The army of monsters come to a halt a couple of miles away from the village, displaying their full force under the sunlight. A soft buzzing sound emanates from the airborne creatures overhead, the Blood Counts. The Blood Counts are nothing more than giant black coloured mosquitoes the size of men with an over glorified name, notorious for sucking the blood of human beings and leaving behind nothing but dried skin and bones.

Unlike their tiny sized counterparts, the Blood Counts do not go through any metamorphosis. They simply hatch in their winged forms, much like birds. Their large community thrives within the hot and humid tropical conditions of the second layer of the Millennium Forest, where unkempt tangled vegetation cover the entirety of the zone.

The fellow inhabitants of the Fetid Jungle, another name for the second layer, are slithering and scuttling on the ground. The King Arachnids stay true to their name, being majestic spiders reaching up to 5 feet in length and 3 feet in height. Armed with strong, hairy limbs and tough vertical fangs, further complemented by their ability to produce iron-hard webs, they are formidable predators who rule over the Fetid Jungle.

The Vine Snake, though losing in terms of deadliness, overshadow the lot with its stealth capabilities. Aptly named for its ability, it lies in wait hanging over branches camouflaged as vines and pounces on unsuspecting prey. Its abilities are partially wasted however, due to the current battlefield being flat grasslands.

The army is arranged in multiple rectangular formations, no different than the ones frequently used by humans. Orcs and goblins make up the majority of the monster's forces, they stand menacingly while revealing their green skinned half-naked bodies. The orcs wield their favourite weapon of choice, battle axes. The goblins are pathetic as always, waving around tiny flimsy sticks which they use as clubs. Wolves prowl among the ranks, looking regal as they display their sleek fur.

The Ogres tower over the formations, being humanoids that are over 15 feet tall. They are holding clubs as thick as tree trunks, which is most likely what they were made of. They are well-known for their tough skin and enormous strength but their low intelligence holds little to be credited for. Standing even higher than the Ogres are the Treants.

Being double the height of Ogres, they cast a looming shadow over the army. These creatures are the incarnations of the fury of Mother Nature, they are trees which are given life and are capable of moving albeit a bit slow. Yellow and red leaves cover its branches, similar to its non-moving brethren within the third layer, the Autumn Forest. Thankfully, the Ogres and Treants which are present numbers less than a hundred.

"Gillian! What's the enemy count?!" Aaron bellows loudly, attracting the attention of the defenders who were eyeing the monsters. Gillian is positioned on the rooftop, hence he has a clearer view of the enemy formations and is able to give a more accurate estimate on the enemy numbers.

"I'm not too sure, but I think it's over 9000!!!" Gillian calls back to Aaron, drawing out loud curses from the rest of the defenders. Counting an army which consists of creatures of varying sizes and shapes is a difficult task, but Gillian based his estimates on the area of land currently occupied by the enemy.

"Stick to the plan! The numbers are well within our expectations!" Aaron tries to boost the defenders' morale. The truth is, his worst estimates was a little bit over 5000 but he could not show any weakness here, there is too much at stake. The defenders must not lose their hopes, for every single person counts in this battle.

The blaring sound of warhorns being blown assaults their ears, the enemy swarm begins to move at a rapid pace across the grasslands towards the village. Deafening roars fill the atmosphere, emitted by the monsters and humans, displaying their battle spirit. Thunderous footsteps resound throughout the battlefield as the enemy march forward, threatening to trample the human defenses. The defenders manning the front lines nocked their arrows and held their bows at an angle of 45 degrees, bowstring pulled all the way back to their ears. They are waiting for the enemies to get in range, firing at this point would only lead to a needless waste of arrows.

The spellcasting teams stationed on rooftops begin to channel their mana into the magic diagrams, ready to fire off spells once the order is given. The enemies are rapidly shortening the distance between them and the village with every passing moment.

' 2300 yards...2200...2100...2000!' Chase is estimating the enemy distance, the enemy finally enters the targeted area of his spell. He begins to prepare his magic, everything is going according to plan.

"Spellcasters! Rea-" Aaron gives out an order, but he is interrupted.

"WAIT!!!" Gillian exclaims, causing the spellcasters and Aaron to turn their heads towards him. It is unknown why Gillian would tell them to halt, but Aaron trusts his long time friend and subordinate's judgment. The bowmen are not disturbed, they have already entered the state of extreme concentration.

"What is it Gillian?!" every second they delay would be costly to their plans.

