The cold early winter rain continued to pour down all afternoon and only stopped after the sun was replaced by the full moon which lit up the dark night creating many shadows for things to go bump in the night.
There was not a cloud in the sky as if the rain of the earlier day was a lie. The ground was a fresh and extra soggy mess all the blood and bad smells from the battle the day before had been completely washed away.
“AWOOOOOOO!” a loud wolf howl rang out from the distant woods sending shivers down the Beorin soldiers that were patrolling near the edge of the swamp.
Several thousand more howls answered the first drowning out the peaceful sounds of the night.
“Damn it what is it now!?” asked Brutus exiting his command tent.
“The Werewolves are attacking!”
“I knew they were up to something! Hurry send the order for the soldiers already outside to form up. The rest of the army will join them in a second the archers just need to hold them off long enough to allow us to get into formation,” commanded Brutus as he rushed back into his tent to grab his sword and helmet.
“Buruu, Buruu,” the Beorin war horns joined the noise of the werewolves howls giving the command for the army to get ready for an attack.
Now fully equipped Brutus jogged to the fortifications walls facing the forest where the Werewolves army was hidden. His personal guards followed right behind him and shortly after arriving at the wall they were joined by the core officers of the army.
“Just what are they trying to do? Do they think we are afraid to fight a night battle?” asked Brutus as he watched the various transformed werewolf warriors with a variety of different colored fur pour out of the trees that hid them and flow towards the soldiers that were still trying to get into position.
***
Akira was one of the nine other volunteers that had been handpicked and put into team three. They did not know exactly what they had volunteered for only that it was likely to get them killed if they failed.
Vilkas was the only person in the group Akira knew. The rest of the warriors were all veterans from different units that had seen some fighting in the last great war.
Everyone who had volunteered had no dear of going on this suicide mission and they were fully prepared to put their lives on the line if it meant a quick end to the war. Everyone but Vilkas had been surprised to see such a young person join them in this suicide mission.
When the time came to start the secret plan, which had been just before the rains started, they were given the full details of what the general and officers wanted them to do causing some to mutter in discontent to themselves.
In order to go unnoticed by the human army, they had traveled under the cover of the downpouring rain during the day to get into position.
Akira was standing in the same spot that he had been at for most of the day. He along with the other werewolves had stayed hidden in the woods choosing to stay under the large trees that had enough leaves to stop most of the rain from falling onto them, but with the wind blowing everywhere it was a useless endeavor.
Out of boredom, Akira opened the quest that he had received when Redbeard had asked him to join the secret mission.
The contents of the quest and its rewards had changed after he was given the full details of what he had to do.
-
Tricky Secret Sneaky Night Mission: You and nine other warriors of team 3 have been given the task to take out the commanding officers of the Beorin army.
Difficulty: B+
Reward:
-The possible end of the war or a faster end to the war depending on the success rate of the mission.
-One time use S-grade information that will be automatically issued when needed
As Akira read the details on the rewards for a second time he was still unsure what type of information he could receive or how to trigger it.
‘Well, it is labeled as S-grade so it should give me something that is helpful…I hope,’ thought Akira.
“Awooooo!” off in the distance they heard a howl that was so loud that it echoed throughout the surrounding area.
“That’s the signal. We need to be quick and not let them have a chance to respond. Let’s go,” said Vilkas.
They ran out of the shadows of the trees trying to avoid the muddy areas and large puddles to create as little sound as they could while they moved towards the rear of the enemy’s fortifications.
There was a high probability of high ranking officers staying behind to command from the safety of the sandy walls and thus it had been designated as the target of team three.
The sounds of a fierce battle were raging long before they were able to reach the walls of the fortification.
Akira followed behind Vilkas and silently climbed up the sand wall.
“You think this is was the big plan the werewolves were preparing for all day?” asked one of the guards as they all watched the fierce battle.
“This is the dumbest…”
The soldier’s answer was cut short as his neck was broken by Vilkas. Akira and the rest of team three silently eliminated the rest of the sparse defense that was on the rear wall.
“Useless humans. Why are they so careless?” asked one of the warriors as they pushed the dead guards off the wall onto the ground outside to hide them from anyone’s view.
“Shhh…” several people let out quite hisses telling him to keep his mouth shut.
