Long, Dreadful Night

The rain suddenly started to slow down, with gusts of wind dissipating. The dark clouds became lighter, revealing the night sky above.

Two people in dark cloaks stood near a burning house. Even the fire that burned the house was extinguished; nothing but its remains remained.

"Is this the last one? Man, I am tired. I should have picked something to eat before setting it on fire." The one with the short stature complained as he rubbed his stomach.

He carried a spear on his shoulder. It had the stench of blood fixated on it. He is a man named Seth.

"N-No… Pl-Please!" A man who was muddy all over pleaded for mercy.

"Pl-Please… don't kill us…!" His tears flowed down as he gripped Seth's legs.

"I-I… beg you!"

"How did someone like you survive, man? I thought everyone was already dead. Darius, my eyesight is failing me. Don't you think so?" He complained again as he rubbed his eyes.

The other one with a big, bulky body stood tall beside him, not responding to Seth's nonchalant words. He was Darius.

"Hey, big guy, are you ignoring me again?" Seth turned to the side to face him as his spear made a small arc, cutting the head of the pleading man near his feet.

The sound of the toppled head was cushioned by all the mud left by the rain. The decapitated head had its mouth wide open and eyes that didn't understand what had happened.

"Oops! You didn't see that coming, did you? Neither did I." Seth commented as they both walked on the muddy, crimson road that is a product of blood and rain.

The whole place that used to be a lively village until yesterday is now a graveyard of corpses.

"I can't wait to swallow a bunch of meat when we get back. Do you feel the same?" Seth asked as they walked.

"I am good with a normal meal."

"You know, I still don't get how you made that body of yours with this little appetite." He wondered to himself.

Darius stopped in his tracks, ignoring Seth's words, and looked at the faraway distance.

"What is it?" Seth asked.

"Nothing."

They both continued to walk towards the group of cloaked people who held spears in their hands.

At a distance that isn't too far away, on a cliff, was a group of people in robes and armour. They have been witnessing the entire scene up until now with terror painted over their eyes.

They are the mages and the swordsmen who reached this land through stormy waters. The ship met with disaster after disaster until it became something that can only be described as a lump of wood.

"My ship…" The old man looked at the distant ship in the waters. He was the captain of the ship and the only sailor among these few.

Now and then, a piece of wood detached from it and fell into the water. The captain was almost on the verge of bursting into tears.

"Hey, old man. We already told you we would get you a new ship once we got back. So why are you sobbing?"

A man in the robe asked. It was getting on his nerves. They were already worried about the situation that was going to happen soon, but this old man was completely ignoring it over a piece of wood. It really ticked him off.

"For a ship's captain, the ship is like his own child. From the day I sailed on it, I remember everything… from its broken floor to the night parties that happened there. But look at it now."

He looked at the half-broken ship with a sense of regret.

"Do you think it can be repaired? My ship…"

"Ah, this sentimental old coot…" The robed man was already tired of this. He literally had the urge to punch the captain.

"Where are the Icemere forces? I don't see them here anywhere. I thought we informed them of the attack already." The man with green clothing and a mask asked.

Something about him stood out. His calm demeanour wasn't affected, even after witnessing the scene before him.

"Ah… When I think about it, I don't see them here either. They should have been here by now. Didn't our king's message reach them? We also sent an envoy, didn't we?" Another man questioned.

"Should we wait for them to arrive, then?" One of the robed men asked.

"That would be difficult. We don't know whether Icemere's forces will reach here in time or not. We have no way of communicating with them, and dawn is soon going to break. We won't have a chance to run away if the situation goes south," one person shared his opinion.

"Then... should we attack?" Another shared his concern.

"But wouldn't that be a reckless act? As you said, we don't know whether we have the support of Icemere's forces. And moreover, we don't know our enemy's exact strength and numbers. The situation could end miserably on our side."

