The next wave of walking corpses didn’t arrive as soon as Regis anticipated, so he had a chance to meditate for a good ten minutes before Amanda shook him up.

“They’re coming.” She said before lifting her hammer from the ground.

This time the attackers were fewer than before, leaving more space for the refugees and mercenaries to move about. After taking down the fifth undead swordsman in a row, Regis leaned on his staff wheezing.

“Archers!” A soldier from the ramparts yelled and their own bowmen raised their weapons to fire burning arrows into the distance.

The light of the burning arrows revealed a couple of enemies, but there weren't any archers amongst them. Regis tried to gaze deeper into the darkness, but a pat on his shoulder shook him up.

“I guess it’s time for us to go,” Grego showed up behind him. “Are you ready for another scouting mission?”

“I’m fine with it, as long as you bring your shields along.”

“Don’t worry,” another guard said. “We got them right here, along with our new set of eyes.”

The guard’s strange words became clear when Sophie stepped forward from the group.

“Sophie,” Amanda stuttered. “What are you doing?”

“Miss Norma told me about the way they search for archers and since I have low-light vision, I’ve decided to help them. They could use an archer of their own.”

“That’s out of the question,” the giant woman protested. “It’s too dangerous out there right now. Didn’t you see that undead knight we just fought? If more would show…”

“We can handle a few of those,” Grego said as he cleaned his iron sword with a piece of rag. “But we must get rid of the archers as soon as possible. Otherwise, we might lose a lot of good people.”

“I’ll go,” Regis nodded. “And you should come as well. You’re a hell of a fighter with that hammer and we might need you to topple a knight or two.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “But you better protect Sophie or you’ll get a taste of that hammer!”

“Good, now move out!” Captain Grego ordered and the shield holding guards surrounded the youths and the torch bearer. As the guard troop stepped through the wall of fog at the edge of the battlefield, Regis stopped the group and Sophie raised her bow slightly toward their left.

“It’s dead.” She stated a few moments after letting her arrow loose.

After half an hour of searching the group managed to kill almost two dozen undead archers and a few lower ranked infantrymen. Regis himself got the drop on two undead soldiers, but the rest were quickly taken down by Sophie who seemed to shine in face of the unique challenge. When the surrounding undead began to reach a dangerous number, the captain decided that it was time to get back. Their plan however got derailed by the sound of a horn. The sound came from behind them and as they turned around, Regis couldn’t help, but swear.

“Shit!” He cursed as he stared into the foggy darkness.

“What is it?” Grego asked nervously as the group moved into a tight formation.

“This doesn’t look good. I can barely make out the shape of a large horseman with a banner and two dozen figures at its side.”

“You’ve heard him,” the captain said. “A fallen commander has arrived. Get your shields and move out! We have to get back to the ramparts immediately!” He gave the order while hurrying his steps.

The rest of the guard troops followed him with a fearful expression on their faces. Regis looked at Amanda who just shrugged at him, expressing that she had no idea what was going on. Not surprisingly, Sophie overtook both of them in speed as she zig-zagged forward between the guards. When the second horn blow filled the darkness Regis braved a look back, but he quickly turned forward to hasten his steps even more.

“Those fuckers are running. No one told me that they can run too!”

“Then run faster,” Norma wheezed. “Only ghouls can run and we’re not equipped to deal with those in large numbers.”

“Get on the ramparts!” Grego roared. “We have ghouls incoming!”

Hearing those words every recruit that fought beneath the torches immediately turned around and ran. Their group barely reached the edge of the torch light when someone yelled ‘ghouls’ and the archers began to shoot burning arrows. The 9th guard group ran towards the small ramp in front of them.

“Go!” Regis pushed Amanda forward and none of the guards had to be convinced about hurrying up.

Regis was the last one to reach the ramparts, taking a leap, only to get grabbed by the others when he reached the edge. As he turned around with his bladestaff in hand, dozens of glowing eyed monsters greeted him. The ghouls of this world were human in shape, but they had neither armour nor weapons. They wore torn clothes and inch long pitch black claws. Their skin was thin, dark and it seemed to be fastened onto their bones like a dried out leather coat.

What truly scared the dark elf was that the abominations barely reacted to being struck by the flaming arrows. His grip tightened on his bladestaff as he watched one of the ghouls head right towards him. It was already too close for him to cast his crystal shot spell and when the monster was only 4 meters away from the ramparts it leaped up. The bladestaff flashed with a red glint as it slashed down at the creature. Its edge cut deep into the ghoul’s shoulder a few inches right of its neck. His opponent lost its momentum as the blade strike pushed it down slightly which made it head-butt the edge of the ramparts.

