The second wave lasted about an hour, the monsters just kept coming and coming, but they could not truly break through. The phalanxes switched out their lines, supplying fresh, resolved and equally desperate men to protect their homes, all while the mercenary crashed in when needed whenever the commander called for him to provide a bit of respite to his soldiers from the ever rising corpse piles. Sure, there were some fallen among the defenders, but it was nowhere near the numbers a full blown breach would provide. Not that the monsters did not try, but thanks to the well coordinated phalanxes and the merc jumping in to assist in resetting those breaches, the line still held.

  Once the beasts, goblins and low leveled orcs were mostly annihilated, came the real challenge. A thousand or so level twenty orcs accompanied by just as many, if not more, Greku- a humanoid looking geckos. Greku were not considered demi humans due to their mostly feral nature and lack of proper civilized culture. These kinds of beings were often enslaved or dominated by much higher level monsters- be it nagas, vampires or werewolves. Their scales were also quite good at deflecting arrows of low quality.

  And to add a cherry to the top of this wave, once it was quite close to the walls, wolf like creatures the size of a few horses lunged from the forest, their heads seemingly covered in a metal like plating, same as their spines and sides. Despite their large size and clearly sizable amount of armour, they still moved with surprising speed, reaching the walls and slamming into the phalanxes at around the same time as the greku and orcs reached the very same walls as well.

  Those wolves seemed to have served their purpose, clashing with the phalanxes and breaking their lines, creating open path for the last wave to crash inside. The orcs and greku seized the opportunity, jumping the wounded and confused spearmen, causing chaos with each kill, moving deeper and deeper into the city, only to be intercepted by various militia or smaller spearmen groups, all trying to stop them from reaching deeper still.

  There were three breaches, one tunnel and only one merc and his secret party no one else knew about, the latter holding down their fort at the tunnel. Thus, even with Jack heartlessly murdering every creature trying to get past him, the other two breaches bled more and more monsters into the town. It no doubt had level forty guards, their elite force, but even they had their hands full right now, fighting off another rather powerful monster group flooding one of the breaches Jack was not at.

  Multiple monsters fell with each swing of Jacks' massive sword, leaving more and more carnage behind him to the point that more and more monsters seemed to be snapping out of their frenzy and wisely chose to either retreat if possible or at the very least not head in the direction of the obvious carnage. Not that Jack would make it so easy for the attackers, his speed rising yet further still as he started running the monsters down the moment he noticed the much smaller monster stream in his direction.

  The same pattern had been noticed by the commander who did not hesitate to yell out new orders to one of his most promising talents of this siege. He also noted for himself to request on of the higher leveled appraisal owners to get a quick read on the merc- the man was just way too capable for a low leveled unknown starter he would not be aware of within the city. So, while keeping his eyes on the situation all around him and continuing with his own task of ordering the soldiers around, with quite the efficiency and skill most would have to admit, he also sent a messenger to bring one of his desired appraisers over. He would be a fool to pass up a possible monster fighter.

  ----------------------------------

  "The tunnel is secured. We will head out and intercept the monsters who broke through the phalanxes." Kaede reported as they saw the tunnel collapse- the work of a few skilled mages coming to assist them. There were quite a few reports to the higher powers of the town about their valliant defence of the tunnel entrance no doubt. And with a clear agreement from Jack, they rushed forward, even receiving updates in real time to the closest monsters to their location that were going rampant or overwhelming whatever defenders were trying to push them back.

  Tinggggg!

  A low, chime like sound resounded across the street the moment their group had turned corner and noticed a group of three orcs about to deliver the final blows to kneeling guards- courtesy of Kenji as he activated his taunt skill, instantly forcing the orcs to whip their heads in his direction and charge as though overcome with madness.

  "Stronghold! Reflect!" Kenji called out just moment before impact with the trio of orcs, his body stopping instantly as he raised his shield and braced, a light, barely visible, shimmering ball enveloping him. It never ceased to amaze Kaede how this combo worked- the moment the weapons in orcs hands classed with the nigh invisible ball, light cracking noise resounded, followed by the weird sight of orkish arms bending in weird shapes, followed by the sound of air being cut by swords as Izumi and Fumiko had already found themselves on the sides and were delivering pull powered slashes on the monsters' flanks, creating deep wounds reaching to the one, even cutting through in Izumi's' case.

  As expected, such critical damage snapped the savage orcs out of their taunted state, though with said damage taken, they were not much of a threat to their party, with the third one being bodied by Kenji. The gear allowed them to stat check these monsters quite nicely , providing quite the large experience gain even in such a dangerous scenario. Emi of course was layering curses on their enemies just to make sure while Chiyo always kept an eye on their surroundings, ensuring no sudden surprises caught them off guard, resulting in injuries or worse. At the end of the day, they all had to get back home in one piece and continue to repay the immense debt they felt towards Jack. Well, that and eat some seriously tasty food and laugh alongside their new family.

