Retreat
Why did standing guard duty always invite such a flood of stray thoughts? Soldier Andre leaned against his spear and let out a heavy sigh. The mountain of monster corpses still smoldered, sending acrid smoke drifting across No Man's Land. The stench clawed at his sinuses. Andre had originally been part of the regular army stationed at the Royal Palace. When he first heard he was being sent to No Man's Land, he hadn't understood how dire the situation was or what kind of place it truly was. All he could do now was regret not having paid closer attention to his superior's expression when the orders were given.
"So... you're heading to No Man's Land." His superior had worn a smile that hovered somewhere between amusement and pity. "Good luck out there."
Andre hadn't imagined that look could be genuine sympathy. Then he found himself crammed among a thousand soldiers marching toward No Man's Land. Even the journey was miserable. The lush forests and rivers of the kingdom gradually vanished the farther east they went. What awaited them was far bleaker than he had expected. Days of riding through nothing but rock and dust eventually brought them to a city. Andre had hoped for some life and a drink after duty, but the place had already been turned into a supply depot. And the first battlefield he saw beyond the city walls was the very image of hell.
Someone had once told him that all they had to do was kill monsters. Probably the same superior who had put him on the deployment list. "It's simple work," the man had said. "The higher-ups are just making a fuss. Don't worry about it—just collect the bounty." Even if monster numbers had increased, they posed no real threat to the kingdom. Then, not long after arriving at the border, the bells had rung. That was when Andre realized something had gone terribly wrong.
At the sound of the bells, the knight leading them had immediately taken the soldiers up onto the ramparts. "Support troops will stay behind the front line and follow my orders," the knight had said, his tone imperious. Without bothering to introduce himself, he began barking commands, pointing soldiers toward their positions. "You lot—support the oil cauldrons."
In the end, Andre was assigned to the most grueling task in a siege: hauling the oil cauldrons. He glanced at the massive, heavy pot standing nearby. "Damn it, oil cauldrons?" "Our luck really is rotten." "At least there are plenty of replacements for the shifts."
Their grumbling was cut short by something else. "Does the ground feel like it's shaking?" "The ground?" Unease crept into the soldiers' voices. Andre slipped out of formation and peered over the wall. The sight of the approaching monster horde tore a scream from his throat. "What the hell is that?!"
The battle that followed earned him a disciplinary action on top of everything else. While moving that cursed cauldron, he had nearly had his throat torn out by a were-wolf. Several of his comrades had died right beside him. That was when he learned how easily people could die.
Andre shook off the memories and returned to the present night watch. "So damn sleepy, shit." He muttered curses and shook his head. If he dozed off on guard duty, he couldn't even imagine the punishment. He wanted to go home. Leaning against his spear, he whispered the words. Once this cursed deployment ended, he would quit this damned army and find something else to do.
He looked up at the sky. It was beginning to brighten. Dawn was coming, which also meant his shift was almost over. Andre let out a sigh of relief. Surely there wouldn't be another massive swarm attack like yesterday. "Sleepy, Andre?" The knight on duty poked him in the back as he passed. Andre snapped to attention. "N-no, sir." "Stand straight." The knight issued the warning, then continued along the wall, kicking the backsides or rapping the heads of soldiers who were nodding off. "Doesn't that bastard ever sleep?" Andre cursed under his breath and leaned against his spear again, watching the approaching dawn. Just a little longer...
Thud. Was that a dream? The ground seemed to be shaking violently. Andre stared out over the wasteland with a half-asleep expression. In the distance, a dark mass was spreading across the land. That had to be a dream too. The approaching monsters, their crude and repulsive cries—everything was a dream. Then the ground shook again, harder this time. "M-monsters." A murmur came from the soldier standing guard beside him. The voice grew louder, turning into a shout. "Monsters... monsters...! Monsters!!" Andre joined in. "Monsters!! It's a monster attack!!"
Soldiers began rushing about. One ran toward the watchtower's bell. The duty knight spat out a string of curses and started giving orders. "You! Run to the barracks right now and wake everyone! And you—get to the Margrave's tent immediately!"
But something was wrong. Andre stared in horror at the monsters surging toward the base of the wall. They were far more aggressive and faster than during yesterday's raid. And there were many more of them—far more than the previous wave. "Aren't they moving too fast?" "Yeah... wait. Why are there so many? Way more than last time."
The ground trembled, more violently than ever before. It felt as though every monster beyond the distant cliffs was rushing forward. "What are you all doing?! Stop gawking and get back to your positions! Defend the wall!" the knight shouted. Soldiers ran. They tripped, weapons tangled and fell. It was chaos. Even the monsters advancing in orderly lines below the wall seemed more disciplined by comparison.
They were getting closer. The charging monsters looked ready to hurl themselves against the wall. Andre stayed with the soldiers carrying the oil cauldron, staring down. The monsters slammed into the wall at full speed. They weren't climbing—they were ramming it, using their own bodies as projectiles. They crashed against the stone and burst into bloody pulp. Thud, thud, thud. Heads exploded, brains splattering across the ground. More corpses piled atop the first, then more still. Each impact made the wall shudder. "They're insane! What are they doing?!" Andre's legs trembled. The four soldiers carrying the cauldron staggered. "They're still ramming the wall... We have to move it, hurry!"
