Jack spared but a single glance in the direction of Nurmalak as he was tied down by Arsha- his hunter maid who had just recently earned her second awakening- and did a quick calculation in his mind. She could hold her ground for the time being and most likely even win eventually. That was the difference of better gear and higher rarity class. Not only were there extra skills involved, but the base stats were also on a whole another level. The fact that Nurmalak was extreme dexterity build against an archer with better stats made it even more lopsided, with the lack of actual combat experience against intelligent opponents on Arsha's part the only equalizer of sorts that made their fight look like something of a stalemate.

  With one of the greater threats to the stability of the defensive lines and morale tied town, Jack could switch his attention to the other two large threats that would be soon enough engaged by the rest of his maids and Spartacus. First though, he had to flush one of them out, for the fox beastman was an assassin type- very dangerous first strike from an ambush position, but easier to handle once out in the open. And while true that none- besides Jack himself of course- could ever hope to find Nurmalak before he had struck, they would not have to wait unaware for said decisive strike to come.

  Jack notched another arrow into his bow and released it a blink of an eye later, the arrow creating a sharp whistling sound as it darted across the battlefield. Unlike the ones he had used before, this one looked noticeably different. While of similar length no other features were anything alike. This arrow was dark blue in colouring, with several bright yellow stripes across it. The arrowhead was also a bit thicker, with somewhat dulled tip. It did not seem to be affecting its speed however, as only another few blinks later, the arrow reached its destination, colliding with one of the elevations that served as ramps for the attackers.

  Upon impact, the arrow exploded into small sparkling dust, accompanied with the sound of shattering glass magnified countless times. Oddly enough, it seemed that the sound had little to no effect on any of the combatants nearby, seemingly having served no actual purpose. Or so most of those witnessing the arrows effect from the side would assume. Jack knew better, as did Namon the shadow. The fox beastman would no doubt curse to the heavens if he could afford to waste his time, a luxury that he could not afford, as he too went into a sort of a sprint towards the nearest seemingly important point of defensive effort. As an assassin, it was his job to take out key defenders with well times ambushes, breaking both the spirit and coordination of their opposing force.

  Unfortunately, just like with Nurmalak, he too was soon intercepted by a combatant of significant might, locking him down and denying his battlefield purpose. And who else but Spartacus could have been sent to deal with the assassin? The remaining maids could deal with the last second awakening opponent, while Selin and Mina could coordinate the defensive effort and stall the rest of the attacking force, albeit with some losses. It was unavoidable. Not only were the attacking force much larger than their own, but the difference in gear could only help so much. Still, it could have been much worse, with both the gear and their defensive fortifications stifling much of the offensive push.

  With both Nurmalak and Namon locked down, both beastmen engaged in their own respective duels, Jack decided to give a bit of a helping hand to the remaining maid squad as well, as they too engaged their own dedicated opponent as well in the form of Rungwald the Bloody and his pack of fighters. Sure, the wolf beastman could do a lot of damage on his own, but as a wolf beastman, he was the most dangerous when together with his hunting pack. Their teamwork was nearly seamless, with decisions made as a team without a single command barked, their members reading one another like open books, resulting in that much more dangerous and devastating effect.

  Unfortunately, they had met their match. Not in the form of an equally skilled teamwork mind you, but raw stat difference. Rungwald was the only second awakening combatant of his own side, with the maids were all second awakening at this point. Lita was the units tanker. Wielding a sword and shield weapon combo and sporting seemingly slightly more armoured version of maid uniform. Let no one tell it was subpar in terms of protection however, for Jack had gone and done wonders in ensuring it was just as sturdy as plate armour, all while not hindering her mobility near whatsoever.

  Then there were the twins- Nesta and Virgo. the two were still a variant of lancers, with extremely high speed and long reach, serving as a nightmare to approach or turn ones back against, assisting Lita with holding back the enemy. Their own teamwork was on par with the wolf beastmen, a seeming connection between them allowing for such a feat. Sindu and Valente came in right after that. The former was a wind priestess of maid persuasion while the latter was greater maid mage, providing incredible support and firepower, making their existence even more dangerous due to the synergy their primary elements- wind and fire- provided.

