Two days later, everything was ready.
All preparations for the village's defense had been completed. Traps were carefully placed both outside the village and inside it.
Ursus and Vost really knew their stuff. At first I thought they'd just dig a couple of pits… but no.
Quicksand patches, invisible threads, magical traps — I didn't even understand how half of them worked at first.
I mostly just watched the process while "Observer" did its thing — and I ended up gaining a couple of new skills for myself.
We surrounded the village itself with wooden stakes.
Outside the walls we placed plenty more, disguising them as bushes. If the riders tried to charge straight through — that would be their own fault.
We also built a small wall around the perimeter. Observation towers and archer positions were placed on top of it. Narrow openings were left in the walls so people could shoot from cover as well.
Garen managed to gather about a hundred volunteers.
For a village, that wasn't bad at all. Considering many of them were ordinary villagers with no combat experience, the result was still impressive.
Now we had at least some chance.
We hoped to weaken the Reapers before they even reached the village. If everything went according to plan, some of them would fall into traps before getting anywhere near the walls.
If anyone still managed to break inside — other "surprises" were waiting for them. Pits with spikes, for example, and a ditch filled with stakes near the entrance.
And if even that didn't work…
Then the fight would move to the central square.
And there we'd have to deal with them directly.
Me, Garen, Zorru, and a few others — the ones truly ready to fight to the end.
.
.
.
When evening began to fall, the scouts returned to the village. Almost immediately after that, the watchers in the towers blew their horns, and a low rumble spread through the entire village.
That meant only one thing — the Reapers were approaching.
I ordered everyone to take their positions along the walls. People lined up, pressing themselves against cover and peering through the narrow openings in the fortifications.
If anyone spotted movement, they were allowed to fire without warning.
Before this, we had agreed that I would go out to meet the Reapers and try to talk to them, hoping to keep them from entering the village.
Of course, I wasn't going to walk openly toward fifty armed men. Maybe I could deal with some of them… but that would be stupid.
I didn't know their levels, and walking in blind would almost certainly end badly.
So Lucia offered a solution.
She could create a temporary body for me — a shell into which I could transfer my consciousness. My real body would remain safely inside the village.
If something went wrong, I'd simply lose the shell… and that would be it.
A very useful ability.
I wouldn't mind getting one like that myself.
After some time, howling came from the forest, followed by the rapid pounding of footsteps. Judging by the sound, they weren't even trying to hide.
The people along the walls fell silent and stared into the darkness.
Without hesitation, I transferred my consciousness into the prepared shell. We had practiced this before the battle, so I was already used to it — there were no strange sensations.
After confirming that the body obeyed me, I headed toward the village gate.
Stepping outside, I stopped and looked toward the forest where the sounds were coming from. I didn't have to wait long.
We met about a hundred meters from the village, where no traps had been placed yet.
Moments later riders emerged from behind the trees and bushes — mounted on wolves, wearing leather armor and holding sickles.
Now I was starting to understand why they were called Reapers.
When they noticed me, they stopped about twenty meters away.
A man riding a wolf moved forward, clearly different from the rest.
He was probably their leader.
For a while, we simply stared at each other.
Then the one in front finally spoke.
— And who the hell are you?
I shrugged and answered briefly.
— Rein.
He looked at me for a moment, as if analyzing. It seemed he had decided I was just some lost kid wandering the forest and looking for the way home.
— Rein…?— he tilted his head slightly. — Then get out of the way, Rein, before it's too late.
I snorted and couldn't help smiling.
— Why would I? You'd better turn around and leave.
For a second he simply stared at me, like he hadn't quite understood what I just said.
— What did you say, runt?
— I said get lost while you still have the chance.
A short pause.
And then…
The entire group burst into loud laughter.
Someone even leaned forward in the saddle, clutching their stomach.
Apparently no one had ever said something like that to them before.
And why would they.
Fifty armed men riding those beasts, confident, used to people either staying silent… or running away.
And here one person stood in front of them, making demands.
To them, it probably looked like a joke.
And a pretty good one at that.
When the laughter died down, the leader wiped tears from the corner of his eyes and smirked.
— Well, Rein… for your "joke," I promise we won't kill you. Now get lost while you still can.
Are these guys actually this stupid, or are they pretending?
He turned away from me, said something to his men, and they started laughing again.
They reminded me of school bullies from my old world. They also liked to laugh at the weak and never took them seriously.
I sighed.
— What makes you think I'm joking?
He turned his head back, as if he had just remembered I was still standing there.
— Huh? You're still here?
For a second I froze.
Are they really idiots?
— Do you seriously think I was joking?
Now he looked at me like I was the idiot.
Compared to them, I probably looked like some little bug you could crush without anyone noticing.
But there's one simple rule.
Never judge a book by its cover.
