Chapter 50 - The Vanguard

"DO ONE FINAL CHECK-UP ON THE TRAPS WE LAID!"

"Yes guild master!"

A young adventurer dashed past Griff as he was walking to the gates and out to the fields where the adventurers had laid their traps.

"You better get yourself together Griff. Today's the big day!"

Reiner squeezed Griff's shoulder as he said so with a slight grin.

"Don't waltz too far from us. Me and Reiner are the top adventurers of Alfrum now, with most of them having ran away to save their skins..."

Rin stated with slight disgust in her tone.

"I got Sylvie with me, even though we will be partnering up for this time only. Don't worry guys."

Sylvie said nothing of her usual sarcastic sort and simply stayed quiet as she looked at the giant stone wall with her arms folded.

Before Reiner and Rin walked to their position Rin turned to speak once more.

"Listen... no one will blame you if you run away during the fight. It's going to be hard."

"You worry a lot about me these days Rin, you ain't my mom. Just chill I got this!"

Griff said as he gave a thumbs up. Rin simply mumbled a few things like 'Stupid, Die, Weirdo' and walked off with a red tinge on her cheeks.

"Come on. We should go over to our spot too."

Sylvie said nonchalantly and started to pull Griff by the collar who was simply chilling, now slightly used to her eccentric behavior.

As they walked over to the west side of the Wall Sylvie had kept sniffing the air.

"Hey why do you do that?"

"I'm a demi-human. I have heightened senses. Now be quiet for a second."

She kept sniffing the air. Her face was slowly turning into one of utter confusion.

"Um... what's the problem?"

"Something's weird. Stay here. Don't run off again. I need to tell this to that old weirdo."

"Master Leebus? He's over there."

Griff pointed at the short old man who was raining commands on top of the wall alongside a couple long ranged adventurers.

Sylvie walked towards the staircase of the wall and ran up towards Leebus who was confused on why she was approaching him.

She whispered a few things in his ear and ran back to Griff. Leebus had a look of anger on his face as she made her way back.

"What was that about?..."

"I thought I was wrong at first, but I'm picking up the scent of the undead, and it's growing closer."

"Wait what? What undead!"

"And they're speeding up. Look, bluntly speaking I don't think we're fighting a regular monster horde. It's artificial. Made up of undead monsters."

Griff was about to speak but master Leebus's shouting cut him short.

"GET BACK! EVERYONE OUTSIDE OF THE WALL! GET BACK NOW!"

Everyone was looking in confusion save for Sylvie who looked horrified.

Suddenly the sound of the ground shaking could be heard around them.

"The hell-"

"Portal... damn it! It really was artificial!"

Leebus shouted in irritance.

"Listen Griff. Just like how you fought me, if you want to live fight like that."

Sylvie said as she squeezed his shoulders.

"I get it... I might not be the brightest Sylvie but I think I know what's going on."

Griff brushed off her hands and walked up the stairs of the walls with Sylvie behind him. Dust was rising beyond the horizon.

"ALATAR! IS THAT THE REST OF THEM?!"

"A COUPLE OF ADVENTURERS WENT TO SCOUT AHEAD! THEY'RE STILL FAR AWAY!"

The top of the wall was in chaos as the dust cloud was getting bigger.

"Damn it! We're not ready for this!"

Leebus slammed his fist in anger as Alatar was silently looking at the horizon.

"Master... this ordeal we've had with undead monsters. Someone who is a very powerful necromancer is targeting us right?"

Griff slowly stated as he stood next to Leebus. Sylvie was slightly growling at the horizon while they spoke.

"Exactly. I can only think of a political reason. We're the only city in Kulva governed by a council rather than being subjects of a noble."

"And only a noble can possess this amount of magic..."

"But I didn't expect that... they'd have already killed the entirety of the monsters on the Southern Mountains, and resurrect them."

The dust cloud was enormous now. Suddenly out of the forest a dozen or so adventurers bursted, running at top speed.

"Are those the ones you sent for scouting Alatar?"

"Yes, but... there were more of them."

The adventurers, who were several hundred meters away, were shouting in horror.

"Can anyone make out what they're saying?"

Sylvie who was looking at them turned to Leebus and spoke up.

"They're screaming 'Run...'"

Suddenly out of the woods hundreds of dog like creatures bursted, giving chase to the adventurers. Leebus woke up from a daze in that second.

"Rangers! Fire! FIRE NOW!"

The several dozen rangers on the walls nocked their arrows in a hurry, but they weren't fast enough. The adventurers below were being ripped apart by the dog like monsters. Anyone they caught they ripped them in half with their powerful jaws.

The adventurers on the giant walls were looking down in horror, some frozen in place. One such adventurer had already fainted and was rocking back and forth.

"SOMEBODY GRAB THAT BLOODY IDIOT!"

Griff ran towards the man, but it was too late as the adventurer fell down from the walls, killing himself. Griff froze in place as he saw the man plummet to his death, and he wasn't the only one. The adventurers around him were broken in fear after what they saw.

"ALATAR!"

"I beseech thee, fruitful mother of these lands. Give rise to soldiers of rock and sand! Stone Creation Magic: Golem!"

About thirty or so golems suddenly began to dispatch themselves from the wall and charge towards the hounds.

"GET YOURSELF TOGETHER! ALL OF YOU! WE'RE UP AGAINST THE UNDEAD, AND THAT'S THEIR VANGUARD! WE EITHER FIGHT OR WE WILL DIE HERE! IT WON'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF YOU'RE SCARED!"

Leebus shouted, and raised his fist high in defiance of his fate.

Griff was still looking down over the wall, but shook his head as he heard what Leebus said.

"Yeah. We either die horrified, or try to create a chance and die trying."

He grit his teeth and fists in anger, and grabbed the bow that the man who had plummeted down dropped.

The adventurers were getting back to their senses. The golems couldn't hold back a horde of undead hounds.

"Glad to see you haven't all lost your spines! Our enemies are Blaze Hounds! F class monsters on their own, but with their numbers and status as undead they're stronger. All of you brace yourselves!"

The adventurers shouted together in defiance of their fate and started to fire down arrows. Griff, too, nocked an arrow and shot it, but to no effect as the undead blaze hound kept smashing into the golems. Sylvie was standing next to him, looking around astutely to see what else was to come.

"FIRE!"

Griff suddenly shouted with a spark of intelligence.

"BURN THEM DOWN WITH FIRE!"

The rangers on top of the walls were heartened up by his suggestion. If you can't kill what's already dead make sure it has no means to move! Bones don't have muscles!

Meanwhile Leebus was gripping the corner of the wall. He spoke to no one in particular.

"Damn it we only set up a magic circle to detect living monsters. The thought never crossed my mind. And this is only the vanguard... where the hell is the Troll King."

As if god was answering his question, a large roar was heard, and the trees in the forest were seen falling down as something was getting closer.

"..."

Leebus looked down at the melee adventurers who were standing by, and raised his arm. With a defiant roar the adventurers bursted through the newly made wall's gates, and onto the battlefield to clash with the undead blaze hounds.

"...let's just hope the army is nearby."

Alatar said to Leebus as he got back to chanting to create more golems.

This was going to become an onslaught.