The relentless assault by the dwarven machines made it very difficult for Kane's forces to advance, as the closer they approached the dwarven fortress the faster their numbers dwindled.
While the sky was ablaze with the setting sun, the earth was alight with the flaming projectiles hurled by the dwarven machines, their destructive dance illuminating the darkening battlefield.
As the enemies came within a 1km radius of the fortress, the massive trebuchets of the dwarves, once merely a part of the backdrop, now roared to life.
Positioned strategically on the higher grounds, their counterweight arms swung powerfully, hurling enormous boulders with devastating precision. Each shot was followed by a thunderous impact, crushing dozens of soldiers and creating crater-sized indentations on the battleground.
The aerial force was not spared either. The harpoons continued their deadly rain, dragging down countless beings from the sky. However, another weapon joined this lethal orchestra - the Sky Piercers. Positioned on the highest towers of the fortress, these crossbow-like devices launched gargantuan bolts, each one magically enchanted to explode upon impact. Every time a bolt found its mark, a thunderous boom echoed across the battlefield, and several winged creatures vanished in a puff of smoke.
Kane, mounted on his towering elephant beast, eyed the unfolding destruction with a hardened gaze. The odds were challenging, but this was no more than an expected obstacle in his grand design. Around him, his forces continued their relentless advance, their spirits unbroken despite the mounting losses.
The Shaman God Memphidos watched silently, his eyes glinting with an eerie light. No one knew what was running through his mind, his silence as unnerving as his reputation. Suddenly, he raised his arms, his fingers tracing an intricate pattern in the air. A low hum reverberated through the battlefield, felt rather than heard. In an instant, a vast swath of dwarven machines ceased operation. Their gears froze, their operators looking on helplessly as their formidable weapons turned into useless hunks of metal.
In the heart of the fortress, right beside the room where the disc was located the Forger King watched the battlefield unfold with a calm focus.
His fingers stroking his legendary hammer, his body covered in metallic gadgets of war that he had personally crafted throughout his lifetime for a fight just like this one.
The enemy was fierce, but so was their resolve, for way too long had the dwarves been scoffed at as a weak race incapable of fighting a proper battle.
This grand war was the perfect opportunity for the dwarves to reclaim their honour as the forger king planned to do exactly that by destroying the approaching enemy forces with the power of their creations.
" The enemy have crossed the 750 metres mark my king " a tier6 god informed the forger king who nodded in acknowledgement and said " Then it's time to unveil the metal golems mounted with the thunder cannons "
The command echoed through the fortress, spreading a wave of anticipation amongst the dwarves. As the dust from the battlefield stirred in the wind, the earth itself seemed to obey the Forger King's command.
Suddenly, with an ear-splitting roar, the ground around the fortress began to tremble and split apart.
From the depths, metallic titans, the metal golems, rose to the surface, their enormous figures casting long, foreboding shadows on the battlefield.
80 feet tall and about 50 feet wide, they were colossal beasts that even put the proudest giants to shame.
Immediately their arrival caused the enemy to launch a plethora of attacks upon them, but they were literal tanks forged from the strongest of metals with literal master forgers working on every joint to make them strong enough to withstand such blows with ease.
Awe-inspiring in their stature, they were fully armoured with polished metal alloy and fierce red eyes.
On their outstretched arms, they held the thunder cannons - monstrous artillery pieces that looked like they belonged to the realm of gods.
Once they got within range of fire, with a deafening boom they launched a barrage of projectiles that cracked the air, hurling towards the advancing enemy lines.
Each thunderous blast from the cannons sent shockwaves rippling through the battlefield, the ground shaking under their raw power. Where the projectiles landed, a storm of lightning erupted, its terrifying dance obliterating anyone unlucky enough to be in its path.
In moments, large portions of the ground force had been decimated, their once formidable strength now scattered and disorganised.
However, although the ground forces were pushed back and slowed down the aerial forces kept advancing despite the heavy assault of dwarven machinery.
When it began to look like the dwarves had no answer for the aerial forces, a deafening roar echoed from behind the mountains. A fleet of 500,000 dwarves took flight in sleek fighter-like structures, a swarm of steel and fire streaking across the twilight sky.
Their arrows, shot from machine-gun-like structures attached to their aircraft, rained down on the aerial forces, wreaking havoc.
The aerial battle became a dance of death as the dwarves made their swift attacks, their manoeuvrability and advanced weaponry giving them an edge against the larger winged beasts.
With their arrival, the aerial forces were also forced to pause and fight as their rapid advance slowed down.
For a solid hour, there was a stalemate with hundreds of thousands of Kane's forces dying, but despite the relentless assault, slowly but surely the collosal army inched closer and closer to the dwarven fortress.
As the enemy pushed past the 500-metre mark, the Forger King rose from his command chair, his eyes fixated on the relentless advance. His hands tightened around his legendary hammer, the metal whirring softly under his grip.
"Unveil the Cyclone Carvers and the Magma Mortars," he commanded, his voice echoing through the fortress. As his order resonated, the dwarves braced themselves, ready to unleash the next wave of their mechanical might on the battlefield.
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/// A/N - Chapter 16/20, technically it should be the end of the day but let's see if we can squeeze in some more ///