Under the Oak Tree

Strewn across the snowfield, black, shriveled ghoul limbs lay scattered around the yellowed bones of skeletons. Every muscle in Maxi's body tensed up at the grim scene.

After carefully avoiding the undead's remains, Anette asked in a hushed voice, "Will this spot do?"

Maxi shook her head. "Activating the golems here...would weaken the wall's foundations. We need to be further away from the city."

Anette, eyeing the hill swarming with monsters, sighed and trudged forward. For a while, all that could be heard was the snow crunching beneath their feet and the mournful wail of the wind. Soon, they stood just a hundred kevettes from the monster army.

Maxi glanced back to gauge how far they had come before turning her attention to the monsters camped outside the barrier. The long row at the head of the undead army appeared to be made up of resurrected giant ogres and cyclopes. Their rugged bones were ashen in the bluish light of dawn, and the eye sockets in the middle of their gigantic skulls glinted eerily red.

After fearfully glancing at their blackened iron maces, Maxi turned to Anette. "I-I think we've come far enough. You can place your golem here."

"What about yours?"

"I'll secure mine over there," Maxi said, pointing northeast.

With a shrug, Anette fished out the golem figure from her bag. Leaving Gabel and two of his subordinates with Anette, Maxi moved another hundred and fifty kevettes away. It was essential to keep their golems apart to ensure their magics did not clash.

Squinting, Maxi assessed the distance and pulled out a shovel from the pack on her back. Just as she was about to start digging the frozen ground, Garrow stepped in, taking the shovel from her hands.

"Allow me, my lady."

Without waiting for a reply, he began to dig. Maxi anxiously watched him until the hole was sufficiently deep enough.

"That should do," she said.

Garrow thrust the shovel into the ground nearby while Maxi took the golem figure from her bag. Kneeling next to the hole, she unwrapped the figure and placed it inside the two-kevette pit.

She gestured to the knights and said, "Please fill it up."

The knights sprung into action, quickly covering the hole. When the ground was even again, Maxi used a small knife to prick her pinky. The cold must have numbed her hand, as she barely felt the pain.

Drawing a few drops of blood, she let them fall onto the ground, infusing her mana into the earth. A radiant web of red light spread across the frozen surface. Her eyes filled with hope. These mighty giants would now protect the city from the evil monsters.

However, no matter how long she waited, the miracle did not occur.

"Is it done?" Garrow asked with a hint of concern.

Trying not to show her embarrassment, Maxi glanced toward Anette. Her friend appeared just as flustered.

Anette rushed over, her face taut with anxiety, "What's going on?"

"I-I'm not sure myself. If we calculated everything correctly..."

Maxi glanced about in confusion. The earth was dreadfully still.

"Th-The mana imbalance may have affected the magic," she concluded dejectedly.

"So...our plan has failed?"

Maxi's face flushed with a mix of shame and frustration. She fought back the urge to cry, realizing their last hope to safeguard the city might have crumbled.

Holding back tears, her voice quivered as she said, "We should return to the city and...think of another way to -"

Right at that moment, Garrow pushed her aside. Landing in the snow, she looked up at him in shock. Her eyes widened even more when she spotted the ice spike piercing the exact spot she had been standing in. Gold sweat broke out on her back. Garrow's quick reflexes had saved her from meeting the same fate as a fish impaled by a harpoon.

Drawing his sword, Garrow bellowed, "Cast a shield!"

More ice spikes rained down, and Maxi acted swiftly, saving them from being punctured with holes. But her shield could not protect them from attacks that came from directly in front.

Screaming, Maxi doubled over in pain. Though the knights had deflected most of the ice with their swords, a few spikes embedded themselves in Maxi's shoulder and thigh.

"My lady!"

As Garrow rushed to support her, a dark shadow charged toward them. Garrow pulled her behind him and swung his sword. An ear-splitting clash of metal rang out across the field.

Maxi pulled out the ice spikes buried in her flesh and swept her eyes over the fifteen or so attackers surrounding them. Beneath their hoods, she caught glimpses of black-scaled snake heads.

How did they manage to get past the shield?

After looking around in confusion, Maxi's gaze darted to the front. To her horror, the shield had thinned out, allowing monsters to stream in.

"Goddammit!" Gabel swore under his breath.

He whirled around and unleashed blade aura on the monsters blocking their path, sending them scattering. Seizing the brief respite, the knights began running with Maxi and Anette in tow. The monsters soon gave chase.

All around her, Maxi saw sparks flying and heard steel clashing. Though she could not make sense of what was happening, it was clear the knights were desperately fending off the monsters' onslaught.

In her heightened state of panic a sudden dizziness washed over her. Glancing down, she noticed blood dripping from her right arm. She clutched her shoulder with her uninjured hand and felt the fabric soaked in blood. It occurred to her that she might even have broken bones, but she strangely felt no pain. Was all this just a nightmare?

Lost in a daze, she was forging ahead when a violent impact shook the ground. Maxi lurched and fell onto the snow.

Jerking her head up, she saw a giant undead closing in on them. The hideous, colossal skeleton wielded a hammer that must have weighed at least 10 rants (approx 350 kilograms).

Suddenly, a tower pillar of earth erupted from the ground. Maxi watched, breathless, as the pillar surged skyward before tilting forward and smashing the thirty-kevette giant to pieces.

In the aftermath of the destruction, Maxi's eyes darted to Anette. Her friend's shocked expression confirmed that she had not conjured the spell. Had it been a mage on the city wall, aiding them with a long-distance offensive spell?

As she looked to the city in a daze, the ground beneath them began to quake. Maxi clumsily staggered back. The earth pillar, which had destroyed the undead giant in the blink of an eye, swept across the ground and annihilated the monsters all at once.

Then, it dawned on her - the pillar was an arm.

As the enormous limb of dirt and rock floundered above the ground, Maxi cried out, "E-Everyone, get back!"

The knights were already dispersing to avoid the golem. The ground trembled as the golem's massive, dark red head and body rose out of the earth. She gaped in astonishment; it was far bigger than they had calculated.

"Incredible..." Garrow murmured in disbelief.

Indeed, the golem stood nearly a hundred kevettes tall, perhaps even more.

After watching it wobble to its full, towering height, Maxi abruptly came to her senses. Seeing that the dragonians were also distracted, Maxi tugged Garrow's arm.

"We must escape now!"

The knights broke into a run. Maxi and Anette did their best to keep up. Though Maxi's lungs felt close to bursting, she did not dare stop to catch her breath.

Ignoring the pain in her thighs, she pushed herself to the brink. As they neared the city gates, she hurled herself inside. Anette and the knights rushed in after her. The soldiers at the entrance quickly lowered the portcullis.

Gasping for breath on the ground, Maxi finally dared to look back, and the terrifying sight made her shutter. Their pursuers were in disarray. The golem raised a gargantuan leg and ruthlessly crushed the monsters as if they were nothing but insects.

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