Wave (1)
A colossal tree stretched toward the heavens, so immense it was called the Giant God Tree. Beneath its dense canopy lived countless creatures. No one knew when they had appeared or how they had come to be, but one law reigned in the Great Forest: the strong devoured the weak.
“Kwaaaek!”
Thud thud! Thud thud thud!
A monster resembling a wild boar, four meters tall, charged forward. Each step cratered the earth, its horns piercing even boulders. Nothing seemed able to stop it.
But this beast was being pursued by another monster—a ten-meter lizard with a neck frill, running on two legs. The lizard closed in, swinging its tail.
Whoosh! Thwack!
The boar tumbled several times from the blow before slamming into the Giant God Tree.
Thud!
The lizard pinned the boar’s body with its foot.
“Kuaaaah!”
Crunch!
“Kwaaaak!”
The lizard gaped its massive jaws and began tearing into the still-living boar. It was a common scene of survival of the fittest in the Great Forest.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Then a completely blue Gigant approached the lizard. The lizard raised its tail warily in alarm. But as the Gigant drew nearer, the lizard shook its head repeatedly, its body shuddering uncomfortably. Unable to endure it, the lizard turned and retreated.
‘It definitely works on B-rank monsters too!’
Wayne wore a satisfied expression. Without even fighting, he had stolen its prey. He sent an aura message.
[Eleven, come eat!]
Eleven shot forward like an arrow and began devouring the boar monster. Wayne opened the hatch of his Gigant, breathing in the Great Forest’s Odd as he waited for Eleven to finish.
“I’m probably the only one who feels at ease here...”
Rich Odd swirled around Wayne’s body. He had come to the Great Forest alone with Eleven to trigger a monster wave.
A few years? Decades? Centuries? The cycles were unpredictable. Periodically, massive chaos swept through the Great Forest. Ten years ago, tens of thousands of monsters had surged like a tsunami in the Great Wave, smashing forward bases and fortresses, slaughtering people, and pushing all the way to Westline Fortress. To halt that colossal wave, half the empire’s Gigants had gathered at Westline Fortress.
The wave Wayne was inciting now was far smaller in scale. But the terror it would instill in the grand territory’s fortress would be comparable.
With most of Grint Grand Territory’s forces sent to the Estel front, even mighty Dresden’s Enok Fortress had only three 2nd Class Gigants and about thirty 3rd Class Gigants. The other fortresses would be even worse off.
If hundreds of monsters assaulted all at once in such conditions, it would feel like the Great Wave.
“Eleven, let’s go! Time to work!”
A ten-kilometer-long band of red Odd stretched between Wayne’s Predator and Eleven. About a hundred meters wide, its density was so intense that even the dullest monster could sense the presence of an A-rank predator like a python monster.
Wayne began infusing it with white Odd. White Odd produced stronger electric attacks the narrower and more intense the magnetic field—but spread over such a vast area, the field was ridiculously weak.
Then Wayne accelerated the white Odd twofold.
Controlling two types of Odd at once wasn’t familiar even to him. But over the past two and a half months, he had practiced alone whenever he could, so he was confident.
‘Good! Let’s go, Eleven!’
Wayne and Eleven began to run. His target: a pack of B-rank crocuta monsters. Originally from across the river, they had been driven far from their territory by the ant legion.
True to their B-rank status, they were six meters long, armed with powerful jaws and claws, hunting in a pack of about ten and preying on larger monsters.
“Grung?”
“Grrrng!”
As the python monster’s red Odd enveloped them, the sleeping crocuta pack sprang up. Overwhelmed by the predator’s intense aura, fear gripped them.
Ten of them together might challenge a python, but the predator was invisible—just the sense of being stalked from somewhere, ready to devour them.
Crackle!
Wayne unleashed a burst of his twofold-accelerated white Odd.
“Kuwaang!”
One bolted in the opposite direction. The others followed.
The slight sting from Wayne’s static-like attack, combined with the illusion of the python closing in, triggered their instincts to flee.
‘Eleven! Keep the speed steady!’
Wayne and Eleven maintained their wide sweep as they ran. Other monsters, upon touching the red Odd, felt the sting and surging fear, fleeing—and when B-rank monsters chased from behind, lower ranks scattered on their own.
They had run for just two hours. Already, over a hundred monsters were charging eastward through the Great Forest.
Wayne and Eleven trailed with the python aura, occasionally zapping with white Odd to startle them. But most monsters here had already fled their territories in terror from the ant legion, primed for panic. The predator’s pursuit sent them running nonstop.
In short, Wayne had merely added a spoon to a ready meal.
‘If this works well, I could do herding hunts too!’
As the monsters moved at his will, Wayne thought he might not even need a forward base. He could herd them, wait on one side to hunt, collect the byproducts, and sell to fortresses—earning gold without daily defenses.
