"Okay, repeat after me." I taught Anna some basic Animal Tongue as we ran to the city, "Venimus in pace."

"Venimus. In. Pace." She repeated it a bit slower just to make sure she got the pronunciation right, "Alright, got it! Haha, this is kinda fun!"

"I agree, but maybe think about the situation we're in before saying that?" I looked to our right.

"They're pretty darn fast for a buncha' animals." Aru chuckled, "Alright, how about we teach Anna some curse words now?"

"Whoa, another tremor?!" Anna tightly gripped my hand.

"Shit, forget mowing the city down, they're gonna completely level it with the ground!" I looked at the large field of dust getting raised in the distance, "Dammit, why did Grim have to get a house so far away from town!?"

"If you really must know, it was because it was the cheapest house to rent out." Aru interjected, "Back then, they were stranded in a pretty much foreign land, so they thought..."

"I don't care!" I stopped her before she got too ahead of herself, "Just run, dammit!"

I promised myself I wouldn't let myself be this pessimistic, but I genuinely think this situation can't get any worse. The town's still a couple minutes away, but even if we get there, we might not find Adam in all the chaos. Besides, our house is to the west of town, so we'll have to enter through one of the side gates. Let's just hope we don't get blocked by the masses trying to run away or something.

"Ed, an animal!" Anna stopped us forcefully, "What do we do?!"

"Placet auxilium! Non sum unus ex illis!" The squirrel begged, "Quid agitur? Mecum sume tecum!"

"Ngh...!" I sidestepped it, recalling the incident the Gryses told us about of a squirrel ripping someone's face off, "Dolemus, te adiuvare non possumus! Bene vale!"

"Oh?" Aru looked somewhat amused that I chose not to help the poor animal.

"Minime! Revenite!" The squirrel pleaded.

"What was that all about?" Anna inquired, "It didn't sound hostile. Actually, from the tone it looked more like it needed our help..."

She doesn't speak Animal Tongue, but I guess she got that much just from vaguely understanding the squirrel's tone, huh? Dammit, if I tell her the truth, she's so gonna want us to turn back and take it with us, but we don't have time for that. A White lie in this situation would be the best course of action. Aru, I know you know what I'm thinking thanks to your omniscience, so don't you dare say a word about this to her!

"It was basically telling us to surrender ourselves to the animals before they kill us all." I lied without skipping a beat, "For now, don't trust a single animal. That's the number one ironclad rule in this situation. Bamb is of course the only exception."

"Oh, okay." She nodded, "We're slowly approaching the side entrance, but what if we're too late? If that squirrel already beat us to the punch, how can you be sure the other beasts and animals didn't do the same thing as well?"

"Crap, fair point..." I thought about it for a second before shaking off my worries, "No, we have nothing to worry about as long as Adam's in town. He's proven to us before that those muscles aren't just for show!"

Right, right... I gotta trust the people around me. As long as I can manage that, everything should be fine, right? It's not like we're a small group of individuals defending a giant army of bloodthirsty beasts or anything, right? Wait, now that I think about it, if the animals are led by the lanky man who's chasing after the shadowy man, then does that mean we might get to see them soon? I kinda hope so, and I kinda don't at the same time...

"Adam, there he is!" Anna pointed up above, "Adam, we came to-!"

"What the!? What are you guys doing down there!?" He shouted back, "Didn't I tell you I'd be fine on my own? Go back to the mansion, you might still make it!"

"Dumbass, at this point it's safer for us to stay here and help you." Aru smirked, "Now let us up there and give us the situation!"

"Alright, come on up, then." He ordered one of the guards to unlock the door to the hightower, "But the situation isn't good, I'm gonna be honest..."

Climbing up the giant spiral staircase that had an oddly claustrophobic feeling to it, we finally made it up and saw just what we were facing up against. Something I can only describe as a hellscape of beasts was rapidly approaching us from the distance. The beasts were up front, serving as the vanguard, the birds flying in their own formation, presumably to attack the snipers on our hightowers, and the other animals were following closely behind.

"Looks like we were right." Adam chuckled, "They learned from their previous losses and made quite the battle formation. Still, this much is nothing compared to our defenses. Isn't that right, men!?"

"RAGH!" The knights and guards shouted in unison as they awaited his next order.

"Fire on my mark! They may seem smaller and less significant than the beasts below, but make sure you take care of the birds first and foremost!" Adam explained, "The beasts will need to run to us and scale the wall slowly, but the birds can swoop down on us directly, so focus your aim on them first! Alright, fire!"

After that short little spiel, everyone, and I mean everyone had fired directly at the birds in the distance. Very few of the birds survived, and the ones that did were quickly disposed of as well the next time Adam ordered his men to fire. This man, his tactics are nothing but logical, and don't exactly rely on the craziness factor like for Jorgen, Meil or Grim, but he gets the job done just as well. The main thing making it work is the respect his men have for him. For not even a single person to question his words and to immediately fire at no one else but the birds is astounding, and in this case served its purpose well. Now the animals will have to deal with us the old fashioned way!

