Bab 40: RAID III

Talon was polishing his armor with a begrudging look on his face. His angered face reflected the turmoil within, 'Tsk, why do I have to follow that peasant's orders? Grand Strategist, my ass. What kind of sane person would call burning down the Forest a strategy? What are others thinking, listening to someone without even a background of intelligence.'

Talon murmured to himself alone. He had already recited the advantages of Isaac's plan earlier to the other Leaders. But that was all so the homogeneity of the alliance would not break. Talon may not seem like one, but he's perceptive and would change stances to gain the advantages he needed.

If he had gone against the strategy Isaac proposed without reason, Talon understood his position may have been compromised. Though he agreed earlier with Isaac and played along with his little games, Talon still believed that the earlier plan he proposed was the most suitable to deal with the situation.

'There's a reason why we only accepted experienced people to join the subjugation. Is he looking down on us!?' Talon's frustrations were almost impossible to hide, 'Tsk, then there are those three fools just going along with the obvious ramblings of a monkey trying to dance to the music it doesn't even understand-ACK!"

BAM!

Suddenly, something came flying from outside and hit Talon on the back of his head. He cursed at almost biting his tongue and felt blood coming down his face. He was about to fly into a rage until he saw what hit him, "What the?"

He may have been hurt, but upon seeing what it was, Talon quickly understood that the blood drawn from him was but a drop in comparison to the "artillery" that went after his life.

It was Isaac, bloodied and injured.

With his consciousness slipping to and fro, Isaac barely managed to recognize Talon, but he pushed him away as he tried getting up despite his injuries.

Talon was befuddled and confused seeing Isaac's disfigured face, bloody face, "Isaac?! What happened!?"

"Talon?" Isaac barely recognized him as he rested his back on a table nearby, "Monsters… are coming."

"Monsters!!!!"

"IT'S A MONSTER FLOOD!"

Just on cue, screams sounded from outside. Talon had no time to care for Isaac and just placed him on his bed, and by the time Talon stepped outside his tent and out, he saw pandemonium ensue right before his eyes.

The monsters arrived to mow them down when he stepped out of his tent. A pack of Giant Ravenous Wolves and some other assortment of Forest Monsters.

Talon did not even waste his time and quickly responded to the need of the Camp. Without even wearing the armor he was so proud of, Talon clenched his fist and dashed forth with the wild rage of the Lion on his back.

His hair transformed to gold, and he came face to face with one of the enemy's vanguards.

[Giant Ravenous Wolf Lv. 327]

Talon grabbed its jaw and ripped it apart mid-air, and then used its dying body as a platform to jump to the next one.

"Young Master!"

Five young Knights with average levels of 420 arrived with their weapons and armor at hand.

They were the group personally picked by Talon to accompany him in this campaign.

"What's happening exactly, Alta?" asked Talon to one of his subordinates.

"Sir!" A handsome young man with blonde hair and silver armor stepped forward with a salute, "A sudden Monster Flood, sir. It was reported that they heard someone giving commands to the monsters, so there is a possibility that one of the Generals is here. What should we do, Young Master?"

Talon accepted his favored weapon, the Black Forged Knuckles, and fitted it on each hand, "We're going to hold this place."

"But Young Master, we're only a small group. We can't possibly." Alta raised his point, and Talon stopped him from speaking.

"Do you think I don't know that? We're going to focus on the high-level monsters. We will keep the strong ones out of the others and leave the rest to the recruits. That's how it should've been in the first place." Talon answered, and Alta and the other five responded with a yes.

Talon exploded with speed and power towards the enemy, taking a deep breath. Without rest and incredible strength, he attacked them, holding nothing back.

From measly level 350 Wolves to almost level 500 Alphas were handled by their little group. Talon cared little about the smaller wolves below level 450 and focused on the big ones.

From one wolf to the next, they killed and killed, and eventually, Talon and the others arrived at the end of the army camp, and in their wake were carcasses of high-level monsters. Talon looked at their work with satisfaction on his face.

This was what Talon wanted to happen. Have the Elites take care of the strong and then leave the rest to the recruits. He was the leader of the Tank Squad who would've charged headfirst as he just did.

'The high levels are taken care of. We should be able to push them back…now….'

Talon wanted them to follow him. But, reality slapped him on the face. The experienced troops of Seekers and Knights could not even create a cohesive plan of attack. One group wanted to charge like Talon, while the others saw it as too reckless and wanted to go back first.

Dozens of monsters have been slain, which could be said to the soldiers. Talon could see the collateral his plan brought forth. There were only so few high-level solid monsters, and those behind them were swamped with enemies because they used so much time against them.

The two opposite forces of Seekers and Knights fought with different strategies, resulting in their use of the already limited battlefield in conflicting areas that would often cause friendly harm to one another. Instead of helping one another, they instead only hindered those around them.

