Chapter 189: City Defence

CH189 City Defence

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A section of the city wall was under siege—attacked by a coordinated assault force of Sand Geckos, Snakemen, and Goatmen.

The Goatmen made the loudest entrance, drawing the defenders’ attention with their thunderous war cries and aggressive charges.

Meanwhile, the Sand Geckos and Snakemen slithered silently along the sides, scaling the walls in the chaos.

They flanked the distracted guards, striking with venomous precision and opening gaps in the defence line—just enough for the Goatmen to complete their ascent.

And once the Goatmen got up the wall, all hell broke loose.

These lean, two-metre-tall monstrosities, muscles rippling and eyes glowing with battle fervour, tore through the weaker City Defence Guards. Their oversized war axes hacked through bodies, cleaving soldiers clean in half at the waist.

Their brutal strength, merciless methods, and terrifying efficiency shattered morale across the section. And the Wildkin took full advantage of that fear.

"Tsk." Lieutenant Boris clicked his teeth in frustration. He threw a quick hand signal to Lieutenant Hans, who immediately nodded in reply.

[Strength]! [Haste]!

A surge of Internal Energy rippled through Boris’s body. He shot forward like a cannonball, cleaving through Wildkin in a straight path toward the collapsing defence section.

His axe intercepted that of a charging Goatman, who had raised its weapon to split a trembling young guard—barely nineteen—down the middle.

Steel clashed with a roar.

With swift footwork and deadly precision, Boris weaved his axe around the Goatman’s heavy swings, using tight angles and quick reversals to disarm the beast. Then, in one clean, decisive arc, he cleaved it clean in two.

But before the rescued guard could even gasp in relief, something wet and fast shot from the side—

SHLUPP!

A Sand Gecko’s tongue pierced the boy through the chest, dragged him into its gaping maw, and swallowed him whole in one horrific gulp.

[Barbarian Leap]!

Fury overtaking reason, Boris launched into the air and brought his axe down in a thunderous overhead strike. The Gecko’s head split in half. The blow cleaved through its spine, ribs, and haunches—severing the monster in half.

Inside its bisected body was the boy’s corpse—crumpled, bleeding, and barely breathing.

Boris took only a single glance to assess him.

’He’s not going to make it.’

"I’m sorry, kid," Boris muttered before turning away.

"AAAHHH!!!"

His war cry echoed like a beast’s howl. Even the Wildkin hesitated, unnerved by the sheer force of it.

Swallowing his grief and fury, Lieutenant Boris barked new orders. He rallied the remaining guards and led a brutal counteroffensive, clearing more Snakemen, Sand Geckos, and Goatmen off the wall.

But the wave never stopped.

More monsters poured in from the sides, replacing every fallen one. It was like trying to stop a flood with a sword.

Boris’s expression hardened.

They were losing the wall.

A brief glance at Lieutenant Hans told him all he needed to know. The old veteran’s look said it plainly:

’We won’t hold this much longer.’

They needed to fall back—regroup within the city and try to force the enemy into a narrow street war, where ambushes and chokepoints might turn the tide.

But neither of them had the authority to give that order.

The Captains and Sub-Commanders who could were still locked in brutal battles at the main city gates, trying to hold the breach. Elite and Veteran-rank Trolls had pushed through there, dragging their forces with them. And the defenders had no choice but to meet them head-on.

It was chaos everywhere.

No orders were being given. No reinforcements were coming.

Just as despair began to settle in...

[Shockwave Punch]!

The air trembled.

High above the city, the City Guard Deputy Commander—the acting interim City Lord—hovered in the sky. Until now, he had stood motionless, observing the Orc Chief and his Wolf-rider guards outside the walls.

But something had changed.

He turned sharply to face the city’s northern gate, where the fighting had grown most violent—and threw a devastating punch through the air.

A palm of Internal Energy shot out from his hand and slammed into the ground near the City Gate—right between the defenders and the onrushing invaders.

Driven by refined Shockwave concepts under the Basic Elemental Laws of Earth, the technique released a concussive burst that blasted the invaders back without damaging the City wall or harming the defenders.

"Retreat to the second defensive line!"

The City Guard Commander’s timely intervention gave the defence force’s officers the opening they needed to issue coordinated orders.

The city guard began a slow, disciplined withdrawal from the outer wall and reformed their ranks below.

Shieldbearers took point, Spearmen formed up behind them, while Archers and Mages arranged into a ranged backline. This shift freed up elite units—Ranger and Cavalry archetypes—to manoeuvre independently across the battlefield.

The mounted Cavalry focused on breaking through enemy formations and disrupting their cohesion, while the Rangers performed strategic assassinations and swift strikes.

This was where Lieutenant Hans’s Sniper Class shone brightest.

He moved like a predator through the battlefield, each arrow of his striking true—vital points only—while shifting from vantage point to vantage point to evade the invaders’ elite skirmishers.

Lieutenant Boris was assigned to a similar strike party. Their mission? Eliminate any foes who slipped past the defensive lines.

While rank and file clashed in formation, stronger officers engaged in duels that heavily influenced the morale of both armies.

On one front, a Class 4 Mantisari tore into a Shieldbearer formation.

The reinforced metal-bound shields were little more than paper before the creature’s scythe-like forelimbs, which sliced through both shield and flesh with terrifying ease.

Even the brave Shieldbearers who attempted to hold it down so that the Spearmen behind them could land a blow found their efforts wasted. Their spears barely pierced the Mantisari’s chitinous exoskeleton—its greenish blood oozed from shallow wounds that did little more than provoke it.

Though slowed slightly by the bleeding, the enraged insectoid spun with both forelimbs extended—cleanly decapitating the men who dared surround it.

That brutal act drew the attention of one of the City Guard’s Sub-Commanders—a seasoned Veteran and Class 4 warrior in his own right—who surged forward wielding a spiked war hammer.

Boom!

With practiced timing, he ambushed the weary Mantisari from behind, his hammer slamming into its exposed back before it could react.

This time, the chitin cracked—spikes piercing through with satisfying resistance—leaving the Mantisari with grievous injuries.

But true to the insectoid resilience the Wildkin race were infamous for, the creature endured, screeching as it turned to face its new foe.

The Sub-Commander didn’t meet its fury head-on. This wasn’t a duel—it was war. He baited the berserk Mantisari, drawing it deeper into the Wildkin formation while focusing purely on blocking and deflecting with minimal exertion.

Even so, the shockwaves from their Class 4 clash sent nearby Wildkin flying—most of whom were low-tier Class 0s or Class 1s whose survival was doubtful.

Eventually, the Mantisari’s bleeding took its toll. Its frenzied attacks slowed, and the Sub-Commander seized the moment—driving his war hammer through its skull, shattering it to mush, in a brutal display of dominance.

It wasn’t just a kill. It was a message. Morale surged in the defenders’ favour.

***