"It's a feint!!! Look!!" Gillian explains as he points towards the enemies with his index finger. Chase squints his eyes and looks at the enemy formation, struggling to find whatever it is that Gillian is trying to show. Then, he noticed what was happening.

Upon closer observation, it could be seen that all of the monsters had slowed down their paces except for the goblins. The goblins are heading their formation, which is strange in itself. Normally, the bulkiest and the toughest would be walking in front to act as vanguards. Aaron had noticed the peculiarity of the enemy arrangements earlier, but he brushed it off as the foolishness of monsters.

He who is standing at ground level could not see what is happening behind the line of goblins. As he looks overhead, he realised his mistake. The Blood Counts are merely hovering above the enemy lines with little intention of moving forward.

'They're trying to test our defenses' Aaron came to a conclusion, the enemy are using their weakest members, the goblins to test the capabilities of the defenders. Such cautious behaviour from monsters had never been seen by him in all of his lifetime. Their strategies had been based on the monsters' known behaviours, this throws almost everything out of the window.

He is now torn between two options, if he orders a full force attack they would end up revealing their cards but if they don't do so, the monsters might just decide to continue with their charge.

"Gillian! Hold everything except for the goblins back!!" Aaron gave his order to Gillian, but the true intended recipient was Chase. It took him a while to find a common ground between the two decisions which favours them, but it would still be a costly action.

"By the power of the Sacred Phoenix, I command the burning flames to bar the path of my enemies, Fire Wall!!!" Gillian is currently playing out his character as a Grand Magician of great power, in order to hide Chase's abilities.

He wriggles his fingers in the air while tossing his head around with his snowy white beard flailing about to divert the spellcasters' attention from Chase. Under normal circumstances, his actions would have warranted laughter from a full house, but the current situation is too serious.

A tall and wide horizontal wall of fire appears at the back of the goblins and extended as far as the eye could see, successfully blocking off the rest of the enemies. The monsters behind the firewall are startled and halted their advances, they slowly turn around and abandon their facade.

The wall of fire would not kill them, but they would not really be unscathed either should they choose to rush through it. Injuring themselves for the pretense is not worth it, so they decide to fall back and reform their lines.

They could not see what is happening behind the wall of fire, but neither could Aaron and the others who are on the ground. The goblin continues to mindlessly charge towards the village, flailing their tiny sticks.

"Are they retreating?!" Being unable to see past the flames, Aaron calls for confirmation from Gillian. He got his reply before Gillian answered him though, as he looks at the smoke filled skies. The Blood Counts have withdrawn, indicating the enemy force's retreat.

"Yes, it's working! They are falling back!!" Gillian replies while jumping for joy on the rooftop. The rest of the spellcasters could only stare at him in awe, the massive wall of fire is an incredible feat that requires a tremendous amount of mana. 'The White Devil is formidable', the thought floats around their mind.

Meanwhile, veins are popping on Chase's forehead as he strains himself to maintain the fire wall. The fire had already consumed the grass on the ground and is about to be extinguished by the lack of burnable material. Chase is pouring in his mana to keep the flames from putting out.

They had initially planned to use the fire wall as a means to deter the enemy from breaking off to the sides and flanking their defenses, but Chase could not afford to use the fire wall again. There are other parts of the plan which requires him.

"Good! Archers, fire!!" Aaron commands the bowmen the moment the goblins enter their range. The bows produce loud twangs as the bowstrings are released, sending hundreds of arrows soaring in an arc. The arrows descend upon the goblins, turning them into bloody pincushions.

The rain of death did not cease as the bowmen continue to fire off more arrows towards the goblin, further decreasing their numbers. The spellcasting team had been barred from taking any action, to avoid any risk of revealing their hands. Although the firewall blocks off enemy vision, it does not hurt to take extra precaution, especially so when the monsters display such high intelligence.

"Don't let them step on the pitfalls!!" the defenders lower their bow and shot in a straight line, sniping off the remnants of the goblin detachment which had come too close to the hidden pitfalls. The pitfalls are reserved for more dangerous enemies and could not be wasted on unworthy creatures such as the goblins.

The last of the goblins fall dead under the heavy bombardment of arrows and the defenders ceased their fire. Chase heaved a sigh of relief and cut off the mana supply maintaining the firewall, causing his eyes to regain its piercing violet hue. The wall of flames flicker and shrink, then it dies out leaving nothing but a line of smoldering ashes on the ground.

