Chapter Twenty-Four

After retreating back into the town, Lark rested for an hour then gathered the second group to launch another guerrilla attack. They hid carefully in the forest as they watched the enemy camp. The last attack proved effective. Numerous beastmen scouted the perimeter of their camp, forming a tight barrier which seemed impossible to break through. A single misstep would give out their location. 

"Young Master, what should we do?" one of the soldiers worriedly asked. "There's a lot of them patrolling the area. We won't be able to attack their camp at this rate." 

Lark calmly replied, "It's fine. We're not here to slaughter them anyways. At least, not now."

Lark could clearly see the fear within the eyes of the beastmen scouts. The fear of the unknown. The fear that in this dark forest, the humans would attack them once again. 

Like a beast awaiting its prey, Lark and his men silently lurked in the shadows of the forest. None of them made a sound. They simply waited for the signal from the Young Lord. 

"Hey, over there!" one of the scouts shouted. 

At first, they thought that they have been spotted. The next words of the beastmen made them sigh in relief. 

"It's a boar! A young boar!" 

The five scouts began to murmur to themselves. 

"Hey, if we follow it, we can still catch it."

"Are you out of your mind? We can't leave our post for that damn thing!"

"But the humans burned down our rations! I'm sure everyone'll be glad once we take back the meat with us!"

Eventually, they came to a consensus. It was decided that three of them would hunt the boar, while the remaining two would remain in their positions. 

Lark nodded at his men, and everyone immediately understood what he meant. Their patience finally paid off. Now, it was time to hunt. 

Lark watched as the three scouts entered deeper into the forest. Once they were a good distance away, he gave the signal for massacre. On cue, arrows whizzed through the cold air and struck the beastmen. Two of them were hit right at the neck and immediately kicked the bucket, while the remaining one was struck at the calf. 

"E-Enemi—"

Before he could shout, Lark's sword pierced through his chest. Blood splattered out and the beastman fell limp on the ground. 

The shrubberies to their left moved. Everyone pointed their bows at it.

"The boar," mumbled one of the soldiers. 

The boar stared at the humans for a moment, before it scurried away in fright. 

Lark flicked his sword, removing the blood that clung to it, then sheathed it into the scabbard. 

"Should we hunt the remaining two?" said one of the soldiers. 

"There's no need for that." Lark shook his head. "Like I've said before, we're not here to slaughter the enemies. It's too early for that. If we fight them head-on right now, we'll suffer numerous casualties."

He stared at the corpses on the ground. "Cut their heads and hang them on the trees."

The soldiers bit their lips. Once again, the order given out by the Young Master was morbid. Still, as veteran soldiers from the Lion City, they easily agreed.

Lark approached a nearby tree. He touched its trunk and using magic, carved a message for the beastmen. 

Go back. 

You do not belong here. 

You have been warned. 

We'll come and slaughter you as you sleep.  

"Good," whispered Lark. He grinned. 

This should be enough to instill fear within those bastards. And even if it proved ineffective, it should still deter them from initiating an all-out attack against Blackstone Town. Right at the very start, that was the true goal of this mission. Given enough time, these beastmen would have their strengths sapped away by the curse called Magic Poisoning. Once that time came, Lark decided to slaughter all of them. 

Kill or be killed. 

He would not let them touch his people. 

After stealthily killing another group of scouts and hanging their severed heads on the trees, Lark and his group went back to Blackstone Town. 

***

Morning came. 

All of the officers of the Third Legion gathered inside a tent. 

General Urkawi suppressed a yawn. He had not slept at all. During the night, he received several reports of attacks from the humans. To make matters worse, the way his warriors were killed was outright brutal. Their heads were severed from their bodies and hanged on the branches of trees. 

General Urkawi remembered the words written on the tree trunk. He trembled in rage. 

"Go back?" he growled. "After defiling the corpses of our kin, these humans expect us to simply go back?!"

General Urkawi gnashed his teeth. The silver-black hair covering his entire body stood on their edges. "I swear on the name of my Clan that I'll rip these humans to shred and feed them to the burrcats!" 

Silence befell the officers inside the tent. No one dared to make a sound. The vehement rage within the eyes of the General made everyone freeze in fright. 

"Fior." The General turned his attention to the Rabbit sitting at the farthest part of the table. 

The Rabbit fixed his glasses. He pulled out a thin stack of documents. "These are the data we've gathered so far."

He handed the documents to the General and began reciting its contents by heart. "After analyzing the defenses of the town, we came to a conclusion. The wooden walls were something built by the humans not too long ago. The cut down trees in a nearby forest was more than enough proof of that."

"Then you're trying to say…" Phantomim's voice trailed off. 

Fior nodded. "That's right. The humans built these walls in anticipation of an incoming attack."

