Spike Boars Assault the Fortress
Ailey was right. Through the dolls I'd scattered in the forests around the mountain, I detected massive vibrations. Something—an enormous herd—was charging toward the mountain, pounding the earth with their feet. From the mountaintop, thick trees blocked any direct view of their movements, but as they drew closer, I began to feel the rippling waves of mana.
The dolls raced across the ground toward the source of the vibrations. I needed to identify exactly what was coming. That way, I could optimize my labyrinth, even if just a little, to match their characteristics.
Soon, they came into the dolls' view. A herd of boars with enormous spines protruding from their backs. Monsters I'd never seen before. The mana emanating from those backs was sharply potent. The boars ignored the dolls hanging from the trees overhead and barreled forward relentlessly. At that speed, they'd reach us in under thirty minutes, no doubt.
The others would sense their approach soon enough. I quickly began reshaping the labyrinth's structure. The power of their charge was no joke. To withstand them, I needed to reinforce the walls, making them heavier and sturdier.
Dolls stationed throughout the maze activated their embedded spells, widening and strengthening the walls while preparing for the incoming threat. I also minimized the crossroads. When I'd heard "fortress," I'd assumed the attacking monsters would have at least some intelligence. But these boars? They didn't seem to have any.
If I made the paths too convoluted, they'd just smash their heads into the walls and try to destroy the labyrinth itself. Better to funnel them straight into traps as quickly as possible.
Before long, the spike boars reached the mountain. They swarmed from all directions, charging ceaselessly into each fortress. Mine was no exception. Being the largest sector, it drew an endless flood of monsters.
Up close, the spike boars looked like steel-plated tanks. Their charges were fast and brutal, their bodies as massive as a person's. The huge spines growing from their spines brimmed with mana, making them even more formidable and deadly.
They surged past the mountain's base and into my labyrinth. The first wave met the pre-set traps. The moment their feet hit the ground, the floor collapsed, dropping them into deep pits below. Spiked spears impaled the falling beasts.
But there were so many. Even as the front ones plummeted to their deaths, the rest charged on without fear. Floor crumbling? Spears piercing flesh? They threw themselves forward anyway. They had no choice—stopping meant getting shoved by the ones behind.
Hundreds of spike boars tumbled into the pits, filling the voids meter after meter. Traps hundreds of meters deep filled instantly with their corpses. With the pits neutralized by their comrades' bodies, their eyes gleamed with inexplicable frenzy.
They didn't stop, slamming headfirst into the labyrinth walls. The already thickened, reinforced barriers held firm. Hundreds of thick spikes embedded in those walls skewered them outright.
But then, something unexpected happened. The spines on their backs exploded violently, shocking the surrounding walls. Most of the wall traps were neutralized in the blast.
The following boars used the corpses of the fallen as shields, charging along the path without regard for wall spikes or floor pits. The entire labyrinth shook under their hooves. Hundreds died in moments.
But it was effective. Traps crumbled one by one before this dumb, brute-force assault. They were depleting faster than expected, especially those in direct contact.
I needed to fully adapt the labyrinth's structure to this raw, simplistic wave of flesh. These things knew nothing but mindless ramming. They charged straight ahead, exploding on death. Living bombs. Selected to shatter our fortress—weak individually, but tricky in numbers.
Time to conserve the labyrinth. To counter their simple power, I'd need overwhelming force of my own. And I had it—greater than theirs.
I simplified the maze's flow. Removed mid-path traps and complex routes. Just a straight line for the spike boars to charge. Crossroads layered into one, converging mana currents.
At the end: a clearing. The turtle watched them silently. From its perspective, what looked like a massive wave to human eyes was just a tiny stream.
The turtle looked different from usual. Its four legs were already detached—unneeded for the task ahead. Just shell and head now, looming alone.
They drew near. The turtle retracted its head into the shell and began to spin. Before, I'd used this spin to escape the monkey forest. But that wasn't its true purpose.
This was: pulverizing anything that came close, just like now.
Funnelled through branching crossroads, the boars merged into one massive herd under my guidance. They reached the clearing naturally.
The turtle was their final wall—one they had to breach.
They headbutted the spinning turtle without hesitation. And exploded on impact.
The blast shook the turtle slightly, but it didn't stop. It harnessed the force, spinning even faster. Protrusions on the shell became massive flails, smashing the spike boars.
They burst into bloody chunks, spines exploding before they could even detonate. The lead boars screamed at the horrific sight, but the noise drowned in the turtle's roar and the press from behind.
Spines touching the shell detonated on contact; some were ripped free by the spin. Like leaves in a storm, the boars were swept up—bones shattering, flesh tearing.
The spin accelerated, pulverizing more into helpless heaps on the ground. Charges and explosions alike crushed before the rotation.
I focused on clearing corpses from the clearing. No piles to hinder the turtle. I sent waiting dolls. The floor sank everywhere but the center, dumping bodies and a few boars into pits. Then it resealed.
