The next three weeks saw many changes to the situation on human lands, first, and the most notable one, was the supposed den of vampires which they sought to investigate blowing up in flames, many eyewitnesses and scouts spoke of intense energy signifying a battle between two sides within the compound, no one however saw anything come in or out before the place was burnt to the ground

That was only within the first week, the following events tore their eyes from the burnt den as two new guilds made their way to the frontier, men and woman clad in black with a somber atmosphere to them made up the first one, silence filled their group as most merely nodded after receiving the duty they would be assigned, resigning to their new place in wait for the next battle

The second group was the exact opposite of the first, with all of its members being women clad in white, a veil donned on each member hiding their face, the only similarity with the first group is how silent they were, accepting their role right away and taking up their new residence as well

Just when everyone was settled in and people were getting back to routine the mist showed signs of another invasion, resulting in all groups gathering for the imminent battle

Now, every participant from the last victory, including the Mute guild and YuJu's forces, along with the two new guilds, were gathered near the forest, geared up and ready for war

"Everyone looks to be in high spirits"

Sid commented seeing the fighters fired up, nothing like the atmosphere from last time

"Of course, we won with ease last time, now we have more levels and two new guilds, there is no way we lose"

"Personally I think its because those vampires got wiped out, without them breathing down on our necks I feel at ease"

"You never know if they were really all killed"

"Don't be a party pooper, their dead, that's it"

The other guild leaders shared their own opinion on the matter

"Whether alive or dead they would not be in any shape to intervene this time"

The Waxy guild leader said, assured that nothing would dampen this time's victory

"What do you think miss Sofia?"

Gabe asked the absent minded Sofia, breaking her out of her trance

"Huh? Yes, I hold hope that this time's victory does not come at great cost"

Learning from her past mistake of jinxing things she worded her answer well, sneaking another glance in YuJu's direction while she was at it

'I do have a bad feeling this time though, that man….dosent feel the same'

For some reason her powers were ringing warning bells ever since the masked person appeared, both her angelic one and the blessing she got from the new class, all pointing at the silent man

At that moment she noticed him turning to the mist, sickles out, the rest of his party also taking hold of their weapons, right before she also turned her head in the same direction

"Here they come"

She spoke, conjuring an arrow of light to notch on the bow acquired from the shadow trader's gift of weapons, aiming sights toward the now rolling mist

"Archers, take aim, frontline, be ready to engage the incoming charge"

Rushing to their stations with practiced movements the humans watched as the first figure came out of the mist

Thum Bzzz

It was those giant wraiths like the previous time, only this time a cloud of small critters blocked its body, swarming around it to hinder any direct attack

"Looks like your informant's tip was true, glad we won't be wasting the explosives on those things"

Sid was grinning, information was the key to victory, since they know what was coming then casualties could be avoided

"Archers, hold your shots, Mr. Gabe, it's your turn"

"My pleasure"

Stepping forward he allowed the light halo to spread outward, his loose clothes rippling in the wind as his hand raised to embrace the sky

"Let me clear the sky for you!"

With a push from his light clad hands he conjured a gust of luminescence

As soon as the charged winds touched upon the cloud of critters it banished them back into the mist with barely audible screeches

Clad no more in the swarm the giant was exposed to the archers' line of sight, or at least that's what they thought

"The hell is that?"

"It ain't not giant for sure"

The size matched, but instead of one whole being the thing before them was made from many wraiths piling up on top of each other to fake a towering figure

"We've been had"

No sooner than Sid spoke the wraiths lurched forward, disbanding the figure they took while the real giants came out, once more hidden behind the swarm

"Mr. Gabe?!"

"Cant, I exhausted all my energy in that single attack"

Things were falling apart from the get go, but humanity wasn't dismayed, for they also had a trick up their sleeve

"Paradise Palace, clear the swarm"

A chorus melody followed the order, with all the women from the newly joined guild banding together to form another gust of light bearing wind, much like Gabe's but on an entirely new level

Whooooosh~

Like a storm the gust blew past the giants, sending the swarm back once more, with no time to cover the giants who were showered with arrows

Boom boom!

In no time they were wiped off the battlefield, giving room for the frontline to engage normal wraiths without worry

Goaaaa! Kreee!

The expected beast tide surged forth following this loss, no stampede occurred though as every one of them was a winged one, tearing through the sky with angered roars, their numbers scattered on different altitudes

"The second line of defense won't help this time, they are too scattered to be beamed down"

Sid advised, knowing their towers needed the enemy to be lined up

This called for individual battles, something the demon wolf masked leader tackled readily, beastly roars ensuing from the human side with the masked winged beasts taking to the skies as well, meeting the scattered enemies head on

"We can't bar the path entirely, more troops are needed up there"

No sooner than he spoke a sickle extended out, latching onto one of the flyers and pulling YuJu up, followed by an impressive display of aerial battle where those wraiths acted as mere stepping stones for his grandiose show

Not to be outdone a saber followed as well, with zombies growing torn fleshly wings in pursuit, barring any beast from making way to the support at the back

Next, they expected a stampede which the towers would take care of, and a behemoth that Sofia and her new powers would be capable of downing, but things didn't go as planned as a retreat was called for by the commanding wraith within the mist, proving this invasion to be a test for what humanity was capable of

Seeing them retreat YuJu started to spin his sickle in place, not needing to warn the others since they were more than ready to shower what he exposed with every ounce of power manageable

The sickle was thrown back as far as the eye could see, way beyond his first try, before being tagged forward with a tearing force, slicing off part of the mist

"Begone!"

Alongside Sofia's blinding arrow was a barrage of flames, decimating the forces uncovered, minimal as they may be with the wraiths sending not too many numbers to begin with

Surviving the attacks was a small group of elite wraiths, shield by three robes one's jointly leading this scouting attack

Three might sound too much, even for YuJu, there was no behemoth however, and the enemy wasn't the only one who received reinforcements

"March"

Heading the Death Row guild was a white haired old man, wielding a halberd of his size and stomping out all the elites, keeping them at bay as YuJu dove straight toward the three leaders, a saber by his side providing assistance when needed

With his own two blades and the saber, there was no surprise that the battle ended quickly, with no survivors on the mist's side, and no casualties on humanity's

"We did it!"

"We won! I'm telling you we actually won!"

"Anyone needs a punch to see if they are dreaming?"

"Screw you!"

With no comrades lost every warrior was screaming out in victory, gone were days of mourning the fallen

"Looks like things went well, thanks for the hard work everyone"

Sid congratulated the others, joining in on the celebratory mood, in doing so he missed Sofia's grom face staring at the back of the masked YuJu, as well as the narrowed eyes under the helmet of the zombies' owner doing the same before taking off on his horse

Humanity was on its way to winning this war, but what else remained in store for it once the banded forces found no reason to cooperate? And what corrupt forces have taken residents in their midst