The maximum amount of points I could spend was 700. This meant that I could either upgrade a structure or buy another.

And that was it.

If things went similarly to the first wave, this would not be terrible news. I didn’t have to upgrade or buy more structures during the first wave, we only needed ‘reinforcements’ close to the end.

Yet there was no way I could trust that system—that trial—to be anything anywhere near just and fair. The second wave would bring different, stronger monsters. There was a possibility that by upgrading the structures, we were already well-equipped to deal with them.

However, I could bet all my points that, before the half mark, new monsters would appear that our current weapons would not be able to defeat. Not fast enough.

Which meant I had to think of something else. Something that didn’t evolve skills and didn’t rely on upgrades and more structures.

“You look like you have a stomach ache. Is thinking that painful to you?”

I glanced down, Hal’s gaze meeting my own. Yet something was missing.

“Where is your sister?”

“I left her with trench coat-guy's group.”

“Why?”

“One of them has some interesting skills; he is helping her calm down.”

Although the boy said those things as if they were nothing, I noticed the strain in his eyes, the tension in his muscles. I felt my heart tightening, wondering how bad Hil’s situation was.

I tried to search for her in the middle of the crowd, yet Hal’s voice pulled my attention again.

“Say, any ideas on what you’re going to do? It's risky if you keep relying on ‘last-minute’ plans.”

Sometimes Hal scared me with his remarks. With Hildr, there was this innocence and purity I would expect to find in a child. Yet with Hal, sometimes it was almost as if he understood.

He was a boy who somehow got stuck in the world of adults, and he learned to survive in it—almost too well.

"Believe it or not, those 'last minute' plans are not usually in my plans."

"Shouldn't you plan better, then? So far this game has been quite predictable."

Once again, Hal left me speechless. Not only because he was not wrong, but because he was far too keen for his own good.

I had to create better contingency plans, ones that could be put into action as soon as a new threat appeared.

So far, I saw two possibilities for us. One was a loophole—one the system could perceive as bending the rules in our favor.

The other was riskier, but we would be able to prepare better. Or at least, that was what I hoped for. The system could still consider that as a "cheat". But if they didn't specify in the rules...who's fault was that?

I opened the menu, clicking the message icon. I stopped for a brief second before writing the message, somehow annoyed at the thought of sending a message to him. Yet it would be faster that way, and I could also do some side preparations of my own.

So that was what I did. I tried to be fast, minding the countdown looming above our heads. And as I sent messages back and forth and set things right, another idea popped into my head.

"Hey Hal, you said your Benefactor is the Moon, right?"

"No, that is what my sister said."

Potato, potahto.

"What type of skills did you get?"

It did not take long for Hal to realize where I was getting. The kid was smart, huh? It almost made me feel proud.

"Why do you want to know?"

I glanced at the clock above us.

[Third Wave starts in: 0:13]

"To have some 'first-minute' plans."

----------------------------------------

As I predicted, the second wave started with a lot of mages.

Yet that time, before they could attack, the traps were activated almost on the spot. The ice traps could freeze two mages simultaneously, and not only did that give some damage it also nullified their shields.

Kurosawa had specifically chosen someone to recharge the traps, and although I was not sure why at first, as the second wave progressed I understood his reasoning. They could turn invisible and, apparently, the monsters were not aware of them when they approached the traps with their skill on.

Apparently.

I didn’t want to bet on the chance those creatures couldn’t see a person recharging the traps every now and then. If my analysis was right, new monsters would appear quite soon and the chances of their possessing keen senses were not exactly low.

So instead of waiting for things to happen and risking our lives, I was making the smart move.

“Whenever you feel like it, Hal.”

I was betting on something other than luck.

Hal’s eyes turned white, his hair moving on its own as if ghost hands were playing with its locks. Without looking at the screen, all others would be able to notice was the air turning colder, thicker.

Almost like it wished to warn us of a peril coming our way.

Yet if they were paying attention, they would be able to see the mist that suddenly appeared on the outside, growing in size and density. Suddenly it was not only the mist, but the night.

The light faded as if it was the flame of a candle, the cold air stealing its glow and heat, covering the sky in darkness. Yet as the daylight disappeared, something even brighter replaced it. Something that not only dominated the dark sky with its sheer dominance and authority but also for its beauty.

The moon.

I noticed some creatures getting unsettled, their steps halting as they turned with uncertainty in their glowing red eyes.

However, there was one creature that did not stop.

It came from the woods with the mist surrounding its mount, taller than any of the other monsters—it almost looked human. It shared none of the other monsters' traits, its armor reflecting the moonlight with an eerie and haunting glow.

It was a knight in shining armor mounted on a horse made of shadows that moved, danced, and breathed on their own, a spear in its hand.

It used the new setting as its own cue, that smug bastard.

“Can you see this?! There are so many bodies—the blood, it's everywhere!”

“They appeared out of nowhere, boss, the corpses—they began to pile up and I’m not sure if I can—”

One of the things I asked for Kurosawa was to link me with the operators outside. Thankfully, the person who had established the link between them was not the person who was hit in the previous wave.

“These are all but illusions. Focus on the new creature. Can you spot any weaknesses or particularity that may help us?”

It felt weird to have so many voices in my ear, as if we were all taking over the radio. However Kurosawa seemed unaffected by it all, his gaze fixated on the new monster that calmly walked into the trail.

“I-I not really sure, boss. Kinda freaking out here, to be honest. Shit, it’s like these corpses are glaring at us.”

“Wait, I think I see something—the mount, it’s an actual thing. Like, it has a real body. It just changes its consistency so the arrows won’t hit, but whenever there is a body or something in its way it doesn’t go through it, it moves to the side.”

Kurosawa looked my way as if to make sure I had heard that. By the way, I was smiling, the man got his answer.

The last two structures would likely unlock on the third wave. The mount avoided the physical damage and the traps were only triggered by the mages, so one thing we could do was buy some time.

I needed everything to be in its place, so the plans would work.

And oh, did I need those plans to work.

Before I could even send him a message, Kurosawa was being thrown in the air by Aída, yet instead of standing on top of the wall as she had done earlier, the man jumped across.

I could see through the screen as the knight shifted its focus completely, the mount stopping in its tracks for a few moments.

Time to see how good our leader truly is.

From what I had observed so far, all monsters had a “special attack”. The lightning mages would hit the wall directly, the fire mages would make it rain small fireballs in one structure, and the smaller monsters had more powerful attacks with their weapons.

Yet once they used their special attack, it would take quite some time until they could use it again. That knight had a spear and a mount, so it could attack both from a distance and a close range.

Which one was his special attack, I had no way to know.

I did have some alternatives in mind, however.

As the knight locked gazes with Kurosawa, the mounts got agitated with its paws hitting the ground again and again. Something told me it was getting ready to use its special attack. And in that moment, I was happy 'cool Mister' was not that patient of a man.

Kurosawa Touma punched the ground, and could I swear—

The ground split like waves, left and right.

Even the walls shook and trembled, the impact so strong it completely evaporated all the mist around him. I heard the earth crumbling and dirt clouds forming, dissipating after a few seconds.

When the scene was finally revealed to us, standing between the army of monsters, the knight, and Kurosawa was a deep, wide, and big ditch.

We were playing defense after all.