"Please continue giving me details about these beasts." Chrysos asked for more information.
"From what we know so far, the beasts are undead and they are afraid of the sun. Not only that, we tried fending them off with fire and it seems that they are particularly weak against flames." Eloro told Chrysos everything he knew about them without holding any information back.
After Chrysos heard the full story, he asked if there was anyone they saw in the forests or if they knew where the beasts were hiding. "Do you know where they came from?"
"Unfortunately, we tried following them during the daytime, but we couldn't find them anywhere else. It's as if they vanished into thin air." Eloro sighed. "I'm afraid that whatever unknown power did this to us is a force that reeks of evil." Eloro held his wrinkled hand to ease his fear.
"Don't worry, I know what we're dealing with. But first I need to brew potions to defend ourselves." Chrysos then said, "Do you have a big open space where I can brew my potions without any disturbances?"
"Yes, the village has a stone house that was under construction for a while. The beast attacks delayed it from being built though." Ceron from the side, spoke after thinking for a short while.
"Excellent.. Make sure no one disturbs me during my brewing process." Chrysos reminded them.
"Don't worry sir adventurer, we'll keep everyone away from your work." Eloro nodded.
"It's Gerald. That's my name."
Eloro nodded. "Then I shall address sir Gerald by his name."
Eloro stood up from his chair and gestured to Chrysos to follow him.
They left the house and went towards the stone house. It stood up in the corner of the village, still incomplete.
Eloro pointed at the house before turning his head to Chrysos. "Sir Gerald, the stone house might not be up to your standards, but it's the best that we've got here."
"No, no, it's perfect. You can leave me alone while I finish my preparations." Gerald took out his equipment and laid it on the ground.
Eloro left the house with Ceron.
Looking back at the house, Ceron whispered to Eloro. "Father, are you sure that man can be trusted? Because it really doesn't seem that way to me."
Eloro laughed. "I trust him."
Ceron knitted his eyebrows. "Why?"
"Think about it, this quest we sent to the adventurer's guild is a very unknown quest which means, uncertain things might happen. That's why it's suspicious and not many adventurers would take this quest. I'm sure the other adventurers saw how many people failed in this quest before and decided that the risk isn't worth it at all." Eloro explained.
Ceron's expression loosened. He brought his fist down to his palm after understanding what his father just said. "Ahhh, so for this Gerald to come here, he has the confidence to take on a suspicious quest with uncertain dangers by himself, he has tricks up his sleeve."
Eloro nodded. "See? That's why you have to place some trust in him."
Meanwhile, unaware of the conversation of the two, Chrysos began brewing potions.
Chrysos chose the incomplete stone walled building instead of the wooden ones because he's planning to brew Incendiary Potions.
Undead bodies are easier to burn than living ones. Stabbing an undead wouldn't work.
Chrysos didn't have holy magic to help dispel the corrupted Divinium controlling those undead, so he needs as many Incendiary Potions as he can make to burn them down.
No matter how skilled or talented an alchemist is, he is useless without the right ingredients. That's why most alchemists stay behind the front lines and only provide aid through their potions.
Without the wealth to get the ingredients, they couldn't become true alchemists.
In a way, money is a powerful force that pushes not only alchemists, but the other paths as well.
Chrysos brewed the potions with all of his attention focused into it. He also used his limited ingredients very sparingly to get the most quantity out of them.
The flames flickered on the cauldron very dangerously. If he made a mistake, he would definitely get a burn or two.
2 Hours later…
Chrysos finished brewing the incendiary potions. He put down his equipment before exhaling.
"So that's the limit..." There are 126 Incendiary potions in small waterproof paper bags tied by a small woodenvine rope laid on the floor.
This way, when the small bags are thrown, the bags will spill out the potion inside and burn whatever it was thrown on.
It worked like mini molotov cocktails but the fire is just as, if not, more dangerous.
Chrysos took off his mask and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Working with fire type brewing ingredients was very hot to deal with. "Alright, now I have some defense against them, I guess." Chrysos stored them all carefully and called Eloro.
He wasn't sure if this was enough to defeat the undead creatures. Chrysos felt it a bit lacking if this was all he has to defeat the necromancer.
He thought deeply about this matter. "Even though I already have the experience of my old self from this world, I am unsure if they could be of any help." Chrysos sighed. "May god help us all."
"Sir, what do you need me for?" Eloro entered the unfinished stone house and saw many black marks on the stone. It's clearly caused by fire, but since Chrysos was the one brewing potions, he didn't think much of it.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned around and asked Eloro. "Tell me, how many men do you have that can help us repel the beasts tonight?" Chrysos asked with a serious tone.
"We have fifty regular villagers with swords and incomplete iron armor. As you can see, none of us in this village has a Divine Path." Eloro answered after thinking about it carefully.
Chrysos frowned.
"It's not enough.." Chrysos opened the bag of 'fire grenades' as he called it.
The moment Chrysos opened it, Eloro's curiosity rose.
"Are these the potions that you made to help us kill those beasts?" Eloro had no idea what the potions are supposed to do.
