A Crisis has risen without Shino knowing and it is a battle that has a chance of going to be one sided massacre even if Shino bring out his true strength.
A day after Sarah announce the crisis to Shino and the Hero party, Sarah is currently on the meeting room in the Soldier barracks receiving the news
"That is way too many, combining the adventurers and soldiers in this city, they will be about 5,000, that is not enough to fend 100,000 undead" Sarah angrily said at the meeting
"I know but the King is sending 10,000 soldiers now, and they will reach the city after 4 days, giving us 3 days to build the medical station for those who will be injured and a second wall to protect the city" Richard Ishin explained
"But that is only 10% of the enemy's forces, giving us 15,000 to fend them off, fighting an undead is not easy especially at that size, the only way to kill an undead is either to destroy the mana crystal in their chest or to shower them with holy water" Sarah debated
"Sarah is right captain Richard, why is the castle sending far too few soldiers anyway?" Averio asked as he crossed his arms
"The Castle divided the soldiers by batch so the march will be faster otherwise they will not reach the city in time, the first to arrive are the first platoon, Alpha, and will assist on defending and building the things needed to fend them off. A reinforcement called Bravo will start the march as the Alpha arrive and they will reach the city the second day of the battle, they say Prince Aarone and Princess Azalea are part of that platoon, to give a moral boost to our soldiers, the next batch will be a full force of 50,000 but they will reach the city after a week" Richard explained
Sarah slam the table and angrily shouted, "But still doesn't that mean that we will fight for more than a week? Our soldier's moral will plummet if that is the case"
Richard Ishin stood up and bow in front of Sarah and said, "But there is no better way Guild Master Sarah that is why I'm here, I will fight alongside the brave people till my last breath, so please until the 3rd platoon arrive, for the people, help me protect them"
Sarah just sigh and said, "How about you Averio? What are you going to do?"
"I'll evacuate the citizen that is near the south gate, since that is the place where the battle will happen, I'll make sure that you guys can fight the battle without worrying about the civilians" Averio replied
"You change a lot since that Kitsune guy teach you a lesson huh? Well it is a good change of life, I'm proud of you Averio" Sarah said
"Anyway, I heard that the hero party are here in the Lafoes so they will help us, I'll round up as many people as I can, but don't expect anything Richard" Sarah added
They dismissed the meeting and plan to meet after 4 days to the south gate were all people will gather for the battle.
Going back in the present….
Shino is shocked and said, "THAT IS FAR TOO MANY UNDEAD!! What is this zombie apocalypse theme?!"
"Zombie Apoc-a-what?! What are you saying?!" Natalia confusedly asked
Shino stood up and said, "Just forget it, Guild Master, does that mean we need to evacuate? I'm not really a fan of dead walking around so I'll pack my things and evacuate, see yah"
Shino was about to move but stopped by Sarah's glare and immediately sat down and behave
"You won't go anywhere Shino, you are part of the Hero Party so you will join this fight" Sarah said with a smirk
"Ahh… So I got baited by joining the hero party so I can't deny this, good one Guild master" Shino said with a depress face
Hiroko then smile and said, "But Shino since you are a Healer you will probably be assigned to help those who are injured so there is no need to think you will join the fight"
Shino laugh and said, "Ahahaha, yeah I guess I won't huh? Right Guild Master?"
"No you won't, you will join the fight since you know how to wield your sword, so there is no escape for you" Sarah said with a glare at Shino
With a depressed face Shino said silently, "yeah.. I figured"
Murakami then raise her hand and said, "Shino-san, do you hate fighting the undead?"
Shino was confused and just asked, "Ehh?"
Natalia then replied, "Shino is one of those people who hate conflict between people, so it is not that Shino hate the undead but the fact that it is a conflict between to faction"
Crocus then said, "So war is not your thing huh? But conflict is not avoidable as long as you are alive you know?"
Shino just smile and said, "Well, I know that, but I actually prefer to talk it out rather than clashing it out, I just feel like we can still talk this battle out since we don't yet hear their reason why they are doing this"
Hiroko was awed by Shino's comment and said, "You are a kind one Shino-san, and I feel like you are the kind of person that stood still even if a sword is pointed towards you"
"Well, conflict is just a misunderstanding of both side, so if that misunderstanding is resolve then blood is not required to spill" Shino replied
A dead silence has filled the room and somewhat, Hiroko, Crocus, and Murakami understand how Shino feel for this upcoming battle.
Shino break the silence by clapping and said, "Anyway guild master, what is the plan for this battle?"
Sarah just smiled and bring out a map and explained, "The battle will happen at the flatlands beside of the Forsaken Forest, so preparation for the battle will happen at the south gate wall, we will built a second wall there and inside is where we are going to put the Medical Tents and outside is the camp. About 5 magic cannons will be place at the first wall for extra defence, 10 Catapults are also going to be place outside the wall in line so we can reduce their numbers. The plan is when the enemies are seen in the horizon Hiroko will lead the entire group and will be the one to give a signal, so Hiroko cast a skill of yours that can be seen everywhere. There is one way to win the battle and that is to target the Necromancers, well that is if we can spot a Necromancers"
Shino then said to himself, "The report says A dozen of Necromancers, saying the undead are 100,000 and a single Necromancers can control 10,000 undead, then that will leave Two Necromancer who has no army to control, if that is the case then there is probably a surprise"
Shino then asked, "Guild Master, to the south there is the Anglus City, are they hit by them?"
Sarah replied, "The Anglus City reported no accident about the undead army, so we think that they appear somewhere between the Anglus and Lafoes City. Well they are actually spotted coming out the Spruce forest which is not far from the Anglus so we think that they are targeting the Lafoes for some reason"
Hiroko then said, "The Spruce Forest? But inside that forest where the Ikigai Clan lives"
"You mean the Oni Clan that cut their ties to the demon king and made a pact with us? We are currently investigating it, but we know that none of them are Necromancers, after all they are proud of their swordsmanship, so thinking they betrayed us is unthinkable" Sarah replied
Shino think and said, "Do you think it is the Demon attack that happen a year ago?"
"It is a possibility" Natalia said while biting her nails
Seeing Natalia biting her nails Shino scolded her, "Yah! You need to stop that habit of yours"
"I can't help it, this is far too intense for me to coup" Natalia replied
Sarah cough and said, "Anyway, like Natalia said that is a possibility, after all gathering that many undead will take a year considering they already have some in control"
As Sarah explained further Shino think and said to himself, "Necromancer, they have the ability to control the dead but surprisingly enough they are not like the one I read from manga, they actually dig the corpse of the undead and placed a mana crystal inside them, so gathering that many corpse and mana crystal is a large task, we can assume they have backing but from whom? The demon king?"
Shino interrupted Sarah and asked, "Question, Does this army of undead fully equip?"
Sarah replied, "Yes… Bows, Armour, swords, Shields they are like a real army from other countries that is marching towards us"
"That is why this is really dire to us, this battle might end up a one sided massacre, if we don't draw our cards properly" Sarah Added
Fear is in the air and they all feel unease to this situation, putting a strategy and discussing everything Shino then said, "I have a plan, but I'll need a ton of Holy Water"
Confused why Shino asked it, Sarah rejected Shino's proposal, and days has passed and the first platoon, Alpha, has arrive at the city.