The entire room buzzed into commotion. They did not expect the intelligence network of the humans to be this advance. They could not help but think that there was a spy among their ranks. It did not make sense otherwise. 

"And the soldiers?" said the General. 

Fior frowned. "Just like what the shamans expected, Sir. Right now, several dozen beastmen are showing symptoms of Magic Poisoning. We believe that the disease was aggravated by the events that transpired these past few days."

Fior paused and looked at everyone in the room. "General, with all due respect, I suggest that we launch another all-out offensive against the humans."

The Rabbit's words made sense, but General Urkawi could not easily issue out the orders. Right now, they were still suffering casualties from the ambushes of the humans. The number of killed scouts were only in the dozens, but it was enough to instill fear among their ranks. After all, the dead bodies were mutilated. 

Also, there were over a thousand injured beastmen currently recuperating in the infirmary. Those guys were easy targets for these humans, and General Urkawi knew that once given the chance, they might once again use underhanded tricks like last time. Furthermore, if the humans suddenly attacked the camp where the infirmary was located, the beastmen army would have a hard time fighting back. 

It was no exaggeration to say that the Legion was crippled at the moment. 

"Retreating is an option—," said Fior. 

"—Out of the question," spat the General. "The will of the Beast King is absolute."

General Urkawi knew that his head would come rolling if he retreated now. What would he say to the Beast King? That he retreated because his army was inflicted by a simple curse? That a simple out-of-the-textbook tactic of mere humans managed to drive him into a corner? He inwardly shook his head. He could not let that happen. 

"If retreat is not an option," said Fior. "Then an all-out offensive is our last resort."

The entire room silently listened to the Rabbit. 

"Leave a unit to guard our injured comrades, and with the entire might of the Legion," the Rabbit's eyes turned predatory. "Crush the enemies in a single blow."

The General stared at the Rabbit. He sighed, "Haa."

After a deep breath, he said to Phantomim, "Gather the Black Scimitars, Red Lotus, and the Diabolos Units. We'll start our counteroffensive against those damn bastards."

Phantomim did not dare question the General's commands. "Understood."

"Kratos."

"General," a beastman which resembled an elf replied. He looked more human than a beastman. 

"You'll be in-charge of protecting the camp while we're gone," said the General. "I'll leave half a thousand men with you and a few magicians."

"Leave it to me." Kratos bowed. "I'll make sure those pesky humans are unable to harm our injured comrades."

With this, the board was finally set. 

After the necessary preparations, the three main units of the Third Legion – the Black Scimitars, the Red Lotus, and the Diabolos Units – moved out. They numbered several thousands, and each were armed to the teeth. Although it was noticeable that they were fatigued, most definitely due to Magic Poisoning, just their number alone was enough to send shivers down one's skin.

To raise morale, the three flags of each unit fluttered in the air as they marched. 

The moment they moved out of the forest, the sound of a gong was heard inside the walls of the town. The mellifluous sound of the horn rang out. Immediately, the workers fortifying the wooden gates ran back inside. The wooden bridge was taken out and the gates closed. 

***

The moment the horn was blown, the entire town moved as one. The workers outside went back, the bridge was pulled out, and the gates were closed. Numerous weapons, which resembled catapults, were placed behind the walls. The soldiers started loading hardened clays on it, while several archers assumed their formations behind the gates. 

On the watch tower, the elite archers – the hunters from Gahelpa Village – stood with their bows on their hands. 

Previously, they participated in burning down the forest and shooting down those who tried to escape the fire. Clearly, these beastmen did not know yet of the fearsome strength of their arrows imbued with mana. A feat possible only because of the bows bestowed upon them by the Young Master. 

Outside the walls, over a hundred beastmen formed a defensive line with wooden wankel shields. They slowly marched forward, confident that the arrows of these humans would not penetrate their line. Behind them, the magicians started chanting their spells. 

Lark felt the undulating mana which filled the air. Thankfully, the magicians of the beastmen were incapable of chantless magic. As the runes started forming below their feet, Lark immediately issued his orders to the elite archers. 

"The real threat in this war are those magicians," said Lark. "Valak."

Valak immediately understood what the Young Master meant. He nock an arrow and imbued it with mana. His targets were those magicians hiding behind the defensive line. 

"Do it."

On cue, Valak release his arrow. It shot forward, unhindered by the wind. It pierced through a wankel shield then struck a magician right at the head. Blood splattered as the magician fell limp and lifeless on the ground. 

And that was the start. 

The other hunters from Gahelpa nock their arrows and started firing with pinpoint accuracy at the magicians. Under the unending fire, the magicians panicked and were unable to complete their magic. 

Seeing this, the General ordered his men to cluster the shields together to form a tighter barrier – but it proved useless against the arrows imbued with mana. 

