BXBX NOVEL Chapter 265 Imminent Attack II
"There seems to be a few monsters that aren't within the boundaries of what it means to be C rank among the horde."
Viscount Perhorn's eyes widened when he heard Evan's words. However, when the young hero relayed the information about the guild master's return, the Viscount placed a hand on his chin and thought.
"We can't let it be known that there may be B-rank monsters, it would kill morale seeing as there are no B-rank adventurers around."
"Since the guild master is returning soon, then let's hold off the monsters long enough for him and the team of B ranks to arrive."
"The guild master is returning soon?"
The viscount showed mild surprise upon hearing about the guild master's return, before nodding in response to Evan's suggestion.
"Any airborne monsters?
Especially among those potential B ranks."
The Viscount knew that Evan had contracts with spirits, so he had already assumed that Evan had gotten the spirits to scout the situation to discover the existence of the B ranks.
[There are some with wings but none among the stronger ones have wings.]
Evan relayed the spirit's words before turning towards the assembling knights, while the viscount gave the orders to activate the city's defence mechanisms.
"West Side Energy shields, Level One.
Load the repeater crossbows and power up the magic cannons."
The Viscount walked across the Bellemont as he spoke towards the communication device in his palm, relaying his orders to the wall guard knights who immediately carried them out.
Evan looked down and saw the large crossbows and cannon mouths sticking out of the crenels in the wall, along with a thin layer of green light covering the city walls.
'That'd be useful if the monsters got close enough to bash the city walls with their bodies.'
There was no convenient thing like a gigantic dome-like barrier that covered the entire city, given its large size of over 300 kilometre squares.
Such a barrier would need to be powered with the magic stone/energy core of an existence with enough power to withstand an attack that would turn a city that large to rubble, and the only existences with that capability, are grandmaster-level ones.
And Osto most definitely didn't have enough manpower to subjugate a grandmaster-level existence.
'Except the guild master. Or maybe if all the B ranks joined hands together, they could take out a weak one.'
◇ ◇ ◇
The preparations to resist the incoming monster hordes finished just in time for those standing on the city walls to be able to see the incoming monsters on the horizon.
The large city gates were opened up and the mishmash of adventurers, knights, mages and mercenaries that made up the resistance forces could also go out, with the ones possessing visual prowess enhancing skills and abilities being able to see the large number of monsters that were trooping towards the city.
Although it was not large enough to bury the earth, the horde of monsters was still quite enormous, making Evan wonder just how many months it took the Demonic Hand members responsible to summon these monsters.
It also had to be taken into note that this was what was left after the guild master and his team of B ranks had most likely laid waste to most of the monsters.
'They probably summoned stray monsters from wastelands or thick monster nests.'
There were minotaurs, other humanoid-looking monsters, massive black wolves three to four meters large, six-legged lizards, pythons with needles growing from their backs, praying mantis-like things with scythes for arms, spiders with tentacles growing out of their engorged torsos, white serpents with horns growing from their heads and many other monsters that Evan could not even recognize from the game.
Kicking up a tornado of dust as they passed and swallowing the ground before them like a wriggling multicoloured tidal wave, the monsters ran towards the city with glinting eyes.
There was a fair share of monsters hovering in the sky as well, looking like dinosaurs that Evan had seen in his original world's science textbooks. Evan could also see a wyvern in the distance with his enhanced vision, and appraising it didn't bring good news either.
'Hiding the existence of the B ranks is impossible since that wyvern showed up, but it's just hovering there and not doing anything.'
Evan noticed a humanoid figure on it and was about to speak up when Pride tapped his shoulder and spoke.
"There's a demon on that wyvern."
The young hero's eyes widened in slight surprise as he heard that, with his suspicions being all but confirmed.
"This is definitely the 'Demonic Hand's' doing."
"Persistent bastards. I told them multiple times that I would not agree unless elder sister does and they still came back."
Greed spoke with distaste as he remembered the executive of the Demonic Hand who had come to 'recruit' him multiple times in the past.
Hearing Greed's words, the vice guild master and the Viscount who were nearby instantly figured that if this stampede was induced by someone, and that 'someone' was after Greed.
"What? It's not my fault that you guys built a city around a dungeon I was trapped in."
The high demon snorted at the Viscount's displeased look, before jumping off the city wall and down to the ground where more than half the resistance force was.
"These fodders would be useful for increasing my level."
Evan told Pride to rein Greed in before turning around to the viscount and vice guild master who went to address the leader of the Mercenaries and the Knight Captain.
"Have you contacted the guild master again? What's his ETA?"
"He said they increased their speed so they should arrive in a bit over an hour."
"One hour, huh?"
