Lux immediately realized how proficient the Village's Guards were in defending Leaf Village.
Clearly, this was not the first time that a monster outbreak had happened, and all of them were veterans in this field.
Even so, the sheer number of Undead was still a hurdle that couldn't be overcome by experience alone. Aside from the low-tier Undead, Lux also noticed some stronger Undead mixed in the Undead Swarm that was now at the base of the village's protective walls.
"Foreigners, aim for the Skeletons and Zombies in front!" Aron ordered. "The rest, aim for the Draugrs! Kill as many as you can. Don't let them get past the walls of the village!"
The Draugr were similar to zombies, but with one clear distinction. They had blue skin and wore light-weight armor. They were stronger than the regular undead and were Rank 1 Monsters, which were equivalent to Grade D Apostles.
—--
< Draugr >
– Undead
– Rank 1 Monster
Health: 2,500 / 2,500
Mana: 400 / 400
Strength: 50
Intelligence: 20
Vitality: 50
Agility: 40
Dexterity: 40
Skills: Slash
—--
Lux knew that he was no match against these creatures, so he just focused on aiming at the Skeletons and Zombies that he could kill with two to three hits using Power Shot.
After a few minutes, bones started to pile up at the base of the protective wall. However, before Lux could even take a breather, he gasped as the undead used the piles of bones as leverage in order to climb up the village's walls, which were only three-meters tall.
Some of the undead even used each other as a ladder in order to breach their defenses.
Aron shouted one order after the other in order to stop the Undead's advance, but it was futile.
A scream that came from a little Dwarf reached Lux's ears, so he immediately turned to his left side to see what was happening.
A Draugur had managed to climb up the ramparts and pierce one of the Town's Guard's chest with its sword.
Aron hurriedly charged at the Draugr and sent it flying back towards the Undead Army with one powerful strike of his Mithril Hammer.
The Town's Guard that had been stabbed got lucky because the sword didn't pierce too deep due to his armor.
The Half-Elf thought that the guard would immediately retreat to tend to his injuries, but to his surprise, the Dwarf kept on fighting.
Lux could clearly see that the Dwarf was in pain, but he was still forcing himself to swing his mace at the Undead who were trying to breach the walls, with one hand pressing over his bloody chest.
"Someone heal him!" Lux shouted as Diablo parried a sword strike that Lux wasn't able to block due to his concern over the Guard's condition.
The red-headed boy knew that although this world was similar to that of a game, it was not.
The Elysians were not NPC's, but real breathing people. Eriol had hammered this fact into his head even before he had come to this strange new world, in the hope that Lux would not treat everything as if he was just playing an RPG game.
"Just focus on what's in front of you, boy!" one of the Town's Guards who was fighting near Lux shouted as he smashed his shield on a zombie's head. "He'll be fine after a drink or two later, so keep swinging ye damn sword at these bastards!"
Lux was about to argue, but the skeleton sword that was about to slash his face prevented him from doing so. Raising his shield, Dawne, Lux blocked the attack, and used Shield Bash to smash the Skeleton's head to bits.
'How are we supposed to survive for an hour like this?!' Lux gritted his teeth as he and Diablo slashed at the monsters that had now managed to climb up the ramparts to engage them in close combat.
Everyone was fighting with everything they had. The Town's Guards, Colette and her party members, as well as the other Dwarves who were just basically little children.
Lux ordered his Forest Wolf to grab a fallen Dwarf child from the ramparts and ordered it to take her to the village to get some treatment. Although there were over a dozen clerics who could heal the injured, there were just too many people for them to attend to, and had no time to heal everyone.
For their part, the Town's Guards did their best to protect the children who were fighting alongside them. These caused them to suffer grave injuries, while others died, alongside the children they were protecting, due to being ganged up by the Undead who had now taken a foothold in their first line of defense.
Colette and Matty were being pushed back by the growing number of zombies, while the Town's Guard focused their attention on the Draugr's who posed a threat to the Foreigners who were only a match for the low-tier undead.
