The camp had been quiet for days.

  Too quiet.

  “I am bored,” Bill groaned for what felt like the hundredth time that afternoon. He sprawled across a pile of gear like a dying man, staring dramatically at the cloudy sky above. “So incredibly bored.”

  Arin didn’t even look up.

  The two of them sat near the edge of the temporary encampment that had sprung up after their army crossed the great stone bridge five days earlier. The bridge itself stretched across a wide ravine like a narrow lifeline. Because of it, moving troops had become painfully slow.

  Legions were still crossing.

  Which meant waiting.

  Lots of waiting.

  And unfortunately for Arin… that meant listening to Bill complain.

  “I know you’re bored, Bill,” Arin replied calmly, adjusting the fletching on one of his arrows. “But what do you want me to do about it? It’s not my fault, High Command underestimated the choke point in their logistics.”

  Bill rolled onto his side and groaned again.

  “We’re soldiers, Arin! Soldiers aren’t meant to sit around doing nothing!”

  “You should be happy,” Arin said dryly. “At least you’re not the poor bastards dragging those experimental cargo carts.”

  Bill’s face twisted immediately.

  “Ugh… don’t remind me.”

  That cargo had been the subject of much ridicule throughout the camp. Large wooden crates, strange metal parts, and all sorts of equipment were dragged along by exhausted soldiers under the supervision of overly excited scholars.

  “I swear,” Bill muttered, rubbing his temples, “those scientists and their brilliant ideas…”

  His rant continued, but Arin had already tuned him out.

  Instead, his eyes drifted once again toward the strange structure in the distance.

  It stood about twenty meters tall—an oddly thin wooden tower rising above the flat landscape. At the very top sat a large horizontal beam. On both ends of the beam, smaller wooden arms had been installed.

  Over the last few days, workers had been climbing up and down the tower, adjusting the arms and testing their movements.

  Arin had spent hours trying to figure out what the thing was supposed to do.

  And he had failed every time.

  It just looked… pointless.

  “Hey, Arin.”

  Arin blinked and turned around.

  Johnny was walking toward them with an amused grin on his face.

  “Still trying to figure out that tower instead of just asking someone?” he asked.

  Arin scratched the back of his head.

  “Well… I was thinking.”

  Johnny raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes, yes,” Arin sighed. “I know how I am with strangers. I don’t like bothering people. And this gave me something to do while Bill complains himself to death.”

  Bill scoffed loudly.

  Johnny chuckled.

  “So you want to spoil the mystery for me, brother?” Arin asked.

  “Well…” Johnny shrugged. “Partly.”

  He sat down beside them.

  “But I also came to tell you something important.”

  Bill suddenly sat upright.

  “What?”

  Johnny glanced between them before speaking.

  “Tomorrow… we march.”

  For a moment, the world seemed to freeze.

  Then Bill exploded with excitement.

  “FINALLY!”

  He jumped to his feet like a man who had been resurrected.

  “Something to do!”

  Without another word, he grabbed his blanket and collapsed back onto the ground.

  “I’m going to sleep.”

  Arin blinked.

  “…Bill. It’s midday.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Goodnight.”

  Within seconds, Bill was snoring.

  Johnny stared at him in confusion.

  “…Didn’t we just have lunch?”

  “Ignore him,” Arin said, waving it off. “He’s just bored enough to sleep through the day.”

  Johnny shook his head, laughing softly.

  “So,” Arin said, leaning forward slightly, “tell me about the tower.”

  Johnny grinned.

  “It’s actually pretty clever.”

  He pointed toward the tall structure in the distance.

  “High Command got tired of relying on horses for messages. It takes too long and uses too many riders. So they searched old historical texts for alternatives.”

  “And?”

  “They found something called the Chappe Telegraph.”

  Arin tilted his head.

  “The arms on top of the tower can move into more than a hundred different positions,” Johnny explained. “Each position represents a symbol. Those symbols form coded words.”

  Arin’s eyes widened slightly.

  “So… it’s a message system?”

  “Exactly. One tower signals the next, and the next signals another. A chain stretching across hundreds of kilometers.”

  Johnny gave a low whistle.

  “Orders that used to take an entire day can now travel in fifteen minutes.”

  Arin stared at the tower again.

  “And messages can travel nearly seven hundred kilometers in an hour.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “…That’s incredible.”

  Johnny nodded.

  “The generals loved it.”

  Arin chuckled softly.

  “Well, thanks for the explanation, brother. Seems asking around does help.”

  Johnny smirked.

  “Don’t worry. I know you won’t start doing it.”

  Arin lay back against his pack.

  “Correct.”

  He closed his eyes.

  “I’m going to sleep too.”

  Johnny stared at him.

  “You too?”

  Arin nodded.

  “If tomorrow is a battle… I’d rather face it well rested.”

  Johnny sighed and stood up.

  “You two are hopeless.”

  Still, he gently draped a blanket over Arin to keep him warm.

  “Goodnight, Arin.”

  Then he walked away toward the center of the camp, hoping to gather more news.

  The next day, the world changed.

  The sun hung high in the sky, illuminating a sight so vast it seemed impossible.

  An ocean of soldiers stretched across the land.

  On one side stood humanity.

  Nearly eighty million soldiers stood in organized ranks—rows upon rows of disciplined warriors armed with spears, shields, bows, and magic.

  On the other side…

  A billion goblins.

  The creatures formed a writhing mass that extended to the horizon. Their shrieks and snarls filled the air like a storm of noise.

  Five hundred meters separated the two forces.

  For several long minutes…

  Nothing moved.

  Then the sun began its slow descent.

  And the battle began.

  Humanity advanced.

  Legions marched forward in perfect formation, spears leveled like a forest of steel.

  The goblins responded with chaotic howls as their massive horde surged forward.

  “Raise spears!”

  The command echoed across the human ranks.

  “HOLD!”

  The soldiers braced.

  “HOLD!”

  The ground trembled.

  “THRUST!”

  A wave of steel surged forward.

  Spears stabbed into the goblin front lines, piercing flesh and bone. The soldiers pulled back and thrust again in rhythmic unison.

  Step.

  Thrust.

  Step.

  Thrust.

  The formation slowly pushed forward, carving into the goblin tide.

  Behind them, archers raised their bows.

  “Tight formation!”

  “Loose!”

  Thousands of arrows darkened the sky.

  They fell like rain into the goblin mass, tearing through the tightly packed creatures.

  And then came the mages.

  Most mages weren’t strong individually. In fact, many couldn’t even kill a goblin with a single spell.

  But humanity had found a solution.

  Ritual casting.

  Dozens—sometimes hundreds—of weaker mages gathered together to channel their mana into a single talented caster.

  The result was devastating.

  A massive explosion erupted within the goblin army.

  Thousands of goblins vanished instantly.

  Another blast followed.

  And another.

  Even though the range was limited, the destruction was terrifying.

  The goblin horde began to thin.

  Similar battles raged across the coastline, where massive sea fortresses had launched simultaneous assaults. Goblins were being slaughtered in staggering numbers.

  Millions per minute.

  Humanity was determined to establish a foothold.

  And one legion in particular was advancing faster than the rest.

  Legion 23.

  They had pushed nearly fifty meters deeper into the goblin lines.

  Two figures stood on a large rock overlooking the chaos.

  Arin calmly nocked another arrow.

  Breathe in.

  Breathe out.

  He released.

  The arrow flew true, piercing a goblin’s skull from over a hundred meters away.

  Another arrow followed.

  And another.

  Bill stood beside him, doing the same.

  “Arin,” Bill said between shots, “we’re being too effective.”

  Arin raised an eyebrow.

  Bill pointed toward the battlefield.

  “The line is advancing faster here than anywhere else. Soon we’ll have to move again.”

  Arin watched carefully.

  Bill was right.

  It was becoming harder to spot the evolved goblins among the regular ones.

  “I know,” Arin said.

  He fired another arrow.

  “But if we push much farther, we’ll overextend.”

  He glanced toward the center of their legion.

  “I think we’ve advanced nearly a hundred meters already.”

  Bill whistled.

  “Looks like Grandpa is getting excited.”

  Arin chuckled softly.

  “Probably.”

  Bill stretched his shoulders.

  “Well… we’ll hear about it soon if we need to slow down.”

  He pointed deeper into the battlefield.

  “I saw a better shooting position.”

  Arin grabbed his quiver.

  “Lead the way.”

  Together, the two archers leapt from the rock and disappeared into the roaring chaos of war.