Chapter 160 The Start Of War . . .

[BONUS]

Fortunately enough, their loud voices were drowned in the sea of the other noises in town.

"Thirty thousand?"

"What's going on?"

"What's happening?"

"Shouldn't we evacuate?"

The teachers were trying to calm the students down while explaining the situation outside. And when the students learned that they had to fight to live the next day, their faces went pale.

The teachers didn't care about the student's feelings and instructed them.

"The melee combatants will be on the front line while the healer and mages will support them at the back. Listen carefully about your roles since we're pressed out of time."

They didn't tell about the Grendelkin. It was understandable since they didn't want to create any more panic and lower their already none existent morale.

"Can we escape this?"

"I don't want to die."

"It's not true, right? They're just pulling our legs."

"Maybe it's another test."

I heard them say to themselves. Trying to flush the insecurities, worry, and dread from their system. But when they went to town, it was only then that they realized the gravity of the situation.

Every man and woman was armed. The children cried and were guided in the safety of the church. The guards and soldiers marched and barricaded the walls and manned the towers and artilleries. The blacksmith were making and fixing weapons while the shops gave potions and items to every combatants players or not.

"I-I . . . I don't want to die!" a player screamed and went back, but he was swiftly cut by a soldier, and the students watched in horror before they burst out into screams.

"Shut up! Those who run away will be cut into two, and those who wouldn't fight will be killed and fed to the Goblins!"

That did wonders, and the students froze from where they stood.

"Move out and assume formation! We will bring the war outside!"

The students couldn't do much but follow the orders as every eyes was on them. Running was out of the option since they didn't have any means to escape.

As we were guided up the stairs into the castle wall walkway to man the Wizard towers, I heard my name being called.

"Cross!"

It came from Amara.

When our eyes met, she forced a smile and uttered, "Don't die."

". . ." Looking at her back as they were pushed outside of the gates, I didn't know what to think.

I should be the one saying that to her.

Anyway, I had instructed Thomas to guard her and bring her here as soon as I message him. In one piece of course.

She should be fine . . . I hope.

<Your other self would surely kill himself if something happened to her>

I didn't have the luxury of time to worry about her and him as my life was also on the line here.

The players were pushed into the frontlines, and only a few were remained behind and were stationed in the battlements. This group included me.

Walking the stairs up the castle walls, it didn't take long before I was at the walkway, where I got a 180 degrees view of the surroundings.

It was really different looking at the horde of goblins from the map than in reality. The Grendelkin's giant form was in my line of view, and I didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Castle Rock was a previous fortress, so there was a mote around the castle and a single drawbridge that served as the only entrance and exit.

But all of that was useless if the Grendelkin managed to pass the mote and smash through the walls. He was tall enough to do so.

And it definitely could leap. That's why all the Hunters and the teachers would kill it first while the others hold the goblins off.

I hope that strategy would work. We were outnumbered by one to a hundred.

The inhabitants and players quickly went into formation and closed the drawbridge. The Goblins didn't just stand there, of course, and watch all that happened. At first sight of the players, they charged without regards to formation.

They were still a good kilometers away, so the others still had the time to get into their respective line before the start of the fight.

But still . . . it was overwhelming to see the battlefield from an areal perspective.

There were like two hundreds guarding each side of Castle Rock walls, making sure that no goblins could reach the mote.

The most numbers were guarding the front gates, and it was the side of the wall where I was stationed.

I immediately search for Amara and Thomas on the map. It must be fate because they were just down there guarding the only entrance into the town.

"Ready!"

The ground shook, and it felt earthquake from where I was from the thousands and thousands of goblins storming in this direction from all sides.

The next thing I knew, the sound of a gong mixed with the yells and screams pierced the night.

"Attack!"

"Kill those vermin!"

Arrows, spells, cannons, and ballista bolts lit the dark sky and rained down against the Goblins, hoping to take a large chunk of their numbers. However, compared to the Goblin's numbers, they were like a drop of water on a swarm of ants.

To make matters worse, the goblins have shields. Makeshift shields. Some wood and some metal. The wooden shields didn't do much, but they did save some of the Goblins' life.

The Shamans, in their rank, also cast a barrier that deflected most of the artillery attacks saving more than half of the Goblins' numbers.

"Don't falter! The first unit stood back and reload! Second unit changed position! Third unit prepare for attack after the second unit is finish!"

The strategy seemed simple enough to follow. There were four groups in the castle wall walkway, each ready to take the other group's position once they exhausted their arrows and while their spells were in cooldown.

But it didn't mean that the enemy would take it all without a fight.

The Goblin's Shamans were quick to fire their spells as well. However, they couldn't reach the top of the walls from where we stood.

In this long range fight, the upper hand always goes to those who claimed the higher grounds.

"Hoi! Newbie! What are you doing?" a player asked me and growled, "Can't you see the enemies?! Fire you damn spe–!"

One minute he was talking to me. The next thing I knew, I found my ears ringing with loud smashing sounds, and it was quickly followed by screams and cries.

When I blinked there was a crescent shape hole on the upper wall from where that player had just stood and passed through that was a large boulder that smashed directly into town, taking lives and buildings with it.

The Grendelkin was already making its move, and it was throwing boulders in our direction.