Seeing that they would only suffer more casualties in this manner, Aron had no choice but to order everyone to retreat and use guerilla tactics against the Undead.
"What about the villagers?" Colette asked one of the Town's Guards that was helping them retreat from the frontlines. "Did they already evacuate?"
"Aye, lass," the Town's Guard replied. "They are now in the underground shelter. Relax, they're far safer there than we are out here. So, hurry along and don't let the Undead bite you!"
The minutes passed by as the Defenders and the Undead clashed against each other. Some of the villagers hadn't escaped to the shelter and were fighting against the Undead, by shooting crossbows at them from their rooftops.
Others were on the ground and swinging their axes left and right in order to protect their families who were currently hiding in the shelter.
Lux was doing his best to help transport the injured Dwarves at the rear of the battlefield, where the Clerics were currently treating everyone.
At times, only the Forest Wolf or Lux would carry the Dwarves because he was afraid that the Defenders would kill Diablo by mistake.
Although Diablo was a pure white Skeleton that stood out from the other Undead, it didn't change the fact that it was still an Undead. To prevent misunderstandings, he ordered his Named Creature to fight alongside Colette's party and protect them to the best of its abilities.
Diablo had already died three times in an effort to protect Lux and the other Dwarves from the swarm of Undead that showed no signs of stopping their rampage.
As Lux was carrying a Dwarf boy who had been stabbed by a Skeleton Warrior, he found himself blocked by a Draugr that had just killed one of the Town's Guards. Although the Rank 1 Monster was missing an arm, it was still a monster that was stronger than the Half-Elf, which made Lux's face turn pale.
If he dropped the Dwarf boy he was carrying and escaped, he would probably be able to save his life, but the boy would surely lose his life in the process.
Just as Lux was madly thinking of what to do next, the Draugr's body exploded in a fiery blaze, leaving only a blue Beast Core behind.
"Go, Child," a familiar voice reached Lux's ears. "I'll buy you some time."
Lux gazed at the old lady Dwarf who was holding a wooden cane in her hand in disbelief.
"G-Grandma Annie?" Lux asked.
"Yes. it is me," Annie said as she opened a small bottle and poured half of its contents on the boy's wound, before letting him drink the rest.
A few seconds later, the boy's complexion became better, and he was able to stand on his feet, albeit shakily.
"Go. I'll take it from here," Annie ordered as she tapped the end of her cane on the ground. Several small orbs of fire circled around her body as she faced off against the a dozen Skeletons that were headed in their direction.
"Go to the back of the village," Lux said to the Dwarf boy who was still not recovered enough to continue fighting. "I'll stay here with Grandma."
The Dwarf boy nodded as he fled from their location.
"Silly boy, I told you to go, didn't I?" Annie said as she pointed her finger at the approaching Skeletons. "Fire Bullet Barrage!"
The small orbs of fire that circled Annie's body shot out at the dozen approaching Skeleton Warriors, destroying their heads completely.
The Skeleton bodies collapsed in a heap of bones, never to stand up again.
"You've done well, Child," Annie picked up the blue beast core that the Draugr had dropped after dying and gave it to Lux. "Here. Take this as a reward for trying your best to help everyone."
Lux stared at the blue beast core wanting to refuse the old lady's goodwill, but Annie's expression wouldn't take no for an answer.
"I know that you don't intend to stop, so just use that Beast Core to get a little stronger," Annie said softly. "As you can see, today is going to be a busy night. I might not be able to open my shop in the morning because of these trespassers."
The old lady gave the Undead that was swarming her village a hateful gaze.
"Catch up to me after you're done," Annie ordered. "If you get lucky, we might be able to get more Beast Cores from the Draugr's we come across along the way."
As Annie walked away, Lux stared at the Beast Core in his hand before making a decision.
—-
< Ding! >
< Do you wish to consume the Rank 1 Beast Core? >
< Yes / No >
"Yes," Lux said with determination. He knew that Grandma Annie was right. If he wanted to help more people, he needed to become stronger first.