Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

It was a late evening and only the moon and stars illuminated the world. The allied forces had stopped for the night to get some rest and look after their mounts.

Mina, Fin and some other women had found a tranquil little lake to take a bath. They had been weeks riding and had few chances to properly wash up.

"I really hope we get to Hope soon. It's the most likely place where he could be."

"You miss him almost as much as Fin does, huh? Is it that hard to hold back?" the tiny fairy asked with a wolfish grin.

"I-t's not because of that! I really miss him!" Mina said blushing.

"Oh, please. How long has it been? When was the last time?" Fin kept teasing.

"The morning before the tournament's final... yeah! Okay, I also miss his night duty! This is the longest break since... I can't remember." she said embarrassed with her ear lowered in shame.

"Tehe, Fin knew it~ I Fin-" she looked to the wood. Minas ears perked up.

A quiet cracking in the forest had alerted them. A Peeper? Several?

Instantly they had equipped their full gear. The other women were surprised at first, but quickly followed their example.

"Come out and we might spare your life!" Fin's voice rang through the forest. It was incredibly clear and loud coming from such a small being.

"Kuhik! I hoped a bunch of females would be easy targets to start with. Guess I was wrong? Good thing I came prepared." a deranged voice answered.

What stepped out from the shadows surrounding the lake were not some peeping guys from their army. It was a human Zarkist and several enlightened ones. Hulking monsters of tumorous, distorted flesh, horn, hair, teeth, and claws.

"Damn! An ambush!" many cursed when they saw the numbers.

What about the rest of their company? Or did these monsters plan to pick them off first and bolster their numbers. Or maybe their intentions were of a more carnal nature? Many of these beasts were naked and shamelessly showed of their hardened crown jewels.

"Get them!" the ugly humanoid shouted, and the hulking beasts rushed at the lake.

"Urgh, don't make me puke!" Mina murmured before vanishing into the shadows.

Although the defenders had a slightly higher number, the enemy troops were incredibly powerful and dangerous. Just a small scratch could turn them into the same thing.

"kekeke, don't hurt them too much! It won't be fun if you mangle them too much! But what if...? Mangle one or two! It might be more fun than expect- urgh! What?"

A clean silver white sword had emerged from his chest.

"Hik, I don't mind being on the receiving end, but don't expect me to cry now." he made a lewd comment before collapsing. He wasn't as good in taking it from behind as he thought.

"You probably didn't expect to faint from a little backstab, eh?" Mina said smugly and started chanting. The next moment the flesh beasts were bound by shadow chains. The other women did not hold back and started mincing their opponents.

Once they were all turned into regeneration mush, Mina went around an stabbed each one with her shard of biting ice to destroy their souls. It was the only weapon currently able to kill the Zarkists.

"We have to get back and warn the main forces!" Mina stated.

They were all from different parties and ranks, but they all agreed with Mina and rushed back in a tight formation, wary of any more ambushes. They heard the noise of battle long before they reached the resting grounds.

The lady group broke out from the underwood and could finally see what was going on.

An army of twisted beasts was relentlessly attacking the allied forces. Terrifyingly disfigured wolves and bears easily kept 5-10 people busy. However, deers, rabbits, foxes, birds, and other woodland creatures were no less dangerous as they quickly attacked people.

All of them resembled the mutated beasts the Zarkists called the enlightened. A sparrow-shaped mass of cancerous flesh dived at Mina but was quickly split in the air. It was an unprecedented crisis, as the Zarkists had never used beasts before.

"Shit! Are you telling me all of them are infectious?" someone among the ladies cursed.

"Get the undead to the front! Stay vigilant of the smaller beasts!" they heard Leana's commands.

The battle formations quickly shifted and the ladies used the chance to split and join up with their original parties and squads. The undead horde summoned by the necromancers of Arget Nore became their meat shield.

Although these infectious beasts were tricky, only a few were strong individually. Even low-level zombies could block the smaller one's attacks.

Mina and Fin joined Yulecat's Fur, who were currently protecting the princess.

"They ambushed Fin?! These bastards!" was he first thing Leana exclaimed when Mina gave her report.

"This isn't good. There might be other groups that got ambushed and turned. We need to be careful." she followed up with the demeanor of a commander.

With the new formation, the allied forces were able to push back the malignant woodland critters. Leana informed the other leaders about the possibility that they might have infected among them.

Nevertheless, they did not get time to put up any measures as the situation on the battlefield changed. It started with a rumble in the distance and moments later the small woods around them were flattened by mutated beasts.

These were not the critters but mutated beasts and monsters from the pathworks and dungeons! Their number was smaller, but their strength was incomparable to the raffle before. Now the beasts were easily comparable to minibosses.

Not only were they strong, but they were also extremely resilient and unkillable with normal means. On top of that were the smaller more agile critters among them that were just as unkillable and infectious. This was simply unfair. At least in a normal situation.

As the saying goes, never compete in numbers with a necromancer. A number of bone golems were raised to meet the beast in combat. While the undead kept the plague-ridden attackers in check, the people from Y-City riddled them with holes from their exotic firearms.

Once they were weakened, darkness would befall them and a pale flash of blade light would end their immortal lives. Even with the sudden change in tactics of Zarkists, to use infected beasts, the allied forces were able to cope with minimum losses.

However, they stayed vigilant. Other than the attack on the bathing women, there had been no other humanoid enemies. It was clear that they could attack at any moment.

Having stabilized the situation, the leader could also focus their attention on observing their own people in case they had really been infiltrated.

One by one the giant beasts fell and even the smaller fiends were laid to rest thanks to the hard work of the necromancers. And then, when the outcome was clear...

The Zarkist monsters suddenly fled!

This had never happened before. They simply ran. Even some among their own, people from every faction, seemed to have gone crazy and dashed away into the forest.

Did something happen? Was this a trick?

The soldiers paused warily. Nobody followed in case this was a trap. But for even the spies to have run off... What was going on?

Five minutes, 10, 30 minutes, they waited but nothing happened. Finally, they started tending to their own and quarantining the wounded. They could not risk their own to spread the magical disease.

Those who had not received any direct wounds were okay, but those who were wounded by the beasts's claws, or teeth or any other direct way had a high chance to be infected. Many actually chose to take their own lives and have the necromancers purify their bodies.

Two hours later they were still heavily on guard but had turned to rest for now.

"Hey, do you see that?" someone suddenly called.

At the horizon a black smoke column was rising high into the sky.