Beyond the thin film of smoke rising off the charred ground, it could be observed that the monsters have already finished rearranging themselves. It can be assumed that they have reformed into their true battle formations, where the ogres and treants act as sturdy vanguards that could block off arrows with ease. The vine snakes are coiled up over the treants' branches, most likely planning to drop off onto the defenders once they reach the village.

Aaron notices a loud buzzing sound nearby and turns his head towards the source, a Blood count flies over the side of the village, returning to its kin. It had detoured around and hidden itself to observe the defenders. Spells and arrows were shot, but the Blood Count skillfully evaded them.

'They even have spies?' Aaron made the right call to hide their full defensive capabilities, the army of monsters has obviously realised it and are acting cautiously against the defenders. They did not move from their positions despite their overwhelming quantity. The defenders did not relax, they have accomplished nothing except killing off fodders. The main attacking force is still alive and untouched.

"What are those?" Gillian points towards the horizon, where gigantic constructions are being pulled by ogres into view. There are five of them in total with bulky wooden frames. The ogres stop in their tracks and start to place some small objects onto a part of the construction. Upon closer inspection, they are placing it onto slings.

"Oh my god... take cover! They have trebutchets!!!" he failed to realise it earlier due to the crudeness and size, but judging by the enormous counterweight and sling, it is definitely a trebutchet. The worst part is that the war constructs are too far away, any spells they fire at it would be blocked by the ogres and treants. The scout group immediately rides back to warn the non-combatants stationed outside of Gillian's house.

The defenders panic and scramble to find places to hide behind, but nothing in the village would be strong enough to withstand a projectile shot by the giant trebutchet.

"Don't hide in the buildings! You'll be trapped if they fall, stay on the ground and prepare to react once you've estimated their landing points!" Aaron warns the defenders, rather than hiding in buildings it is better to stay outside and preserve a clear vision of the sky above. That way, they at least have better chance of avoiding falling boulders and the like.

The wooden beams of the trebutchets begin to swing in linear circles as they are pulled by the counterweights, signalling incoming shots. The safety slip rings slid off their positions, sending the payload flying in an arc towards the village.

"It's a scattershot!! Get inside the buildings!!" the objects shot were not big singular boulders as they had expected. It turns out to be a spray of smaller unidentified articles. Aaron withdraws his earlier command and jumps into the open doors of a nearby building. The rest of the defenders did the same, the buildings would definitely be able to stand against this.

*Crack* *Thud*

Cracking sounds and dull thuds enter the building from outside. The projectiles have landed on the village and the buildings hardly shook. Even for small rocks, the impact should have been greater than this. Splashes of blood stain the windows, covering them red.

A sensation of terror crawls up on the defenders hiding within the building. Thoughts like 'Did we leave anyone outside?' begin to surface on their minds. Aaron waits for a while, making sure that no further objects are landing on the village. He slowly opens the door, revealing a vivid portrait of hell.

"Holy Sh-" he did not manage to complete his curse as he falls on the ground with his back arched while vomiting his breakfast out. The other defenders succumbed to their curiosity and peeked outside through the door.

They turned their heads away and doubled back to puke beside Aaron. Aaron wipes off remaining trails of saliva off his mouth with his forearm and stands up weakly. With shaking feet, he braves himself and exits the establishment.

Naked disfigured corpses litter the streets, some with their entrails hanging out of their wide open stomachs. Some with heads bashed in from the impact, their eyeballs dislodged and rolling on the ground. Guts and ripped limbs are scattered everywhere, it was hard for Aaron to move without accidentally stepping on them.

The sticky texture of blood makes them cling to the soles of his shoes. The strong metallic scent of blood covers the whole area.These bodies certainly do not belong to the defenders, they must have belonged to the inhabitants who live to the west of Thanes near the Forest. The bodies are slightly decayed, meaning they have been dead for quite some time.

'Those damn sick bastards' Aaron bit his lip in frustration, he is livid with anger. The monsters have used dead bodies of humans as projectiles, no doubt as a form of psychological assault. Aaron was taken unexpected earlier but he had already regained his composure. He turns his head towards the west, looking at the coalition of monsters who remain immobile. It would take a lot of effort for the rest of the defenders to regain their morale, if the monsters attack them now they would undoubtedly be unable to fight back.

Chase, Alice and Gillian have also seen the situation outside. Gillian averted his eyes away in a pained expression, his long years of experience on the battlefield had steeled his guts but not his heart. Chase and Alice however, were not spared from vomiting their insides out.

