CHAPTER 128: STRUGGLES OF THE STRONG

[2nd wave progress: 10%.]

Once the monster waves ended, the monsters that were still on the field did not just disappear like it was some game.

It was not the case even in the Tower of Beginning. Even in that game, the monsters stayed, and the players needed to fight each and every one of the monsters, preferably kill them during the wave itself.

If they failed to clear out the monsters during the wave time, the next wave of monsters would start, and they would have to fight the new monsters alongside the older ones that were still on the field.

The traps, thus, were as important as a second life in the games.

They not only blocked the smaller and weaker monsters, but they were a barricade that prevented the newer, smarter monsters from abruptly charging into the battlefield.

The smarter the monster, the more careful it will be when going around the traps. If they sense any kind of danger, they would immediately retreat and take a new route, following the other ones who had done the same to avoid the dangers.

By analysing and predicting the behaviour of the monsters, the players usually predicted how they were going to react to various situations.

It was no simple task, but the players who were from a world where A tough topic like complex Probability was taught in primary grades, so the knowledge that these players had was generally better than that of the natives of the lower floors.

They might not be proficient with the new things within the tower, but they knew what they were good at very well. And that was proven through the battles that went on during the first wave.

"Ghhhhhhhhh!"

"AWOOOOOOOO!"

-Booooooooooom!

"Kiiiiiiii...!"

The monsters that fell into the traps and were blocked during the first wave directly fell into a pit that was dug directly underneath the traps.

Like a drainage system, the traps were refreshed for the new set of monsters that would fall into them.

Most of these traps were being controlled by the mechanical gears that were operated from within the city by the mages and the guards that were outside the city and on the city walls, who had various system data of real-time ongoing battle.

They presented this Data in a way that made them seem like a unique set of real-world data of a motorsport race. It was something that did not align with the mediaeval theme of the floor, but it most certainly made a difference.

-Boooooooooooom!

The players had made their predictions alongside the guards of the city and were able to lay out a powerful net of traps throughout the city’s surroundings by themselves.

These traps, while different from the ones that were used by the mages, contained landmines that exploded on the lightest pressure, aerial drones that were monitoring everything around the cities, and even modern warmachines that they were able to assemble within a few of the cities with the help of some capable association individuals.

These modern techs from their world, while not much effective against the Mana-enchanced monsters, were great when supported by the native weapons.

The natives had helped them enhance these weapons as well, which further helped them with them in many ways. In their enhanced forms, the weapons proved to be effective even against these cursed monsters.

[3rd wave progress: 20%.]

As they cleared the monsters of the first and the second wave, however, things started getting difficult for them.

"Ughh!"

"Watch out!"

"Argh! They’re too strong!"

As time went on, the monsters that appeared were stronger than the previous ones. Since they were further enhanced by the red rain for a longer period, some of them were even stronger.

"W-what... what is that thing?"

"Monster... a monster..."

Special creatures that had turned into more dangerous monsters, ones that KiRA, the captain, and Izzy could not kill beforehand, were now a threat greater than what they wanted to fight.

{ "It’s another black slime..." }

KiRA, currently looking at a deep black thing that seemed to be something like a tide of darkness, was troubled once again.

This was one of the creatures he wanted to avoid at all costs. It was the very first creature that they killed as well to make sure it doesn’t hinder them in the future... but there seemed to be more than one of these special dark slimes on this floor.

{ "Will you be taking it on this time?" }

Izzy was the one who killed it the last time, but it wasn’t going to be so easy this time.

The being that resembled a real tidal wave was coming from far inside the forest.

It wasn’t part of the current wave, but even as it came from the deeper parts of the forest and might reach them during the 5th or 6th wave, they knew it would devastate the forest and the city that it comes across.

KiRA knew just how dangerous this thing could be, so he would have to deal with it himself, something he could only do with the help of the flashy skill he wanted to avoid using.

’It doesn’t seem like it will be possible anymore, though.’

He clenched his twin swords and continued cutting down the enemy numbers while searching for something with the help of Unity’s vision.

