The sudden clamor of a bell echoed through the village, jolting the young king awake from his slumber. Without pause to contemplate the reason behind the reason it was rung, he sprang upright in bed. This meant only one thing, the village was under attack. 

Without any more hesitation he put on his boots and ran out of the room. In the aisle, Lucius, Alicia, the twins and Eadic were all out of their rooms as well. 

“What’s happening!?” Aqua said as she looked to be panicked from the situation.

“Who’s attacking us, Eadic!?” Regulus screamed as he ran towards the old knight.

“I do-” But he was interrupted as Leif appeared from below, visibly out of breath as he looked to have just ran from the barracks to the castle.

“My liege!” Leif exclaimed, as he dropped on one knee. “We’re being attacked… By Ghouls!” This tensed up the air around them, especially for Lucius and Eadic.

“Ghouls!? But why?” Regulus screamed as he didn’t expect them to attack now.

“We don’t know my liege, but they’re currently approaching from the west! And from the reports of our scouts they’re expected to reach us in eight minutes!” Leif said in a panicked voice. 

“Then that’s enough time to get everyone ready! Eadic, prepare the troops for battle! Lucius, get everyone in this village inside the castle! Meanwhile Leif, come with me!” Regulus barked out in order, the two nodded as they hurriedly went down the stairs. Regulus, Alicia and Leif soon followed swiftly. 

The three went towards the barracks as they put on their armor and equipped themselves with weapons. Leif picking the sword and shield, Alicia choosing the greatsword and Regulus bringing with him his spear. 

After finishing the three went up the gate as they watched over the pitch black darkness from outside the village, and in that pitch black darkness were multiple frail, tall and monstrous creatures that they called “Ghouls”. 

They were hideous creatures that can only be found during night and in their nests. They have pale skin, a frail structure and stood at a whopping eight feet tall. Despite their tall height, they were extremely agile and deceivingly strong despite their frail body. They numbered in the high sixties, though it could be even more than that.

Their true origins are unknown but they are said to be undead that had not been fully turned into their counterparts, but that is merely a folktale. 

Though what is true is that they are not complete without a “queen”. Unlike the others it stands much taller than the others, around ten feet tall, but what makes it unique is that it can splurt out acid that can melt through just about anything. 

Unfortunately for Regulus, this group had a queen. 

“How long until they reach us?” Regulus asked Leif who was standing beside him.

“From their pace and distance, two minutes…” Leif responded as he waited in anticipation. 

Regulus nodded in reply as all of the soldiers, aside from a handpicked few who were assigned to guard the civilians inside the castle, were now all ready. 

“Archers!” Regulus screamed as all the archers readied their arrows. 

The ground now began to shake from the Ghouls that were now approaching quickly. 

“Draw!” Regulus screamed once more as they drew their bows.

The Ghouls were now five hundred meters from the village wall. As saliva dripped from gaping mouths, ready to pounce into anything they see.

“FIRE!”

“FIRE” Regulus ordered one last time as the archers released their arrows. The combined arrows made it look like the moon had disappeared for a second. However the Ghouls did not care as they continued to run towards the wall. As a result, a few of them fell in an instant. But many were still standing, some were limping while others were now crawling on all fours due to their injuries. 

“Open the gates!” Eadic screamed as he and the vanguard of cavalry were the first to engage against the ghouls. Charging at them, their lances pierced and impaled multiple of them in one go. The hideous monsters tried to knock them from their horses by swinging their frail arms but to no avail. 

The cavalry then drove away from the Ghouls now that their job was finished. 

“Infantry! Advance!” Leif said as he led the infantry towards the Ghouls. “Halt!” Before they could make contact they instantly stopped. As Regulus casted multiple lightning strikes at the Ghouls, weakening them. 

“Forward!” Leif screamed towards his soldiers as they engaged the Ghouls. Meanwhile Regulus was still on the city gates as he searched for the queen.

“Where could it be…” He murmured in annoyance, fortunate for him at the very middle of the Ghouls was the queen. It had managed to stay hidden for so long thanks to it crawling, but now that it was standing upright, Regulus was now certain that this was the queen.

“There you are…” Regulus whispered as he jumped down towards the battlefield. He began moving towards the chaos. 

Using mana, he jumped up above the ground, landing on a Ghoul’s back and impaling its head in an instant. With his free hand he casted a lightning bolt towards a Ghoul that was about to take the life of one of his soldiers. 

