Chapter 162 Helping Tail
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The anomaly began when the undead appeared but didn't immediately attack. They stood there menacingly. On the second day, another group arrived and they attacked together, doubling their numbers. However, I was able to handle it. I roasted all of them at the entrance of the fort. Afterward, I recalled my dragon as usual. However, three Vargmuth charged down from the top of the hill towards our location. Lily panicked at the sudden undead attack, but we prevailed against them with my spells.
"That was dangerous..."
"I agree. They've started to stagger their forces," I bobbed my tail up and down in agreement. Unlike these undead, who can remain animated for a long time, I can only animate my dragon for a maximum of two hours. If they continue to stagger their forces like this, my dragon will run out of flame before I can kill them all.
"Soldiers! Form a barricade at the entrance!" Lily shouted, but the others looked at her puzzled.
"Why should we form a barricade at the entrance? Wasn't the plan to let them enter the fort?" a soldier asked, tilting her head.
"Fool! Lord Lily can only use her dragon once a day. Suppose we let more undead inside after she uses her dragon. In that case, we will be doomed," another soldier answered, and everyone nodded.
"Should we close the gate? It was damaged, but an emergency fix was done before they left," an elf suggested.
"No, we should form a barricade. When the undead reach here, we'll let them gather at the entrance before I burn them with fire. It's more mana-efficient that way," Lily explained.
The soldiers followed her instructions. They quickly constructed a makeshift barricade that resembled an obstacle in an obstacle race—something that could easily be jumped over. However, they added barbed wire using ropes and nails. Even with limited manpower, they managed to create this obstacle, although it was quite draining. Only around ten people were available to help since the others were either guarding the sentry posts or resting. They used benches or tables covered with wire as resources.
"Lord Lily, will this hold against the Vargmuths? I think they could simply tear this apart," a soldier asked.
"It'll be fine! The objective is to hold them off, not repel them. The ropes have also been soaked in oil. We can ignite them, and it would be best if the ropes entangled the beasts and tripped them. These ropes are quite strong."
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However, the opportunity to use this improvised barricade and tactics never came to pass. Alistar arrived two days later with over a thousand construction workers. Niece and Sig were also present. Shockingly, King Garme himself was with them.
"Greetings, Lord Alistar. You came earlier than expected," Lily greeted.
"I came as soon as possible."
"I'm glad! I see that His Highness, King Garme, and King Sigliendurne are also present. However, your entourage is smaller."
"Yes, the wounded need time to recuperate. Edelweiss is doing her best, but we only have this many," Alistar pointed toward the one hundred elves and five hundred tailfolk soldiers with him. However, there were over two hundred dwarves. That was good news. Lily was glad King Sig was trying to help us as much as he could.
"Alright! King Sig has given us his full support! Now, we can begin our reconstruction! The dwarves will be left with the defense of the fort while we will march towards Northlangard."
"Already?"
"Yes. Edelweiss analyzed that the remaining breaches leaked more mana when we sealed the previous ones. It's like water pipes. If you have two holes and seal one of them, the remaining hole will leak more water. That's why the undead seemed to get stronger," Alistar explained.
"Well, okay," Lily simply nodded at his suggestion. She was ready at any time, and if that meant marching now, she would go.
"Hmm?" Lily looked at the tail end of the people in charge of the reconstruction as they entered the fort. There were humans among them.
"Ah, yes. I took your advice and called Mattheus. These are the refugees that you catered to. Mattheus is currently leading them. While humans may not carry weapons in elven land for now, I believe they will be useful as labor in this fort," Alistar said. Lily smiled when she saw all races gathered inside one big fort.
"The dwarves will be in charge of defenses," Alistar stated.
"Are you sure we can leave it to them?" I asked.
"They claim to be experts in this."
The dwarves worked quickly. They smoothed out the walls with cement to make it harder to climb. Moreover, they embedded steel pikes at the top of the wall, hindering any monsters that managed to climb.
"Why didn't we think of that?" Lily whispered, impressed by the ingenious idea the dwarves had. Additionally, they applied tar to the walls, not as boiling liquid but as a simple slimy oil that would make the undead slip when climbing.
"Well, they are the experts. We didn't have the steel resources, and let's just say the thought never crossed our minds. Even if it did, just look," the elves grimaced at the unsightly appearance the fortress took on with those pikes.
The day to test the dwarves' mettle came quickly. Several thousand skeletons and Vargmuth arrived the next day, accompanied by undead archers. It was fewer than the battle we suffered last week, but it was still a threatening size.
"King Sig, they have arrived. I will leave our troops in your command," Alistar said.
"Aye! You don't need to bother with your magic just yet. We shall show you how we fight. Fort battles are our specialty!" the dwarves declared. Alistar had doubts about whether the dwarves would truly be ready with only two days of preparation. He had even considered using Lily and the assault army reserved for our attack on Northlangard tomorrow, but Sig simply shooed him away as he rallied his dwarves in groups, leaving gaps along the top of the wall.