As the ghoul fell back, Regis got pulled along, hitting the ground hard. A strong yanking pulled him back to his senses as the ghoul freed itself from the blade that was stuck in its shoulder. The young dark elf jumped on his feet, but sharp claws cut through his left pauldrons as the undead jumped toward him. Regis tried to dodge the incoming attack, but his opponent was way too fast. It managed to dodge two of his staff strikes and a forward stab before it clawed at his chest, leaving deep scratch marks on his bronze reinforced gambeson.

“Fuck off!” He roared as the bladestaff’s tip burst into flames, while he stabbed the ghoul in its gut when it tried to lunge at him again.

The monster got impaled, but it only screamed as it tried to grab the young man. This screeching sound created a similar phenomenon as the time he heard the undead berserker’s roar. Regis’ body seemed to freeze in place as all of his muscles tensed up. ‘Not now!’ He thought, feeling his body stiffen. With his body turning rigid, his grip and stance weakened, which allowed the ghoul to move forward a bit. That one step was just enough for its claws to reach him, leaving a mark on the side of his helmet just below his eyes.

“Move, damn you!” He winced as his body got flushed with adrenaline.

{You have pushed through the fear that paralyzed you. The ‘ghoulish’ scream was negated. Your willpower got permanently increased by 1.}

With his body moving again, he pushed the bladestaff forward, nailing the ghoul to the ramparts. It writhed and screamed, but Regis only let go for a moment to cast the crystal shot. He aimed at the ghoul’s head, blasting it in its right eye. The creature’s head snapped back for a moment before it turned even more desperate to get off from the weapon. Regis had to let go of his staff as the undead abomination pushed its body forwards, slipping halfway through the shaft of the staff.

He jumped back and casted crystal shot again, this time however the shot was spot on, shattering the upper part of the ghoul’s already damaged skull. He had no time to enjoy his success or shake of the dizziness coming with his lack of arcana though. Dozens of ghouls climbed upwards on the ramparts, some tearing through the terrified defenders while the rest were pushed back by the guards and the mercenaries. Amanda smashed her hammer into her attacker’s chest before kicking it off.

Regis saw her desperately trying to reach Sophie who was pushed on the floor with a ghoul on top of her. She tried to hold the abomination away with her bow, but the ghoul was clearly stronger. Regis yanked out his weapon from the rampart and the dead ghoul, aiming the tip of his bladestaff at the rotting beast. He managed to stab it in the ribs when it moved closer to the elven girl. It got distracted just long enough for a hammer to swat it aside with a a loud thud, smashing its head in.

“Thank you!” Sophie muttered, but it was unknown as to which of her helpers she spoke to.

Amanda pulled her up and they started helping the others around them. Regis wanted to shoot down another ghoul, but the quartz piece crumbled apart in front of him as a strong dizziness struck him.

‘Fucking arcana shortage.' He cursed himself for neither having the reserves not the regeneration capabilities needed for long fights before pulling out the small vial from his satchel. Its cork got torn off and the blue liquid flowed down his throat with a cool sensation. ‘It’s too bad that I don’t have another one.’ He thought as he grabbed his bladestaff, yanking it out of the recently killed fallen infantryman’s corpse.

The dark elf then ran up the ramp he used before, slashing at the nearest ghoul he could find. His timely assistance saved a pair of guards who got injured by the feral ghoul, but they immediately took the chance to behead it when it turned to face the young dark elf.

“Thanks!” They’ve said as one before Regis felt a hand grabbing his ankle.

It was another undead that somehow managed to climb up on the same ramp as he did, getting close enough to reach him. He felt a pull and fell backwards flailing. When he hit the ground from his near three meters high fall, he felt as if he fell on a clay pot that immediately shattered beneath his ass. When involuntarily looked down, he was pushed to the verge of puking.

“Oh, gross!” He retched when he realized that he crushed the undead’s head with his own armoured ass when he fell on it from the ramparts.

Regis looked around and he could see several lower ranked undead shambling towards him. Everyone else was busy surviving, so he knew that they wouldn’t have the time get to him. He tried to stand up, but the slow and steady blood loss from his many small wounds combined with the tiredness made nearly near impossible.

“Ukkhai!” He heard a yell from behind as a figure blurred forwards.

The unknown warrior was fully dressed in leather armour, holding a pair of bronze shorts swords as he rushed through the undead crowd like a scythe reaping wheat. His fluid movements proved that he knew what he was doing as he beheaded the shambling corpses.

“Hold still,” Another voice called out to him. “Your wounds are shallow, but they’re bleeding fast.”

This new voice belonged to a dark brown skinned man who held his palm above Regis’s wounds while whispering some sort of a prayer. A familiar golden light covered dark elf’s wounds that quickly closed and healed.

