The sight welcoming the failed quest-takers was that of a military encampment. Due to the lack of wood in the Chaos Lands, the players needed to hoard wood from afar. As a result, the fence was made from stone.
Spells had been used to modify the ground to form the perimeter. This process had been tedious.
Only Tier 5 spells and above could accomplish the required end result in one go. Other mages had needed to use several different spells. Shape, form, harden, repair. Depending on the earth's quality, failure was often their friend.
However, they persevered. The sight before the failed quest-takers was the result of their labors. Earthen spikes before a narrow wall, with towers spaced equally around the encampment.
Separating the players and the wall was a ditch with another layer—no, several layers of spikes preventing them from simply rushing headlong towards the camp.
With guarding players watching from the towers, it gave them the feeling of having stumbled upon a military camp in the middle of nowhere.
"What is this?" Euthemilia asked Zyviss.
"Our base," He replied shortly. Waving at the players on the wall. Who nodded and returned the wave. After which, a section of the wall split open.
"What the?" The rescued players murmured. The gate formed a seamless part of the wall. Until it opened, it had been impossible to notice it. And to reach it, one had to walk in a zig-zag formation between the spikes and ditches.
"Is it really necessary to be so cautious?" One of the survivors asked. Seemingly not having learned their lesson.
"Of course. We are attacked at least twice each day." Judith was the one to reply, and the look of scorn she gave the player, who had asked, made everyone else keep their questions to themselves.
The inside of the camp was even more impressive. The camp was rather large, but most of it was bare. With only occasional bunker-like constructions dotting the land. Only in the center were there a number of tents.
Enough to house a few hundred players, half a thousand at most. Of course, this was with them settling in like sardines. Personal rooms did not exist here. At most, tents were separted on gender.
"Do the monsters often break through the walls?" Someone asked.
"It hasn't happened yet, but we know it is best to be safe, rather than sorry." It was not Zyviss or Judith who answered, but Elizabeth. "You guys go prepare. Seems the camp they attacked is coming at us."
Hearing this, the players paled. Some from fear, others from embarrassment and worry.
"That all?" Judith asked, as if bored. If she accounted for the orcs they had killed, that camp couldn't have more than a hundred members left.
"There is also a retreating horde heading towards us. We are going to be attacked from both sides, expect about four thousand monsters. The orcs should arrive after the horde."
That number made the survivors turn as white as sheets. Judith, however, laughed with glee. "Hah! Seems I can get in some proper exercise this time."
"Remember the plan. We have them to minimize losses." Elizabeth chastised, but the barbarian cosplayer was already heading towards the walls. Noticing this, Elizabeth sighed.
"Right, I am going to ask you all to stay in the center of the camp. Do not leave your assigned area until the situation calms down."
—
"What do you think?" Judith asked Paw, one of the Dragonoid players, who had just returned from scouting. "Do we need to bring out the cannons?"
"They're a mixed bunch. Lots of Tarii, Wolfbeasts, Direwolves, Yania, and some Harpies. Also noticed some Tikbalang."
"That isn't too bad. Didn't they have a leader?" Judith asked.
"Didn't seem like. There were some orcs and goblins, but they were the minority."
"Thanks. Seems like they won't be too difficult." Judith said, while thinking, 'I can let loose! Hell yeah!'
"True. We'll take care of the harpies, so you guys just focus on fighting the ground units."
While it had taken a long, long, time. Most of the Dragonoid players had finally learned how to fly. Sadly, it wasn't as simple as flapping their wings. Their wings were too small to ever produce the lift needed to fly.
They needed to add magic to the equation, and the simplest flight spells were technically Tier 5, but normally needed someone to be Tier 6 to master. Luckily, they had wings. They didn't need to learn how to balance with magic alone.
Instead, they had used the spells to produce more lift and then took a few days of trial and error to learn how to use their wings for flight.
As a result, the guild had around 50 airborne scouts now. Which was immensely useful for getting direct feedback on situations. The map Search function was great, but a picture or video of the enemy could mean so much more.
Not to mention, they could share that with HQ during the fight!
This allowed them to observe the enemy's discipline, how their army was structured, how they mingled, how they reacted, and much more.
The Search function could give similar results, but there was a difference between looking at numbers and individuals.
—
The fighting started around an hour later. The players stationed in the camp had been moving about this entire time, busy getting everything ready.
The first thing the rescued quest takers heard was the plentitude of explosions. Followed by the bellowing of orders, the sounds of spells being chanted, launched, and exploding; and finally, the sounds of battle.
There was a clear order to it all.
—
From one of the towers, Elizabeth watched as the horde from the south advanced. Roughly four thousand monsters. It didn't sound like much, all things considered. However, this camp of theirs only had two hundred active defenders.
Most of the players were out doing their own or guild quests. The camp functioned as a relay, but it had to be defended. Thus the two hundred defenders.
Since there were no NPCs here, losing was an acceptable outcome. However, none of the players here wanted to see that come to be.
They had spent days working to construct it. And sure, it wasn't perfect, but it had survived a full week now. No way in hell they were going to let it be destroyed without a fight.
"Let's see how everyone's runic mines are coming alone," Elizabeth mumbled with a smile as the horde entered the minefield.
Explosions sprang up from all over. And while a good majority were simple fiery explosions, there was some variety to the mines. A few exploded with ice, some sent rocks flying like shrapnel, and some more sent gusts of wind.
The last might sound quite stupid, but it was there to add to the confusion. The blasts from the gust mines were strong enough to send the normal direwolf flying ten meters. Activating all the mines along its path.
The best part of these mines—they didn't cost a thing. Sure, it took the defenders a few hours every day to reinstall them. But they showed their worth in every battle.
Sadly, they only lasted a few hours to a few days, depending on their creator's skill and the mana supplied into the runic formation.
They could also be easily deactivated by a skilled magician. In fact, their purpose was to identify such individuals. Since the horde was being decimated, it was clear they had no magician within their ranks.
When the monsters made it through the densest portion of the minefield, they were welcomed by arrows and spells. Further cutting down on their numbers, and when they reached the first line of spikes, they were cut down by the players hiding in the ditches.
Spears and swords tore through the monsters who tried to jump the spikes, and those behind, caught by surprise, failed to stop in time. Ending empaled on the spikes they had thought they would jump.
To the surprise of the monsters who tried to jump, the ground beneath their feed had become quicksand.
Still, the horde pressed on. Numbers now halved.