[MGE] Outclassed

It was a tense moment for the General. He was ordered to defend this decisive location in between human and monster territory by his superiors because they trusted him enough to hold out. However, this was no normal order. There were numerous reports that several Undead legions were planning to siege the border towns and raze its forts. There would be thousands upon thousands of shambling monsters infecting anything they would come in contact with. An overwhelming feeling of dread put the General on edge.

Their onslaught would start today at this particular fort, one of many that were near the borders of monster territory.

The sounds of heavy footsteps, creaking noises, and shouting created an amalgamation of panic as the garrisoned soldiers within the fort were rushing to their positions. In all, they stood only 500 strong: rows of archers, rangers, and snipers to flanks of footmen, pikemen, shieldmen to a handful of wizards and sorcerers as well as fortified ballistas and catapults. Their intimidating might was reduced to a mass frenzy of soldiers rushing to-and-fro the fort. The General barked orders at them in the meanwhile, but was rendered trivial as they already knew what they were doing...maybe.

As dusk turned to night and the sun dipped behind the hills to create a blank sky, the troops were now ready to confront the imminent threat.

Before the reports came in, the army planned ahead by creating pitfall traps, pikes, and fire traps to slow the Undead legion's advance, if only for a few minutes. The front of the fort was also fortified with a medieval-style gate, two in fact, so as to gain an advantage over the waves of horrors by dropping tar or heavy boulders on their heads.

The General looked around nervously waiting for the call-outs. He was ready to launch a hail of fire arrows into the distance in an attempt to pinpoint the enemy's position and to look past the growing darkness. It was unfortunate that the Undead would only come out at night because it proved to also be their biggest asset as humans could not see well during the nocturnal hours, but they could.

On his command, the General hollered out to fire several fire arrows in all directions to light up the immediate vicinity. As on cue, the archers rained down a few measly arrows about several meters away.

A Scout within the fort spots something with his telescope. The General sputters a demand to know where. The Scout points to a general direction in the darkness where a billowing fog is emanating from. Several silhouettes appear behind this veil of low-lying clouds which prompts the General to command his archers to fire a storm of arrows at the shadows. The archers take aim and let loose a torrent of flames into the fog.

Nothing. There were no sounds of anything dropping to ground or any signs of a slow in momentum from the fog or the silhouettes.

The mist dissipates uncovering rows upon rows of glowing things. Floating figures, ethereal beings from beyond the grave, gravitate towards the fort as the arrows from the archers slid right through them, unharmed.

It was a trap. From the opposite direction, a stampede of footsteps are heard opposite from the General’s peripherals.

The General flips his head around and another cloud of mist dissipates.

It was the Undead’s main force.

He immediately tells the archers, rangers, and snipers to fire at the grunts while he commands the sorcerers and wizards to conjure their pyromancy at the ghosts.

Previous intel told him that fire works wonders against physical bodies while magic especially pyromancy works effectively against magical beings.

This proved to shift the tide just a little bit in the army's favor. Some of the zombies crumble under the hail of arrows, charring into dust, while the ghosts and phantoms whisk themselves out of existence as they are impacted by globes of fireballs that were produced by the chanting of wizards and sorcerers.

The General smirk smugly as the situation proceeds smoothly, but was once again caught off-guard. His gaze shifted from a smile to sheer bewilderment to extreme panic as the fog peels away more and more of the Undead force. It truly was their main force as thousands upon thousands of zombies make their way towards the fort. The fog simply concealed their middle and vanguard forces as the front line took the brunt of the damage.

The previous reports foretold that their force was to be from 500-5000 strong. As he gauges their army, the General pessimistically judged there were at least 5000 strong as he measures the density of the specks in the distance.

Suddenly, a giant ball of something hurdles itself into the epicenter of the fort. It smashes into the ground with a resounding squish. The ball instantaneously comes to life as it reveals a bunch of zombies as well as ghouls, whom are comparably stronger and more agile variants of zombies, interlocked with each other. The strange sight perplexes the soldiers and hesitate to fight it. The writhing flesh dislodges itself, pouring out a mass of zombies and ghouls towards the infantry’s position. The General looks in horror as the center of the fort descended into an all-out brawl for survival.

As if by luck, the pikemen arrive to the scene along with the shieldmen to take out the festering corpses. They prove to be a worthy adversary against the slow and clumsy zombies. However, they do not fare well against the nimble ghouls as they shred the flimsy spears and bash their shields.

The General looks around again, seeing that everyone already has their hands full with the enemy. The traps from all sides, only for a moment, slows the advance down. Ballistas and catapults hurtle their ammunition onto the Undead forces while the soldiers shout and cry towards their brethren as the fort erupts in chaos.

Another egg of the Undead falls from the sky and onto another spot, devoid of soldiers, and impact the ground unceremoniously. More zombies and ghouls pop out from the deflating sphere and flank the preoccupied humans.

The morale of the troops and the General were at an all-time low.

