Lev sat up abruptly. His mind was still clouded by sleepiness, but it was clearing fast. The first thing he noticed was the remnants of a ringing sound. As soon as that fact was registered, all grogginess evaporated. Lev moved out of bed and quickly washed his face.
Second Chime.
Moving out the door, Jack was already standing in the hallway.
Third Chime.
Kayla and Amelia joined them shortly afterward. The bell rang every ten seconds.
Fourth Chime.
They waited with bated breaths.
Fifth Chime.
Lev impatiently tapped his foot, increasing the anxiousness even further. No one spoke.
Sixth Chime.
It felt like the world held its breath, and the seconds stretched painfully.
Seventh Chime.
Lev sighed. “It's a seven like the Guildmaster predicted. We should report at the Guild soo-”
Eighth chime.
“Of course, it's an eight.” Jack sighed. “Let's get moving.”
Lev moved back to his room and picked up his light armor. He was putting on the leather vest when his mind wandered to what role they would be playi-
Ninth Chime.
Lev froze. Nine… not just nine, but nine by Windkeep’s standards. Steeling his resolve, Lev hastily put on the gear before rushing to his friends. Lev observed each of them, glad that none of them looked outright scared. Their faces were grim with both resignation and determination.
The city was alive like a poked hive. People ran around with purpose and panic, but there was no chaos. Shelters were opened to the regular folk, and most of them were above level 50. The procedures were underway with surprising haste and fluidity. It took nearly half an hour to get to their destination. The Hunters Guild was an organized mess. The staff members were giving orders left and right, and they directly marched up to the people who looked responsible for organizing squads.
The woman gave them a quick look before checking her notes. She motioned for them to follow her and led them to an iron team. Departing without even saying a word, Lev and his friends waited for less than a minute before another two bronze teams joined them. The iron team’s leader, a lithe male warrior with a longsword cackling with suppressed lightning, clapped to get their attention.
“Let's start walking before I explain the situation.” The three teams moved out at once, the higher-ranked team taking the lead. “Have you guys heard of Taunt Sqauds?”
None of the bronze hunters did, so he explained. “They are tanks with classes and skills best suited for attracting the attention of surrounding monsters. Our job is to keep them alive and cull the monsters. Usually, there’s only one person in the squad with taunt skills, and the rest either buff and support the tank or cast large area-of-effect skills to impair the movement of monsters. Archers and other long-range casters will be stationed on the walls to provide support. Multiple silver teams will be patrolling the wall to provide support where needed, so listen to their orders. Other than that, Good Luck.”
They jogged to the south gate, the one where they had first entered Windkeep. Someone had formed thick stairs going to the top of the wall. The guards briefly interrogated the leader before motioning for a runner who ran ahead. Following the girl, they made short work of the stairs and stopped at the top of the wall.
Lev’s breath caught in his throat when he got the first look beyond the walls. The entire plains were in motion. Everywhere he looked, the ground was moving. Thousands upon thousands of figures were slowly trudging towards the walls. Dawn was still underway, the increasing sunlight only serving to further visualize the force of nature out for humanity. A few hundred monsters, or what seemed like that many, had already reached the colossal walls. Explosions and roars were somehow audible all the way from the west. The Dreadwoods were also alive.
Lev broke out of his stupor when a hand gripped his shoulder. He hadn’t realized his jaws were hanging open, which he clicked shut. The iron team’s leader squeezed his shoulder lightly.
“You won’t be fighting alone. Have trust.”
Lev nodded once and swallowed, trying to get his breathing under control. The runner girl had waited for them to start moving again and led them to a team comprised of only girls. Lev identified them.
[Mage - ??]
[Mage - ??]
[Mage - ??]
[Mage - ??]
All of them sported bright silver light armor and stood with staffs tightly clenched. The girl walked up to them and relayed orders. Lev only caught the last bit.
“- drop them at section two-three.”
Before he could process the thought further, a gale swept all of them off of the wall. Barely keeping himself from screaming, he realized that they were not plummeting to their deaths. Slowly, the winds carried them to the left of the gate, giving Lev the first good look at what the ground had turned into.
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Pitfalls, quicksand, spikes, and many other odd traps were already in place. Towers had been erected two dozen meters from the wall, with mages manning them. All of them had either brought their own wands or they had been provided by the city. The area where Lev’s group landed was between four such towers, surrounding a squad already present.