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

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"Now, fire only at the beasts!" Adam ordered, "Leave the animals in the back for last! They're animals, but that doesn't mean they're stupid! If we play our cards right and kill their vanguards and lookouts, they might realize their chances are miniscule and run away! Once again, do not kill a single animal, that is an order!"

"Wait!" I stopped him, angering a few soldiers on the way, "You say that, but the beasts have cognitive capabilities as well! We need to find a way to keep as many of them alive as possible!"

"Edward, I can understand your willingness to seek a peaceful resolution..." He yanked his arm away from my grasp before raising it, thus giving everyone the okay to fire, "But right now we are on the defense. An army will not stop until they get stopped, and you can't talk someone out of charging at you full speed without at least breaking their legs first."

"Dammit!" I looked on as countless beasts died just like that, "See?! The animals are practically the only ones left, but they still aren't stopping! Killing won't solve anything!"

"You're one to talk." Aru coughed, reminding me of the squirrel I left to die instead of taking with us, "Isn't it rather hypocritical to say such things when you yourself didn't help that poor animal?"

"Grr...!" I pounded my fist on the wooden beam next to me in frustration, "That's because I didn't want to risk anything!"

"Which is exactly what I myself am doing." Adam added, "Edward, I have a wife and son I need to protect, not to mention all the people of this town, country and continent who count on me to keep them safe. I apologize for not being more diplomatic, but until we are able to stop them, you're just going to have to grit your teeth and take it like a man."

"Fuck...!" I shouted as I looked at the far off distance, "Huh? What was that?"

"What was what?" Anna looked on.

"In the distance, between all those animals..." I took a nearby pair of binoculars as I looked again, "Something tall was shining."

"Shining?" Adam asked, "N-Never mind that. Everyone, reload and fire again on my marks!"

"Anna, I think I'm gonna go there." I turned to her, "Aru too, I'm gonna need your help and favor on this one."

"No problem." Aru shrugged, "Looks like Adam is taking care of himself and the city quite well anyways, so I don't mind going to inspect their ranks."

"Great." I nodded before glancing back at Anna, "Anna, I want you to come with us."

"Didn't I tell you I'd follow you to the ends of the world and back?" She chuckled, "But... I can't speak Animal Tongue, so what if I just get in the way?"

"You know just enough to help us convince the animals that we want peace." I smiled, "Besides, I feel safer in knowing you're under Aru's favor, so I'd rather you come with us than stay here."

"Hold on, you can't be serious?" Adam finally got back to us, "Edward, it's one thing to act like Lune, but to drag the people you love with you into a barrel of gunpowder like that?"

"Hehe, don't worry." Anna giggled, "I want this as well."

"You know I can't just let you do that." He chuckled before taking off his chestplate, "Here, it's a bit bulky, but it'll keep you safe."

"A bit bulky, you say...?" Anna chuckled nervously as the giant breastplate quite literally slammed to the ground the moment she put it on, "Yeah, I guess it's too big for someone like me."

"Just use it as a riot shield, then." Aru chuckled with her usual smug grin, "Though your boobs might make it difficult to lug around."

"Shut it!" Anna blushed, though she still ended up heeding her advice and taking the front side of the breastplate, tying it around her forearm with some help from Adam and I, "There, pretty cool, right?"

"Like a valkyrie." I smiled, "Well, we shouldn't have anything else to worry about then. I wasn't planning on rushing straight into enemy territory anyways, so let's hope we don't have to use it."

"Right, you were planning on going around and flanking them from the side, right?" Aru read my intentions with her omniscience, "That is, only after you sneak in and find out enough about the suspicious shine you saw among their ranks."

"You think the lanky man might be there?" Adam asked me.

"Dunno, but if there's any way to completely stop this wave of animals from continuing the attacks on all the major cities of Cardina, then it's gotta be by taking down their big bad boss, right?" I thought aloud.

"Pheh." Aru cracked a smile, "You're sounding more and more like that foreigner when you speak like that, y'know?"

"Damn, I'd take that as a compliment, but judging by all the perverted things he's said up until now, I don't know if you meant it like that." I smiled, "Come on, now. We shouldn't keep the lanky man waiting!"

"Yeah!" Anna raised her shield up high, accidentally dinking the ceiling in the process, "Oh, oops... This thing is way too large. Adam, you really should go on a diet sometime."

"Ugh, not you as well, Anna..." Adam sighed as he recalled the treacherous diet he had to endure until now with his wife, "Remember, I'm yolked, not fat!"

"Dude, there's yolked and then there's you." I warned him, "Seriously, if you don't stop with the muscle training, there'll come a time where you won't be able to fit your shoulders through the doorframe anymore."

"Why do you think the doorframes in my mansion are so wide?" He laughed with a smug grin, "I've thought of everything, fellow The Boy."

I so wanna punch you in the face. I want to smack the ever loving fuck out of you. You protein-obsessed homunculus, how are you even possible? You're successful, smart and strong, so how the fuck can you still not get that we as part of The Boys do not refer to each other as fucking FELLOW THE BOY.