Chrysos picked one fire grenade. "These are things I'd like to call fire grenades. When you throw them on enemies, they burn in fire. It's as simple as that." Chrysos laughed and said, "Watch this."
Chrysos threw the grenade on the wall and a big fire appeared out of nowhere.
The fire reflected on Eloro's shocked eyes. His face was colored by the flame's orange warmth and glow. He didn't know that alchemy had this kind of magical ability. At that moment, he felt like he was staring at a powerful entity he couldn't possibly defeat.
He stared back at Chrysos with fear, reverence and relief. He was afraid of Chrysos' abilities and revered his amazing abilities at the same time. He also felt relieved that this man is their ally instead of their enemy.
He couldn't imagine how many lives Chrysos could've taken if he chose to become part of the corrupted forces.
"T- This... Sir Alchemist is amazing..." Eloro praised Chrysos' creation.
Chrysos laughed. "The reason we need more men is because we need more forces to help us throw these on the beasts. From what I know, they are very weak to fire." Chrysos shared his knowledge about the undead beasts. "However, how many people you can convince depends on you."
Chrysos then said, "Of course you can't just recruit anyone, they must be an adult male with no disabilities and they must be strong enough to run. Got it?"
"Yes, I'll get it done." Eloro understood what Chrysos wanted.
Eloro left Chrysos alone in the stone house.
"Now we just have to wait for the night.."
Shing!
Chrysos looked outside the window and slowly narrowed his eyes. He could've sworn he saw something flickering in the distance.
"That guy probably knows about me now.." He muttered to himself.
…
A few hours later…
Eloro managed to convince fifty people to join the defense against the beasts. Chrysos explained how the fire grenades worked and taught them his plan to attack the beasts without getting injured or caught.
"Listen up, all of you will be given two incendiary potions only. The rest will be given to the main forces just in case something goes wrong. You will be the main attacking force of this night. Make sure not to waste them because you only have two of them." Chrysos then warned them. "Remember not to trip or open these bags because once they get exposed to air for six seconds, they will burn immediately. Make sure not to be too curious or else this will cost you your life. Have I made my statement clear?"
Everyone nodded silently.
"Any questions?" Chrysos looked around.
"Will these actually work against the beasts?" One man raised his doubts.
"Yes, if you don't believe me. Then watch this." Chrysos grabbed one incendiary potion and threw it on the grass nearby.
Tsik!
Raging fire ignited from the grenade. Everyone except Chrysos took a step back because of how terrifying the effects of the potion was for them. And their fears increased when they realized how dangerous these grenades were.
Chrysos saw some hesitant faces and reassured them. "As long as you're careful, you'll be fine. Remember, you're fighting for your families and friends. If you survive this, you'll be serving your village and giving them a chance to sleep soundly." Chrysos unsheathed his sword.
"I know some of you are scared, but I'll be fighting with all of you. I'm not going to leave all of you behind, but should do the same for all of you here." Chrysos looked around him.
Everyone looked at each other and understood each other's feelings.
"We'll fight with you sir.."
"I'll give it my all."
"Me too."
...
Everyone looked at Chrysos with determined eyes.
Chrysos felt great being looked at as a hero of some sort. Back on earth, words like these weren't usually genuine when someone shows their willingness. There were either strings attached to it or an underlying meaning.
But here, he knew that these people believed in him. This gave him the determination that everyone was having alongside him.
They waited for night time which marks the beginning of the beast attack.
When darkness soon covered the lands, they knew it was going to start.
Purple eyes appeared from the forest. They encircled everyone and slowly moved towards the village. Everyone inside their houses were afraid that they would be the next one to lose their lives this night.
When the beasts finally came out to attack, the battle began.
The armed villagers went ahead as the forefront and fought the beasts to defend the village.
...
"Sir Gerald, should we tell them to attack now?" Ceron looked at Chrysos beside him.
"No, the beasts must get in the range of the grenades first." Chrysos shook his head.
"Alright, I'll give the signal when you say so.." Ceron looked around warily.
The grenade teams were hiding under piles of grass. The moment Ceron gave the command, they would appear from their hiding spots and start throwing the grenades. Next, they will run to the village wall and protect everyone in a tight defensive circle.
...
Chrysos saw that the beasts were moving very carefully. It seems like the Necromancer knew that there was a trap.
"Remember to tell them to attack when they get close alright?" Chrysos ran outside.
"Wait.. Sir Gerald, what are you doing?" Ceron was shocked. Why did Chrysos abandon his spot in such a crucial time?
"I'll probe them into attacking by getting rid of their numbers. It seems like they already knew about our plan." Chrysos then ran even faster. "Just make sure to follow what I told you!"
Ceron took a deep breath. "Okay, just follow what he said, and it'll be fine, it'll be fine, I'm sure." Ceron was getting more and more anxious as he tried to calm himself down.
...
Chrysos approached a dead sheep. Its organs were falling off its exposed ribcage but it doesn't seem to mind. Chrysos unsheathed his Alizuite sword and shouted. "Let's dance, my little devil."
