"Everyone! Back to your positions!" Logan roared from atop the fortress walls.
The sudden command caught everyone off guard.
"What?"
"But the battle is over?"
Confused voices erupted throughout the fortress. Some soldiers were still tending to the wounded, while others had already collapsed onto the ground, too exhausted to move another step.
"Move!" Logan shouted again, his voice carrying an urgency none had heard since the first wave.
"Get back to formation! Now!"
No one understood what had happened.
Then...
The distant treeline parted, revealing hundreds of green figures emerged from the forest. Crude spears, rusted daggers, and worn wooden shields sprawl out as the horde continued pouring out of the woods.
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Wave #5 - Stage 2 – 00:00:45
- Goblin x350
- Hobgoblin x20
- Goblin Rider x50
- Goblin Archer x50
[!?%@#... Detecting anomaly...]
[Additional Unit Added]
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Despite emerging from the first assault with remarkably few casualties, Evergarden was in no condition to fight again.
The soldiers were exhausted after hours of nonstop combat. The wounded had yet to be treated, and precious resources had yet to be refilled.
Yet another army was already marching toward them.
Logan’s expression darkened.
Multi-phase waves...
They were a special mechanic reserved for the late game, usually not appearing until somewhere around Wave Forty. Even then, players were normally given anywhere from several hours to several days before the next assault began.
But this...
Logan’s eyes suddenly narrowed.
Standing amidst the marching horde was a towering goblin clad in battered steel armor. Unlike the rest of the monsters, it wasn’t charging alongside them. Instead, it marched steadily at the center of the formation, its massive battleaxe resting casually against one shoulder.
"...Impossible."
Without another word, Logan sprinted down the command tower stairs.
"Commander?" Captain Iron called after him in confusion.
Logan vaulted over the final few steps and rushed straight toward the nearest ballista, gripping the firing mechanism himself, adjusting the massive siege weapon with the help of some soldiers.
TWANG!
The reinforced iron bolt exploded from the ballista with a deafening crack, carving a straight line through the battlefield. The air itself whistled as the projectile closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
If that’s really what I think it is...
The armored goblin finally reacted, lifting the massive battle-axe with both of its hands.
CLANG!
The tremendous impact knocked the bolt violently off course, sending it tumbling end over end before crashing harmlessly into the dirt several dozen meters away.
The armored goblin remained motionless for a brief moment, then a slow grin spread across its scarred face.
It rolled its shoulders before raising its battle-axe, pointing it directly at Logan.
"KREEEE!"
The goblin riders reacted almost instantly. The wolves let out loud howls as dozens of mounted goblins sprinted across the battlefield at terrifying speed.
"A Goblin Lord..." Logan’s heart sank as his grip loosened from the ballista.
A B-Class monster that normally served as the final obstacle around Wave 20, commanding an entire goblin tribe with an iron fist. Unlike trolls that simply smashed through anything in their path, Goblin Lords possessed the intelligence to coordinate assaults, exploit weaknesses, and adapt to the battlefield as the fight unfolded.
"How does any of this make sense?" Logan muttered, running both hands through his hair, tugging at it in frustration.
A double-stage wave and a B-Class monster, all in the fifth wave!?
How does that bastard expect me to get out of this situation?
Logan gritted his teeth; taking a deep breath, he composed himself.
"Everyone!" he roared, spinning back toward the fortress. "I need all hands on deck! Get the walls manned first! Archers, resupply immediately! Ballista crews, reload! Move! Move! Move!"
Soldiers barely able to stand forced themselves back onto the battlements, while workers frantically hauled bundles of arrows, spare weapons, and supplies toward the walls.
Orders flew from every direction as hundreds of people rushed through the narrow corridors at once, shoulders colliding, supply crates toppling onto the stone pavement, and arrows spilling across the ground.
"Archers, fire!"
"Not yet! We’re still loading!"
"Where are the arrows?"
The fortress erupted into frenzy.
Normally, the riders would have been met with a coordinated volley long before they reached the fortress. But with supplies still being redistributed and formations only half-restored, the defenders reacted a heartbeat too late.
Several riders slipped through the gaps in the hastily assembled defenses, vaulting over the shoddy barricade before landing behind the defenders.
"Watch out!"
The wolf lunged, its jaws clamping around his shoulder before hurling him violently to the ground. The goblin rider plunged its rusty spear downward again and again as the wolf tore into the man’s exposed torso.
"AAAHHHH!"
The scream lasted only a moment.
Blood splattered across the stone pavement as the wolf violently shook its prey before tossing the lifeless body aside.
"No!"
It was the first defender to fall within Evergarden’s walls.
The nearby workers scattered in terror, abandoning crates of arrows and bundles of supplies that crashed across the floor. More people shoved past one another in a desperate attempt to escape, only worsening the chaos.
A lone worker stumbled, falling hard on the stone pavement.
He looked up in terror, seeing the sight of a massive jaw about to clamp down on him.
Shhk!
A dagger buried itself deep into the wolf’s eye. Its body crashed to the ground mere inches from the terrified worker, momentum carrying it forward until it slid to a stop.
Before the goblin rider could regain its footing, another silver flash cut across the courtyard.
The goblin’s throat opened in a spray of blood.
Kiran stepped out from behind the fallen wolf, silently pulling his dagger free. His expression remained as calm as ever as his eyes swept across the courtyard in search of the next breach.
"Kiran, fall back!" Logan shouted. "Abandon the outer courtyard! Defend the gate!"
Without hesitation, Kiran drove his dagger into the throat of the nearest goblin before springing backward. Using the beast’s collapsing body as a foothold, he vaulted over the retreating soldiers and landed just inside the fortress entrance.
...He’s so cool.
Logan diverts his gaze for a brief moment toward the walls, quickly surveying the fortress for any remaining breaches.
Thud!
Kiran had completely botched the landing.
Face-first against the stone pavement, the young assassin remained motionless for a split second before quietly pushing himself back to his feet. He dusted off his clothes, sheathed his dagger, and resumed his usual aloof expression as though absolutely nothing had happened.
"Commander!"
Iron yelled out, his eyes locked onto the intimidating figure beyond the walls.
"It’s moving!"
Logan’s head snapped toward the battlefield.
The Goblin Lord had broken away from the marching horde.
Its massive battleaxe hung low by its side as it charged straight toward Evergarden, each thunderous stride shaking the ground beneath it.
Behind the armored goblin, the remaining army answered without hesitation, surging forward as one.
Logan’s expression hardened.
"Everyone inside! Now!"