"B-Bad news! The Kushans are here!"
"What? The Kushans?! Damn it! Quick! Run!"
"Damn it! It's too late! Men, grab your weapons and prepare to fight to the death with me! Women and children, hide in the cellar!"
"Don't forget to light the beacon! If we can hold out until the Kingdom's army arrives, we might still survive!"
"You think I needed you to tell me that? I lit the beacon already. I just hope those bastards get here fast, or we're all dead today."
"Shut up! Don't say something so unlucky! The Kingdom's army isn't like those nobles from before who only knew how to talk big."
"That's right. I heard our new king is a demon god just like Emperor Ganishka, the ruler of the Kushan Empire. He possesses unimaginable power and will definitely stop their army."
"Sigh... Let's hope so."
Amid frantic, panicked cries, a village on the eastern border of the Midland Kingdom quickly entered a state of war readiness.
All the men, including elders over fifty and boys over thirteen, gathered together carrying things like pitchforks, sickles, and hoes—tools that could hardly be called either weapons or farming implements.
The women and younger children, meanwhile, all rushed into cellars used to store grain, vegetables, and miscellaneous goods.
The entrances were either blocked with heavy stones or concealed beneath dirt and other debris.
Every pair of eyes was filled with intense unease and fear.
The Kushans' brutal reputation had long since spread across the continent along with their conquest of neighboring nations.
Looting, rape, massacres, and enslavement were routine matters for those terrifying invaders.
Nearly every city they captured suffered slaughter to varying degrees.
Even worse, if one fell into the hands of the infamous Beast Corps, one might become food for horrific monsters—or endure