The forge burnt low, but the air was hot with resolve.
Shiri's tail coiled proudly as he stepped back, wiping soot from his scaled brow. Ladies before them were rows of scavenger ghouls, now clad in jagged scrap armour and gripping crude but effective weapons–bone edged cleavers, soul burnt spears, and rusted shields reinforced with black armour.
"All done," Shiri announced, satisfaction in his tone. "Every one of your units armed and ready for battle. You're the first lord I've worked with who didn't treat their forces like walking cannon fodder."
Kairo gave a small nod."this will keep them alive. But it won't be enough."
The soulcrafter frowned. "What do you mean? You've got numbers and positioning. This is what low-tier battles look like."
Kairo didn't answer immediately. Instead, he opened the [system anrmament menu] and scrolled through avaliable blueprints.
[Weapons blueprint blueprint: bone-caster cannon](tier 1)
[status: Unavaliable—missing components]
—> Required: Steel fragments (12/40) | core crystal (1/4) | carved timber (8/15) | fusegut resin (3/6)
He cursed softly under his breath. He needed cannons. Real siege firepower. Without them, he couldn't guarantee a clean victory.
"We need to break the lizard in the first phase. If it starts charging….there's a good chance we loose half our troops before they even land a hit on that thing."
"I take it back," Shiri muttered. "You don't think like a lord. You've got numbers think like a tactician."
Kairo stood up. "I'll get what we need, you hold the base."
The surrounding ruins were crawling with the undead, mismatched monsters bound to rot and ruin. Kairo hunter fast and effectively. He used flanking routes, never giving the enemy a clan angle.
One bone wraith burst apart in a flash of black fire.
kairo got a system message immediately after killing that wraith.
[Milestone achieved: He who ends rot]
[Requirements: slay 50+ undead]
[Title gained: Rotbane stratigest]
—>10% more damage to undead
—> 10% attack boost to undead units under command
—>-5 moral to nearby enemy undead
Kairo blinked.
"Didn't expect that," he muttered. " but I'll take it."
with materials secured by defeating the undead and ruins, Kairo returned and began crafting.
By sundown, the cannons were ready.
four of them.
the bone caster cannons were looming tall, monsterous hunks of stitched together metal and bone, powered by soulcrystals and bound by blood-forged runes. They were slow to reload up, but devastating agains large targets.
As Shiri activated the trigger of one of the cannons, a hum rolled across the camp.
"This might just work," the Naga said softly.
Kairo didn't speak.
Instead, he ordered the creation of a temporary command centre near the border of the burnt village. Spiked barricades, archer tower, healing totems, and should ward beacons were set upright by the system's [Auto build] function. They weren't permanent, but they will last the fight.
Every thing was ready.
The moon rose high.
And in the distant ruins, just beyond the edge of the firelight, a shadow moved.
Towering, reptilian, and shrouded in the soot of collapsed homes, it watched the new camp rise like a hunter observing prey it had no intention of pouncing on—yet.
It's glowing amber eyes scanning the landscape, uninterested in the cannons or the undead or barricades.
It was looking for something.
No….someone.