Day after day, the beasts came and day after day, the Death Walkers fought. At first, injuries were rare. But as the attacks continued and exhaustion caught up to them, mistakes happened. They were only human after all.

The first death happened on the fourth day when Laz was busy blocking a group of Void Emperors who excelled in speed. If such things got past the line, they would cause havoc among the ranks so Laz took the initiative himself to stop them. Despite that, some other beasts managed to get through the shield line and ended up killing a young man who was slow to respond to the threat. It wasn’t the same man that Laz had conversed with while on their march here, but his death hit everyone hard. When the beasts had been driven away again, the mood of the camp had a very sorrowful note to it and there was little in the way of conversation.

"There are many things that can cause an army to fail, but failing moral is probably one of the worst," Two said as they sat around a fire, eating their dinner. Luckily the gate was close by so the food was more than just rations, but not by much. Preparing food for so many people still took quite the effort and there was another gate they had to be supporting as well.

Laz looked over at the men and women who were currently involved in their meal and could feel the truth of Two’s words.

’Keeping up their spirits is my job, right?’ Laz asked himself before standing.

"You all sit here and you eat, but in your hearts, you mourn for the boy, do you not?" Laz asked, his voice booming out over the crowd. Many of them either responded instinctually or just turned to look at Laz, but either way, their answer was yes.

"What was the boys name?" Laz asked loudly.

"Luke..." Came a silent reply from somewhere within the crowd.

"I’m sorry. Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. What was the boys name?"

"Luke." This time a few more people closer to the one who originally said it responded as well.

"HA. My hearing must be going in my old age. WHAT WAS THE BOYS NAME?"

"Luke!" Many others now yelled out at Laz.

"WHAT?"

"LUKE!"

"HUH? WHAT WAS HIS NAME?"

"LUKE!"

"LUKE!"

"LUKE!"

They yelled at Laz, chanting it, like a war cry.

"YES!! HIS NAME, WAS LUKE!"

They kept chanting his name until Laz raised his hands again.

"His name was Luke and he died today. While some may know his story or even if no one knows why he was here, the fact is that he choose to fight with us and to die for this. Many others are cowering within that fortress up on that mountain, fearing the fall of the world. But Luke was here with sword and spear and shield, to fight the fall. He was here to show that there is still strength left in humanity, strength that will not fall no matter how dark the night. You morn for one man who fell, yet for him... I feel nothing but happiness. His battle is done, his war has come to an end. He now can rest knowing that we, the ones he left behind, will carry on this war. And one day, if you too shall fall and take your last breath on this field of battle, then rest well in your eternal slumber knowing that we shall still be here, fighting until the last of us fall or our enemies fail. And rest well, knowing that you once fought beside death and he shall welcome you into his embrace as a brother to guide you, TO ETERNITY!"

"TO ETERNITY!" They yelled out as one, their voices echoing over the the rocky nothingness.

When the battles began the next day, there was a fervor to the Death Walkers, one that seemed to burn deep within them. Laz brought out the Apocalypse Ring, it’s red light shining over them like a blood soaked mist, boosting their strength and speed. While doing so to so many people was somewhat draining, it allowed them to be as wild as possible.

After little more than half a day, even the beasts ensnared by the shadow dragon were showing signs of rebellion as they fought to keep the others on their death march while also fighting their own fear. They no longer saw these humans as humans, but as demons from hell. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

There were accidents as the beasts coming at them had all reached the void king stage and several more of their comrades died, but that simply served to enrage them more. Especially bad was when a strong woman with short brown hair and a beaming smile fought back an armored bear to help a fallen comrade, only to find herself rushed by several spiked wolves who jumped at her. She fought off and killed three of them before the forth one was able to get behind her and jump, it’s steel like jaws landing on her neck and plunging in deep. In her last moment, she dropped her weapons and grabbed on to the beasts head, falling as the life left her eyes with the beast in her grip on to the ground.

