Chapter 15.2: The Village Under Siege - Forest Invasion
Personal System Calendar: Year 0009, Days 15-28 Month V: The Imperium
Imperial Calendar: Year 6854, 5th month, 15th to 28th Day
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Beast, Humans and Beastfolk
The month had not yet ended, but the heat of summer could be felt as if it were at its peak. The sensation was magnified by the burning forest areas that surrounded the village, creating an oppressive atmosphere that affected everyone within the settlement. Village residents and Imperial soldiers alike shared this burden, the weight of it pressing down on them with each passing day.
Despite the circumstances, vigilance had not wavered. If anything, the watch had become more intense, with constant patrols and night watches maintaining a state of heightened alert. The village still operated under these difficult circumstances, but there was definitely a significant difference from the peaceful days before the invasion.
Children were allowed to play only for limited periods in the morning, before the heat became too intense. When the temperature climbed too high, they were sent down to the cool cellars beneath each house, where the earth provided natural relief from the oppressive warmth. The sounds of their laughter, once a constant background melody to village life, had become a rare and precious thing.
Those defending and manning the walls had found creative ways to cope with the heat. It was not that the village itself lacked cooling measures; the problem was that the forest ecosystem had been fundamentally affected by the ongoing destruction. The ancient trees that had provided shade and regulated temperature through their transpiration were being consumed by fire. The natural balance that had made the region habitable was collapsing.
Dark clouds had begun to form overhead, though it was difficult to determine if they were natural storm clouds or simply the accumulated smoke from the burning forest. Regardless of their origin, everyone hoped for rain. A substantial downfall might extinguish some of the fires and provide relief from the stifling heat.
The village, now almost large enough to be considered a small town, hosted more than six thousand souls. Humans, beastfolk, and their allied beasts had all gathered here, creating a diverse population that would have been remarkable in peacetime. Now, it represented the consolidated defensive force standing against the beast tide.
Logistically speaking, the village could not have provided adequate rations for the Imperial soldiers on its own. This had been one of the village council's primary concerns when word of the Imperial deployment first arrived. However, the Empire had proven itself to be not merely masters of warfare but also of logistics and supply. They understood that the supply chain was just as crucial as combat capability on the front lines. A soldier with an empty stomach, as the saying went, was not much more useful than kindling for a flame.
The Imperial forces had arrived with their own supply trains, organized with the same ruthless efficiency that characterized all their operations. Wagons of preserved food, medical supplies, weapons, and equipment had been distributed according to precise calculations. The Empire's quartermasters had assessed the village's productive capacity and integrated it into their overall supply planning without overwhelming local resources.
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Training and Integration
The village defenders had received training in Imperial command structure and tactical protocols. This was not meant to strip away their autonomy but rather to ensure that everyone would be operating from the same playbook once battle commenced. Understanding standard commands, formation positions, and coordination signals could mean the difference between victory and catastrophic failure when facing overwhelming numbers.
August and the members of Talon One received special attention from the Imperial soldiers. Many of the career military personnel viewed the young combat team with a mixture of respect and disbelief. That such young people had already achieved strength surpassing many veteran soldiers seemed almost impossible, yet the evidence was undeniable.
In terms of single combat capability, several Talon One members could defeat Imperial soldiers of higher rank. However, the Imperial forces also possessed their own advantages: decades of experience, superior tactical coordination, and the kind of cohesion that came from years of training together. It was not a simple matter of one group being definitively superior to the other; rather, each possessed different strengths.
Captain Commander Hilda Burnguard-Solmane had observed the Talon One members with a professional eye. She noted their impressive individual capabilities and their exceptional coordination when fighting as a unit. They moved with an almost instinctive understanding of each other's positions and intentions, flowing through combat scenarios with remarkable grace.
However, she also identified a potential weakness. These young warriors had spent most of their combat experience fighting beasts: creatures that, regardless of their power or intelligence, moved and thought differently from humanoid opponents. A human adversary, particularly a trained soldier, would present different challenges.
One afternoon, after watching Talon One conduct a training exercise, the Captain Commander approached August with a proposition.
"How about this, August Finn," she said, her tone professional but not unfriendly. "I can see you are not lacking in combat abilities, and you demonstrate fine leadership qualities. However, I think you and your team have been fighting large beasts for so long that when the time comes that you must face humanoid opponents, you may have trouble adjusting."
August considered her words carefully. She was not wrong. While they regularly sparred with various village combatants, there was a fundamental difference between practice sessions and actual combat. The muscle memory and tactical responses they had developed against beasts might not translate effectively against skilled human opponents.
"Very well, Captain Commander," August replied. "Let us proceed as you have suggested. I too would like to see the caliber of the Imperial standard and learn from it."
The competition was to be structured to simulate actual combat as closely as possible without risking lives. Weapons would be blunted but otherwise authentic, and the fighters would engage with genuine intensity. The goal was to create the psychological pressure and physical demands of real combat without the permanent consequences.