The sight was just too much for them, it would undoubtedly leave permanent emotional scars on children as young as them. If Chase is too disturbed by this, none of their plans would be able to work. They started to heave dryly after some time, having nothing left in their stomachs. Gillian peeks at their faces to check their current emotional states.

Both Chase and Alice are baring their teeth and furrowing their brows like mad dogs. Fortunately, the emotions they adopted were not of fear, but fury instead. All of the defenders are now standing outside atop the blood and guts, taking in the repulsive atmosphere. The majority except for the soldiers and veterans have already lost their fighting spirit, their hopeless eyes scanning the scene of carnage.

"MEN!!" the defenders look at Aaron as he calls for them but it no longer matters, nothing matters anymore. They could all just die here, this whole battle was hopeless from the start and nothing Aaron would say could change it.

"LOOK AROUND YOU! DON'T YOU DARE SKIP OVER A SINGLE DEAD BODY! TELL ME, WHAT DO YOU FEEL?!" Aaron asks them to observe the splattered corpses, for whatever reason he has. The defenders comply; as long as they could make the man shut his mouth and let them go, they would do it.

"WHAT DO YOU FEEL? FEAR? DISGUST? DESPAIR?" so what if they do? Should they be angry instead? Of course they are, seeing how the monsters have toyed with human bodies as such but what could they possibly do?

"NO, YOU SHOULD FEEL THANKFUL INSTEAD!" the defenders lift up their heads and stare at Aaron. For what reason should they be thankful? Has Aaron gone mad? They have lost, a complete and utter defeat is inevitable no matter how you see it. The enemies are smarter than they thought, they even have trebutchets capable of assaulting cities. Forget the plans, what chance could they possibly have against such overwhelming opponents? They will only end up dead like the corpses around them.

"CHASE! GO UP TO THE ROOFTOP AND TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE!" Chase did not understand what his father is trying to do, but he nods and enters a building. He appears on the rooftop a few moments later by ascending the stairs. He looks around trying to figure out what Aaron was trying to ask him to do. The only thing he sees is the detestable army of monsters far off in the distance and dead bodies scattered inside and outside the village.

'Wait, some of these bodies are too far away from the village' Chase thought as he notices some of the bodies being hundreds and even thousands of yards away in all directions around the village. Then, he looked back at the enemy horde and notices the ogres moving the trebutchets around. One of them seems to have broken badly and had collapsed on the ground. He finally understood.

"They missed! They can't even aim properly, and one of the trebutchet is broken beyond repair!"

Aaron's hunch was right, he knew the bodies were too few compared to the number of flying objects he saw earlier. That and the fact that the monsters haven't continued to fire supports his theory. The monsters did not know how to make proper war constructs or even use them correctly.

They were most likely testing out the weapon for the first time. Something or someone had been instructing these monsters but it does not matter for the moment. If the monsters are nothing but mere chess pieces, they would crush it and take it away from whomever it is that is playing the game.

"YOU HEAR THAT? DON'T YOU FEEL ANGRY NOW? A BUNCH OF BRAINLESS CREATURES HAVE DESECRATED HUMAN CORPSES!! DON'T YOU WANT TO EXTERMINATE THEM?" personally, Chase believed that humanity had done much worse to the monsters. After all, they have been killing off monsters and harvesting their body parts for years but this is not the time for his personal sentiments to chip in. Aaron is taking a necessary step to return the defenders' fighting spirit.

Aaron could see the faint glimmer of hope mixed with contempt reviving the eyes of the defenders. He has to think of something quick to fan the flames of their anger before it dies out but he could not think of any words that would bring enough impact.

"WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO FEAR WHEN I AM HERE?" Gillian spoke up with a flourish of his cloak, still playing the role of the Grand Magician. Alice covers her face in embarrassment at the side, she knows that Gillian is trying his best to reassure the defenders but this is just too much.

"It's the White Devil, he made the terrific firewall just now!" One of the defenders exclaim. All of the people present have seen the wall of flames that 'Gillian' had conjured a little while ago.

"Yeah, he's crazy strong! He burnt my butt the last time!" Another defender chips in, most likely he was part of the ragtag gang that tried to threaten Gillian. 'Perhaps, perhaps if this old man is here to fight with us, we still have a chance!' such are their thoughts at the moment.

'Good work, Gillian' Aaron thanks Gillian silently, he never would have been able to pull that one off. The defenders have already regained their morale, their spirits soaring as high as they ever could be.

