Dimension System - Chapter 87

Making our way through the chaos, we rushed as quickly as we could, heading directly to the fields. Soldiers were rallying the nearby populace into formations. The various royal and noble retainers had horses staged just outside the city gates, waiting to carry us onto the fields.

Hopping onto the mounts we prepared as quickly as possible, while listening to the reports coming in from the front lines. The majority of civilians had evacuated, but there had also been a few casualties, as some of them had refused to leave their farms.

Soldiers and guards were doing their best to hold off the beetles, but their numbers were swelling into the thousands, and beginning to overwhelm the first responders who arrived. Horrified, the King and company spurred their horses onward.

By the time we arrived, the battle had been raging for about twenty minutes or so. A mixed wall of soldiers, knights, and peasants were battling what looked like oversized roly polies. The large pill bugs were emerging from beneath the soil, uncoiling their grotesque bodies, and devouring anything within reach.

As the King and nobles turned to their respective commanders to issue emergency orders, I made preparations to summon my own army. Inside the spatial world Marcus has doctored up his appearance to take the role of a beastmaster.

Changing up my tactics, I used my ghost dragon hand to spit out a fake green ‘portal’, which looked much more convincing than summoning something out of thin air. Stepping through the portal, Marcus emerged in full beastmaster attire.

Covered in animal pelts, he emerged astride the Golden Sun Tiger, projecting a very savage presence that immediately caught attention. With his face entirely covered by a twisted Big Horn Cattle skull, only his bloodshot red eyes were visible, projecting a wild, untamed visage.

Bowing before me, Marcus held the position while awaiting orders.

“Your orders master?”

Issuing a simple and direct order, I responded to him.

“These pill bugs threaten an innocent Kingdom. Cull them.”

As I issued the command, I made sure to swipe my hand in a horizontal motion to really drive the point home. Hopefully, the added emphasis would impress the nearby aristocracy. Pandering to my theatrics, Marcus raised up both his hands into the air, before bellowing out dramatically.

“From the hallowed ground of the sacred lands, I call upon the children of nature! In our time of need, our darkest hour, hear me! Aid me!”

Projecting just a little power into his voice allowed it to carry throughout the battlefield. Working swiftly to maintain the illusion, I manipulated the ‘portal’, causing it to crackle and shimmer. Soon the portal began to vibrate, as countless creatures emerged.

Emerald crabs, Fire and Ice ants, wolves, bears, and finally a small slime poured out in rapid succession. For now the undead creatures had been left behind. It wasn’t worth revealing them needlessly, at least until the church of Helios had been dealt with.

Charging directly into the battle, the various creatures brought the fight to the pill bugs, while the first responders took the chance to fall back and group up with the reinforcements. Before the troops could recover from their shock, several battle horns went off simultaneously.

A knight in white armor was seen charging in with a group of men. Instead of horses they rode on large, powerful Forest wolves. With reckless abandon they charged directly into the thick of combat, trampling any pill bugs caught in their way. Those keen observers who looked closely, noted that they were pulling back injured civilians for rescue.

Meanwhile, A knight in black armor was seen charging in from the left flank, opposite another group who were rushing the right flank. Just like the previously mentioned group, they weren’t riding horses either. Somehow, they’d mounted bears with saddles, and used them to charge into combat.

A pincer attack was cutting through the beetles, as the figurative jaws clenched down on the invading horde of insects. Coming back to their senses, the commanders shouted out to their troops, hoping to capitalize on the morale boost.

“Don’t just stand there! Move, move, move!”

“Save the fields, save the kingdom!”

“For Ishtar!!!”

Like a child standing on the shoulders of a giant, the troops were emboldened by what they saw and feeling invincible. Bravery spread like a contagious pathogen, from one soldier to the next, inspiring even the most craven peasant to stand and fight.

Screaming at the top of their lungs, more and more troops rushed onto the battlefield, washing over the beetles like waves. Spears, swords, and even pitchforks were thrust forward again and again. Tirelessly, they worked together to push the horde back, and it worked.

With the momentum and surge of inspiration, the united collective of allies thinned out the beetles numbers, pushing them back from the fields to their nests. Their numbers dwindled until it was only a handful of beetles emerging.

After several hours we had won. The wounded were being tended to, while the damage to the crop fields was assessed. King Reginald looked pleased and made a motion for everyone to gather around for a victory speech.

“Today, we were beset by a crisis of epic proportions. The threat to the entire Kingdom’s food supply was a very real concern. Luckily, we’ve managed to save about half of the fields. Thanks to the support of our merchant ally, we have narrowly avoided the starvation of the Kingdom!”

Continuing onward, he talked about how the reserves would be utilized to avoid grain prices spiking, and other civil aspects. As it didn’t pertain to me, I focused on Devil’s report of the issue.

“Spatial moles have tracked the beetles to their underground lairs. We’ve eliminated their remaining numbers. No variants were detected, but we did gather a very large group of living beetles, in addition to the many beetle corpses collected. Inside their nests we found several unidentified magic objects, which may have been used to agitate them.”

Hmm, it seems somebody may have been artificially manipulating the beetles to incite an attack. This wasn’t a good development for me. If somebody truly was using a borrowed knife to strike at the kingdom, I just blocked their plan.