The Imperial military had developed specialized training for exactly this purpose. Magical devices would monitor each combatant, detecting when injuries would have been too severe to continue fighting or when a strike would have resulted in instant death. Medical teams would be standing by, ready to address any injuries that occurred despite the safety measures.
For the village's side, all the combat-capable members of Talon One would participate: August, Erik, Adam, Milo, Bren, Betty, Isabel, and Angeline. Although the team was currently composed entirely of humans, August had already begun considering expansion to include beastfolk combatants and possibly even bonded beasts as official team members.
The Imperial side would field a Captain, a Lieutenant, and several soldiers for the group battle scenarios. Individual combat matches would be arranged between comparable ranks. Finally, a duel between Captain Commander Hilda and August himself had been scheduled, primarily because the Imperial Intelligence Division wanted to assess August's actual capabilities in a controlled environment.
The entire village was looking forward to the event. It would serve multiple purposes: providing valuable training, building camaraderie between the two forces, and offering a welcome distraction from the constant tension of the siege.
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The Shadow Demons Attack
Before the exhibition could properly begin, a sudden earth-shattering sound echoed from beyond the village walls. The ground itself seemed to shudder, and several people stumbled from the unexpected tremor.
Then the alert systems activated all at once. The village's warning bells began their frantic clanging, while Imperial horns blared their own distinctive alarm pattern. The sounds overlapped and echoed, creating a discordant symphony of warning that could mean only one thing.
"We are under attack!"
The words rippled through the village like a shockwave. The constant ringing of alarms filled the air, but there was no panic, only disciplined urgency. The women and others incapable of fighting knew exactly what to do. They moved with practiced efficiency, gathering their children and heading toward the fortified keep at the village rear. Their faces showed determination rather than fear, though concern flickered in their eyes.
Soldiers and village defenders rushed to their assigned positions, donning armor and gathering weapons with the automatic movements of well-drilled routines. Master Ben Flameswrath descended from his tower observatory, already fully armed and prepared for battle. His expression was grim.
The question on everyone's mind was immediate and troubling: How had these beasts escaped detection? The village had established an extensive network of scrying tools and early warning systems. Aetherwing patrolled the skies constantly, and Master Ben himself had been maintaining surveillance. For an enemy force to penetrate all these defenses and reach the village walls undetected suggested something unprecedented.
The answer lay in the nature of the attackers themselves.
These were creatures that dwelt in shadow, masters of concealment and stealth. They were among the most ancient predators of the Shadowfen Forest, lurking in its deepest and darkest vegetation, hiding beneath the densest tree canopies where light itself seemed to falter. They were creatures feared even by the other beasts that had allied with the forest's offense.
They were simply called Shadow Demons.
Shadow Demons were not natural beasts in the conventional sense. They were ordinary creatures that had been corrupted and possessed by demonic spirits, twisted into something far more dangerous than they had been originally. Such entities rarely manifested in the physical world, requiring specific conditions and powerful catalysts to emerge. When they did appear, chaos and death inevitably followed, whether it was friend or foe.
To witness almost a thousand of them gathered in one place was unprecedented. It meant that something with significant intelligence and power was orchestrating this attack, something that understood the strategic importance of the village and was willing to commit extraordinary resources to its destruction.
The Shadow Demons represented a diverse collection of corrupted beasts. They were not tied to a single species or genus but rather were an amalgamation of various creatures that had once lived naturally in the Shadowfen Forest before being twisted into demonic hosts. The corruption amplified their original strengths by approximately five-fold, creating a terrifying escalation of threat.
A Category 5 Soldier Rank Shadow Demon possessed capabilities that felt almost equivalent to a Category 5 Commander Rank normal beast. A Commander Rank Shadow Demon would exhibit power comparable to a Boss Rank creature. And a Boss Rank Shadow Demon would possess strength that transcended the current established power scaling of the realm entirely.
This was the Personal System's analysis that it had already identified approximately seven hundred of these enhanced creatures approaching the village. Even Master Ben, with all his experience and power, could feel the weight of what they were facing. This battle would not be won easily.
His attention focused on one creature in particular. A massive entity that towered over its corrupted minions, radiating malevolence and power in equal measure. Master Ben could sense that this creature might rival his own strength, even if he released all his limiters and accessed his full power reserves.
"Fair warning, young August," Master Ben said, his voice carrying clearly despite the chaos around them. "That large one will be the most dangerous among our enemies. I will need to use my complete arsenal to defeat it. Under no circumstances should anyone attempt to assist me in that fight. All of you must focus first on eliminating its minions."
August understood immediately. Even if he used every ability at his disposal, pushed himself beyond his limits, and fought with perfect strategy, his chances of surviving against that creature would be approximately one in a hundred. It was simply beyond his current capabilities.
