Chapter 184: Chapter184-The First Wave of Siege!
As the countdown hit zero, everyone was taken aback by the absence of any monsters.
They had anticipated an overwhelming swarm of creatures rushing towards them the moment the timer expired.
But the emptiness before them left them completely dumbfounded.
What was going on?
Everyone exchanged puzzled looks, unsure of what had just happened.
The feeling was uncomfortably peculiar, akin to winding up for a powerful punch only to find it landing on a cushion.
"What's happening?"
Even Archibald couldn't help but furrow his brow.
He and John stood on the high platform of the city wall, a vantage point that allowed for a better overview of the area.
Moreover, as individuals with level-one clearance, their panels included a detailed map of the vicinity.
Blue dots represented their teammates' locations, green dots were friendly NPCs, and red dots indicated monsters.
"Stay alert at all times."
Since the countdown had ended, it meant that monsters could attack at any moment, and they absolutely could not afford to let their guard down.
Despite murmuring among themselves, everyone eventually suppressed their doubts and remained vigilant.
Soon, they felt the city walls beneath them begin to tremble.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know, it feels like the walls are moving."
"My goodness, what is that?"
"Oh my!"
Upon hearing the cries of alarm, everyone instinctively turned their gaze toward the distance.
Outside their fortress lay a vast forest, but at this moment, the edge of the forest was engulfed in billowing smoke.
The smoke-filled area had flattened the forest, and vibrations transmitted through the city walls, stirred by the countless monsters running toward them.
"Alert!"
"Magi, prepare!"
At Archibald's command, everyone shifted from a state of relaxation to combat readiness.
John could see clearly the myriad of monsters charging toward their location from afar.
[Name: Titanic Ape]
[Name: Night Wolf]
[Name: Cunning Fox]
[Name: Ferocious Rabbit]
...
As the monsters drew closer and were identified, one after another appeared before them.
The sight of these monsters made everyone gasp.
Some creatures were even elite-tier monsters!
And this was only the first day!
Elite-tier monsters besieging them already?
Oh my goodness!
They couldn't imagine how they would endure 15 days!
"Area attacks, release!"
Following Archibald's order, countless skills were unleashed toward the oncoming horde.
Fireballs, arrows, frost, and beams of light streaked across the sky...
One by one, the skills crashed into the swarm of monsters.
Boom, boom, boom!
A single skill might not deal much damage to these monsters, but hundreds, even thousands of combined skills instantly wiped out a large swath of them!
The experience and points earned were equally distributed among everyone who had hit the monsters.
Though the shared points and experience were modest, the cumulative effect was formidable.
At the same time, John noticed something puzzling—the monsters didn't display the usual loot indicators after death.
This meant that these creatures didn't drop any loot after being killed!
How could this be?
Even in secret realms, even in other domains, it was customary for monsters to drop loot upon death.
But now, they couldn't see any of the sparkling points that usually signified drops.
However, they soon had no time to dwell on this, as they realized these monsters were incredibly fierce!
As the monsters charged, the moat initially stalled them, but soon many of the creatures piled into the moat, and subsequent waves of monsters stepped on their corpses to reach the city walls!
[The city wall is under attack! Current durability: 99.9%! Wall durability will decrease twice as fast once it falls below 50%!]
[City wall is under attack, activate the wall shield? Shield HP is ten times the wall's HP! Energy stones can be invested to maintain it!]
[Activate wall shield?]
Archibald and John exchanged a glance and tacitly nodded, opting not to activate the wall shield for now.
It was only the first day.
If they started using the shield now, what would they do later?
They had to wait until the wall's durability fell below 50% before activating it.
Otherwise, they wouldn't last, and they didn't have enough energy stones!
While the third fortress could share resources, they would eventually run out, and they were facing 15 days of attacks.
Divided among the three fortresses, there wasn't much to go around—they couldn't afford to waste it!
John noticed that after the monsters died, their bodies didn't disappear but continued to accumulate on the spot.
Before long, they formed mounds of corpses that effectively blocked the advance of subsequent monsters.
Various ranged attacks were constantly unleashed from the top of the city walls, leaving some of the melee fighters unsure of what to do!
They couldn't release their skills, which meant they couldn't earn experience or points.
Seeing other people's scores and experience continuously rising on the leaderboard, they felt increasingly anxious about being stuck in place.
"Captain, let's go too!"
"Yeah, Captain, if this continues, we'll end up at the bottom of the scoreboard."
"I wish I wasn't melee!"
Some began to grow restless.
Archibald quickly noticed their unease and sharply reprimanded them over the chat channel.
"It's only the first day, and you're already eager to rush to your deaths?"
"You only earn points and experience if you're alive. I'm certain it won't always be like this. Even if it continues in this manner later on, I'll make sure to distribute points and experience to you all."
Archibald, now the steward of the fortress, spoke with authority akin to John's, and his words managed to quiet some of the discontent.
However, there remained some who were inwardly unhappy, naturally feeling uncomfortable as they watched others gain points while they got none.
But some quick thinkers had already picked up bows and arrows to start shooting.
Though they weren't archers, hitting just one monster would allow them to share in the experience and points.
Every little bit counts, and accumulating slowly would eventually give them an edge over others!
John looked at the monsters before him and felt a slight relief.
If the attacks continued at this level, they wouldn't be much of a concern.
After all, this was not particularly challenging for them.
They might not even need everyone to fight; instead, they could manage with a rotating shift system.
However, he worried that things might not be as simple as they seemed and that these monsters wouldn't let them off so easily.
It was only the first day, after all… the challenges might increase as time went on.
The monsters, seemingly tireless and impervious to pain, continuously slammed into their city walls.
Yet, an hour of battering only reduced the wall's durability to 99.95%.
Archibald was also promptly monitoring the durability of the wall.
Seeing the current durability, he too breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, the damage was within an acceptable range; otherwise, repairs would be another hassle to deal with.
John unleashed two large-area attack skills.
Boom, boom, boom!
High-damage explosions erupted among the monsters, with a single skill wiping out a whole group instantly.
The people around him hadn't even launched their skills before the monsters were already dead.
They looked at John in disbelief.
Though these monsters were only elite-tier, their HP was not to be underestimated.
That John could kill so many with just one skill spoke volumes about the terrifying level of his damage.
Some shifted uncomfortably to the side.
With such a powerhouse standing nearby, they were hardly getting any points!