Rather than lose momentum for losing two important leaders, the people of Alterra were trained and conditioned well and did not panic, thinking they would lose. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

But most importantly, they were sincere, and there was no command more effective than this.

Enemy reinforcements appeared to recover some of the neutralized trebuchets, but the Alterran powerhouses naturally did not let them be. This also meant a lot of people were busy just doing this.

The remaining trebuchets still active shot projectiles one after another, in alternation, so there was no breathing time.

Sometimes the projectiles would hit a wall, sometimes they would hit a building inside, and sometimes they would hit people, even their own.

Their powerhouses, like the Golds, were busy weakening these projectiles or at least preventing their people’s deaths with them. There were many ways to go around various situations, but Alterra’s tenet had always been ’life first’, so the forces’ decision-making was always based on this.

The rest of their fighters, including hundreds of mercenaries, were busy fighting one-on-one with the enemy strongmen, who were still no less in number.

This left the Alterrans, with lower average levels, to handle the rest of the enemies coming in over the wall breach, which was understandably challenging.

At this time, Baka Hapon, Fred, and hundreds of others were in the easement area near the breach, fighting enemies back to back.

They held their shields up (civilians were perfectly fine to buy their own Class D shields if they could afford it), stabbing and shooting and throwing whatever at their enemies.

However, their enemies were at least level 20! How long could they last?

ROAAARR!

A familiar sound, a familiar skill, resounded, and the enemies froze for a moment.

Everyone who was active in fighting knew what it meant, and that it only lasted for a very short time! They moved without hesitation, and they took advantage, targeting the enemy’s weak spots!

STAB!

SLASH!

They could not kill all of them, but they took down a lot, and the injuries were enough, and it lit up the fire and shifted the momentum to their side.

At the side, Baku—eager to vent after his ’failure’ in the bunker area—rushed through the crowd, punching and kicking, and throwing people away, especially those who were close to hurting an Alterran.

He encountered Gochi and Maomao there, who were fighting side by side. They had just returned from sending Garan to the hospital, along with Lady Althea, and they were fortunately not like before—with Garan freezing everything and Althea sucking life force—but they were both unconscious and did not seem like they would regain consciousness any time soon.

Maomao was pregnant, and her movements were limited, but her lethality was not to be underestimated.

To be safe, her back was against a building or with teammates at all times, so she only needed to focus in front of her to put less strain on her body.

For example, she would kick enemies on the shin or somewhere low, and use a D-class weapon, a metallic bat, to smack people’s heads instead of her usual high or jump kicks.

Gochi was always nearby, rescuing people as needed, and attacking enemies when he could. Most of all, he was there to keep an eye on his wife.

Whenever there were half-orc slaves mixed in—which were fortunately not that many—Baku jumped in to handle the aggressive ones, while teams surrounded the others.

To say that it didn’t hurt to fight against their own kind, especially when they were being compelled, would be a lie, but what could they do? They simply fought on opposite sides.

Baku did not have a fixed place. After dealing with the aggressive half-orc, his eyes were focused on the trebuchet areas. After some thought, he decided to help in that area.

The battles on the battlement were at their peak now. Everyone was injured to some degree, and they were already nearing the dangerous levels of their stats. Normally, people would switch with others to rest, but the enemy forces were overwhelming that there was simply no time to do so.

Baku saw Loki shooting away. He jumped from one area of the battlement to another, each shot accurately hitting an enemy weak spot. Even if it didn’t kill them, it would either incapacitate them or distract them, which could also lead to greater injury or even death.

After a thought, Baku leaped to a balcony, then to a roof, and then looked at Loki, who saw him.

"Do you need help with those things?" he asked, pointing at the area where the trebuchets were. Those projectiles were really troublesome, practically neutralizing half of their powerhouses just to hold them back.

"It’s not like we haven’t targeted them before. That’s how we neutralized the other few elsewhere," Loki said.

"But this side’s the nearest to the array. If we take down an operator, they’d just replace them, and they’re also the most guarded weapons.

"What we did see...is that the projectiles were coming in from the array."

Baku looked at him. "What if I sneak back there and cause chaos?"

...

Valov Town

Baku hid well amidst the forests near the array. When he saw that people were about to head back—likely to gather more projectiles—he drank an agility potion and rushed to join them.

"Huh? Did something go past us?"

"Did it? Probably the wind."

"You’re bleeding in the head, it’s probably because of that."

Baku knew to hide away from the territory, and because everything was a bit chaotic and the hustle and bustle everywhere was intense, no one saw him sneaking in.

Of course, this was just because he chose his direction well. Had he chosen another direction, it was estimated that an enemy powerhouse would be going against him now.

He took out a scope and looked on. The gates of the town opened, and he saw a small group of people with Alterran guard uniforms approaching in droves.

Some entered the arrays, while a group remained outside of them. Some were even heading in his direction! Later, he’d realize that they were also earth elementalists and were asked to make more projectiles to take with them

Seeing them go farther away from the main area and nearer where Baku was, he couldn’t stop himself. He wanted to throw a few punches before the agility potion expired.

BANG!

SLAM!

He was quick and he knew to cover their mouths to keep them from screaming.

Unexpectedly, while he was about to kill the last one—

BANG!

A large arm with orange fur appeared, blocking his attack.

Baku’s pupils contracted into slits.

A tigress?!