  'Speaking of family.' Kaede glanced over to Kenji for a moment as warmth spread across her chest at the sight of his heroic form serving as their parties bulwark and protector. His latest skill cementing his desire and determination.

  Holy protector(unique)- As long as the user remains healthy he can and will intercept any damage that would critically wound another party member.

  Kaede could still remember his excitement when he got the skill on their last expedition, grinning from ear to ear and proclaiming that only over his dead body would anyone else in the party be killed. He was a man and would always do his duty and take on the responsibility he had to. Had he realized how that might have sounded to the rest of the girls? Most likely not- he was quite dense when it came to things like that, but Kaede could see that the rest of the girls had been treating him more kindly as of late, just the smallest hint of warmth reflecting in their eyes the longer they adventured. And Kenji, his endurance was only going to grow and grow. She might just have to enlist some help some time down the line. A problem for another time though, that one was.

  The few savage orcs went down easily enough, allowing the group to rush towards the next target, only to be interrupted by an unexpected and quite unwelcome intervention, as a rather large sized, wyvern like monster dropped almost on their heads, only the timely warning from Chiyo's mouth at full screech allowing them to react and dodge the initial bomb dive of the monster, followed by immediate response from Izumi as she shredded one of the monsters wings.

  The coming shriek of the wyvern itself was far more loud and unpleasant than the one Chiyo expelled from her lungs, but thanks to a quick response from Kaede as she cast a soothing protection spell and Kenji who jumped in front of the girls and activated a defensive skill of his own, stacking the effects, nothing more than a short timed discomfort was felt. Not that the rest of the girls lazed around and just stared at the large monster, as the second they felt the ear splitting screech was no longer so debilitating, each of them acted according to their role to assist the group.

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  Emi instantly cast numerous curses one after another, weakening the monster before them while Chiyo began peppering wyvern's head and neck with her arrows, slowing down that fearsome and sharp teeth filled mug from attempting to chomp down on one of their party. Fumiko rushed to the side, already expecting the monsters tail to be swatted in their direction any moment now, ready to block, parry and counterattack one it happened or if given the chance, pepper the monsters side with quick and precise stabs of her sword.

  Kenji, as the tank that he was, immediately stepped forwards once his protective skill was over, taunting the monster several times as it seemed it was somewhat resistant to it. In the end, he managed to pull it off, as he lifted his shield to block the incoming claw strike from the monster.

  "Urfff!" he grunted as his muscles strained under the pressure he was experiencing as the claw swipe connected with the shield, but he stood his ground, shifting his body just barely at the appropriate time to redirect the attack to cause the monster to stumble a little bit, giving both Izumi and Fumiko the opening they needed. One that both girls immediately noticed and took advantage off, earning a well deserved roar of pain from the wyvern, as multiple, even if relatively small, wounds appeared on its flanks.

  The same dance then was repeated, as Kenji worked his ass off to maintain the monsters attention, the constant strain on his body from the blocking and repeated use of his skills visible on his sweat covered face.

  "I'm hugging Jack once we are home today." he huffed as he once again deflected another claw strike coming his direction, providing yet another opening for his team to inflict more and more damage on the wyvern, it's speed having slowed down bit by bit as they bled it dry.

  "Don't forget to kiss him for me as well!" from the side laughed Fumiko as she jumped away from the wyverns flank, having just finished yet another round of needle like stabs to it's side that by now looked like some sort of a pin cushion, what with all the small holes there.

  "For me too!" Izumi joined in on the joke, a small smile creeping across her lips "Only one damsel should approach him at a time, lest he declare teen rebellion and place us under house arrest."

  "Hey! Urghh! That's bullying!" Kenji cried out, blocking yet another incoming paw strike. "Love, a hand please?" he cried out to Kaede as the other two melee fighters once again exploited the opening.

  "It's okay Dear, let them seethe. We will just be extra loud tonight for their actions!"

  "Fuck you Kaede!" cried out Fumiko, the tomboy like girl was the one most affected by their threat. Only moments later she quickly changed her tone as she was spalled away by a rather sneaky tail strike, causing her to crash against a half crumbled wall a few meters away, only to be healed the moment she landed, perhaps even the moment she had been slapped away. "I was just joking, all right. Let's not do anything rash, yea?"

  "We will see about that. We will see." Kaede just ominously grinned as she muttered under her breath, though somehow loud enough for Fumiko to hear, causing her to groan as she charged back in once again.

  It took them another five to ten minutes to finally take the damn lizard down, causing them all to exhale a breath of relief as they slumped to the ground or leaned against the closest wall they could find.

  "Fuck, my muscles hurt." groaned Kenji, having blocked all of the monsters attack for such a long time.

  "How do people fight them in groups and on a regular basis?" Emi huffed, her curses having seemingly done jack shit against the monster.