The pulley that could lower the cauldron over the wall was some distance away. The soldiers gritted their teeth and pressed on. "Damn it!" One soldier lost his balance and fell, cursing. The heavy cauldron crushed his leg. "Aaaagh!" "Lift it, you idiots! Move!" A veteran dragged the injured man away. Every jolt drew a scream of pain. Meanwhile, another soldier struggled to steady the swaying cauldron. The veteran, supporting the wounded man on his shoulder, shouted hoarsely, "Move faster! We can't let them climb the wall—"
Huh? Right in front of Andre, the veteran's head vanished. So did the head of the comrade he had been supporting. The two men remained standing in their supporting posture, as if they were statues that had never had heads to begin with. Roll. The veteran's head tumbled across the ground and came to rest at Andre's feet. "...Shit."
Monsters now stood on the wall, breathing heavily. One of them, a lizard-like creature, had the head of a comrade in its jaws and was glaring at the soldiers carrying the cauldron. Shit, shit. Andre dropped the cauldron. "Hey, what the hell!" "Where are you going?!" Andre ran. He abandoned his comrades and everything else, sprinting to escape down the wall. Monsters that had begun scaling the ramparts were now tearing into soldiers' throats. Ding, ding, ding, ding. The bell rang with every step Andre took. The wall kept shaking. Behind him, short screams rang out, then the voices of the soldiers who had been carrying the cauldron fell silent. Andre ran faster, terror driving him. Crunch. Another monster's clawed foot gripped the edge of the wall. Then a massive black wolf's head rose into view. Ah. There would be no miracle this time. Andre understood. He had heard that a person's life flashed before their eyes at the moment of death, but his mind had gone completely blank. In the end, even at the very last moment, people still tried to find a way to survive. "I want to go home," Andre whispered. The wolf grinned, baring its teeth. That was soldier Andre's final memory.
The barracks had descended into chaos. Soldiers ran in every direction. "What the hell is that bell?! It's barely dawn!" "Shit... grab your gear, now!" Maxim's barracks was no exception. Knights still half-asleep fumbled for swords and equipment, the clash of metal echoing throughout the tent. Maxim stepped outside. The bells continued to ring, more frantic than ever. He looked up at the wall. Had there really been that many people up there before? No—those weren't human silhouettes. Maxim saw shadows of people being flung into the air and the shadows of monsters hurling them. "The monsters have reached the top of the wall," one knight said in a dazed voice. "Was this their plan all along? To make us lower our guard?" "Don't be ridiculous. Monsters don't have that kind of intelligence."
A Hexaped and a Fenrir were rampaging across the wall. Taking advantage of the confusion in the defenses, more and more monsters began climbing up. Two knights on the wall engaged the Fenrir. Those who could manifest aura cut down the climbing monsters while dashing from place to place. But a handful of people could not plug the holes in a line that had already been breached. Whenever the knights cleared one section, monsters poured through another. The defensive line on the wall was collapsing. "This is bad..." "Run! We can't let the wall's defenses fall!" Knights and soldiers began fighting to reclaim the wall, cutting down monsters that had crossed over. Monsters poured down the stairs like water, and the knights cut them down. "There are too many...! We need to go together—"
A massive shadow fell over the knight who had been about to call for reinforcements. He never finished his sentence. Monsters surged upward. The top of the wall was becoming increasingly crowded with them. Knights and soldiers hurried toward the breach. Shadows fell from the wall. Among them were the occasional four-legged silhouettes of monsters. The monsters' cries sounded different from before. There was an emotion in those howls: hatred. A deep, seething hatred, as if they were screaming at the world itself.
Something was wrong. This wasn't the same as monsters simply trying to climb the wall. Maxim stared at the falling shadows with a hardened expression. "Everyone, get up to the wall!" "Full battle readiness—no exceptions! Grab your weapons and move!" Paola came running up beside Maxim. "This is bad." Those few words said everything. She turned to him. "We need to go, quickly..."
Thud. The ground shook. Maxim and Paola stopped in their tracks. It was a different vibration from the monsters' advance. And the epicenter was far too close. "...Damn it." A curse escaped Paola's lips. As Maxim started to run forward, she grabbed his shoulder. "No, Maxim." "Senior Paola? But..." "No... we have to fall back...!" Maxim looked at her, uncomprehending. Then the Margrave's voice rang out from behind them, loud and urgent. "Retreat!!!" At that desperate cry, soldiers who had been running forward came to a halt. "Stop the ones still charging ahead...! Now!!" "What are you saying, my lord?!" one knight protested. "Don't ask questions... just move!!" The knights hesitated. Thud. Another massive tremor shook the ground. Even the soldiers who had been rushing forward without thought began to step back. The wall was shaking. Then something appeared atop it. Maxim couldn't bring himself to look directly at it. His primal instincts refused to face it. The Behemoth gazed down at the forces below the wall as if they were insignificant insects. In the next moment, a massive crack spread across the entire wall. It was the day the wall of No Man's Land—once called the kingdom's lifeline—crumbled.