[Task #2 - updated : Defend the gate. The wolf mother is planning to destroy the gate. A wave of enemies will strike the gate in : 00 : 00 : 52. Waves cleared (1/3).]
“Fuck… I’m so nervous. What kind of wolves do you think the system will shit onto us this time?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know?”
Constant chatters made their rounds amongst the group Richard was relegated into. He didn’t have to look at their faces to know how anxious everyone was feeling, hell, his hands were shaking from all of the tension begging to be relieved from his chest. 50 more seconds and there was a solid chance that some, if not most of them were going to be injured or worse.
But somehow, despite of that, a part of him was relieved. Was it from his growing maturity and his familiarity with how the new world he was in operated? No.
It was because of Zane. The things Amanda said about his insane increase in level was one thing, but there was more to it than that.
His eyes. They radiated the same type of glow Julie, Reghan, and in some manner - Amanda had displayed. He had the confidence, strength, and all the things Richard wished he had growing up.
Well, that was aside the fact that his eyes were also somewhat glowing. It was dim, and honestly, nobody would notice unless they were looking for it. But from his mannerisms, it seemed like he didn’t know about how his eyes had changed. How had he not notice that?
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Julie held her hands to dispel the gnawing chill from the cold air, rethinking her current situation and the plans she had made to ensure everyone’s safety. Despite her outwardly tough appearance, she was extremely nervous about performing well in this defense, not entirely because of her need to gain merits or contributions, but to simply survive another day.
The previous wave had taught her a valuable lesson. It didn’t matter how special she was, she could die in this world at any given moment. With the dwindling numbers of capable players, she was given the burden of dealing as much damage as she could at an extended period of time, with fewer players to hold the wolves aggro.
At the very least, if she ended up losing her stamina, there’d be someone else that she could count on.
She didn’t know what to think of Zane when they talked. At a glance, he seemed to be a normal guy who’d been stuck in a dangerous situation like she was. But there was a hidden side of him that she couldn’t for the life of her, figure out.
“Haa…” Her body jittered as tension was released from her long sigh. As long as he does his part, I could care less about his personality.
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“Are we clear on our plan?” Repeating his orders once more, Reghan asked again to made sure everyone was on the same page.
A slight nod from the ones he led was enough to gave him another round of reassurance.
It has been more than ten days since this nightmare began, and he could never truly get used to it. There was a new type of pressure that was weighting on his shoulders every since the first wave ended, ever since the first casualty fell under his leadership.
Was it guilt? Was it purely a sign of things to come? He didn’t know for sure.
The protest and the unveiling of the shitstorm that happened after last night wasn’t kind on Reghan either. He didn’t want to end things the way it did, but everyone must acknowledge that they had to fight, no matter how terrified they were. How could they not understand that?
[Task #2 - updated : Defend the gate. The wolf mother is planning to destroy the gate. A wave of enemies will strike the gate in : 00 : 00 : 21. Waves cleared (1/3).]
21 more seconds…
He could hear prayers from the guys behind him. Last night’s defense was a massive wake up call to those from the Vanguard squad, a grim admonition that this defense will be a fight of life and death for all that were involved.
“Ease up.” His voice broke the silence in the midnight air. “If you die, you won’t die alone. I’ll be here with you. No… Everyone will be here with you, no matter what happens.”
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The short speech seemed to have alleviated their worry, even for just a tiny bit. Reghan watched the seconds drop as he lifted his shield, glancing at the reflection from the metal.
Another bloody night is about to fall under the serene moonlight.
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[Task #2 - updated : Defend the gate. The wolf mother is planning to destroy the gate. A wave of enemies will strike the gate in : 00 : 00 : 03. Waves cleared (1/3).]
My breath rapidly increased in pace as the seconds ticked down to zero. I stood on the walls near the gate overlooking the outside, watching all of the separate groups prepare for the incoming battle.
None of them were calm in the slightest. Not even Julie, not even Reghan. We were all waiting for the dreaded system message, which came right after I thought about checking the system log :
[The second wave has begun.]
Everyone’s eyes went stiff when the system told us about the incoming attack. The ones in the encampment were visibly upset, fearing the possibility of the wolves breaching the walls.
In an instant, the wind that was grating the walls completely died down as the heavy silence replaced the atmosphere in the encampment. There were no movements from the horizon as of yet, but I did sense that something was off from the way the darkness was displayed on the distance.
