The whole island is covered in monsters, because of course it is, this is a wave. The size of the beasties is certainly larger than what I’ve gotten accustomed to in other strata. In the first, pretty much all monsters start off smaller than a human, ditto for the second and third. In fact, all demons start basically cat-sized, but they can get a lot bigger rather fast.
Most of the monsters down there are likely tier two or three, considering how rapidly they spawn, but there are some chonkers out there. Sea beasts of all sorts charge out of the water and onto the shore, tentacles writhing, shark-jaws snapping, pinchers… pinching. In an endless tide, they emerge, throw themselves against the walls of the fortress, only to be beaten back by the stalwart defenders.
Completely standard defensive mess. The wave is always a battle of attrition and if we’d had even a little less time to fortify this position, we would’ve been in real strife.
Well, I can clear the field a little and then we may be able to get something productive done. Sucking in all the mana I can handle, I whip together a gravity construct and start pumping out as much energy as I can manage. To make a dent in this battle, I’m going to need a massive gravity well, so that’s what I get to making.
When it’s finished, I empower it with the Altar and watch as the crush of monsters in front of me becomes just that little bit more crushed. Nice.
The sudden silence is deafening. I couldn’t surround the entire mountain with a gravity well, of course, but at least this segment in front of me is, blessedly, free of invaders. Oop, more are coming out of the water now, well, that didn’t last long.
“Alright. Let’s get down there and you twenty can stuff yourselves with Biomass, survey the terrain and study the monsters, or whatever you need to do. We don’t have long, though, so let's hop to it!”
Solant and her crew file in behind me without a word. They really can step in time when they want to! Like they’re marching on a parade ground.
[Come on, you three, I want you to keep the monsters off us for a bit.]
In a line, we make our way down the wall and onto the battlefield itself, now coated in a thin layer of squashed monster. Some of the tentacle… octopus kind appear to have survived, albeit barely. I get Crinis to investigate and see if some of the experience can be funneled to Solant and her group.
“Get to eating, you lot. Tiny, go smash stuff. I’ll keep an eye out here.”
The big ape gleefully bounds off as the little ants get stuck into the Biomass, except for Solant.
“Is that the spell you used on us?” she asks.
“Oho! Quite astute of you. That was the one. Obviously, a very weak version that I intended to slow you down. You were very clever to use it against me, falling faster than I expected. After your ‘poisoning’ attempt, you can’t blame me for retaliating outside of the rules.”
“I don’t,” she shakes her antennae. “But with a power like this…” she indicates the field full of squished monsters, “I don’t see how you could lose.”
Still too naive. It’s good that I brought her down here.
“You’re still very young, there’s far too much that you haven’t seen. I’m not the strongest monster on this stratum, far from it. We fought tier eights on the third, who knows, there might be tier nines hanging around the fourth. That’s two whole evolutions further developed than me! You need to keep in mind that this is a wave, a constant assault from uncountable low-tier enemies.”
I give the little general a little side-eye.
“How do you think we should handle this situation?”
She thinks for a long moment before replying.
“Is it possible to get the monsters to fight each other?”
“To some extent, yes. We, and by ‘we’, I mean the Colony, represent a huge amount of Biomass and XP to these frenzied monsters, so the moment they catch wind of us, they come running. Let’s not forget, the wave is also an incredible opportunity for us. A chance to gain an enormous amount of resources and train our Skills.”
“I see.”
“Now, quick, stuff your face, unlock some profiles, and then we’ll get back to the wall. We can observe a bit more of the fighting from up there.”
This time, she follows my instructions and soon, we’re back on top of the wall, looking down as the steady flow of monsters from the waters reaches the walls once again.
Just like that, it’s as if my intervention never took place and the ants are back to fighting fiercely all along the walls, pushing back the attackers with acid, magic and mandibles.
I take the twenty on a circuit tour of the fortress, looking down from all sides at the endless battle. I can tell it's a lot for them to take in. Not long ago, they were still undergoing basic training, now I’ve brought them to the most vicious combat zone in all of the Colony’s territory.
It’s quite the sight, and it isn’t improved when I notice several large floating islands drifting our way. As they get closer, the flying monsters who swarm around them begin to drift down and harass the troops on the walls.
Stupid flying lizards! Buzz off!
“Let’s get back into the nest,” I tell them.
I don’t want any of these twenty getting picked off by a stray flyer, especially Solant!
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