Zach’s sword ended another ant’s life. His path of slaughter had finally brought him close to the fort, and the situation was worse than he thought. Even from afar, he could see the entrance had been breached, and he assumed the hole in the wall had also been compromised.

With a swing of his blade, another pouncing ant dead on the spot. He barely even looked, relying solely on his peripheral vision. Zach took down a whole bunch of them in a single sweep as again, the Swordsmanship skill he earned showed its worth. After countless ants dying against his blade, Zach leveled the skill to three. It was quite an achievement considering the penalty befell him. But after all that killing, the system had to be fair somewhat. It had been a long time since he received a notification of a new level, and he had an idea that perhaps the experience gained from these ants was not enough to reach the threshold of breaking to level twelve.

Zach ripped a horn-ant right through its exoskeleton and something that had once crossed his mind made him stop and stare. ‘Is that what I think it is?’ he thought. Looking at a pair of gauntlets floating above the carcass of the dead horn-ant he just killed. They floated in mid-air, a few inches above ground like the word gravity did not exist to those pair of gauntlets.

But a pity though. He would have loved to have an identification skill in a case like this. Not knowing what their effects were left him rather annoyed a bit.

Nonetheless, Zach was not the ungrateful type. He staved a few ants from approaching and he hastily wore those gauntlets over his hands. He didn’t feel any different though as if they were just plains gauntlets.

Zach brandished his sword once more, and the slash felt different. He swore the speed of his blade was faster than normal. Zach inspected his status, but nothing was different. For now, he assumed there was a speed-enhancing effect attached to these gauntlets, and he never felt gladder than before.

But something begged a question. For a loot, the drop rate was rather terrible, considering he had to go through many deaths before getting these gauntlets to pop out of thin air. He imagined it would be a pain in the ass if he had to collect a set armor, but that was a headache for the future. Now, he made his way to the fort. Clearing the entrance, and beckoning Orland’s group to enter.

Between the shields, Orland’s voice rang. “Is the fort secure?” he asked.

“Not at the moment,” Zach replied. “Can you and your men block the entrance?”

“Can you clear the bailey?” Orland shot back.

“I leave the entrance to you then, my lord,” Zach said.

The moment the two made their decisions. Zach stacked his pain counts and threw himself at the ants roaming in the bailey. The combo of his boosted stats and the gauntlet’s effect turned Zach into a speed demon, killing them fast enough until he could stand guard at the hole in the wall. Liberating the inside of the fort, free from any enemy. Zach guarded the hole in the wall, cutting down any attempt from the pouncing ants to break in.

While at the entrance, by Orland’s order, the phalanx formation had changed into a single wall with the shields stacking vertically, high enough to impede any giant ants from coming in. Even if one or two of them accidentally got inside, men behind the defensive line would cut them down with ease. Without the numbers of the swarm, the giant horn-ant was easy to eliminate. One acted as bait while the rest ganged up on it until its dead.

The guarding of the fort continued through the night. Orland’s voice rang loud and clear, giving commands to his men as they protected the entrance with their dear lives. Lord Orland Shieldford devised a rotation for the wall, giving adequate rest for his men as this was going to be a long night. Even his daughter was not spared as she healed at every moment that was required of her. Thankfully, the Safe Zone’s regeneration effect benefited both Jeyne and the men on the wall.

On another side, Zach guarded the hole in the wall like Cerberus in the Underworld. Unless someone bribed him with equipment loot, he would not let any of these fucking ants go through. The health regeneration effect of the Safe Zone worked wondrously along with his vitality and his high defense stat. Small injuries no longer bothered him as they wouldn’t accumulate like when he fought in the forest.

Meanwhile, souls who hid behind the walls and doors of the inner dwelling of the fort raised their heads in the darkness. They had hunkered down in the prison of the fort, protected by the many layers of walls and doors and even the iron bars. If it wasn’t for one of them that discovered this place located underground, they would have been slaughtered by the ambush giant horn-ants that came out of nowhere.

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At first, they fought. But the injured were too many. Those who could fight and had the courage to do so were small among the many. People were quick to flee the moment the cries of people dying echoed through the night. But the absence of a leader in a crisis was the biggest reason why these men couldn’t protect the fort.

“Is that a man’s voice?” one of them asked. Hiding behind bars.

“Don’t be an idiot,” said another. “No man can survive out there, not against those monsters.”

“My mouth doesn’t lie,” he said. “I really heard someone out there, and did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“The knocks. They’re gone.”

