Ep. 592 The Search for a New Heart Part 5 (Patreon)

They are fighting well and supporting the villagers as much as they can. From what I have seen there are fifty or so of my soldiers and about a hundred villagers fighting currently. The humans only outnumbered them about two to one so it is no surprise they held on so long.

For humans to overwhelm beastmen they would need about a four to one advantage. Now that I am up close to them I realize that the humans are not well equipped, probably mercenaries. At this point I am guessing the slavers hired the mercs in the empire and then crossed the border to raid.

Not a single one is going to make it back alive, I am going to make sure of it. Their disappearance is going to be my message to both the slavers and the mercenaries. While I would like to cross the border and burn whatever base they came from, I don't have the time.

Technically I don't have a time limit, but the longer I leave Myria frozen the angrier she is going to be. If I leave her frozen for too long I am never going to hear the end of it. Even with my mind wandering, I am still killing mercs by the dozens.

Of course, Lizzy is doing much better than me, she has already killed her way around to the west side of the village. Asuna is moving around firing icicles when she can find a clean shot. That is fine, she is in her first fight and didn't freeze up, it is good experience for her.

Now if I can just keep her from getting overconfident she will be in good shape. Although, she could definitely use some practice on her aim, but that is easy enough. Asuna ends up on my side of the village, since Lizzy has already wiped out the humans on her side.

The humans quickly realize how outmatched they are and start trying to retreat. However, it is far too late for that, they aren't fast enough to break away from Lizzy and I. If anything, them trying to run away just makes them easier to kill.

Those that move away from the village simply provide clean shots for Asuna to practice her aim. At first the mercs were decently organized and fighting together, but now they are panicking. They are getting in each other's way and even knocking each other down.

This just makes the fight even more one sided, enough that I feel a little bad for the humans. That of course doesn't slow down my swings with Blitz at all, they attacked my people. Just because I feel bad doesn't mean that I am going to show them any mercy.

Well that isn't entirely true, a quick death is a form of mercy, one they don't deserve. However, capturing all of them so that I can give them the death they deserve would take too long. If I can capture some of the slavers, they would be a different story altogether.

'Lizzy, if you can, capture some of the slavers!'

Lizzy 'Okay, I will try!'

It is a good thing I thought of that before Lizzy reached them, otherwise they would already be dead. She is definitely going to reach them before I do, she is the better killer at the moment. However, I am hopeful that I will pass her once again in the near future.

"Asuna, are you doing okay?"

Asuna says "I'm fine, daddy! Just getting a little low on mana!"

"If you run out, just chase down those who get away from me."

Asuna says "Okay!"

Now that the humans have broken ranks, the beastmen are doing much better. They are even coming out of the village to help with the massacre. After being attacked like this it is no surprise that they are enraged and want some payback.

After the humans panic it is only a matter of a few minutes before they are all dead. Well, almost all of them, it turns out Lizzy did as I asked and captured three slavers. The three of them all have broken bones and look to be in a lot of pain, which doesn't bother me.

Spotting one of my soldiers I call him over and have him stand guard over them. Then I head into the village and look around until I find where the wounded are. Only after healing all of the beastmen do I go back to talk to the slavers.

At first they don't want to answer my questions, but that changes after I use Dark Mark on one of them. At that point the other two become very chatty and answer all of my questions. Not only do I find out about the slaver base on the other side of the border but I learn that the slavers work for Pine.

Since he failed to kill those close to me it seems now he wants to hurt my beastmen. After they have told me everything I want to know I cast Dark Mark on both of them. It isn't like I promised to let them go if they talked, not that I would let them live even if I did.

That is one promise I would not regret breaking, especially to scum like them. Now that they are dead I turn my attention to the village, other than a few buildings it isn't in bad shape. At my request Asuna helps put out the fire, while I gather up the soldiers.

"Which of you is the best at long distance runs?"

WolfSoldier says "I am!"

"Good, I want you to take a message to Leonarr. Tell him to fortify all towns along the border with the empire. Also I want a raid team to destroy that slaver camp. On the way, alert every town you pass to be on guard."

WolfSoldier says "Yes, my lord!"

"Oh, also tell him to have Verica leave a couple of squads to patrol the Free Union border and bring the rest of her people here."

WolfSoldier says "Understood!"

"Alright, who is the second best?"

JaguarSoldier says "That would be me, My King!"

"Alright, you go the opposite direction and warn the other villages!"

JaguarSoldier says "Right away!"

"The rest of you, fortify this place as best you can. You just need to hold on until reinforcements arrive."

Soldiers yell "Yes, sir!"

As the soldiers rush off I gather some villagers and set them to stripping anything of value off the corpses. Once that is done I tell them to pile up the bodies and burn them. Just as I am trying to think of a way to strengthen the village I see Knarra and his tribesmen coming down the hill.

"Knarra, good to see you again."

Knarra says "Looks like these people could use some help."

"Yeah, I've already sent for reinforcements. Think you can help defend the village until they arrive?"

Knarra says "Sure, we can do that! We are yours to command after all. I do appreciate you asking instead of ordering."

"I will issue orders when needed, but other than that I prefer not to."

Knarra says "We will handle things from here. You should go find that heart!"

"Alright, thank you."

Knarra and his people move into the village, they quickly find ways to make themselves useful. With the village in good hands I head over to where Lizzy is resting. As I thought, using combat speed for so long took a lot out of her, only adrenaline got her through the battle.