My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 296: Seven Hells (1)

Kace gathered his close comrades away from the main force as they rested while staring at the city. Everyone wore a heavy expression as they knew that their first offensive had failed. What made matters worse was that they did not even get a glimpse of those who had been responsible for repelling them!

"We need. A solid plan." Grugda grumbled as he looked at the others gathered around the fire.

The others could only nod in agreement as Shadow tossed more fuel on the fire. The desert was freezing at night, and although most monsters could deal with it, some would also suffer. More fires began to light up the darkness as those in the army began to light their own fires before the night fully enveloped them.

"A plan is fine but does anyone have any suggestions?" Kace growled. He was still pissed that his plan failed because of a few people who did not even dare to show their faces in front of him.

The others looked at each other helplessly. They could understand his frustration, but this city would be a tough nut to crack. Their situation was only made worse because of how few supplies they had brought to reach their target quicker. Sophia sighed loudly as she tilted her head to look at the sky. She stood to lose the most if they failed here. The vampires would probably lose their seat on the council.

"Isn't there another way in?" Sophia asked, hopefully.

"No, if we try to use the mountain to drop into the city, they'll just hit us with the people in that cursed tower again. There'll be too many casualties." Shadow replied seriously. "Likewise, if the natives made tunnels, they could just collapse them on us. There's definitely a powerful earth magic-user in there. They buried all the tunnels used to transport the bodies."

"What about you, guys? I doubt they can target you with that shadow movement ability you have?" Sophia's brows furrowed in concentration as she tried to fully understand their situation.

"It's no good either." Shadow shook his head calmly. "Even if we get inside, how do we open a way for everyone else? We can't win the war alone. If we split up, we'll be more likely to lose men to powerful heroes. If we stay together, then we become one big target for the tower folks all over again."

Everyone could feel the frustration in Shadow's tone even though he did his best to hide it. So far, nobody had been able to suggest anything worthwhile. 'If we had the airships, it might be a different story.' Kace thought for a brief moment before tossing the idea away. 'No, that wind user that almost got me would definitely be able to take them down.'

"It looks like there's only one thing to try." Kace suddenly spoke up, drawing all eyes on him. "I'll just have to attack with plagues and poisons. Let it spread amongst everyone inside until it kills them all."

"But that'll take too long!" Sophia complained as she stared at him in shock. "We don't have enough supplies to maintain a siege long enough for that to affect the outcome."

"We'll just have to send a portion back to retrieve what we need from the natives' city. We'll have to establish a supply route. I hate to say it, but we could be here for the long haul." Kace sighed as his gaze wandered back to the city and the tall tower that could be seen nestled within.

"Hmm. This idea. Is good. I vote. We do it." Grugda said in a stiff tone after mulling over his own thoughts.

Very soon, a consensus was reached. They would rely on Kace's abilities to slowly kill off the population until they could no longer resist. This pretty much would make the army useless, and they were sure to be pissed that they would not get to fight. It would make it feel like that they had travelled out here for nothing! At best, they would be fancy decorations for the humans to stare at before they died.

The night wore on, and everyone slept fitfully. As dawn broke, Kace and the others gathered together again. Sophia moved off to deliver her orders to the army section that she had chosen to be responsible for their supply problem. 

"Take care of yourself and come see me if they manage to injure you." Lilly threw her arms around Kace in a tight hug as soon as Sophia was out of view.

"Sure, but I doubt that'll happen." Kace chuckled lightly before turning a cold gaze on the city walls.

"Shall we go, My Lord?" Shadow asked from Kace's side. There was no way that he would allow Kace to get so close to their enemies without some protection.

"Sure. Grugda, be prepared with some defensive spells to cover our approach." Kace said calmly to the Eljein by their side.

He had decided not to use the shadow realm so that the heroes would present themselves as targets over the wall as they would try to prevent him from getting close. It was too dangerous to infiltrate the city for his plan since they had no idea what the powerful opponents in the tower were capable of. 

"I'm ready. When you are." Grugda confidently declared.

"Ok then, let's begin!" Kace immediately began to sprint forward with Shadow in tow.

The other Tu'Thrag were already in the shadow realm, waiting in case they would be needed to shield him. It did not take long for the guards on the wall to notice their charge. They began to laugh as they raised the alarm, and suddenly hundreds of heroes and humans appeared within Kace's vision.

A storm of attacks was launched at them as they closed the distance, lighting up the early morning sky. As they converged towards where Kace would be in a few moments, Grugda launched his Earth Wall spell to intercept them. Still, the heroes had expected something to get in the way and began to fire at will.

Kace raced past the pits that had held the burning bodies on the previous day. There was still a stench of death lingering around them. Just as he was about to clear the last pit, a decayed hand suddenly shot out of it and grabbed his foot! Causing Kace to fall flat in the sand. Shadow slid to a halt beside him and swung his scythe, severing the arm and freeing Kace. 

Kace's eyes went wide as walking corpses began to climb up out of the pits and formed up to close off his escape route! 'Shit! Since when could heroes do something like this!' Kace suddenly realised that he had underestimated his opponents this time as a strong aura washed over him. A skeletal armoured giant with a massive tower shield and sword suddenly rose out of the first pit he had passed by.

Sitting on its shoulder was a womanly hooded figure wearing black robes. Kace could only curse as he watched the giant climb up out of the pit. His opponents had prepared a trap!