By the spirits, the time had finally come. A battle unlike any other. A true war that could shake the very foundations of a planet. Through a stroke of fortune, I had been selected as one of the heroc capable of partaking in this event.

I stood in my black, chitin armor, a sinister light glistening off of it. Behind me stood two hundred brave soldiers, arranged in rows of eight. Alongside us were nine other companies of a similar size forming the Two Hundred and First Battalion of the Keeper’s Army.

Ahead of us was our Dragon General, one of the rare generals not selected from the heroc. He was an elf, those small, thin creatures that specialized in wielding magic. No matter, he had volunteered for this battle, and chosen to lead us. In battle, one’s race mattered naught.

Suddenly, a voice spoke from the floating palace, high in the sky. It seemed to resonate through my mind, carried by an oppressively powerful mana. “Thank you for answering my call, everyone. I know that this isn’t an easy decision for many of you. Some have friends, families, loves that you are leaving behind. However, I believe that what you fight for is an honorable thing.”

These were the words of the Keeper. The words that would drive us to shed blood and blade. “You are fighting to keep them safe, to ensure that your friends can wake up without fear. The threat you choose to face is one that could destroy everything we love, if given the chance. You face monsters on a scale you’ve never known. But you do so with pride.”

“Whether you fight for the glory of battle, the desire to protect, or the simple wish to choose your own path… you have my sincere thanks. I hope that I will be able to see you all again some day. That you can truly emerge victorious in this battle.”

As he finished his speech, the earth began to tremble. The horizon changed, shifting into sinister hues of black and red as a massive gateway arose. It felt like it could encompass the whole of the earth. Beyond the gateway was an abyss of swirling energy, the portal that would take us from our home, and send us to battle.

“Begin your march.” The Keeper spoke once more, and it began. The one hundred battalions marched forward, the ground shaking with their steps. Then the next hundred falling in line behind them. Without a word, my battalion joined the third batch. A sea of steel marched through the gate, anticipating what would await us on the other side.

We kept our eyes open as we stepped through the gate, knowing full well what could be waiting for us on the other side. Maybe the two hundred thousand soldiers that left before were already engaged in a brutal brawl. Maybe they had already died, even.

As I stepped through, I felt the energy washing over me, like static clinging to my skin. Once I had reached the other side, I saw a black sky, a perpetual storm. Lightning crackled overhead, yet not a drop of water fell from the sky. Across the horizon, I could see a jagged rock landscape, forms shifting in brief flickers of movement.

We continued marching after we emerged from the gate, knowing that there were another seven groups behind us. Only when everyone was through did the gate disappear, leaving us alone in our final battlefield.

“Commanders of the Two Hundred and First, report!” Saren, our Dragon General, shouted out towards us once we had stopped.

“Krash Ne’yal, reporting!” I called out, waiting for my turn in the line to come up. I could tell that the air seemed to be a bit more thin here. Not to a degree that made it unbreathable, but it may be an issue for prolonged combat. I made a note to keep battles as short and concise as possible.

Saren glanced around, nodding his head once everyone had reported in. At that point, it was our turn. Each commander turned, inspecting their troops. Only when we had determined that there was nobody missing did the process end.

Tsubaki had brief every general and commander on the purpose of our mission here well before we left. Somewhere in this world, there was a ‘senior monster’. They would likely look like any normal monster within the world, but… if we were able to kill that one creature, the rest would fall.

We had no way of determining the location of this senior monster, and were simply told to keep our eyes out for any that seemed to be more intelligent than the rest. Otherwise, we simply needed to kill any monsters that we came across.

The problem was the sheer scale of that mission. If the entire army moved as a single unit, we wouldn’t be able to cover enough ground to scour the entire planet. It would be too easy for the opponent to slip through our grasp and evade us until we were whittled away to nothing.

However, at the same time, we couldn’t split up into individual battalions. Doing so would thin our numbers too much, and leave us open for attacks. Instead, we devised a middle ground.

“Soldiers of the Twenty-First Legion, fall in line!” Saren shouted, and the troops of ten battalions all joined together. With ten battalions, we would number twenty thousand individuals per group. With a hundred legions, we would be able to cover a wide area.

