The howls echoing from the dense treeline didn't belong to just ten or twenty beasts. It was the reverberation of a deadly wave crashing toward Verdant Village.
Dry dust billowed, obscuring the afternoon sun. The metallic stench of blood mixed with the foul musk of wild beasts assaulted the nose. Lloyd stood frozen, cold sweat seeping down his pale face.
"Driven here, huh..." Lloyd muttered to himself, his jaw clenched tight.
If they were merely a pack of starving beasts, their survival instincts would eventually kick in. If injured or met with strong resistance, they would retreat. But if they were being 'controlled' by magic, exactly as Uncle Ben claimed, it meant this was a suicide army that would crush everything until their very last breath.
Throb! A sharp headache flared up once again, a blaring warning that the young baron's body was reaching its physical limit. But he had no other choice.
"System..." Lloyd took a deep breath, fighting through the pain. "Open [Mini-Map] ."
Ding!
A semi-transparent, bright blue holographic screen flashed before him, accompanied by blinking red text in the bottom left corner.
[Mana Remaining: 9/100]
[Warning: You have entered a weakened state. If mana falls below 5 units, you risk 'Mana Burn'.]
Lloyd ignored the warning. He swept his gaze over the hundreds of red dots pouring out from the 'Fog of War', heading straight for the northern fence. The bird's-eye view allowed him to see all the building structures and pathways in the village as clearly as if he were looking at a chessboard.
"Uncle Ben!" Lloyd turned and shouted at the old hunter, who was slumped on the ground, trembling. "Get up! I need you to guide the remaining villagers to hide behind those buildings!"
"B-But My Lord! We can't fight them! There are too many monsters, and the fence is already broken!" Uncle Ben protested hysterically, his blood-stained face filled with absolute despair.
"Because the fence is broken, we have to change the battlefield," Lloyd said, pointing his finger toward the gap between the storage depot and the old blacksmith workshop further inside the village. "That's a narrow alley, no more than three meters wide. They can't swarm us all at once. It will force them to funnel in two or three at a time!"
This was the most fundamental principle in any RTS game—when facing an enemy that outnumbers you several times over, use a 'Chokepoint' to restrict the engagement area, reducing the enemy's numerical advantage to absolute zero.
"A-Are you joking?! Lord Lloyd, your fever must be making you delirious!" A burly villager who had just run back shouted. "Standing to plug up that narrow gap is just trapping ourselves waiting to die! I want no part of this. I'm taking my wife and kids and fleeing into the southern woods!"
"Yeah! How would a sickly noble like you know anything about fighting?!" another villager chimed in. "You've spent all this time bedridden in your manor, you've never even held a sword! And now you expect to order us to die in your place?!"
Chaos began to erupt once again. The dozen or so villagers in the area began to voice their resistance. None of them trusted this young, frail-looking Lord who had seemingly just returned from the dead.
Lloyd bit his lip hard. Processing the massive amount of data on the [Mini-Map] was making him so dizzy he could barely stand. He didn't have the energy to shout and argue with these people.
BOOM!!
The rusted pitchfork was slammed into the hard dirt with a deafening crash, kicking up a cloud of dust across the area.
Frank's massive frame stepped forward, standing directly in front of Lloyd. A heavy, imposing aura radiated from the youth. It wasn't magic, but an intense physical pressure born from awakening his [Holy Vanguard SSR] talent.
"Anyone who dares take a step to run away from here, I will break your legs with my bare hands!" Frank roared. His voice boomed like thunder, making every villager flinch and instantly shut their mouths.
"Frank... you..." The man who had just insulted Lloyd let his jaw drop. Both his legs knocked together as he met Frank's fiercely glowing, grey-blue eyes.
"My Lord was the only one standing here while the rest of you cowards ran for your lives!" Frank pointed at the villagers one by one. "If Lord Lloyd says we defend at that alley, you go to that alley! Whoever has a hoe, grab your hoe. Whoever has a sickle, grab your sickle! I will be the one standing at the very front. I won't let a single monster slip past to the back... but you all will follow every single word My Lord commands!"
Frank's absolute resolve completely shifted the atmosphere. The young man who had once been branded 'stupid' and 'abnormal' was now radiating the astonishing, undeniable aura of a reliable leader.
"Listen to the Lord... my children."
A raspy but deeply compassionate voice spoke up from behind. Lloyd turned to look and saw 'Elder Aura', the blind former priestess. She was tapping her way forward with her cane, supported by Tim at her side.
"Elder Aura! Why are you here? Didn't I tell Tim to take everyone to hide in the shrine's basement?!" Lloyd asked quickly.