It was… twisted, in a way; like how light contorts when it was exposed to an object of massive gravity. It wasn’t something that I’d notice if I wasn’t looking at it closely. And frankly, I wouldn’t be able to spot it at all without the combination of Ally of Darkness and Innate senses.
Goosebumps spread all over my back as a cold thrill snapped onto the surface of my skin.
Death. I don’t know what it was, but whatever’s out there… it’s going to kill at least a dozen of us.
“Raise your shields!” I yelled from atop of the walls, my voice shattering the cold silence that was in the air! “It’s coming!”
My scream seemed to have piqued their attention, as the front liners of each group immediately took a defensive stance.
But that wasn’t enough.
Shields were torn into shreds as the figure of a dark, hazy wolf made its first appearance. In a split second, I witnessed the flying heads of the fallen victims tumbling freely on the floor, rolling away from the two legged wolf that inflicted their demise.
[Lvl 18. Elite Black-furred Werewolf]
18… and an elite. There was no questioning why it was able to kill them so quickly. While the size of the werewolves weren’t necessarily insurmountable, their speed was on a completely different level. On top of that, there were at least 5 more of these monstrosity all around the walls, killing a few more of those who stood outside before a giant fireball the size of a curled up adult male lit up the gate-side of the encampment.
“Shield Wall!” Reghan’s voice cracked as a giant bubble materialized on the eastern part of the wall, defending the ones inside from the werewolf’s frenzied claw swings.
I shifted my focus from them to the others, and unfortunately, they didn’t fare so well.
Should I help them? But that leaves the gate open… Those werewolves could climb the walls in an instant.
“H-Help!” Proving my thoughts about the wolves, I witnessed a dark figure sprinting its way towards the podium, and right after that, the gate.
Shadow stepping towards where it was heading, I leaped from the roofs and closed the distance between us in an instant. The werewolf’s eyes strained in surprise as it felt my presence approaching, which I used to my advantage by throwing a pair of summoned daggers at its direction.
Despite it being distracted, it skillfully weaved through the daggers and turned around to face me. Right when both my feet stepped onto the ground, it pounced at my figure with a snarl.
I had to twist my waist and chest to avoid its first two swings, countering its advance with a solid thrust from a conjured spear. It narrowly avoided my sudden attack by scampering off to the side, growling as it approached with a different combination of attacks this time.
Honestly, while I knew I could still beat this werewolf during the day, having the buff from Ally of Darkness made this fight so much simpler. Normally, its dark fur and skin tone would’ve masked the slight shifts of its joints and limbs, covering its tells for the direction of its next attack. But I could see very well in the dark, so it didn’t have that advantage.
With a feint, I acted as if I was about to thrust into it’s chest. The moment its body shifted to the side, I altered the direction of my next thrust and cleanly pierced through it’s right leg. The [first strike] modifier was still intact, and the howl of the wolf confirmed that the damage it took was not negligible.
Retreating towards the back, I pursued the wolf with a determined glint in my eyes. With the injury, it wasn’t able to maintain it’s speed, allowing me to catch up to it within the next second.
As I got closer, it frantically swiped at my direction, hoping to deter me from pursuing. But no matter how hard it tried, a few thrusts of my spear pierced through the rest of its body, ending its life.
[You killed Lvl 19. Elite Black-furred Werewolf]
Watching the lifeless carcass of the werewolf, I switched my attention to the outside walls. Aside from this stray wolf getting past the defenses, they managed to hold the rest from entering the encampment.
There were no prompts from the system to extract the beast gem from the elite, unlike the ones from the ones I’d killed in the past. Perhaps this was a restriction due to the enemy being spawned from a wave instead of in the wild? It didn’t matter, I had other more important things to take care of.
I leaped and reached the top-most section of the walls, surveying the landscape once more. Reghan and Julie’s group managed to handle the elites damn well; I saw two werewolf heads rolling on the floor as they continued their defense. The first few casualties aside, they were doing well once the surprise attack was over.
Glancing over to the other side, I watched Richard’s group struggling to pursue the wounded werewolf on its way back towards the forest. With the lack of vision and ranged options in their group, I elected to help them out with a conjured spear.
Observing the direction the wolf was running into, I flung the spear I had in my hand with Empowered Throw, which popped the right shoulder of the werewolf when it was inches away from the trees on the horizon. I was surprised with the accuracy of my throw; it was now obvious that the [empowered throw] helped me immensely with the aim.
[You killed Lvl 18. Elite Black-furred Werewolf]
There was no way that the elites were the only ones attacking the camp tonight.