Near the spawning pool at the troglodyte village in Mount Varangia, there was a dirty stone building which housed an old troglodyte. She held a tiny troglodyte spawn up, wiped the slime off it, then wrapped it in dried leaves.

“Another one? Amazing…” the old troglodyte croaked as she raised the baby up into the air. Thanks to the fascinating light-giving tools given to her by the ‘Iron Lords’, she was able to inspect the baby with greater ease. Surely enough, there was a tiny, soft bump on the baby’s head which had confirmed the old troglodyte’s suspicions.

She placed the baby onto a nest made out of fur and soft leaves, then counted the number of babies inside the nest. Once she was done, she exclaimed, “This is truly a miracle!”

The old troglodyte swatted the idle low troglodytes off her crude wooden furniture before putting a fur coat on. She pushed her aged legs forward as she scanned the busy village center. “I need the chief! Where is Chief Razugotter?!”

“He’s training with Lord Princeps at the forest opening down the western road. What’s going on, Caretaker Huatlegotter?” a passing high troglodyte asked.

“No time to explain! I must go!” the old troglodyte replied loudly. Following the troglodyte’s direction, Huatlegotter started hopping down the village road, pushing herself as much as she could until she found a line of warriors forming a line of shields.

The shieldwall, which mostly consisted of the less intelligent low troglodytes, was so disorganized and undisciplined that it could barely pass as a shieldwall. Even as the high troglodytes tried their best to enforce discipline, low troglodytes still broke ranks or didn’t understand what was happening. At times, commands would even clash against each other; one side might call for the wall to move forward while the other side would order everyone to stop.

“Brothers! We need to keep the cohesion! We need to…” Razugotter shouted as he struggled to read orders from a piece of paper, “... try to push enemy out slowly… use long weapons, kill with distance? I think this is what it says.”

“I am sorry, Chief Razugotter! We’ve never fought a battle like this before!” a high troglodyte apologized.

“These polas can’t be taught discipline! This task is hopeless!” another one cried.

“While it is true that we were just simple hunters and not trained soldiers like the Inners, we must have faith in ourselves and the Iron Lords!” Razugotter encouraged, though his speech was cut off when he saw the old troglodyte approaching him. “Caretaker Huatlegotter? Why are you here? Is something urgent?”

“Indeed, Chief! It is urgent!” Huatlegotter shouted then paused to catch her breath. Looking back at Razugotter with a huge grin, she continued, “Another tilapola is born! This puts us to a dozen tilapola just this month! Lord Tilapola-... No, I mean, the Iron Lords have blessed us plenty!”

The curious high troglodytes that had crowded around the old caretaker all had their eyes wide and their mouths left agaped. The shocking silence turned into festive-like cheering as the high troglodytes jumped up, croaked loudly, and banged the end of their spears against the ground.

“Another one spawned today?” Razugotter asked.

“Indeed. It is already rare that we would have a tilapola spawn in two years, but to have several of them in one month? Truly the spawning pool made by the Iron Lords is beyond imagination!” Huatlegotter responded with an excited tone.

“Question. Why are you all crowding around and not performing the training exercise?” Princeps interjected out of nowhere, surprising the troglodytes.

“Ah! Lord Princeps! It is my greatest joy to report that a lot of tilapolas were born this month, all thanks to the spawning pool made by the Iron Lords!” Razugotter answered with a bow.

Princeps stared at the blue-spotted troglodyte then pulled his head back. “Comment. I cannot see how that would affect your training.”

“But my lord, having a new tilapola is something worth celebrating for!”

“Counterargument. If you had to celebrate every time there is a new member of the village, you would end up doing utterly nothing. You should spend that time more efficiently by training and hunting.”

Razugotter fell silent then chuckled. “I understand, lord! Instead of feasting and wasting more food, we should be defeating foes in the name of the Iron Lords! That is truly the only way to celebrate and honor our benefactors!”

At first the high troglodytes were somewhat disheartened, but after hearing what Razugotter had said, the crowd became reinvigorated.

“That is true! We are fools to think we cannot even do such a simple task like marching forward as one!”

“We should celebrate later, for now we have a training exercise to finish!”

“For the Iron Lords!”

As the troglodytes resumed their training with more energy in their movements and orders, Princeps watched from afar, scratching his head. Though the troglodyte shieldwall was still clumsy, they were starting to at least move as one.

‘Interesting. I had almost thought that Phase Two would take much longer. What did you do just now?’ Custodian asked in hivespeak.

‘Answer. I… do not know,’ Princeps replied.

Weeks turned to months as Archpriest Agrianos’ army marched across Northern Rhankia and Northern Alaria. Compared to Rhankia, Alaria was somewhat more barren. Swathes of dull green grass blades littered the nearly endless fields, and rivers stretched across the northern reaches of Alaria.

