Sasha had only just stepped out of the Town Lord's Manor when she spotted a messenger running towards her from the south-west part of town, shouting loudly, "The riverside barricade was breached! The riverside barricade was breached!"
Sasha's heart sank when she heard this and she immediately charged over, grabbing the young man by his collar and shaking him, "How many beasts made it through?"
The young man, probably no more than 16 years old, who was clearly in a panic, seemed stunned that he had been stopped all of a sudden and couldn't muster a response.
Seeing this, Sasha failed to control her temper and shook the boy even harder as she shouted, "HOW MANY!?"
Finally snapping out of his daze, the young man stutteringly replied, "I-It was a lone C-Crimson Wolf… H-High Second Order."
Hearing this, Sasha forced down her anxiety and questioned further, "Has the riverside barricade fallen, or did the wolf somehow bypass it?"
"T-The beast j-jumped past the defenders and r-r-ran into town," the young man reported, still unable to steady himself.
Frowning deeply, Sasha realized she wouldn't get anything more out of this young lad and finally released him, ordering sharply, "Go report this to the Town Lord at the main road barricade, and tell him I am heading out to deal with it."
Having said what needed to be said, Sasha lifted her torch and ran off into the night, intending to hunt down the Crimson Wolf.
Although the young messenger reported that it was a High-Rank Second Order Wild Beast, making it stronger than Sasha who was just in the Sixth Step Vein Opening Realm, Sasha didn't believe the wolf had made it past the barricade without being injured, so she still felt confident she could handle it alone.
What's more, there was no other option at this moment as she was literally the last fighter left who was not already engaged in the defensive battle.
Several hours later, Sasha thrust her bloodied spear deep into the flank of a High-Rank First Order Shadow Stalker, a wildcat that preferred hunting at night, ending its life.
Although this type of Wild Beast wasn't particularly dangerous to an adult human, it had a tendency to target smaller, more vulnerable creatures, making it a definite threat to the many vulnerable children huddled in the safe-zones around Redwood Town.
Sasha had only briefly made it to the front lines before she was forced to double back and hunt down the Wild Beasts which had slipped through the barricades. This was already her twenty-second kill of the night, and her stamina was all but gone, but she quickly grit her teeth and began running again.
…..
The sun was now coming up, gently illuminating the town, bringing both relief and distress to the beleaguered defenders. The morning rays made it much easier for the humans to see what was happening around them, but the same was true for the beasts, which in turn made them even more active and dangerous.
It had been just about half-a-day since the immense explosion occurred, but rather than calming down, the situation was only growing more dire.
The average strength of the beasts pouring out of the Great Western Forest was increasing, probably a result of the creatures from deeper inside the woods now making it to the perimeter.
On the other hand, the town's defenders were all either injured or exhausted.
It was clear that if something didn't change soon, a major breach would occur somewhere, endangering the powerless townsfolk and villagers who were sheltering in the rear.
As sunlight began streaming in through the wooden windows, Lucas jolted awake, having fallen asleep at some unknown point earlier this morning. The young boy scrambled to his feet, looking around anxiously, but soon calmed down seeing how his surroundings were still intact.
Glancing over to his left, Lucas noticed that all of his friends, including his Big Sister Eris, were still asleep, along with a few dozen younger children.
Shaking off his drowsiness, Lucas tip-toed out of the room, not wanting to wake anyone else up, and slowly made his way to the Town Lord's office, where he expected to find Sasha, but instead was greeted by Helen, "Lucas, why are you up?"
It was clear from the dark circles under Helen's eyes that she hadn't slept a wink last night, but that didn't surprise Lucas much as he imagined many of the adults hadn't had any rest.
Not wanting to waste time, Lucas made a simple greeting before getting straight to the point, "Good morning, Aunt Helen, I just came to ask Aunt Sasha about the current situation. Do you know where she is?"
At the mention of Sasha's name, Helen's expression darkened for an instant before she quickly composed herself and said, "Don't worry, everything is alright."
Had it been any other 10-year-old, they might have believed her, but Lucas was no ordinary boy, so this casual brushing-off of his question only caused his brow to furrow as he replied back, "You don't need to shield me from the truth, Aunt Helen."
Helen's face scrunched slightly, but recalling that Lucas had actually been running things last night, even if only for an hour or so, she soon shook her head and relented, "Alright. Let me catch you up on what's been happening."
After receiving a brief summary of what transpired after he had dozed off last night, Lucas' expression became grim as many thoughts began flitting across his mind.
Should we pull back the defenders? But to where?
Are there any others who can fight? There aren't.
Is there any other way we can repel the beasts? How?
Can we evacuate? Impossible.
No matter what plan Lucas came up with, none of them seemed remotely feasible.
Everything that could be done, had already been done.
Even when he consulted his inherited memories, looking for unconventional solutions, Lucas ran into a dead-end. He simply didn't have the resources or technology available to implement any kind of strategy from the other world.
Just as the wheels in his head were spinning hopelessly, a series of panicked screams shattered the silent morning air, drawing Lucas' attention.
Before he even knew what he was doing, Lucas found himself running. Helen called out for him to stop, but the young boy ignored her as he made his way out of the Manor and into the yard, where he was greeted by the sight of people running about wildly, all of them seemingly trying to escape from something.
Lucas was almost swept away by the rushing townsfolk, but with great effort, he managed to squeeze through the sea of people and emerge from the crowd just in time to witness a large wolf-like beast biting down on a woman's shoulder, causing blood to splash out everywhere.
Instinctually scanning the beast with his Soul Sense, Lucas could tell it was a Low Second Order predator, a foe far too powerful for him to take on, especially without any kind of weapon.
While most people were running away, there were still a few nearby who were trying to hit the wolf with sticks, rocks, or even their fists and feet, but such weak attacks did nothing but annoy the beast further.
At first, Lucas thought these people were trying to save the woman being attacked, but his eyes were soon drawn to a pair of children even younger than himself who had fallen to the ground behind the woman.
Seeing this, Lucas understood what was happening and rushed towards them, completely disregarding the danger that would put him in.
Reaching the children within seconds, Lucas grabbed them and tried to carry them away; but before he could, a pained howl rang out behind him. When he looked up, Lucas saw the beast had one of its eyes smashed in by a rock and was now thrashing about wildly, throwing the woman it was biting to the ground and knocking all the adults surrounding it away.
""Mommy!"" The two children cried out as they broke free from Lucas and scrambled towards their mother.
"Don't!" Lucas screamed as he leapt after them, knowing that there was nothing they could do for the injured woman right now.
If he let the two children go to her, it would only add more victims to the tragedy.
Tackling the brother and sister, Lucas gathered all the strength he could and hoisted them both up before he began running away.
The cries the two children were making tore into his heart, but Lucas knew if he stopped, they would all die. He couldn't save their mother, but he felt he could at least protect them.
Alas, Lucas was too slow, and the wolf-like beast recovered before he could get more than 3 steps away.
Now enraged, the beast fixed its one good eye on the young children before it and pounced, flashing its claws and fangs, seemingly intent on taking their lives to vent its fury.