Civilization

"Celine! Yor! How are we doing? What's the plan of action?" - Rebecca

"With the sun just setting and the world being blanketed by the night, both sides will have to rely more on their other senses. The front gate has been reinforced both in the front and most likely in the back. The sides don't have any openings either according to our scouts, so the next best thing would be to try to destroy the front gate which should be one of the weaker points of the wall." - Yor

"The only problem with this is we don't know the exact number of monsters inside the village and which monsters can attack from a range. I also feel like the monsters are slightly on edge. They feel a stronger presence within the village." - Celine

"Exactly. Attacking recklessly will only lead to potential losses on our side. I would prefer to wait and see what the other party will do, however, I don't think we have the time to do so." - Yor

Placing my hands on my hips, I look around me, observing the front gate of the Tamer Village. In front of the gate is a wall of wooden spikes; from Gewari and the scouts, the wall isn't a singular wooden structure. There are 5 layers of wooden structures to go through before making it inside the Village, with the thickest layers being the first and the last.

Initially, the plan would have been for the Xabarils to ram down the front gate, however, upon approaching, Yor advised against it. From our current information, there are also Zivotinjas inside the village, and they might attack from the top of the wall if we invade. With our low ground disadvantage, we would be sitting ducks if they were to just attack us, but then that begs the question… Why haven't they already attacked?

"Rebecca, Celine, Yor I think something is wrong. The scouts and I haven't seen a single monster in the village the whole time we were here. " - Gewari

Turning toward Gewari, who had appeared from the shadows, I look at her with a concerned expression, with slightly panicked speech, I ask her what she meant.

"Gewari, what do you mean? Didn't you say before we arrived that you saw them prepare the defenses? How can there be no one inside at the moment?" - Rebecca

"I'm not sure. When we went to scout, there were no monsters or people wandering the village streets. However, I still felt the presence of a strong monster at the back of the village. It is very strange." - Gewari

"How was the interior? Messy? Clean?" - Yor

"Clean. Nothing looked out of place. Houses were upright. Some torches were still burning inside. It is as if everything vanished." - Gewari

"You don't think they are ambushing the Krepost while we are here?" - Celine

"They would leave the base undefended in order to attack ours? Sounds like a dumb move to me." - Rebecca

"No, it is the opposite. If they keep their strongest here and in a surprising situation, we are more likely to hesitate in our decision to attack or to retreat. In saying that, I suggest we split up, with half of us returning to the Krepost while the other half attacks the village right now." - Yor

"Alright, I trust your decision, Yor. We will get the fastest monsters to head back, with Gewari and her scouts to take charge. The rest of us will attack." - Celine

"Alright. I will leave now. If there is no danger, I will head back here as soon as possible." - Gewari

"Okay, I'll have half of the Zivotinjas to follow you, along with all the Ijagus." - Celine

Blowing a whistle with her fingers to get the attention of her monsters, Celine commands the Zivotinjas and the Ijagus to follow Gewari as they retreat back into the forest. At the same time, Yor steps to the front, and orders the Crinzannas to attack the wooden spikes with their skill. With their manes lighting up the front lines, the Crinzannas let loose a barrage of attacks, crashing into the spikes.

Splinters fly out in different directions like hidden blades in the dark and the thunderous roar of the front layer of their defense falling down, rings through the surroundings. Thinking that it would spark retaliation, Yor commands the Crinzannas to momentarily stop the assault. However, nothing happens making Yor order the assault again, still holding back the Xabarils in case of a counterattack.

Bit by bit, the attack creates holes in the wall, but the lack of retaliation only heightens my anxiety. Nervously, I look around, somewhat anticipating an attack to happen from the sides or even behind but nothing. Just nothing. Why? This is different from what was supposed to happen… Fortuna told me that there was going to be a major battle here, however, nothing is happening. Was it a lie? Or is it just lady luck telling me one of the many possibilities?

Taking out the small stopwatch from my pouch, I click the side button, opening it up to see a wooden clock face. The same wooden hands read 10 past 12, but I knew that it was ticking backward. Ever since I received this item after praying to Fortuna to increase the Faith of HavenFall, it has been ticking backward ever so slowly and with only what I can assume to be 10 more minutes, I nervously wait. Waiting for whatever event will happen here.

[Fortuna's Stop Watch (Bound to Becca) (Artifact)

The stopwatch is a timer created by Fortuna to remind her of an important event in the flow of the universe. It ticks backward and only those that Fortuna believes are worthy can wield the stopwatch.]

Name: Becca

Race: Human

Health Points (HP): 80/80

Mana Points (MP): 20/20

Strength: 20

Vitality: 25

Intelligence: 40

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 27

Luck: 21

Skill: Coin Flip, Fortuna's Blessing (Passive), Fortuna's Gift (Passive)

Equipment: Goblin Knife, Stone Spear, Wooden Chest Plate, Wooden Arm Guard, Wooden Leg Guard, Wooden Helmet, Aqua Ring

Coin Flip (Active) 1MP - Flip a magical coin, calling out heads or tails. If correct double a random stat for 10 seconds. Can repeat. If you fail, then lose all buffs and cannot retry for 1 hour.

Fortuna's Blessing (Passive) - Fortuna may communicate with the user, blessing them with various things if she chooses to. Current Blessing (+20 Luck)

Fortuna's Gift (Passive) - There is a chance that the user will receive something from Fortuna. It can be status points, equipment, artifacts etc

Luckily for me, I was finally able to gain some useful skills after praying to Fortuna after arriving at HavenFall, but it wasn't only me who has been blessed by her. Melody has been blessed with foresight and before leaving she told me that it will be dangerous at the Tamer Village. Accompanying the fact that the timer is slowly ticking down, I can only pray that whatever danger it will be, we can handle it.

With a booming sound, the front gate falls down after the collective attacks from the Crinzanna. Pausing the assault, Yor waits for the cloud of dust to fade away, observing the situation. Celine gently calms the nearby Zivotinjas as we all see something emerge from the cloud. A singular black humanoid figure pushes the cloud of dust away, sending a small gust in our direction.

Floating on top of a small black tornado, it looks at us with disdain. Its expressions were more human-like than its body. Narrowing its eyes, it scans us from left to right. I could see Yor letting out a quiet breath, as his fingers wrap around the knives on his waist. In a low voice, the creature speaks to us.

"Who… Are you? Why… Are you here? This… Is my prey. Its body… Is mine. None… Shall have it. Other… Then me." - ???

"I don't know who you are, but we are here to attack this place as they have previously attacked us before. If they are your enemies as well, then maybe we can cooperate and kill them together. I would like to ask why you came from that side of the wall." - Yor

"Wall? There… Was no such thing. I… Appeared here from the shadows." - ???

"Okay… What shall we call you? And are you our enemy?" - Yor

"I… Number 88. Shade. Enemy? Yes. All… Shall become my prey. Become… My energy. MAKE… ME STRONGER!" - Number 88

Screaming at the top of its lungs, a burst of dark energy resonates out of the monster, hitting everyone in the vicinity, and dealing surprisingly little damage. However, that wasn't even an attack, only the monster screaming. I grab onto Celine, and the both of us make our way to the back of the army as Yor dashes forward while commanding the Xabarils to follow him.

While retreating, Celine calls out to the Zivotinjas to apply the various Prismatic Shields on the Xabarils and Yor, while ordering the Crinzanna to surround the monster from the sides. Patting 4 Zivotinjas on the side, Celine brings them to the back with me, having them protect us as the battle begins.