They landed softly without any issues. Lev was fixated on making sure his legs wouldn't break despite gliding at low speed. Looking up, he gazed upon a giant of a human. Or rather, a human and their giant armor. The armor was thick, probably impervious to anything below level 100, and wholly impractical. It was more a brick than anything.
Nods were exchanged all around after they landed, and Lev inspected everyone.
[Warrior - Level 95]
The taunter was almost double his level. The rest of the taunt squad was at similar levels, all mages.
[Warrior - Level 98]
[Warrior - Level 98]
[Warrior - Level 98]
[Mage - Level 98]
The iron team was almost at the cusp of evolution, all of them at the same time. Lev was interested in seeing how evolutions took place but hoped it wouldn’t happen during the battle.
The other bronze team was in the level 70-73 range, higher than Lev’s team. They had two mages and three warriors. All of the melee combatants wore heavy armor. The iron team leader clapped to gather everyone’s attention. All of them did for some reason.
“Alright, the plan is simple. The mages surrounding the taunter are not there to cast spells as much as they can. They will only cast to point out the area we need to prioritize. It could be a higher density of monsters or a few higher-level ones. It will be apparent. On my orders, disengage and fall back. It will make room for the towers to cast their spells and give us some time to recuperate. Make the best out of it.
Disruptive archers are stationed on the walls to deal with big magical projectiles, but they can only do so much. Keep your eyes peeled and your mind focused.”
With that clear, they waited. The massive hordes were slowly advancing in their direction, only stragglers reaching them early on. Those odd few monsters were put down by weak conjured arrows or projectiles from atop the wall. For over thirty minutes, they waited for the monsters to approach. Lev distracted himself by observing the sheer number of defenders waiting alongside him.
There was a formation similar to theirs seemingly every two or three dozen meters. The taunters were obvious from far away, with their huge forms standing out. Lev looked toward the wall, unable to see any of the defenders stationed on top from his position. But he could still feel them, the amount of people giving off a subtle pressure. They were all competent and ready to face this challenge head-on. Monarch did not allow for mediocrity.
The minutes passed agonizingly slowly. The closer the hordes got to the wall, the faster they ran. Just over an hour later, the first of many was about to reach them. The iron team leader announced in a loud voice.
“TAKE POSITIONS!”
The iron team moved ahead, standing right in front of the taunt squad. Lev’s team covered their left, and the other team their right. By now, the monsters were close enough that all Lev could see was a sea of monsters in front of them. The last order came through.
“TAUNT!”
Lev had very little time to appreciate the beauty of the strategy. The huge armored giant roared and joined the ranks of the iron team. The person’s movements were slow, sending a shockwave through the ground with every step. The monsters were now in full sprint, racing to get their hands on the single target as fast as possible. Before they reached the formation, however, distant formations also launched their taunts.
Chaos spread through the horde. Some of them turned towards the left formation, and some to the right. The effect was completely random, and many of the monsters tripped over each other. A few even started fighting among themselves. It helped that the monsters were varied. Some were taller and stronger, while others were quadruped.
Arrows, either augmented with or made with mana, rained down on the monsters. Fireballs and lightning bolts fell on them by the dozen, thinning the numbers considerably in seconds. All of them targeted the middle of the horde, so the front monsters continued unimpeded. Many of them fell into pitfalls and were impaled by spikes at the bottom.
The first of the monsters reached them before Lev could observe further. He felt Kayla’s buff coursing through him and moved four barriers. The rest were kept slightly above him, just in case. With Kayla only buffing herself and Lev, they could keep going for almost half an hour.
Amelia and Jack moved ahead to confront a group of wolves, only to be almost completely ignored. Realizing that at the last moment, they changed their course to stop them from reaching the iron team. Lev took off the heads of two wolves in the back and injured another. Amelia’s new sword burned bright red, moving in a blur and leaving carnage in its wake. Her body shone fiery orange, amplifying her movements even further. She leaped forward, decapitating another wolf before kicking one towards Jack.
Jack’s shield caught it directly in the muzzle with a thundering crack, leaving the monster motionless forever. He conserved his stamina, moving just enough to get monsters into the attack range of his hammer or stopping any frontal charges, which were not happening. Lev observed the monsters for a few more minutes before telling Jack and Amelia to fall back. He had a plan in mind.