"What's going on?" General Urkawi was flustered. 

When they first attacked the town, only ordinary arrows flew out. But this attack on their magicians right now were clearly from magic arrows. Lethal weapons infused with mana. 

His instinct screamed at him that now was the chance. While those archers were occupied with killing the magicians, General Urkawi ordered an all-out charge. 

"Annihilate the damn bastards! Kill these pesky humans!"

With a roar, General Urkawi led the charge himself. Thousands of beastmen charged towards the town, and at the same time, volleys of arrows flew down the sky and struck them down. Still, despite their wounds, the beastmen continued their attack. 

There was no tactic involved in this one. 

An offensive which relied purely on numbers. 

And it seemed that the General's decision was right. 

Several beastmen managed to destroy a portion of the wooden wall. Like locusts, they swarmed inside. Metals clanked and blood filled the air as humans and beastmen fought to their deaths. 

Slowly, the beastmen started pushing back the humans. General Urkawi grinned from this sight. On his left, beastmen stoppered the trenches with giant logs and began crossing to the other side. With their sheer strength, another portion of the wall broke down. Beastmen also started swarming inside. 

General Urkawi knew that it was only a matter of time before the town fell into their hands. 

But an unexpected scenario played out. 

An ominous moan reverberated. It reminded the beastmen of a monster on the brink of death. A split second after, bodies of beastmen started flying as three suits of armor rampaged about. The swarming beastmen were immediately stopped in their tracks. 

General Urkawi did not know where those three suddenly came from, but each of them should have the same strength as Phantomim. 

General Urkawi was about to personally slay those three himself when another commotion broke out. 

On the other pathway, beastmen warriors were being slaughtered left and right. Their cries of anguish and terror reverberated. General Urkawi squinted and he soon saw the perpetrator of the massacre. 

A young man with golden hair used a claymore to cleave the beastmen warriors in half. The human moved swiftly, leaving behind afterimages. 

What's that?

Behind the man with golden hair was a giant. A human clad in flames. The flames blocked all attacks directed at the human. It was as though he was a living, impregnable fortress. 

The three suits of armor were blocking the opened path to the right. 

The two human monsters were blocking the path to the left. 

Despite their numbers, the beastmen were unable to advance any further. 

General Urkawi gnashed his teeth. "Phantomim."

His right-hand man immediately answered, "General."

"Secure the path to the right. Take care of those things." General Urkawi pertained to the three suits of armor. 

Phantomim was among the most-nimble men within the Third Legion. He was the perfect match against those three suits of armor. 

"As you wish." Phantomim unsheathed his long sword. His figure blurred and he disappeared from sight. 

General Urkawi set his eyes on the two humans blocking the left path. They were strong, but he knew he was stronger. 

Feeling the rise in temperature, General Urkawi looked up. A large ball of fire started to form in the sky. Since the archers capable of shooting magic arrows were preoccupied with dealing with those who managed to break inside the walls. The surviving magicians from the beastmen army managed to complete their spell. 

Once that large ball of fire struck the town, the tables would turn around. Although it felt like a waste to destroy a large portion of the town with that spell, it was a necessary sacrifice. They could just fix the town after and convert it into a stronghold for the beastmen race. 

The spell was finally completed. General Urkawi decided to see the upcoming destruction with his own eyes. 

From the rear, he heard the leader of the magicians issue the order to fire. 

Humans and beastmen alike looked above. The ball of fire the size of several carriages combined sent shivers down their spine. 

Just right when the ball of fire started descending towards the town, a shadow leaped into the sky. Azure chains made of magic twined around the ball of fire, condensing it into a much smaller form. In a matter of seconds, the colossal ball of fire created using the mana of several dozens of magicians turned into the size of a palm. 

A young man held it on top of his hand, his body still hovering in the sky. Although General Urkawi could not see his face from the distance, he could feel the bloodlust emanating from his eyes. 

General Urkawi stiffened. He felt a premonition of what was to come. 

"Don't tell me," he breathed. 

He looked at the rear and was about to warn his men about the incoming attack when suddenly, the young man threw the condensed ball of fire towards the place where the magicians gathered. 

There was a split second of silence the moment it touched the ground, before a deafening explosion rang out. The earth groaned and shook. General Urkawi's eyes widened at what he saw. 

That single strike massacred the Legion's magicians.

Slowly, the young man flew down and touched the ground. He stood right before General Urkawi. 

"Hello?" the young man greeted. 

General Urkawi stared at him bewilderedly. In his entire life, he had never seen such feat before. The man clearly diverted his magicians' ultimate magic and used it against them. 

The young man unsheathed his sword. His eyes glimmered with bloodlust. 

"Who are you?" General Urkawi managed to ask. 

The young man paused for a moment. "Someone who'll be dead soon doesn't need to find out."