  And to make it all worse, their team-comp was finalized with Nivelayna. Nivi,as the teams healer and buffer ensured their ability to fight long term and recuperate in case of a mishap, making them an absolute nightmare to contend with. As such, was it any wonder that Rungwald could be heard cursing and gritting his teeth, his own advancement halted just like the rest of his force. He jumped forward once more, his dual blades slicing low in an attempt to cripple one of the lancer maids legs, only to be forced back by the other twins spear lunging for his throat.

  His men were already fuming, cold sweat making their fur visibly deflate. "Where the fuck they got so many second awakening fighters!?" one of them cried out in clear frustration as he got up, a split few seconds ago having been punted away by a rather powerful wind gale. Another curse was about to followed, only to be replaced with a miserable howl of pain as an arrow impaled one of his legs. Rungwalds head immediately jerked in the direction the arrow came from as his eyes noticed the culprit in mere moments. It was the same damn archer that had forced him to run away from the gate before the battle began.

  "Curse You!" he howled in impotent rage, forced to always spend at least a part of his senses on him from now on, lest another arrow cripple his squads ability to at least stall the maid group. he did not believe that the other two leaders of their attack were as unlucky as him, running into an entire team of - admittedly inexperienced- second awakeners.

  "Good." Jack hummed to himself, turning his focus towards the large mass of incoming enemy foot soldiers and leaving the leaders to be taken care of by his people. "Let's do our part as well." he hummed as he once again changed the arrows he used. These ones were dark gray, with venomously red tip that pulsed with extremely faint light.

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  "Here's a few gifts from me." he snickered as he drew his bow, aiming towards the larger masses of invaders before releasing the arrow drawn and reaching for the next one. A split second later, the first arrow made contact with a shield of one of the attacking beastmen, exploding in a fiery death on impact, instantly claiming the life of said beastman and all those in almost five meter radius around him, severely burning those in a few more meters away.

  "Ahhh, I do love the smell of cooked meat in the morning." Jack grinned as he launched another arrow, culling another dozen or so beastmen upon impact. His maids and Spartacus might be the nightmare of the beastmen leaders, but he quickly became the absolute bogeyman of the rank and file raider, with plenty of them quickly beginning to develop a seed of an idea to simply turn and run away, lest they too get blown apart by one of those monstrous arrows. Their zeal and bloodlust was evaporating in real time, with only their years of experience still keeping them on advance.

  With Jack taking a much more active role in suppressing the attackers, and their leaders tied down in their own duels, the rest of the defending force quickly found their morale soaring, so much so that despite the large number of attackers still pushing through, they held their line admirably. The success of this defensive feat was, in no small part, only because of the numerous, well equipped healers who did a damn good job of buffing and when needed patching up said defenders, restoring not only their physical bodies but also mental strength.

  With each passing minute of slow, grinding combat, the attacking beastmen grew more and de-spirited in turn, their battle hunger depleting faster than a full blown forest fire devouring more and more land as it spread. Worse yet, Jack was still peppering them with exploding arrows, dealing more and more damage both to their numbers and morale. And yet, as bad as it was for the rank and file, the leaders were starting to feel true despair creeping in.

  Namon was utterly frustrated, more so than any other beastman raider on the battlefield. Not only were all of his stealth skills temporarily disabled, his opponent was an actual second awakening front line fighter with some serious presence skills. Even as the two engaged in heated exchange of swords, Namon could see the way his allies around him destroyed the advancing beastmen like nothing else. Harder strikes that dealt much more damage, seemingly cleaving through beastmen armour with ease. Stronger stances that could take on much greater beastmen attacks, shrugging them off and pushing the attackers back. Healers who seemed almost inexhaustible, casting recovery magic almost like they themselves were second awakening experts. And yet, despite all that, his opponent still had the power to take him on all the same.

  Another feint with his left blade, pivoted into a quick swirl and a blind spot stab, only to be met once again by the humans shield, sending slight numbness through Namon's hand as he was pushed back and forced bend his body backwards, avoiding an extremely dangerous counter of the human. Another try a moment later, followed by another fail and yet another forced evasive tilt of his body. With each second, Namon could feel his own body growing just a little bit slower, a faint ache creeping into his muscles with each exchange. All the while, it did not seem to be the same for the human he was fighting against- his skin still untouched by either his blades or sweat of the man. Just what kind of monsters had they run into? A stray, treacherous thought surfaced in his mind, his body pushing himself back on instinct and his head darting to sides as his eyes searched for the presence of the other two leaders.

