As Morin slowly descended behind the horizon, it cast a warm, vibrant orange hue across the sky, a contradictory view to those scrambling in the village. This change of color was the first signal that Night Beast would soon be active. They may have just over an hour or even less; it all depended on how Morin felt as it slowly closed its eye behind the horizon. Despite the impending nightfall, the village continued to bustle with activity, showing no signs of slowing down. As Morin meandered across the sky to rest, the village grew more frantic with every passing second.
"Is everything prepared?" Zindra asked the group of advisors around her.
Her gaze stayed fixated on the wooden walls, standing tall against the ever-darkening evening sky and the large gathering of nervous guards waiting beside the gate she stood not far from. The vibrant orange hues at the horizon gradually softened into delicate shades of pink and purple as the day transitioned into dusk.
"As much as could be in a single day, but it is still chaotic and will likely take several days to prepare properly, if not more." said one of the advisors
"I expected as much considering the short notice... But everyone did well, considering."
The distant chatter of the Night Beasts started to wash over the village, although considering its actual size, only those closest to the walls heard the chittering of the Night Beasts.
"It seems they are beginning to awake and move about..."
"We still have time; they are only the scouts. They will stay until night break and then return to their nest before returning with the actual attacking beasts, so we have a little more time to prepare, but not much. How are the Divine Knights? Can anyone join tonight?" Zindra said
"They sai..."
As the advisor prepared to speak, an eerie sound of scratching and chittering suddenly echoed from the other side of the wall. Zindra and the other advisors, guards, and Seedlings exchanged wide-eyed glances, their faces filled with astonishment and bewilderment as they struggled to make sense of the situation.
"...HURRY! GUARDS GO! COMMANDER TAKE CHARGE THEN FOLLOW ME!" Zindra was the first to react, screaming at the commander and the guards to do their jobs, but they seemed frozen not by fear but by confusion.
"What is happening?" a younger advisor asked as he ran behind Zindra, who seemed panicked at the unforeseen event.
"I have no idea. I've never heard or read anything like this before. It should be impossible, but... Never mind that; get these spectators away from here and continue to clear the houses near the walls!" Zindra screeched commands to some of the guards, who seemed dazed.
"Commander, Follow me to the watchtower. We can take command there. The rest of the guards hurry through the small guard entrances outside. Go in pairs so that no one is blindsided." Zindra continued to give commands to those around her.
Hearing Zindra's orders, the guards and captains quickly jumped into action, splitting to complete the task while Zindra and the gate commander climbed to view what was happening.
Zindra hastily climbed the ladder up the watchtower, followed closely by a couple of her advisors and the gate commander, all of whom had regained some semblance of awareness.
The gate commander was the last to set foot on the top of the watchtower. When he did, he noticed the strange atmosphere that Zindra radiated as she stared wide eyes at the dense forest that shimmered in a peculiar pale blue light. His thoughts stopped there as he realized what those lights were: the eyes of night beasts. So many shimmered in the light of dusk that it seemed like the forest was lit with shimmering blue lights.
"Gr-Grandmaster w-what are we to d-do?" The commander asked with a shaking voice.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Find Arc, drag the Divine Knights here, and tell the guards to return inside," Zindra said weakly.
The Night Beast's chittering echoed like war drums against their ears as they heard the guard doors slowly open. Several guards started to walk out skeptical but seeming overconfident, but that did not last long.
What Zindra, the others standing on the watchtower, and the unlucky few guards standing outside witnessed couldn't be called a wave, a flood, or anything of that nature. No, there was no word in any language on Genisis to describe what was happening as an uncountable number of Night Beasts of every size scrambled out of the forest's darkness into Morin's disappearing light.
"pull them back... PULL THEM BACK NOW!" Zindra screamed over the walls to the guards, who stood like statues outside the walls.
She couldn't blame them. If not for her forcing herself because of responsibility, she too would have only been able to stare at this world-ending sight.
The flood of Night Beasts continued even as they crushed the smaller ones under them. They continued to run to the wall, starved and drooling at the feast that seemed so close. The Archers that lined the towers continued to plink the wall of Night Beasts, but it did as much as throwing needles against the banks of a lake, expecting to split the beach.
The guards outside were luckily pulled back before the onslaught of Night Beasts washed over them, but the horror continued as the beast clawed at the door where the guards had just been.
"Grandmaster, what is this?"
Those around Zindra asked, unsure what they were looking at as more and more bodies of beast piled up like small hills, but the number of bodies piling high had nothing to do with anyone inside the village. No, it was simple self-destruction from the uncountable amount of Night Beasts that were flooding forth, causing so much death between themselves that most of the tiny beasts resorted more to cannibalism than to continuing the charge forward, which only acted as a catalyst for the larger beasts as it soon became a frenzy of attacking one another along with the walls that kept them from their feast.
"Ca-Can we really defend against this?"
Zindra couldn't identify the speaker as she stepped back onto the ground. She felt the urge to argue and lift morale but couldn't find the strength. Aside from the Divine Knights and possibly the Feyrisian, no one here was truly a warrior. With only about a thousand or maybe two thousand Divine Knights, they were vastly outnumbered by the incoming threat. This was only the first wave, which was supposed to be the weakest. Even if the ten to twenty thousand guards of this gate joined in, their numbers would still pale compared to the beast outside, and they couldn't afford to move the guards from other gates in case this was happening everywhere.
The situation grew stranger the more she dwelled on it. Despite Morin not having set yet, creatures that should only thrive at night were clawing at their walls. Not only should they have been weaker and nearly blind in the daylight, but the sheer number defied all logic. The more she thought, the less sense everything made. How could a truth that had stood for billions of years suddenly change?
"Grandmaster!" The gate commander shouted
"Hmm?" Zindra turned her head as a soft sound came out of her mouth
"I-I do not feel as if I can command in a situation as dire as this... and if I may be so bold, it seems you and the advisors feel the same."
"If it were any other time, I would argue, but I can not in a situation like this. Sigh, but I must disagree regardless of how I feel. The reason is simple: there is no one else capable of doing it if not one of you gate commanders or the captain of the guard, which has been vacant for close to seven years. Then, by default, it would fall to the highest in command, which is the Feyrisian Arc, and he is incompetent when it comes to leadership; the same applies to all of the Divine Knights; all of them are fighters, warriors who do not have the knowledge or ability to take the lead, but neither does anyone else here. So who then does it fall to?"
The gate commander couldn't think; the sounds of the Night Beasts clawing and chewing through the dense wooden walls that protected the small village could be heard just behind him. This filled him with so much fear that all he wanted to do was run, but where could he run? If he stayed, he would be eaten; if he ran, he would be killed and eaten later. Either way, it was death.
"... commander, tell the guards to wait for the Night Beasts to pierce through the walls before stabbing through the gaps the beast creates since it seems the beasts have no intention of climbing. Also, tell the archers to continue shooting with no regard for aim. An advisor and other capable Seedlings will bring more arrows from the Smith Race."
"Wh-What bu-but what of you grandmaster?"
"I am going to drag the knights and Feyrashian here. We are too desperate not to, and I can not trust anyone else."
"Are you running?"
Zindra turned back to the gate commander with a poisonous look, "And where on Genisis would I run in a situation like this?"