Pit-fallen boars died by doll hands. Some exploded, taking dolls with them, but the dolls pressed on, prioritizing clearance. We had to empty this fast—more bodies incoming.
Dolls coordinated with the turtle, processing the horde. The shell glowed red with blood; the cycle of piling and clearing repeated endlessly.
This immense power was my goal. Even without magic, such physical might outstripped spells in raw destruction.
I approached the growing corpse pile outside the maze. Over a thousand spike boar bodies in under an hour. Blood and debris spread like waves; twitching flesh lingered atop.
A massive altar of monster remains. I examined a body closely. Those back spines intrigued me most.
Dissection revealed: their flesh wasn't mere blood and meat. Mana sustained their form, lingering in the debris—a common monster trait. Nothing special yet.
"These... are kinda interesting," I muttered softly.
The back spines: the fascinating part. Most of their mana concentrated there—the culprits behind ruining my traps.
I pulled one and examined its mana flow. My eyes widened. An unimaginable structure.
The spine pulsed like a living organ, circulating blood. Not native to the boar—a parasite using it as host.
Feeding on mana from dead boars. A living bomb. Its body bound by mana, but explosion purely physical—not magical. Mana stabilized it like a suppressant.
That hooked me. Suppressing collapse with mana. If it failed, even that mana fueled a bigger blast.
Opposite of known explosion spells, which triggered mana collapse. Who knew such a method existed?
I pulled out my winged beetle—my go-to with built-in blast magic. Rarely used this trial; too weak against others' spells.
What if I applied this spine trait to it? Or turned the spines themselves into dolls?
My hands itched after so long. This trash monster hid vast potential.
The corpse mountain transformed—not refuse, but treasures to empower my magic, my darling beetles.
I felt the spine's mana weave: a fragile balance on the verge of shattering. Disrupt it, and boom.
Tempted, I siphoned its mana. The spine crumbled fast. Exposed parts ignited on air contact—chain reaction, instantaneous.
I threw up a defense spell. Shrapnel scattered, sliding off harmlessly. My heart raced at the fragments.
I unrolled a scroll, noting the blast simply. Plenty of bodies, spines galore. More research ahead.
Memories stirred. Fresh off the island, battling monsters, evolving my magic that way. It even passed muster with that picky professor.
Explosion magic was my hobby. Ill-suited to me, yet irresistibly charming. It had kept me alive this long—beetle blasts especially.
Master this spine structure, and my explosions would evolve. Plus, better counters to spike boars.
No reason not to dive deep. I dissected methodically.
The turtle kept crushing; corpses piled into mountains. Hours passed, hands bloodied.
Then, deep mana from behind. I composed myself and turned.
"Oh, spike boars, I see."
Hongryeong surveyed the pile. Ten hours gone. Boars kept coming—who knew how many more?
Maybe nonstop for the two-week trial.
"Didn't notice your arrival—sorry for the mess, haha." I bowed apologetically.
Hongryeong waved it off. "No need. I like spike boars too. As you see, their spine structure is intriguing. Once theorized as synthetic creatures from someone's experiments."
He plucked a spine. It melted in his hand—no blast. Mana unveiled its structure. He sealed it in one of my scrolls and offered it.
Thrilled, I took it reverently. I'd studied structures, but a live specimen? Priceless.
A glance revealed his concise notes—fascinating insights.
"Can't even host you properly in this chaos, and you give me this treasure. Truly sorry."
"You're doing my job for me—I should be hosting. If it helps you even a bit, I'm glad."
Hongryeong examined another spine. "First assault, so I checked progress. Didn't expect you'd handle it this easily."
His eyes lingered curiously on the labyrinth. I displayed the revised structure: flows converging from wide areas to one endpoint—the fiercely spinning turtle.
Now on rails, sustained by minimal mana indefinitely. Only superior force could stop it.
Hongryeong studied the turtle. "That the doll we rode?"
"Yes."
I zoomed the clearing. Shell as weapon, spinning on, absorbing blood mana to self-repair endlessly.
"Hm. No worries till the end, then." He smiled.
"Now, about the assignment."
I tensed at his suggestion. "The assignment?"
"This fortress is solid; you'll last two weeks easy." He folded fingers. "One task left, right?"
I paused. "The fifth contributor? I'll honor our deal."
He shook his head, smiling. "Thought about it—needs an addition. Beyond first contributor, we need one more pick, no?"
The fifth. Unexpected—he had a target in mind.
"I want that person."
He nodded lightly. I followed his gaze, surprised. Reasons unknown, irrelevant.
I nodded silently. He grinned wider, satisfied.
"Then I'll go. Can't disturb your research more."
Wind lifted him skyward. I bowed courteously.
After, I pondered. Hongryeong and I could secure first and fifth. One more vote? Total control.
How to get it? But no need to guess or doubt his choice. As long as it wasn't me.
Refocused, I delved deeper into spike boar structures. Savor his live specimen.
Priority: evolve labyrinth and self. Corpses mounted; monsters surged endlessly.