The old woman smiled faintly. She raised her cane, pointing it toward the forest despite being completely blind. "The women and children are safe, My Lord... But the Forest God whispered to me that the winds of fate are shifting. The young man who was once abandoned is about to create a miracle... I came to bear witness."
The words of the highly revered Elder were the final straw that snapped everyone back to their senses.
"Alright, no time to argue!" Lloyd seized the moment to issue immediate commands. He pointed toward the narrow alley between the storage depot and the blacksmith shop. "Frank, you stand at the absolute front of that chokepoint! Uncle Ben, scramble up onto the roof of the blacksmith shop. Shout out the directions they're turning from!"
"Understood, My Lord!" Frank and Uncle Ben answered in unison.
"As for the rest of you..." Lloyd turned to the four able-bodied men holding long-handled tools. "Stack up behind Frank! Do not charge out under any circumstances. Your job is to thrust your weapons over Frank's shoulders and through the gaps at his sides when the monsters get bottlenecked!"
It was an improvised 'Phalanx' formation. Though crude and armed only with farming tools, in a narrow space, it was the ultimate human fortress!
The villagers exchanged nervous glances, but seeing Frank sprint ahead to his position without a hint of hesitation, they tightened their grips on their hoes and pitchforks and ran to form the line exactly as Lloyd commanded.
ROARRR!
A gigantic Iron-Armored Bear smashed through the remains of the wooden fence, leading the charge. Its body was the size of two wagons, its thick hide covered in dark grey, steel-like scales. Its bloodshot eyes gleamed. It swept its gaze looking for prey, and the moment it spotted the group of villagers huddled in the alley, it let out a deafening roar and bulldozed straight toward them.
Following closely behind were nearly a dozen mutated wolves. Dust plumed into the air as the ground shook like a miniature earthquake.
"Here they come! They're coming straight for us!" Uncle Ben, perched on the roof, shouted with a trembling voice.
Lloyd stood behind the formation, about five meters back from Frank. His headache intensified until the world in front of him began to spin, but he bit his tongue to ground himself, focusing entirely on the system window to trigger his next function.
"System... activate [Micro-Management] !"
Ding!
[Mana Remaining: 6/100 - Critical Warning!]
Ultra-thin, invisible threads of blue light shot out from the system interface, connecting directly to every green allied dot on the [Mini-Map] . The moment the link was established, Lloyd felt his perception expand exponentially. He could sense the exact positioning, distance, and movement speed of Frank and every single villager down to the millimeter.
This was the skill the World Champion used to perfectly command thousands of units simultaneously! But this was the first time he was using it on real 'humans'.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
The Iron-Armored Bear closed into the ten-meter mark.
"Frank! Bend your knees, angle your spear upward at forty-five degrees!" Lloyd barked. His voice echoed directly into the youth's mind through the [Micro-Management] system.
Frank instinctively obeyed without question. The giant youth dropped his stance, angling the rusted pitchfork up to brace for the impact.
"You guys in the back, grip your weapons tight! Do not close your eyes!" Lloyd commanded, right before his system awareness noticed a villager on Frank's left freezing up in terror. The man's hoe dangled loosely, leaving a massive opening.
A mutated wolf that had outpaced the bear was swerving, preparing to leap right into that exact gap!
"Hey! You in the torn shirt! Don't just go AFK, hold your position!" Lloyd let his gamer terminology slip in his urgency, using the system's authority to send a 'jolt' through the blue thread of light.
The villager jumped as if he'd been electrocuted, his scattered wits snapping back instantly. He automatically raised his hoe into a defensive block.
BAMMMMMM!!!
The massive bodies of the Iron-Armored Bear and the vanguard wolves slammed head-on into the human fortress plugging the alley!
The immense kinetic force should have pulverized Frank's body into paste. But the absolute millisecond the beasts' claws and fangs touched him, his hidden talent triggered!
[Passive Skill: Steel Bastion - Activated!]
A faint golden light flared around Frank, radiating outward to envelop the villagers behind him. A ten-meter radius was bathed in invisible holy energy, instantly spiking everyone's defense by 300%!
The Iron-Armored Bear jerked to a dead halt as if it had slammed into a meter-thick steel wall. Frank was only pushed back a single half-step. He gritted his teeth, the muscles in his arms bulging to their absolute limit as he miraculously held the line against the crushing weight with his pitchfork!
"Thrust!!!" Lloyd roared, commanding the counterattack.
At the young Lord's decisive order, the villagers stacked behind Frank took a deep breath. They gripped their farming tools tightly and thrust their hoes and sickles forward with everything they had, stabbing through the gaps at the giant youth's sides!
Squelch! Stab! GRRRAWR!
