“So, seriously, just what is the situation?” I asked. “I get that we are under attack, but why is the defensive line here? If the Anchor is destroyed it’s over, or if we lose the assets in Shaeula’s old dungeon… I get that this place seems defensible, but…”

“If I may explain…?” the Kamaitachi asked, as he seemed to be in charge of the defence. The kami hissed assent, and the weasel continued. “When the initial enemy forces attacked us-us, we did indeed try to hold the area around the Anchor. However, they also have giant siege-beetles, which have destroyed every building in their path-path. I realised quickly though that-that they were just puppets, dolls like the little dogs are using to mine with-with.” He gestured with one long sickle to the small group of kobold miners that were listening to our conversations intently. “Their orders seemed to be to attack where resistance was strongest, so instead of trying to hold the Anchor, we risked luring them to here-here…”

A risky play indeed… still, my Anchor still stands, so I can’t get too mad. Thinking about the dangers of upgrading the Territory, there can’t be many who are going to risk Rank 3 until they have significant forces. I was too overconfident.

“That strategy is quite the bold one-one.” Shaeula agreed with me. “Much could have gone wrong, and all my master has worked for would have been ruined. I would not-not have been pleased by such an event. If they had beings who could reason, such as us, this plan would have failed miserably.”

“True, but our options were limited. Grulgor and his trolls are incapable of following our orders to defend-defend, so we let them roam freely, destroying all they come across. The pig-beasts are well armed, but against the might of the trolls they are no match-match.”

“So, that further spreads their forces, right? But what about these ghost girls?” I asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

“They also seem to have little consciousness.” The Kamaitachi answered. “Though they appear and disappear at will, and we have proved unable to defeat them, our attacks useless-useless. We have lost weaselkin and kobolds to their ambushes, but they pose little threat to trolls or us-us.”

“We ussssssssed the power of earthhhhhh to create a ssssssacred sssssssalt barrier around the sssssshrine. Thisssssss preventsssssss their ingressssssss, and reinforccccccesssssss the idea the Anchor isssssss here.” The White Snake kami interjected, and the Kamaitachi nodded.

“Yes-yes, they cannot breach the salt barriers, It is divine arts-arts, very clever. It further serves to draw the enemies to us, where they can do little harm-harm.”

“I see.” I nodded, having got a grasp on the situation. “Well, if we can continue to lure their forces into thinking that we are based here, that’s a good thing…” Luckily I had built all of my assets indoors, apart from the Defensive Emplacements, and one of those was gone already. Since the Anchor room had turned into a pseudo-dungeon as well, similar to where Shaeula’s lair was, that meant it was hard to discover. Although if these siege-beetles hit the building by chance…

Clapping my hands together I looked at my subordinates, everyone waiting eagerly for my orders, especially Shaeula, who was looking at me with expectation, eyes agleam with orange light.

“You’ve done good work, and I apologise for leaving you to handle this alone. Still, we are back now, stronger than ever, and we’ve also found that we can defeat the ghosts. They are vulnerable to fire, so Shaeula and I can keep them at bay.”

“Fire?” the Kamaitachi blinked. “What does he mean, princess?”

“Ohohohoho!” Shaeula gave a laugh that a rich young girl might in a certain sort of anime, hand held to her face in a haughty manner. No doubt she’s picked that up from some show she’s watched…

“Yes, bow before my newfound glory-glory!” she crowed. “My mother, my father, my siblings… all-all shall be amazed that I have transcended the bounds of my limits as a Fae, and I now wield the flame!” she raised one hand and a rich yellow bloom of fire winked into existence before detonating in a shower of bright sparks.

As the Kamaitachi looked on open-mouthed in shock, I continued, bypassing the interruption. “Anyway, we can’t keep relying on the fact that we are being attacked by troops from a Spawning Spire. Sooner or later whoever is in charge will get tired of losing their forces, after all, it’s quite an investment keeping up armies like this day after day. They might throw in the towel, or more likely…” yeah, I was sure of it. it’s what I’d do if my forces were getting slaughtered due to lack of leadership on the ground. “… they’ll either come out themselves to command on site, or they’ll deploy some sort of leaders who can react on the fly to direct them.” It would be just like the gnolls in Las Vegas. Leaders could command the ‘soulless’ troops, making them more dangerous. Hell, even my kobold puppets can be put to work by the miners. “Anyway, if that happens, I have no doubt they’ll locate the Anchor and Shaeula’s old lair. If that happens, we lose. So…”

I laid out my battle plans. Shaeula and I would make sure one of us was here pretty much all the time to handle the defence, and we would also set up forces around key areas, so we could respond to any attacks against our strategic weak-points rapidly. Grulgor and the trolls would be brought to heel and utilised better, and we would start to push back against the invaders, attempting to work out where their Territory was. Yeah, no way that we can sit here on the defensive until my Territory finishes upgrading. We have too much else to do…

“I am rueing I could not convince Eri to let us…” Shaeula began, before blushing prettily. “I would have liked-liked the extra levels.”

Yeah, I would have liked you to have them too, but … that way is no good! “Well, at least I might make a level or two.” I chuckled, rubbing her head instinctively. “It’s good ether too at least… and whatever is wasted on their troops will be what they can’t spend on their own Territory…” I trailed of as sounds of collapsing buildings could be heard in the distance. “Oh well, I think we all know what we have to do. We’re up!”

As our forces dispersed to hold the positions I had ordered, Shaeula and I used our high speed to rapidly reach our borders. The weakened defensive barrier was completely unable to even slow the invasion, as it was down since several days ago, and was slow to regenerate while the Anchor was diverting all of our resources to its upgrade. This meant that the enemy could come and go unimpeded.

