Vitmori POV

I'm not sure how to feel about what I'm about to do next... Sure the test run in the field was a complete success with no losses on my end, but now I'm about to engage a force that outnumbers my own at least two to one.

Between the zombies that I've had for months now and the new ones from the dead raiders I've collected, I now have a total of forty-two zombies in my service; though at the moment I can only call on thirty-eight since I've assigned two of the mutants and the plague doctors to assist Tul'mi in recovering the villagers who have already been taken from the village itself.

What I'm worried about is how quickly my zombies might be dispatched. Sure, I managed to take out a small group of raiders in short order due to the element of surprise and an aggressive initial attack; but if they're able to coordinate and effectively respond to the initial swarm then they may be able to dispatch my zombies.

The people of this world may not have any experience with the zombies of my world, but the ones we're facing have received proper standardized military training, not to mention they have actual combat experience if their memories serve me right. They aren't the scared, naive, or wholly unprepared civilians of my world and would likely have experience fighting an uncommon foe or monster given the nature of this world in general.

What I need to do is present an overwhelming force despite my smaller numbers, some kind of shock and awe display to unnerve and demoralize their forces. Kinda like popping a group leader's head while they were in the middle of giving a speech before launching a surprise attack... I think that's what I need to do; while that mage that's using the fire doesn't look nearly strong enough to be that notable war mage I heard about, he certainly has enough eyes on him for me to make a spectacle of his death.

But how should I do it? An arrow from a distance is certainly surprising enough but I have a feeling that won't get the sort of reaction that I want. I could send a swarm to specifically target that particular mage, but that would just make my zombies more of a target... I need to be the one to get close and personally end the mage while making a big show of his death to draw as much attention; once I have all eyes on me as I can, I'll order my zombies to swarm while I take down as many raiders as I can on my end.

Would I be able to rely on the chaos of battle to close the distance and approach the mage burning the drawbridge? Sure it is a controlled chaos of an active siege, but I have no doubts that a man like me wearing such raggedy clothes would be so easily noticed if I were to approach such a prominent figure blasting all that fire.

As my eyes wandered to the stray corpses of the raiders along the outskirts of the barrier, I couldn't help but smile as a brilliant idea came to mind on just how I could get close to the mage without drawing all too much attention at first. For now, it was time to lay the groundwork by getting my zombies into position.

Rabbitkin Guard POV

The fur on his hands was still damp with his own blood; the last few hours of firing his bow in shifts had pushed him to his limits as he could barely clench his fist anymore or even lift his bow. His hand was recently bandaged by one of the medics before being sent back onto the walls to support the other soldiers and guards who could still properly wield their weapons.

His current assignment was grabbing as many spears and arrows that were scattered about by the enemy, pulling them from buildings and posts where he could reach them, which was fairly high up all things considered thanks to his strong legs.

With the current bundles of spears and arrows in hand, he made his way up the steps to the walkways where the archers were returning fire to the enemy soldiers down below. He topped off a few stations where arrows were running low and filled up empty racks with spears where they were needed before heading back down the stairs away from the brunt of the battle to report back in with the quartermaster.

Making his way into the bailey's warehouse, he spots the green-skinned orcish woman as she looks from a clipboard to yet another barrel of water that had been rolled into the room. She skillfully popped off the top and began pouring some kind of powder into it before punching the wooden lid back into place.

Once she was done with that, the quartermaster looked over at the guard once he entered before simply bobbing her head at him. "Good, you're back... One of the apprentices turned up a mana potion, so I need you to bring it to Aspen to help make sure he stays in the fight." She said as she jutted a thumb over to her impromptu workstation where a somewhat dusty but still clear blue mana potion sat.

"Yes ma'am." The rabbitkin guard nodded in response, taking up the bottle with his good hand and giving it a polish with his arm before carefully tucking it away into his hip satchel. "Is there anything else that you need me to do while I'm out there?"

The quartermaster stopped her work for a moment, offering a grimace as she stared into the middle distance before glancing at the guard in question. "How are the gates looking?"