The dull sickles and chipped hoes that normally couldn't even scratch a wild beast's hide were now lethal. Combined with their desperate strength and the monsters being completely off-balance from crashing into Frank's 'Steel Bastion', the farming tools managed to inflict gruesome wounds on the frontline wolves.
Dark blood splattered across the villagers' faces, but this time, nobody ran away.
"Don't stop! Pull back and stab again!" Lloyd commanded continuously through the [Micro-Management] system. The blue threads connecting everyone allowed him to read the flow of movement before it even happened. "Left flank, watch out! It's biting back, half-step retreat!"
The villager on the far left flinched, instinctively taking a half-step back a split second before a wolf's jaws snapped shut on empty air right where he had just been standing!
"I-I'm alive!" the villager cried out, drenched in cold sweat.
"I told you not to zone out! Frank! Hold its attention! If you're going to Tank, you need to know how to hold Aggro!" Lloyd let slip more gaming jargon, clutching his throbbing temples.
Though Frank didn't know the word 'Aggro', he perfectly understood the context from the battlefield. The youth let out a guttural roar, teeth bared. Utilizing his monstrous 150 points of Strength, he bashed the shaft of his pitchfork directly into the Alpha Iron-Armored Bear, pulling all of its fury back onto him.
"Come on, you ugly bear! Your opponent is me!" Frank roared in challenge.
The Iron-Armored Bear bellowed in sheer rage at being challenged by a tiny human. It raised its massive front paws, armed with razor-sharp talons, and brought them crashing down toward the top of Frank's skull with all its might.
CRASSHHH!!!
The impact echoed throughout the village, shaking loose dust from the blacksmith's walls. But the sight that followed made everyone's jaws drop.
Frank had raised the shaft of his pitchfork and completely blocked the strike! The golden glow of [Steel Bastion] flared brilliantly to absorb the shockwave. Even though the ground beneath the youth's feet cracked and sank into a shallow crater, his back didn't bend a single inch.
"Incredible... Frank just blocked a hit from an Iron-Armored Bear!" a villager in the back gasped in awe.
"Stop gawking! Now's the opening! Stab the remaining wolves!" Lloyd barked, snapping them out of it.
The brutal alleyway slaughter continued. Lloyd's [Micro-Management] synchronized flawlessly with Frank's raw talent. Lloyd used his strategist's mind to predict enemy movements, orchestrating the villagers to attack and retreat in a perfect rhythm, like a maestro conducting an orchestra of death.
Mutated wolf after mutated wolf was skewered by spears and hoes, collapsing at the chokepoint. They funneled in to die one by one until their corpses began to pile up into a gruesome mound.
However, the toll of this impending victory was excruciating.
[Mana Remaining: 4/100 - Critical Warning!]
Bright red blood began to slowly trickle from Lloyd's nose. His vision blurred, his legs trembling so violently they could barely support his weight.
Ugh... damn it. This body... it can only handle this much? Lloyd cursed internally. He forced his eyes to focus through the blue threads of light that were now flickering and sputtering.
The wolf pack had been entirely wiped out. Only the Alpha 'Iron-Armored Bear' remained, but it had entered a state of absolute frenzy. Blood oozed from shallow wounds across its body, but the pain only pushed its primal instincts into overdrive.
The bear reared up on its hind legs, preparing to throw its entire immense weight down to crush the defensive line into dust.
Frank's injuries... he won't survive this hit, Lloyd rapidly assessed. Even with a 300% defense buff, sustaining continuous impacts for several minutes had left the youth's arms trembling. Blood was seeping from his torn muscles as he pushed past his physical limits.
He had to end this fight right now!
The former World Champion's brain calculated every single probability in a fraction of a second. He widened his eyes to their absolute limit, forcibly squeezing the very last drop of mana from his body to scan for this boss monster's 'weak point'.
"Found it... right there!" Lloyd's eyes widened.
[Mana Remaining: 1/100]
"Frank! Half-step back! Let it bring its weight down!" Lloyd screamed at the top of his lungs. His voice was so hoarse it was barely a whisper, but the command successfully transmitted to his trusted unit's mind through the system.
Frank didn't hesitate for a microsecond. He trusted his commander with his entire soul. The youth pulled his pitchfork back and retreated a half-step, leaving a massive, gaping opening right in front of him.
Seeing its prey retreat, the Iron-Armored Bear threw its entire body weight forward, slamming both paws down with devastating force!
BOOOOM!!!
Its paws missed their target by a hair's breadth, smashing into the dirt and shattering the ground. The shockwave knocked the villagers in the back off their feet. But at the exact moment it fully committed its weight downward, the underside of its throat—previously protected by thick, overlapping scales—was forced open, exposing the soft, unarmored flesh underneath!
