Attack Preparations

The best way to describe the myvarg is a cross between ants and wolves. They were as large as normal wolves with an ant-like fur covered body that had six ant-like legs. It's thorax looked slightly like a humans, with fur covered arms that ended in clawed hands. Their mouths had insect mandibles with wolf eyes and ears on their fur covered heads.

When a nest reached a certain point early in its establishment, lesser queens would be sent out and sometimes would travel the length of the entire kingdom. Once they found an isolated spot, they'd burrow deep underground and lay hundreds of eggs. It could take a few decades before the eggs hatched. After they hatched the lesser queen would bring them food until they could hunt for themselves.

At that point the lesser queen would give live birth to the next generation of queens and they would feast on her body. Up until then it was referred to as a myvarg burrow and would be just a single large underground cavern. It would be considered a C ranked quest.

After the lesser queens left, the permanent queen would start constantly laying eggs. The first batch of eggs would actually be eaten by the rest of the myvarg, altering them into different subsets of their kind; hunters, guardians, tunnelers, and caregivers. They would form a large network of tunnels underground. This is when it became a B ranked quest.

In another few decades the second batch of eggs would hatch and a greater queen would be born among them. She would eat her mother becoming much stronger and give live birth to a dozen attendants, each as strong as the previous queen. At this point it became an A ranked quest. Once the first batch of the greater queen's eggs were born decades later, it would be upgraded to an S ranked quest as each of her brood were twice as strong as the previous generations.

They were a terrifying species. What truly saved humanity was they tended to decimate areas even as a B ranked nest and the fact that it took so long for their nests to upgrade gave us time to find them. The vast majority of nests found were B ranked which was why three S ranked ones showing up so close together in the same region was a tragic mystery from the Years of Sorrow.

Within the next hour a caravan was heading north from the city. It was led by Margrave Jorfi and former Union Master Ragna. By the time we left there we had a little over 50 adventures, a few dozen of the Margraves retainers, and the Church of the Holy Light's local Bishop with a few of his clergy and holy knights. I was leading the wagon we had been using with six adventurers in the back and Fulvia at my side. There were another three wagons with adventurers and another two wagons filled with supplies from the Union. The rest were on horseback

"What rank do you think the nest is?" Fulvia asked.

"Most likely B and new at that. The myvarg tend to cause too much disturbance in their vicinity to not be discovered within the first few years. If it's an A we should still be fine. We have a strong force heading there and others in the area have also been summoned." I said.

"What if it's an S?" She asked.

"Again that's highly unlikely since it's so close to the second largest city in the north, it takes decades to reach that point. But if it somehow is, there's no reason to be too worried. We wouldn't enter the nest and would just enter into a siege of the entrances. The Duchess will have already been informed and if it is an S, she will come personally with her retainers and might even ask for help from the king." Growing up I had been taught the standard way of fighting a number of high level threats, including the myvarg.

"I don't think we'll be that cowardly. Even if it is an S ranked nest, we'd go in slower with greater caution, while back up join us over time. They pose too big of a threat to leave alone." Kalfr said from a horse to our side.

"What Wilmaer described is the official royal extermination plan. If the Margrave doesn't follow it, he'll be considered a traitor to the crown. The threat is too big for us to mess up." Vesta said from the other side. He gave me a harsh look for her once again coming to my defense. Yngvarr and Runa were up in the front with the leaders discussing the overall plan.

The sun had set before we arrived at the advance camp where we met up with over 20 more adventurers. The Branch Master organized us for the night as the leaders met up with those that had been sent to scout the nest. Word quickly spread that it had been assessed as a B ranked nest. The course of action would be to have groups of D ranked adventures, led by C ranked ones, guard the exits. The strongest would head towards the queen's chambers, as the rest would move through the tunnels to stop reinforcements and to take care of the nurseries.

For Fulvia and I it would be an easy quest. We would make sure none got away to nearby populated areas. Since the myvarg mostly fought to the death for their queen, it was unlikely we'd face more than two or three. Or at least it should have been like that.

"The two of you will be Runa's team." Yngvarr told us in the morning.

"But they just announced all the D ranks would be on the surface." Kalfr said.

"And I just announced they'd be headed in with Runa's team." He replied.

"It's rare but nests have been known to scatter when saving the queen looks impossible. The caregivers can carry nearly a dozen eggs each. If they got out we'd have a bunch of mini nests in the area in no time. Runa and the rest of you are on nursery extermination duty. Your job is to kill them before they even have a chance to bolt. Their talents are better used on that instead of guard duty." He continued.

Kalfr wasn't happy but didn't continue to argue.

A short while later Runa, Vesta, Fulvia, Kalfr, and I were teamed up with the four adventurers in dark green cloaks that had come with master Ragna, along with a holy knight from the Church of the Holy Light. Runa placed us in a marching order for the tunnel, her and myself in front with Kalfr and the holy knight, Ivarr, right behind us. Vesta and the other mage, Alfvin, behind them. Next was Fulvia and the witch Verdandi, with the two fighters in green cloaks, Njall and Dagrun, guarding our rear.

The scouts had used magic to get a good idea of how the nest was laid out. They had found three different nurseries, so there were two other groups with the same assignment as us. In addition to that, another two groups would roam the rest of the tunnels near the queen's chamber, while the main group with the A ranked adventures led by Ragna would kill the queen. Along with her were Yngvarr, Erlandr, Margrave Jorfi, his personal bodyguard, and the Bishop of Thurdinheim.

There were five different entrances over a three square mile area. The D ranked adventures were divided into five teams with some of the Margraves retainers and at least one priest from the Church of the Holy Light. A command center was run by the Branch Master. A number of mirrors were arranged there, they were magically connected to Flying Projection Orbs. The Orbs could hover a few hundred feet from the ground and relay images back to the mirrors. Each team going in and those above ground were given Mid Range Communication Stones that would keep them in contact with the Union representatives.

After preparations were complete Ragna gave us a few words. "Even though this is a B ranked nest, don't get overconfident. Watch each other's backs and make sure to take it slow. Team leaders stay in contact with command. If your team is having trouble, call for help. Don't let pride get you and those under you killed."

Margrave Jorif then gave a speech. "You've trained for days like this. Days when a clear threat to those you love presents itself. We are the guardians against the corruption of this world. Hold to what you know is right and sacred. There are times…"

He continued on for a few more minutes with a decent but unnecessary speech. I had met a lot of politicians like him in my life on Earth. They loved to hear themselves talk and did so in important moments so that they could be tied to those moments. Even so, I was sure he was capable enough or Ragna wouldn't be taking him with her. She didn't seem the type to let him tag along just for an ego trip.

When it was time we set out for one of the entrances. It was rather well hidden as the myvarg had planted vegetation around it to disguise the area. A small mound of dirt and rock had an opening that sloped downward. Before we entered, we sent down two alchemic smoke bombs that would cause the monsters below to become drowsy. Vesta and the other mage Alfvin used air magic to send the smoke further in.

After a few minutes those of us heading underground took a pill to counteract the smoke and ventured into the nest.