"Do we have any other choice, then? If we don't act now, those murderers will escape our grasp. It is always better to be on the cautious side, but we don't have time for that either. It's now or never." He looked towards the sky. It was dark, but no clouds were present.

"Damn! The people who destroyed our home are right in front of us, and we can't do anything but sit here and talk?" It was one of the mages who said that while gripping his staff tightly.

"Don't say that out loud. It still gives me nightmares about that day. I wonder how we let that happen."

"We were careless; that's all there is to it. Who would have thought some unknown few would dare to attack the Green Magic Tower? And that too, right under our noses? We didn't get to react in time. But we won't make the same mistake again. This time, they will pay, even if we have no choice other than being reckless. I will see the expressions of those bastards while I question them of their audacity in pure torture." His eyes were bloody.

Everyone agreed, especially the mages. They were truly angry, thinking of the day those events conspired.

A few months ago, Windrium was attacked. The Green Magic Tower, one of the five magic towers and the home of mages, was completely annihilated. The losses in lives were little, but something more precious was stolen from them.

And now they received information from an unknown source that the same was going to happen to its neighbouring kingdom, Icemere. They verified it, and it turned out to be true.

So they delivered a message to the Icemere king while also requesting his help and permission to enter the kingdom's borders.

The people who are freely roaming with spears in their hands are the same people who are responsible for all of this.

Windrium didn't have enough time to assemble most of its powerful forces as they were spread throughout the kingdom. So they instead sent one of the Five Swordsmen along with a group of mages and swordsmen.

"Why didn't our king write the information regarding the magic tower in his letter? It only seemed like he requested help concerning a matter that is related to our kingdom. A personal grudge, of sorts. Wouldn't warning them about the likely place of attack be better? That would also help Icemere prepare beforehand." A swordsman asked. That was a fair question.

"See? That's why you swordsmen are nothing but brutes. You don't use your brains, do you? If our king just said everything as it happened, wouldn't our kingdom become a joke in their eyes? And who would want to help someone who lost without putting up much of a fight? If I were in his place, I would have taken this as an opportunity to attack Windrium while they were still disordered." A mage spoke, showing displeasure.

Unlike mages, swordsmen didn't involve themselves in matters like these. They only tried to become strong by training their physique and Aura. As a military, they were powerful, but other than that, they were of no use. A normal person has more survival skills than a swordsman.

"True. It will then become a three-way fight. While the third party will be destroyed, it will also leave both of our kingdom's forces with losses. It, in turn, could become a chance for other kingdoms to meddle." Another mage agreed.

"That's one thing. Everyone may be staying silent now, but if a chance is presented on a silver platter, who would be foolish enough to not take it?"

The matter became intriguing as one after another shared their opinions. It was the way of the mage, or more like their understanding of the current situation. With their knowledge, they could formulate distinct possibilities and tactics, just like a king does.

"Wouldn't it be Icemere that would receive our help, and why would they look down on us when we are trying to give valuable information? I don't get it." One of the swordsmen asked, confused.

"It's just politics. In the battle of wits, the one who truly loses is the one who stops fighting. As a ruler, one shouldn't forget to look at the bigger picture, even if he has to suffer some losses now." A mage commented, sighing to himself.

The swordsman still didn't understand, but he nodded anyway.

In the eyes of these robed men, he was nothing but a naïve fool who didn't understand the workings of the world.

While these few were conversing, the spread-out crowd of spear-bearers gathered around the two in command. Their numbers were similar to the people present here. But the only difference is the balance of power.

Even if the enemy's skills were unknown, they only had Aura users at most. But here, the group was made up of mages and swordsmen. One is a ranged fighter, and the other fights in close combat. It was balanced, covering for each other's weaknesses.

They were ready to kill them. The people who destroyed their homes. It was the first time they were going to fight an enemy who held a weapon they weren't accustomed to. The unpredictable battle is soon going to begin, and the outcome will be decided before dawn.