“Damn those Galians!”
“Exactly. Are they going to make a living here?”
“Haha, Benson. You should clean your butt and wait for them to come for you.”
“WHAT?! You do it!”
“There are so many monsters now.”
“Yeah. The nobles are making a huge ruckus over it. I heard some rich ones are trying to hide in the lords’ castles.”
“Yeah?”
“Dammit. The world is unfair.”
“Are you guys chatting again? Be on guard!”
A well-built man came up and shouted at them. Everyone flinched at the voice, but they soon relaxed after realizing who it was.
“Any good news?”
“When are we going back?”
“Can we attack Galia instead?”
Questions poured out from the men. Captain Vincent shook his head.
“I’m not sure exactly when. I haven’t heard any orders for twenty days now. I heard Galia will retreat soon though. It will be over soon.”
“OH!”
“Finally!”
“It’s so boring.”
“I couldn’t even pillage any towns!”
“I guess we can’t get any spoils from this war.”
The soldiers around the bonfire began talking again as Vincent handed them a leather wineskin bag.
“Drink.”
“Oh! CAPTAIN!”
“Yeah yeah. Drink it fast.”
The soldiers began taking out jerky and dried fruit at the sight of liquor.
“You bastard! You’ve been hiding Podedo!”
Podedo was a sweet tasting fruit. Drying it made it taste even sweeter.
“Traitor!”
“Give me one!”
“Me too!”
“NO! You Keroxes!”
Dolf, who had his bag of Podedo taken from him, shouted, but nobody cared. The soldiers were enjoying a small happiness while still on the battlefield. It was then that the bell rang.
“Ugh. Emergency bell?”
“Enemy?”
“Ambush?”
Dolf shouted at the sound of the bell. Everyone turned to the watchtower and then to the battlefield. It was now twilight, but there was no sight of any enemies. They turned back to the watchtower, but they suddenly heard screaming.
“AARGH!”
“MONSTERS! KAWIQUNINS!”
A roar came from close by. Everyone knew what was going on now.
-I heard there are monsters?-
-Is the Galian army so weak? How can they lose to monsters?-
-I heard the numbers are increasing.-
-They’re just monsters. I think they’re exaggerating.-
-Really? But they’re supposed to be stronger than soldiers.-
-Yeah, I heard there are hundreds of them.-
The soldiers began to think of all the rumors they had heard before. The rumored monsters, which they mostly scoffed at, were now charging toward them.
“GET READY! KAWIQUNINS!”
“A-archers! Shoot! Shoo- ARGH!”
“FIGHT!”
A pack of Kawiqunins charged through the soldiers. The hundreds of the huge monsters wielding big clubs and axes were unstoppable. They destroyed everything in their path.
“Th-those are Kawiqunins?”
There were too many. Kawiqunins were known to only move around in less than groups of five. They ate a lot so they never grouped up in large packs. Grown Kawiqunins that remained in their parent’s territory meant death. But now there were over a hundred Kawiqunins altogether. Nobody could think or react as they all froze in fear.
“IDIOTS! WAKE UP! You will DIE if you don’t move! FIGHT if you want to live! MOVE!”
The officers shouted at the soldiers who were stiff from fear. They began moving, preparing to fight for their very lives.
“Stack up! STACK UP!”
“ARCHERS! INSIDE!”
Defense lines were made and men with spears and shields stacked together. Hundreds of soldiers gathered together to create a sturdy defense. A few Kawiqunins began charging at the soldiers but were shot down and attacked by arrows and spears. But that wasn’t enough to kill them instantly and they tore through the defense line.
“Block it! FILL IN THE GAP! WE WILL DIE IF WE SPLIT!”
“Block it!”
Everyone worked together to survive. They desperately moved to form defense lines and it made the Kawiqunins hesitant in their attack. They began falling back, grabbing and chowing down on human bodies along the way. The soldiers did not dare to follow. Only the archers shot arrows at the retreating Kawiqunins, which they blocked with the human bodies they were carrying.
“H-help…!”
The soldiers came back to their senses at the sounds of moaning nearby. There were hundreds of soldiers on the ground, wounded. It only took a few minutes for almost a thousand soldiers to fall under the monster attack.
‘How can this be…’
James, the Knight of the Marquis, known for his valor and experience, had fear on his face.
‘It’s all true… the rumors were all true.’
He thought of the rumors he had heard in the past month. It wasn’t only Benzen or Galia that were having problems with monsters. Everyone else at the scene was thinking of the same thing. They were more afraid that these monsters had come from the inside the kingdom, not from the outside.
“We-we should go back. We should return, Captain!”
“What are you talking about? If Galia attacks…”
“These came from our LAND! What if they attack our… our town…”
The soldier could not continue as he shivered. Captain Codrin’s face grew pale. He was from the same town, and his wife and newborn son were waiting there.
“DAMMIT!”
Codrin threw down his spear and shouted. He couldn’t abandon everything and just run back to his home alone.
“We will retreat! Prepare to retreat!”
Codrin clenched his fist. It was what he had waited for.
“We should go NO- UGH!”
A soldier began to speak out but was interrupted as Codrin smacked him in the face with his spear handle. The soldier fell to the ground, bleeding from his mouth.
“SHUT UP! We will not leave at this hour. We will all die if we move at night. I will not forgive anyone who disobeys this order! PREPARE TO RETREAT!”
Some glared at Codrin but he ignored them.
“MOVE! We will rest for the night and begin moving at dawn!”
Everyone knew that it was the right decision. Night was already upon them and it was dangerous to march back at such hours when they knew monsters were lurking. The soldiers began to prepare for retreat and the message was sent to Galia.
Scouts reported what happened and the Galian forces also began to retreat as they had already been eager to do so for a while. As dawn came, the Torian army began retreating, sending out scouts to search for the Kawiqunins, as well as messages to the capital.
-Celone and all nine villages near the perimeter has been wiped out by the monster attack.-
-Monsters from Khalodia are invading human land.-
-Monsters are coming.-
-HORUN HAS SPOKEN! DEVILS ARE USING MONSTERS TO…-
-It’s God’s wrath! The world is going to END!-
The Torian Kingdom was now overrun with fears of monster invasions and the monsters had begun to move out to all parts of the continent.
It was beginning of a war between humans and monsters.
