-Reesia-

  Unshed tears threatened to obscure my sight as Dad stayed behind. I wanted to believe in him, but my gut had already told me. That monster was beyond any and maybe even every knight in town. The raw presence commanded obedience, but it also bore so much hate, hate for me. We had messed up; we had seriously messed up. It was after us, and I knew the only reason why. That smaller bear must have some relation with the other bear we killed. Which meant this whole mess was our fault.

  I continued my run towards the harbor. Getting into town through this route might be possible, but it also went against what I stood for. I couldn’t help Dad, but if I went to the wall, maybe I could help people facing the beast tide. I subtly changed my course, and soon I saw a chaotic battlefield.

  Most of the townsfolk were on the walls throwing stones down, which had some effect but not much. The stronger monsters tore chunks from the wall, forcefully burrowing through the wall, and the more agile ones were trying to climb up the wall. Some were knocked back down by a well-placed stone, and those that tried to burrow were met by the arrows of Sir Eira.

  I didn’t charge up to the wall but instead worked my way from the back. I avoided the monsters that I couldn’t handle, instead ambushing the monsters that could potentially climb. A small pack of murder monkeys started rushing past me, and I got into the thick of it, hacking and slashing as the monkeys tried to swarm me. The whole mess was a blur of blood and exhaustion. My finesse declined rapidly as exhaustion and weakness set in, but I just forcefully recovered using my stats. More Vitality and Strength were added in whenever I felt myself on the verge of going down.

  Then the ground shook, and the wall, which had numerous chunks ripped from its foundation, cracked. Everyone seemed to hold their breath for a moment before the cracks expanded and the wall tipped over its foundations. I briefly saw the civilians on the wall scrambling for the sturdier sections, but many didn’t make it as the wall collapsed. The monsters below were splattered under the weight of the stone, but more started climbing over the ruins, and the townsfolk who survived fell into disarray.

  No more holding back and picking the fights I wanted. I jumped up onto the ruins and to the aid of the civilians. My voice boomed with a strength I didn’t think I had as I called the survivors to me. Those who could move rallied, and the monsters had lost their interest in picking off the helpless as I drew their attention. Working together, I drew the attention of the worst, forcing my battered body to hold on while the civilians teamed up, stabbing with spears and overwhelming the monsters one by one.

  A number of smaller monsters snuck past us, but we were barely holding as we were. Then a scattering of arrows flashed into our gap, and we briefly saw Sir Eira leap from one section of the wall unto the next. Moving past to support other locations. The survivors sagged in relief for a moment and took the opportunity to form up again. The break didn’t last long. A large two-headed dog jumped onto the ruins, crushing the man to my right.

  I tried to make it bleed for that, but the monster agilely hopped backward. It was too fast for us as it darted in and out, snatching or crushing my men one after the other while staying teasingly out of reach.

  “Tighten together and spear up, retaliate when it comes, and don't pursue in vain!”

  I pull us together, and the beast sneers at us and begins circling. We can’t do this long because more small monsters are beginning to climb the wall. I don’t even notice the sound of a copter coming from above.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  -Callen-

  Waking up in the hospital was a surprise but not an unwelcome one. Everything after I hit my head was a blur, but my vision comes back into focus with Crescent hovering over me with an expression of intense focus that I can’t help but call

  “Cute,”

  Her attention snaps to my face as a blush removes the scowl she had previously.

  “Idiot!”

  I nearly respond to her, but Sis breaks into the room.

  “Callen, the walls are being attacked; now isn’t the time to flirt!” Crescent looks like she wants to protest but instead makes a demand.

  “Make sure you come back.” I give her a firm nod. I have no plans on dying, but I do have plans to put my latest helicopter to use. That’s right; my most recent project, which was nearly done, was a helicopter. It didn’t have much range beyond town, but it essentially gave Callia a platform and as many arrows as she could request. All I needed was a couple minutes to install the engine parts for the maiden flight.

  “Callia! To my workshop.” She had fully picked me up at this point so she could run us both there faster. In no time we arrived at my workshop, and Callia left to grab our stockpile of magic arrows. I hastily assembled my helicopter, and right as I finished, a mighty impact shook the town. Callia wasted no time hopping onto the shooter's platform, and I fed mana into my machine, bringing us into the air.

  I got us altitude first. When we were high enough, we got a full view of the scope of the battle. Numerous small breaches and parts of the wall that had collapsed in the shockwave. Most struggled to hold as monsters flooded onto the vulnerable survivors, but the biggest hole seemed to rally and hold. Sis didn’t even wait for me to get closer as she let arrows arch from our perch high above the battle below. I did my best to hold her steady while strong winds threatened to push us adrift.

  From above I saw Sir Eira moving from gap to gap, providing relief and time to rally to the survivors, and Sir Torulf had moved in behind the monster hoard using a boat and was drawing a large portion of attention away from the eastern wall. I saw a group of what I could only assume to be outside helpers moving from the western wall to the northern wall. They had drawn their own crowd, and from how easily they moved, it was clear at least some of them were knights.

  However, just as things seemed to stabilize, the center that had been firm was being overpowered by an extremely fast two-headed dog thing. I decided that's where we could make the biggest impact and brought Callia in over the fight. Callia’s arrows continued to fly freely, picking off all the smaller monsters that were trying to interfere with the civilian fighters’ formation.

  Without imminent disruption from the other monsters, the dog decided to forcefully break the formation, getting another kill but also being stabbed multiple times. Most importantly, it lowered its guard to Callia’s barrage just long enough for her to land one of our void sphere arrows. One of the dog’s heads was ripped into the void, and the other was having absolutely none of that. It immediately turned and fled, which seemed to be the breaking point for the other monsters.

  The siege broke, and the monsters turned to flee. With the situation clear, I dropped the heli to the ground and had the survivors bring anyone in need of medical assistance. Quickly I filled in the role of a field doctor, and other surviving healers joined in. A lot had died, but most people had only suffered varying levels of injuries. I almost didn’t even notice as the people around me went quiet and a steady set of thumps shook the ground. Everyone’s attention turned to the trees as they parted, making way for a bear. Its right paw is black and missing one claw, and the left half of its jaw is blackened and shrunken, reaching all the way to its eye. It limped forward as another black spot on its shoulder impaired its movement.

  As everyone stared on towards the beast, I happened to lock eyes with the beast and saw nothing but absolute hatred. But what disturbed me the most was Reesia crying.

  Sir Fullart

  Sir Fullart was once a man of great pride. While he knew he tended to be a bit overly strict, he felt it wouldn’t be an issue, especially in service to the Baron, who had long upheld great honor in protecting and caring for his people. Then news of the champion came, and the baron sought to do what made the most sense. Help them associate with the kingdom.

  A lot of champions held the kingdom in some level of contempt because the only reason someone rises as they do is the failure of adults to protect them. Many, many let this prejudice taint their opinion of society as a whole, often associating with level faction extremists. Sadly the baron had a rat in his midst. Fullart still held great pride for his role as a guardian of the people, but he had no pride in serving the rat who now tarnished Grimmark’s legacy.

  His plan had been to go to the town to claim the head of a criminal or recently deceased to protect the boy he had trained into a knight. Then he would report the wife as taking her own life in response. That plan was shortly put on hold as the town itself was under attack from a great number of monsters. Without hesitation, he and his men went into action. Clearing out simple beasts wasn’t an issue, and as grim as it sounded, it would be easy to fake Sir Marek’s death and to report the family as casualties.