The spell hit the monster, sending it reeling backwards, it was down but not out. It began ignored the soldier and charged towards the young king, but it met its end as two large metal rods impaled its head.

Regulus looked at the perpetrator, who was Eadic. The old knight simply nodded and returned to the fray, and so did Regulus. 

With his spear he began hunting down every Ghoul in sight, limiting himself to only his spear in order to save mana. A swing, a thrust, a lunge or throwing his spear. The young king felt the thrill of battle as his bloodlust continued to grow.

 Several minutes later the Ghouls numbers started to diminish, from the seventy or so Ghouls there were only about thirty left, but that did not leave his side without any casualties. 

Their Regulus stood still, gazing upon a soldier who was in his final breaths. His face almost unrecognizable, his arms torn off while his legs were nowhere to be seen. 

Several of his soldiers met the same unfortunate ends: heads torn asunder, bodies impaled by the Ghoul’s claws, or eaten alive. The battlefield was a gruesome tableau, strewn with countless corpses—a sight unbefitting for a king. 

This left him wide open as a large arm struck his side, sending him into the ground. He wiped the dirt from his face, spitting blood, his other arm holding the area where he was hit. The culprit was none other than the queen herself.

Casting a mana barrier he readied a spell against the queen Ghoul, but she would take him by surprise as she spurted out venomous acid, melting the mana barrier he made. Jumping back he casted a large lightning bolt towards the queen but it merely took it without damage. 

Without giving the young king to think about his next course of action, the queen Ghoul shrieked as it pounced on Regulus, overpowering him and sending them both on the ground. 

The monster shrieked once more as it attempted to bite off Regulus' head, but multiple swords struck her arms as it jumped out of the way. 

“Don’t lose focus ever again.” Eadic said as he held out his hand to Regulus. The young man gripped it tightly as he stood up. 

“I got caught off guard, sorry…” Regulus apologized as Eadic merely chuckled in response. 

A blast of acid nearly came close to killing the two but fortunately they saw it in time. The queen who had torn off the blades was now visibly enraged, blood gushing from her left arm, though it seemed it felt no pain at all. 

“Do you need help?” Eadic asked as he summoned a sword out of thin air. Regulus simply replied as he readied another spell towards the queen Ghoul. 

Eadic simply took this as a “no” and returned to fighting the other Ghouls. 

Regulus lunged forward, the queen Ghoul simply held him back with one arm as she prepared to slash him with the other. This though Regulus was ready, he stomped the ground below as a surge of lightning electrocuted the Ghoul. It screamed in pain and took a few steps backwards, with this Regulus readied a small lightning dagger and pierced the Ghoul’s abdomen and sliced it open with a large explosion. 

As the smoke subsided Regulus was holding his right arm which was severely burned from the lightning, the Ghoul on the other hand was still standing. The wound on its abdomen was large, but it was not enough to take it down. 

“What an arrogant fool you are!” Regulus screamed in excitement as he couldn’t believe that it survived his previous attack. Regulus surveyed the countless corpses that surrounded him, an idea began to take shape in his mind. 

Though he would have to think faster as the queen Ghoul attempted to pounce on him once more, this time though he would sidestep to the left, with enough time to spare he threw a mana infused punch. Landing straight to the side of the Ghoul’s head, sending it flying across the battlefield. 

With a loud scream the Ghoul attempted to pounce on him again, but this time instead of evading it he countered as he conjured a spear made out of lightning and impaled the Ghoul. Jumping back, he closed his eyes, controlled his breath, relaxed his body. Slowly, the blood from the nearby corpses levitated from the ground, gathering into a single spot. 

Eventually the queen Ghoul was able to recover, for one last time it attempted to pounce on Regulus. 

Opening his eyes Regulus whispered the word “Blood Coffin '', on cue the blood from the corpses took the shape of a coffin, it opened up and chains came forth from inside the coffin, grabbing the queen Ghoul just before she could touch Regulus. The chains then forcefully dragged the monster inside as it wailed and struggled to no avail as its screams were cut by the coffin closing.

Soon after the coffin dissipated as the corpse of the queen Ghoul fell to the ground, it looked as if its blood was sucked off its body, only muscle and skeleton remained. Watching their queen fall, the remaining Ghouls screamed and ran away, retreating into the nearby forest. 

They had won, but at what cost. With countless soldiers dead and their king injured, it looked like the odds were not in their favor. But despite this, a victory is still indeed a victory.