A beastly howling resounded.
Another howl overlapped it.
Then yet another howl came.
Hearing that, the soldiers on top of the rampart became noisy.
「Enemy raid! It's an enemy raid! A Spriggan is coming!!」
Within the moonlight, someone was wriggling forward.
A large body that shook the ground.
With a short and stout physique as if the ground had bulged up, it had fists like hammers on its brawny arms.
Both its eyes and mouth were nothing but holes, and there was no telling where it was looking.
──Spriggans.
They were said to be fairies that protected the land.
As if pushing its back, the howls of the animals increased, and became clamorous.
The rampart soldiers readied their bows.
「Fire!」
Countless fire arrows were fired. Cloth wet with oil was wrapped on the arrowheads, and were lit on fire. It was a weapon that should have been effective on beasts, but dry metallic sounds were made and they were repelled on the Spriggan's skin.
The Magicians called out their Summoned Beasts.
The large-sized Salamanders breathed out flames, and the Sylphs that fluttered in the sky created gusts of wind.
However, without making even a single wound on that large sturdy body, they were unable to stop its advance.
The soldiers made a stir.
They were driven into fear, and taking one step, then two steps back, they finally started to run away from the ramparts.
The commanding officer shouted in a loud voice.
「Attack! Do not turn your backs to them! You bastards, are you even kingdom soldiers!? The prestige of the Lifelia Kingdom is──」
The giant Spriggan held its fist aloft.
It then brought it down.
The rampart was broken down by the hammer-like fist.
The countless screams were drowned out by the even greater amount of howls.
From within the darkness, the beasts came running.
They entered the broken rampart.
Their leader looked like a fox.
Their appearances, despite being beasts, held weapons like swords and spears in their hands, and skillfully handled them. There were even some that were clad in armor.
However, the words of the Races could not get through to them.
The Beastmen called Kobolds──were wild beasts close to being human.
Trampled down by the Beastmen, the Lifelia Kingdom army lost both its commanding officer and its rampart, and the soldiers were nothing but a mass of people running about trying to escape.
The Lifelia Calendar, Year 164, November 19──The fort build in the new southern territory Kalutia had fallen in one night.
The other day, the Royal Court Astrologer Binashen, while on a sickbed, gave counsel to the king──that, if they were to step onto imperial lands, it would be a calamity for the country.