The guard couldn't help but return her look with a sense of unease as he just shook his head. "Just eyeballing it, I think we've got an hour or two at most until that drawbridge is ashes despite Aspen's best efforts. From what I can tell, those bastards are taking their sweet time in trying to get the drawbridge down; almost as if they know there won't be any reinforcements to support us for at least the next couple of days. I saw them practically relaxing next to that emitter they brought with them, only attacking enough to keep us from properly mounting an offensive."

The quartermaster cursed in a tongue he wasn't familiar with before running her fingers through her short black hair and sighing heavily. "If that's the case, we should start setting up some grease traps. If those foreign bastards like fire so much, then let's light them up the moment they try to cross the gates." She said with grim determination before looking at the guard again. "Hurry up with that potion and get back here once you're done."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Of course ma'am." The guard stated resolutely before turning on his heel and hurrying back into the fray, all while stray arrows embedded themselves into the wooden buildings around him or broke themselves against the stone walls and floors.

Crossing along the walkways and being mindful of incoming arrow fire, the guard eventually made it to the gatehouse where the village's battle mage was currently posted as they did their best to keep the drawbridge from being reduced to ashes.

The beaverkin mage looked clearly worn down, his tail tapping against the stone at his feet as he leaned against his staff before looking up at the rabbitkin guard on his approach. "What is it? Do you bring news?" He asked as did his best to stand tall again before scowling as another spout of flame licked at the drawbridge. He called on some words of power before sending out a very precise ball of water to extinguish the flames all over again.

The guard merely shook his head at that as he began digging through his hip satchel. "No sir, but I do bring a potion. One of the apprentices brought it to the quartermaster." He explained as he procured the vial of blue liquid and held it out for the mage.

The mage let out the smallest of smiles as he sighed and took up the vial, biting down on the cork and pulling it free from the vial before spitting it out and downing the vial's contents. With a few quick gulps, he sighed with delight before handing the vial back. "Many thanks... I needed that." He admitted, quickly looking rather refreshed and somewhat more attentive to his surroundings.

The guard nodded, not sure what to do with the vial for a moment before simply tucking it away into his hip satchel again. Though he then looked out the window slits to peer at the foreign soldiers as they continued to build up their fortifications in the plaza while their own forces continued to rain down arrows and spears on them. "Forgive my ignorance, Mage Aspen, but what is the point of us continuously firing upon the enemy while they have that barrier up?" The guard asked while bringing up his hand with his bloodied fingers before regarding the mage again.

Aspen nodded intently at the question before looking over at the emitter in the middle of the plaza. "Think of the barrier like a very thick blanket, while it can easily shrug off a few hits, if left on its own, it'll eventually start developing holes in the barrier which will allow us to shoot through it. But..." He started to say before pointing out the foreign mage who was manning the emitter itself. "That fellow over there is like a seamstress, using his mana to mend the holes caused by our repeated attacks and doing his best to keep the whole thing stable." Looking around for a moment, he pointed out a spear that managed to pierce through the barrier but unfortunately missed one of the foreign soldiers by the narrowest of margins. "That's the reason those bastards are building physical fortifications instead of solely relying on the emitter itself."

"I see, thank you for the information Mage Aspen, if you'll excuse me, the quartermaster wants me back to help prepare some grease traps in case the enemy makes their way inside." He explained as he turned to leave.

The beaverkin mage nodded intently before scowling as he looked out through the window slit again. "Dammit all! Those bastards must have looted the alchemist's shop." He cursed as he angrily tapped his tail against the floor behind him.

The guard couldn't help but be a little curious as he made his way back to a nearby window slit and peered out at the plaza. Sure enough, he spotted one of the foreign soldiers approaching the mage with a mana potion in hand, holding it out for the mage to take.

Though as the mage turned away to drink, the soldier suddenly hooked their arm around the mage's throat, choking them out while clutching a dagger in his free hand and... "By the gods..." The guard murmured under his breath as he watched the soldier plunge a wicked-looking dagger into the mage's chest and stomach, stabbing them over and over again and making the mage a bloody mess.

Despite their injuries, the mage wasn't down yet, reaching behind them as they grabbed the traitor and blasted them with a powerful and continuous stream of fire, their final flames burning with bright fury as the traitor's armor burned away into ash and molten slag. When the flames went out, what they saw was a human man grinning with apparent delight as they were left in nothing but blackened and glowing chain greaves and leather boots.

