The moment the fog pulled us away, there was a drastic shift in the environment, from what I expected of being in a wide-open area to somewhere monsters were ready to lunge at us. Instead, we found ourselves in what appears to be a manor like mine, in front of me in a weary cat-woman. From her garments, I can tell she has been through the wringer and needs a helping hand. That is when I hear her speak.

"Thank all the Gods. I didn't know how long we could have waited for your arrival." Koto says with great relief. There is blood running down her side, and behind her is an assortment of people. From what I can tell, they don't seem very strong, and when I look past them, they have been holding the door behind them from bursting in. The windows to the first floor have been barred as best they can, and everyone seems just as ragged as Koto.

Without having to say anything, Strauvana and Muiress head to the nearest staircase to see what is happening outside. "What is happening?" I ask Koto in a stern voice. "I thought I would have been brought over sooner or something like PUN pulling me from the settlement without my knowledge."

"It can't do that. And we didn't need your help until I chose to summon you. But by then, we were already holed up in the manor. It was my foolishness and arrogance that led us into this position. I hope you are ready to fight because I don't know how long we can hold on."

"We are, but what are we facing Koto?" I ask a bit more sternly than necessary.

"Honestly, it should just be a large group of monsters that are of a level most of the people here aren't able to handle. I am surprised we have even been able to hold the doors from bursting this long."

Looking at her in this state, I don't see the same arrogant woman who entered my box at the auction house. "What happened to all of your fighters? You surely have several that should be able to hold off these monsters."

"They have already perished. The one downside to my race is that we aren't made for head-on fighting. We are better at ranged combat, so when we were practically ambushed from behind, we didn't have much hope to hold back the monsters."

Getting a general idea of the situation, I can't help but feel like we have been thrown into a death trap. "What are your hopes then?" She wants to know what her hopes are for the situation.

"Honestly, I just hope those still here can live. I don't want this responsibility if we can fight back and survive. It's too much for me." With that, I can tell she is on the verge of breaking down.

"And how are you going to absolve yourself of that responsibility? From what I can see, you were sent as the leader of these people for a reason." I say this while looking past her at the people who look over their shoulders occasionally at her in hopes that she can work on a deal for our help. Hope still lingers in their eyes.

Tears start to gather in the corners of her eyes, and she scoffs, "Pure nepotism. My father is the head of a noble house, and he sent all of his offspring off to settle planets that have been incorporated into PUN but don't have high populations. These planets have a high potential for valuable resources. However, as a starting settlement like your own, we aren't able to ship high-tier items into the settlements. PUN prohibits that, so we have to start from scratch. The only bonus is that we can choose where our initial settlement starts." Tears trickle down the sides of her face by the end of her little rant.

Firming my gaze on her, I step in front of her and firmly press my finger into her shoulder. "So, what are you going to do about this?" I ask.

Tears still flowing, she responds, "I don't know; I know that if I am to die, then there isn't much my father will do; he will just write off the loss along with the rest of my siblings who aren't able to stand up to his high expectations."

"Answer the question. What. Do. You. Want. To. Do. About. This?" Instead of poking her, I grab her shoulders and force her to look at those behind her with hope in their eyes.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Feeling my hands on her shoulders and my firm diction of the question, she can't help but shudder. Now, faced with those who are left of her settlement, she faces a harsh reality.

"Where do your people come from?" I asked, "What are they here for? Who are they looking towards for guidance and leadership?" My rapid-fire questions forced her shuddering to get more exaggerated. "What do you want me to do to help? What can I do to help?" The frustration in my voice came through, and it was at that moment that I heard footsteps coming from the stairs.

"Drake, you need to look at this," Muiress announces.

Nodding to him, I return my focus to Koto: "I am going to look outside and see what I can do other than get myself and my people killed. I need you to figure out what you will do with your people and what you want us to do to help."

Stepping upstairs, I can hear my sister stepping forward and helping those she can with her healing profession. Gibnic also follows alongside Muiress and I. Once we get to the second floor and out of earshot, I sigh and head to the nearest window. From there, I see several things happening. First, there is a large group of monsters wandering around the settlement. The walls have been completely wrecked, and any houses standing look more like burned husks. I am curious why this one hasn't been set aflame; I don't consider it further as in the distance, there is one thing that is a much more significant threat. I can see billowing fog rolling in towards the settlement.

"Doesn't that fog look very similar to what we have surrounding our settlement?" I can't help but to ask.

"It does, and if you look at it, you can see it is slowly killing the land it is about to pass over."

Paling a bit, I turn to those around me and ask, "What do you think the call is?"

"There isn't much we can do, Drake," Strauvana says, "The only thing we could do is try and get these people back to our settlement. How we would do that is anyone's guess."

I take another look outside, this time at the monsters swarming in the settlement, and analyze them.

- Wolf Level 8

HP: 60/60 -

- Wolf (Elite) Level 9

HP: 100/100 -

- Ant Worker Level 4

HP: 20/20 -

- Ant Soldier Level 6

HP: 50/50 -

Ant Soldier (Elite) Level 6

HP: 90/90-

Scores of different monsters exist, mostly of these two main groups. The ants and the wolves haven't mingled much, but from what I can tell, they are adamant about taking out this settlement. One thing bothers me: Why haven't the ants tried to climb up the walls of this building? Pushing that thought not to the back of my mind but not allowing it to stay in the front, I move my gaze again through the crowd of monsters.

"Doesn't this seem a bit too nice for us?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Couldn't we just cast spells from the windows and clear out monsters?"

Thinking about what Koto has said, there must be a reason they haven't tried doing so. Having taken note of the hundreds of monsters all over the settlement, I head back down, hoping to get more information from Koto about what happened. When I ask her the same question, though tears are streaking down her face, she answers.

"The entire manor is in a formation created by one of the items my father was able to give me before I came to this planet. The formation works because it prevents all kinds of attacks from dealing with its total damage, but if we cast out of the formation, it would break it, and then we would have to deal with all the damage the monsters are coping with to the manor."

"How much longer can the doors hold on under the formation?"

"They should be able to hold for another couple of hours, but if we can get someone to reinforce the doors, they could keep for longer."

"Is there any other way that we might be able to deal with the monsters outside without having to break the formation?"

"There is one way, and that is to force them into the doorway and then slaughter them as they come through, but we don't have enough people to keep the tide of monsters from just plowing through those that stand in the way."

I kept trying to figure out my next steps, trying to think of other options that wouldn't work for either myself or those who came with me. Struggling to figure anything out, I contemplate some of the alternatives. I have the settlement lord near me. Maybe there is one other option that I haven't had the opportunity to use, but I don't know if we can provide a path for those of this settlement toward safety.

Looking deep into Koto's eyes, I ask my next question, "Have you been able to think of anything that could help in this situation?"