"W-what the hell are you talking about...?!"

According to the words of the Captain before them, the Giants had broken past the walls- something they had never been able to do for over a century now.

"T-that's impossible! The wall is sixty meters high!"

"Y-yeah! Even the largest among them isn't nearly as tall as that! It... it can't be!"

"E-exactly! It can't be, right? Right...?"

As the timid of the Dwarven Leaders panicked even more, staring at each other for ways to deny the reality of the situation, the more capable leaders-especially Councilman Finn— decided to address the issue head-on.

"How did they manage to do that? What happened to the Fort? It's supposed to take care of the occasional Giant invasion."

Everyone glanced at Councilman Frank, who was in charge of that sector.

Many thoughts went into their mind at that moment. All the Leaders knew he had grown very lazy at his job due to the easy nature of it, but now that it was his weak link that caused the State of Emergency, there was palpable tension directed towards him.

"I... I did my job well! Last I checked, everything functioned perfectly well. T-the Fort should be-!"

"The Fort has fallen." Captain Servos spoke with a calm voice, creating a state of absolute chaos among the Councilmen.

"F-fallen?!"

"Preposterous!"

"Impossible!"

"Unthinkable!"

"Inconceivable!"

As much as they wanted to deny the reality, it remained the brute fact.

"The Giants should be making their way to the Fortress City as we speak. They have also employed what appears to be Monsters."

"Monsters? Giants and Monsters working together? Do my ears deceive me?"

"They managed to tame those savage creatures?"

"Those Giants are savage themselves! Surely, they have no concept of taming."

"S-so... the Fort fell to the combined might of the Giants and Monsters? This means it's not my fault, right? The Monsters were the unknown variable!" Councilman Frank said, trying his best to give an excuse for his Sector's failure. "There's no way the Walls or Fort could have predicted that. We weren't equipped to handle - "

"Shut it, Frank!" Councilman Finn said with a sigh, glaring at him and the other loud and panicky Dwarves around him.

They were acting more like children than the seasoned adults that they were.

Thankfully, the Councilman's imposing tone and terrible mood was passed across to every single Dwarf in the room, so they all fell silent.

"Huu... tell us the details, Captain Servos." His voice was the only one that rang in the hall, and it was directed at the man before him.

"How did the Fort fall? What details could you salvage from the footage?"

Servos worked at Monitoring and Communications, and it was his duty to report any suspicious or dangerous activities recorded by their advanced security systems to higher-ups.

One of his subordinates must have briefed him regarding the events that happened in the Fort before it fell, which prompted the State of Emergency, and his immediate report to The Senate.

As such, they had to hear the details from his lips.

"What really happened?"

"I-I have a hard time saying it, since it's still difficult for me to accept it as well. B-but..." Captain Servos stuttered, beads of sweat on his face as he addressed the most powerful Dwarves in the Republic.

"... The Fort fell barely an hour into their invasion."

"A-an hour?!" At this point, even Councilman Finn nearly lost his composure.

However, he swallowed the information he received and strengthened his heart and mind so he could hear more. Even if the other Dwarven Leaders were losing their marbles, he had to stay rational and dependable at all times.

It was this quality of his that had earned him continuous office for the several decades he had been in power.

'Back then, the Giant Threat had just been quelled, and our Republic ushered in a new era of peace and prosperity. I took advantage of the stability back then to enter into office, and I've solidified my position in The Senate ever since.'

He couldn't allow himself to get carried away now.

If he carefully took in the information, analyzed its contents, and proffered a solution, wouldn't it be possible that he would be elevated even further in his social standing?

Maybe... just maybe... he could finally push the Bill for Presidency, and win the Elections by a Landslide.

If that happened, then all of this could be a blessing in disguise.

"The Walls were constructed with Water-Attribute Runes, and the weapons of the Fort were specifically water-based...." As Captain Servos said this, Councilman Finn nodded.

He understood all of this.

Due to how predictable the Giants were, and how troublesome the Dragons had become in the War, the Dwarves had found it more efficient to use Solidified Water walls through runes and focused mostly on water-based weapons since that was the weakness of Giants.

'We focused our more powerful technologies on the Dragons, and it appeared to be the right choice for all this time.'

However...

"The Giants managed to get over that weakness by using the Monsters in the frontlines. They protected them from the Water and led the way, while the Giants made counterattacks. Due to this process, our fortified defenses could not hold up at all..."

"I-I see..." As much as he tried to hide it, Councilman Finn was puzzled-and rightly so.

'What a simple, but scary strategy. The Giants I know aren't intelligent enough to come up with this, though. Have they been evolving faster than we expected? Were their occasional attacks just a way to throw us off their scent and cause us to underestimate them?'

So many thoughts went on in the Councilman's thoughts, and he feared he wouldn't be able to piece them all together.

"Since the Fort has now fallen, the next major destination is our Fortress City. Have you ensured to evacuate everyone that stands between us and the fallen Fort?"

"Y-yes. The evacuation is already underway."

"Good... good!"

Depending on how fast they advanced, the Giants could make it to the Fortress City within a single day. That meant they had to hurry with their evacuation procedures, as well as their preparations for battle.

'It's unavoidable at this point.' Councilman Finn gritted his teeth as he looked at his fellow members of The Senate.

They were still largely unnerved, but some of them had managed to gain their composure- specifically the ones who were used to Warfare.

'Good to still have some useful ones around me.' He told himself, removing his attention from the Captain and turning to the Dwarven Leaders.

"You all realize how serious this situation is, don't you? The Fortress City is our last line of defense. If it falls... then the Giants will make it to our Central City and all other surrounding

towns."

In essence... the entire Dwarven Race would be doomed.

Everyone nodded, displaying their understanding of the situation.

"Tell us, Servos... what is the estimated number of the enemy?"

Since the army contained both Giants and Monsters, Councilman Finn already expected it to

be a large number.

"W-we haven't fully calculated yet, but... we estimate their numbers to be at least thirty

thousand."

"T-thirty thousand?"

"M-my goodness...!"

"T-this is..."

As the Dwarves recoiled from the shock, Councilman Finn swallowed his nervousness and put

on his brave front while addressing his colleagues.

"This will be a rather difficult battle. But... I have no intention of losing it." As he said this, a

fire lit in his eyes, and he passed it onto the sensible Dwarves he looked at.

They all nodded in agreement to his resolute words.

"We don't plan on losing either."

*

*

Thanks for reading! This should be fun to see. Apologies that Rey won't be in the next few (very few, I promise)

chapters... but I hope you enjoy them.