Endless Evolution: Last Star - Chapter 717

Chapter 717: The First Wave

By the time Katrin opened the gates, nine squads arrived at the fortress, including the first squad that had been destroyed in the beginning.

Not much time had passed since the eclipse, but it was enough time for the first wave of monsters to appear on the horizon.

Once outside the gate, Katrin looked around and nodded deeply. Seeing a few wandering Shadow Walkers, she didn’t rush into the fight, she had a different task now.

‘I’ll have a chance to deal with the monsters later, the main thing now is to get the rest of the fortress in, and… we’ll have to defend the gates.’

Katrin and Adam were in different situations, in Adam’s time, he simply walked through the gates and they closed behind him, but Katrin couldn’t do that, for the other Phantoms it was the same.

Not all units would arrive at the fortress at the same time, many Phantoms would only get here by the third or even fourth wave of monsters.

All the while, they would have to be ready to receive them, guarding the gates and walls of the fortress.

With a deep sigh, Katrin turned around heading towards the middle of the bridge.

‘Well, we’re very lucky that there’s only one entrance to the fortress, it will make the defense much easier.’

Step.

Stopping at the highest point, Katrin raised her hand and belligerently exclaimed:

”Everyone, enter the fortress right now! We will move slowly and clear every meter until we have all the walls under our control!”

Her voice could hardly reach those hundreds of meters away. The wind and skirmishes with monsters were good sources of noise, but all Phantoms could hear their Operators.

Viron and Gnash looked at each other, he was as calm as before, Gnash grimaced in annoyance.

Abruptly turning around, Gnash waved her hand leading the fourth squad after her.

“Fuck it, even though I don’t like it, she’s right. It’s too dangerous to stay here right now.”

The second squad realized everything from the nod of their commander’s head. They walked past Viron, while he looked off into the distance with a deep gaze.

‘Yeah, it’s dangerous outside the fortress, but we’re standing right in front of the bridge and our only opponents are the weak monsters dwelling around the fortress. They weren’t worthy of being a part of it.’

He stared intently at one of the distant squads fleeing from the first wave of monsters. The distance between them was only a few meters and they had to balance between speed and combat.

They needed to hold out a little longer because when they got closer to the bridge, the other Phantoms would help them.

Step. Step. Step.

The Phantoms, one by one swept by Katrin’s side, gradually making her cold smile a little warmer, the corners of her mouth going up.

Ever since she absorbed the Plague Reaper’s gene and became a Natural Phantom, she was on many missions and everywhere she tried to lead the squad. However, the unexpected Eclipse and the defense of the Stronghold? It was a completely different deal.

Then, her expression changed again, becoming pale and anxious. A bright purple light appeared behind her, from the direction of the northeast tower.

Katrin turned around sharply as she thought the archer was going to attack them, the Phantoms crossed the bridge, but its large purple eye was pointed far ahead.

After a second, Katrin realized that the One-Eyed Serpent Archer was aiming at the nearest monsters as well as the Phantoms running away from them.

It was unclear whether the archer wanted to kill the Phantoms or the monsters, but it didn’t seem to matter to him. He had only one task, to protect the fortress and the External Artifact from every creature that wanted to devour it.

The only exception was if the creature did everything by the rules and went through the bridge to the gates.

Realizing that the Phantoms’ lives were far more important than even a hundred monsters, Katrin exclaimed furiously:

“Fuck! Stop!”

Without delay, she used her First Order, launching a plague whirlwind towards the archer.

Yet, the archer didn’t even look in her direction, he was completely focused on making a precise and powerful shot.

Katrin narrowed her eyes, watching her whirlwind.

‘I’m sure those four monsters would be a good help in defending the fortress, but I can’t just watch them shoot my men like wild beasts on the hunt!’

At the same moment, the whirlwind approached the tall tower, finding itself between the pillars connecting the upper and lower parts. Each tower was similar to a spire in structure, only they were lower and had a soaring purple fire in the center instead of a blue torrent of flame.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Suddenly, a flow of active energy appeared between the pillars, floating upward like a water stream disappearing at the top of the tower.

The same thing happened to Katrin’s plague vortex, it simply dissipated before reaching the second archer.

Katrin’s eyes went wide in disbelief as she threw her arm forward about to attack again, but it was too late.

Wheeeeeeezh.

With a strange creaking sound, the One-Eyed Serpent Archer fired his shot.

The plasma arrow swept across the night sky like a shooting star, approaching its destination with great speed.

Rings of energy radiated from the tip as if on impulse, ready to unleash their full power at any instant.

For a moment, the Phantoms stopped, they raised their heads as their eyes reflected a star falling right at them.

“No… Why us…?”

A bright flash engulfed both them and the monsters as the arrow reached the ground.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

A blast of crushing power destroyed everything within fifty meters of the epicenter. The shockwave spread out over half a kilometer, and the powerful wind currents running away reached even the Phantoms standing by the bridge.

Katrin’s lips quivered as she grabbed her wrist trying to calm the rising anxiety.

“Fuck… So that wasn’t a full power shot last time? Right… the archer didn’t want to damage the fortress, so he only used a fraction of its power…”

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Viron scratched the back of his head with a complex expression.

“Well, if one of them decides to shoot inside the fortress then this place will become our common grave in an instant. Hopefully, that won’t happen.”

Heading towards the bridge, Viron stopped and looked over his shoulder. He frowned slightly feeling a strange energy in the distance, then he shook his head and headed for the gates.