93 War has Begun and it's Horrible

As the sun approaches its zenith in the sky, the people of Hadrow are bolstering the town's fortifications. In the past, due to its close proximity to the Sea of Trees, Hadrow has had to deal with the Beast Tides. A large scale migration that would occur every few decades when the monster population reached a certain height. As such, the fortification of Hadrow is far above the standard for a small town. Artillery and heavy machine guns line the walls that surround Hadrow. The large gate now stands closed, the militia standing in front while behind their barricades.

Despite their previous display of aggression, not everyone in the town feels the same. Although they are the minority, some people would rather surrender. Most of these people are the hunters who have ventured into the forest in recent times and know much more than the others do about the residents of the Sea of Trees. But their warnings have fallen on deaf ears, blinded by decades, centuries of propaganda and blind worship to the Church of Light.

The Town of Hadrow is silent. Their preparations are done, their people are in position, now they can only wait for their enemy to approach. But the silence breaks as the sound of a car can be heard. Driving over is the scouting party from Hadrow.

"They're coming, the infidels are coming!"

The scouts return, alerting the people of Hadrow that the time has come. A mix of fear, anxiety, zeal, and excitement fills the air. For many, this is the first time they'll ever be in combat. For the Town Guard and other armed institutions such as the Police, they are having talks of competition on who can get the most takedowns. For the Clergy and the devoted followers of the Church, they are glad to be able to fulfil the will of the God of Light and strike down the monsters. And while there aren't many, there are some players here as well, mostly the type of players that want to go against the norm, their only real purpose is to have some fun and stand out while going against the majority.

The commander of this operation steps forward for all his townfolk to see, "My good people, the sun has reached its height in the sky as the enemy approaches. The God of Light has given us his blessings as our enemy approaches under the strongest light of the day. For Virpal, we stand, and for God, we fight!"

The commander's rally helps to decrease the fear and anxiety the regular townfolk were feeling, even the sceptic hunters and others who had seen the changes of the forest felt better. But this uplifting feeling only lasted a moment as a low tremble could soon be felt through the ground. The trees in the distance are visibly shaking, yet there is no wind. The buildings in town and the fortifications beyond the town gate are shaking slightly, yet this isn't an earthquake.

Within a couple of minutes, first contact is made as large outlines can be seen on the horizon. The leading vanguard of the Oulvgar is Sir Bearington, the giant bear is deliberately pounding the ground with every step he takes sending shockwaves through the ground. On his back sits Birdie and dozens of other bird Oulvgar. Following directly behind Sir Bearington is Woody to the right, and Deery to the left, with many of the Chieftains and their tribes behind them. In the middle of the army is Ystur, guarded by four Treants. These Treants are actually all a part of a single being, the Great Tree. The Great Tree is essentially a hive mind that connects with around 70% of the trees in the Sea of Trees. Four branches split off from the original tree to create the four Treants that serve as Ystur's guard. Ystur herself is being carried in a walking wood throne made from another branch of the Great Tree, bearing a standard designed personally by Astur, meant to be the symbol for the Holy Oulvgar State. The standard's design is esoteric, full of symbols that a person would find difficult to describe, holding an unknown meaning. The only ones that have any sense to them are the ones resembling a tree, a bear, a bird, a beaver, a stag, and at the centre is a wolf with ten tails.

Sir Bearington lets out a thundering roar and leads the ground forces forward, the birds on his back take flight with the Terror Hawk Birdie taking the lead in the sky.

"Draw your arms and maintain your defensive positions!" The commander of Hadrow shouts.

But it takes no longer than a second for panic to break out.

"I can't bring out my gun, this blasted storage ring isn't working!"

"The ring isn't responding to me, all my ammo is in it!"

The militia doesn't have much of a problem as they were handed weapons but most of them lack a storage ring. But the armed forces like the Town guard and the Police keep most of their belongings in a storage ring, be it a personal one or a government-issued one.

The few players on Hadrows side are a bit more knowledgeable about the situation as they immediately see the problem. A widespread debuff has been placed on the surrounding area, stemming from Sir Bearington, a Space Lock. One of the abilities Sir Bearington gained after consuming the Grand Evolution Elixir is the ability to lock the space around him, preventing both teleportation and items that manipulate space like a storage ring.

"That Bear is ridiculous! Why is it so OP!" a player yells out.

