The year 1206, fifth moon, in the second week, The Heart kingdom got attacked on its border from a fifth-grade monster horde, Corrupted Mother Treant.
Not only the Heart kingdom but also a few other kingdoms that have borders closer to the monster habitat got attacked by various fifth-grade monsters.
During this week, countless people die defending against the attack of fifth-grade monsters. Unlike the Heart kingdom that was lucky to have duke Victory near the border during the attack, the other kingdoms need to defend themselves until their six-grade commander arrives.
Sixth-grade combatants are rare since evolving into sixth grade is challenging and could cost their lives if they failed. Because of this, there are only a few of them inside a kingdom.
If the fifth grade's rarity is like having limited edition items, the rarity for sixth-grade combatants is like winning a lottery. Because of this, all the sixth-grade people are very busy and rarely appear on the border unless serious situations arise like this.
However, even after the arrival of sixth grade, the battle didn't end just like that. Unlike the usual monster hordes that keep attacking without regard to their lives, all the monster hordes seem to fall back when overwhelmed by the sixth-grade commanders.
From the history of ancient times, there is only one reason that monsters show such behavior. It's the birth sign of a sixth-grade monster, also known as Monster Overlord.
The Monster Overlord can command almost all the monsters below its grade. Although their intelligence cannot compare to the civilian race, they are still pretty clever.
In ancient times, when a monster overlord was born, more than half of civilization's race habitat was destroyed. Even a few of the seven-grade people fall under its might.
Although there is a difference between the seventh-grade combatant and sixth-grade monsters, the latter has more tenacity and power of destruction in battle.
Now, all the kingdom is aware and prepared to fight against this sixth-grade Monster Overlord. But, they need to know what kind of sixth-grade monster they fight.
Like all the other kinds of monsters, not all sixth-grade monsters are warmonger or battle-oriented. Since ancient times, there are many records about sixth-grade monsters.
Few sixth-grade Monsters Overlords are still alive until now but never leave their territory, such as Kraken that could only live in the deepest part of the sea.
Another example is Avalon, a gigantic monster that only wakes up for a while before sleeping for a hundred years.
There is also a Monster Overlord called Sin Crow, a giant crow monster that only lives a few hundred kilometers above the sky. Dozens of fifth-grade monsters always accompany all these sixth-grade monsters, which makes them more dangerous.
Fortunately, all these Monster Overlords are never bothering Civilian Society and stay inside their territory. However, they are still aggressive towards any civilian race that uses mana.
The civilization race hopes that this newborn sixth-grade Monster Overlord is also a territorial monster that will settle down after some time.
However, they still need to prepare for the worst and maybe kill the sixth-grade monster. Therefore, all the civilian nations decided to gather around and discuss their following action in the Roundel, the capital city of the Elven Race.
The Elven race is famous for its neutrality against all the civilization races. As civilization grows, there is always a dispute between one race and another.
Elven races always stay neutral without taking any side and often become the third parties to intermediate the dispute. If it is not because of their lack of worldly desire, they may become the leader of all other races.
As a result, their capital city becomes the best place to hold meetings for various races. Heart kingdom is one of the strongest kingdoms of the human race and needs to participate in this meeting.
Although the meeting will begin in a week, the nobles inside the kingdom are on alert as they all want to contribute by participating in this important meeting.
But, the spot for the people participating in this meeting is limited. Therefore, they gather inside the capital while plotting against each other to convince who will accompany the king during this international meeting.
All of these happen days after the attack from the Corrupted mother treant. While the other noble inside the kingdom is plotting one with the others, Duke victory stands on the wall of the Black Fortress.
His left shoulder is wrapped in a full bandage from his previous fight. Because of the nature of chaotic mana called miasma, his wound is still not healing despite getting treatment from the high-grade healer.
To this day, Miasma wounds are never appropriately healed and often leave a huge scar for the rest of their lives, especially if it comes from high-grade monsters such as Corrupted Mother Treant.
Looking at the calm black forest in the far, The duke could only be sighing, "Haaa"
"You are too young to keep signing like that, Brat" Said the dwarf general beside him casually.
Although the general dwarf word is quite rude, the duke himself didn't mind it and only laughed at it.
"Hahaha.. Only you could say something like that to me, Borkins." Replied the duke in a chuckle.
"Kakaka… If I say you are a brat means you are still a brat. Just leave the complicated things to me. You are still too green to overthink this stuff." laughed Dwarf General.
"Well, that's true, considering your age is twice older than me. Still, I can't help worrying about what if there is another attack. Moreover, my left shoulder is still not healed yet. There is also a call in the capital…." rambled the Duke.
"Puff… Hahaha… That's so like you, Jacob. You are too kind." Said the general while smoking his pipe.
"Am I too kind?" doubted the duke.
But, the general didn't answer him while saying, "Don't worry about this side. Rather you should hurry to finish your job in the capital, then come back here."
"Borkins…" said Duke Jacob.
"Shushhh… Leave this to me. While I stand here, I will not let any single monster pass this fortress." replied the general in a serious tone.
Looking at the resolution of the stubborn general, the duke could only sigh helplessly, "Haa.. Alright, then. I will leave the fortress to you."
"Yeah.. Yeah.. Just go away. Besides, I never like those spoiled brats in the capital. I would rather smash these monsters than arguing with them." added the dwarf general.
"Well, That's so like you. Alright, I am off." as the duke created a fire dragon before riding it.
"Tch… Show off!! I hope you will fall later." curse the dwarf.
"See ya, Borkins." while the duke flies away.