The subjugation force departed about thirty minutes after the leaders of the various mercenary bands and troops of regular soldiers wrapped up their deliberations. With a group of a hundred mercenaries and a hundred soldiers, there was no missing the squadron as they marched through a thick forest filled with tall trees.
Their lack of preparation combined with the many outsiders within their ranks would make them incredibly vulnerable to surprise attacks, but armed forces biological weapons wouldn’t stand a chance.
They had the advantage of greater numbers.
There was no way they could lose.
There wasn’t a man among them who thought otherwise.
That is, until they saw it.
The first signs of an abnormality appeared early in the afternoon. Some of the soldiers sent to scout ahead returned with reports of a house.
“I haven’t heard any word of someone living out here. It’s highly likely this is the enemy’s base.”
The captain of the squadron was skeptical that it was truly a witch they were seeking. Not one person from any of the other subjugation forces ever returned. Even if it was a witch they were up against, would it really be possible for her to dispose of so many men by herself without leaving even a single survivor? No matter how powerful an enemy was, surely there was a limit to how much they could do all on their own.
He surmised that their best chance of success would be to catch their target unawares and surround her. He already had several scouts deployed around the troops’ periphery. In addition, he ordered holes to be dug at various points along this cordon and deployed mercenaries to wait inside them—they were going to act as a living shield.
He felt a bit of remorse after giving the command, but the men were being paid handsomely for the job.
After advancing into the forest a little longer, they reached a clearing.
“That must be the house the scouts reported,” the captain said. “Something about it seems off, though.”
It was slightly larger than the average private residence, but even from a distance, it didn’t appear to be made of wood or stone. If he had to make a guess, it looked like it was constructed from earth.
It wasn’t that you couldn’t make a home from such a material, but why choose earth of all things in an area where lumber was so bountiful? His mind was still trying to wrap around this incongruity as he began to give his men orders.
“Everyone, be on your guard. First squad, surround the house and sweep through the interior. Second squad, you’re on support. All other squads should patrol the—”
His words were cut short, gaining a barrage of questioning looks from his subordinates. They soon realized why.
A woman had appeared in front of the house from seemingly out of nowhere.
She appeared to be in her early twenties, with ink-black hair that flowed down to her waist and eyes so vividly blue they looked like the seas pulling him into their depths. The contrast was emphasized by her skin, so pale it was as if she were bathed in moonlight.
She was a woman of unparalleled beauty, but there was only one emotion that rose in the hearts of every soldier that laid eyes on her: fear.
This was the witch.
“…Prepare yourselves for battle, men!” the captain yelled. “The enemy is the witch straight ahead. Ready your shields! Archers, prepare to fire!” He shot off a flurry of instructions, leaning on his years of experience to beat back the overwhelming feeling of dread.
This was much, much worse than he expected.
Out of all the enemies he encountered in the past, this one was far and away the most dangerous. He felt like punching himself for taking the situation so lightly. After a beat of hesitation, the soldiers scrambled to follow his instructions.
It was at that moment that the witch cast her hands in their direction.
She appeared to be saying something, but she was too far away for them to be able to make out the words. While she mumbled, the soldiers finished their battle preparations.
The vanguard crouched down with their shields lined up before them while archers notched their arrows in the rear.
“Ready… Fi—”
The captain was about to give the order when a strange smell filled the air—a pungent odor that he’d never smelled before.
“What is that?” someone asked.
But as soon he spoke, the earth bared its fangs.
✦ ✦ ✦
Goosebumps rippled across their skin as the pungent odor spread through the ranks. The soldiers began to murmur among themselves as they noticed the change in the atmosphere.
Zig sprang into action. His instincts screamed that if he remained where he was…he would certainly die.
He leapt onto one of the nearby pack horses, using it as a springboard to grab a branch from one of the tall trees flanking the squadron.
Even though he didn’t weigh as much as a heavily armored knight, one would think it impossible for someone with the amount of equipment he was carrying to make such deft movements. However, years of training and mercenary work had made his body resilient and capable of these feats.
The moment he grasped the branch, cracking noises reverberated from the earth as conical spikes, about the height of an average human, shot out from the ground. They jutted up one after another, impaling anyone they encountered. In the blink of an eye, many of the soldiers were dead.
They hadn’t expected an attack like this, let alone the direction it would be coming from. It sent the squadron into a state of panic.
“Come on… This has to be some sort of joke, right?!”
Chills ran down Zig’s spine as he looked in horror at the scene playing out beneath him. If he had been a second slower in making his move, he would’ve been yet another soul among the dead.
“Damn it. What in the hell is going on?”
He climbed to the top of the tree, scanning around to see what had caused such horrible devastation. That was when he noticed the witch directly facing the troop of frontline soldiers.
“No way… So it really was a witch?” Even if he wanted to, there was no denying it. There was no other explanation other than it was the witch’s doing.
In the intense chaos, some of the troops began to flee.
They’re gonna run away? Zig shook his head disapprovingly.
Half of the commission had been paid up front; they had all accepted the job knowing the dangers involved. Working as a freelance mercenary, the issue of breaking trust wasn’t that big of a deal to Zig, but choosing the easy way out once he’d made up his mind wasn’t his style. He was the type who stuck to his guns.
Still…
“I just have to pray the guy who hired me isn’t one of those corpses…” Zig sighed as he leapt from the tree he was using as scaffolding.