Sam heavily swallowed. The second worst day of her life was apparently just getting worse by the minute. It’d been bad enough when a line of Skeleton Mages had bombarded them with a sudden wave of ice attacks. But now both Sirens and Ghouls would need to be contended with.

And while the Sirens weren’t the highest Level of monsters, that didn’t mean they weren’t a threat. Their claws could still do a lot of harm with just a single swipe. Even for the average person here being Level 15, they’d still be dangerous for anyone whose Stats didn’t mainly focus around Endurance.

The Mage grinded her teeth. Her mind quickly worked to try and figure out what their next step would be. She’d gotten separated from Noah after the volley of ice magic and the following swarming of the walls. But as Sam had been moving around, she believed that she saw a glimpse of his face through the crowd. That he’d been leading the defense of a different section of the camp’s perimeter.

But there would be no way to quickly get to him and organize the best move for the defenders over here. Time was a luxury the now entering Ghouls wouldn’t give him. As the highest person in their leadership structure in the immediate vicinity, Sam was the one with the most authority. Which meant that only she could take charge and make the critical decision.

Sam quickly glanced over at Alex. The teen stood at the ready with his sword and shield. He was already more than ready to charge straight into the group of Ghouls and meet them head on. But while he might be able to fight them, he’d have to get to them first. So would that actually even be the right move?

What about the defenders closest to the undead that’d have to deal with them in the meantime? Would they really be able to hold the line long enough? Until Alex or the other elites could force their way through the chaotic battlefield? But would sending most of their heavy hitters in one spot be the best decision? What about the other places that could use their help at the same time, as more and more undead continue to pour in?

But as quickly as she tried to consider the possibilities, reality moved even quicker. The Ghouls met the first line of defense. And even a wall of Warriors tried their best to hold together with greater numbers, it was for naught. The undead showed the true tyranny of having a higher average Level as they easily began to overwhelm the defenders.

To the chainmail of a Warrior, the Ghouls’ fists were practically warhammers swung by those with a much higher Strength than their armor could handle. A person’s equipment could only be so strong relative to the power of the one that wielded it. And with how their shields bent from the force of blocking one swing, they might as well have been made of hard plastic.

Then as they were already having to give their full attention to the undead, Sirens dived from the air to swipe at their heads and backs. Dealing with a threat from both in front and above was simply an impossible task for defenders that were largely inexperienced at real battle.

Things had only just started to stabilize at the frontline. But now with this overwhelming assault, the tide was quickly turning against the people of the camp. There was simply no more time to waste on trying to think. After having rapidly weighed the risks, Sam made a final decision.

“We need to fall back!” she cried out. Sam’s voice was strained to its utmost to try and be heard over the frantic sounds of battle. Even then, only those nearest to the Mage would be able to clearly hear her. But that’s all she needed in order for the message to then quickly spread.

“Fall back?!” Alex quickly rushed toward her. “We’d just be exposing our backs and bringing danger closer to the weaker non-fighters! Are you sure that’s a good idea to endanger them like that?!”

The teen boy’s face was twisted with confliction. Both his words and expression clearly showed how much he disagreed with the retreat. Yet even so, Sam still gave him a nod and affirmed her decision.

“Just trust me! Remember the plan we put in place last week?! Those should be setup and ready by now! So we’ll fall back and rely on them to buy us some breathing room!” she assured him. Alex’s eyes lit up with understanding at what she meant. And though he still seemed a bit hesitant, he turned to the others and repeated the order to fall back.

“Fall back! Fall back!” Alex barked as loudly as he could possibly muster. The order to retreat quickly began to spread like wildfire. Even those who didn’t hear the initial calls would rapidly follow suit after seeing others retreating first.

Yet the people of the encampment weren’t soldiers that had organized plans and tactics drilled into their skulls. Not even two months ago, they were just normal folks that led regular and mundane lives. And it was even more recently that the majority of them had been pushed to become more self-reliant and gain Levels, instead of just relying on those who’d already grown stronger.

