章 107: Fear, Death, and Awe (I)
It has been two weeks since both general armies were present at the foot of the Forgotten Forest. Standing at the edge of the open balcony, my head was turned towards the Forgotten Forest. This place was still the highest spot to look out into the distance, giving me a better range of what I could see.
Not too far away, I could see the supposed army stationed at the edge of the forest. I could see them move as half of them entered into the Forgotten Forest, while the other half stayed behind. Moca, Coco, and Tart were doing a great job pulling the army into the Forgotten Forest.
"I wonder if Coco, Tart, and Moca are okay?" I worriedly mumbled to myself. It has been half a day since the three had run ahead to draw in the two Generals into the Forgotten Forest. They have turned into their natural forms to combat against the human enemies that were before us.
Coco was in her Blood Warhorse form, Tart in his Black Fire wolf, and Moca in his One Hundred Face spider. They were quite formidable monsters, but it didn't stop me from worrying about them. Instead, they had taken it upon themselves to draw the enemies into the forest, while the Adventurers and our small army waited by the city walls. We didn't have enough to fight against the hundreds of thousands against the small meager army we had.
I knew that the dominant plant magic around the city walls would keep the enemy back, but that didn't mean that something might not happen. I found out that they were a limit to the magic walls throughout my stay here. In total, the magic walls could be used only for one hour three times a day. Each time it was in use, there was a charging period of two hours before one could use it again.
In the beginning, supposedly, the magic was used continuously every day around the city walls during the first years against high-level monsters. For some reason, low-level monsters didn't activate it as often. It wasn't until seven years ago that the Adventurers did a good job keeping the high-level monsters from encroaching upon the magic and accidentally activating it.
They had learned from the mistake of a large scale monster invasion when a high-level monster broke through the walls and into the city. The monster destroyed a fifth of the city, causing massive damage and loss. Without the help from the founders of the Adventurer guild, the damage could've been worse, but they prevailed.
From then on, it has been a large responsibility of the city to keep tally on how often the special defensive wall magic went. The citizens didn't want such things to happen again, nor would ever want to see their beautiful city being destroyed. The thought of an enemy coming to take what they all had built on, infuriated the people and spurred them forward in protecting it.
Still, I didn't want anyone of my friends hurt. I disliked war and seeing one knocking on my door made me frustrated that I wish we went back to calmer times. I could still hear Coco's chatting about what they will do to keep me safe ringing in my ears. The memories once again plagued my mind.
They were sitting in Duke Jeremy's council room with Coco, Duke Jeremey, and Phil. The morning sun was shining in as Coco, Phil, Duke Jeremy, and I were present inside.
"Young mistress. You should stay in the castle." Coco sternly told me. In her voice, I could tell that she was worried about me. "Right now, it isn't a good time to show your true form."
"I know, but they are people out there. This city is my home." I gritted my teeth when I remembered the news of the incoming invasion. "I can't just stand here and do nothing."
"Young mistress. Don't worry. We'll protect you."
"Thank you, Coco, but we need to get the city ready for a fight. I don't want the citizens to become homeless or worse slaves."
"Then do you have a plan?" said Phil.
I furrowed my brow. I know I'm not a great military strategist, but I think about a couple of scenarios. Drawing them in towards the wall and using the city defense to destroy them, going out their personal and stomping on top of them for daring to come and invade my city. "Well….a couple of things."
"Like?"
"Using the defensive magic the wall has."
"And?"
"Um...going out there myself."
"Are you an idiot?"
"No…" I pouted. The word idiot made me annoyed.
"Look, they are a couple of things that I found out about the Forgotten Forest." Phil brought out a huge detailed map of the Forgotten Forest.
I was immensely surprised that we were able to obtain something so precious. I didn't have a map of the whole area. "How?" I glanced up at him in disbelief. "I thought it was difficult to maneuver around the forest."
"Yes, but there are reasons why it's like that. The once a year fog is nothing much to be worried about, but certain areas." Phil pointed out different locations that were near bodies of water.
"Some high-level plant monsters are living in these lakes and ponds. Every year for one day, the females let out their pheromones mixing in with the water. The temperature in the water rises up and turns into mist, rendering it difficult to see. The males will use this time to synchronize with the females, mating with them."
"Wait, how did you find this out?"
"One of the Adventurers, Sun, stumbled upon this answer ten years ago. Also, the monsters and animals start to get agitated and even get dangerous. All the other rumors about being lost in the Forgotten Forest were exaggerated. They just get killed."
"I didn't know that."
"Well, now we know."
"So, are you suggesting to drag the army into these pockets of water?" Duke Jeremy spoke up while rubbing his hand on his chin.
"Yes. There is a high-density level of monsters around these areas that are considered A class monsters. So far, they are about thirty of them spread out throughout the Forgotten Forest, and a dense lower-class monsters around them."
"Wait, before you go on. Who's going to drag the army through the lake?"
"I will." Coco volunteered herself. "Tart and Moca and the other maids will be grateful for taking this task."
"Are you sure?" I glanced at her worriedly. "I don't like the idea of you being the bait."
"Don't worry mistress, we are considered the best in our monster class."
"She's right, you know," said Phil. "You can see Moca, Tart, and Coco as S class monsters, even better than the monsters in the lake. Not only that, but all your maids and butlers are also at least an A-class monster."
When Phil stated, their level's my eyes became wide. Really? I knew that Moca, Tart, and Coco were considered a formidable enemy, but them to be so amazing was quite frightening. I was glad that they were on our side, then the enemy.
"At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised that you send out your whole squadron of maids and butlers to devastate at least a third of their army."
I frowned. I could….but I really didn't like the idea. Just because I had the power, too, didn't mean I wanted to throw away their lives like some kind of tissue.
"It's alright, young mistress. We will take on this job."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
I sighed in defeat. "Okay."
"With the splitting up the army, this should cut down the main force by a half. The fight becomes more manageable for this small city. How many soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers do we have?"
"7,000 soldiers. 1,500 mercenary. 3,500 Adventurers." Duke Jeremy spoke, answering Phil's question.
"That does not even compare to the amount of what the three General's have. My guess is that they will be hitting over 100,000 in total."
I held in a gasp. At this rate, we'll be wiped out. This made me mad, making me want to go out and fly towards the king and throttle him for sending out such deadly forces.
"With half the army coming towards the city, we'll get the magic casters and even some citizens who can use basic magic out on the wall using the magic stones. With that, we can round up another five to ten thousand, but that's it."
"That's not a bad idea." Duke Jeremy agreed with Phil. "I had thought of implementing the citizens to join in on this fight."
"You're talking about the magic stones that I created, right? What magic are you thinking about inputting in them?"
"Explosion, fireball, wind arrows, anything that's effective on long distance. They are not fit to fight close quarters, and once they use up their magic, they'll head back into the city or help around with other things."
"I see. Well, I'll ask the twins to buy up all the magic stones and start creating the magic stones that we need." I replied with a nod.
"Here. I'll need you to create as many of this as you can." Phil handed me a rolled-up paper with a red string around it."
"What is it?" I was just about to open it, but Phil stopped me.
"Open it when you're alone."
"Okay?" I look at the paper confused but put it away for later. "Coco, I need you to go to the Wonder Shop and tell Siva to create as many tonics to repel monsters away from the wall and as many high Red and Blue Potions before you leave."
"Yes, I'll do that right now." Coco quickly left, leaving us behind.
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