[Cyclone: It's not getting easier…]
[Silver Blade: Yes. We are losing too many NPCs.]
[Radiant Shield: My friends, don't lose courage now! We only have three waves left to overcome!]
[Silent Acacia: Yeah, no need to be all doom and gloom now!]
[Balm: Heads up!]
[Cyclone: Sorry, you're right. Perhaps the pressure is getting to me.]
[Bleary Mirage: Everything is still going as planned. Don't forget that we saved our trump cards for last. We still have scrolls and Lekraxc' spells.]
[Cyclone: Alright!]
Cyclone took a deep breath. She was glad to have her friends for support. Looking around she noticed that many of the guild members appeared to be affected by the exhaustion and pressure. The guild leader spread a few encouraging words while getting to work.
Everyone's participation was needed to prepare for the next wave. Thanks to everyone's efforts previously there was a large stockpile of materials placed close to the wall. Now that the last few rounds approached Liam decided to use it all up.
Thus, some NPCs could be seen installing new traps. Pitfalls with sharp spikes were prepared outside the wall. Low palisades with spears sticking out were constructed in order to slow down the enemies and perhaps even steer them towards the traps.
But most of the resources went into the construction of another tower with a ballista on top. After that there was not much wood and stone left. The rest had to be saved for repairs.
However, those were only the most basic resources. The entire time Liam had designated some blacksmiths to forge advanced weapons which made use of the metal and other materials they still had left.
Now it was time to equip the NPCs with those. Cart after cart filled with fierce crossbows and magically enhanced swords and bows were delivered to the walls. Those would be a significant boost to the NPCs' capabilities.
Also, the alchemists and chefs had never stopped producing supplies. Unfortunately, a bad report came from the two groups. They were running out of raw materials and there was not much the players could do to change that!
They could only hope that the potions they had on stock would last until the end of the war.
For the players the preparation time passed in a flash. Soon, they were again gathered on the wall anticipating the arrival of wave number nine.
Soon vibrations began to spread throughout the battlefield.
"Again?!"
"Is it another ogre?"
Everyone held their breaths as they fixed their eyes on the mine. It didn't take long for a fat body to emerge. The ogre stared at the wall with its small eyes, raising its fists to the sky. But the players felt relived as this ogre wasn't protected by a red dome. Under the combined attacks of many people the monster wouldn't be able to do much damage.
However, this notion changed when another ogre appeared a few seconds later. And another, and another…
Nine ogres came out of the mines. They positioned themselves in a line and began marching towards the wall. The players revealed solemn expressions as the ogres' steps caused the ground to crack and the earth to tremble.
As soon as the ogres came a bit closer, they were welcomed by the attacks of three ballistae. Three heavy bolts shot through the air, targeting the fat ogres. But one of those actually missed, causing the shooter great embarrassment. Luckily no one blamed him too much as the shooter had just taken over the newest ballista. He calmly adjusted his aim and managed to land a hit with the next wave.
The ballistae got out two rounds of attacks before the ogres came into attack range of the rest of the army. Immediately they were drowned in a rain of arrows, spells, and bolts. The new crossbows revealed their mind, indeed dealing more damage than simple bows.
While everyone's attention was attracted by the ogres, the mist on the ground started moving strangely. Only a few especially vigilant players noticed the change.
"Huh, what's going on down there?"
"What?"
"Don't you see those lines in the mist?"
Liam overheard a few players talking and stared at the mist frowning. His eyes opened wide. During territory wars the attacking army always consisted of the same units, but their composition was randomised. Yet Liam hadn't expected those new type of mist dwarves to appear before the twelfth wave. He instantly warned the guild.
[Bleary Mirage: Everyone! Careful! Get ready to take defensive positions on my signal!]
Immediately the guild members were on high alert. Most people only saw the ogres. They were uncertain what Liam was wary off. But a moment later they should get their answer.
[Bleary Mirage: Now!]
Even without knowing what to look out for everyone obediently followed the order. They ducked behind battlements while the tanks raised their shield or pre-emptively used skill to protect the vulnerable members.
Meanwhile on the battlefield the mist began to swirl, concentrating quickly on certain spots. One could barely recognize small figures within the mist, controlling it.
As soon as the mist had sufficiently concentrated it suddenly launched into the air like a cannonball. Multiple large spheres of mist shot towards the wall. As soon as they arrived above the army's heads the mist suddenly exploded violently. Powerful shockwaves crashed into the soldiers.
Chaos ensued on top of the wall. The damage of the shock waves was not too bad, but the powerful force they contained threw many people off their feet. Some even came close to falling down the wall and were saved by their comrades at the last moment.
"What is this now?"
"Where is the enemy?"
"Was that a kamikaze attack?!"
Liam watched from on top of the tower. For now, his location wasn't targeted. He saw the chaos down on the wall and did his best to restore some coordination. The enemies had indeed used kamikaze methods, counting on their ability to get revived from the mist.
And unfortunately, they were not done yet. Liam spotted more kamikaze dwarves preparing to attack. And through it all the ogres never stopped walking. Soon, they would be able to reach the walls.
Liam was somewhat hesitant. He had prepared means against the kamikaze attacks but if he used those up now, they might run into troubles later. However, when Liam saw a new group of mist dwarves emerge from the mine he came to a decision.
Waiting until the mist dwarves came closer Liam sent a message to Cyclone. The mage had continuously attacked the ogres, attempting to slow them down with her paralysis. Now that she received Liam's suggestion she hastily took out another scroll.
There was not much time. Cyclone activated the scroll and instantly a transparent barrier appeared, protecting a large part of the wall.
A moment later the first kamikaze attack hit the barrier. All the players watched curiously. The sphere of mist froze for a moment in the air before it was sent back in the same direction it came from.
Shooting towards the ground the sphere landed right in front of the newest group of mist dwarves.
Boom!
A few tanks were thrown backwards destroying the formation of the dwarven army.
"Nice one!"
"Haha, let them have a taste of their own medicine!"
"Finally, no need to hide anymore!"
Cyclone let out a sigh of relief. Despite trusting Liam, she was somewhat surprised that this worked. The scroll's effect was to send all projectiles back where they came from. However, without Liam's reminder she wouldn't have considered these spheres of mist projectiles.
The kamikaze attacks continued as if the mist dwarves didn't realize that a barrier had appeared. And a few seconds later even the priests began attacking and had their spells reflected.
The defending army felt extremely comfortable and continued targeting the ogres. Those living siege weapons were dangerously close to the wall while still having about 40.000 HP each.
Most of the damage so far came from the ballistae. The rest of the soldiers had only been able to deal damage in between the suicide attacks. Now that they had some room to breathe their number one priority was taking down the ogres as it was easy to recognize the danger those posed to the wall.
"Hurry up! Focus that one!"
"Thiry thousand HP. What are the archers doing, look how many arrows are missing!"
"One ogre down! Good job! Don't slack off!"
"We used up the spears. Quick! Logistic team!"
The atmosphere was tense. The slow-moving ogres kept falling one by one. But finally, the army couldn't entirely prevent them from reaching the walls. Five of the green-skinned monsters came into range. They swung the heavy weapons they were holding and slammed them into the wall.
The entire structure shook terribly. It was a miracle that the wall didn't immediately break down under so much force. However, the damage was still immense. Five ogres together dealt 6 million points in total. Everyone knew that there was no way for the NPCs to repair this much before the start of the next wave.