"Fire!"
Upon hearing the command, the villagers loosed arrows, which fell upon the monsters, and they fell in droves.
But even as the monsters fell, more jumped in to fill in line, droves after droves.
Cursing could be heard, but there was no choice but to endure.
Waves did not allow time for distraction, for now was the time for action. Complaints could be taken up later.
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A day after the mysterious carriage arrived, defenses were shored up, and a tense feeling arose amongst the villagers, who in their long lives, weren't ignorant to procedure.
When the village was walled up like this and weapons were gathered, a few conclusions could be drawn, and all of them involved something big coming.
The walls were reinforced with life magic as the walls were grown and blended into one another, thanks to the efforts of the people at large.
Weapons were brandished, and villagers prepared, knowing something was coming, and they would not allow the young to get hurt.
And it started.
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The monsters started coming.
Not in huge waves, just clusters of monsters. Nothing much, but it already confirmed their fears, as the realization a monster wave was coming set in.
No one blamed the people who arrived in the carriages. As far as they, the common people were aware, this was just a normal wave that had onset upon their village.
Even if they did know, they would not blame the child who had arrived, clearly ignorant of the world at large.
For the young elves, most who had not left the village, much less seen a city, could not imagine a monster wave.
Those below 200, who lived on these outskirts, could not dream of what was to come.
These younglings were sent out at first, to hunt the monsters in groups while they still could.
It was still relatively safe now, and a good time to gather materials. They would be covered by the guards from the walls holding bows ready to fire upon any dire situation.
Right now it was safe enough for the young to challenge the monsters, for them to let loose.
After all, normal hunting would not suffice later in the waves.
What use are an adventurer's way of fighting in a siege after all?
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At a certain point, groups of monsters stopped being small clumps, and started becoming groups, from a handful to at least a dozen at a time from all sides.
The youth were withdrawn from the battle outside the walls, to watch the elderly and more experienced who knew how to fight in real wars.
Elves live for centuries, and thus see far more than an average elder could ever see.
Some of the elves here, despite not being top adventurers, had lived long enough to see countless wars, the rise and fall of empires, and seasoned by war, were apt to teach children how to fight in war.
The arrows came out, and spears prepared for jabbing at the monsters to force them off the wall, which had holes to allow for spears to knock monsters off their advance off the wall, while arrows picked off monsters in the back.
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The terrain was altered by long distance earth magic to act as obstacles to monsters.
Monsters would get over it eventually, but every minute counted.
At this point it had become apparent that a majority of the monsters were insects, in particular ants, and thus preparations were made for ants in particular.
The soft and unaware adventurers watched in awe at the precision at which their elders moved. Despite their age, they moved smoothly, and with great momentum.
Together they thrusted forth their spears, and together they shot their arrows, sometimes at the same creature to take down the stronger ones.
And at this time, the young were introduced into the mix, so they may prepare for the coming waves.
Better they learn now than later.
There would be no time to learn later.
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The waves picked up once more, as dozens became innumerable.
Finally, Tiel got involved.
Perhaps it would be something they would forever remember as a fireball the size of a house come down, smashing into a group of d rank monsters, killing it with ease.
He stopped there, but that alone was enough to inspire the young to not only to try harder, but to aspire to more, as they renewed in their efforts.
For the elderly, anxiety set in as they wondered what an A rank adventurer would need to save their strength for.
What could be out there that he would worry about in such a situation.
Some even began to suspect that there was more to this than another wave.
Thankfully the north started clearing up for some reason, as less monsters came from this direction, allowing them to lessen the number of soldiers stationed there, to divert them to more crowded sides.
Nonetheless, it was starting to wear on the soldiers, wondering when the light at the end of the road would shine, and this monster wave end.
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"What's the status on the food stock currently?" Asked Tiel as he stood upon the guild building, surveying the battle down below. The guild building was the tallest building in this town, and at the moment, gave him the best vantage point to watch the battle.
"We have enough food to last us a few more weeks, but after that we'll have to scavenge monster corpses." Said the reporting soldier gravely.
"Any sign of enemy movement."
The soldier shook his head and Tiel could only sigh in frustration.
This was a clear battle of who could outlast the other. Since this was likely a man made monster wave, it was likely being stimulated by some sort of device. Tiel assumed the device could only be used for so long but had considered the possibility that the device could in fact be used indefinitely. Ultimately, he ruled it out, partially because of how unlikely it was, but also the fact that if it did not do to consider the possibility, since there was no other solution but to flee in that case.
And currently, fleeing was not a simple solution, not with this being either an abduction plan or a assassination plan. They were surrounded on all sides, and escorting those incapables of fighting would be a difficult and foolhardy task.
Either way, the idea of witnesses to such an act surviving was unlikely, so the chances of actually leaving varied heavily depending on how strong the pursuers were.
Thankfully, they weren't moving yet, but it was likely to change when the other side started running out of whatever allowed them to simulate a monster wave.
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In a camp some distance away from the town, the elves went over the plans.
"The monster core is starting to run low. We'll have another week or two before the stone drains and we can no longer produce monsters."
The orange haired elf sighed. Tiel had only moved once throughout the sieging of Snowsberry village. Clearly, he had underestimated the tenacity and skill of the other retired soldiers and adventurers within the town, too focused on the one A-rank adventurer.
"And how much longer do they have?"
"A few more weeks of food."
Looks like sitting back and waiting was out of the cards.
"Alright, a day before the end of the week we'll initiate the attack on the village when we're at our best moment and they are at their worst, because after that, the advantage is theirs. "
One elf piped up. "Uh sir, the north in particular has been more empty than the other side. We believe it might be the interference of a monster stronger than the average."
The elderly elf waved his hand dismissively. "In this area with low mana density it's probably a d rank monster at best. Lenard, go and deal with the monster quickly before returning for the assault. I want all variables eliminated before we go. It would not do if we fail the patriarch."
Lenard nodded. "Hah, I'll be back in a jiffy; there's nothing out here that can stop me!" he boasted and then paused. "Hey about the women..." he trailed off, clearly looking at him questioningly, earning snorts of disgust from some of the female elves in the camp, but he ignored them. Lenard had always been a bit of a disgusting bastard. Why else would he be chosen for such a dirty mission?
The older elf snorted. "Pig. Fine, whatever, you can do whatever you want, but make sure to kill them afterwards." The elf grinned before leaping off into the distance brandishing his bow as he did so. "That'll serve as incentive for him to finish up quickly. He takes too much time playing with his food." muttered the elderly elf.
Lenard snickered, imagining the things he could do with the people at the village. He was going to have so much fun after this was done.