The group is just at the edge of the forest closest to the fortress. They start looking for a path to get closer without being exposed.
Chris, Serena and the recruits disguise themselves using whatever green shrubbery they can find.
Will then points to a group of bushes a few meters away and looks to Chris for approval.
Chris nods and Will starts crawling towards the nearest bush.
Chris then follows and soon sees that Will has already headed to a patch of tall grass.
The recruits start following after Chris and Will. Over time they all creep closer to the fortress. It is a slow and careful procedure and it takes hours for them to get close enough to see the enemy forces in detail.
There are makeshift camps of different types surrounding the entire fortress and each of them has a few guards. Most of them seem bored and easy to avoid, but not all.
It would be nearly impossible to sneak into the fortress and upon failure there would be no chance of escape.
"We can't risk moving any closer.", Chris says to Will and the others.
"Yes.. There are just too many of them.", Will answers in shock of the view.
There are dozens of different beastmen camps, a couple demon hordes and even human mercenaries.
They haven't seen any dragons or flying creatures yet, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any.
"Most of the enemy forces seem to be moving on foot, which is a good thing. Their army is also very big. This is of course not great, but it does mean that it would be quite inconvenient for them to approach us through the woods.
We should settle for this information and carefully retreat back to the forest.", Chris says.
Chris and his group of recruits carefully made their way back to the forest and they all managed to avoid detection.
Suddenly, they see a figure standing just a few meters away from them.
"It's an enemy forest beastman. Get him before he alerts anyone!", Chris shouts and everyone jolts to action. Serena does her best to keep up, but quickly falls behind.
The beastman is startled and starts running into the forest at an extreme pace. Chris is the only who can keep up and the recruits are quickly falling further and further behind.
Chris stops briefly to summon a barrage of bullets and sends them forth in a wide arc.
The beastman senses the great threat and quickly jumps on the ground. The bullets miss him.
The beastman quickly gets up again and continues running with Chris on his tail. The recruits manages to catch up a bit, but they are still too far away to be of any help.
Chris decides to take a risk and stops for a bit longer to summon a massive volley of arrows in the sky. He then rains them down on the enemy.
The beastman tries to dodge, but there is just no way out against such a large and dense volley. It is hit by multiple arrows and fall lifeless to the ground.
Chris runs up to the body and confirms that it is dead.
A few moments later, the recruits manage to arrive.
"That was a very fast and nimble creature. It seemed particularly at home here in the forest. We should expect the enemy to send a detachment of troops through the forest after all.", Chris says with a worried expression.
"We should be safe now and you can all rest for a while.", Chris added.
Everyone nodded and sat down to rest after the tiring chase.
After a short rest, Chris started talking again. "I have formed a plan. Listen closely everyone."
"We will start by building traps outside of the forest on their most likely path. We will all help out with this, except for two of you who will go back and look out for when the enemy starts to move.", he starts.
"When you come back and notify us of their approach, you will all return to the village through the forest and notify them. I will stay back in the forest to see if a detachment is sent through there and try to eliminate them before returning.", he continues.
"Any questions?", he finishes.
"Who will go and monitor the enemy?", Will asks.
"You can go and bring Ned.", Chris answers.
"Yes, lord. We will head out right away.", Will answers and grabs his gear. Ned follows right behind.
"The rest of us will start digging traps and carving wooden spikes. Any other questions before we start?", Chris adds after Will and Ned have left.
"No, lord!", all the recruits answer in unison and immediately spring to action.
...
Will and Ned return thirteen days later. "The enemy army has started moving! There is also a large number of beastmen approaching through the woods. They should be here in just a few hours.", they report to Chris as soon as they arrive.
"Stick to the plan. You will go back to the village while I deal with the beastmen.", Chris orders. At first, Serena is hesitant to leave him alone. However, she soon realizes that he is terrifyingly powerful and decides to follow his order without objections. "He should be okay. What could stop him?", she thinks trying to calm herself.