Chapter 14

The last day before the start of the second stage.

Gabriel was making the final preparations before the start of the event.

He had prepared several days' worth of food in case we are forced to stay inside the fortress. The facilities had also been improved to be able to group more of my relatives.

With the acquisition of the 30 new relatives to the forces, we had to increase the space of the entire fortress and facilities to be able to give

In total we were 48 relatives without counting myself.

Being that in order of rank of importance were the first named, which were: Ageha (Illusory Butterfly), Fenrir (Black Wolf), Nemea (Lion),

Hachiko (Dog), Natsuho (Cat), Managarm (Silver Wolf), Kyubi (Nine-tailed Fox), and Chloe (Goblin Girl).

Followed by the Four Kobold Girls: Abby, Ada, Adele, and Agnes. The difference between the four Kobold girls was not so much physical but in personality.

So he thought a little about the name of each one of them,

and finally I end up in the current ones.

Following them was the Imp Girl that I chose as the leader of the Imps group, her name was Erin.

Each one of them would lead the group of her own species, as the group of the Imps was the smallest, at the moment they didn't need more leaders.

The Goblins had more leaders subservient to Chloe,

while the Kobolds were led by the four girls and the six subordinates that were created alongside them.

At the moment she was slightly ordering the chain of command to automate everything as much as possible, thus avoiding having to go from place to place or having to micromanage everything.

Although this is not very important at the moment,

in the future when your numbers are in the hundreds, mismanagement could ruin everything you've worked for.

This is from a person who has played hundreds of management games. Although considering that his relatives were completely loyal to him, even if he made a mistake he could fix it with little difficulty.

But changes in the chain of command would still take time to get used to, so he had to do it with the least amount of mistakes to avoid future headaches.

While he was sorting out the chain of command and trying to remember the way armies were organized in his world,

the construction of the fortress continued at the hands of the Kobolds, while the Goblins and Imps were hunting down the monsters around the base and transporting their corpses back to the base for their Master to absorb.

All groups were fulfilling their duties without any failure,

so they were able to maintain steady, uninterrupted progress. If there were no future changes, they would be able to manage to complete the base and drastically increase their numbers in no time.

But with the arrival of the second stage, this could not be completed comfortably.

He had to find a way to speed up the construction progress, but even if he increased his numbers uncontrollably, the change would still be minimal at best.

After thinking for a while and not finding any answers, he could only give up and leave everything to fate.

If they were lucky,

the monsters would not enter the valley, which will be a great advantage against him. If not, we will have to prepare a desperate defense and eliminate any monster that approaches. Although difficult, it is still possible with a good strategy.

The outer wall was finished and the lower one was not far from completion,

so the defenses were almost done. They had also prepared many throwing spears instead of arrows, since none of us knew how to make them and Spears were more effective than arrows anyway.

They also had normal spears and some weapons they found from monsters,

although they weren't in the best state, they would be enough to fight for a short time.

They were more or less prepared for a battle against numerous monsters and even if the base's defenses fell, they would still be able to escape somehow.

While she was thinking about those things, Chloe walked in.

"Teacher,

the subjugation groups returned" I report.

"Thank you Chloe" she said as she got up.

She originally wanted to save the life force and corpses to create more familiars in the future, but if she wanted to fulfill the short time she had, she had to take a shortcut as soon as possible.

Fortunately,

he had an ability that helped him exactly for moments like this.

Meanwhile on the side of the monsters.

The territory of the monsters was growing more and more as their numbers and his power had increased drastically, although this could not be easily observed due to the place where Gabriel and his followers were,

the humans who had stayed in the forest quickly noticed it, seeing how more and more strong monsters were raiding their camps.

Also the humans who had no bases were forced to hide from the countless monsters that seemed to populate the forest. Slowly the monsters were gaining even more ground,

to the point that the humans who were stupid enough to attack them head-on would be surrounded and killed rather quickly.

To avoid that unfortunate end, most humans gathered in groups around the strongest and those who foresaw the situation and created their own towns.

With the villages it was not only easier to defend against the attacks of the monsters, but they could also counterattack and retreat more easily. They also had a place to rest without having to worry about the constant attack of monsters.

Building a town only brought advantages and the only disadvantage they had,

it was that they couldn't escape as easily as they could without one.

It was at this time where the strength of monsters was increasing and places without monsters were becoming rarer that the true importance of preparation was shown.

Some groups of humans raided the human villages trying to seize them.

The humans in the villages had a bit of a hard time at first, but they quickly stopped every attack they made. This was because not only did they have a local advantage, but they were used to raiding battles due to constant monster attacks. Although the battle between humans and monsters was different,

This doesn't change the final result too much. So it was impossible to defeat them easily unless you had enough strength to not only take the Town but also hold it.

The conflict between humans increased more and more while the anxiety grew with the inevitable coming of the second stage.

As time progressed,

the main actors in this play were on the move. Not only from the human side, but also from the monster side. Both sides were waiting for the game to finally start, once the second stage started, it would finally be decided which side would win, the numerous monsters or the formidable humans.

With the increasing appearance of rare monsters, it would only be a matter of time before humans would be driven from their territory and villages, no matter how fortified, would be destroyed. But at the same time, incredibly powerful individuals were growing on the side of humans,

being able to kill as many monsters as he wanted just by swinging his sword.

The balance between the two sides was very even, only a slight disturbance would be enough for one side to take the advantage.

While that was brewing on the surface,

in the shadows a third, even more devastating force was forming in the shadows of both forces, slowly devouring the forces of both and growing at a slow but steady rate. Once both forces are weakened, it will be a matter of dealing the last blow and seizing power.

But what they didn't know

it is that there was a person who had already seen that same future, and would know what would happen. No matter how hard they try, they are destined to lose and be slaughtered like sheep in a slaughterhouse.

Time passed quickly, and finally there was only one hour left until the start of the second stage.

The forest was silent

no monster or human moved from their place, as if they were waiting for the signal for the start of the real war.

Gabriel and his relatives were looking up at the sky, waiting for the appointed time to arrive.

The strongest individuals of their respective races were looking up at the sky, in both fear and awe.

The star-filled sky was visible to everyone on this proving ground, the stars were shining brighter than ever, and the moon with its imposing presence was in the center of the sky, dwarfing any stars around it.

It was at that moment that everyone felt a chill. Humans felt an instinctive fear,

while the monsters felt that they should respect and honor the presence that was watching them.

Although they couldn't see it, they knew that something in this place had changed. The shadow of the night spread to all beings in this place and a message reached all humans.

[Start of the Second Stage of the Proving Ground]