Which meant that their retreat was anything but tactical.

Some people did maintain a defensive structure as they fell back. Where they could make a hastened but still fairly measured withdrawal. Others, however, fell into unorganized disarray. They immediately turned to fled, their focus tunnel visioned on the simple act of escaping danger. But with the area filled with undead and Abilities being flung around, there simply wasn’t room for them to simply run straight backwards.

These were the people to fall and just become lost in the mess. With the bodies of both undead and human corpses spread across the frontline, tripping hazards were everywhere. Or simply not being watching the skies and catching a Siren claw straight into their heads. Even those who tried to be more careful just got unlucky as they found themselves boxed in by undead.

The higher-Level members tried to alleviate the preserver whenever and wherever they could. But there was only so much they could do while also falling back. And, all the while, their limited resources could only allow them to use their Abilities so many times in quick succession.

Sam choked as she heard the final screams of those who fell in the mess of it all. Her already strained mind was only further tensed by a new regret that each scream brought. A person that could have been Leveled earlier or gained more experience fighting undead on their own. A life that might have potentially been saved if they hadn’t made caution and safety an early doctrine.

But this was no time to despair about what could have been done differently. For now, her focus had to be on saving those she still could. Which was exactly the ideal hope for where she was leading them after calling the retreat.

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The frontline fighters hurriedly approached the next line of defense. A hastily made barricade composed of stacks of wooden boxes, a couple of RVs, and anything else they were able to stack on.

Yet the important thing wasn't the crude barricade itself, but the objects lined a fair distance in front of it. They were placed in a series of semi-circles. Placed just far enough from one another to overlap their effects while also triggering just one at a time.

Each one was also surrounded with miniature fencing that almost looked like the protective squares for a newly planted tree. But they were only there to serve as deterrents for humans to not accidentally step on what they surrounded. While the mindless undead, however, would just trample right over them.

And that was exactly what Sam was counting on. The defenders quickly rushed through the gaps between the marked objects and reached the other side of the barricade. And not a moment too soon as the horde had been at their heels. So it was just a second later that the first of the undead stepped on the placed traps.

An echoing boom echoed across the camp as an explosion shook the barricade. Dozens of undead were instantly destroyed by a Mana fueled blast. Then there was a heavy sloshing as the dry ground in places suddenly turned into quicksand-like pools of mud. In another spot, a sudden wave of heat washed over them as a cone of flames roared as it torched the army of monsters.

“Holy shit! We actually got those things in place without them exploding on the spot?!” Alex exclaimed. His face was a mix of both surprise and awe as he peeked through the barricade. While the defenders had their chance to take a breather, they also got to witness the latest innovations to aid them both now and for the Apocalypse as a whole.

Humanity has always been a crafty Species. Especially so when it came to finding out how a possible invention could be applied to warfare. So while most of the survivors had spent nearly all their time within the camp, they didn’t have much in the way of entertainment. Which led to some ingenious folks doing what humans did best. They’d begun to put things together with the newly found resource of Mana in a bid to see what would happen.

The first step had come from realizing that the Mage Ability, Minor Mana Weaving, was easily the most flexible Ability of the different Classes. It was from this that the true power of the Class showed itself. And what actually made it worth the detriment of halved growth per Level for their physical Stats.

A Mage with sufficient thresholds of Will could do exactly as the name of the Ability implied. Allow them to weave their Mana and use it for more than just being a resource for their Abilities.

It hadn’t done much at first. But as some scavenger Mages had gone out and gained Levels, a few had chosen to focus more into Will than Spell Power. It was from them that the way was steadily paved to realize the capabilities of this Ability. Of how they could use it to add Mana into mundane objects and alter their properties.