To add insult to injury, several men from the front of the fort where the gate is located, holler at the General that a strike team of dullahans were heading towards the gates.

What the General didn’t expect was that the front gate had already been battered down by the waves of zombies. As a result, the dullahans were spearheading the operation unabated. The General orders his men to stone his enemies and pour vats of tar over their heads. Afterwards, he hollers an order to his idle shieldsmen to block the back gate from the incoming dullahan. Several men are cut down from the scuffle as they are hit by the demonic swords of the dullahan. Eventually the situation was contained for the time being.

Suddenly a single, thunderous explosion resonates throughout the entire fort, striking through chunks of bricks and mortar in a show of surprise.

The General looks through his telescope and could not believe what he was seeing!

An Undead Dragon, one that seems oblivious to its ongoing surroundings, exhales purple torrents of fire at any mortal being it sees. The men that the flame hits, go down to the ground unburned but utterly paralyzed. Any ranged unit that wasn't occupied with the enemy focus their newfound attention at the rotting dragon and release all sorts of projectiles at it. Ironically, they either miss their mark or bounce off the dragon's unnatural bone-armor.

This allows the outside forces to accumulate near the castle walls where they snatch their prey from their lofty nests. Several screams and cries for help can be heard from all around the General’s position, as the Archers and Wizards are drowned by the mass of dead bodies.

In one last-ditch effort, the General musters a desperate sprint towards the fort’s barracks and barricades the door with a table. He runs towards the trap-door in the ground and opens it up by the ring, which launches a musky and foul stench into the man's nostrils. He instinctively gags from the nauseating odor but continues downwards into the cellars by climbing down the cobweb-ridden stairs. He locks the trap-door and wields an army-standard sword and shield that he found in a army-supply box and then lights an oil lamp with a match to illuminate the claustrophobic darkness. He places the lamp furthest away from the entrance.

The cowardly General awaits his impending doom, the battle above lasting for no more than 10 minutes.

The sounds of war die down, creating an eerie silence that loomed over the General's presence.

There is a rattling noise as the trap-door buckles and heaves from its lock. The door is brutally forced open. Into the cellar comes not a zombie or ghoul nor a phantom or ghost, but a Lich. An alluring and captivating aura surrounds her form which causes the General to hesitate for a moment before he rushes her, sword and shield in tow.

Before long, he is hit by a spell that compels him to sleep. The next thing he knows, he’s lying in a silk bed where ornate decorations, classical paintings, and fancy wallpaper adorn the room. He looks down at his form to see if he’s alright but to his horror, he is buck-naked all the while his limbs remain unresponsive.

The Lich opens a door to the room, also naked. Traces of runes are displayed all along her body. Her silvery hair flowed from the sides of her head and stopped toward the curvature of her bountiful hips.

Her hair strikingly matches her strange eyes, though her pupils being a shade darker. Her breasts were preserved from decay with her high-class figure as supple and plentiful as beauty could provide.

It was a sight to behold for the General before he realized that this monster was not going to kill him or torture him for information.

He yells, “What the hell?”

The room fades away and a Lich and another man are seen looking at a board filled with pieces reminiscent of soldiers and female figures while a prop that looks to be a fort towers over the entirety of the board.

“What?” the Lich monotonously asks, her gaze shifting from the board to the man at the other side.

“It’s not fair, you have ten times as many pieces as me and I only have a fort with nothing but regular infantry units and several anti-siege units sprinkled in!” the man complains, scrunching his face up in frustration. “I could only hold the fort for so long before you took it over!”

“But you had the advantage of defending, you could’ve done so much more to optimize the effectiveness in holding your position.”

“Doesn’t matter since it’s impossible to defend from all sides…”

“Well you could…” the girl offers several points of advice to the angered man such as waiting more patiently or utilizing more fire and holy spells at the enemy. This proves to calm him down and concede in defeat.

The guy frowns while the Lich hides her smug feelings under her usual neutral facade.

The guy huffs, “I’m not as smart as you, you know. You’ve seen countless wars and battles and I’ve seen maybe only a handful during my entire life.”

“But you’ve learned so much since we met.”

“That’s because it’s from you. I’ve never seen someone who can adapt so quickly to the turning tides of war and come through with it in the end.”

The Lich blushes, a tinge of purple welling up in her cheeks, at his compliment. “One day you’ll win. I’m sure of it. How about we stop this farce and cuddle in bed. We can do your favorite position where you spoon me and I can be your little teddy bear.”

The guy smiles earnestly and responds with, “Yeah...that’ll be great…”

The guy’s eyes light up at a sudden revelation.

“Oh, yea, isn’t our 1 year anniversary coming up next week? You know, since you pillaged the fort and married me right after?”

“Indeed. You’re smart when it comes to remembering things that are the most important to you.” A miniscule smile formulates across the Lich’s lips.

This earns a chuckle from the Lich’s husband.

After turning the lights off, they lead each other to bed and cuddle with one another for the rest of the night.