Bah!
The sheep ran towards him at uncanny speeds.
Chrysos stood his ground and used his swiftness ability to dodge to the right. A light-aqua magic circle filled with mystical symbols appeared in his joints and limbs before fading. However, he felt much faster than before.
He then slashed the sheep but it didn't do that much damage.
"Yep, definitely undead." Chrysos confirmed this fact.
"RAAGGHH!" The sheep somehow made a terrifying distorted scream with its damaged vocal cords. The sheep lunged at him again.
Chrysos took a step back and moved to the left. With the sheep's terrible mobility, he always managed to hit it everytime he dodged.
However, no matter how many times he slashed and cut the sheep, it didn't even slow down by a bit. He knew that if he kept this up, he'd get tired before he even kills this thing. So he knew that needed to do something different.
"It's time to test this out.." Chrysos injected fire Divinious to his Alizuite sword. As a magical material, it can be considered as an outlet of Divinious energy.
So, the moment Chrysos drove his fire Divinious into the sword, it burst into flames.
"And it works out great.." Chrysos was satisfied with the results. However, the rate of his Divinious consumption is too big for him to keep it burning for too long. He had to finish this beast as fast as he could.
He brandished his blade and the sheep burnt bit by bit.
"RAAHHH!" The sheep charged at him once more.
Chrysos didn't intend to stop. He kept dodging and swinging his sword until the sheep lost its legs and it burnt into ashes.
RaaaAaAaaahhh… The sheep let out its last squeal before it completely burnt into ashes.
Poof.
Chrysos stopped driving Divinium into the blade. He was satisfied with his performance. The Divinium consumption was 2% every minute. It's tolerable, but it cannot be prolonged.
Ceron saw this from afar and showed a confused expression. "Isn't he supposed to be an alchemist? Is this an alchemist technique that I haven't heard of before?" Ceron shook his head and threw all of those thoughts away from his head. There was a threat in their village and they needed to focus on that first.
...
The moment Chrysos killed the sheep, he felt something off. He looked at the dark forest and seemed to hear a faint sound.
Rumble…
And then suddenly, a hundred beasts of different species appeared from the forest! There were cows, boars, sheeps, chickens, goats and humans!
But they were being cloaked somehow. If it weren't for his Divinious sensitivity, he wouldn't have even noticed them until it was too late that he heard their rampaging steps.
"He went all out.." Chrysos saw this and shouted. "Grenade teams! Throw the grenades to slow them down and run back to the village!"
"Warriors! Retreat! You can't stop them! Let the grenade teams throw the fire to slow them down!" Chrysos shouted his commands.
...
Ceron heard Chrysos' command. He grabbed a horn and blew on it.
"HOOOOOOMMMMNNNN!"
The grenade teams heard the horn for attacking. Even though they were confused, they went out of their hiding spots regardless.
...
"Sir Ceron, why are we attacking so early? The beasts haven't entered the attacking radius yet." A young man holding a sword asked.
"I don't know but, sir Gerald told us to retreat. He must've found something wrong." Ceron also didn't get why Chrysos issued the command to retreat. He watched Chrysos from afar, fighting multiple beasts at once.
The warriors retreated and the grenade teams threw the fire grenades behind the warriors. Even though they killed some beasts, they didn't get why they had to attack these beasts when there were still few of them.
Little do they know, there's a bigger horde approaching.
When Chrysos saw the warriors and the grenade teams finally got back in the village, he bolted back as well.
"The necromancer cannot control that many beasts without being nearby.. If my suspicion is correct, he must be a villager in disguise.." Chrysos saw that the encirclement of the beasts fell and roughly predicted the necromancer's position.
When he got inside the village walls, he shouted. "Where's Ceron?"
"I'm here! What's the matter?" Ceron ran as fast as he could.
"There's someone controlling those beasts.. And I have a suspicion that it's one of the villagers." Chrysos whispered to Ceron.
Ceron's heart jumped. "So they knew about our plan?"
"Not only that, the mastermind must be expecting it." Chrysos knew that he couldn't make the necromancer show himself by normal means.
"But there's many people who knew the plan, who could it be in the village? We can't just interrogate everyone at this time!" Ceron felt that the situation was getting worse and worse. "But why did we retreat so suddenly? We should've saved our fire grenades, right?"
Chrysos laughed. "Look at the fire.."
Ceron watched the wall of fire surrounding the village. Aside from burning beasts, he couldn't see anything.
However, after a short while, he saw not ten, not twenty, but a hundred beasts surrounding them on all sides!
"What!? How are there so many of them?!" Ceron was shocked out of his mind. The wall of fire that he saw was a waste of resources, now became the only thing protecting them.
When everyone saw the cloaking effect on the beasts disappear, they were all scared.
How can they fight hundreds of beasts?
There's no way that they would win!
...
Eloro approached Chrysos and asked in panic. "Sir Gerald, what do we do now? When that wall of fire disappears, we're all going to die!"
"Don't panic, I have a plan." Chrysos remained calm even though the situation was looking bad.