The inside of the large fortification reeked from the thousands of soldiers that had been cramped inside without a chance to properly clean themselves. The smells made it hard to find their targets so they were forced to rely on their eyes and ears.
Akira and the rest of team three slowly walked through the empty tent city using the shadows to keep hidden while they searched for targets to kill, but they found no one.
“Did we miscalculate the human officer’s tendencies to hide in the back?” asked one of the warriors next to Akira in a quiet whisper only loud enough for those next to him to hear.
Akira shook his head no, there would be some officers here…he hoped.
***
“Is this night battle the only thing they were planing? It seems too simple,” said Calum the officer in charge of the left-wing of the army.
“Meh, the battle looks like it will be another stalemate just like yesterday,” replied Merk the officer of the right-wing of the army.
“Don’t get complacent we lost a few hundred men already in the opening of the battle due to our unpreparedness. If we don’t use the plan we agreed to yesterday it will just end up with us having even more losses,” said Brutus.
“When do you want us to give the order?” asked Merk.
“Not yet. It is still to…”
“General! There seems to be a group of warriors sneaking up on officer’s positions on left-wing!” interrupted Calum with a shout of surprise.
Brutus and Merk turned their heads to see what Calum was pointing at.
It was ten werewolf warriors that were silently making their way up to where the commanding field officers were. They continued to issue orders not knowing of the danger that was creeping up from behind them.
“Crap! There is a group of them on the right as well!” said Merk.
“Damn it, I knew they were up to something! Guards shoot them down with arrows!” shouted Brutus.
“It’s too far general! We won’t be able to hit them at this distance!” replied one of the guards next to him.
“Then sound the warhorn and warn them!”
“Right away general!”
As Brutus watched the werewolves creep closer the expected loud warning of the warhorn did not come instead a low and unusual sound came from the soldier in charge of the warhorn, “B..guuurlge.”
The three officers turned around to see the shocking sight of the soldier lying on the ground in a puddle of blood with his throat torn open.
What was even more shocking was that ten fully transformed werewolves were rushing up the narrow ramp headed right for them!
***
When they found the officers on top of the wall they immediately transformed and rushed forward to eager to complete their mission while they still had the surprise.
At the bottom of the ramp that led to the top of the wall stood a few soldiers who were all looking up at the commanders who were talking.
Akira watched as one of them raised a war horn and placed it onto his lips. He didn’t know what message the warhorn would send to the army, but he decided to take action to silence it so that it could be used to warn the army outside of their presence in the fort.
Using his skill [Pounce] Akira leaped forward with his claws held high he swiped at the soldier’s hand knocking the warhorn out of his grasp/ His attack had enough force to continue forward and completely slice through the unprotected neck of the soldier.
Vilkas and the others joined him only seconds later and quickly killed the remaining nearby soldiers who were unable to put up any effective resistance.
Akira let out a loud growl from the Adrenalin that was pumping through him as he and Vilkas led the charge up the narrow sand ramp.
“Protect the general!” shouted the captain of the personal guards.
“I don’t need protection! If they want to fight me then I’ll kill them all!” said Brutus unsheathing his sword and stepped forward to meet the charging werewolves.
The guard captain fearing for what would happen to him if the general was killed, rushed forward to support him.
Although Akira felt a deep anger when he looked at Brutus he was unable to reach him as Vilkas had reached the top first and was already engaged in battle with him.
Akira used his skill [Shield Slam] to rush forward up the last of the ramp and slammed his shield into a soldier that was rushing towards Vilkas.
CRACK!
The loud sound of ribs breaking could be heard as the soldier was sent flying backward off of the wall due to the impact.
With his attack, he created a small opening at the top of the ramp so that he could push forward and used his shield to block the rest of the soldiers that were trying to interfere by trying to attack Vilkas in the back.
The rest of the werewolf warriors followed right behind him and pushed forward with their brute strength to help Akira in fighting the several guards by attacking from the side.
They didn’t have time to figure out who was an officer and who was a lowly grunt. So they decided to just kill everyone in front of them, and thus Calum was killed when two warriors grabbed onto his arms and ripped him apart limb from limb.
The werewolves in team one and two that were sneaking up on the officers on the left and right flank reached the officers and attacked them causing mayhem on both flanks.
With all the action happening behind them several soldiers turned around and also noticed to their shock that there was fighting on the fort’s walls where the general and his commanders were supposed to be.