"Now, Frank! Thrust upward under its chin with everything you have!"
Lloyd issued his final command just as his consciousness was cleaved in half. The blue threads of [Micro-Management] snapped instantly.
But Frank no longer needed anyone to tell him twice!
"YAAAAAAH!!!"
The giant youth let out a heavenshaking roar. He dropped his pitchfork low, sinking his stance almost to the dirt, and channeled every single ounce of his 150 points of Strength. With explosive power, he drove the rusted weapon brutally upward!
SQUELCHHH!!!
The rusted prongs pierced straight through the soft flesh beneath the beast's throat, driving deep to sever its windpipe and punching all the way up into the monster's brain. Dark blood sprayed out like a geyser, washing over Frank until he was drenched in crimson.
The Iron-Armored Bear froze. Its bloodshot eyes bulged wide. Its massive body convulsed violently in mid-air for a few seconds before crashing heavily to the ground with a resounding thud.
Dead on the spot.
...
A heavy silence fell over the narrow alley. The only sounds were Frank's heavy, ragged breathing and the drip, drip of blood hitting the dirt.
"It's dead... it's really dead..." a villager muttered, dropping his hoe.
"We won... We beat a monster horde!"
"Oh, praise the Forest God! We survived!"
Cheers of absolute elation erupted. The villagers who had been running for their lives just moments ago were now jumping, hugging each other, and weeping. Some dropped to their knees, kissing the ground in relief.
The man who had previously cursed Frank as an idiot walked over, trembling. He looked at the blood-drenched youth standing atop a mound of monster corpses with entirely different eyes. It was a gaze of profound respect and awe.
"Frank... I... I'm sorry." The man bowed his head deeply. "If you hadn't held the line, we'd all be corpses right now. You aren't a freak. You're the guardian of our village!"
Frank stood perfectly still. His breathing was still erratic, but his eyes swelled with overwhelming emotion. Manly tears flowed, washing away the streaks of blood on his face. He didn't turn to accept the villagers' praises. Instead, he abruptly spun around, shoving his way through the crowd, making a beeline for the only man who had given him a new life.
"My Lord! Lord Lloyd!" Frank lunged forward, catching the swaying body of the young Lord just a split second before Lloyd's face could hit the dirt.
Lloyd leaned his weight entirely onto Frank's sturdy arms. Blood was still dripping from his nose, and his face was as pale as a sheet of paper. Yet, the corners of his lips curled up into a satisfied smile.
"You did great... Frank," Lloyd whispered faintly. "I told you... you're an SSR unit."
"I don't know what an ess-ess-are is, My Lord," Frank replied, crying with a massive grin on his face. "But my life belongs to you now, I swear it!"
An atmosphere of victory enveloped the entire village. Tim led Elder Aura and the hiding villagers out from the shelters. Everyone cheered, praising Frank's incredible bravery and the brilliant commanding intellect of the once-overlooked young Lord.
But for Lloyd, it was a 'victory that seemed too good to be true.'
He never believed in coincidences, especially in a world he had opened his eyes to less than a day ago.
After resting until his mana had regenerated back to 5 units, Lloyd forced himself to stand. He patted Frank's shoulder lightly, signaling him to let go, and limped over to the corpse of the Alpha Iron-Armored Bear.
Uncle Ben, who was standing nearby, quickly made way. "It's dead as a doornail, My Lord. Young Frank's strength is truly unbelievable!"
Lloyd didn't reply. He knelt beside the carcass of the beast that was as large as a wagon. The metallic smell of blood was suffocating, but he endured it, using his hands to brush away the thick fur on its forehead, exactly as Uncle Ben had reported earlier.
And then... his dark blue eyes narrowed in sheer tension.
Hidden beneath the dark grey fur was indeed a bizarre carving.
It wasn't a battle scar. It was a deliberately drawn, pitch-black 'Magic Tattoo'. Its shape resembled a burning eye. And even though the beast was completely dead, the lines of the symbol were still faintly pulsing with a dark purple, luminescent glow, as if it had a life of its own.
"This is no coincidence..." Lloyd muttered, the temperature around him seeming to plummet.
This mark wasn't something formed in nature. It was high-tier mind-control magic. And for someone to deliberately use magic of this caliber to command a monster army to obliterate a forgotten border village... there had to be a dark, hidden motive.
"Who..." Lloyd gently stroked the family signet ring on his finger, his gaze piercing deep into the dense forest. "Who is the one playing this chessboard... and is their target Verdant Territory, or is it me?"
The first threat had barely passed, but Lloyd knew with absolute certainty... the true war had only just begun!
(End of Chapter 4)