“Mommy, where are we going now?”

The family of three was sitting at the front of the wagon. The driver’s bench was easily wide enough for four adults to sit side by side. Vanessa sat next to Kyle with Kaylee sitting in her lap.

“We’re going to the elven forest dear.” Vanessa stroked the little girl’s hair as she replied.

“Are we going to stay there for long? Will Uncle Alex, Sister Amelia and Liz join us later?”

Vanessa could only helplessly look at her husband beside her. Kyle smirked a bit and replied.

“If you don’t like it there, we can go elsewhere, little girl.”

“Really? Can we go see more beast people?” The couple couldn’t help but laugh at this together.

They were heading to the east along the wall that seems to stretch on forever. The environment was devoid of any large vegetation. Only grass and weeds were present near the wall. It would take much longer to recover the land to what it used to be.

The city was gradually left behind and the wagon approached a structure beside the wall, located atop a high vantage point, after two hours of driving along the well-maintained road.

“Let’s take a break here. Alex mentioned that the first five posts are occupied by the human defence forces with another eight being manned by the elves.”

***

While Kyle’s party of three were travelling towards the elven forest, Alex and Amelia were not having an easy time back at the barracks. The two would be pushed to their limits by Dorian in the morning during training sessions and then be dragged along to patrol the streets all day long.

At first, Dorian was quite impressed by the duo’s increased stamina during their spars. After the breathing method was passed onto the large captain, he became very ecstatic and taught the technique to his squad.

During one afternoon, Alex and Amelia, donning outfits two sizes too large for their builds, were going around the streets as a form of intimidation to anyone looking to do some misdeeds.

Suddenly, a bell started ringing from atop the watchtower located on the wall, startling the pair along with the other two soldiers present.

“Uncle Dan…What does that sound mean?” Alex falteringly asked the older of the two soldiers. He felt a little uneasy. Judging from the flustered look of the two veterans, this was not a good sign.

“Let’s go back to the barracks and report in! They might need us on the other side!” Dan, along with the other soldier started running off, after yelling out to Alex and Amelia.

“Alex, let’s go! This should be a surprise monster assault!” The lively girl had a gleeful look on her face as she took off towards the direction of the barracks.

“Ah! Wait for me!”

***

Inside the commander’s quarters of the barracks.

*BAM*

A heavy fist struck the table, causing the heavy wooden table to creak.

“What is this now!! We just had reports of a few large bandit groups disappearing. We barely have enough manpower to send to the other side!”

A man in the prime of his life complained while ignoring the rest of the people present inside the room. Dorian, being a captain, was also standing to attention. His identity as the first son of a Duke was of not much use in the army.

“Has anyone received further communication from the other side?” The commander asked the crowd of officers in front of him. The other side mentioned was the line of defence set up on the opposite side of the thirty-meter wall.

There were actually three more layers of smaller walls built to slow down the monsters. The city was gradually expanded from the barracks as a supply depot, gradually turning into what it is today.

“Yes, commander! They’re requesting reinforcements!”

“Damn it! What about the other outposts?”

The officer seemingly in charge of communication answered while looking through various documents he has brought.

“They’re also under attack! The monsters seem to be baiting them to leave the defences for an ambush.”

“This is bad…the kids from the royal academy are also due to arrive tomorrow…”

“Commander, the enemy may have support from air units this time! If we aren’t able to take them down…”

“I know full well the consequences! Leave three squads to keep order in the city. Declare martial law! You have permission to immobilize any trouble makers with force! Five squads, reinforce the main army! The rest, man the anti-air towers! Move out!!”

The room quickly emptied as all the officers ran outside, gathering their squads to follow the orders given out.

The commander sat back down behind his desk, looking towards the communications officer.

“Send word to the capital. Tell them to expect air assault. We probably won’t be able to shoot all of them down.”

The man sighed but quickly felt better thinking about the reinforcements coming tomorrow. The students of the royal academy accompanied by instructors and royal knights would be a welcome addition to bolster the defence of the city.

***

Alex stood next to Amelia, along with a group of mages. They collectively gathered their mana to fire off large fireballs into the enemy ranks, overhead of the human warriors.

Dorian had sent the young couple to the mage squad since it was a rather safe place in the chaotic battlefield.

Amelia was laughing wildly as she witnessed the mass destruction caused by their spells. Alex could only give a wry smile towards his fearless beloved.

As mages, they were capable of dealing with multiple enemies. The human camp had long come up with methods of pooling mana and structuring spells guided by a master ranked mage. This was a much better use of a mage’s ability in large scale wars.

The small group of nine adept ranked mages and one master ranked mage fired off one spell after another at the approaching masses of savage wolf riding hobgoblins. Screams of their enemies filled the air, bringing much joy and morale to the human defenders.

The warriors were grouped together atop the first wall, repelling the hobgoblins that managed to climb over. Each group would be accompanied by a single mage who would cast barrier from time to time. The flying units were harassing the uncovered troops with arrows and lumps of rocks. The anti-air towers located on the main wall did it’s best to shoot down any flying creatures that got within range.

“Everyone! Take a short break. Recover your mana!” The master ranked mage yelled out, stopping their spellcasting. The middle-aged man took a meditative pose at a corner of the covered area on top of the wall.

Alex breathed out and relaxed as he leaned his back against the wall. Their location was sheltered to protect against attacks from enemy flight units. Mages were far too important in the war that losing a single adept ranked mage was a considerable blow to the human camp.

“Alex! Use the breathing method properly! We’re the youngest and with the least mana here! Can’t hold back the entire group!” Amelia reminded the exhausted boy while she was also getting into a meditative pose.

This was the largest scale war that Alex and Amelia have ever been in amongst all their trips to the joint city from the royal academy.

The two were still a little shaky from the scale of the assault. Amelia was still on a high and giggled every now and then, getting weird gazes from the mages around them.

“Hah, just what have I gotten myself into. My future wife is a battle maniac!” Alex teased the beauty who was still feeling the adrenaline rush from the battle earlier.

This earned him a pinch in the arms and an angry pout.

‘Damn, she’s cute!’ Alex thought about how he would probably get beaten up if he was to say this out loud in the presence of others.

Just then, a large exploding sound was heard over at the territory of the monsters’ camp.

“Damn…so they couldn’t hold back after all…” The master ranked mage muttered while looking in the direction of the earth shattering noise. Waves and waves of residual mana washed over the battlefield as the ground assault almost came to a standstill. The wolf riders have been almost wiped out with a few faster ones on the retreat. The flying units were also affected with a large majority of them being knocked out of the sky, some landing amidst the human forces.

“So that’s the power of a Demigod……” Someone muttered as every mage present watched on with longing and envy.