*DING* *DING* DING*...

As the bell rang, the wall that protected this town was filled with archers and mages preparing for the incoming attack, and at the same time, near the walls outside the town, a well-organized army was ready for whatever was coming their way.

''Get in your positions and ready your weapons. Solder what can you tell me about our enemy?'' A tall man that was built like a mountain was giving commands to the ground force when one of his soldiers came to him, it was the same soldier who he previously sent to find out the situation. 

''Yes sir! Our enemy is a swarm of necro beetles heading straight for this town, they will arrive in about 10 minutes time.'' Hearing what the solder said the man wasn't happy. 

Necro beetles, beings that like to eat the dead. These creatures are a pretty big menace for lower undead, like skeletons or zombies, but if the swarm is big enough they can threaten some more powerful undead. But even though their main diet usually are the undead doesn't mean they only eat that, they practically eat anything that is dead, even the corpses of people. 

There have been cases where some of these beetles have found some towns or villages graveyards and just dug up the dead and ate them, so they can be a conundrum, but usually, the colony isn't that big and some local adventurers or guards take care of them. But this time it seems that this is a big one, meaning it won't be easy, plus these bugs are the size of a big dog, they have hard shells and they can fly, so the man wasn't looking forward to this battle.

Plus you have to take into the consideration that they won't back off no matter how many they kill of them because normally these battles won't be swarming a settlement where people live, they only attack settlements when there are graveyards in them and even then they do it in small numbers usually.

But as this town has no graveyard in it, and even though the beetles love eating the dead, they prefer something that is dead for a while not freshly killed corpses, meaning they don't have any reason to swarm this town except if they're running from something. And if they're running from something then for them this town is just another obstacle to their escape. So knowing this it's either they killed the beetles of the town gets flattened. 

*Tuktuktuktuktuk...* While the preparations were made, a gear turning sound started coming from the towns wall, and with it, a row of ballistas appeared on the top of the wall. There were soldiers manning them and ready to shoot the swarm. Slowly they saw the black wave appear in their vision. 

''FIRE'' And as soon the command was issued,*sshhh..* the ballistas fired their bolts one after another splitting the air before them. *Thumb*...*BOOM* the first bolt landed taking out some battles with it in the impact, but a few moments after it blew up, cleaning the beetles around it. But as fast as that spot was cleaned of beetles at the same time new beetles took over. These battles looked like a black mass, and although the bolts took out a good number of them, the black mass filled the holes at an insane speed.

This went in for a while, and at some point, the soldiers and adventurers, who could attack from that range, joined the attack. You could see different magical circles forming and shooting spells, different skills getting activated, and there was even a guy that was just making and throwing giant rocks at them. 

And the closer the swarm got the more people started to attack, at one point the ballistas retracted back down into the walls, and the melee was soon to start.

''ADVANCE!'' The commander issued his order and the soldiers as one, moved. The first line was shield bearers when they got in the position they stabbed their towering shields on the ground and readied for impact. *DUND* The first impact was made, and as exoskeleton and shield clashed the soldiers behind with spears jammed their weapons through the small gaps that were made between the shields. And like that the battle started.

The wall of shields and spears now in action was like a meatgrinder, they moved as one, the spears like one disappeared and then repaired through the shield wall gaps, with each such movement the battles numbers decreased, although it wasn't that visible. 

But while the united soldiers were blocking and making kebabs out of the beetles, like one big machine, the adventurers started to move. These people on the other hand weren't united, only those who were in the same party used some coordination.

While the soldiers stood back and protected the town by making the line of shields and spears, adventures went a bit deeper. The battle wasn't easy, the soldiers when could change spots so that they could get some rest, and adventurers retreated behind the wall when they needed rest.

But even though people tried to be careful and get a rest when needed, there still were casualties, some died because they were overconfident and some because of an accident, blood of both beetles and people was getting spilled in this battle. But hope wasn't lost because the soldier's wall of death was still standing, and there were powerful people that were fighting deeper in the swarm.

One of such people was a man dressed in armor that had lava flowing on the armor making interesting-looking marks. The black armored man had a giant hammer-ax that he was swinging with both of his hands and a ring of lava under his feet. The weaker beetles died a few steps in the lava ring, while those who could reach the armored man were smashed to paced or clewed in two, while the lava pool cleared the bodies of the fallen.

He mostly stood in one place and waited for the enemy to attack him first, and thanks to the range attackers he didn't need to defend himself against beetles from above. But while he was fighting in his self-made arena, near him was a wolfkin who was dancing through the battlefield with a mad grin on her face. 

With her halberd she massacred beetles left and right, while at the same time she created and shot metal needles at them. The needles usually pierced the natural armor of the beetles but not enough to give them any severe injuries, but it was intended like that because the next moment lighting started to appear around her, and after a little moment of charging, multiple lightning bolts shoot out wildly from her, and most of them struck the needles that were in the bodies of her enemies, making her some roasted beetles.

Although this battle was bloody and long they were slowly getting the upper hand. There were plenty of strong people in this town because it was a hotspot for strong individuals, so from a distance, you could see multiple little battles happening that were similar to the lava man or the crazy wolf lady. Of course there were more people working with their party, but there were plenty of people going solo.

And some of these battles looked... interesting, for example, there was someone who just ate the beetles. It looked particular, but it worked, that jolly-looking man would pounce on a beetle and then start devouring it while it was still alive, and he finished his meal in a few seconds.

Then there was a big spiky ball made out of rocks, just rolling around crushing and piercing the beetles. So all in all this battle was a sight to see. And even though this battle was long and they lost plenty of lives, after a long fight enough beetles were killed that they were no longer a threat to the town and its people.

After the battle people relaxed outside the town's gate, there were people going around giving people potions or using magic to heal and help them recover. The atmosphere was totally different from the tense and bloodthirsty feeling that was felt on a battlefield, it was now more relaxing and a little bit jolly as the battle has ended, but there were still some people feeling dejected for multiple of reasons. But the battle was over and for those that survive life went on.