With the sun still high in the sky, the group wasted no time transporting the few boxes of food and water back to the main camp. There wasn’t much, so they managed it in a single trip.
With daylight to spare but their schedule already tight, they decided to scout the northern camp — their next target.
What they saw there terrified them...
Upon spotting the camp, Amaya confirmed that it was the same place she had stumbled upon shortly after they were first summoned.
Coincidentally, a goblin patrol was returning at that exact moment. As the gate opened, Axel used his photographic memory to count every goblin he could see.
"Forty-two."
But those were just the goblins visible from where they stood. He knew for a fact that more were hidden.
The group circled the camp and found another gate on the opposite side. A dirt road ran through it, stretching deep into the Obsidian Forest.
Lucas and Axel contemplated following it, but decided it was time to return before they overstepped their bounds.
After witnessing the northern camp, Lucas was done playing the considerate leader.
***
The group arrived back at the eastern camp as the sun dipped low in the sky.
Lucas commanded everyone’s attention the moment he stepped through the gate.
"Tomorrow, we will attack the northern camp. The goblins there number at least forty, possibly more than fifty..." Lucas paused, placed a hand over his chest, and continued, "I’m sorry, but you all must fight."
A deafening silence fell over the Summoned. Many seemed to struggle to process what he had just said. They had grown so comfortable playing the role of passengers that some had begun to believe they could survive by relying entirely on others.
Cynthia was the first to shout:
"What?!"
Lucas responded without hesitation.
"You heard me. I won’t take no for an answer."
Cynthia’s face, like those of many others, twisted with horror.
"Y-you! I was tolerating you because you were finally being sensible. B-but this?!"
Lucas pinned Cynthia with a sharp stare.
"Shut it. See me as a tyrant or whatever you want. But do you think any of us want to fight? No. We only want to survive. What do you wish to accomplish by sitting around and hiding in here?"
’Isn’t that a bit harsh...?’
Not that Axel planned to voice it.
While this wasn’t how he would have broached the topic at all, Axel understood that something like this needed to happen.
Shaking, Cynthia replied:
"N-no. You’re just asking us to die!"
Lucas scowled and raised his voice slightly.
"I am not asking you to die. This is our only path to survival."
His words left a lump in her throat.
Cory, the youngest of them at seventeen, stepped in front of Cynthia to face Lucas and spoke with as much conviction as he could muster.
"H-how the hell do you expect us to fight a mob of forty goblins?!"
Lucas stared him down. After a brief pause, he spoke sternly:
"With grit and goddamn determination."
"B-but—"
Axel, who had been quietly observing, cut Cory’s complaints short.
"Lucas isn’t wrong. Think about it. Whatever summoned us here gave us thirty days to kill this Goblin King. Do you think a being that could kidnap fifty people from various parts of the world is going to be kind and let us live peacefully if we disobey?"
"I—"
Lucas nodded appreciatively toward Axel before turning back to Cory.
"Don’t worry. We won’t fight them without a plan. Until midnight, let’s strategize and discuss our attack."
The Summoned clearly opposed what was being asked of them. Many didn’t want to face even one goblin, let alone fight a group while at a numerical disadvantage. Fear began to seize them.
However, many were also finally coming to terms with the unbearable reality of their situation.
Dawdling and hiding in the camp would undoubtedly lead them to something more perilous than taking the fight to the goblins.
Lucas waited, ready to shut down any more complaints that came his way.
When none came, he steered the conversation in a more pragmatic direction.
"There are two entrances. One on the north side and one on the south. Any ideas on how to attack this camp?"
Surprisingly, the first to speak was the playboy of the group, Ryon.
"Can’t we attack it like we did the south camp? Pincer it from two sides?"
Axel glanced at the volunteer firefighter, then said:
"The problem is, if we split our forces in two and attack each gate, we create two individual battles where we’d still have a numerical disadvantage. It also leaves us open to them counterattacking one side with a larger force."
Craning his neck, Ryon asked:
"But, like, what if we attacked one gate from two sides?"
This time, Lucas responded.
"Then goblins would pour out of the other gate and threaten to surround us. Therefore, our only option is to attack both gates simultaneously without giving them an advantage on either side. The best and most surefire way would be to light the camp on fire and smoke them out, but we might piss off these damn trees or burn all the supplies inside, leaving us thirsty and starving."
"Ah... I see."
"I have an idea..."
Everyone looked toward Amaya, who had been quiet ever since the incident on the first day. She rarely spoke to anyone besides Zayn, but it seemed like she had mentally recovered somewhat.
