City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

Aya Bandstone

I heard the roar as the Shardmaws came through the cavern's entrance. It filled our minds with shock and our hearts with fear as the primal resonance hit us.

I could feel the men's knees shaking until a wave of aura covered them, neutralizing the roar's effect.

It's powerful!

I have gotten an aura lesson from General Azalia and the knight. She had never revealed, before, the power of her aura as she did now.

I controlled my emotions and looked at the monsters.

They are Shardmaws, but different. Their bodies aren't pale and naked anymore. Now, there is a layer of yellowish stones covering their bodies.

Especially their heads.

Despite that, they are thinner than regular shardmaws.

Their claws are longer, thicker, and sharper, while their heads are more angular with larger teeth, which feel wickedly sharp.

They roared with blood and hunger; there was no mercy in their eyes.

I saw their bodies; there are marks on them, and many are bloody, but they did not have as much damage as I had expected. Unlike them, the mines had torn through earlier Shardmaws.

"Cannons, Ballistae attack!"

The general's calm voice tore through the roars of the monsters. They have carved large holes in the cavern and placed cannons and ballistae in there.

At her command, the cannons roared, and bolts from the ballistas zipped toward the monsters.

Seeing the attack, not a hint of fear appeared in the monster's eyes. Instead, they roared and charged toward us faster, with greater hunger burning in their eyes.

The cannonballs reached them, and explosions rang out. I couldn't see clearly because of the blast; I wish I could.

"Mages use concentrated attack spells." She commanded. I am surprised by the command. She has asked them to use specific spells on them.

Air Spindles to Earth Lances shot toward the monsters, which are still getting bombarded by the cannons and ballistae.

It's making it hard to see, even with Pollin's eye spells and skills that increase ocular ability. I hope I will get ocular skill as my next skill or army skill.

I need them desperately.

I pushed those thoughts away and focused on the monsters. Even with continuous attacks, cannons, and spells. They didn't stop; they came at us with even greater fury.

"Attack!"

Ordered General Azalia as the monsters reached in front of us and finally unsheathed her saber.

I have seen the terrifying power of it in Baxzar and what it had done to Lord Silver.

The moment she commanded the glittering diamond fire out of it, an arc of it went toward the Shardmaws. At the same time, Jon Sands disappeared, while General Jarvis took a step forward with a long sword, half-artifact.

"Shields up!" I commanded, and my people moved their shields forward.

I looked ahead at the monster, seeing them split up by the burning arc of fire, while on the other side, I saw Jon Sand moving through the monsters.

As he does, the monster would fall with the light disappearing from its eyes.

'Mages focus on support; the monsters have magical resistance.' A command rang out.

'Fuck!' I cursed.

Monsters are hard to deal with because of their massive strength and great vitality, and now, add this magical resistance, and they have become downright terrifying.

Mages are our most powerful powerhouses.

They could do damage that the warrior could only dream of, but now their abilities are much less useful. It's why General immediately put them on support.

The offensive attacks stopped immediately, and they cast support spells.

Every mage is experienced and follows the order immediately.

'Keep calm, don't let the pressure get to you,' I said to my people. The mages help a lot to fortify the line. 

The earth shifts, and the walls of ice and stone begin to appear in front of the monsters. Slowing down their charge, but not too much, seeing how they are destroying everything in their path.

Finally, they reached in front of us, and seeing them so close, I couldn't help but feel scared.

'Brace for impact!' I ordered as calmly as possible and activated Shield Wall, Brace For Impact, and Reinforced Bones.

In my advancement to Lv. 30, Shield Wall and Reinforced Bones have remained unchanged, but Brace Change has changed into Brace For Impact; it's a powerful skill for a shield warrior.

They may not have all changed, but they have become powerful with my new class.

Though I still wished Reinforced Bones would have been upgraded. It's the single most important skill I care about.

Its new power had suppressed the disease further, but it will need to be much more powerful before I stop worrying about my bone sickness.

I pushed those thoughts away and turned to monsters. They are directly in front of me.

A moment passed, and the monsters crashed against the wall of shields with immense force. It shook me and pushed some of my people back.

My sword moved swiftly with Edge Blade.

The monster saw it and tried to avoid it, but it was trapped with me in front and the monsters behind. My sword reached it and pierced through its head.

I could feel its resistance, which is greater than I felt when I killed a monster of the same grade.

