Chapter 7: A Defensive Strategy

After repelling the first wave of invading monsters, the Knights of Tesma immediately conducted a meeting with the commanding officers of the Rube Fortress. The tension within the room was suffocating as everyone intently stared at the large map unfolded on the ground.

“Are you telling us that these monsters are actually capable of coordinated assaults?” said Moonsol, the second highest ranking official of Rube Fortress. The flames of the torch on the wall flickered for an instance, and the shadows of everyone in the room danced with it.

“Definitely,” said Lancelot. Using a stick, he tapped at an area in the map. It was a place surrounded by numerous hills. Adjacent to it was a small lake. “Someone is leading them. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise. According to one of my magicians, this is the area with the most number of goblins and ogres. Basically, what we’ve encountered a while ago is just the tip of the iceberg. A larger army will surely hit us sooner or later.”

Moonsol stared at Lancelot. He shook his head and mockingly laughed, “Are you serious?! You guys have just gotten here, and you surely have no idea of how much monsters we’ve repelled before those abominable creatures finally retreated! And now, you’re telling me—telling us—that a larger army will be invading us soon? Hah!”

Lancelot glanced at Faith, and the priest nodded at him. She was the one that verified the total number of monsters near the Gralvan Plains. She said, “Sir, I know that it is hard to believe, but this is reality. This is just a hunch, but I believe that the Goblin King has awakened from its hibernation.”

“Preposterous! The Goblin King is nothing but a myth!” snarled Moonsol. His voice echoed inside the room. Everyone present was taken aback by his sudden outburst of emotion. The flames again flickered, casting a shadow over his sunken face. “This is what I’ve kept telling Sophia. Requesting help from the Kingdom of Tesma is a mistake! From the start, we should have asked Renaga for reinforcements!”

“Monsool, watch your mouth,” said an elderly woman. Before now, she had been wordlessly standing beside him. She contemptuously added, “You do realize that the man before you is the infamous commander of the first division of the Knights of Tesma, no? Please do not disgrace us with your incessant remarks. First of all, the Kingdom of Tesma is under no obligation to help us. We should be grateful that they’ve answered our plea for help, going so far as to send the Commander to this far land.”

The elderly woman turned to Lancelot. She closed her eyes then bowed. “Please do forgive the actions of my grandson. He is young, and thus he sometimes does not know what he is saying.”

Moonsol was about to retort when he was stopped by the glare coming from the elderly woman. With an icy, monotonous voice, she said, “I am still talking. Shut up and stay still, stupid grandson of mine.”

There was a soft giggle after that, and Moonsol frowned upon seeing the priest broadly grinning at him. Lancelot glanced at the two then wordlessly gestured for Faith to stop. He said to the elderly woman, “It’s fine. We have no time for such things right now. Also, your grandson has a point. The Kingdom of Renaga is stronger than Tesma. Those beastmen would surely be a great help.”

“No, Commander. I can’t find myself working together with those savages. I’ve seen them eat our kind before. I’m not going to risk my people. The Kingdom of Tesma is definitely the best choice,” she said in a firm tone.

“So, what’s the plan—oh, commander?” said Moonsol. His voice had a hint of mockery in it.

Lancelot stared at the map for a few moments. He said to Moonsol, “The walls of Rube are made out of a sturdy crystal, no?”

“Krylhalcom, to be precise,” said Moonsol. He held great pride of their walls’ sturdiness. In the entire continent, one could find only a handful other fortresses as sturdy as Rube. “It’s basically made out of the same materials used in our blades.”

“What… how the hell did they build such a massive wall using Krylhalcom?” said Faith in disbelief. She had seen the walls before, and just a single glance would enable one to see that it was sturdy.

Moonsol boastfully grinned. “Around two hundred years ago, this place is a Krylhalcom mine. Our great ancestors basically dug out everything and forged out an absurdly large wall that covered an entire city. A feat that wouldn’t be repeated in this lifetime.”

“If it’s krylhalcom, then even ogres wouldn’t be able to penetrate the walls. Those brutes are strong, but they lack the intelligence to find a way of climbing the walls. The problem now is the goblins. Small, pesky, but smart,” said Lancelot.

“Commander, forgive my insolence… but will another division come to Rube?” said the elderly woman. “The first division is strong, but I cannot somehow imagine them driving away hundreds of thousands of monsters on their own.”

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The last part was said in almost a whisper. Everyone in the room knew what those words implied: after the first wave of battle, half of the soldiers in Rube were either killed or were severely injured. The remaining ones were under severe fatigue after fighting for almost half a day nonstop. Right now, only the Knights of Tesma were in good enough condition to pose a threat to the invading monsters. Everyone else would just be fodder.

Lancelot softly sighed. “I’m sorry, but the Kingdom cannot spare more than that.”

“Hah! What a half-assed reinforcement! If the Kingdom of Tesma is really intent on helping us, then they should have sent all three divisions of their infamous knights!” said Moonsol.

The elderly woman glared at him. “Send all three divisions here and risk having their lands invaded by another nation? How stupid are you?!”

“But their unit alone is not enough!” shouted Moonsol. His voice reverberated inside the room, and the flames of the torch flickered in resonance. The group fell silent. Everyone knew that what he was saying were not lies. Indeed, just the first division of the knights alone was insufficient.

“How much food did you store in this stronghold?” said Lancelot. At the corner of his eyes, he saw Faith give an affirmative nod. It seemed that she had realized their commander’s intent just from those words alone.

“A month and a half worth of food. Harvest season has just ended. We basically have an abundant supply here,” said Moonsol.