But no one could move towards the fort as they were being pinned down by the main werewolf army.
“Ha! You are still too young to be fighting with me!” shouted Brutus.
Akira glanced back at Vilkas to see Brutus launching a surprise attack with a hidden dagger.
Vilkas was able to lean to the right away from the attack protecting his neck from getting sliced open and instead received a slash to the face starting from his lip across his furry face cutting off the lower half of his ear sending blood spraying everywhere.
The attack to his face was followed up by a kick to the stomach which pushed him off of the wall.
“Uoof!” said Vilkas as he hit the ground.
Before any of the other warriors could engage Brutus, Akira turned and used the skill [Shield Bash] to block Brutus from jumping down after Vilkas, pushing him even further away from the guards that were still trying to protect the General.
Akira did not worry about them since he trusted the other warriors to hold them off while he fought one on one with Brutus.
With a lunge, Akira’s sword shot out looking for an opening in Brutus stance that had not yet recovered.
Clang! The attack was blocked by the dagger in Brutus’ left hand but was pushed back even farther.
Akira looked at the information above Brutus’ head and saw that he was now Lvl 50.
With their levels the same he could not afford a slip-up and continued to attack forcing Brutus to continue to retreat backward.
On the ground, Vilkas regained his composure and charged back up the ramp to rejoin the fight with his face wound still bleeding.
Akira and Brutus continued to trade blows with each other trying to brute force the other into submission.
Brutus was constantly getting pushed back while not budging Akira who stood like a large boulder and blocked each attack that was sent his way. With the fight going poorly in his favor he decided to use a different tactic.
“I know it is you Akira! Do you think I would forget what you look like just because you try to hide your face with that transformation! If you surrender now I won’t cut off your arms,” said Brutus.
This shook Akira for a second but that second was all Brutus needed to regain his footing. Akira jumped forward to slam into Brutus.
Instead of receiving Akira’s charge Brutus rolled to the side onto a crowded wooden platform that was erected next to the wall which held all of the army’s supplies up off the muddy ground trying to keep it as dry and clean as possible.
Akira followed him onto the wooden platform with an attack but every attack but it was again dodged by Brutus as he used the boxes of supplies as shields.
“You’ve gotten better at fighting,” said Brutus frustrated at getting knocked around, “But you are still not strong enough to kill me!”
Akira ignored the words coming out of Brutus’ mouth and continued exchanging attacks trying to find an opening.
But before he could launch more than a few rounds attacks Brutus miscalculated a dodge and fell between the gap of two platforms slamming into the ground below.
Akira didn’t follow but instead used a [Sword Slash] and sent it after Brutus only missing him by a hair as he rolled further under the platform for protection.
The use of special skill attack startled Brutus greatly.
‘How did that mutt get a skill? He didn’t have it when he was younger!’ Thought Brutus as he hid out of Akira’s sight.
Now he found himself in a predicament as every time he tried to exit from his cover Akira used the skill [Sword Slash] and since he could not block the attack he was stuck under the platform unless he wanted to take the chance of getting cut in half.
Akira had refrained from using most of his skills too much during the fight because they made him become tired even faster if he used them without care.
But now at such a crucial moment when he had such an advantage, he could not afford to not use them.
As one of the [Sword Slashes] missed Brutus again. It hit one of the wooden supporting structures giving Akira an idea.
He sent out several [Sword Slashes] in quick succession depleting a large amount of energy but he was able to complete his desired goal.
The platform that Brutus was hiding under collapsed with several tons of material falling down with a loud crash. The collapse of the platform affected the structures next to it as well this included the platform that Akira was standing on as well. causing him to fall to the ground.
As he lost his footing his body felt weightless for a second or two before he fell onto several baskets full of apples which were all smashed into a mush.
Akira aching from the impact scrambled to his feet on guard for an attack from Brutus but it never came…
…because a short distance away was Brutus who had been unable to escape from underneath the collapsing structure. The lower half of his body had been completely crushed.
Akira cautiously walked over to where Brutus lay not beveling that his plan had worked so well.
“I hope the Organization tortures you to death before they get the items and information they want from you,” said Brutus his voice getting weaker and weaker with each word he spoke.
“Who?” asked Akira.
“I curse you and every werewolf alive! I hope you all get wiped out!” shouted Brutus before letting out one last gasp of air and falling silent.