“A paladin?” Regis asked surprised as the man grabbed him by his hand to help him up.

“I’m not yet worthy of that title, but I do aim to be a guardian. Are you well enough to fight?”

“I’ll live. Thanks for the assist…”

“Quentin,” the stranger said. “And that supercharged death machine over there is Khan. Don’t forget to thank him as well.”

“I won’t.” Regis nodded as he turned towards the few undead that got close to them.

With his wounds mostly healed, the dark elf attacked with a newfound vigour, his saviours both culling the enemy’s numbers with an equally great effort. He watched as the undead commander rode towards them, only to get its horse’s head destroyed by a spear shot from a ballista atop the city walls. This was the first time Regis saw the city’s defence in action, but the awaited second shot proved to be unnecessary as one of the guard captains ran up to the commander, beheading it with a blazing sword.

“Well that was anticlimactic!” The young dark elf admitted as he defeated his own opponent.

After half a dozen more adversaries, the wave ended and the defenders got some relief. The attack of the ghouls ended in many injured and at least seven dead, but none of those were people he knew. Regis stabbed his staff in the ground to lean on it while still panting. He looked at his friends on the ramparts and he was glad to see that nobody was seriously injured. Turning towards the corpse littered field he noticed Khan and Quentin trying to pry off some armour pieces from a rotting warrior.

“Need a hand?” Regis asked with a knowing smirk.

The two turned around for a moment before continuing what they were doing.

“We got this,” Quentin said. “I’m just trying to gather a proper set of plate armour for myself.”

“I have a bronze breastplate and pauldrons if you want it.” He offered.

“You do?” the dark skinned warrior turned back. “I don’t have much to trade for it, but I do need those.”

“You can just take them. Think of them as my gratitude for the help before.”

“What about me,” Khan stood up. “I was there too, man! Shouldn’t the hero get something as well?”

Regis looked at the young man’s stretched out hand for a moment before shaking it.

“You have my thanks as well. I’m Regis by the way.”

“And I’m Khan, descendant of the great Chingis Khan. And I’m also the hero of this issekai story.”

“Come again?” Regis asked with his eyebrows raised.

“Don’t mind him,” Quentin waved his hand dismissively. “Khan here has this delusion that he’s the hero of a so called ‘issekai’ book.”

“Because it’s true,” Khan objected. “We had obviously transmigrated and are trapped in a world with video game like rules. That’s pretty much the definition of the modern issekai stories.”

“We’re not trapped.” Regis corrected him.

“What?” The two asked at the same time.

“Your marks have an ability called world-shift. It should be able to send you back to Earth once activated from your soul-space and after an hour long cool down, you can come back here.”

“Okay,” Khan breathed deeply. “It’s not an issekai then, but a LITRPG.”

“Really Khan,” Quentin looked at his friend aghast. “We can actually go back home and your first reaction is to change the genre of your delusion?”

“It’s a world that has a video game like system and we can come and go freely. That’s definitely litrpg material if you ask me. And it’s not a delusion. We’re here and you can see the proof all around you. Even Regis is an obvious side character. Which one are you by the way? Are you the edgy lone wolf or the rich kid with issues?”

“I’m the neglected nerd.” Regis shrugged as he turned towards the ramparts while etching Khan into his memory as someone obviously insane.

“Oh,” the Asian looking fellow hummed. “I guess every book has that one fellow where the writer got lazy and went for the cliché background.”

“Sure.” The young dark elf sighed absentmindedly as he climbed back up on the ramparts.

“Who are the new guys?” Amanda asked as she pulled him up.

“The guy with the healing prayers is Quentin and the crazy one is Khan.”

“Who are you calling crazy?” The young man asked as he tried to draw his swords but Quentin stopped him.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintances,” Quentin bowed slightly. “I only wish it could have been under better circumstances.”

“Likewise,” the tall woman nodded. “I’m Amanda and this is Sophie.”

“Hello.” The shy elf girl chirped.

“You should rest while you can,” Norma called out to them. “The ghouls and their leader might be dead, but we’ll have another wave coming at us soon enough.”

Regis took her advice and sat down atop the rampart to meditate.

“What are you doing?” Khan stared at him while circling around him.

“I’m trying to meditate.”

“What about my thank you gift? Quentin cut into our talk before you could give me anything.”

“Fine,” he sighed as he pulled the bone talisman from his neck. “Take it and keep quiet, will you?”

“You gave Quentin a pair of armour and you want to toss me a piece of bone... holly shit! It’s an actual magic amulet.”

“You’ve got your share, so settle down.” The dark skinned warrior calmed his friend while healing anyone he could.