  His eyes caught sight of Nurmalak first. The rabbit beastman locked into extreme speed showdown with a human archer girl who seemed to keep him on his toes and darting back and forth as he desperately dodged well timed and fast arrows, finding rare few opportunities to attempt his own retaliation with the throwing daggers he had on hand. Their dance was going clearly in human archers favour, eliminating any hopes Namon could have about assistance arriving any time soon, if at all.

  Then his gaze caught Rungwald and his pack as well near the last of their ascent point, locked in combat with a group similarly dressed women as well, indicating some sort of a unit, or special status. His eyes shrunk into pinpricks as he realized what he saw there, only for his instincts to scream at him as his legs pushed him back from his current position, narrowly avoiding the sword strike of his own opponent.

  "Shit!" he could not help but curse as the sight he had just witnessed flashed in his mind. A full fucking squad of second awakening fighters? And one that covered all based at that as well? What in the seven hells was going on here?

  "Oh? Saw the maids did you?" Spartacus spoke for the first time as he heard the curse, flexing his own knowledge of beastmen language "I would not like to be in the place of those muts. The maids can get downright nasty when annoyed. And trust me, this little stunt of yours has them in quite the foul mood." he snickered as his knees bent slightly, a moment later propelling him fordard once again as he slashed horizontally, forcing Namon to drop to the ground and roll aside to escape a follow up stomp aimed at his head.

  Namon scrambled to his feet quickly, regaining his footing as he tried to maintain any distance at al from his opponent, their fight long since brought down past the walls, just like Nurmalak and Rungwald's squad. The rest of their raiders were still held at bay on the walls. "What are you?" he hissed at the human, indignation and frustration mounting with each second.

  "Truly? You do not recognize the outfits?" Spartacus laughed, adding "Sure, they may have changed a little, with plenty of added protection, but the general colour scheme and proportions are still the same as when we left Avalante. Surely you must have at least heard of them?" the amusement in Spartacus voice was growing by the second.

  "The human mercenary and his slaves!" a realization crashed down on Namon like cold water, followed by another, even chillier thought. When they left, Jack alone had been a second awakening expert. How comes that mere months later, the meek and pathetic human slaves he brought with him had reached the same stage as well? It just made no fucking sense. If there was a place like that within the outer steppe, the human tribes would have long since grown strong enough to not only repel their yearly raids, but also bring the fight back to their lands, perhaps even ending their entire way of life. Namon's face contorted in both terror and fear at the thought, though his mind quickly pushed it away, still denying the possibility of it all.

  Spartacus recognized the momentary distortion of the fox beastman's face, striking at the metaphorical wound viciously and without mercy. "Figured out, did you? Yes, your sadistic friends back in the inner steppe will soon experience what it is like to be besieged, slaughtered and enslaved. Worry not, you will not live long enough see it." his sword took on a slight glow as he spoke the last sentence, followed by another that sent another, chilling image down Namon's brain "And with the epic quality weapons Jack has made for us, we will make your way of life crumble, putting your beloved Nurika in chains for our entertainment." A sadistic glee flashed across Spartacus eyes as he lunged forward, his speed much greater than the entire duel so far, catching Namon off guard as he hastily crossed his own blades in an attempt to block the strike, only to realise a moment later his equipment had failed him. His eyes dimmed as the last thing they saw was two, gleaming red stumps of his elongated daggers, revealing the ease with which they had been cut through.

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 37

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +14

  Attributes:

  Strength- 34 (14+7+13(gear))

  Vitality- 28 (12+8+8(gear))

  Dexterity- 29 (15+6+8(gear))

  Intelligence-20(15+ 5(gear)

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  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), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX). Destroyers presence(unique legendary).

  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. Slavemaster, Eldritch garbage disposal(legendary).

  Gear: Two handed sword(t3)+ 5 str +5 vit: Armor 3str +3 vit +3 dex; Ring 1 - spatial storage, ring 2 +5int, ring 3 +5 str; amulet +5 dex.