[Grint Grand Territory’s Luton Fortress]
“What? Monster wave? Those Dresden bastards! They scared us half to death, and nothing? Bullshit!”
Fortress commander Count Bred uncorked a bottle after ages.
“Ahh! That’s the stuff.”
“Commander Bred, the deadline they mentioned hasn’t passed yet.”
Former captain Travis cautioned.
Count Bred shot him a displeased glare.
“As if anything’ll happen in two days. They just wanted to screw with us.”
“Agreed. Scouts report nothing unusual, and monster sightings are only slightly up. No need for major worry.”
Captain Jacobsen chimed in, playing along.
Bred nodded.
“Stand down then. The soldiers are bitching nonstop.”
“But Dresden intel is reliable. Maintain until tomorrow at least.”
“Travis, why so timid? It came from Frank Marquis’s youngest brat, right? Of course they’d suck up. We don’t need to. Ease off and rotate soldier rest.”
“But if monsters—”
“Hey! So rigid. That’s why they don’t get it... Tsk tsk!”
Travis knew what Bred meant. He hadn’t followed orders to smuggle monster parts to Westline’s black market instead of the fortress, pocketing gold for the count—earning his ire.
Rumble! Rumble rumble rumble!
Suddenly, the building shook violently.
“Earthquake?”
“N-no way?”
Travis rushed outside. Stunned, Bred followed.
“Monsters! A wave’s coming!”
A watchtower soldier yelled.
“Battle stations! Everyone!”
“Battle stations!”
Count Bred climbed the walls, peering through binoculars.
“Insane! It’s real... A monster wave!”
Hundreds of large and small monsters kicked up dust, barreling straight for Luton Fortress.
Bred’s mind went blank. The fortress had only two 2nd Class Gigants and eighteen 3rd Class ones. Cannons and infantry existed, but seemed woefully inadequate.
“Damn, too many—way too many!”
The nearest fortress was a day away; Westline two days east. Small outposts wouldn’t help—they’d flee for their lives.
“Commander Bred, what now?”
Staff officers rushed up.
“Uh, w-well... R-retreat!”
“Pardon?”
Travis snapped.
“Retreat? Then every soldier in the fortress dies!”
“What? All die? N-no! Then what?”
“Hold the sturdy walls and send for reinforcements—that’s best!”
“...?”
Count Bred had zero combat experience. Luton rarely saw live monsters; only corpses brought by Gigants from outposts. He’d never faced or fought them.
Not a mech pilot either, he’d volunteered as the lord’s brother-in-law for the bribes.
As Bred panicked silently, second-in-command Travis scowled.
‘Hah! Putting trash like this in charge—the whole territory’s rotten!’
Travis shook his head and bellowed.
“Monsters at our throats! Gunners to the walls, ready cannons!”
The artillery officer ran off shouting.
“Load the cannons!”
“Load the cannons!”
Thanks to Dresden’s warning, they were on alert and moved swiftly.
Rattle! Rattle!
Cannons loaded, barrels advanced.
“Loaded!”
“Fire!”
“Fire!”
Boom! Bang! Bang!
Thirty heavy cannons roared. Holes punched through monsters, bones shattered, bodies crumpled.
Cannons were effective against monsters. But the front-runners were low-rank; the scary ones lagged behind.
“They’re closing! Gigants, sortie!”
“Gigants sortie!”
Travis mounted his Gigant, leading his squad forward. Monsters were nearly upon them.
“Kuaaa!”
“Keeea!”
[Monsters incoming!]
[Defend the fortress!]
Grint Gigants clashed with the charging monsters.
Bang! Boom! Bang! Stab!
“Kwek!”
A monster’s throat pierced by Travis’s 2nd Class Gigant sword, collapsing.
One hope: no A-rank monsters visible!
[Don’t fall back! If we break, the soldiers die!]
[Hold the monsters!]
A small D-rank slipped through the melee, scaling the walls to attack soldiers. Travis whirled, stabbing it dead—but seven soldiers lay slain in moments.
[Fight to the death! Hold till the end!]
Travis and the pilots fought valiantly, barely holding.
[Captain! Left flank’s under attack!]
Crimson squad leader shouted.
Travis glanced left.
‘Ah! Too many monsters!’
They could protect the front, but not the circling flankers.
Then—
“Gigants! Reinforcements!”
‘What?’
He’d sent to Westline only thirty minutes ago. Reinforcements already?
‘Isn’t that Nancy’s Gigant from Patton Outpost?’
Five-meter Stormtroopers extended arms.
Clang! Shing shing shing!
Blades flashed!
[Wayne Squad! Attack!]
[Charge!]
[Waaaaah!]
Storm Knight Division swung razor forearm blades, mercilessly stabbing monsters. Behind them surged ten Steel Golems, dwarves, and orcs.