Because of the hectic situations, some even tried taking commands. The Knights commanded the Seekers and vice versa. A fight broke out, and then the Wolves would arrive before they could even react.

Leading to errors, then to deaths, and a cycle of defeat would continue, and when Talon realized what was happening, the majority of the recruits, both Seekers and Knights, were losing.

Their conflicting values, tactics, and the hate they already bore against each other worked against them and erased any sense of camaraderie even in such dire times. The Seekers and the Knights separated themselves, weakening what should've been a strong group, and the wolves did not miss the opportunity to strike.

'There are limited numbers of Wolves, but... we're losing?' Talon could not believe his eyes.

If this was the official operation, even if they got to kill the Anarchy Lord, the losses they would incur would be huge.

Talon saw two groups got into an altercation in the middle of the battlefield.

"You cowards, where are you going!? We need to face them head-on and drive them away from the Camp! Knight Talon has opened a path for us to take!" A Knight shouted to the Seekers.

The Seekers growled and shouted back, "You fool! Those are Ravenous Giant Wolves! Do you think you can take them all! We need to fall back and lure them one by one to kill even one! Also, that opening you call is a death trap! If we charge forward, the wolves that guy let in would swarm us and kill us! We must gather our forces first, and only then can we strike!"

"Tsk! What a Cowardly lot! What did I expect from Seekers? Men! With me!" The Knight led his people to face the oncoming enemies.

They were arguing so fiercely that they failed to notice that three Giant Ravenous Wolves had already targeted them. The three Wolves pounced at the Seekers and Knights with the intent of ripping them apart. Talon saw this and exploded with speed before anyone else, "LOOK OUT!"

Talon managed to kill two of the Wolves and gravely injure the other one. It would've been an easy kill, but they were unprepared. The Leaders of the arguing groups looked above them and only saw the opened maw of the beast.

They tried to draw their weapons.

They failed.

"Run!" Talon tried to warn them.

But it was already too late.

They couldn't move.

Their eyes remained fixed up.

But oddly enough, they were not looking at the Monster but what was behind the beast.

CRACK!

"Lightning Crescent!"

SLASH!

Just as the two men were about to meet their end, a figure descended and beheaded the injured wolf.

The man carried a sword that was double his size using one hand with ease.

His sword was as thick as his torso, a sword that was as white as the clouds. A young man with blood flowing down his face stood atop the body of the Giant Ravenous Wolf.

[Level up]

Lv. 195 -> Lv, 196]

This man was none other than Isaac.

His face was obscured by the thick killing intent welling up from within. This man momentarily froze the battlefield upon his appearance despite his lowest level.

Gripping the sword against the slipperiness of his blood, Isaac took a deep breath, "LISTEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Isaac shouted at the top of his lungs. He knew he gathered the attention of the wolves and soldiers alike, but he did not care.

Blood ran down his face.

Pain no longer mattered.

The warriors looked at him with mixed emotions, and the monsters looked at him as if he was a delicacy.

But, Isaac did not care.

He only knew one thing! They were losing, and sooner or later, the Camp would fall, and when that happens… his dream of meeting the Anarchy Lord would disappear.

Isaac wouldn't have it.

Thus, he did what he had to do and said what needed to be said, "STOP FUCKING ABOUT AND STOP LETTING YOUR EGOS GET IN THE WAY! AND START FIGHTING LIKE THE GREAT WARRIORS THAT YOU ARE!"

This kind of battle was the very scenario he wanted to avoid. But the enemy got to them first. The confusion was used against them and pandemonium was causing them to lose all sense.

Many of them were tired, injured, and have lost the will to even fight, thinking it was hopeless.

The Raid of the Monster was so quick that they could barely react.

There was no plan that would be able to save them from now on.

So, Isaac gathered himself and told them what they needed to hear.

It was not the plan that they should follow.

It was simply what they had to do in order to survive.

"THIS IS THE LAST WAVE OF MONSTERS AND NOW, TACTICS NO LONGER MATTER! ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT WE WILL! SO TAKE YOUR STANCES! SPEAK YOUR CHANTS! GRIP YOUR WEAPONS, CAST YOUR SPELLS, AND KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE MUTTS RIGHT BEFORE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!"

With his battle cry, the hearts of the soldiers roused with fury! Everyone could feel it! Even those who refused to accept his leadership felt their blood boil.

Isaac's message was simple!

Fight if you don't want to die!

Everyone roared, raising their weapons once more, this time not just so they could survive the Monster Flood but to overturn the tide of the battle!

From afar, a man dressed in a black cloak observed Isaac's actions and whispered to himself, "...that guy... what is he doing over there?"