Chapter 75: Chapter 75: The Second Firewall

The zombified monsters didn’t reward him with any System experience after takedowns. Jack, though, didn’t have the time to be bothered by this, for eliminating them was his only priority at the moment. The Maester skills helped him realize the growingly polluted air from all their decaying body. Should these abominations reach the vicinity of Oxdale, the consequences could be dire.

The remaining soldiers on the west side all sighed in relief seeing a powerful stranger share their burden. The mysterious one dashed through anywhere someone was struggling for their life with those monstrosities. His arms and legs unleashed air-tearing blows, leaving behind only deformed heads that had their nervous system either torn apart or with huge holes in them. The men all felt grateful with all their hearts that the stranger was not an enemy.

As the sun completely disappeared on the horizon, Jack could now unleash all of his combat capacity. Shadow Dance and Presence of The Night were used, turning him into a phantom that decimated the ranks of the beasts. The fact that these creatures had lost their natural instinct and sharpness had allowed Jack to be the wolf among sheep.

Every time he had to wait for his cooldown, Jack blended into the night or hid under the shade of a tree or rock. He also used this time to crack some mana crystals. Then, it would be another show of dashing around, taking down one shadow after another. The soldiers watching from afar could no longer tell what was happening. All they could see were monsters that they had struggled to deal with falling at a dizzying speed. Even the previous High Crusader Commander would have a hard time achieving the killing efficiency of that small shadowy figure.

While Jack was gaining the upper hand at the west gate, the situations at the others weren’t so clear-cut. The battle-hardened High Crusader Warriors all used their area of effect skills to unleash the usual shockwave damage, pushing the wave of monsters back. Normally, these moves would be extremely effective, rendering a majority of the enemy wounded and unwilling to jump back into the fight again. But, facing those who couldn’t care less about injuries and pain, these actions, failing to hit the monsters’ only weak points, only served to put more strain on the casters themselves.

The master of the Warrior Guild quickly realized how fruitless his attack had been after a few strikes. He himself wasn’t the type of Warrior with the quickness and dexterity to go for headshot only, and it wasn’t too long before the monsters started pressing him and his men again, a situation that he worried might be happening to his lieutenants at the other gates.

Running out of options, Gaius summoned a large shield the size of himself from his inventory ring. The weapon shone with a classic bronze color, its width as wide as the wielder’s arms span, its front carved with the head of a roaring lion.

Gaius put some mana crystals into a hole behind his lion shield. Then, he stuck it to the ground.

“Lion Roar,” Gaius roared.

An aura of a blood-red Lion wrapped around the weapon. It roared, creating a shockwave rumbling toward the enemy.

The monsters were only slightly pushed back, but it was the subsequent damage that was devastating, as the intensity of the shock gradually increased wave after wave. The sound found its way into the ears and blew up the brain of the undead beasts. Hundreds of them fell, one after another, as Gaius continued his attack. Still, he couldn’t have himself even the slightest of a smile, for his enhanced eyes had already caught sight of a new wave of monsters rumbling forward right behind the line of blackened corpses.

The situations were even worse at the east and south gate. The two High Crusader Warriors didn’t have the luxury of any premium weapons, equipment, or skills like their guild master. They already had to fall back to their respective gates early on, conducting their defenses there and reporting their circumstances back to Marvin.

When the reality had gone dire, Marvin and Lena were forced to initiate the second defensive line protocol of Oxdale.

The towers on the four sides of Oxdale emitted fields of mana energy, which then linked to each other and created a dome-shaped wall surrounding Oxdale. Right after that, The ground around Oxdale lowered itself, forming a small trench equipped with sharpened stakes pointed upward.

The ashen horde of monsters that no longer had any mental capacity fell right into the newly created deadly gap in the ground. They were pierced everywhere, from head to chest, with those that refused to die wiggling harder and harder, just for them to slide down deeper and deeper. Black blood splattered in all directions and quickly covered the trench with a tainted and disgusting odor.

A few of them simply stepped on the body of their buddies to get past the trap, only to run straight into the mana wall. An amplified return force at the point of contact bounced them back hard. Simultaneously, the wall unleashed flows of destructive energy to burnt and further damage the already mutilated part of the monsters.

Jack looked back at the mana wall. His eyes squinted in concern. This cowering of a defensive step was not ideal in the slightest. Especially when not very far from him, the second wave of monsters was coming. The sufficiency of such a fast-consuming material like mana crystals to maintain such a defense was troubling enough, let alone the strength of the barrier itself. For now, it was enough to hold back one thousand of them, but when two, or even three, thousand showed up, nothing would be certain.

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It was then that a flock of bird-like monsters appeared in the sky. They looked part eagle, part bat, and part hawk. Under their feet were smaller creatures with red fur screeching in agony because of the claws hooking into their flesh. This air force, numbered around a hundred, was coming from different directions.

Jack squinted his eyes to activate his Identification Lens.

Scarlet Hamster (Low Herald Monster, Level 1)

*Under effects of unknown substances.

No, Jack exclaimed with a whisper, realizing what the monsters were about to do.

The flying horde, after they reached the vicinity of the mana wall, launched the Scarlet Hamster down. The tiny creatures died as soon as they took the return force, their body exploding mid-air, splashing out a dark red fluid on the wall. The Artificer Guild’s members hurriedly tried to cleanse the wall, but the effort was too energy-intense to be performed. With no other option left, they just ignored it and focused the firepower on the monsters below trying to climb up. With that decision, the blood of the Scarlet Hamster quickly thickened around the wall.

After a while, the monster’s flying force fell back a small distance. Then, a large part of them opened their mouths, steam coming out from around their throats, and they spat out balls of fire toward Oxdale.

Not beyond Jack's prediction, as soon as they came into contact with the red fluid that the monsters had spent time spreading on the wall, the fire quickly spread with extreme intensity and speed. Scarlet Hamster's blood was often used in the making of explosives or acted as a catalyst for forging when high temperatures were required. It was a rare material because the creature themselves were very difficult to find, and they have a self-explosion defense mechanism like what had just happened, making the acquiring effort difficult.

The fire soon covered the mana dome. The sky of Oxdale was now a bright red of dancing flames and black shadows trying to scratch their way through since the strength of the barrier's counterforce had decreased significantly. The recklessly fearless creatures, despite the fire, rushed in, biting and pounding the wall of mana with everything that was left of them. Slowly but surely, it worked, and the blue veil protecting Oxdale started fading and flickering. A few holes appeared here and there, dropping down clumps of thickened flame that landed on the town’s rooftops and quickly spread.

The people witnessing this started screaming in terror as many of them were on their way to find shelter in accordance with the earlier instruction.

Sophie, standing by the iron gate leading to the ground, looked up at the sky and muttered a prayer.

“Please be safe, you two!”

Then, she opened the door and took Stefan’s hand leading her down to the basement.

Jack at the west gate knew the situation had gone extreme. He turned his head to look at the new horde of monsters, gritting his teeth and rushing toward them. At the very least, he could buy some time and ease the pressure on the west side of Oxdale, where the Harper was holding up. At the same time, he couldn't miss the experience that was coming to get him. Getting stronger now was becoming increasingly urgent.

The second firewall burned in the bewildered gaze of the commanders. No matter how well prepared they were, they couldn’t have expected this attack to come. At the end of the day, they had underestimated the intelligence and tactical skill of the monsters.

Finally, the second wall of fire crumbled. The mana dome broke like a piece of paper burned in the wind, dissolving in the flame piece by piece.

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