Chapter 100: Battle for Dawn
"Warden! The enemy is approaching!" A watchman at Dawn says.
"Within expectations. Preparations hast already been made. Take up thy positions!. Course thy training and we shall not fall," Asterion shouts.
The current fortifications that surround the area of Dawn are simple wooden constructs. Simple wooden walls with several layers. Wooden caltrops are scattered around outside the walls. Compared to the Oulvgar's wooden fortifications around Hadrow, these don't have the same durability, but their arrangement is more orthodox giving the wooden structures more strength than if the Oulvgar used the same wood in their constructions.
The transport vehicles carrying the crusader's vanguard stop. Thousands of soldiers exit the myriad of vehicles. Compared to the lightly armoured soldiers that attacked Hadrow, these are equipped with minimal ranged weapons, bayonets affixed to their rifles, swords sheathed at the hip, and heavy armour. Several platoons in the vanguard are equipped with flamethrowers, meant to deal with the various wooden fortifications the Warband has constructed.
As the vanguard marches forward, the main force arrives, tanks, armoured vehicles with mounted guns, and heavily armoured soldiers wearing power armour follow after the vanguard. But as the vanguard marches through the misty field, hundreds of figures pop up from the ground, covered in mud and dirt.
The Warband was hiding in the ground, covering themselves with dirt and using the fog to provide extra cover. Immediately causing chaos amongst the vanguard and causing the main force to rush forward. But the tank leading the main force is smashed as a giant hammer falls on it from the sky, causing the tank to shatter as a large shadow blocks out what little light seeps through the fog.
Descending from the sky is the Warden, Asterion. The ground shakes as his heavy body lands, some of the soldiers who're weaker on their feet nearly fall over from the shockwaves. Picking up his hammer and smashing the other nearby tanks and armoured cars, Asterion alone brings the advancement of the main force to a halt.
"It's the Warden! He's here! Start the countermes--"
Before the crusader can finish, his head is smashed in by Asterion's large hammer. Dead in an instant, his skull crushed and brain turned to mush.
"All who determined to press onwards might not but be prepared to brow me! Thy end is nigh!"
His shield raised high, hammer in one hand, Asterion towers over all as he issues a death warrant to any that dare to press onwards to Dawn. The thousands of tanks take aim at Asterion, an uncountable amount of high calibre rifles have their sights on him, while the other soldier lobs grenades in his direction. The sound of tank fire and gunshots resound through the battlefield, explosions ground the earth to tremble. Shield in front, Asterion marches forwards, taking every hit. Leaving the vanguard to his subordinates, Asterion charges alone into the main force of the crusading army.
Behind Asterion, the crusader's vanguards try to turn back and attack the Warden, but the various members of the Warband that were hiding on the ground prevent any back attacks on their leader. To add oil to the fire, the gates on the wood wall open as the shield guards of the Warband rush out. The soldiers manning the watchtowers bombard the crusaders with a mix of projectiles from guns to magic. Soldiers from the vanguard and the main force of the crusaders attempt to snipe the watchmen, but the fog when combined with the height of the watchtowers make it difficult to get an accurate shot. But a couple of shots hit the mark and a tank shot manages to knock down a watchtower, killing the soldiers stationed there.
For the crusading army, losing a handful of soldiers isn't a big deal, having already lost several hundred of them. But for the Warband, losing a single soldier is a significant decrease in fighting power. And slowly but surely, the Warband is losing ground behind Asterion. The crusading army is losing soldiers in far greater numbers compared to the Warband. As the battle rages on, it's becoming harder and harder for the Warband to hold on, their numbers have fallen to half their original amount. Although the crusaders have lost more soldiers in total, the percentage is significantly lower. Much of the remaining Warband has retreated behind the walls due to injury, leaving only Asterion, his shield guard, and the corpses of their fallen comrades.
"We've almost won, focus fire on the Warden!" one of the Church Generals shouts.
Morale rises amongst the crusaders, but it doesn't last long as several beams of light shoot into their ranks, causing several explosions. Looking at the source, all that can be seen is a giant humanoid silhouette standing almost 15 metres tall, three times taller than Asterion. Even the Warband who isn't usually disturbed by the fog can't see through it.
Some of the clergies recognise the silhouette. A menace that had terrorised them and one that wouldn't be forgotten.
"That's the Steel Mirage!"
Hearing the shouts from the soldiers of the Church, Asterion is immediately aware of who's shown up.
"The rest of thou retreat to the wall," Asterion orders.
Following his orders, the shield guard retreats to the wall, many of them being significantly injured. But under the protection of the Warden, they make it back safely. Moving to the opposite side of the battlefield from Zrathno and his mech, Asterion is far enough away from any allies to meet the condition to active his trump card, the skill "The Ultimate Goliath" absorbing the lingering souls of all the fallen soldiers, ally and enemy alike. With all the souls around, Asterion grows in size to be even larger than Zrathno's Steel Mirage.
On one side of the battlefield is the Steel Mirage, killing hundreds of soldiers at a time with the electromagnetic railgun attached to its arm. On the other side is the gigantic Asterion crushing the crusaders underfoot.
Seeing the tides of the battle shift to their enemy's favour, General Aurelius orders a withdrawal, "All units retreat. This is no longer a winnable battle. Recall the detachment squads. All units are to retreat to the rendezvous point!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Akkre_Kojuuin
Akkre_Kojuuin This should have been out like 6 hours ago, but I got a super late start since I got a new blowup mattress since the old one had a leak and I actually got good sleep for once. Basically, I woke up and absolutely refused to leave the bed.
Have a nice day everyone.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone