My Farming Domain Is Broken

The black light swallowed Carlos the moment he placed one step inside the portal. When his feet touched the ground again, the air smelled like wet iron and old smoke.

Kaia was beside him with her sword ready. Brann landed on the other side. Nessa was already looking for height, while Two bounced close to Carlos’s boot.

They stood inside a ruined stone fort. Broken walls surrounded a large courtyard. Rusted shields lay beneath the mud. Beyond the open gate, a grey field stretched toward a line of black hills.

No birds crossed the sky. Nothing moved in the field except a few strips of dead grass.

Carlos hated it immediately. It felt like a good place to get tetanus.

The system panel appeared above the courtyard.

--

[Conquest Level 4]

[Hellbound Difficulty]

[Objective: Break the Iron Fang Garrison]

[Enemy commander: Unidentified]

[Number of waves: 2]

[First assault begins in 03:00]

--

"Garrison," Kaia said. "We defend this time, my lord."

Carlos looked around again. The outer wall had two collapsed sections and one gate wide enough for a wagon. At least the system had not thrown them into an open field this time.

"Nessa, take the left wall. Do not chase anyone. Two stays near the gate. Brann covers the broken right side. Kaia, you take the centre with me."

Nobody questioned the order.

Carlos forced himself to walk the inside of the ruined fort before the assault began. The old store rooms were empty except for shattered barrels. A narrow stairway led up one wall, but half the steps had collapsed. Nessa still found a way to climb it, using the broken stones like they had been placed there for her.

Kaia checked the gate hinges and the fallen beam near the right gap.

"This was a real garrison once, my lord," she said. "The enemy could know it better than us."

"Hmm... then we should not stay where they expect us to be," Carlos said.

Carlos had no idea whether that was a proper military answer. It just made sense to him.

The timer reached two minutes.

Brann picked up a piece of loose stone almost as large as Carlos’s chest and placed it beside the right gap. It would not make a wall, but it would slow down the first enemy trying to climb through.

Two watched him work, then bounced toward a broken water trough in the courtyard. It was dry, but rainwater had collected at the bottom under a layer of dirt.

The Slime absorbed what little it could and became slightly larger. Carlos noticed.

"I didn’t know you could do that, Two," Carlos said.

Two bounced once and returned to the gate.

The timer reached one minute.

Carlos’s heart started beating harder. He remembered the Warden and the black chains. Hellbound had never given him anything easy.

But there was no strange eye watching him yet. No voice. No impossible thing waiting in front of the gate.

Carlos tightened the leather strap on the iron shield Kaia had given him. Kaia picked up a rusted shield from the mud and placed it against the gap near the gate.

The shield made his left arm heavy, while the spear kept bumping against his knee whenever he moved.

The three-minute timer went down too slowly.

Something howled outside the fort.

When the timer reached zero, the first enemy came through the open gate on four legs.

It looked like a wolf at first. Then it stood up.

Its body was covered in dark fur, but iron plates had been nailed across its chest and shoulders. A short axe rested in one hand. Behind it, more creatures moved between the ruined stones.

"Iron Fang Gnolls," Kaia said.

Carlos did not ask how she knew. The axe in the creature’s hand was enough for him.

The first Gnoll rushed forward. Nessa’s arrow struck its shoulder, but it kept running.

Two fired Water Shot at its knees.

The water burst knocked one leg out from beneath it. Brann reached it before it could stand and brought his hammer down beside its head. The impact cracked the stone beneath it.

His hands smelled of rust.

More Gnolls came through the gate.

Carlos raised the iron shield as one swung an axe toward him. The hit rattled his whole arm. Kaia stepped past him and cut the creature across the throat before it could pull the weapon back.

Two fired again and again until its body looked smaller. Nessa kept arrows moving from the wall. Brann held the right gap alone, throwing one Gnoll into another whenever they came too close.

Carlos stayed in the centre with Kaia, his spear held ready behind the iron shield.

For once, Carlos was not worried about someone slower behind him. Kaia, Brann and Nessa could fight. He could move without looking over his shoulder every second.

The first assault lasted less than ten minutes. It still felt too easy.

Carlos had no idea how many Gnolls had entered through the gate. He remembered blocking axes, hearing Kaia call warnings and seeing Brann throw Gnolls away from the broken gap.

One Gnoll reached the left stairway and tried to climb toward Nessa. Carlos threw the broken shield at it without thinking. The metal hit its head and made it stumble just long enough for Nessa to put an arrow through its neck.

"That was stupid, my lord. Nessa had an arrow ready," Kaia said after the creature fell.

Carlos did not mind her tone. He had seen Nessa ready. But when somebody came for one of his people, he still moved before thinking.

When the final Gnoll fell, the courtyard had blood and broken iron everywhere.

Carlos was breathing hard. His shield arm ached from the first hit.

Then the system panel changed.

--

[First assault repelled]

[Enemy scouts have assessed the garrison]

[Second assault begins in 01:00:00]

--

Carlos stared at the words.

"That’s a new one. What do you mean they assessed the garrison? Aren’t they already dead?"

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