Alarian settlements bordering Rhankia were mostly empty since raids between the two countries weren’t uncommon, and the announcement of a new searing had caused a mass migration to the inner parts of Alaria.

When they did reach a settlement with people in it, Agrianos’ army was met with a large Alarian contingent which quickly joined Agrianos on the condition that they would lead the vanguard. The Rhanks protested at first, but they soon quieted down when they realized that the Alarians knew the way to the Kojan Wall better than they did.

After a few more days of marching eastwards, Agrianos’ army stopped. Despite the fact that it was still early in the morning and the sun was up in the clear blue sky, the Alarians at the front weren’t moving.

“Why aren’t the barbarians moving?” a heavily armored Rhankish knight asked Agrianos.

“I’ve already sent some translators forward,” Agrianos answered as he pointed at a group of men exchanging information back and forth.

After some time, a priest ran up to Agrianos and reported, “The Alarians said that there’s a swamp ahead. They’re checking if paths are good enough to cross.”

“Why not just go around the swamp?” the Rhankish knight asked.

“They said that there’s no other way… or that it would simply take too much time to go around,” the priest answered.

“If we have no choice,” Agrianos said with a shrug.

It took a few hours for the Alarian scouts to confirm that the swamp was safe to cross, but the Rhankish army still had to wait at the back since the Alarians were going through the swamp first. Rhankish soldiers started grumbling about the heat as they gathered around in small groups to relax while the Alarians crossed.

Exarchi, joined by Agrianos, watched the Alarians from the mouth of the swamp.

“Once we’re through the swamp, it’ll take a few more days to reach the borderlands,” Agrianos said.

“A few days?” Exarchi asked.

“If Humanos wills it, yes. Even then, we still have to reach the Kojan Wall, where the fighting would be at.”

“Really?”

Agrianos knitted his brows and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“Are you sure the fighting would be at the Kojan Wall?” Exarchi doubted.

“Of course! The demons and the undead are being held back by the fortresses. Besides, they wouldn’t be able to pass through the faithful’s defenses. The borderlands is free of the undead, I can guarantee that,” Agrianos answered with a confident smile.

“I see,” Exarchi mumbled as he turned his head back to the Alarians.

Compared to the Rhanks, the Alarians were lightly armored and lightly armed. Majority of the warriors were only armed with a small target, a club, and some stones for throwing. Exarchi wouldn’t be surprised if armor was a foreign concept to them as most of the men only wore thin clothes, and some were even bare chested, proudly showing off the tribal tattoos which depicted leafless trees and a headless man.

Within the numerous swarm of halfnaked men, Exarchi could easily see the commanders of the Alarians. Men in full scale armor rode their horses, supervising the swamp crossings. Every time they crossed the swamp on a boat, they were always flanked by other smaller boats which carried slingers or archers.

‘Analysis completed. Humans sub-type Alarians prefer quantity over quality tactics. Estimated combat life expectancy: Low,’ a drone clad in heavy armor stood next to Exarchi as it reported.

“Ah, Thane Alpha-Alpha-One. So good to see that you are learning fast,” Exarchi praised.

The Thane drone turned its head to Exarchi, stared at him for a full minute, then silently nodded. “Deciphering completed. Reports indicate that this unit is being praised. I shall now dispense smugness. Perhaps I can command the army instead?”

“Don’t push your luck or else I will ask Master Custodian to remove what little self-awareness you have,” Exarchi hissed.

“This unit is being threatened. Resulting output from action is experiencing fear.”

“Good, good.” Exarchi nodded, satisfied.

“General Exarchi, the Alarians have finished crossing the swamps. The Rhanks will cross first, then you and your army will go next,” Agrianos interjected.

“Understood,” Exarchi replied.

It took all of morning for the entire Alarian army to cross, so Exarchi estimated that it would take a few more hours for the Rhankish army to finish crossing the swamps. Looking at the intel in his head, Exarchi repeatedly tapped the head of his axe impatiently. He scanned the horizon, then turned his head towards the sky.

‘What are they waiting for?’ Exarchi muttered in his thoughts. He waited for a few minutes, then hours. At last, he turned to Thane Alpha-Alpha-One and ordered, “I want you to take a few drones to scout around the-”

“General Exarchi! I’m going to cross now. See you on the other side!” Agrianos called out as he got onto a boat with his loyal retinue. Apparently Exarchi hadn’t realized it, but half of the Rhankish army had already crossed the swamp.

Something was up, Exarchi could feel it. The intel report and the situation didn’t match up. His estimations should’ve been correct, yet...

Turning back to his thane, Exarchi continued, “Anyway, thane, I want you to-”

Again, Exarchi was interrupted when screams were heard on the other side of the swamp. This was what he had been waiting for. He finally stopped tapping his axe and wielded it instead. With an excited shout, he announced to his drone army in hivespeak, ‘To all units under my command, prepare to engage the undead!’