coordinate like this, then he’d have to revise his internal estimate of the casualties they were about to take.

He continued to issue commands for as long as he could. Soon, though, it became clear that they would lose the gate before long. He hurried down the stairs just minutes before the swarm attempted to bite into the flow of men, issuing one more order as he did—calling in men from the outside to secure a path for retreat and hold off the creatures as long as they could. It was counterintuitive, but with a small force to secure the walls and defend against any climbers, they might be able to turn this around.

Just as Tiberius reached the ground, his guards rushed him away. The sounds of steel on talons and screaming echoed at his back. He could see the stream of soldiers behind him slow as their movement was arrested by the enemy. More and more deaths stabbed through him like a series of icy needles, each one numbing him a little more to the next.

It quickly became clear that, despite his best efforts, they were in bad shape. The Legionnaires in the city would be overwhelmed. As for the ones outside… well, that depended on how many more of these things rushed up from below. But based on what he had seen, there was no obvious end in sight.

Tiberius’s heart sank. Retreating from the city was one thing. But if they were forced to retreat further… how many more losses would they take? Worse, how long would it be before they could return here? They needed the resources that Stonewake provided, but if the town was rendered unassailable by this blight… what other options did they have?

Just as Tiberius began to wrestle with the possibility of having to lose an even larger proportion of his men than he’d been prepared to, a new sensation struck him. A warm feeling, one that began in his toes before rushing quickly up his entire body.

Before he could even register what he’d felt, the world went white.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep