C49-Shield Squads

Name: Sir. Frederic | Age: 37 | Level: 89

Title: Horen Knight

Race: Human.

「 Redvelia, the Last Night of Summer…」

Frederic barely understood the idiocy that the Hunters were trying to do. His knowledge of warfare did not go beyond fighting humans. Simple battles where two groups of armed individuals started to kill each other until one gave up, or there was no one left to do so.

You can predict humans; you can study the maps and the routes they would take, and plan accordingly. Destroy their supplies, assassinate their leaders, or raid their homes. Battles between noble lords were nothing new to him. The hunters took care of the monsters, allowing the rest to fight among themselves.

From what little he had heard during a wild meeting of screaming Hunters and Huntresses, which only needed a bard and wench to become a tavern. They were trying to force the monsters to besiege them. Such stupidity was coming from a town that did not have enough food reserves for a siege, and their only easy access to water came in the form of wells.

Before sunrise, males and females of the faster Kin's formed groups and were given rings of holding, no matter their rank, only their speed. Frederic remembered that part of the plan: they were supposed to get as far away as they could over mapped terrain towards designated areas and then run back with lures on their backs.

He had to admit that they at least had a pretty impressive knowledge of their surroundings. Marking known goblinoid nests and predicting their migrating routes.

That was the part that sounded ridiculous, and borderline suicidal. A simple mistake like tripping would have a horde of monsters devouring the ones trying to lure them towards the town.

Frederic was standing in the recently finished North wall of the town, just paying attention to the weird plan unfolding before his eyes.

Thankfully for him, his patron—the Horen Ducal family—had gifted him with spy skills that would allow him to understand if this humble town had come up with something useful, as the Hunter Master had said. Or if it would fall like many others before it, by their own hand.

The Hunter that he had his eyes on a couple of moons back proved to be the reasonable kind. At least when compared to some of the late arrivals that could barely be understood as they 'spoke.'

He saw that hunter giving advice to a pretty blonde Feline-kin before she departed in the morning. That woman was the first to return, just as the day, gave way to night.

Frederic turned towards the interaction between the pretty feline-kin huntress and the tall hunter he remembered the name of. Aizel. Eavesdropping on their conversation while carefully watching their Auras.

"How did it go, Neine?" Hunter Aizel said to the pretty Feline-Kin he now knew the name of.

"I~ Dh - t…" She tried to speak in between deep breaths.

'How long was she running for? I saw her depart just as the sun had risen. She needs immediate care or the shock could kill her!' Frederic thought.

"Easy there, come. Breathe in slowly; you are safe now. Look at me." Hunter Aizel placed his hand delicately on Huntress Dame Neine's face. Gone was his brute act from their first meeting. His actions were measured and could even be called romantic if she was not in such a state.

"~Purifica Restoradis…"

It was barely a whisper, but the man just used two superior skills with more control than he had seen Grand Mages do. Not a lick of mana could be perceived by his enhanced Revenant eyes. Also gifted by the Ducal house.

'I really need to transfer; the young lord will try to recruit him for himself, or worse… the young lady… I don't need to like men to know that she will try to seduce him. Knowing her history and low standing. That can only end in disaster. What's worse, if Duke Horen hears of this man's talents, he could use her to entice him. Pissing off the young lord…'

Then a blue-haired beauty came to him. They shared some words that only made his decision to transfer gain more strength. A womanizer like him was bad news.

~Puff.

A blue (Spark) shot in the air from the western side of the wall, interrupting his thoughts. Unlike normal skills, this was a custom scroll made with (Mana Hand) and (Float). Cheap and easy to make. A simple signal often used as a trap to detect incoming attacks; unfortunately, its usefulness depended on the strategy around it.

The signal was released by a group of hunters. They were keeping five goblins that were following Neine at bay with round wooden shields reinforced with metal. The hunters would lose that battle. Not only were they in a difficult position to attack, but the monsters were stronger than any man, and the light of torches was the only thing repelling the darkness of night.

A slight space was left for the monster to distract itself as it tried to reach the hunters behind it.

There was a huntress in that small group. What the males were doing was beyond stupid, but it spoke even worse about her decision-making, knowing what those things did to females.

He looked down, but no one was moving towards them. What's worse, all other groups ignored them after a brief glance.

'What were they expecting? That's suicidal. And who knows how many of those green, disgusting creatures are following—'

Suddenly, a shadow followed by the rush of wind passed behind him. He ducked and placed his hand on his sword; there were no aerial monsters reported in this area. And griffins did not begin migrating south until late autumn.

'In the name of the Moon, what was that?'

His question was answered when he turned to the side. It was the beautiful Seraphim Angel he had seen around the Guild. She landed behind the group of goblins and made quick work of them; simple thrusts with a spear pierced their hearts.

'Flight…' Frederic thought. He did not manage to see what variation of the technique she was using; he had not heard the displacement of air from a (Teleport).

'What's an asset like her doing so far north? She could be directly employed by a Ducal house… No, she could be serving under a King. Given her beauty, she could be a queen, or part of the Imperial harem.'

~Puff.

More blue sparks shot in the air, followed by another two angels that reached them; they moved too fast for Frederic to see from where they had taken flight. One of them had red wings in the same shape and size as the Seraphim's. The other had smaller black ones. The angel with the black wings used a similar technique to the one with white wings. However, the one with red wings was scary.

With a simple thrust, she severed the necks of the goblins. A flick of her wrist and the spear nicked their veins, sending black blood spewing high in the air, with the monster falling and dying shortly after.

'She could kill entire battalions on her own, before anyone could do anything.'

The signal sparks were few. Only calling for the aid of the angels if they could not deal with the threat. Civilians rushed out of the town and sprinted behind the hunters to collect the bodies of the goblins in Rings of Timeless Holding that the temple had provided.

More and more goblins started to arrive in larger groups, and the hunters started to slowly walk backwards with their shields facing the incoming hordes.

— —

Name: Pauline | Age: 22 | Level: 32

Title: Bronze-rank Huntress (E+)

SE: 2 | HP: 126 | MP: 30

Race: Human.

"Shield Barrier!" Her party leader roared an order.

All the brutes except for her locked their shields together, just like they had been training. It was a simple variation of their defensive technique; they just placed their shield together instead of leaving space for the long-range Hunters to attack. Leaving a small space in between their shields so the gobo could reach in and try to get to them

The Silver leader glanced back; Pauline met his eyes and nodded. "Open up!" He yelled, and the brutes opened up a space from the center where the monster could charge in.

The gobo immediately smelled her and locked onto her figure; a torchlight placed her as its sole target. The creature charged blindly at her, and just as it crossed the threshold, the brutes tripped it, making it stumble forward as it tried to reach her.

Pauline used that small window to shove her mace with all the strength she could muster, caving in the head of the goblin, killing it on the spot.

"Fuck! Five incoming!" One of the bronzes screamed without looking back. She had killed four goblins so far with that strategy, something previously unthinkable for a bronze. The brutes closed their barrier of shields once again, even before their leader gave the order. Making the creatures clash against it while trying to tear away their shields.

"Bronze! Blue Signal!" The leader screamed.

Pauline had sorted the scrolls on the sides of her hips, right side for Red, and left for Blue. She reached down and pulled the scroll flap without even removing it from her leather belt, she rather deal with a small burn than fumble around and possibly die.

Puff!~ A blue spark shot in the air and floated around above their position.

Not long after, just as the five goblins were realizing that they could go around their formation, a small figure with black wings landed with a loud Thump! In front of them.

The shock squad sent them one of their members. It was a small woman who could not be much older than Pauline. The angel thrust twice in the blink of an eye, killing two goblins by piercing their hearts. The other goblins turned at the same time after realizing what was happening, only to be impaled through their eyes.

The angel with black wings did not say anything and jumped while flapping her wings once. Taking to the skies once again with a Flump!

"Stop staring at the sky! We got more incoming!" One of the brutes broke their trance.

"Shields, ease up! Walk backwards slowly, just like in the yard. Bronze, signal the raccoons!" The silver party leader ordered.

Pauline took the torch behind them and gave it a couple of swings above her head, not long after a young Were-Dog without Hunter tags came running like a madman while using (Infuse) on a ring he carried. Taking all the surrounding corpses before darting back to stand close to the wall.

— — —

Name: Sir. Frederic | Age: 37 | Level: 89

Title: Horen Knight

"Archers! Hobgo! North West!" One of the Hunters with silver tags roared an order, and the archers and crossbowmen immediately shot at the incoming monster before it could shoot a lance towards anyone. There was a musketeer at the ready close by, but the man had not shot once, or even taken aim.

"Zup, tin can. Nice spot you found, huh." Hunter Aizel came lazily walking along the wall towards him, just glancing around while eating a meat and vegetable skewer, as if there wasn't an insane battle happening below them and at their sides.

"Hunter Aizel, are you not going to join the fight?" Frederic said with a raised brow while crossing his arms.

"This early? Meh, there has not even been a red signal yet." Hunter Aizel said as he finished his skewer and threw the wooden stick over the wall with a flick of his finger.

'At least he seems calmer than last time we spoke; he must have been furious about that bounty, and my guard did not help one bit.'

"That is the rescue signal, right?" Frederic asked as he looked around. Even the Blue Signals were few; as the battle progressed, the parties of hunters grew closer. Allowing them to handle the increasing number of monsters while staying safe for as long as the angels needed to arrive in case the monsters became too many for them to handle on their own.

"Yeah." The Hunter nodded.

Thump!

The small woman with black wings landed. Now that Frederic saw her up close, he could see that she was a beauty; she had no breasts to her name, but her legs and ass more than compensated for that.

'Succubus? No, those are still angel wings and freckles.' Frederic thought as he admired her fair skin and cute face.

"Stop doing that. Save your mana, Val. Is not even Midnight." The hunter reprimanded her, but he sounded more concerned for her well-being than mad at her actions. 'I suppose that landing consumes mana. Makes sense.'

"Sorry!" The cute not-succubus girl the hunter called 'Val' apologized.

"It's fine. Did all the bunnies return?" Hunter Aizel asked as he checked her body, touching her all over the place, but not in a sexual way; he was looking for injuries. He made her turn and pressed the usual areas where wounds could hide and not be felt because of the rush.

"Yeah, all bunnies are safe and resting." Val nodded while pointing towards the Temple, where all the runners were given treatment earlier in the night, as soon as they returned.

The girl jumped into the Hunter's embrace, and they began to kiss passionately on the edge of the wall. 'Either he is tiny, or she's deep; otherwise I don't see how these two could fit together. He's about two heads taller than her, and he's already a head taller than me, while she's too small for me… Now I want to watch that.' Frederic thought; however, something the Hunter said earlier stuck with him.

"Midnight? Just how long will this last, Hunter?" Frederic asked. 'He said that it was not even midnight… right?'

Hunter Aizel lifted a finger as he savored the small woman. He opened his mouth, and their tongues played with each other for a while. He grabbed her ass and gave it a squeeze as he felt her. He gave her a playful spank on her ass before finally releasing her and speaking.

"The lures were made to last from noon until tomorrow at dusk; then the smell stops… well, smelling. Not like many goblinoids will be left to smell it after that. But the alchemist and the Temple did a good job, so they do not continue to attract monsters after that." Hunter Aizel explained.

"…"

Puff!~

"Red one, Aiz."

"Lis will take care of it; she will bring them to me if it requires more than she can do."

"Okay."

Puff!~ A blue signal spark shot in the air.

"Happy hunting." They kissed one last time, and the small angel flew at the blue signal that was released.

'That is also a cocktail of skills she's using… I thought that was a lost art. She did not teleport in the air or jump high to glide down… If the angel with the red wings can do the same…' A shiver traveled through Frederic's spine at the prospect of an adversary so deadly and fast.

"They are starting to retreat further in. They will soon reach the walls." Frederic said. The hunter parties were retreating closer to the walls; soon there would not be space behind them for the ones running around collecting the corpses.

"Hmm~ No. Not yet; the medium-tier Hunters have not moved— Oh! There, East side. Phase three is starting." Hunter Aizel said as he pointed towards a group of parties that were clumping together.

"Phase three? I have to admit that I only recall something about turtles." Frederic said, trying really hard—and failing—to recall the details about the plan; all that stuck with him was the odd names chosen for each of the roles the hunters would play.

"You will see." Hunter Aizel said with a smile creeping at the corners of his mouth as he stared at the clumping group of Hunters.

— —

Name: Erik | Age: 27 | Level: 137

Title: Gold-rank Hunter (S+)

SE: 7 | HP: 150 | MP: 1500

Race Human

"The turtles are ready! Charge!" A hunter with platinum tags yelled from the other side of the wall.

"All right, good for n'things. Let's show all these low ranks how it's done!" Nadia yelled at them with a smile across her face.

'That's not her normal bloodlust. I guess she found what she was looking for all this time.'

"Yeah!" "Au!" "Let's Go!" All the middle ranks and even a couple of Mithrils began cheering after hearing her.

Erik ran outside the walls. The image that welcomed him was straight out of a hero's tale.

The low-rank hunters bunched up together in the turtle defensive formation. Protecting themselves from all sides while the goblinoids tried to get inside the shield fortresses by using brute strength alone.

The monsters were not paying attention to the new arrivals. Erik was sure the others knew why the goblinoids were behaving oddly, not him, since he didn't bother knowing the whole plan. All he needed to do was get out there and kill all the goblins he could before the signal to retreat was given.

Erik grabbed his mana sword. Called to his mana and infused the hilt with it. A blue sword materialized; he was already swinging it towards his first victim. With a single slash, he severed the goblin's neck, sending its head and body flying in opposite directions.

"Gwra!" Douglas roared. Calling to his Dire wolf side and jumped into the middle of the turtle formations. Biting and smashing goblins as if they were nothing but snow statues.

"West side!" Neine called.

Melvin and Cassian were engaging one hobgoblin each. It was nothing the mage and scribe could not handle. But Nadia never asked for reinforcements if they were not truly needed. Erick turned towards Douglas. The north side was being cleared by a couple of Mithril brutes, so they did not even waste time trying to inform them of their sudden change in position.

"You called, little one," Douglas said.

"I smell Orc," Nadia replied, her gaze fixed on the forest ahead.

"Well. That is what your boyfriend is waiting for, is it not?" Cassian teased. Earning himself a frown from Melvin.

"Yeah," Nadia said and did not even try to defend against the tease.

"Well. You know what that means. After the Hedgehogs begin to appear. We use that distraction and run north."

Nadia glanced to the wall where the blood-mage was. She had so much confidence in her team that she did not even bother looking around her. The dead bodies of goblinoids were piling up around them as they had never before.

Douglas and Erik even made a little game out of the whole thing. He jumped forwards and bit down on a goblin. Throwing him towards Erik for him to slash it down before the monster could touch the ground.

Cassian and Melvin also found a nice rhythm. One released a volley of wind slashes to cripple the monsters while the other took careful aim and ended them with a single well-placed mana bolt.

"East side! Blood Brute Hobgo!" Neine called.

Douglas jumped before all of them and returned to his human form. He extended his hand back, and Melvin was already equipping him with a large shield he stored on their ring. Douglas swung. Smashing the hobgoblin. The creature was tough, not dying from that alone.

Melvin and Cassian unleashed a volley of wind slices at its legs. While Erik took the chance to sneak up behind it and stab it through the back, his mana sword killing it on the spot.

"North side! Five Gobos!"

— —

Name: Sir. Frederic | Age: 37 | Level: 89

Title: Horen Knight

What Hunter Aizel was calling phase tree indeed looked like turtles. It happened just before midnight. The number of goblins and hobgoblins that they had gathered was simply outstanding; Frederic did not even know that there were so many hiding in the surrounding wilds.

The Hunters started to gather around together and make round shells of interlocked shields on all sides, even above them. The goblins and hobgoblins started to rush them and accumulate around them, and even jump at the shell of shields, as the Gold, Platinum, and Mithril Hunters started to kill them from the outside.

"Why are the monsters concentrating on the… turtles, and not the threat from the exposed hunters?" He asked Hunter Aizel. The man had just been reading a book while sitting on the ledge this whole time. From his point of view, the smart and even natural thing to do would be to deal with the ones dealing damage, instead of trying to break into the shell of shields... But these were monsters. Not humans.

"Hm? Oh, at the beginning of phase three they… released lures with a faster decay rate from within their formation. They stop smelling much faster than normal, and they can even cast (Clean) on this version to make it stop smelling if— Hey, look! A hedgehog, there! Phase four is starting. It's earlier than I thought…" Hunter Aizel said.

His explanation made a lot of sense; monsters behave like wild animals more than sapient beings; they were driven by instinct. All these hunters were doing was taking advantage of those instincts.

Frederic turned toward where The Hunter was pointing. The new formation also looked just like its name implied: a hedgehog. The shield formations began to rotate around their center and stick spears and longswords out of the spaces in between their shields; it was creative and impressive. Those formations could even be used against humans.

"How are they so coordinated! Most of these people arrived two moons ago!" Frederic asked, his eyes opened wide in shock; he had seen them train that part, and they were nowhere near as efficient or coordinated just a day prior.

Hunter Aizel was waving at someone down in the active battlefield. His face turned melancholic for a moment before turning back towards Frederic. His expression carried a hint of barely contained rage. Thankfully, he calmed down after leaning on the ledge and taking a deep breath.

He began shining light on Frederic's doubt with some venom in his voice. "First. Never underestimate hunger. This people, can only eat if they hunt. Second. Never underestimate greed. They will get a share of every kill without having to leave that formation.

If they can earn what they do in two winters in a single night, by pushing their bodies to the limit, holding a shield, and turning around like idiots. They will do it all night. Hell, this motherfuckers will do it until they pass out with that incentive. Some did already.

The more they kill. The more they earn. The more they earn, the more they want to keep killing. They are not killing human kin; they don't feel remorse, look at their euphoric faces with those fancy eyes of yours."

The hunters were tainted black from the amount of blood. The ground was tainted black with the amount of blood; if it wasn't because of his eyes, he would not see anything. But that is when it struck him… How could this Hunter know about his eyes? They looked like normal human eyes; even the mana within them moved around naturally. It would take an adept arch mage to feel the small distortions in the world's aura they produced.

"How did you know about my eyes?" Frederic glared at him.

"I'm a Were-Dragon, tin can. I can see the air leaving your nose; I can see the pulse of lightning sent by your asshole each time you get excited at their glee."

Frederic swallowed hard at that statement.

"And I heard that."

"…" He wanted to swallow hard again. He did not know just how much of it was true; some of the immortal kin he had met indeed had insane senses, but he hadn't realized they were so extreme. Thankfully, a sudden loud noise broke his stupor.

Thump!

The angel with red wings and tanned skin landed behind them. He had seen her before in the guild and was stunned by her beauty; the red wings added to her allure. She walked slowly towards Hunter Aizel. Frederic even used (Focus) without noticing while admiring her; he did not bother to stop using it and painted her image inside his mind. Where the white angel could be a queen, and the one with black wings a succubus, this one looked like the goddess of all demon-kin.

"I'm not even going to bother anymore. Hello, love. What's on your mind?"

"Lis spotted Orcs coming from the west, but I scouted all around, and the horde will end with that… wave? It's three times larger, like you said; they slowly start to gather in waves from the outside as they get closer."

