NOVEL WEB Chapter 42: Raid!
The verdant forest sways with glee as the cold breeze of the winds dampens the overheated earth, eventually waking up its small critters and revitalizing its ecosystem and, therefore, its inhabitants. The slight shade, a vessel of protection from the searing illumination of the sun, provides ample protection for those under it.
The critters move out of their homes in search of an adventure, the adventure of finding whatever fate may lead them to be, be it finding a mate, food, or entertainment of sorts. Anything that moves the ecosystem and lets it maintain its function is what makes it great.
The slight but subtle movements of the ground become a terrible earthquake for these little critters. In their very eyes, it was as if a giant retribution was upon them, and the fact that it was now the end of the world for them; with each step the giant took, the ground rumbled, and structures fell. It was a terrible day for critters.
Their entire ecosystem was devastated by a mere step by someone much larger than them; alas, that's just how fragile life is, and therefore, just like the world and those around it, a pitiful thing that is bound by the restrictions of this world. No matter how strong they get, they can never defeat something that they cannot even comprehend; know your enemies, just like what they always love to say.
What if there was no way to know what it really was, an incomprehensible monstrosity just beyond their vision seeking annihilation of all? Nothing, they cannot do anything; that is just how powerful their adversaries are. Now imagine Quagmire's situation, and imagine it if it was a normal person, thankfully, he was not normal to begin with, rather he was gifted by the gods of this world
---
The clanking of armor plates with chainmail reverberates through the surroundings. Sweats were forming around their faces as fear seemed to take control over their hearts and minds. It was the face of someone who already knows the outcome of the bottle, even if things change slightly or whatnot.
The illumination from the torches provides ample light to those around it, but to those outside of its illumination, safety cannot be guaranteed. There can only be a limit as to where the ardent fire of the torch could ever reach. Yet with all that, they have no choice but to move forward no matter what.
Concurrently, there is a squad of about twelve men; eight of them are clad in iron armor, while four of them wear leather and light clothing, good enough for agility and movement. The lightest ones are perfect for intelligence gathering and for quick movements, and the iron armor is for fighting, or one could say it belongs to their very main forces.
The squads were well-balanced, and the four light ones could easily move from point to point, while the eight heavy armor focused on melee and agitation, which forced their enemies to target them instead.
One of the men, as if annoyed by the things that were currently happening to all of them, started to speak.
"Do you guys really believe that the Ghouls are on the move again? I thought those bastards had stayed and remained unmoving for the past centuries. Can't they just let us rest in peace?" The annoyed soldier muttered under his breath.
"Who knows, the guy that died on the death's door in the governor's palace might have been faked, and is the governor or himself just trying to hide their very own incompetence and attempts to blame the enemy for doing those kinds of stunts?" Another annoyed solder interjected.
"I think there should be some truth of what was happening or based on the rumors going around, and that is that Frontier City has indeed fallen. If it really did fall due to incompetence, then all of these people have a lot to pay for, and if they were just lying then I guess they have done a great job of fooling us." A soldier questioned.
"It might be true, after all, have you guys seen the nations cooperating that much in the past few years, dozens, or future? Moreover, the mobilization order and the numbers being mobilized do not seem to add up for something as simple as defending the borders." A soldier stated.
"Nevertheless, we must take our jobs seriously, as we are one of the select few whom the main village could not directly contact, so we might as well do our best, and once everything became much harder, I don't think I would have much of a different choice I could take in the future." The soldier interjected back to him.
The squad of twelve soldiers started talking to each of them; talking like this helped them to calm each other. Concurrently, it was nighttime, and there were massive rumors of cities now falling. It all started when the news of the Frontier City spread out, but it was violently crushed as a dissident in an attempt to halt the spread of news.
Unfortunately, panic set out, and the governments of nations were not able to control or pacify the panic-driven population, which, on the first day of the event, had already crashed the economy of nations.
Now, to hold off or fight against the impending wave of ghouls, they have started mobilizing people, from the young to the old, and they have a duty to be a part of it. This leaves most of the outer villages defenseless, and so arriving precisely to this situation, this squad of twelve soldiers is actually young men who are about to become adults and will be sent to the mobilization. Fortunately, in the meantime, they are tasked to defend their locals
With that in mind, the twelve soldiers albeit shakily patrolled the night woods of their local villages, the village could not contact them, as they were an advance party to scout the vicinity of the villages, and so they did not have support, which is why people usually have to be highly trained for this job, unfortunately, it does not seem to be the case anymore.
"!!!" The sudden movement shook the entire group; they glanced from left to right and saw nothing. They spread out their torches, but then again, they saw nothing.
Beads of sweat were now forming atop their face and into their inner body as streaks of lightning signifying fear continuously moved up and down their body and slowly crept up their back as if stalking them.
Adrenaline was now pumping, and their vision was getting blurry by the second, yet there was nothing in front of them. Are they being made a fool of? Unable to contain his confusion and anger anymore, one of them angrily moved forward with a torch and shoved the torch everywhere close by.
Once finished, he began to laugh and looked over to his squadmates.
"Folks, I think we've been made a fool of? There was nothing he-" Before he was able to finish the sentence, he simply disappeared from his squadmate's vision. After a few moments, his screams of agony vibrated through the surrounding area and definitely into his squadmate's skin and flesh.
The squad looked over themselves and soon realization dawned upon themselves.
"The village is being raided by ghouls!" They all spoke simultaneously
With that thought in mind, not minding their dead squadmates from earlier, made a dash for their homes. They never even considered that retreating in an organized manner would be much more beneficial and would increase their life expectation.
Unfortunately, the ghouls that were hiding beneath the shadows squirmed with glee; as their prey moved independently, hunting for food had suddenly become much easier.
First, they took the nearest one, the fattest one of them all, as it could not run much faster. They feasted on its juicy and fatty flesh, and so with glee and stars on their eyes, they mercilessly hunted the remaining members of the squad, which were ten left of them.
It was not until the three of them were left that they finally decided that fighting together, like how it should be, is a much better choice if they all want to survive. With their backs against each other, they faced three a ghoul each.
With multiple slashes, thrusts, and cuts, they ferociously fought for their lives. Unfortunately, it was as if the ghouls were mocking them by simply avoiding and not counterattacking. Soon, they got tired, and when they made a mistake, the ghouls made sure to pounce on them.
The first person fell, which momentarily invigorated the other two. Unfortunately, there was no point in it anymore as they were too exhausted to fight, and so their night turned into a night of horror, as seas of ghouls feasted upon this village.
Unfortunately, unlike the frontier city, they did not take livestock from here, instead opting to have a feast and kill everybody. Such is a waste of livestock if a more conservative ghoul sees what is transpiring in this village.
This was not the only village that fell; soon enough, it would increase in numbers, and the relentless siege would continue.