Lancelot nodded. “I see. Lord Moonsol, have you heard of the story about the Nekasha Tribe?”

Moonsol creased his brows. He felt irritated that he did not know what the commander was talking about. Still, he was sure that it was of no relevance. After all, what would a mere knight know, aside from snuffing the lives out of his enemies? Moonsol monotonously replied, “No, I haven’t.”

Lancelot smiled, which further irritated the man before him. “It’s a story about how a small tribe defeated the invading monsters numbering in the thousands. It’s an event that happened hundreds of years ago, but the historians of that time described it as nothing short of an amazing feat.”

“Get straight to the point,” said Moonsol. The elderly woman beside him glared after the remark.

“Long story cut short, the thousands of monsters were killed by the small Nekasha Tribe. Their warriors did not even come close to a hundred, but they managed to annihilate all of the monsters that tried to invade their land,” said Lancelot. “Our enemies greatly outnumber us, but at the end of the day, they are still nothing but monsters—and they will eventually succumb to their instincts.”

The elderly woman stepped forward. “I see... So that’s what you are planning. There are indeed numerous records of cannibalism among goblins and ogres. You will use that to our advantage, no?”

Lancelot smiled. “Exactly. The walls of this fortress are absurdly sturdy—we’ll use that to our advantage. Think about it. What will those monsters do if they are unable to eat for days, weeks?

He stared at everyone. “They’ll start killing each other for food.”

Everyone silently listened as the commander of the knights continued. “Just like the Nekasha Tribe, we will hole up ourselves inside this fortress. A month should do the trick. Those monsters outside will eventually start eating their kin once they went hungry. Once they’re worn out, we strike. Furthermore, by that time, the injured soldiers would have already recuperated. Basically, it’s a battle of patience and perseverance.”

It was a simple idea, but everyone knew that it was a good shot for their survival. Even Moonsol was left with no choice but to nod in agreement.

“A month?” said a small voice. Everyone glanced at the source, and what they saw was a child, probably almost in his teenage years, with ash white hair and crimson eyes. He was quietly standing at the corner of the room, and if he had not spoken, they would have not noticed him.

He walked towards the clustered officials, revealing a youthful face partly shrouded by the room’s shadow. His eyes glimmered for an instance. “I do not have high expectations of the so called Cardinal, considering the fact that his God is nothing but an insignificant existence, but he is my only current lead towards my goal. I shall meet him—soon.”

Faith’s lips were partly opened and she wore a stupefied look. She was sure that she had left Jiablu inside their camp. “W-What are you doing here?! How did you get here?!”

Her voice was croaking, like a pig being slaughtered in its last moments. She glanced at everyone in the room, and she saw that even Lancelot was surprised that the child was with them inside. It was indeed preposterous to let a child enter such serious conversation.

“Trivial. I can be at wherever I want. Priest, tell me. Am I correct? It will take a month before we are able to meet the so called Cardinal of the Kingdom?” said Jiablu.

Faith stared at him for a long time before she nodded. “Yes. But again, what are you doing here? I clearly told you to stay in your room! We are currently under a monster invasion! It’s too dangerous for you to wander around!”

Jiablu answered the question with another question. “If this farce ends, will I be able to meet the Cardinal?”

Faith wanted to slap her forehead in resignation. Just like before, the child was arrogant, definitely condescending. Still, she replied, “Yes. But that’s impossible. Right now, this fortress is facing a threat on the scale of a national level. It’s impossible to finish this war in such a short period of time.”

Jiablu nodded once. Using magic, he channeled his thoughts into a certain individual, “Human—I want you to end this farce at once.”

“What’s a child doing here?!” snarled Moonsol. He finally snapped. He ruffled his blonde hair then approached the child that remained standing still. He gripped Jiablu’s shoulder. “Get out! This is not the place for kids—.”

The moment he locked eyes with the child, Moonsol screamed in utter horror. “Ahhhhhhh!”

Everyone in the room was struck speechless as the man fell down butt-first on the ground. A pungent smell wafted to the air as a yellowish fluid dripped down between his thighs. His entire body trembled then eventually stopped.

“Moonsol! What happened?” said the elderly woman. She immediately went to her grandson, and she was baffled by what she saw. The man had lost consciousness while sitting still and with his eyes opened wide. She shook his body in an attempt to wake the man up. “What happened?!”

When she realized that her grandson was not going to wake up anytime soon, she stared at his source of terror. But all she saw was a child filled with curiosity. His crimson eyes remained fixated on the unconscious man she held in her arms.

What did her grandson see? There was no doubt that his expression that time was of pure terror. Horror frightening enough to make a war veteran like him lose consciousness. She shivered at the thought.

“Let me see,” said Faith. She briskly approached the two then cast her magic on Moonsol. The tips of her fingers glowed for a moment, and runes started crawling up their way into the unconscious man’s neck. After a split second of violent radiance, the runes vanished.

Faith breathed a sigh of relief. “He’s completely fine. There are no physical injuries, and there is no sign of mana distortion. He’s just unconscious—that’s all. But the question is… why?”

She looked at Jiablu for a few seconds, then to Lancelot. His face clearly stated that he also had no idea of what had just transpired. Everyone’s mouth was tightly shut as they pondered.

The deafening silence was broken by the sound of door creaking as it opens. Jiablu took a step outside the room. His voice reverberated amidst the silence, “Priest, be true to your word. Once this war ends, you shall take me to the Cardinal.”

The flames of the torches violently flickered for an instance, and Jiablu’s shadow loomed over everyone. “This farce shall end soon. Be grateful, insignificant ones.”