Alex gaped with frustration at surprise at the sight of the incoming horde. Thick columns of smoke climbed into the air from everything that’d been lit aflame from the massive blast of the sudden fireball.
While a part of the undead horde had also been caught in the explosion, it was only a tiny chunk of the overall whole. And not definitely only a fraction of what the traps could have killed if they hadn’t been prematurely detonated and destroyed. And the undead the blast did kill were only the weaker Skeletons, and not any that were of the higher Level kind.
Even worse was the apparent source of the fireball. Standing next to Sam, he’d manage to overhear her words even through all the noise around them. Alex followed her line of sight and spotted the three figures standing at the top of the trees some distance away. They were far enough that he had to squint just to make them out through all the smoke and stuff in the air.
The teen’s lips pressed together into a thin line. He’d only ever heard about the Chosen Few until now. So this was the first time he would lay eyes on any of them. There appeared to only be three of them that he could see. Yet with how powerful each of them were, three would be more than enough to turn a tough victory against the horde into a completely impossible one.
But why had the Chosen not moved in on them yet? With the undead army at their front and their recent retreat, they should have already had the chance to move in. So far they’d mostly just been watching for who knew how long. And in that time, had only just now acted once through the destruction of their traps.
Yet that fact gave Alex an idea. Perhaps that singular act of interference so far was the most important clue for deciphering their intended actions. While the Chosen Few did have stronger people in terms of individual Levels, they did have a higher number of people. Both in terms of their average Level as a whole and their own fair number of elites.
They must have some kind of strategy in mind. I doubt they just happened to show up right as this horde did. That’d be way too big of a coincidence to be believable. So they either saw the horde’s movement and made a plan around it, or somehow managed to gather the undead and lead them directly toward us, he thought to himself.
Alex figured that the army itself was likely just a means to an end. Because while fighting it off would have been difficult, they could so eventually by continuously outmaneuvering the mindless monsters. But if someone wanted to act during the hectic fighting, it’d be all too easy for them to do so unnoticed. While it almost sounded crazy to think how many higher Level undead there were, the horde almost felt like it was just a distraction.
He turned to Sam. “The Chosen Few are probably here to deal with our strongest members! We still don’t know where Noah or some of the other scavengers currently are in this mess! This entire thing is basically just one chaotic form of divide and conquer! What should we do?!”
“I- I don’t think there’s anything we CAN do! We can’t spare people from here to find our strongest with the Ghouls still incoming! And even if we did, it’d just compromise the fighting strength of all those ongoing battles! God damn it” Sam loudly cursed.
Her expression was a mixture of different emotions. Her face was red with anger and irritation, but Alex noticed something else too. There was a despair in her eyes that could be described as that of betrayal. Yet as Alex was still staring at her, she lobbied another magic attack over the barricade. After which, she looked back at him.
“Alex! We can’t go on like this without the traps! We need to get ready to fall further back! The barricade should hold just long enough for us to regroup and then reorganize with the other defenders!” Sam said.
However, the teen’s brows furrowed at that plan. Where exactly were they supposed to fall back to? They’d already given up on the front entrance and had moved further into the camp. Yet beyond this point would be even further in and would allow the undead more free reign. The tents that most people lived in weren't that much farther behind them. They couldn’t fall back. At least not yet.
“But what about the people who can’t fight and still need more time to evacuate?! I think we need to hold the line! Both to tell those in the bunker to use the escape tunnel and for the rest of the non-fighters to escape! Just until they can safely get out of danger’s reach!”
As they spoke, the undead swarm wasn’t polite enough to simply hold back and nicely wait around. Having already filled in the gap left by the traps and explosion, the frontmost wave advanced on the barricade. Orders and swearing were yelled out in all directions as the camp members tried to mount an effective defense.
Warriors put themselves directly behind the barricade itself. Wherever there was any space for their blades, they stabbed through to attack the nearest enemy. The ranged fighters used as many Abilities or arrows as their resources allowed from what they’d already managed to recuperate.
Both healing and Mana gel was constantly being given to whoever needed it most. But what limited supplies they had were rapidly used up. In front of the barricade, a secondary wall was being formed out of the steadily piling bodies of dead monsters. Yet just as it felt like they were starting to slow the horde down, the hard limit of their on-hand supplies reared its ugly head.
The undead horde was simply never ending. But as they ran out of the necessary gels needed to replenish the use of their Abilities, the defenders found their attack power quickly crippled. There were just too many monsters to fend off. And without the consistent use of Abilities, they were now coming down at a rate far greater than they were being slain.
“Shit! Retreat! They can’t be held back any longer! Everyone retreat now!” Sam cried. There was a loud cracking of wood as the undead started to break through the barricade.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Alex cursed under his breath before repeating the call for another retreat. He could only pray that the precious little time they’d bought would be enough. That the young children and others who couldn’t fight had already been able to get far, far away from there.
If it’d just been the horde, this would have been the point where the rest of them could simply scatter and wait for the army to pass through. But with the Chosen Few around, there was no way they’d be able to get away with that idea.
Speaking of which, Alex looked over to where the three figures had been standing. Yet when his gaze fell on where they should have been, he only saw bare treetops. Alex blinked with surprise at the realization that they were gone. He quickly glanced around that area, just in case his memory of their location had been off. But just a second later, he realized that they had actually moved from their prior position.
