They were stalling.

Buying time for the main assault to break the settlement.

"COWARDS!" Seraphina roared, her corruption blades cutting through two Fallen Heroes in rapid succession—throat and heart strikes that dropped the failed experiments permanently. "FIGHT ME SERIOUSLY OR ADMIT YOU’RE AFRAID!"

"We’re not afraid," Gattychan replied, his Villain’s Bane suppression maintaining constant pressure. "We’re tactical. Our mission is keeping you here, not killing you. So we keep you here."

Seraphina killed another Fallen Hero—decapitation with single blade strike.

Three failed experiments down. Thirteen remaining.

But killing the mindless abominations was taking time and effort—time and effort she couldn’t spend helping her defenders.

"While you stall me, my people are dying!" she screamed, feeling through the telepathic network as settlement defenders fell. "Every second you keep me here is another defender killed by your soldiers!"

"Exactly," Rindelle replied, firing an amplified arrow that detonated near Seraphina, forcing her to dodge. "That’s the strategy."

Seraphina’s tactical mind raced.

They’re correct. I can’t break through four heroes plus thirteen Fallen Heroes quickly. Even at full power it would take time. At one-tenth power from Villain’s Bane, it might take twenty minutes to kill or disable them all.

Twenty minutes. In twenty minutes, my one hundred eighty-three defenders will be dead against nineteen hundred soldiers.

Unless...

She shifted tactics.

Instead of trying to kill the heroes, she focused entirely on the Fallen Heroes—killing them as quickly as possible to reduce the numbers containing her.

Her corruption blades became blur of motion—throat, heart, spine, head—every strike aimed at the failed experiments’ weak points.

Fourth Fallen Hero dead. Fifth. Sixth.

The heroes recognized what she was doing.

"She’s trying to eliminate the Fallen Heroes so she can break out!" Mikazelle warned.

"Stop her!" Gattychan ordered.

But stopping her meant engaging more aggressively—which was exactly what Seraphina wanted.

If they fought defensively, she killed Fallen Heroes and eventually broke free.

If they fought aggressively to protect the Fallen Heroes, they were trying to kill her seriously, which meant she could counter-attack with lethal force.

She’d just forced them into tactical dilemma.

Gattychan recognized the trap and chose the aggressive option.

"ENGAGE! FULL COMBAT!"

He charged with blessed sword aimed at Seraphina’s heart—a killing blow if it connected.

She blocked with one corruption blade, her other blade striking at his exposed side.

He barely dodged, the corruption blade cutting his armor but not flesh.

They engaged in rapid melee—blessed sword against corruption blades, holy power against demonic energy, hero combat training against three-hundred-year-old demon lord experience.

Even suppressed to one-tenth power, Seraphina’s skill was superior.

Her blades moved in patterns Gattychan’s training hadn’t prepared him for. Strikes from impossible angles. Feints that looked like killing blows but were setups for actual attacks from different directions.

She cut his shoulder. His leg. His non-sword arm.

He was accumulating wounds, his divine healing struggling to keep up.

Seraphelle’s healing magic poured into him, keeping him alive, but he was clearly losing the duel.

"I CAN’T HOLD HER!" Gattychan shouted. "SHE’S TOO STRONG!"

"FALL BACK!" Mikazelle teleported him away from Seraphina’s next strike, repositioning him twenty feet back.

Seraphina used that moment to kill another Fallen Hero—spine severed, the creature dropping instantly.

Seventh failed experiment down. Nine remaining.

The battle continued with brutal intensity:

Fifteen Minutes Into Battle:

Seraphina had killed twelve of sixteen Fallen Heroes.

But the effort had cost her—she had wounds from Gattychan’s blade, burns from Seraphelle’s occasional Divine Smites, exhaustion from sustained combat at one-tenth power.

The four heroes were also wounded—Gattychan had seven cuts, Seraphelle was exhausted from constant healing, Mikazelle had used most of her spatial magic maintaining defensive teleports, Rindelle had fired eighteen amplified arrows.

Both sides were wearing down.

But Seraphina was still contained—half a mile from the main battle, unable to support her dying defenders.

Through the telepathic network, she felt settlement casualties mounting.

Outer ring fallen. Middle ring under assault. Defenders down to one hundred nine...

No. Not enough. We can’t hold.

She needed to break free. Needed to return to the main battle.

Even if it meant taking massive risks.

—----------

Main Battle - Middle Ring Defense :

The settlement’s middle defensive ring was better fortified than outer ring—actual walls instead of rubble barricades, reinforced buildings for defensive positions, prepared kill zones with overlapping fields of fire.

One hundred nine defenders held this ring.

Sixteen hundred forty-five human soldiers assaulted it.

Fifteen-to-one odds now.

The fighting was even more brutal than the outer ring.

Goblin Positions - Desperate Defense: 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Kress commanded eighteen surviving goblins (from forty-seven at battle start) at a fortified building.

They faced two hundred seventy human soldiers.

Fifteen-to-one.

"HOLD AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!" Kress shouted. "MAKE EVERY ARROW COUNT!"

They fired from windows and murder holes, their arrows striking advancing humans.

But the humans had learned from the outer ring—they advanced behind shield walls, their tower shields creating mobile cover that arrows couldn’t easily penetrate.

And they had overwhelming numbers.

For every human Kress’s goblins killed, fifteen more came.

After five minutes, the building’s ground floor was breached. Human soldiers poured in.

"SECOND FLOOR!" Kress ordered. "FIGHTING WITHDRAWAL UPSTAIRS!"

His goblins retreated up narrow stairs—defensible position where humans couldn’t bring their numerical advantage to bear effectively.

They held the stairway for three minutes, killing twenty-three humans who tried to force their way up the narrow passage.

But eventually, human mages used fire magic to burn the building’s lower levels. Smoke filled the structure.

"WE CAN’T HOLD!" a goblin coughed through smoke.

"OUT THE WINDOWS! RETREAT TO INNER RING!" Kress commanded.

His goblins jumped from second-floor windows—not far enough to kill, but far enough to injure.

Three goblins broke legs on landing and were killed by waiting human soldiers.

Fifteen goblins (including Kress) escaped and ran toward the inner defensive ring.

They’d held the building for eight minutes. Killed forty-six humans. Lost twenty-two goblins.

Orc Positions:

Gruk commanded eleven surviving orcs at a defensive wall section.

They faced one hundred sixty-five human soldiers.

Fifteen-to-one.

But orcs didn’t retreat easily.

"WE HOLD HERE!" Gruk roared, his massive frame still showing wounds from his champion duel. "KILL THEM ALL!"