“Well, those are indeed quite-quite the beetles. I am no lover of insects, Akio, but we could use such in our own forces.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” I looked at the van-sized bugs in awe. They were Japanese scarab beetles, with copper coloured bodies and shiny green heads and throats. They actually looked kind of cute… I remember catching bugs back in the day with Eri and my sis up in the mountains. Aiko was really into it, if I recall. Eri not so much though, she spent most of the day clinging to my arm…

What wasn’t cute however was the fact they were using their massive size to bulldoze through the Boundary shadows of the buildings, ploughing through walls seemingly unharmed by the falling rubble. They were followed by several-dozen more orcs, though these were poorly equipped. I daresay their Armoury can’t keep up with the rate of loss? After all, we’ve been plundering their fallen gear for our own use…

“The direction they are moving takes them perilously close-close to our Anchor.” Shaeula observed. “I suggest we defeat them quickly.” Her pinwheels span to life around her, dancing.

“Right. Here we go!” I raced down towards the first of the three giant beetles. As I approached the orcs stopped their advance and began to swarm at me, their formation ragged. I’ve led troops from a Spawning Spire before, and also fought them. I understand their limitations, and I can use them to my advantage…

Feinting backwards, scuttling away from the glittering head of the beetle as it tried to headbutt me, the orcs were led into range of Shaeula, heedless of the danger. Seconds later they were all in pieces, the pinwheels whizzing through them, silver and crimson gore scattering from the whirring wires, ether pooling as they dispersed.

Using that gap I thrust my spear at the beetle, bluesteel head shrouded in cutting winds, but the attack merely damaged the pretty emerald shell a little. As the impact jarred my arms I leapt backwards, a second beetle coming at me. They collided, staggering, and Shaeula attacked, her pinwheel wires striking their bodies, only to get tangled in the hard shells, cutting in slowly with a muted whine.

“Careful, the pressure on the wires is building!” I called out, seeing the wires tangling and bending. “They aren’t designed for taking strain, the bluesteel is too weak!”

Clicking her tongue angrily Shaeula withdrew her pinwheels and pulled out her bells and dagger. “They must-must have some power in their shells, Akio. The wires can cut-cut through thick steel as if it was butter, so to think they can barely scratch these bugs… it vexes me.” She stomped her foot adorably. “I demand-demand improvements. The dirt-grubbing dogs should have fished us up more ores by now-now, even under the current trials.”

Shit, she’s cute when she is mad… “I’ll see if I can make some time. I think the shells might contain wind of their own, which is repelling ours. Damn, they are tough as hell.” My spear was making little headway, and even with my great strength it was tough. I was considering our next move when suddenly one beetle slumped to the ground, a brutal shattering sound ringing out, head split open by a ragged battle-axe that was thrown from a distance. As gore and brain matter scattered, only to fade into ether, the beetle leaving behind some of its carapace, glittering green and copper under the non-light of the Boundary, Grulgor leapt forwards, his other worn axe smashing apart as it struck a second beetle, staggering it despite its huge size.

“Grulgor! Good timing!” I enthused, using the opportunity to unleash fire, white hot flames seeping through the dent in the carapace, starting to burn the beetle alive.

Grulgor looked down at the warped handle of his now headless axe in puzzlement before tossing it aside. “I have come to crush and eat these bugs! Grul likes strong foes.” He intoned, his voice booming. He stomped on the head of the fallen beetle I was broiling, and with a sickening crunch that head burst too. Yeah, every time I see Grulgor in action, I’m reminded that being strong is nice, but I’m still at the level one blow can end me…

I turned to the third beetle, expecting a tough fight, only to find it gone, pieces of shell and a puddle of ether all that was left, Shaeula holding her pinwheels and looking on in satisfaction. Hang on, didn’t you switch weapons a second ago?

Seeing my gaze, she puffed out her chest in pride. “I was-was going to use my blade to slice it, but then I had a thought, master. If the beetle resists by using the wind-wind, then surely…”

Oh yeah, that… “Clever. I am impressed you thought of it in the heat of battle. It worked, judging by the debris?”

“It did indeed, better than even I expected.” She stowed her weapons, surveying the area. Grulgor was complaining, missing out on killing the third beetle, but there would no doubt be plenty more foes to take down…

********

Several hours later we had secured the Territory once more, waves of enemies dealt with. I had even gained a level during the final stages, as two more of the beetles were accompanied by a wave of orcs. We never did see any of those wraiths though… either their numbers are small, or they got scared after we finally slew a couple and pulled them back…

We had gathered up what weapons and materials we could and distributed them, storing what we didn’t need in the Warehouse. Grulgor had commanded his trolls to protect around the Anchor and the Throne, and what weaselkin we had left were armed with crossbows and pikes, also ready to ambush any attackers.

“I think we’ve done what we can. How often have the attacks been coming?” I asked the Kamaitachi.

“A big wave like this-this… it is unlikely we will see more this day. We might see a few smaller groups, but they will likely retain their might for another large push tomorrow.”

Seems about right. If I make an estimate of the number of Spawning Spires and their ranks for a force this large… the speed of replenishment is… hmmm…

“In that case, Shaeula, want to pop back to the Material for a bit to see Aiko and Eri? They’ll be worried if we don’t explain the situation and you don’t return.”

“Indeed.” She nodded. “I should not like to let them leave without a word-word, though I will see them again soon I have little doubt. I can also check their training and give them some final advice.”

“So, Shaeula will return shortly to lead the defence, and I’ll return where and when I can as well. I’ll be gone some of the time, but with Shaeula here only an assault in force led by the enemy Candidate and his best troops, assuming it is one we are up against, would have a chance against us.”

As we exchanged our brief farewells, Shaeula and I returned to the Material, ready to explain the situation to the girls in a… tactful… manner.