The rabbitkin guard watched the traitor's lips move, seemingly saying something to the mage before the mage was immolated in even more furious flames. Glancing to the side, he watched as Mage Aspen looked at the unfolding events with a mix of awe and unease on their face when suddenly the sky was illuminated by a pillar of fire, heat washing over the rabbitkin guard despite the distance between himself and the flames in the plaza.

When the flame pillar dissipated, all that was left of the mage was a black spot on the ground. As for the traitor, who was likely not even affiliated with the foreign soldiers, he simply stood in place, holding his arms out wide as if to taunt the remaining foreign soldiers as they started surrounding him in a large circle.

With weapons drawn and archers at the ready, the foreign soldiers open fire on the lone man, riddling him with arrows as he was skewered all over his body, though when two arrows finally embedded themselves into his skull, the man went slack, yet somehow remained standing as he died on his feet.

"What the hells was all that about?" The rabbitkin guard asked as they watched the foreign soldiers remain encircled around the man, several soldiers wielding spears starting to approach the human spike hog before quickly burying their speartips into his chest and stomach.

Suddenly, the human man sprung back to life, a sword appearing in his hand seemingly out of nowhere as he quickly slashed out one of the foreign soldier's throats when the earth suddenly began shifting all around them. Walls of stone rise from the plaza in a wide circle, just about trapping most of the soldiers if it wasn't for the two openings facing towards the village and away from the drawbridge.

The rabbitkin guard couldn't help but watch with grim fascination as the man in the center of it all unleashed another wave of fire, flash-frying the foreign soldiers around him in moments as they started pushing for the two exits that were left in the earth and stone walls.

Movement caught the rabbitkin guard's eyes as he watched reinforcements for the foreign soldiers start rushing in, despair filling his heart as he watched just how fast they moved despite the armor they wore. However, his despair was quickly replaced by confusion as he watched them tackle the remaining mages and some of the wounded and other soldiers who weren't mostly trapped in the walls of earth and stone.

Even more of the running soldiers came over from the other end of the plaza, tackling those who were trying to flee through the two openings in the walls of earth and stone when...

"By the gods! They're eating them!" One of the archers manning the walkways cried out in horror as they watched throats get ripped out with sprays of blood messily splattering around the plaza.

The human man was still among them, striking out and cutting down the foreign soldiers with his green blade, though occasionally the blade would disappear, only for it to be replaced by a bow notched with an arrow that seemingly came from thin air as he shot the foreign soldiers who managed to break away from the brunt of the battle, only to get taken down by the human in question.

At some points, he could've sworn he saw a winged black cat among the fray, using shadows to slash throats and cut down the foreign soldiers who somehow managed to take down one of the people-shaped monsters.

The siege that had lasted hours was suddenly over in less than ten minutes as the human and eight of the person-shaped monsters were left standing. The arrows that had riddled the man's body were no longer there, though the guard couldn't see the extent of the man's injuries because he was utterly drenched in blood that likely wasn't his own for the most part.

The guards and soldiers could only watch as the man seemed to unwind, conjuring a ball of water and washing the blood off his body before taking his time and going around the plaza. The stone and earth walls receded into the ground, the bodies of all the foreign soldiers and human-shaped monsters vanishing into thin air as the remaining human-shaped monsters also disappeared.

The man then just casually started walking around, apparently cleaning up the plaza with pressurized water and taking his sweet time doing it until all the blood and the black spot of ash where the fire mage used to be was all gone and washed away. The only signs that a battle even took place in the plaza were the smoldering buildings and improvised fortifications that were left behind.

Finally, the man approached the emitter and placed his hand against it, before it too vanished into thin air. With all that had taken place over the last fifteen minutes, he finally approached where the drawbridge would go down and flashed a bit of a smile as a raggedy black piece of cloth appeared in his hands.

He pulled it on, the winged black cat from before stepping up out of the man's shadow and sitting on his shoulder as the man gently scratched its throat. "Good morning everyone... I got your call for help." He said with an almost kind smile still on his face.