This, the very third hidden piece that must have appeared somewhere within the floor, was going to be the key that helped him with the waves this time.

The existence of this third hidden piece, much like the other two, was unconnected to the ’event’ that was this whole monster battle. However, just like Captain Rose and these special monsters, this third one would have helped him change the tide of the battle.

’But even without it...’

Now that the red rain had started, the monsters would continue losing themselves the longer they were exposed to this rain.

The crazier they are, the more prone they are to Mana poisoning. Ultimately, it would make things easier for them in the long run... but that did not mean there would be no struggles.

"Ughh!"

Even KiRA and Izzy, who fought alongside each other with a capable captain, could not go against the waves of monsters all by themselves.

It was not easy to take on all these hundreds of monsters. Not when they had gone crazy like this...

-Clank! Clank! Clank!

They fought, and fought, and fought.

KiRA was wounded, and Izzy was being drained of her Mana with each passing minute. The guardian captain of the 12th city, Captain Lucas, was not in good condition either.

But they continued their assistance as the waves of monsters continued their attacks relentlessly.

{ "Dame! A central trap had-!" }

{ "I see that. Do not worry." }

In the 3rd city, fighting against the waves of monsters was proving to be a tough task even for the Holy knight of the north.

She protected her people by diving into the battlefield herself, fighting the monsters with her holy sword and slicing through the waves with her good swordsmanship.

It was a pure display of elegance and power. Whenever something happened, like the incident right now, she would move herself to take care of it all while keeping a tab on everything going on the battlefield.

-Swish!

She moved past the monsters coming at them, and the crazy monsters ignored her as well. They went past her, and she reached the back-area trap zone covered in various traps.

She navigated through the field as if she knew every single hidden trap like the back of her hand and moved to where the malfunction was seen.

The pit that was supposed to close wasn’t closing, flooding the monsters out. It wasn’t good, so she used her holy Aura-covered sword attack to open up a path for the flooding monsters.

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!

-Zap!

Like lightning striking the earth, the attack hit the target, and the gates were opened up completely. The monsters flooding it were cut down and fell deep into the pits, and the traps recovered.

The goal was achieved, so, like a glorious, blessed maiden, she moved back to her spot and prepared for the arrival of the mountain like a strange creature that was approaching their city...

Struggles were seen everywhere within the floors. It did not matter if you were strong or weak, of a high level or low... Everyone was struggling as the red moon shone on them and the red rain poured down to the ground.

Strange plants, red like the blood and moon, had already started growing throughout the floor.

A certain painter, pleased by the sight, moved their paintbrush to make another stroke, finishing the painting with a twin duo that protected an innocent mage from the hoard of monsters.

Around the painter were several such paintings, a gleeful present on their faces as they placed a new empty canvas before them.

{ "The Hero..." }

Before beginning the new painting, they moved their gaze around them, smiling at the painting of a silver-haired swordsman with a red sword.

{ "The holy knight..." }

Beside the blue-eyed swordsman was the Northern holy knight.

{ "The Dark dragon’s heir..." }

There was a painting of a certain swordswoman fighting the monsters alone in the forest, away from the city where the main battles took place.

{ "The fated one." }

Captain Rose in the 30th city fighting alongside Zyon.

{ "The righteous one." }

The 16th city vice captain, who now looked after the entire city after the untimely death of the captain of the city.

{ "The foolish ones." }

The painting contained many things, various elements that depicted different cities, as well as monsters that they were fighting.

{ "And..." }

The last, and the most attractive one of them all... a small white bird high up in the sky.

{ "The Conqueror." }

The smile on the painter’s face deepened as they moved their [Pink] gaze towards the faraway corner of the forest where a small life had opened its eyes.

They were crimson, like the moon up in the sky.

They were pretty, but also dangerous at the same time...

{ "The tipping point? No... this shall be..." }

Mixing in their mystical colors, they made their first stroke.

{ "The conquest." }

And with a new motivation, they continued their Painting with a delighted expression of pure Bliss...