The young hero placed a hand on his chin as he sunk into his thoughts, only to feel a weird appraising gaze coming on him.
Looking up, he met eyes with the leader of the Mercenaries that the merchant's guild had hired, with the vice-leader of the mages guild branch that didn't take any action throughout Terence's saga.
"What?"
The boy narrowed his eyes and asked, activating his intimidation skill and letting the pressure of his power bear down on the two.
Their eyes, along with those of every other combatant in the area widened in shock, with some D and weaker C rank adventurers instantly dropping to their knees.
The sight of multiple adventurers and mercenaries, numbering a bit over a thousand, dropping to their knees evoked something deep within Evan.
"Sir Eris, please hold yourself."
The Vice guild master spoke as he grabbed Evan's shoulder in an attempt to calm the boy down, however, Evan wasn't angry in the first place. Just a little annoyed at the fact that the mercenary leader seemed to be looking down on him.
'Is this guy stupid? Didn't he see me fighting Terence like, less than a week ago?'
Evan just sighed and deactivated his intimidation, before turning towards the resistance force whose full attention he had gotten.
'Hmm...How about I use this as a chance to see how effective my actions have been?'
With more than two thousand pairs of eyes looking in his direction, Evan asked the vice guild master for the loudspeaker artifact he had in his hand before clearing his throat and taking a deep breath.
He then infused magic power into the artifact before speaking.
[Alright. I'm sure most of you already know who I am, but I'm still gonna do an introduction.
Name's Evan Bourne Eris, C rank adventurer from the similarly ranked party 'Anomalies'.
Though we're all about to become B-rank.
Anyway, that's it. If you still don't know who I am, then ask someone else to explain to you.]
The young hero concluded his introduction like so, going on to the main topic almost immediately.
[As you all know, there are tons of monsters heading towards this city and they'd probably get here in the next ten to twenty minutes.
The wyvern in the sky is probably enough for most of you to realise that there're a few B-rank monsters mixed in.
However, no one's asking you to go fight those monsters if you ain't strong enough, just stick to the C and D ranks, and retreat only if you see anything that looks stronger than that.
Only engage the B ranks if you are a high levelled C Ranker, and obviously with a team of similarly strong teammates.
You're only fighting to hold them off long enough for the Adventurer's guild master and the B ranks to get back and deal with the more powerful monsters.
And you guys are gonna have to cooperate with each other for that to happen, after all, even someone like me who can kill off most of the incoming monsters there individually, would eventually end up helpless against their sheer numbers.
So, this is how we're gonna do this.]
Since they had already grouped themselves according to their roles, Evan had an easier time assigning them their posts.
[Some Mages and other long-distance fighters should man the walls, launching magic towards the monsters in the rear along with the wall guards' magic cannons.
Split into two groups and work in shifts, switching every fifteen minutes to rest.
Try not to use elements that conflict with each other.
Stay in groups with fellow mages that use elements capable of amplifying your spells' destructive power or resonating with them properly.
Fire, with lighting, Fire with wind, water with lightning, combos like that
And please, no earth mages should group with lightning mages, you'd kill off their spells before they can reach the intended targets.]
'People usually did that in the game for some reason.'
Evan had a lot of experience organizing raids in the game, so he wasn't at a loss on how to deal with the situation.
When added to the memories of the Previous Second and his experiences of commanding hastily put-together armies for war, Evan who had automatically assumed the role of commander, was able to issue out efficient commands and have the resistance force follow his words.
Of course, the fact that he was arguably the strongest person present, plus his feat of defeating Terence and his earlier intimidation stunt played a big role in this too.
Seeing the thousands of combatants who were assuming the positions that he had given them to prepare for the monsters that were about five minutes in, Evan's lips curled up into a smile as he knew that his experiment was a success.
'I guess that this is what happens when you garner enough fame and influence with your actions.
I guess my "contribution" to assist the city in recovering and saving people from Terence's goons during the battle earned me some points.
The people of Osto have become less resistant to following my words and-!
Shit! Time's up.'
The horde of monsters that had gotten close enough that their howls could be heard by those on the walls, made Evan break out of his thoughts as he pulled out his weapon from his inventory and issued the last set of orders.
[Melee fighters, follow behind me. We'd clear up the ones in front.
Supports, do your best to keep us in good shape for as long as you can.
As for the long-distance attackers on the ground, don't let your spells come crashing down on the front lines.]
Evan tossed the loudspeaker into his inventory as he kicked off the ground, leaping into the air and creating footholds with solidified aura, which he used to manoeuvre in the air and move above the thousands of people on the ground.
'It's currently 10:30 am, huh?'
He pulled up the system interface and looked at the time as he moved, closing it and infusing his aura into his sword, right before he jumped into the sea of monsters before him.