— I was going to spare you, but you…
I stopped listening.
I simply raised my hand.
Dark flame began gathering above my palm almost immediately. At first it was small and compressed, but every second it grew larger, crackling with sparks of lightning. Fire and electricity intertwined, forming a dense, unstable sphere.
It quickly increased in size.
This was a technique Elaris and I had developed just a few days ago. Combining dark flame and lightning produced one simple result — a powerful mass of energy capable of blasting apart a small rock formation.
Though right now there was one problem.
I wasn't in my real body, but inside the artificial shell.
Because of that, the output power was noticeably weaker.
But honestly… it should still be enough to scare them. And if I got lucky — maybe injure a few as well.
I flicked my hand forward and said briefly:
— Catch.
The sphere shot from my palm with a dull whistle and flew toward them.
The leader didn't even understand what was happening at first.
— What the hell…
He didn't finish the sentence before the flames swallowed him and part of his squad.
I stood there watching as the fire slowly faded.
When it disappeared, the scene became clear: the leader and several of his men had serious burns on their faces and arms. Some had even been thrown from their saddles and were rolling on the ground. The wolves' fur had been singed.
I turned around and immediately ran toward the village.
— You little bastard! After him! Catch him and bring him to me!
At his command the riders charged after me, crashing through bushes and trees.
But they had no chance of catching me.
I simply dismissed the shell.
The body crumbled into dust — as if I had never been there.
— What the…
— Where did he go?!
They clearly had no idea what had happened, but they didn't stop. They kept rushing forward.
And that was a mistake.
Very soon they would meet our first "traps" at full speed.
.
.
.
Back in my real body, I opened my eyes and immediately felt someone playing with my hair.
I was lying with my head on Lucia's lap, and she — clearly lost in thought — was calmly running her fingers through my hair as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
When she noticed that I was awake and looking at her, she quickly pulled her hand away like she had been caught doing something embarrassing.
— Oh… sorry.
I lifted myself up and sat, looking around. We were in the elder's office, which had temporarily become my command room.
Everyone was watching me with obvious curiosity, waiting to hear what I would say. From Zorru's expression it was especially clear that he was dying to know how it went — though for some reason he stayed silent.
— Well?
As usual, Garen didn't wait and asked first.
I told them I hadn't managed to convince the Reapers to leave, but I had provoked them into chasing me. Most likely they had already encountered the "thorn bushes" — the name we gave to the stakes disguised as bushes.
— Hya-ha-ha… Well done!
Garen laughed and slapped my shoulder hard.
— What idiots… — he grinned. — Fell for it like kids.
Zorru and the other tieflings looked noticeably more encouraged — the tension that had filled the air earlier eased a little.
Lucia couldn't help quietly adding:
— As expected… from our lord.
Huh? What is she talking about? We barely know each other.
— Exactly, — Aria calmly agreed.
Zorru simply nodded as if it were completely obvious.
I looked from one of them to the other.
Did they plan this together?
Or is it some kind of racial trait?
Yeah… that must be it.
I decided not to dwell on their words and turned to Garen, remembering something more important.
— Garen, how long until your son arrives?
He was still grinning, clearly replaying the recent situation with the Reapers in his head, but after my question he focused again.
— Ah, Kai… — he thought for a moment. — Most likely by tomorrow morning. Worst case, by noon.
So we couldn't rely on outside help.
We'd have to handle this ourselves.
I nodded at Garen's answer and stood up, heading toward the door.
— Well then, no point delaying.
Opening the door, I stepped aside to let the others pass. Garen went out first, followed by Aria and the rest.
But two of them stayed behind.
I turned around.
Zorru and Lucia stood there, not moving, as if waiting for the right moment.
— What's wrong? Changed your minds?
They exchanged glances, nodded to each other, and looked back at me.
— No… — Zorru began. — We wanted to say something.
Hm? About what?
Lucia stepped forward.
— Lord Rein… if we survive this night and win… — she hesitated for a moment but finished, — we swear to serve you.
I frowned.
— Serve me… what do you mean?
— We'll be loyal to you. For the rest of our lives, — Zorru added calmly.
For several seconds I just stared at them, trying to figure out if they were serious.
Seeing my confusion, they exchanged a glance, and Lucia added calmly:
— It's our way of repaying you. You saved us in the forest. If not for you… we wouldn't be here.
I exhaled and ran a hand over the back of my head.
Helping in battle was one thing. Standing beside me, following orders… that was normal.
But this… voluntarily, for life…
I froze for a second, then quickly pulled myself together and smiled slightly.
— Let's survive this night first, — I said, opening the door wider. — Then we'll figure it out.
They exchanged glances again — this time with faint smiles — and silently nodded before walking out the door.
I lingered for a moment, watching them go, then stepped out as well and headed toward the square.