"LET US AVENGE THE DEAD, LET US SLAY THESE FOUL MONSTERS!!" taking advantage of the momentum, Aaron redirects their flaring emotions towards the enemy.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOORRRGHHH!!!" The deafening roars that answer Aaron are loud enough to reach the monsters who are two miles away from them.

"THEN RETURN TO YOUR POSITIONS, THE STRATEGISTS AND I SHALL REORGANIZE OUR PLANS!"

"SIR, YES SIR!" the defenders rush back to their positions, making a lot of noise as their armour jangle loudly. Everyone involved in the previous planning approach Aaron to discuss the plans.

"Chase! Come he-"

"I'm here"

"Woah!" Chase had appeared right next to Aaron and startled him, he had thought Chase was still on the roof.

*Cough* Aaron let out a fake cough to regain his composure.

"Alright, as you can see... the enemies are smarter than we thought. We've already used up the firewall as well, so we need to think of something else to prevent them from flanking us" Aaron scratches his head as he says so, this is a terrible mess they have gotten themselves into.

"Just use the spellcasters to make the firewalls, forget using the Magic Diagrams, they're most likely ruined now with all the blood sprayed everywhere" Gillian decides to join in the meeting, the monsters do not seem to be making a move yet anyway.

"What? Then how are we going to mow them down later?" One of the strategists spoke up, all of them are troubled by Gillian's revelation.

"Manual spells and arrows, it's the only thing we have left" Gillian hung his head low, he had been working hard on drawing the Magic Diagrams, he did not even sleep. The consumption of mana without the use of magic diagrams would be much higher than with it.

"Then we are all doomed!" Another seasoned warrior voices his opinion. Indeed, at this rate their spellcasters would run out of mana in no time without dealing any significant damage and the front lines would have to engage the enemy at their full strength.

"No, there is a way to kill them all off..." Chase mutters softly, his eyes are focused on the billowing smokes clouding the sky. Everyone has gotten accustomed to Chase, he had given out numerous brilliant ideas in their previous plans. If he says there is a way, then there is definitely a way.

"but we would have to abandon the village in the end" Chase turns towards everyone, his face as serious as it could be. Whatever his plans are, it would definitely be something big to require them all to abandon the village.

"Are you sure it would kill them?" Aaron needs confirmation of this. If abandoning the village could destroy the army of monsters, they would gladly do it. A village can be rebuilt, but human lives cannot be regained. They have realised from the start that reinforcements would not be able to reach in time, it had only been a little more than half a day since the Adventurer's Guild messenger left Thanes. They would need another one and a half day for the message to arrive and then another two days for the army to reach Thanes. Should they fail to eradicate the enemy here, the army of monsters would continue their march and lay waste to Ceylon.

"At least three-quarters of them, the rest would have to be finished off by the defenders" at least three quarters, 75%. A plan that would deal a very high amount of casualties to enemy forces.

"We'll do it" Aaron looks around, receiving nods of consent from fellow strategists.

"We have until nightfall to prepare for this, and then the enemies would attack" Chase informs them.

"How do you know?" A veteran inquires. He is curious as to how Chase had given such a precise time for the enemy attack to come.

"The trebutchets, they are firing off human bodies to weaken us psychologically. At the same time, they are testing out the weapons and trying to fix their aims so expect more bodies to rain down from the skies later on in the day. They are treating us as guinea pigs, most likely as a warm up for something bigger"

"But that does not mean it would take until night-"

"The Blood Counts and Arachnid Kings are excellent hunters at night. Judging by the level of caution the enemies are taking, I believe they would make full use of their advantages while attacking us" None of the knowledge Chase had gained from reading the bestiary is wasted. All monsters have night vision, that is common knowledge for everyone and creatures like the Blood Counts could use their dark body colours to blend with the darkness, granting them partial invisibility.

"Okay, so how do you intend to kill them off?" Chase has managed to convince everyone with his theory. They are all eager to listen to the new strategy. Although it is pathetic that they have to leave the planning to a mere boy, the overwhelming odds and bizarre behaviour of the monsters deny them of the conventional means known to them. Now is the time for innovation, and Chase has what it takes.

"Oh no, most of the work would be done by the dead" Chase stares off at the bodies around them. The stench is slowly becoming more and more unbearable.

"What? You mean Necromancy?!" Gillian is shocked, he had never taught Chase any Necromancy. He himself possesses zero knowledge regarding the art of reanimating the dead.

"No, no, here is how it goes..."

The monsters have chosen the wrong opponents to act smart with.

Number of living defenders: 312

Number of pukes: 300

Number of enemies: 9000 minus goblins

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