Show Me the Money

The second wave of monsters were level 25 Green Wolves. Like the first wave, they were low level but plenty in number, around more than a thousand. Wolf howls ululated one after another as the monsters aggressively charged forth.

Rosethorn instantly ordered the rogues who were still out fixing traps to withdraw. Following the command, the players quickly returned to the wall.

The traps stopped a portion of Green Wolves as well; however, the beasts were so many that, although only half of them fell prey to the traps, they tripped every last one. So, the other half successfully passed through the hazards.

But, they still weren't able to near the wall. When the wolves were twenty meters away, the members of Ice Rose Alliance gathered in precise formation to stop and annihilate them. The wolf boss, a level 30 Wolf King, was slain with little trouble.

"Long-ranged classes, check your equipment. Don't be in a rush to attack. Rogues, mend the traps. Form a team to go loot the drops," Rosethorn staunchly commanded.

The third wave soon arrived. This time the monsters were basin-sized spiders with black fur that made people cringe with disgust. Thousands of furry spiders traveling together produced scrubbing noises, and everyone felt their scalps tingle as all of their hair stood on end at the situation.

Pahf! Facing down the traps, the monsters spat out silk and layered the path with spider thread. They crossed the snares like there'd been no problem at all.

"Fire mages, ready!" Rosethorn raised her right arm high, her eyes staring fixedly at the speedy spiders.

"Fireballs, go!" She brought her hand down sharply, and nearly one hundred mages abreast on the wall cast the skill in unison. "Next row, go!" They had chosen Fireball because the skill cost little mana, took less time to cast, and had high damage. It was perfect for dealing with this type of monster.

Fyoom fyoom! Sky-blotting fire balls soared and fell all at once, like a rain of fire. The attacks tightly locked down a thirty-meter area in front of the wall.

Fire raged, and heat waves swept up to the sky as one row of fire mages attacked after the other. The field of fire in front of the spiders seemed endless. Sizzling sounds danced through the air, and the smell of burned meat permeated the entire area.

"Halt!" Rosethorn lifted her hand. As one, the mages ceased firing. There weren't many spiders left in the field. Those that had survived the fire were shot to death by the archers.

"That easy?"

"Easy? Let me tell ya, the first five waves are all that easy. But, every wave from the sixth will make you cough blood."

Despite taking care of the first three waves with ease, the Ice Rose Alliance didn't let their guard down. Instead, they became even more keyed up and sent out several rogues to scout at once.

"Report: It's a tiger pack this time."

"Report: A slither of snakes after the tigers."

The fourth and fifth waves came in quick succession. While there was a ten minute gap after each wave, it passed in the blink of an eye if the players got too caught up with the monsters. Basically, there wasn't much time to regroup at all.

"Hurry and annihilate the fourth wave! Don't let the waves merge together." Rosethorn's expression remained ever composed. The first five waves were but an appetizer, dealing little damage to the defenders. The real trouble only came after the fifth wave.

Suffering a certain amount of loss, the players managed to wipe out the fifth wave of snakes.

Briefly, the battlefield came to a rest. However, there was still no sign of new monsters after ten minutes. Rosethorn wrinkled her brow and ordered the rogues to scout farther.

Boom! Boom! The earth again trembled. In the distance, a bunch of figures finally appeared.

"Report: It's Treemen!"

The Treemen weren't large in number—only several hundred—but all the players on the wall grew solemn. These monsters had high defense, high HP, and were capable of both long- and close-range combat. They didn't need to get close to the wall to attack it.

Having endured five waves of monsters, the trap area was in ruins, and the Ice Rose Alliance stopped sending out rogues to fix it. The traps wouldn't have had much effect aside from being a small delay considering the strength of the creatures.

"Cavalry, line up and be ready to hold back the Treemen. Mages and archers, ready your attacks on my orders."

"Isn't it a little too early to call out the cavalry?" Ice Witch furrowed her brows.

"It's not. We have to do our best to keep the monsters far away while we can. We'll compensate anyone who dies in the line of duty. Otherwise, if the wall is damaged by any chance, I'm afraid we won't be able to stop the last wave," Rosethorn explained.

The gate opened. A squad of roughly five hundred knights rode out in a line and waited in proper rows before the gate. On the wall, mages and archers remained in their assigned positions, ready to attack.

The Treemen's feet were formed from their roots, so their pace was extremely slow and steady. The earth rumbled with each step they took, and their momentum was incredibly intimidating.

"Attack!" Rosethorn called out.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh! First out was literally a shower of arrows. The rain of arrows instantly deluged the Treemen. Next came the mages' magic attacks, particularly Fire attribute skills that not only looked immensely threatening but also dealt the most damage. After the first round of attacks, dozens of Treemen were slain. Rosethorn knitted her brows, evidently unhappy with this result.

"The Treemen have high defense and high HP. This isn't a bad outcome," Ice Witch said.

"Mhm." Nodding her head wordlessly, Rosethorn swung her arm to begin the second round.

