Chapter 36
Inside a recently built command center, Markus, Ska’dur, and many high-ranking military officials surrounded a table with a map of the Grandsky Plains across its surface.
A grey stripe divided into 40 sections represented the Blockade. Each section had a name - B1, B2, B3, etc. B1 was on the easternmost section, and B40 was on the westernmost.
Major General Luca, wearing a light armor set and a bow strapped to her back, said, “In four days, we’ll take over sections B21 to B40, which is about 300 miles.”
Markus stood with crossed arms as he nodded. “Are there teleportation arrays already in place?”
“Yes,” Major General Luca frowned in displeasure. “However, the Elemental’s military set them up, and I’m worried they’ll remove them.”
Markus chuckled, “No matter. Make sure we have enough teleportation arrays premade for the swap.”
“Understood,” Major General Luca responded, already starting their production yesterday.
As the conversation continued, Ska’dur stood at Markus’ side, bored out of his mind. The talk of logistics, making sure there were enough rations, how to repair the wall, how to pick up the loot after the battle, equipment maintenance, and everything else that went into defending the Blockade went in one ear and out the other.
During the meeting, he occasionally glared at Markus out of the corner of his eye, irritated that the latter had made him arrive at the Blockade so early. Not only couldn’t he fight, but he was now one of the leaders of the military and was coerced by peer pressure to attend these mind-numbingly dull meetings.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, one of Markus’ aides barged into the meeting, reporting, “Sir, today’s monster wave is starting.”
“Great!” Ska’dur responded first, rushing out of the room before anyone could blink.
Major General Luca sighed helplessly and walked out along with everyone else.
Leaving the command center, they saw the two million new troops that had arrived earlier, plus the one million who had been here for several days, already spectating in the air.
Some relied on the Flight skill, while others used flying mounts.
There was a stark contrast between the behaviors of the new and old troops.
Those who had been here and witnessed the monster wave several times had solemn expressions, while those who had just arrived looked excited and full of anticipation. They all hovered in the air about half a mile behind the Blockade. With their superhuman stats, they could see for miles without issue.
Atop Blockade section B40, countless combatants from the Elemental Nation stood in formation. The troops guarding section B31-40 were subordinate to Tal Vapor, one of the four rulers of the Elemental Nation. Their standard armor had blue patterns, representing their water element innate gift.
At that moment, a cloud of dust spanning the horizon appeared in the distance, and the ground started trembling ever so faintly, indicating that the monster horde was nearing.
In unison, the combatants atop the Blockade summoned monster pets specialized in ranged attacks, instantly doubling the number of defenders. The pets were all water elementals and came in all shapes and sizes.
In the spectating crowd, Keith hovered next to his mom and aunt, observing peculiar movements from some teams on the Blockade. Atop raised platforms, groups of five formed a circle, channeling their mana into a person standing in the middle. The fusion ability that Litra mentioned earlier crossed his mind.
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In minutes, the cloud of dust grew closer, and people could now start making out shapes of monsters galloping at full speed. They ran shoulder to shoulder, packed to the brim. There were tens of thousands from just what was visible outside the dust cloud, with who knew how many more within.
The monsters originated from dozens of different zones. Some were massive, the size of a house, while others were as tiny as a rat. They consisted of animals, undead, elementals, golems, gnolls, ogres, yetis, centaurs, ghosts, goblins, cyclops, and many more species. There were too many different monsters.
The closer they got, the more intimidating they seemed.
At some point, Keith used Inspect to identify the monster's levels, and what he saw gave him a wake-up call. He initially thought they wouldn’t be so high, maybe around level 600 to 700, but he couldn’t be more wrong.
Level 600 was just the starting point.
Most monsters had levels ranging from 650-750, with a minority surpassing 800. There were even a few around levels 850-900. As for those above level 900, Keith didn’t see any.
Most importantly, the difference between a level 885 monster and a level 650 monster was the difference between the System and the Grandsky Realm. There was no comparison.
(Mythic) Grim Gnoll Warrior – Level 650
Health: 2,500,000/2,500,000
(Divine) Undead Bone Behemoth – Level 885
Health: 135,000,000/135,000,000
Based on health alone, the Undead Bone Behemoth had over 40 times more health than the Grim Gnoll Warrior. From that, it was easy to guess how high its other stats were.
What horrified Keith was that the Undead Bone Behemoth had more health than Orcus, a Monster Lord. Worse, the Undead Bone Behemoth wasn’t the only level 885 monster he could see. There were five with similar levels in his line of sight alone. Considering the length of the Blockade, there had to be hundreds of monsters above level 850.
By the time the monster horde was a mile away, a commotion came from atop the Blockade, massive water spheres rising from the groups fusing their powers. There were hundreds in total. Floating above the Blockade, they started spinning rapidly.
In seconds, the monster horde was within firing range.
WHOOSH!
Thin tendrils of water extended out from the water spheres, reaching hundreds of feet and lashing at the monster horde so fast that Keith could only see a blur.
Once, twice, thrice…
The water whips attacked multiple times a second, ripping apart the ground and monster horde alike. One water whip bisected a level 650 gnoll and two other unlucky monsters in one slash. Another severed the limb of a level 735 scorpion.
The hundreds of water whips combined unleashed complete devastation, killing thousands of monsters every passing moment.
Although they held most of the monster horde at bay, a few higher-level monsters either avoided or endured the water whips and rushed forward, arriving within two hundred feet of the Blockade.
At that time, soldiers from the Elemental military’s defenders rushed out to greet them. Keith’s eyes widened in shock when he saw one particular soldier envelop themselves in water, forming a humanoid water elemental and knocking back the Undead Bone Behemoth with a punch.
What level is that person? Keith wondered, alarmed by their power.
The other soldiers who left the protection of the Blockade were no slouch either. They slayed one high-level monster after another, either alone or working together, including the Undead Bone Behemoth.
For two hours, the silly-looking water spheres wreaked havoc amongst the endless monster horde, and the most powerful of the defenders felled any high-level monsters that got too close. Whenever the team channeling the water spheres ran out of energy, a new group replaced them.
When the monster horde had thinned considerably, the water spheres transformed, enveloping their casters inside and forming a humanoid water elemental several stories high. The titan elementals leaped off the Blockade and smashed into the remaining monsters, kicking and punching while tendrils of water whipped chaotically.
At last, the final monster died half an hour later.
Small mountains of loot were the only thing that remained, and the battlefield, riddled with craters and ravines, slowly recovered under a mysterious power.
Behind the Blockade, many among the Innate Nation had grim expressions after watching the fierce battle. While hardly anyone among the Elemental’s military died, that was because they were sufficiently powerful. The Innate’s military had many methods to handle the weaker monsters, but not those like the Undead Bone Behemoth.
Markus and Ska’dur could maybe hold back one or two monsters at that level, but what about the dozens of others? Would they make their way into the backline and start a massacre?
Everyone’s thoughts were the same.
If their leadership weren’t hiding some trump cards, there would be heavy losses when they started defending the Blockade. After all, the Innate Nation didn’t have enough time to develop.