Desolate World

"Don't give up. Your families are behind you. Once you back down, they will become the prey of these monsters," A middle-aged man shouted after seeing some men that were on the defensive line started to falter.

It had already been an hour since they were fighting the waves of crazy monsters. It started when Elo and a hundred men just arrived from the cave. At first, the refugees that made camp in the clearance celebrated their success in saving the transforming ones.

However, before Elo and the rest even had dinner, the monsters started to attack the refugees' camp. It was unusual, as they were already more than two months in the Misty Forest, they thought they had understood the monsters' habits.

Although the monsters didn't have intelligence, by instinct they knew that attacking a large number of humans would only end with their death. Only the wolves or other big groups of monsters dared to attack them. But, in the end, they would be repelled by the refugees.

It was the first time they experienced the attack of many kinds of monsters at the same time.

At first, they could kill the monsters easily. It was because the monsters had lost their mind. They just ramped the refugees' defensive line directly. It was as if they wanted to be killed by the refugees.

Some refugees even joked that the monsters wanted to deliver themselves to be the refugees' dinner.

But as time went by, the refugees realized that the situation was not as simple as they had thought. Even after half an hour, and then an hour, the attack of the monsters didn't stop. As if all monsters in the forest had made an agreement to crush the refugees that night.

Some men started to get tired, even a few men made mistakes that caused them to be injured or worse killed.

Elo didn't know how many of their colleagues were killed as the night was really dark and the mist made it worse.

What he knew was, some people shouted to ask for reinforcement. It meant someone was injured or killed. Then based on the appointment of Noah in the past, when someone was injured, the men behind them would immediately replace them. Yes, they would always arrange some men behind the defensive line to be the reserves. 

Their duty was to reinforce any place that needed support. Their existence could also give peace of mind to the women and children and even the men who were fighting in the front.

However, tonight's battle was different. First, they didn't have Noah, who was the leader of the refugees. Second, the number of capable fighters was halved, as many men were following Noah to go to the cave where the vampire nest was. And even if some of them came back, most of them were tired. The conclusion was their condition was far from ideal. 

The waves of monsters' attack had become their nightmare this evening. Elo didn't know if they could last this night. However, he couldn't show his pessimism. He knew, when the men's morale was decline any further, the monsters would devour them.

"When will it end?" A man said after swinging his sword to a fox-type monster. Elo could hear his heavy breath. 

"It will be soon. Don't give up! You are being watched by the women and children behind your back. Don't show your weakness to them," Elo said while fighting a wolf.

The man didn't answer. Eli knew it was not easy. He knew the anxiety of the man. He was one of the men that had just come back from the cave. Of course, he was tired. Same with him, Elo felt each of his sword swings was getting heavier and heavier. 

But he must hold on. If not… He didn't dare to imagine it. He didn't want to imagine it. What he knew was, he had to keep fighting. He had to keep fighting until he died. No! He even couldn't die. He must protect all women and children behind him.

"Haaa!..." Elo shouted while swung his sword. Killing the wolf in front of him.

Then many shouts reverberated from some places. Elo couldn't help but be happy. He knew that his buddies still didn't give up. 

"Come! I'll kill you!" Elo shouted to the next monster that came to him.

"Yeah! Son of b**ch! Come and die!" A man not far from them also shouted.

"Come on, a**hole! I will definitely break your neck!" Elo shouted again. Then a boar rushed to him.

Then many curses were heard around the battlefield. Elo didn't care if his wife would scold him later. He just wanted to curse the hateful monsters.

Then another 15 minutes passed. Many men were injured and almost all reserves stepped up to replace the injured or the killed ones. But, the monsters' attack kept coming.

Elo's sword swing was much weaker than before. He had many bleeding wounds on his body. If it was daytime, everyone would see that his complexion was pale. But, his eyes were still sharp. He hadn't given up. 

Around Elo also many men that had a similar condition with him. But, they still swung their swords.

As he killed another monster. Then he took a deep breath. 

"How many monsters have we killed?" Elo asked.

"Maybe three thousand? Honestly, how can we count them? Why did you ask?" A man beside him asked. Then like what Elo did, he took a deep breath.

"Nothing. It shouldn't be too far away," Elo said.

"Huh… what do you mean?" The man asked while frowned.

"Maybe we will be saved. Just kill the monsters. You will know," Elo said.

Then another monster came to Elo. He faced it like other monsters before. After killing it, somehow his condition was better. The bleeding wounds on his body were healed in an instant. His HP that had already been in red before came back full. Although he was still tired, he felt he had become stronger. 

Yes, he had leveled up. It took him a while to level up because in group battle, although the distribution of experience was based on contribution, it was still shared with all of the people that were fighting, even with the idle people like women and children in the back, as the system counted them as a whole party. So it took much more time for him to level up. 

Usually, they were hunting monsters after separating from the other refugees, so they could get the most optimum distribution of experience. But, the situation at the moment was a defensive battle. And there were many women and children behind them that also got the experience.

"Fight on!" Elo then shouted. 

***