Hecular's Revenge (2)

Hecular's Revenge (2)

Hecular lay back down in his coffin. His loyal apprentice, Sevand, now a newly risen skeleton, refilled the grave with all the dirt and gradually sank underground as well. In the morning sunlight, only traces of overturned soil remained. Southshore was still peaceful.

The disappearance of Smithers, the cemetery caretaker, prompted the town's soldiers to act. The soldiers who had patrolled that night all said they had seen the missing man carrying an oil lamp and a shovel before dawn. After a cursory investigation, they found no useful clues. Perhaps he would return that evening. These days, even bandits dared not appear around Southshore.

One noon, a family visiting their deceased elder discovered something wrong at the cemetery. A mischievous child saw the clearly disturbed earth and curiously scratched at it with his fingers. A snow-white human hand bone suddenly clamped down hard on his wrist. The child began wailing from the pain, but the skeleton's other hand snapped his neck directly, and his cries came to an abrupt stop.

The screams of the others before they died finally alerted residents passing by the cemetery, and thus began the tragedy of everyone in Southshore.

Seeing that his plan had been exposed, Hecular rose directly from underground, followed by skeletons filling the entire cemetery. In the span of a morning, Hecular had transformed many of the cemetery's corpses into bone skeletons. He continued casting his skeleton transformation spell as he raved, "Run! Weep! Fear! Hate! Stupid humans, this is the price you must pay!"

The silent skeletons marched wordlessly toward the center of town. Most of them had no weapons. Those deceased who had been buried with weapons became the few armed skeletons among them. The clattering sound of bones advancing robbed the ordinary residents of all courage to resist.

Some men tried to buy time for their women and children to escape, but individual resistance was quickly torn to pieces by the skeletons. At some point, many houses in Southshore were also set ablaze. Refugees were everywhere, along with women's screams and children's cries. Peaceful for so many years, Southshore instantly descended into hell.

Heni Mareeb, the mayor, was stunned by the news of the Undead invasion. Leading the security force that had just assembled, he encountered Guard soldiers fiercely resisting the skeleton invasion on the north side of Southshore.

"How is the situation? Have you sent for help from Watchtower Village?" Heni anxiously asked an officer directing the battle.

"We just fired three red signal flares and received a response signal from them, but it will take time for the main force to return."

"These skeletons aren't very strong. There are just too many of them. The Guard can still hold for now, but their stamina is dropping too quickly, and casualties are beginning to rise."

At that moment, Bass the blacksmith and several councilors also arrived. Everyone was at a loss before the scene in front of them.

"Light the bonfires in the dock district and evacuate all residents. Ailes Guwei, go to the docks and arrange for the children and women to board the ships first. If anyone tries to disrupt order, no matter who it is, kill them immediately!" Heni made up his mind to prepare for the worst and sent his young secretary and the guards to carry out the task.

"Do we really have to evacuate everyone? Mayor, I think we can still stabilize the situation. Once Captain Roderick returns with reinforcements, we can defeat the enemy." One councilor, reluctant to part with the possessions in his home, advised Heni.

"Foolish! Idiotic! The Guard soldiers are already at the end of their strength. If they can't hold the line, everyone will die here! If other Undead forces appear, who will be able to leave if we wait until then?" Usually mild-tempered, Heni furiously rebuked the councilor who had spoken. The man's face flushed red as he shrank back into the crowd.

"Have the security force soldiers dismantle every flammable item from the surrounding buildings. Prepare to establish a defensive line here and relieve the Guard soldiers."

"Bass, organize all able-bodied men to gather at the docks, then have them collect weapons from the warehouses. We need more people to defend our home." Though this method was highly destructive, they had no choice but to resort to it to resist the Undead. Bass went to organize the men, while the security force soldiers quickly formed up in the streets. Door panels, dining tables, benches, and wooden barrels from homes were piled into a half-meter-high barricade and soaked with cooking oil as ordered.

The soldiers at the front, nearly exhausted, began fighting as they retreated. Upon reaching the barricade, the security force stepped forward to meet the enemy. However, poorly trained as they were, fear prevented them from displaying the combat strength they should have had before the skeletons. People were killed on the line from time to time. They barely held on through their belief in defending their homes and the mayor supervising the battle behind them.

Seeing how poorly these security force members performed, Heni had his attendants help him into armor. The heavy casualties had badly damaged their morale. Without reinforcements, they would likely collapse soon. Meanwhile, the Guard soldiers who had just retreated were nervously eating and resting nearby and could not rejoin the battle yet. It was time for this old bag of bones to take the field himself. He wondered how much of his skill from fighting the Orcs remained.

Ignoring the attempts of those around him to stop him, Heni donned his armor and entered the battle. Though old, a veteran of the Orc wars was still no match for these young men without real combat experience.

Each full-force swing of his warhammer sent a skeleton crashing to the ground, reduced to a pile of fragments. Wherever he went, these ordinary skeletons were no match for him. Inspired by Mayor Heni personally joining the fight, the soldiers began attacking with renewed effort. The wave of skeletons was stopped by the humans' sudden burst of fighting strength. The front ranks of skeletons were cleared, giving the soldiers hope of victory.

But soon, another wave of skeletons surged in from the distance. This time, there were noticeably more armed skeletons among them. Many skeletons had picked up weapons and tools abandoned by humans. Those wielding pitchforks looked especially ridiculous. Yet the soldiers' newly restored morale was inevitably dealt another blow.

As the number of skeletons increased once again, casualties among the security force began rising rapidly. Heni dodged an enemy's longsword, then smashed another skeleton warrior's skull, and began panting heavily. The line was about to break.

Everyone retreated behind the barricade. A flaming arrow ignited the oil-soaked wood, and a wall of fire instantly appeared across the battlefield. Many skeletons had their bones weakened by the flames and crumbled into piles of fragments.

But the skeletons, knowing neither pain, fatigue, nor fear, continued advancing without retreating in the slightest. As the fire along the barricade gradually weakened, it was eventually covered in white fragments and completely extinguished.

The rested Guard soldiers stepped onto the front line against the skeletons. However, before their strength had fully recovered, they now had to face a greatly increased number of armed skeletons. Compared to the unarmed skeletons from before, the difficulty of battle soared.

Even a pitchfork piercing a leg could immediately rob a soldier of his fighting ability. The Guard soldiers continued resisting, while those behind them began gathering all kinds of flammable materials that could hinder the enemy. Fighting as they retreated, nearly half of Southshore gradually fell to the flames.