Zooooom! Losing a third of their kin to ceaseless arrows and magic attacks, the Treemen finally reached a location where their attack range included the wall. The creatures shook their crowns, and each treetop shot out a ten-odd javelins at the cavalry standing before the wall.

"Shields up!" All members of the Ice Rose Alliance were female, and a graceful chorus of battle cries rose as the cavalry quickly raised their shields in unison. The steel, half-meter tall shields were hoisted above their heads and pressed together.

From above, the shields surprisingly formed a smooth wall. When the javelins hit the surface, some of the bolts snapped and were deflected away. Only a few lucky javelins crept through the gaps in the shield wall to land among the knights, but they dealt little damage against their armor.

"Unbelievable. The Ice Rose Alliance members are all female, but their training suggests a military presence. The two guild masters, Ice Witch and Rosethorn, aren't all that simple, hm."

"They're very ambitious." Some players were full of praise, others were alert, but their eyes all closely followed the situation on the battlefield.

The Treemen didn't stop moving forward while casting their javelins and were currently less than thirty meters away from the knights.

As the monsters drew near to the cavalry, the defenders on the wall unleashed three rounds of attacks, slaying a great deal of them. However, roughly a hundred Treemen still managed to approach the knights.

"Spears ready!" At the order, the knights lowered their shields at once and leveled their spears at the enemy. Their synchronized movements in addition to the fact that they were all female made for a beautiful picture. Various male players whistled.

"Ayeee, it'd look even better if their mounts were the same," someone moaned.

"Pssh, you're a newbie, aren't you? They're already lucky if everyone has a mount, and you're demanding matching mounts. How could it be that easy?" a nearby player sneered.

"Hey, I already know that! I was just complaining. Not counting the Ice Rose Alliance, even the four top guilds of the four main cities couldn't establish a cavalry with matching mounts unless they were of a very low level," replied the admonished player.

"True dat." The other one nodded.

Bam! The Treemen's huge, coarse branches lashed downward. The knights in the two front rows raised their shields and tenaciously resisted the branch attacks.

All of a sudden, the entire cavalry spurred their mounts forward.

"What's MorningDew PureLotus doing? Weren't they told to defend only?" Rosethorn demanded angrily.

"The girls wish to make a name for themselves. Just let them do it. It's just a few monsters anyway." Ice Witch's response was actually easy-going.

Whissh! The knights withdrew their shields and immediately thrust the spears in their right hands at the Treemen. Over ten Treemen died from the attack.

Ka-clop ka-clop ka-clop! At a thunderous gallop, the cavalry steered in various directions. They didn't come at the Treemen head-on, but rapidly flanked them instead.

The row of knights nearest to the monsters retracted their spears and lifted up their shields in unison to parry incoming attacks.

Whoosh, bang! The confrontation between the cavalry and the Treemen was even more aesthetically pleasing to the eye than the long-ranged attacks.

While controlling their mounts to run around the Treemen, the players skillfully snuck in to jab at the monsters, like springing serpents. Occasionally, a Treeman would fall, throwing up a cloud of dust as its huge body collapsed and ultimately hindered the knights galloping about. Thus, the cavalry gradually spread out; however, their formation wasn't chaotic, and they attacked the monsters tactically.

Ba-boom! With another round of magic attacks, the last few dozen Treemen fell. The captain of the cavalry removed her helmet to wipe at her sweat, revealing the face of a roughly eighteen-year-old girl. Although her expression was excited, she tried to appear serious and shouted, "Troops, withdraw!"

After watching what could've been called an exhibition from the cavalry, Ice Witch's persistently frigid face finally showed a hint of satisfaction. "Not bad."

"Xu Quan, can our guild train up a cavalry like that?" Liu Lan had only needed to watch to know she fell short of the others by a great deal. While she had some talent for business, she was still a newbie in this type of battle for dominance.

"I've arranged the training, but developing a troop that strictly follows orders requires a big investment," replied Xu Quan. After all, everyone entered the game mostly for entertainment. Not many would be willing to practice discipline in-game, even if it wasn't that strict.

"We'll just have to try our best." Liu Lan wanted to say something more, but it all became a long sigh in the end. She then returned to quietly observing the battlefield.

Abruptly, a panic-stricken rogue scout cried out, "This wave is the Stone Puppet!"

"Level 40 Stone Puppet? This is only the seventh wave!" Rosethorn's face instantly changed. She urgently shouted, "Knights, return to the base. All long-ranged classes, prepare for combat!"

"If I remember correctly, Stone Puppets are capable of long-ranged attacks. Why don't we let the knights stay out there to stop them?" Ice Witch asked.

"A Stone Puppet's attack and defense are both very high. Our cavalry is too few in number; they wouldn't be able to stop them for very long. Instead of dying for nothing, it's better to let the long-ranged classes fight it out. I originally expected this type of monster to come out last. Who could've known…" Rosethorn explained, helpless.