In order not to waste the time of the fighters, they usually wait some time before descending to the tunnels so their movements would be continuous, rather than lagging after the goblins as they dug.

However, this gap wasn’t too wide. After all, goblins were fast diggers, especially when there were this many.

As for why there didn’t seem to be human enemies coming from the direction they dug this time, it was actually quite simple.

They blocked it preemptively.

For example, at this time, hundreds of people were walking several feet underground, weapons up, prepared to rise up and defend themselves as they reached the walls and climbed up.

There was a high-level earth elementalist there. He was already preparing his energy and mana so he could create instantaneous plateaus and stairs for his teammates to use.

However, their eyebrows furrowed when, in the middle of the way, there was just no path at all! It was as if the road was abruptly cut off, and the diggers were nowhere to be found.

This was the handiwork of another team of goblins, led by Ussu and Moki (also from the then-Guia). They had furtively covered the paths without the enemy goblins noticing, even when they were not that far away! They were just too busy digging their own tunnels that it covered the movements right behind them.

Another method of determining where the tunnels were without alerting the enemy was actually dependent on modern technology!

It was something inspired by the Terran tool, the seismograph!

They already had one in the weather station, where the meteorology department was also based, and they just had to make another version for this use.

Of course, it had to be made much more sensitive because they weren’t dealing with an earthquake this time. It had only been perfected lately, literally just a few hours before the war started.

The limit was that there was only one machine so far, and that its scope (for now) was only a hundred meters at most.

Anyway, with this, they could pinpoint where the tunnels were being created, and they would block certain paths. They also had fighters there, especially earth users, in case they encountered enemies on the way.

In the end, the enemies trying to use the tunnels in these areas found themselves at dead ends, and they immediately realized something was wrong.

"What..."

"Where did the path go?" some asked, while the rest were more alert than others.

"Damn it! Just go back!" the leader yelled, pushing his teammates to the mouth of the tunnel.

Obviously, someone else was nearby and being in this flimsy and narrow tunnel wouldn’t do them any good!

Too late for them, however.

Crack!

The soil on the side and the ground above crumbled. The impromptu modifications naturally couldn’t be too deep or too big, but what the Alterran goblins and their geodetic engineer teammate did was to create weak spots on top of the tunnel, causing it to implode in itself.

"AHHHH!"

"AHHHHH!!!"

The Alterrans just let them be this time, as it was too risky to expose themselves.

However, without the heavy soil above them, many were already heavily injured. Some injuries were directly due to the weight and impact, though this wasn’t that much due to their levels.

The main source of injury was actually just them accidentally slashing or stabbing each other because they had their superior weapons out when they fell.

Not to mention, many unlucky ones who climbed up...were greeted by the sentry arrows!

...

The Battle Pets were not idle, either.

While they were not sent out in the open and outside the walls due to their levels being a bit low for a battle this level, as long as they were with their owners and with teams, they had lower chances of gaining casualties.

They were assigned to the areas, parks, and streets around the bunker area. They were there to detect people hiding, as well as to slow down the enemy’s approach to the bunkers.

Many of the animals had low levels, but the improvement in their physiques and stats after leveling up was quite sizeable, equivalent to a few levels for humans.

Each animal was partnered with a guard, regardless of whether they had bonded as battle pets or not. Anyway, the animals now had increased intelligence. Even without the bond, they could communicate to a degree.

One such partnership was Mauru, one of the first aborigine Alterrans. He ended up becoming quite close to a deer, whose antlers had become so sturdy that it could stab a monster a level higher. This was quite impressive, actually.

The animals in Alterra had their own home, especially the wildlife sanctuary being developed bit by bit. If the animals showed enough control, even if they didn’t have a partner, they could roam around like proper citizens.

The deer, named Bambi, got close to the children playing in the park.

Maumi, Mauru’s son, ended up being very close to it, to the point that it would even walk the child home...

When they were preparing for war, and the beast partners were being equipped with things, Bambi went over to join in.

They couldn’t really understand what it wanted to say, but it queued up to the armor-equipping queue, so he ended up joining the war, regardless of whether that was what it meant or not.

At this time, Mauru’s team of twelve was dealing with three leaks around late level 20. Their levels were much lower than the enemies’, but as always, they made up for it with their grit and their teamwork.

Even if the enemy force could be overwhelming if they were taking them alone, their formations, like their shields, covered for each of them. Their Class D weapons, similarly, would attack the person at the same time, repeatedly, causing their defense equipment to weaken, if not get injured directly.

Today, they even have a new member with them!

Slash!

Bang! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

While one of the enemies was gravely injured, the others dealt with the other two. They did not notice how a stag appeared behind one of the enemies, immediately lunging forward as soon as the man was pushed towards him.

Then, it used its horn to stab the man’s buttocks!

SQUELCH!

And it was quite accurate!

"AHHHH!" the man screeched like a slaughtered pig, obviously in more pain than he was before—and he already had a lot of wounds!

Mauru couldn’t help but look at Bambi—usually so gentle, so cute, so innocent—with complicated eyes.

Who in the world taught it to do that!?