Shovels In Spades

It was currently eleven-fifty in the morning and all of the people gathered on the walls or stood outside past the trench, were fighting off the snowstorm's cold as they waited for the attack to begin.

On top of the outer wall were twenty-five soldiers that were skilled in archery, each one powerful enough to rival a talented marksman with a rifle.

Ger and both of his daughters stood ready, Ger with his sniper rifle, Sarah with her nature magic grimoire, a new item she had purchased from the system that boosted all of her nature magic skills, and finally, Ellie who was holding Mini Daz as she controlled the M Destroyer which was with the frontal fighters.

"Girls," Ger said as he wiped away the snow that had collected on his head.

Ellie turned to look at him while Sarah replied, "Yeah, Dad?"

Ger smiled. "I wish your mother was here to see you girls like this. I'm so proud of you both. She'd have loved to have seen you two so focused and hardworking..."

"Dad..." Ellie mumbled as a melancholic expression filled her face.

"I'm sure she's watching us, Dad," Sarah said with a big cheesy grin on her expression.

Ger couldn't help but loosen his lips upon seeing his upbeat daughter always staying positive. "I wonder if she'd have been here with us, fighting as a family if I hadn't left her..."

"It wasn't your fault, Dad," Both Ellie and Sarah said at the same time, forcing them to look at each other and giggle a bit despite the serious subject.

"Seriously, you girls..." Ger sighed before he pulled his daughters in for a hug. "It's been a while, why don't we visit your mother after today's attack? I'm sure Daz can find some time to escort us to her grave."

Ellie stayed silent while Sarah beamed a smile. "That sounds nice."

Below the walls, Daz had Hamson stabbed into the piled up snow as he leaned on the shovel's handle. Madison was on his left while Crusher was on his right.

Behind them stood the ten-foot tall Rimmy and he was surrounded by Dorian, the five-teenaged cosplayers, Jorden, Edward, twenty-one of the other soldiers and General Retford. The M1 Abrams was stationary with the remaining soldiers in it, fully prepared for the coming battle.

"Big Bro, what kind of monsters do think we'll get today?" Jorden asked as he adjusted his large coat slightly.

"I'm not sure, Jorden," Daz replied calmly, "But hopefully, the system has some mercy considering it's the first day of this cycle, huh?" he added with a short laugh to help reassure the young nine-year-old.

"I just wanna help you, Big Bro... Don't make me go on the wall again like last time, please, even if the monsters are tough. I'm still super fast even with the snow and all these clothes!" Jorden exclaimed as he skipped about to display his agility.

Madison's face lit up as she watched this. "Cute."

Edward glanced at Daz before he also asked a question. "Harriot will be safe in that 'dungeon' of yours, won't she?"

'Edward, huh? He surprisingly got over two-hundred loyalty in a single night... way more than I was expecting. Not quite two-fifty, but good enough,' Daz commented internally. "So long as we don't all get slaughtered, everyone down there will be fine."

"That's a relief to hear," Edward replied as he took out a cigar and lit it despite the heavy snow.

Crusher laughed when she saw that. "You're pretty relaxed all things considered, ain'tcha?"

Edward shrugged. "Getting stressed will only lower my focus and make me weaker, so what's the point? Look at that bomb over there that's about ready to explode," he said as he gestured towards Dorian who was shaking like a leaf.

Crusher walked up to the one-armed man and wrapped her own arm around his shoulder. "Hahaha! This idiot's not scared or stressed, he's just cold, aren't ya, Captain?"

Dorian looked uncomfortable, but he still forced a smile. "At least one of us has faith in me..."

"Ah, you're such a worrywart, Ahab. You'll be fine. I'll keep you safe if I have to, hahaha!" Crusher roared.

"Well, that's enough playing around. It's time," Daz said to the two of them as he noticed that there were only twenty seconds left until the attack began.

Those seconds crawled by and everyone's tension was building up as the snow got fiercer and fiercer. Finally, the long-dreaded and awaited notification filled every citizens' vision.