Seeing this, several of her comrades rushed forward to kill the entangled beast that also happened to be a shadow spawn before it could get free. Both she and the the one she had tried to save died, but no one could forget her bravery in her last moment.

That night, they yelled the names of Sophia and Alex loudly, like a taunt to the beasts, warning them of the pain that awaited them the next day for their actions.

As the days went by, more and more Death Walkers fell which further fueled their rage. As for the dead bodies of beasts, they were being collected more and more, thrown into the gate to be dismantled for their meat, fur and anything else that could be of use. It didn’t take long until the entire legion were equipped with bone armor and pelts made of void king level beasts. While those at the emperor level were also felled, it was a lot harder for their bodies to be processed.

Two weeks after the Death Walkers arrived to defend the walls, Hera and Pooja themselves made a journey down the mountain to see the current state of the battle and to meet with Laz. When they got there though, they noticed Laz sitting on a rock, looking out over the messed up roadway while a massive bonfire showed an immense number of drunk warriors singing, dancing, fighting and some even walking off to tents to have sex while being encouraged by both their male and female counterparts.

They both stopped in shocked horror as they couldn’t believe that such actions were happening while the enemy was just down the road and out of sight and the ones doing it would have to fight again tomorrow.

Although the troops didn’t notice the women at first, they certainly did when they both yelled up to Laz on his rock,

"COMMANDER LAZ!!" They both shouted as Laz’s head drifted lazily towards them.

"Ah. Your Highness, Demon Ancestor. Welcome to the frontline!" Laz said, waving a hand down at them but making no move to get up.

"Is this the way you’re conducting your troops?"

"Eh? My hearing’s not what it once was. Perhaps you’d both care to join me? There is... some room for you both up here by my sides?" Laz said after seeing just how small the rock was. Neither woman was large except for in the chest area and although it would be a little snug, they both could fit on either side of him. Hera was about to lose her shit, but Pooja stopped her.

"Let’s go. It’s not right for us to put down the commander in front of his troops and I don’t want them to feel embarrassed either," Pooja suggested. While Hera wanted to argue back, she couldn’t deny the words spoken.

As they both floated up, they took to the seats next to Laz, only to realize he was still covered in blood and his clothing was badly ripped in several places. There was also several wounds to his chest, back and his arms which were still in the process of healing. Seeing this, whatever they were about to say froze on their lips as they wordlessly grabbed out bottles of medicine, cloths and water and began cleaning him up, forcing his clothes off him in the process which didn’t take much as they just kind of peeled away.

"What are you doing?" Hera eventually asked, the anger gone from her voice.

"Keeping watch. We used to organize it in teams but after a day of battle, it became too much for them, so I’ve been doing it myself these past few nights," Laz said, his voice heavy.

"So you haven’t been sleeping?" Pooja questioned.

"A god level doesn’t need more than an hour or two a night, you know that. I get it first thing in the morning while everyone else is getting up and preparing. That’s when one of my numbers comes and takes the watch from me. For now, they can do as they want up until two hours past dark and then they are required to sleep. And they do so knowing that I will be keeping watch for them. As long as they are able to rest, we will be able to hold on another day," Laz admitted. He knew this kind of thing would be bad for discipline, but it would be worse if they had nothing to look forward to after the battle.

"I didn’t know.,. it was so bad. After hearing about the line being held for so many days.... I thought to worst was coming from the south..." Hera admitted, tears in her eyes as she cleaned a rather nasty claw gash on Laz’s back. He didn’t even react to her touch.

"They sent out god realms today. I was the only one who could stop them," Laz admitted.

Neither woman could say a word. They could already tell that the number of troops had been reduced by more than half from when they sent out. And if god realms or level 7s were going to be their opponents, then how many more days could they last? Laz couldn’t block everything by himself.

There was much that needed to be said, but neither woman continued to speak, instead working silently on their task of patching up the last great hero of their empire.