“Oh fuck! Sam, it’s the Chosen! They’re- RUN!” Alex screamed as a fireball hurled straight for the retreating group. The Warrior immediately jumped to the side after yelling out the last minute warning.
Those who were quick on the uptake or had sufficient Agility also quickly managed to get out of the way. However, anyone who was injured or simply didn’t realize the actual danger in time wasn't so lucky.
Their cries of pain were cut-off as quickly as they came as they were engulfed in the blast of flame. Just like that, nine people were immediately killed by the fiery explosion. A few more screamed as they dropped to the ground, writing as their entire body was covered in fire. But all stopping in place did was open themselves to the horde as undead mindlessly piled onto the burning people.
Arrows then flew through the air and rained down upon them. The retreating defenders tried to get out of the way of those next. But after suddenly having to dodge the fireball, many weren’t ready to deal with the arrow fire that’d come just a second later.
“Sam! What do we- Sam?!” Alex frantically asked. But when he looked around, he found that the Mage was no longer amongst their group. Yet before he could even ask himself where she’d gone, he heard a fresh set of high-pitched screams coming from his own team.
“NO!”
From out of nowhere, a cloaked man with a pair of daggers had found himself within their very midst. One teenage Martial Artist tried to strike at his back, but only hit empty space as he blinked right before her. Then the next moment, a blade cut open her throat and dropped her dead on the spot.
Before he’d even seen what was happening, three members of Alex’s own team had just been killed one after another. The people he’d called both comrades and new friends were dying left and right. All right under his watch.
But right before he could charge at the rogue in a rage, every cell within his body screamed of imminent death. In the corner of his vision, he saw a Warrior like himself standing off amongst the undead. But the man ignored the monsters as his raised sword slashed down while pointed in his direction.
Alex raised his shield in an attempt to use Minor Block. But as the Slash struck, the defensive Ability was easily made mute. The Chosen’s attack cut straight through his shield, then his chainmail, and sliced through the top of his collarbone.
The teen fell back to the ground, clutching at his heavily bleeding wound. The two halves of his now ruined shield uselessly thumped against the dirt. He grunted with pain, gritting his teeth. The orange-red sky above him was already spinning, but Alex refused to let things end there.
He had to get back up! He had to grab his sword and fight to his last breath! He had to at least buy time for as many people to get away! He had to!
The man who’d attack him sharply whistled. The Chosen rested his blade over his shoulder as he strolled forward.
“Damn, you’re barely more than a kid, ain’t ya? You’ve reached a pretty damn good Level for someone so young. Level 26 after what, just a couple weeks of really trying? You might have even reached your Class Evolution after not much longer. Sorry kid, but you just have the bad luck of getting that potential cut short,” he said before looking off to the side.
“Hey Mark! This one’s worth a good bit of Experience. Hurry up and come over to put him down or I’ll just take it for myself!”
Alex took a shaky, heavy breath. His armored palm felt warm as it was being covered by his flowing blood. The arm connected to the sliced collarbone had already gone completely numb. But that was just his shield arm. As long as the hand holding his sword still worked, he could still fight.
Yet just before he could gather the will to push himself for one last surge of strength, something happened. A bellowing roar echoed across the besieged camp. A split-second later, what followed it was the sound of what had to be the bones of dozens upon dozens of Skeletons shattering all at once.
“What the fuck is that?!” Dick yelled out. Both Chosen and regular survivors alike looked around with a mix of both fear and confusion.
But all of them quickly found the answer as a being the size of a small house charged through the horde. Forcing its way to where the teens and Chosen Few were, it forcefully tore its way through the undead. Both regular Skeletons and the stronger monsters alike were easily shredded apart in its furious wake.
Alex blinked away the blurriness in his vision as he pushed himself off the ground. Standing, he got up just in time to see the huge thing charging straight toward him. It was a giant brown bear, and on its back was a redheaded woman.
It quickly tore through the last of the undead standing it in its way and came to a stop directly between the beaten teens and the Chosen trio. The woman then quickly hopped off the bear and drew her blade. Alex stared dumbfounded for a moment at the sudden arrival of what were apparently reinforcements from how they acted.
Just who was this lady? And that bear she came riding on seemed way too big to just be any regular bear. Was it some kind of magical beast or something? Upon seeing the sudden newcomers to the battlefield, his next reflex was to find out their info.
Warrior (Human)
Evolved (Flashblade Blitzer)
Level: 30
Alex was surprised by the high Level of the woman. She was easily just as strong as the three Chosen. But then when he next looked at that of the large bear, his surprise immediately turned into complete and utter shock.
Druid (Hell-Touched Human)
Evolved (True Shifter)
Level: 40
He practically had to do a double take at what he saw. His attention immediately went to the Level at the bottom.
40!? That was easily way higher than even the Levels of the Chosen Few, who were supposed to be the most dangerous people around! But then he saw the Class listed. There was only one Druid he knew of, but could it really be him?
At the same time, the bear had started to shrink down. Within just a few seconds, it’d taken on the form of a man. One that then turned to look back at the injured teen.
As Alex glanced away from the golden screen, his eyes widened with recognition. And though he was somewhat woozy from pain and blood loss, the teen’s lips tugged upward to form a grin.
“Jaco! You’re actually here!”