NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55: Hiding.
Chapter 55: Hiding.
The Cirean kingdom doesn’t have geographical advantages to protect them along the Pondover Forest border. Even if the soldiers line up, they can’t cover the whole border. Because of that, they set up an outpost along the border. When the enemy enters their territory, they can send a message to the closest army camp or city.
However, there is a weakness: if anything happens to the outpost, the message will not arrive at the army camp. During the winter, most soldiers that are not on patrol would rather stay in a warm place. Because of that, every few days someone will come to inspect the outpost.
Normally, a low-ranking soldier is responsible for inspecting the outpost. With a few gold coins, they can be bought. Now the outpost and the army camp at the north of the border had been destroyed.
Even the federation traitor doesn’t know who is behind the outpost attack. By the time they got the news, they began to investigate the culprit, but they found nothing. This must be an inside job; if the monster tide attacks, the outpost will have enough time to send a message, but there is none.
They need to do something; if the Cirean kingdom falls, the connection they tried to build will be ruined.
While the kingdom is in panic. Levi and the rest are trying to find a cave or somewhere to hide.
"It looks like I need to make a cave." It reminds Levi of when he lived in Pondover Forest.
Without wasting time, he found a suitable location and began to cast magic to create a hole. A magic circle appears, and the rock and ground begin to move. Levi reshapes the ground, and gradually a long entrance is made. Next, he begins to build the chamber. Normally, it will take a few days or a week to make with a machine, but it finishes in around half an hour.
Levi even made each one of them a room for water; he can use water spells or melt the snow outside the cave. The only problem is the food supply, but with the undead bird scouting the area, once everything is safe, they can go out to hunt.
Jason's eyes were wide, and he looked around the chamber. When he heard that Levi wanted to make a cave. He thought he was going to dig a hole alone. Since he is a slave. But contrary to his expectations, Master Levi is the one doing it.
Jason, continue your training."
"Yes, master." Jason sits cross-legged and calms his mind. He needs to work hard and repay Levi's kindness.
Levi, exhausted, sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to restore his mana. While Ben, Clara, and Otis guard the entrance. The monster tide is not a joke and required an army to defeat. Even masters can’t fight the monster tide alone.
High in the sky, an undead raven flew and landed on a tree branch, gazing at the town stone wall.
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Ethan and the mercenary leader are inside the room, discussing what to do. With the monster tide, it will be impossible to cross the Leston Kingdom border.
"How?"
"We need to wait for reinforcement; there is nothing we can do against the monster tide other than hide behind the wall."
"I, understand." Ethan wants to leave, but he can only wait.
Suddenly they heard a loud bell sound and looked outside the window.
"The monster tide had arrived!"
"Hide!"
On top of the wall, the soldier can see numerous silhouettes moving like a wave on the snow from afar. When they get closer, the soldiers can see many monsters heading to the town. Most of them were pale and their legs were shaking.
The town's distance from Pondover Forest is far; normally, there is only a small group of monsters that attack the town during the winter. Now what they witnessed is not something a town soldier can defend.
When the soldiers are feeling hopeless, an elderly man wearing a mage robe walks up the stair to the top of the wall while being accompanied by the town mayor.
"Old friend, thank you for helping me."
"It’s fine; without you, I would have already died a long time ago."
The elderly man is a master mage. He wants to leave, but the town mayor is an old friend who has helped him in dire situations in the past. When you are weak, no one will notice and help you, and because of that, he remembers the mayor's favor. However, if things become dangerous, he will flee and save the mayor and his family.
When they arrive at the top of the wall, the mayor's chubby body trembles, while the elderly mage has a serious face.
The first monster tide already entered the Cirean kingdom, but the reinforcement managed to hold off the monster tide's advancement, and it was only a matter of time to push the monsters back to Pondover Forest. Even if more monsters arrive, the army is ready.
Where does this monster tide come from, far to the north?
The monster tide is already coming near the wall.
"Fire the arrow!" hundreds of arrows fall from the sky.
The weak goblins and gnolls are easily killed, but their numbers are large. Even if they used all of their arrows, they couldn't kill all of them. They are now concerned about the elite monster dressed in armor. They were more experienced than the weak monster and were waiting for an opportunity to strike. Another type of monster is a hobgoblin or orc with human intelligence. The final one is a large monster that can step on the soldier like a pancake.
Most of the soldiers here are apprentices or just normal humans who don’t have experience in war.
The elderly mage at the battlement frowns and raises both of his hands, and a large crimson magic circle appears. People often compare a mage to a warrior to see who is stronger. But once you reach the master rank, both sides will try to avoid fighting each other if there is no choice. Because if you can’t kill or seriously injure them, they can flee and get revenge later.
Nevertheless, one of the mage's specialties is large-scale destruction. The monsters that are near the magic circle can even feel the heat coming from it.
"Rain of fire!" The magic circle flew above the sky and gathered fire elements.
The monster tide stops moving, sense danger and turn around to flee. However, the monster near the wall is not fortunate. A rain of fireballs, each the size of a baseball, falls from the sky.
The monster screams in pain when its body gets hit by the fireball or engulfed in flame. One spell from a master mage killed many monsters, but their number is still numerous. When the rain of fire stops, the monster tide begins its next attack. In front of the wall, there is no longer snow, and burned carcasses are scattered everywhere.
The elderly mage, perspiring, raises his hand, and a crimson magic circle appears again. This time, the monster tide quickly retreated to the forest. Once there is no sign of the monsters, the elderly mage hurriedly cancels the magic circle. He is bluffing; if he uses the master rank spell again, he will pass out.
There are four stages in every rank: early, intermediate, advanced, and peak. The elderly mage is an early-stage master mage. Because of that, the amount of time he can use master-rank spells is limited.
However, the soldiers on the wall don’t know what the elderly mage thought and cheer when the monsters retreat.
The undead raven that observe everything fly through the sky and disappear
-
A mercenary guild is a neutral organization in any kingdom. But that is only in the name; there are many factions in the organization that have their interests.
The Mercenary Guild Leader Branch in the Cirean Kingdom The middle-aged man gazes at the picture frame of his only family, or, to be precise, his daughter, who wants to become a mercenary like his father. Regan still remembers the argument they had when she wanted to become a mercenary.
However, a few weeks ago, he got a message saying his daughter was dead. If she dies from the monster tide, he can accept it and be ready to slaughter the monster. However, after investigation, he found out she died from the Cirean kingdom's flying warship cannon.
His first thought is to kill the people responsible, but according to the report, the culprit is the new Cirean king. But after further investigation, he found out it was the federation. The middle-aged man frown; with his strength, it was impossible to get his revenge.
When Regan is in frustrated, someone contacts him and asks him to join the secret organization to reform the federation. He agreed without hesitation.
Now Regan had gathered most of the mercenary group to the north border. Since his mercenary guild is not far from the monster tide. They should arrive in a few days.
However, there are some complaints from the mercenaries.
"Why are we going to fight a monster tide?"
"If you are afraid, you can leave."
"I am not afraid; I just don’t want to die a meaningless death."
"Don’t worry, we're only going to watch; if it’s too dangerous, we will retreat."
Regan ignored their conversation. He promised he was going to get his revenge on the federation.