[Wave 1]
[Beastling Lv.25 x105]
[Blood Crow Lv.22 x115]
[Gatormole Lv.25 x90]
[Killer Spider Lv.22 x110]
[Poison Stinger Lv.22 x120]
A huge horde of monsters began charging from the east.
[Here they come!]
Aludra announced after confirming the sighting with a vision-enhancement spell.
Celeste nodded and turned to the rest of the raiders.
[Archers, man the eastern battlements! The rest of you, assume the first formation!]
The raiders immediately mobilized the way Celeste instructed.
All the archers climbed to the battlements through the narrow stairs on the fortress walls. One of them manned the eastern ballista while the rest nocked their bow with arrows.
The remaining raiders formed a straight line behind the eastern entrance.
Each row was consisted of a party. With Party 6 standing at the forefront.
Skreee!!!
Monsters began to approach the fortress.
A huge number of them immediately fell and drowned inside the moat Kiran and Meifa had made.
But the birds and giant insects flew past the channel and went straight toward the heroes.
It was then that the timer started counting down.
[Time Remaining]
[59:58]
The archers rained their arrows toward the airborne monsters. Rapidly reducing their number.
Some of the beastlings managed to barely jump over the moat and speedily dashed to the fortress.
Though by some, I meant at least over thirty.
The beastlings that managed to cross over eventually stepped on the paralyzing runes Aludra had placed.
Their movements were hindered by the runes, causing them to slow down. Some even stopped in place entirely.
They made easy targets for the archers to shoot down.
Kreeee!!!
[Wave 2]
[Beastling Lv.25 x117]
[Blood Crow Lv.22 x128]
[Gatormole Lv.25 x101]
[Killer Spider Lv.22 x123]
[Poison Stinger Lv.22 x134]
More monsters emerged from the east.
They quickly added up to the first horde that was still trying to reach the fortress.
Our archers started switching to explosives to handle the increased number of aerial monsters.
Boom!
Boom!
Most of the ground creatures failed to cross the moat and drowned in the process.
But as the corpses piled up inside the channel, some of the monsters managed to step on the floating bodies to get across, or even wade through by stepping on the shallows created by the corpse piles.
For that reason, more monsters had managed to get across, escaped the archers' arrows while getting through Aludra's paralyzing runes, and reached the fortress.
Celeste and her comrades then intercepted the first round of arrivals.
[I'll take the lead! Kiran, only use telekinesis to support us! Save your mana for now!]
The mage-swordswoman instructed as she struck down two beastlings at once.
All the monsters were no different from the ones they faced in the lower floors. Which they had frequented countless times already.
So Celeste and her comrades had no problem facing them.
Once they took care of twenty monsters, Celeste shouted out loud to the other parties behind her.
[Switch!]
Party 6 retreated to the back of the line as Party 7 took their place.
This was a special tactic Sigyn suggested in our mock battles.
By alternating the parties fighting in the front line, the raiders would save up energy and anticipate the prolonged battle much better.
The Third Advanced Scouts had spent many hours rehearsing the tactic. Which was why they were able to execute it seamlessly.
Meifa and her comrades had no problem taking on the next round of monsters.
As she supported her comrades by wielding hovering blades with her telekinesis, her sister Gaoling served as the vanguard and quickly vanquished most of the enemies with her glaive.
[Switch!]
Celeste announced again once Party 7 eradicated another twenty monsters.
The Tchakran sisters and their comrades retreated to the back line and got replaced by Party 8.
Aludra then led her comrades fighting the monsters as she used basic telekinesis to push off the enemies.
Since their archers were stationed on the battlement, each party only had three to four members on the ground.
But that fact did not seem to hinder the raiders.
They were able to face the monsters with great effectiveness and efficiency.
All the raiders already expected this scenario.
I already foretold them through our strategy meeting in the War Hall and they had rehearsed the tactic in training.
During the joint training with the Main Forces, the raiders had also been prepared to fight with certain formations.
So they were able to engage the monster horde without compromised performance.
Shing!
Lights flashed from the sky.
Sigyn's signal soon descended on all the heroes.
[Multiple Enemy Groups Inbound!]
[Enemy Direction: West (Large)]
It was then that another shriek came from the west.
[Wave 3]
[Beastling Lv.25 x125]
[Blood Crow Lv.22 x132]
[Gatormole Lv.25 x113]
[Killer Spider Lv.22 x131]
[Poison Stinger Lv.22 x146]
Ahsan, the Tsahanam archer from Party 8, spotted the new horde of enemies from atop the battlements and turned to the raiders below.
[They're coming from the west!]
None of the raiders were surprised.
They expected this as well.
It was for this reason Master performed the scouting, after all.
[Party 6, 7, and 8, move to the west entrance! Party 9 and 10, keep defending the eastern front!]
Celeste ordered the raiders.
They swiftly moved according to her instructions.
The archers of the mobilized parties started to move toward the battlements on the west. Those from Party 9 and 10 remained on the east.
Celeste and her party 6 were just in time to guard the western entrance as eight beastlings had jumped over the moat on that side and ran toward the fortress.
Slash!
The mage-swordswoman made quick work on those beasts with her long sword.
[Time Remaining]
[49:58]
Just as Celeste was about to announce for Party 7 to take over the frontline, Sigyn's warning signals came to the heroes.
They were immediately followed by shrieks of monsters which echoed from the north and south.
[Wave 4]
[Beastling Lv.25 x137]
[Blood Crow Lv.22 x158]
[Gatormole Lv.25 x121]
[….]
[Wave 5]
[Beastling Lv.25 x137]
[Blood Crow Lv.22 x158]
[Gatormole Lv.25 x121]
[….]
Master's defense signals descended on the southern and the northern entrance.
But before Celeste could react to their orders, another strong shrieks echoed from straight above.
[Juvenile Impiana Lv.30 x4]
Four black-winged Impianas pierced through the clouds and rushed down toward the fortress.
Lights descended from the sky and marked each of the aerial beasts.
[Modifying battle instructions.]
[Forming combat directives based on enemy type.]
[Enemy Type 1: Juvenile Impiana Lv.30]
[Combat Tactic: Active Offense]
[Combat Directives: active coordinated elimination, swift subjugation, physical direct attack, physical projectile attack, low mana-cost magical attack, medium exertion cost]
Upon Master's orders, Celeste quickly sortied her instructions.
[Kiran, Meifa, Aludra, retreat to the central tower and work together to take down the Impianas! Use nothing more than First Circle spells! Party 6 and 8 will guard the north entrance together! Party 10, move to the south entrance! Party 7 and 9, keep defending your position!]
It was a sound judgment.
The mission was just beginning and the mages must not waste much mana this early in the trial.
Even if they could only use First Circle magic, by working together, the three mages should be able to take down the strong flying monsters.
And since their mages were taken away from them and their other skilled member was stationed at the battlement, Party 8 was left vulnerable on the ground.
They needed Party 6 to back them up which also had one less member for support.
Party 7 still had fairly solid formation even when Meifa had left their ranks. They still had Gaoling, an advanced hero, to bolster their strength.
Meanwhile, Party 9 and 10 still had their full members with them to capably guard their fronts on their own.
I already knew what happened to them in the end.
But I was still curious to see how this mission played out.