Each legion moved to set up its own base camp, spreading out just enough that everyone was able to rest for the evening. From there, the Legion Generals, the leader of the first battalion from every legion, gathered to discuss the strategy. In the meantime…

“Shamans, scout the surrounding area!” I called out towards the two hundred troops behind me, similar orders being sent to most other groups as well. “Mages, prepare defensive spells. Secure the perimeter! Druids, analyze the soil composition!”

There was a brief commotion as the orders were carried out. We came here knowing that we wouldn’t be able to set up a permanent base of operations immediately. It would take time, maybe days or weeks, perhaps even months, depending on local conditions.

This was our first task. The primary task of the First Legion. Upon arrival, set up a forward command that would allow the use of communication crystals between the rest of the forces. This forward command would also be able to monitor the condition of the other legions, to send backup and additional supplies when necessary.

As they got to work, I gripped the heavy sword resting in my hand. My eyes kept looking up towards the sky. Was this day, or was it already night? We had been warned that the primary known threat of this world was a nocturnal creature, but… when the sky was covered by a storm that stretched beyond the horizon in every direction, the only natural light offered by brief flashes of lightning… how could one tell the difference? Maybe this world didn’t have the same concept of day and night that we knew…

If that was the case, then we had entered the worst case scenario. Herocs had a natural advantage in the dark, as our night vision was excellent. Other races, though… they would have a hard time determining when they were under attack without the use of magical lights.

Thankfully, it seemed like any local monsters had been scared away by the appearance of the massive gate. Or maybe this location had been chosen because of its relative safety. Either way, we didn’t experience an attack during our preparations.

Not that there weren’t creatures out there, watching us… I was able to see several figures, lanky forms clad in chitin, hunched over as their mouths snarled. It was hard to tell if they had eyes beneath the slick surface that covered the upper portions of their faces.

Several times, I thought about raising the alarm. I knew that I wasn’t the only one that was able to see the dozens of forms in the distance, but… they were staying well outside of our camp, not approaching any closer. If we did attack, they would have plenty of time to disperse before our attacks reached them.

Everyone. Saren’s voice spoke directly into our minds, unlike the Keeper’s voice that had been projected across a distance. The location here is fitting for our forward command post. The First Legion is already working to dig out a sizable enough compound. Maintain vigilance, we don’t know how long this will take.

I gave a small nod as I heard the commands. “First shift, stand watch! Second shift, finish setting up camp and wait to take over!”

There were a number of precautions that had to be taken when setting up our command post. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that we had to prepare for everything. Whether there were burrowing monsters, or those able to become ethereal, we had to ensure that the compound was secure. This meant that a lot of resources had to be devoted to this task, since we weren’t certain that we’d be able to find them locally.

As I thought about that, I noticed several dozen battalions breaking away from the camp, moving out towards the landscape. I gave a small nod of my head, realizing that they were the hunting parties. It was unknown how long we would be here, but we had only been able to spare enough food to feed the army for a month when we left. Beyond that, it was up to our ability to secure a stable food supply from this region. Not everyone would be able to set up the deep farms like the First Legion…

I kept my eyes on the hunting parties, noting how the chitinous creatures slipped away as soon as they noticed their approach. There were no plants to speak of in this area, so being able to secure food meant finding animals that could be hunted and safely eaten.

Soon, the hunting parties went outside the range of my vision, moving behind the rocky landscape. I could only channel my ki into my ears, listening for a battle to break out. At this distance, I might be a bit late to arrive to the fight, but it would be better than not appearing at all.

To my… disappointment, there was no such fight to be had. Two hours after the hunting party left, they promptly returned. With them they brought six different creatures, all covered in cracked chitin from head to toe.

As soon as the creatures’ corpses had been brought into the camp, they were immediately sealed within individual barriers. There was the possibility of one of the beasts either turning undead or simply ‘faking’ its defeat, so we couldn’t take that possibility. More importantly, the barrier would isolate any harmful elements that the creatures may pose on our camp.

With that taken care of, I was able to let out a light sigh of relief. A quick sweep over the hunting parties showed that there were only a few small injuries. One man clutched his arm, clearly in pain from where flesh had been melted away, but he was already being tended to. It was surprising that something had managed to burn through the armor, personally forged by Tubrock, but that was not outside of our preparations.

Looking towards the storm overhead, I narrowed my eyes, wishing that I could peer through it to get a proper grasp of the sky above. Alas, there was nothing that I could do to dispel the crackling clouds.