It didn't make me feel better, but I remained calm and pulled back my sword and pushed my shield forward once more to defend against the monster's mouth coming to bite me.

While I did that, Colonel Orok and his most elite platoon of men moved past the shields.

Their axes and blades were moving fast, with terrifying efficiency, so it seemed like monsters coming in their path to cut them apart. They are really terrifying.

My entire company had fought against just forty-eight of them. It didn't even take them ten minutes to put us all into the ground.

Within seconds, they disappeared, cutting deep into the monster.

"Skewering Steps, formation!" I ordered as I killed another monster before leading my men. Our shields forward and blades moving, killing any monsters that came in our path.

We barely have a minute at most before the strong ones come in, and we will deal with the weaklings quickly.

Things will turn difficult once the big ones arrive.

So, we took one slow step after another through the bodies of monsters we had killed, while keeping the tide of monsters at bay. We have the rest of Colonel Orok's men behind us.

They will move once the powerful ones hit our shields; until then, we will have to mow down the weaklings.

We are getting close to the powerful.

Currently, General Azalia and others are dealing with them along with Colonel Orok's elite, but I can feel that the monsters around me are getting powerful.

My men are taking more time to finish them, but they are doing it, while our mages, along with the priests, are providing the support.

'The yellowish rock layer is the source of magical resistance,' informed our General. I think the rocky layer covers the monster. It is why there is a greater resistance when the weapon makes contact.

I kept that in mind as I attacked the monsters.

Finally, a Grade IV Shardmaw appeared in front of me.

It's big, thin, and with teeth so sharp they sent a shudder through my soul. I know without a doubt that if any part of my body got caught in those teeth, then even reinforced bones would become useless.

It roared as it came for me. It didn't come for my head. No, it is moving its head toward my shield fast.

Its head is covered in thick layers of yellowish rock; it is much thicker than a lower-level monster, and it wants to bash its head on it.

I grinned seeing it.

Mine is a tower shield; they are heavy to begin with, and mine is heavier than usual. It's because of the material, which is heavy but has excellent force-absorption properties.

It's the right choice, with magical resistance. It is unlikely that enchantments on it work.

My head clashed against my shield, and I felt the force that knocked me back a step before it came to chomp on my head. It's fast, faster than I had expected.

Earlier, it didn't use its full speed, but now it is using it to finish me off.

I could see cruel joy in its big eyes, when suddenly a surprise worry appeared in its eyes as it saw my sword, which was moving toward it.

It reached fast, the beast is trying to stop its head from moving to chomp me down, but not fast enough, as my sword reached and pierced through its head from below.

There is considerable resistance at Grade IV, I thought.

I looked at my men for a moment; many of them are now fighting against the Grade IV shardmaws. Soon, it will be the bulk of the monsters; they will be fighting.

They are powerful, but nothing compared to the terror of those Grade V.

Especially the one with primal resonance.

General Azalia is fighting it, and there is nothing but fire and roars in there. It is not the only Grade V; Jon Sands is fighting with two, while General Jarvis is fighting one.

I have seen John Sand kill a Grade V monster with a single attack, but these two seemed tougher.

I turned back to the battle and killed another Grade IV, then another. They are early Grade IV; I could sense mid and late ones, and they are a real danger to my people and me.

I had just thought that when I felt the eyes on me as I killed another early Grade IV.

It roared and moved toward me.

I looked at it before looking at my men, where the entire line is fighting against Grade IV. It's time.

"Armored tentacle formation!" I ordered, and immediately, the unbreakable line broke. The small groups of three began to form.

The group comprises one of my men and two of Colonel Oroks. Mine will defend, while Colonel Uram's will strike to kill.

The colonel's men, who had been waiting until now, moved against the monsters with deadly efficiency. They watched and studied the monsters while my people fought.

Now they know how to kill them, and they are doing it.

Their axes and blades carve the monsters, and when they react, my people will be in front of the monsters to defend against their attack.

I turned to the monster that appeared in front of me and took a deep breath.

It's a mid-Grade IV; it could be said to be at a higher level than me. Since I am Lv. 33, my level-up has slowed down considerably since I reached Lv. 30, but not my strength.

This monster is powerful without a doubt.

Is it powerful enough to force me to bring out all my strength? I asked myself as I moved toward it with my shield forward.

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