That was how they accidentally discovered the substance that would become their healing gel. But if something could have restorative properties as just a side effect, then what else could create? Even if it was just a side effect of the material’s interaction with Mana, what other results could they potentially produce instead? Such as something that could be more… explosive.

The resulting magic explosives were a recent invention and still very experimental. They could only be considered as volatile prototypes that weren’t even safe yet to be moved across large distances. Just a little too much shaking or sudden force was all it took to set any of them. However, at the moment, acting as easily triggered traps was a purpose they perfectly served.

One was basically just a pure blast of concentrated Mana released all at once. The second had the magical effect of very rapidly creating water and thus adding excessive moisture. While the third was just a cone of Mana-based flames. They were all pretty inefficient in terms of the large amounts of Mana actually required to make each unit. But they certainly made up for that with practicality in a pinch.

They felt a surge of hope of seeing many undead starting to fall in the face of the traps. Yet just as quickly as their relief came, it was suddenly snatched away from them.

From seemingly out of nowhere, a large fireball hurled down into the line of traps like a comet crashing down. An explosion of flames shot out a wave of force parallel along the traps. Those closest to the fireball were simply fuel that added to the flames as it suddenly emanated a secondary blast.

The rest were caught in the boom and due to their sensitivity, were prematurely triggered. Only most of the first line of the traps had actually been used against the undead. But now, practically all the rest were already gone before they could fulfill their intended purpose.

“What the fuck?!” Alex yelled. The faces of those him, Sam, and all those present twisted with agonized despair.

Just like that, their line of traps was ruined by one fireball. Just like that, the tide had immediately switched back to being fully against them with a vengeance. Just like that, their hope of thinning out the horde of undead while getting to rest had been squashed.

But where could it have come from? And who or what could have made it to sabotage their defenses?

Sam’s gaze frantically looked across the area. Her eyes traced a line from the direction the fireball had seemingly come from. And the young woman’s jaw clenched with confusion at what it eventually led to.

It was some ways away from the raging and now burning battlefield that used to be their encampment. But in the distance, there was a line of trees where the area met with some woodland. And squinting through the smoke, Sam spotted something at the top of the trees. There were what appeared to be three humanoid figures standing near one another.

“People? But who-” Sam wondered as she quickly used the System to identify them. But the moment she saw the first golden scream, her voice became caught mid-sentence. The Mage’s eyes widened with fear at the sudden realization.

She didn’t actually recognize the three figures watching from afar. But the Levels shown were more than enough for confirmation of their identity. There was only one explanation that actually made sense.

“That’s… the Chosen Few…”

—--

Steven, Dick, and Mark had been watching the chaos unfold with some amusement. However, they hadn’t expected the traps or the punch they packed. But it was a good thing they were present to act as the thumbs on the scale.

As ordered by their leader, the trio of Chosen would keep an eye on the undead advance and give them a helping hand as needed. Such as the use of the fireball artifact to disable the traps and completely crush the surge of resistance.

“I still wish we could actually join in. It’s just a shame to let all that potential Experience go to waste. Especially while some of us haven’t reached our Class Evolution yet,” Mark sourly remarked.

Steven just shrugged. “You wanna go against the boss’s direct orders, be my guest. As of right now, we still have a job to do. I’m not moving from this spot until we get the signal to move on to the next phase of the plan. So until then, just shut up and stop complaining.”

Mark slumped, but didn’t say anything further in return. Dick stared out at the camp as he held his artifact at the ready for potentially another fireball as soon as it recharged.

“The boss should be near the front by now. Although I’m pretty sure he probably has an artifact that hides him from the undead. And those damned annoying twins should be in place too off to the left, and everyone else at the right. So as soon as everything’s ready, we’ll be coming from behind to target their strongest members from all directions in one fell swoop. That’s when you’ll get a chance to get some Experience.”

They all knew what they were here to do, which was to ensure the execution of their leader’s plan. It wouldn’t be much of a one-sided slaughter unless it was actually one-sided, after all.