Up the stairs, two men guarded the sole entrance to the underground dungeon. One was pretty lax, hands behind his head, resting on the steps. While the one with the shield held the ring handle of the door and was prepared at any moment to pull it in case someone or something tried to break in.

“Milord, are my ears playing tricks on me?” Calrin asked.

“Why?” Mathias lazily replied. He didn’t even open his eyes as he was trying his best to get some sleep.

“Can’t you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“The ramming had stopped,” Calrin said. “Milord reckon those ants had fled back to their nest?”

“Perhaps,” Mathias answered. He barely put any energy into uttering a word.

“Wait, do milord hear that also?” Calrin strained his ears, trying to listen. Then his eyes opened wide. He was quick on his hands and grabbed Mathias by the collar of his tunic. Calrin was smiling like it was the eve of Harvest Day.

Mathias jumped a bit at the sudden enthusiastic action of this peasant knight. “What now?” he annoyedly asked.

“It’s Lord Zachary, milord,” Calrin said. Confident in his voice. “He finally returned.”

Mathias showed a pitiful look at this kid. Despite acknowledging Zach's prowess, he too was a realist. Out there against that many monsters while being alone was already putting both of your feet into the coffin. Even that knowledgeable Zach could not contend against a whole swarm of giant ants.

“Listen, boy. I know you look up to Zach, but—” Mathias cut himself off. He heard it too. In that slight second, something knocked on his eardrums. It was faint but loud. As if the voice belonged to a strong man.

“See, Lord Zachary has returned,” Calrin proclaimed.

“I wish you’re right kid,” Mathias said. “Because if he is then I really need to stick together with that guy.”

“Good, then you’re on board then,” Calrin said.

“Onboard? Wait, what?” Mathias was confused and before he could hear any more clarification, Calrin had opened the door. The wooden frame creaked and the dark corridor greeted them.

“We better get going,” Calrin said. He began with a light jog before picking up speed.

Mathias’ idea of staying alive and safe behind the door was now gone to smoke. Usually, he wouldn’t entertain a peasant like Calrin unless they have two beautiful mounds on them, but this one was a special case. Deep down, he hoped that Calrin was right. If Zach survived out there then that was a definite sign for Mathias to always stick together with the man that could go against all odds.

Soon, he caught up with Calrin in the abandoned living quarters. The teenager with the shield and sword had his ear closed to the wooden door. The manly charismatic voice of a man bellowed from outside the door and hearing it this clearly, Calrin’s face dropped. That voice wasn’t the voice of Zach.

“It’s not Zach,” Mathias said. He too heard them. They were loud and clear, and it wasn’t his dear new friend.

“You think they’re the mountain folks?” Calrin asked. Shaking in his boots over what he just uttered. The tales of their cannibalistic tendency frightened the shit out of Calrin. Back when his age was still a single digit, his mother scared him with the tales of the mountain folks that eat children alive if they misbehaved, and it sorted off work for him. But in hindsight, sowed a subtle fear towards the folks that lived in the far north.

Mathias wished they weren’t. But that little chat he had with Zach before he departed on his rescue mission gave goosebumps throughout his whole body. He knew about the mountain folk, and he wouldn’t like to try confronting them if he had no chance to win. But in that slight pause of his thought going into a daze, a very familiar voice rang in his ears.

Mathias started to grin. “He’s fucking unbelievable,” Mathias said.

“What?” Calrin confused.

Mathias did not wait and he pulled the door open. The moonlight bathed his sight at the bailey filled with dead giant horn-ants. It was an unbelievable sight after what he saw what these ants could do. He turned his gaze to the entrance, a group of unknown people was fighting a war to defend the fort. They shouted and fought. Fighting against the relentless enemies outside of the fort. Doing the dirty job that they were supposed to do.

“Milord, there, at the hole!” Calrin excitedly said. Pointing his finger at the hole in the wall, and there a man stood with a sword in his hand.

The excited voice of Calrin was noticed by the one guarding the hole. Then Calrin and Mathias heard that familiar voice loud and clear.

“Where the fuck had you guys been hiding?” Zach said. “Get your ass over here. You lots had missed too many chances for tonight.”

Calrin and Mathias stood before Zach. They could not believe what they were seeing as the man they had known was now covered in ragged clothes, with hardened blood on his skin. This new Zach even had a pair of odd-looking gauntlets.

“Hey, snap out of it you two,” Zach said. Snapping his fingers at these two comrades of his. “Calrin, get over here, and Mathias, find a sword or something spear-like.”

“For what milord?” Calrin asked. Despite questioning, his feet had already brought him to Zach’s side.

“What else? We’re going to grind some levels.”