Then he remembered they had another asset. Aetherwing, his Guardian Beast and first teacher in magic, was equally as powerful as Master Ben. The Mighty Peregrine Eagle, the Sovereign of the Sky, had reached level 225 through the constant battles of recent weeks. He was already as strong as, or perhaps marginally stronger than, Master Ben in raw power, though he had not yet reached his full potential. As a Guardian Beast of the Mythical tier, his strength exceeded what his level would normally indicate.
There was no negotiation, no attempt at communication. The Shadow Demons had only one objective for traveling so far from their territory in the deepest parts of the Shadowfen Forest: the complete destruction of this anomalous village. Someone or something in those ancient depths had been watching them, had identified them as a threat, and had sent this force to eliminate that threat.
August focused his attention on the largest creature, attempting to use his identification ability. The result made his blood run cold. Where normally he would see rank and category information, there was only a series of question marks. The system could not classify this entity within normal parameters.
Finally, after a moment, partial information appeared: Shadow Demon the Dragon "Wrathalios."
Sweat began to pour down the side of August's face. This was beyond anything they had faced before.
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Black Fire
The next moment, every magical barrier in the village activated simultaneously. Someone had recognized what was coming and triggered the defenses just in time.
The creature called Wrathalios began to gather magic in its enormous maw. Its stomach expanded visibly, likely serving as a reservoir for the attack it was preparing. The gathering magical energy was so intense it was visible even to those without magical sight, creating distortions in the air and a sound like distant thunder.
Those who recognized what was happening began shouting warnings across the village. "Fire breath! Incoming!"
Then Wrathalios unleashed its attack. Fire made from darkness itself was evoked from deep within its corrupted body, amplified through the massive concentration of magic it had gathered, and expelled from its mouth in a torrent of destruction.
The village was engulfed in a sea of black fire. The flames were wrong in a fundamental way, burning with a darkness that seemed to consume light itself rather than producing it. The heat was intense, but it was the corrupted nature of the fire that made it truly terrifying.
Master Ben Flameswrath reacted with incredible speed. His own flames, pure and bright, erupted to meet the dark fire. He managed to divert a substantial portion of the attack away from the densest population centers and began the process of extinguishing what he could before it caused catastrophic damage.
But even with Master Ben's intervention and the magical barriers absorbing much of the impact, the damage was severe. The sounds of death and screams of pain filled the air immediately. The scene descended into chaos as the formal battle began with devastating casualties before a single defender had even raised a weapon.
Those who had been struck, even with the protection of barriers and Master Ben's countermeasures, suffered horrific injuries. The black fire did not simply burn; it melted flesh and bone, consuming victims in a way that conventional fire could not match. Imperial soldiers, beastfolk, and village defenders all fell in those first terrible moments.
The support teams responded with admirable speed and precision. Healers and medics rushed forward, evacuating the injured to rear positions where they could receive immediate treatment. This rapid response served multiple purposes: providing critical medical care and preventing the sight of wounded and dying comrades from devastating the morale of those who needed to maintain the defense.
The initial casualty report was grim. Two villagers had perished instantly, their bodies too damaged to save. Ten required serious medical intervention, facing injuries that threatened their lives. Twenty more had suffered lighter damage and could be treated with Theressa's homebrewed healing potions, which had proven remarkably effective for minor to moderate injuries.
Those requiring serious medical attention faced a particularly disturbing complication. The burning effect of the black fire was terrible enough, but the darkness itself seemed to act as a corrupting influence, almost like a plague trying to consume the body of its host. The infection began at the injury site and spread rapidly.
If the corrupted tissue was not immediately cauterized or removed, it would begin to melt and liquefy, with body parts literally dripping to the ground like wax. The medical teams had to make swift and brutal decisions, amputating or burning away infected flesh before the corruption could spread to vital organs.
This entity, this dragon called Wrathalios, had brought with it something beyond mere physical danger. It carried corruption and horror as weapons.
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The True Battle Begins
After that devastating first attack, Wrathalios did not immediately follow up with another blast. The defenders quickly realized why: the attack required a significant charging period. The creature had brought its army of Shadow Demons specifically to occupy the defenders while it prepared its devastating attacks.
August's mind was already racing, analyzing the tactical situation. His Personal System's voice echoed in his thoughts, providing combat analysis and probability assessments. They needed to prevent Wrathalios from completing another charge if possible, or at minimum ensure that Master Ben and Aetherwing could counter it effectively.
The Shadow Demons began their advance, moving with unnatural grace and speed. Their forms seemed to flicker and shift, making them difficult to track even for experienced warriors. They did not charge mindlessly like ordinary beasts but moved with tactical awareness, seeking weak points in the defensive line.
Captain Commander Hilda's voice rang out, clear and commanding. "Imperial forces, formation delta-three! Hold the primary wall! Target the smaller entities first!"
Chief Red's voice echoed her command. "Village defenders, support positions! Cover the Imperial line! Talon One, flexible response!"
The true battle had begun, and the village's survival hung in the balance.