  "To be fair, it was what, level twenty five? That's like the second class, is it not?" Fumiko asked, her overly cheerful attitude somewhat draineds as she too felt exhaustion "And we are not even level twenty." she added "big difference."

  "I'll loot it. Pass the ring Kaede." added Chiyo who, as the archer who could stay in the backline and calmly pepper the monster with arrows, was seemingly the least tired of the group. And as she did so, Kaede contacted Jack to receive the next set of instructions, all while their performance and feat had been witnessed by plenty of commoners and even a few soldiers and scouts.

  -----------------------

  Jack's sword sliced through the air as he brought it down in a vertical line, splitting yet another annoying ogre like creature in half, its blood and entrails spilling out through the newly created gap as the body fell to both sides after the cut, opening it like some sort of a cheap monster movie, it's fingers still twitching after the split. His mind was still split between two tasks at once. Half his attention was spent on his own surroundings and responding accordingly to whatever threats came his way, his body moving in ways no man of his current age or background should be able to, while the other half was still focused on scanning over the city, tracking quite the large number of monster that were ravaging whatever they could see as well as the party of kids and the obstacles they encountered.

  He knew there were a couple of wyverns circling the sky, waiting for something or someone to descend. It came as a bit of a surprise when one of them dove down towards the kids, causing Jack to tense up a bit as he was preparing to leave the place he held right now only to be pleasantly surprised by the speed with which the kids recovered from the failed ambush and worked magnificently together to whittle down the beast. The worry quickly receded from his mind, replaced with pride and a shit eating grin on his face as he refocused on his own areas cleansing.

  "We had a bit of a snag, A wyvern dropped on us and we had to deal with it." Kaede spoke through their communicator, adding a moment later "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

  "What precisely? That there were a couple of wyverns circling high above us or that one of those went after you?" Jack asked back, his voice obscured and only heard by Kaede through the communicator. "Because while I knew of both, I was not expecting the latter to happen at all. Wyverns are quite aggressive and are supposed to attack the greatest threats they see, thus I believed they would dive for the mercenary of the elite squad rampaging through the monsters that are within the city. Good job by the way. That was some excellent teamwork!" Jack added praise at the end, more than willing to give it when due. He could even hear proud huffs from the kids as Kaede forwarded his praise, causing him to shake his head in exasperation after the fact.

  "Where to next?" Kaede then asked, though the exhaustion was clear in her voice- the last fight with the wyvern having taken quite the toll on their energy, and that was despite Kaede's stamina recovery spells. No, what they felt was proper mental exhaustion.

  "Now you head back home and get some rest." Jack spoke with voice that made it clear there would be no arguing, prompting Kaede to huff a bit, but abide by his decision all the same. Which kid liked to listen to their parents telling them it's time to go home, even if they knew that was true, causing Jack to shake his head in fake exasperation once again. 'Kids.' the though lingering in his mind.

  He did notice that yet another level had come his way, courtesy of the large amount of monsters both he and his party has slaim as well as the contribution that was starting to trickle in from Anastiela's newbies enjoying his creations in combat. 'Good. Good. Work your asses off.' he laughed in his mind, realizing he has reached a new item tier unlock.

  Now that the kids were heading home and the monster forces that broke through the phalanxes were slowly but surely whittled down, only one question remained in Jack's mind- whether the monster mage, or shaman, or whatever, leading this monster wave would truly emerge and come at the city as well, only to sense the being stepping just barely in his perception range and immediately turning and bolting away, as if it had just sensed death incarnate locking onto it.

  --------------------------

  Hummies were just so soft and squishy and their screams of pain and desperation so insanely sweet. Not at all like those damn tribes lands of theirs with them damn walls they hid behind. It had seemed so promising and efficient to begin with. The walls had been breached and eventually their stronger forces had gotten inside, starting to sew chaos and distract the defenders. Even the tunnel had been a success, creating yet another breach into their home. Shaka would have tipped the scale entirely in their favour and brought victory with his and his elite bodyguard group as he would enter the fight, only for him to sense what could only be described as absolute and utter monster behind those walls the moment he moved close enough. The chill of death and screams of fear that the spirits cried the second he got too close was all the warning he needed. He immediately turned around and ordered his guards to retreat, never to come this way again, cursing and shouting about the terror the spirits had felt. ''Just what kind of monster did the hummies summon this time?'' he cursed as they ran like their lives depended on it.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 20

  Class- Twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(EX)

  Stats unassigned: +11

  Attributes:

  Strength- 24 (14+7+3)

  Vitality- 23 (12+8+3)

  Dexterity- 21 (15+6)

  Intelligence-7

  Spirit- Spirit- 25 (20+5)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme.

  Gear: amulet +2 vit: weapon- Gundao+3 str. Rings- spatial storage, vit +