Lord Reginald was feeling uneasy again, and, like before, he couldn't put his finger on the source. He had gotten a report that the town of Lolacal had been burned, and Remus had made an appearance there. However, a powerful fire mage seems to have driven him off, and that was a bit odd. It seemed like no one could settle on what the woman looked like. Which Reginald knew would be impossible unless they were also a skilled illusionist, but he hadn't heard of such a combination in the Kingdom. Then, the news from Restibue came back with nothing to report, and it was a jarring contrast to the warrior. Remus had been the enemy of all three Kingdoms; Varithfall, Masire, and Ebonheart. And, he was still considered to be a highly dangerous individual in Masire and Ebonheart, only because he acted mainly in Varithfall. The King should have gotten the news about Lolacal before he did, and having have a town burned should have been cause for the army to start marching. Which would have been known about in Restibue. Instead they said that no rumors besides the usual ones for towns nearing the Wilds of the deep south. Mostly about local bandits who got eaten by monsters or which beasts could be hunted.
For himself, he had sent a report with the mage's back to the capital, not asking for anything, just to relay the status of the mission. However, something told Reginald that today was going to be action, fighting, and bloodshed. Just like that day many weeks ago, his instincts were telling him to rally everyone for a fight, and he knew that it would just be a distraction for Remus.
----
Remus looked through his scrying spell at the massive wall and fort that the local Lord had put up. Honestly, it was impressive when compared to the more reserved "Holding" that had been established further north near the ruins of E'tarra. That place had the feeling of a palace while this wall was built to hold out monsters. Monsters, that would definitely come, and had been sneaking out most nights to Remus' delight. The soldiers missed them, but with his advanced [Mana Sight] he could see the outlines of the large ants that snuck over the wall. They would occasionally drag back dead or nearly dead creatures into the castle that was the Dungeon's entrance. The castle had been part of his problems when trying to enter the Dungeon in the last few weeks. While his golems and summons had attacked the wall and provided distractions. He had tried to stealth into the walls and down into the Dungeon proper. Only to find the ants were curiously smart and could sense him through his shroud.
Being limited to stealth made it far harder to actually defend himself, and he often had to flee to avoid the wall guard noticing the activity in the castle. It's not like he couldn't take out his enemies at his level, almost level 80, but he refused to look at the System anymore. He just didn't want to kill more than he had too, and it was becoming harder and harder to stick by that code. Yet, it was a code he would gladly die to. Humans, seemed to regard life as nothing more than pieces to be used, so he would be and do better. To that end he needed to get into this Dungeon, and it looked like war would be the best distraction. He nodded to his golems and few living followers, it was time.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
----
Reginald heard the bells ringing as he ran up the interior stairs of the wall. His men were like a well oiled machine at this point, and smoothly got into positions with weapons ready. A horde of wild beasts were heading right for the wall, and he knew that this was Remus' favorite way to start a battle.
"Be swift, be precise, and do not fear death!" He shouted to his section, with his words being relayed by his mages and captains down the wall, "Ben, tell the other wall sections to be up and ready for combat. I wouldn't put it past that furred bastard to attack at random sections looking for a weakness, or to try and sneak his way into the Dungeon while we are occupied." he told his Head Magus, and the man nodded before releasing a series of flashing lights into the air. It would alert the sentries in the other sections to standby and be ready. Sometimes he wished that communication magic was more commonly practiced, but it's a non-issue in the end. Apparently, the ancients had ways to communicate over vast distances, but they had been lost over time. Though he was sure the royal family and their counterparts in the other kingdoms had something like that.
The beasts smashed against the wall in wave of fur, scales, and feathers. It was such a waste of good hunting creatures to Reginald since the fliers didn't even fly up to attack. He joined his men as they rained down arrows to decimate the beasts, and the Long Pikemen inside the wall thrust out with the massive war spears designed to pierce through thick hides or scales. This was just the opening of the battle, and so he restricted line rotation for now. Many Lords or military leaders just committed all their forces into a fight right away, but Reginald had found using only half and then rotating them out for rest and the call of nature helped with moral. As well as won him several local fights with other leaders due to fresh troops being able to crush the exhausted ones of his enemies. Suddenly a solid blue-white field flashed into being, and Reginald tracked it to a red glowing section with a large wooden spike piercing it. He grinned, the real battle had begun.
"Rotate!" He shouted out.
----
Remus smiled to himself as he heard the foolish lord call out. This is what he had been waiting for, the man was well known to do troop rotation as a means of surprising enemies. He was so famous for it that everyone seemed to know, but they always got surprised when he did it. Remus was already dressed in the tight military outfit of the Holding Guard, slashes of bright red and blue under dark gray leather armor. He didn't like how tight around his neck it felt, but humans were odd creatures, especially when it came to clothes. He nodded to those soldiers coming up the stairs as he went down, having been on the wall on the far edge of the section that was fighting the beast wave.
"Been easy up here, save some of the real fun for the rest of us right?" He called out to a passing soldier, his voice hidden by years of practice, and the soldier grinned back at him. The man likely only saw an older man with gray and white with only a touch of brown hair. It was hard to hide his face, but he had gotten good at skinning and treating hides to make something that would hold up to all but extremely close scrutiny. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Remus found himself skirting around the majority of people to head into the Gate House, and it's side door that would lead straight into the Dungeon's Domain.