"Deal with it, we knew from the beginning that we were on the losing side, we just have to look good while losing and maybe we'll get lucky and become popular!" another player retorts.

"Dudes got a point. Alright lads, get those cameras ready and those streams better be on. Charge!" another player shouts, invigorating the group of players to run straight into battle.

The commander sees this and misinterprets their actions, "Quit yer yappin'! Look at those Irregulars, they're not even proper residents of our good town yet they are putting their lives on the line for us with nothing but melee weapons! Fire up those machine guns and shoot those birds down. Launch the artillery and stop that bear!"

The sounds of the heavy weapons blare. Sir Bearington simply brushes off the shelling and continues his charge, seemingly taking no damage from Hadrow's assault even while using his own body to protect those behind him, tanking the majority of shots upon himself. The shots that bypassed Sir Bearington however still had no effect on the Oulvgar behind him, courtesy of Woody who deployed a psychic barrier to block them. The Steel-Toothed Beavers went under a massive change upon consuming Astur's concoctions, having developed psychic abilities, and Woody who had consumed the Grand Evolution Elixir had even more developments in this area, making him one of the strongest Psychics on Vopal.

However unlike the seeming invulnerable ground forces, the birds in the sky a dropping, one by one, the only thing keeping Hadrow's morale up. At least, for a moment before the birds that were falling from the sky vanished into nothing while the flock suddenly appear right above the town, dropping Astur's newly developed bombs from above. Houses collapse, streets are full of craters, the walls of Hadrow are fractured and shattered. Much of Hadrow's heavy weaponry is broken beyond repair. The bodies of the men and women who lined the walls are scattered into pieces, their bloody bodies covering the faces of their horrified friends.

The forces in front of the gate of no time to be worried about the explosions and horror that lies just behind and above them as the Oulvgar vanguard arrives. Sir Bearington Crashes into the gate, taking it down and collapsing the shattered remains of the walls that once defend Hadrow. But he doesn't stop and continues moving forward into the town, destroying it even further.

Deery, the giant white stag, tramples what remains of the militia under him, causing everyone touched by his hooves to decay and wither while the ground begins to flourish as the grass begins to grow.

The other Oulvgar begin to make do on their previous promises and begin eating those who don't surrender, horrifying the crippled people nearby, forced to watch the madness.

Out of the entire defence of Hadrow, only the group of players got to do any damage at all, being the only group to really engage in melee combat. Between Sir Bearington's space lock preventing Hadrow's forces from drawing their weapons or getting more ammo and Woody's psychic barrier blocking any potential ranged threat, only the players dealt any bit of damage, despite dying within moments.

It doesn't take long before Hadrow declares their surrender, much to the Oulvgar's dismay. Ystur eventually arrives at the gate, refusing to move further. She can barely keep herself from vomiting after seeing the bloody sight in front of the gate, and knowing what lay beyond to be even more frightening she is adamant about not entering the town.

"So this is war… I'm glad a told the Tree to move slowly. If I had to see this scene play out directly in front of me I don't think I could stop myself from vomiting on the spot."

Ystur looks around. People hunched over the bodies of their friends, family, comrades, with nothing but tears. Some people are missing half of their bodies, futilely trying to cling to life as they draw their last breath. Others try to say their last words as they breathe their last breath, but their vocal cords were eaten out, unable to share their last words. A few of the people who are still whole lay resting against the remains of the wall with a broken look, their minds shattered as the guts of their friends rest upon their faces.

Under the looks of scorn and fear on the people's faces as they look at Ystur, she's unable to contain it any longer. Turning her head to the side, Ystur vomits.

In the distance, Astur and Kretea are looking at the scene with binoculars.

"I understand that you want Ystur to experience the harsh reality of war, but isn't this too much at once?" Kretea asks.

Astur brings her binoculars down, "Perhaps, but it is one she will need to face eventually. The world isn't just happy smiles full of sunshine and rainbows. If we simply waited for our enemy to come to us with a large enough force, this may have been our outcome instead. In the current state of the world, I can't wait to slowly get her used to war, who knows when the God of Light himself will come knocking and I can't always be here to keep her safe. War is a horrible thing, that I will agree with, but when backed into a corner facing a group of people who want nothing more than our extinction, it is the only path to survival. War has begun, and so has the fight for our survival."