"Really? Well, I guess it was too much to ask for them Orcs to join the party; it's impressive some of them even reached it in time for the grand finale from so far away; must be the cunt juice. Tell the Dwarf to sound the horn; phase five is in session."

The Angel gave him a deep kiss before going to find what he assumed was the Guild Master, unless one of the Craftsmen was in charge of the horn.

Hum! HUM! HUUUM!!

"shield-wall!" "shield wall!" "shieldwall!" "shield waaall!"

"Oh! I jut came a little, that is what I'm talking about!! Now you are proper savages! Tin can!"

— — —

Name: Duncan | Age: 26 | Level: 30

Title: Hunter, Silver-rank (A-)

Race: Were-Dog

Duncan was euphoric. He had earned three levels already. More than he had earned on long winter hunts. And he was not the only one; most of the low-rank hunters had borderline crazy expressions. Even so, when the order to form the shield wall came. They moved as one.

The defensive shell formations began to join together. Slowly opening up while every hunter got inside, leaving a wide space in the middle as they all rushed to find a place to support on the outer shield wall.

A massive Dire wolf carrying the lovely blue-haired were-fox on his back stepped inside that clearing. Thump! The air displaced as a couple of mages suddenly appeared beside them.

Before Duncan could begin to admire their skills. A bright blue light shone from outside of the growing shield wall. "Road's clear!" A male voice called. It was the same one that carried the mana sword.

Nadia looked back at the wall one last time before her party broke the formation and rushed north.

"What the fuck are they doing!? The number of enemies is only increasing!" A Silver-rank hunter roared.

— — —

Name: Sir. Frederic | Age: 37 | Level: 89

Title: Horen Knight

"Ease!" ""EU!""

"Ease!" ""EU!""

The hunter shell formations started to join together and slowly backed down; they formed what could only be described as a 'shield wall.' They interlocked their shields once again, but they were no longer leaving spaces for the goblins to reach them.

"Fuck! That's so good!! Where the fuck! Is a kámera, in this God forsaken shithole of a world where you need one! Ah!~"

The were-dragon was going crazy, but he could not blame him; the scene before them was simply the stuff legends and songs that survive the passage of time would be written about. This would indeed change warfare forever.

The Hunters were slowly coming closer to the north gate. There was no longer a single monster behind them, but there was an army in front. The gates opened, and the hunters rushed inside, with the shield wall growing smaller and smaller as they kept coming in. Once there was only a small group of them, the gates closed, with the last hunters either being pulled over the walls or simply jumping really high in the case of the strongest medium-rank brutes.

A sudden red flash from his side caught his attention. Frederic was frozen in fear. Hunter Aizel was indeed a Were-Dragon, one with so much control over his manifestations that normally he looked like a simple human with faint lizard-kin blood. But now, like the drawing in one of the books his wife loved to read.

"All right, tin can. I will go reward my women after this one, so have a nice night." Hunter Aizel said as he rose in the air without much wind. His control over mana, no blood-mana, was incredible. He did not even know how many skills were being used by the man.

"Love." "Aiz!" "Hi Aiz!"

The three angels hovered around him; their control was not as good as his, but it was still exceptional. The ones with white and red wings moved the surrounding air with elegance, pushing the wind downwards and floating beside him, but he could not see the skill (Float) being used.

The one with the black wings was having more trouble staying in place, but every few seconds her wings twitched, and she violently moved to the side.

"My loves, is anyone else coming? Or can we fuck them up already to go clear the surroundings, and then find a nice clearing to use the new Orc candy?"

"There will probably not be many monsters left to clear, love." The Seraphim said.

"Yeah, there were fewer than we expected, Aiz." The one with black wings commented, not even too tired after fighting until midnight.

"Still, just in case." Hunter Aizel shrugged.

"The last ones arrived, Aiz. It's around two hundred at the north gate, with some weirdos still on the east and west walls; the south is clear." The tanned red beauty informed him.

Hum! HUM! HUUUM!!

"They closed the gates. All right, Legion. Let's help these heathens clean their home."

"Sir!"