"...What if we use a distraction force?"
"I was thinking something like that too," Axel chimed in.
Cynthia stood up and stared at them.
"W-what do you mean?!"
"Exactly what I said," Amaya replied. "The bulk of us should distract them from... I don’t know, the southern gate. Then a small elite task force can sneak in behind them through the other one."
"You guys are insane!" Cynthia yelled.
"I quite like that plan," Lucas said with a smile. "The threat is that if they decide to rush out the north gate, the smaller force will be overwhelmed. But those little shits have sensitive ears. Remember what the crows did?"
Lucas looked toward Axel, who had since revealed his condition to those around him.
"Uh, yeah. They dropped sticks on their heads and used feints."
"...What else?"
"Squawking. They let out shrill screeches. The goblins attacked recklessly when the crows made those noises."
Lucas smiled at Axel.
"Bingo. Based on that, we can assume these things have bad eyesight and excellent hearing. We can use that. If we piss them off with loud, grating noises, they’ll come out to attack us without thinking."
Claire spoke up:
"But even if that works... can we win?"
She held up the crude bow they had earned earlier for everyone to see, then added:
"They’re gonna have bows. I’m sure of it."
Lucas smiled and gave her a reassuring look.
"I thought about that too. From now until the fight, we should make shields for each member of the diversionary squad using the empty supply crates, as well as any large pieces of wood that fall from the trees."
At Lucas’ words, Cynthia’s patience finally reached its limit.
She rushed up to Lucas, grabbed him by the hem of his shirt, and screamed in his face.
"You’re gonna put all of us who stayed behind in this diversionary group, aren’t you?! You’re gonna march us to our deaths!"
Lucas didn’t dare put his hands on her.
The second he did, all the credibility he’d worked so hard to build would crack and eventually crumble.
Meeting her fury with nothing but a harsh gaze, Lucas spoke:
"If anything, it will be safer in the diversionary group. Based on the current plan, the assault group attacking from the rear will not have shields and will cause the disruption. If the goblins reorganize, they will be the first to die."
Lucas sighed, then gently tried to back away, but Cynthia held him still.
She was about to open her mouth again, but Lucas spoke first:
"If it makes you feel better, I will lead the diversionary group from the front, and you can sit at the very back."
Cynthia’s eyes welled up. She tightened her grip on his shirt and pulled him closer with shaking hands. After holding him there for a few moments, she winced and pushed Lucas away.
’So... she accepts those terms?’
The rest of the strategy discussion was rocky, filled with arguments. There were still some kinks in the plan to iron out, but in the end, the assault force striking from the north would consist of eight people:
Ryon, Connor, Cory, Maks, Huang Gao, Mikhail, Ilya, and Axel.
The rest would make up the diversion force.
Having fought beside most of them, Axel was confident in his allies, but he was unsure about Maks, Cory, Ilya, and Mikhail.
Mikhail was by no means a hindrance, but his reliability after having his finger ripped off had yet to be proven. As for Ilya, Maks, and Cory, they hadn’t faced a single goblin in combat.
Ilya was a dainty-looking girl and the unfortunate one who had been summoned in her underwear. She had long, white-dyed hair and bright blue eyes — an ethereal beauty.
But contrary to what her appearance suggested, she was also a highly trained soldier. After demonstrating her skills, she was assigned to the assault squad.
Cory insisted on joining the assault squad, saying that if he was gonna die, he’d at least go out like a badass.
Maks was a peculiar case. He was the only one placed in the squad instead of volunteering for it. Yet he didn’t fuss or voice a single complaint.
’He’s not talkative, and the only thing anyone knows about him is his crazy crush on Claire.’
The discussion raged on until someone unexpected took center stage with a single word.
"Night."
Everyone looked at Zayn, confused.
He continued.
"We should attack at night... when the sun is low in the sky, but before it gets completely dark."
At first, everyone thought he was insane.
But after considering it, Lucas eventually convinced the others that it was a good idea.
The goblins already had poor vision, so striking while their sight was further impaired would give the Summoned a significant advantage.
However, if they took too long, the goblins would have the advantage once pitch-black darkness fell.
And if they took even longer...
The trees would join the fight.
It was a risky gamble, but after weighing the potential benefits, they decided...
’We’re attacking at dusk.’
With that settled, smaller conversations broke out among the Summoned, but the main strategy meeting had ended.
Axel decided to take a break from all the arguing and sat with his back against the black wooden wall.
He blinked.
By the time his eyes opened, a curious woman was sitting beside him.