The village woke in a hush, the kind that felt like frost on the lungs. No one spoke of the torches they had seen the night before, but everyone felt them—burning on the horizon, marching closer with every hour. Ridgebrook was no longer a quiet settlement. It was a drum waiting to be struck.
Leonidas began before dawn again.
"SHIELD CORE, FRONT AND CENTER!"
His voice cracked across the dirt square, and twelve exhausted but determined villagers staggered into place. Orin dragged her feet slightly, but her eyes remained fiercely focused. The rest—hunters, farmers, the blacksmith's son—stood straighter when the Spartan king inspected them.
Liam watched from the side, sore from yesterday's training. His ribs still throbbed.
Leonidas paced before the twelve. "You are the body of this village now. If you break, the village dies. If you stand, the village lives. Hold your shields like you hold your breath—tight and without error."
He slammed his spear butt against a shield. The man holding it staggered.
"Unacceptable."
The Shield Core scrambled to correct themselves.
Orin leaned into her shield with fresh determination. Leonidas paused before her.
"Better," he said. "Not good. But better.
Orin beamed, even though sweat dripped down her chin.
Sun Tzu approached quietly, hands folded behind him. "Your training breaks their bodies," he said. "Mine must shape their fear."
Leonidas smirked. "Let us see which matters more.
They turned toward the outskirts of the village where trenches were being dug. Men with shovels worked in nervous rhythm while women sharpened stakes and children carried buckets of dirt. Sun Tzu directed it all with effortless calm.
"Place the stakes here… no, angled inward. When Rathmore advances, their formation will funnel itself into this narrow kill-line.
He tapped the dirt.
"Then your shield wall holds the gap."
Leonidas nodded. "A simple design. Effective."
Liam felt a chill. "What happens if the shield wall breaks?"
Sun Tzu did not look up. "Then we retreat to the second line.
"And if that breaks?"
"Then we die," Sun Tzu said matter-of-factly.
Liam regretted asking.
A horn echoed faintly from the woods—far away but unmistakable. Work slowed as villagers stiffened.
Leonidas raised his voice. "Ignore it. Their horns do not kill you. Laziness does."
Work resumed, though hands trembled more than before.
Vlad appeared beside Liam soundlessly, as if pulled up from the earth like a nightmare. Blood stained his sleeves again—fresh.
"More scouts?" Liam asked.
"No," Vlad said cheerfully. "They stopped scouting. Fear does that."
Liam winced. Orin, overhearing, tightened her grip on her spear.
Vlad grinned. "They will attack angrier now. I look forward to it."
"Sun Tzu says anger leads to reckless mistakes," Liam replied.
"Exactly," Vlad whispered.
He drifted past the trenches like a shadow, unnerving villagers who stepped quickly aside.
Lira approached Liam, eyes soft with worry. "Are you eating at all? Or sleeping? You look… worn."
"I'm alive," Liam said, managing a dry laugh.
"That's not enough," she said. "Not for someone who leads an entire village."
He opened his mouth to respond but Leonidas barked again.
"CHIEF. WITH ME."
Liam groaned. "Of course."
Leonidas tossed him a shield. "Stance."
This time, Liam shifted his feet properly—shoulder-width, weight forward, shield angled.
Leonidas nodded once.
"Better than yesterday. Let us see if your body remembers or if your brain interferes."
He attacked.
Liam's shield jolted violently as the spear struck it. He nearly fell. Nearly—but not entirely. His Rank 2 strength steadied his legs.
Leonidas drove forward, relentless. Liam blocked, stumbled, blocked again. His arms trembled, sweat soaked his shirt, but he did not fall.
At last, Leonidas stepped back.
"Good," the Spartan said. "You do not disappoint me today."
Liam collapsed to his knees anyway.
Orin rushed over to help him stand. "Don't push yourself too hard—"
"He must push," Leonidas interrupted. "Weakness in him is weakness in all of you."
Orin scowled but said nothing.
Sun Tzu approached, holding a scrap of fabric. "Chief. Another clue.
The cloth was tightly woven, unnaturally even. Not local. Not handmade.
"What the hell is that?" Liam asked.
"A foreigner's work," Sun Tzu said. "Someone outside this culture influences Rathmore. Their rope knots… their marking ink… nothing matches this region."
Leonidas frowned. "A wandering advisor?"
"Perhaps," Sun Tzu said. "But his methods do not belong to this era either."
Liam's stomach twisted. "What do you mean?"
Sun Tzu lifted the cloth. "This is machine-woven. No loom in this world produces such consistency."
Liam froze.
Machine-woven.
"Are you saying he could be… someone like you?"
"No," Sun Tzu said firmly. "Summons retain their historical limitations. But this man—he introduces methods outside both history and this world."
"That doesn't make sense," Liam said.
Sun Tzu's gaze sharpened. "Many things will stop making sense soon."
A shiver crawled down Liam's spine.
Later that afternoon, Sun Tzu called Liam to the central square. The villagers gathered nervously, uncertainty in their eyes. Leonidas stood like a stone monument behind him. Vlad perched on the wall, smiling faintly
"You must speak to them," Sun Tzu said.
"Me?" Liam choked. "I'm not exactly—uh—speech material."
"You lead," Sun Tzu replied. "Therefore you speak."
Leonidas nodded once. "Make them believe."
Liam took a deep breath, stepped forward, and shouted louder than he thought possible.
"Listen up! I know you're scared—I'm scared too! Anyone who says they're not is lying through their teeth!"
A ripple of uneasy laughter.
"But fear doesn't matter if we fight together. We survived Ferric. We survived two attacks already. And we're going to survive the next one too!"
He pointed at the walls. "Because they don't know what we've become. They think we're just some weak, shitty village—"
Several villagers gasped at his language.
"—but we aren't! We have warriors! We have strategy! We have people who refuse to give up! And I swear—" Liam's voice cracked, raw with emotion, "—I swear these bastards will NOT take our home!"
The villagers erupted—cheers, stomps, shouts. Even the children yelled. Leonidas nodded. Sun Tzu smiled faintly. Vlad clapped twice, amused.
Lira stared at Liam with something warm in her eyes. Orin looked like she could fight an entire army alone.
Night fell.
The ground trembled.
Not much—just enough for dust to jump.
Liam climbed the wall again, heart thudding. Leonidas, Orin, Lira, and Sun Tzu joined him. Vlad stood above them all, balanced on a beam like a bird watching prey.
In the distance, through the dark trees—
Torches.
More than before.
Twice as many.
Three lines instead of one.
Marching.
Closer.
Sun Tzu exhaled. "They advance faster than expected. The siege may begin… tomorrow."
Leonidas lifted his spear.
Vlad grinned like a demon.
Liam checked the Ledger instinctively.
[NEXT SUMMON: 29 DAYS]
It felt painfully distant.
He whispered, "Then we have one day left."
And Ridgebrook braced itself as the hammer approached.