"Cress' troops aren't in a hurry since all of their fifty thousand soldiers are in the same camp. They are using well-rested soldiers to win the battles of all days while also using their numerical advantage," Relia explained. "They had lost around two thousand troops, but Ekirenton's troops had lost three times more that number since their troops are still coming, but they have to fight no matter what."

With her knife, Relia could go and assassinate some of the invaders, and while Gaius didn't ask her to do that, she volunteered to do so since she had some grudges against them despite the fact that they had been allies for a few years.

"Don't worry, little master," Relia said while grinning. "Those guys are assholes as well, and they caused a bit of trouble for us after our failure. Breaking the alliance was understandable, but they went too far in executing some captains just to weaken us in order to annex our territory later."

It looked like Relia had been doing some research on her own about the fate of her former comrades. She felt guilty since she had lost quite miserably, but it couldn't be helped since she dealt with something that she couldn't understand. That was one of the reasons Gaius couldn't trust her… she had all the reasons to hate him as well since he was indirectly connected to all that.

Gaius Lv 64 (51,000/64,000) - Limitless Summoner

Health: 265/265

Mana: 670/670

Stamina: 185/185

Strength: 06 + 30

Endurance: 01 + 15

Adaptability: 01 + 11

Magic: 131 + 01

Resistance: 01 + 01

Wisdom: 96 + 16

Dexterity: 01 + 12

Perception: 01 + 33

Luck: 01 + 26

Free points: 70

Rein Lv 22 (Sword Mastery), Herac Lv 28 (Strength), Clovis Lv 0 (Magic), Anelis Lv 0 (Resistance), Clovis Lv 0 (Perception), Zor Lv 0 (Dexterity), Jelia Lv 14 (Dash), Fran Lv 09 (Fire Resistance), Hullis Lv 05 (Luck), Kar Lv 05 (Adaptability), Rog Lv 14 (Bow Mastery), Relia Lv 22 (Silent Step)

While he didn't level up much, it looked like Relia knew that her strength was recovering pretty fast while she fought and that Gaius was being rewarded by it as well… he couldn't help but think that Angela's big mouth was the cause of it. It was a bit annoying, but he had other problems to consider right at the moment.

In any case, the whole group stopped moving when they were at the entrance of the camp since a lot of people there looked at them with eyes filled with suspicion. Zairus and other veteran guards went to look for the commander while the others waited.

Even from a distance, Gaius' perception let him hear a lot of groans of pain, and he could also feel the smell of blood coming from some tents. It was only natural that the war would leave some people heavily injured.

The atmosphere made some people feel like throwing up; it had been a while since even the oldest guards had felt something like that, and it looked like they had forgotten about it, or it wasn't something that they could get used to.

After looking around, Gaius could see a large town further south… he thought that it would be a good place to set up a base since it had some walls around it, but it looked like the enemies could just ignore it and head straight to the main city of the territory… They were the ones deciding where the battles would take place.

As for the terrain, it looked like it was pretty even all around with few obstacles. Thanks to it, the attacking side had another advantage… regardless, after half an hour, Zairus and the others returned while showing some concerned expressions. It didn't look like things were going well, and that they received some difficult orders.

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"After five days of conflict, the enemies decided to split their forces and are preparing to move to both flanks and ignore this battlefield," Zairus said and then sighed. "Our job is to block the enemies on the left flank."

There was a lot of information missing there, but Gaius could tell that his father was hiding that for obvious reasons. The number of the enemies, why the enemies were trying to split the defenders' forces even more, and if they were going to get reinforcements.

"We need to hurry and set up our camp there and fight when we have to while we wait for further orders," Zairus added while having a hard time controlling his face from distorting in anger.

While they were called to join the war, the commander of the operation was only treating them like disposable forces… Gaius heard that Herac was guarding Ekirenton, and the same didn't leave his home even in that situation. For someone so greedy, he sure was lazy.

When the group headed to the left flank, it didn't take long for them to see a force there preparing to move. They stopped for a bit to analyze their numbers, but once they realized that the defenders on that side had less than five hundred men and a bunch of kid squires, they prepared to move again.

"Hehe, they are underestimating us… I can't blame them, though," Gaius thought while scratching the back of his head. "Those guys probably outnumber us five to one, even while counting the kids. If they have a force of fifty thousand, sending less than five thousand to the flanks would be stupid."

Five thousand… that was a huge number. Gaius had seen people die and killed some people, but soon he was going to see people die on an unprecedented level. The worrying part is that he wasn't that afraid or concerned… he wasn't planning to play the hero this time. He knew better than to try this time… his only goal was to bring his father back home in one way or the other.

The old guards began to dig in the ground to create some barricades using earth. In the meantime, the kids began to work on setting up the tents and preparing the equipment.

Gaius was responsible for organizing the quivers and filling them with arrows. They had a bunch of them, but they were all wooden arrows with low durability. One shot, one use, and they were done… not like they could recover them in battle or after.

Once he finished his job, he took some time to observe the enemy, and while it was mid-afternoon, they were moving a lot… like they were soon going to move.

"They should at least try to pretend that they aren't planning a night raid," Gaius furrowed his eyebrows. "I can use that in my favor, but that doesn't change the fact that a lot of people here will die…"

Gaius considered the possibility of dealing the final blow to the people who were about to die and then reviving them later. However, that would reveal the existence of his power… in the worst-case scenario, the people he would bring back would be treated like demons. It wasn't a viable option, so he could only focus on taking down as many enemies as possible.

Around the time the sun was about to set, the adults working on the trenches stopped and then clicked their tongues when they confirmed that the enemies would use a night raid. That was just another problem aside from the other ones that he had. Still, while it wasn't perfect, Gaius had some countermeasures ready for the enemies.

"Listen, your job is to stay behind us until the melee starts," Zairus said while looking at Gaius and the other kids. "They will try to decrease our numbers or wound us with arrows; you can't stay close without risking being hit by those. If you were to get hit, we would have less support, and that would change the outcome of the battle in a bad way for us."

"As long as you survive, we will have the chance to survive…" That made sense but put Gaius' plan in a bad spot. He couldn't watch over his father while he was away, so he considered his options.

The front line couldn't defend and attack at the same time, so they gave up on the idea of using bows… Gaius and some other kids were equipped with them, but their main role was to offer support by helping the wounded and giving them other weapons if necessary.

Eventually, night fell, and only the lights of some torches and bonfires were keeping things illuminated around the area. Everyone had to ration while paying attention to the enemies' movements, and it didn't take long for them to see some battalions moving from their camp.

Everyone could tell that since the archers were coming first. They truly wanted to wipe out the numbers of the defenders without losing too many people. They knew how to wage war and that was a problem...

The front line began to sweat cold, and the tension among the kids increased, but all of a sudden, they noticed the shadows of the enemies suddenly coming to a stop… At the same time, they began to hear some grunts of pain.