The Genius Evolution Store

Chapter 170: Protecting the City

"There are more rank 5 beasts coming!"

The commander couldn’t help but panic. With more rank 5 beasts coming and an overlord beast, there was no way this city could withstand it.

All this time, they had been working hard to fight against the beasts, but if this continued, the city would be completely breached before the reinforcements arrived.

"Sir, we’ve got a report. There are two gentlemen who are trying to engage the incoming rank 5 beasts."

"!!!" The commander widened his eyes. He thought about going to the wall himself to buy time.

"There are only a few rank 5..." The commander muttered. "So, Ellia Stroph Astler has sent her men..."

The officer reporting this matter was confused about his words. He didn’t know where these gentlemen came from. Nevertheless, he continued, "The situation seems to be stable right now."

"Alright. I need you to monitor the situation and report to me if something happens."

"Understood."

The commander looked at the map and clenched his fists. The situation looked good for the time being.

However, the overlord beast was expected to appear soon.

"..." The commander frowned. Looking at the situation, he might be able to leave this matter to someone else and head to the battlefield personally.

After thinking for two minutes, the commander turned to one of the officers. "Nathan, you take care of this place for me."

"Sir?" The officer was startled.

"If I wait here for too long, I may not have enough time to reach the wall when the overlord beast appears." The commander grabbed the coat hanging on the side of the wall rack along with a poleaxe. "Inform me if something big happens. Otherwise, I will trust you with the command."

"Understood, sir."

The commander turned to the mayor. "I will take my leave, Mayor."

"Be careful out there, Commander."

The commander nodded and exited the control room. He immediately rushed to the top of the wall to see the situation for himself.

"Kill them!"

"We’re going to win!"

"Keep this up!"

People were shouting. Some gunners were still raining bullets down on the beasts. However, some beasts managed to climb and pounce on them.

One gunner gritted his teeth, trying to stop the beast from biting him with his gun.

Soon, an attacker came forward to slice the beast in one clean strike.

Another gunner wasn’t so lucky.

"Aaahhh!" The beast bit his shoulder before an attacker could save him. He was injured, but at least he would still be alive. The problem would be that some gunners ended up dying.

Some gunners were rather envious of seeing other people with better fighters. There were beasts that managed to climb the wall, but one of them was stopped by a big shield and thrown back down. Another beast was cut down before it could even reach the gunner.

As a result, the gunners continued to kill more beasts. The turrets were doing their best to take down as many beasts as possible.

Still, as one would expect, the longer this battle lasted, the more severe the situation would become.

Eventually, more and more beasts would reach the top of the wall. When that happened, it would be close combat on the wall. The turrets would end up being the only ones trying to stop the beasts from climbing up.

Some cities ended up getting overrun by beasts after this step. After all, once beasts started flooding the city, the situation would become severe.

The people would worry about their loved ones. The buildings would be destroyed. Even if they managed to kill all the beasts afterward, the reconstruction cost would be so high. So, the situation wouldn’t be good in the end.

That was why the commander was trying his best to ensure that it didn’t reach that point.

The Lightning Emperor and other powerful fighters were doing their best to stop the rank 5 beasts.

The commander looked at the clock. "There are ten minutes left. As long as we can hold on for ten minutes, the reinforcement will arrive."

Unfortunately, it looked like the goddess of luck didn’t favor them this time.

"!!!" The commander and the rest of the people could sense an immeasurable power coming from the battlefield. It meant only one thing. A rank 6 beast had appeared.

The commander abruptly leaped off the wall and swung his poleaxe. "Grand Slam!"

A massive sphere of wind suddenly shot toward the wall.

"What is that?"

"I don’t know."

"Can we even stop that?"

People turned pale, looking at the incoming wind sphere. This was the first time they had seen something so powerful. The amount of energy within that attack was simply too massive for them to think about stopping.

However, the commander had made the first move. He swung his poleaxe as though he were trying to smash down the wind sphere.

"Haaaa!"

"Commander Gran!"

"The commander is here!"

The people cheered, but their cheers were in vain.

"Haaaaa!" The commander shouted as his shirt was being ripped by the torrential wind. His body was covered in injuries as though there were thousands of blades cutting him apart.

The commander spat a mouthful of blood before the wind sphere sent him crashing against the wall.

Bam!

The commander crashed into the wall as the wind sphere burst, causing a massive crack in the wall.

"Commander!"

People panicked. At the same time, they realized the power that the beast had just shown. If not for the commander using his power to weaken its power, this wind sphere would have destroyed the wall.

"What kind of monster are we fighting right now?"

"This kind of power... How are we meant to stop it?"

"Is this the end of the city?"

People started to fall into despair. Their commander could be taken down so easily. If another attack landed, the city would fall.

There was no point in defending something that couldn’t be defended.

Before they could drop their weapons, the commander suddenly came back to the top of the wall.

Even though his body was battered from even just a single attack, he still stood firmly and shouted, "We won’t fall!"

"We have to hold out for at least ten minutes. There will be reinforcements coming who can help us with the rank 6 beast!"

"What?"

"Are we going to have someone that powerful to help us?"

"The commander is saying it. It might be true."

He knew it was going to be hard to believe, but the commander continued, "If you’re going to give up, do it after ten minutes. Even if I have to lose my life, I’m going to stop the city from being destroyed for at least ten minutes!"

This speech contained his desperation. However, it also contained a fixed time frame and a bit of hope. What if this were true?

Even if it was a lie, couldn’t they just hold out for a bit longer? The commander didn’t ask for an impossible amount. He just asked them to stop the enemy for ten minutes.

People who wanted to let go of their weapons suddenly clenched them again. They looked at each other and gave a firm nod.

"Ten minutes!"

"We’re going to defend the city for ten minutes!"

"I’m not going to let these beasts destroy the city where my wife and kids live."

"I won’t let the beasts ruin my marriage, which is happening in two days."

"I have promised my girlfriend that I’m going to propose to her if we win!"

"Uooohhh!"

People started using everything they had, trying to take down as many beasts as possible. They had to do it so that they could win this battle.

The overlord beast also noticed the sudden cheers. It scanned the area and gathered its power again.

But before releasing its power, the overlord beast let out a roar.

The beasts started to rampage, as though this battle would lead to their victory.

The commander took a deep breath. He muttered, "One more... No, my body can at least withstand two more attacks. If that’s not enough, I will give my life to stop the third one..."

Seeing another attack, the commander gathered his power, ready to launch another assault to weaken the overlord beast’s attack.

The moment the wind sphere appeared, he leaped off the wall.

Grand Slam.

As expected, his strongest attack could only neutralize a portion of the power within that attack.

"Kh..." The commander gritted his teeth, ready to receive this attack one more time.

To his surprise, the Lightning Emperor and Mr. Popo suddenly appeared next to him. Both of them used their respective strongest techniques, trying to neutralize a portion of this power.

Unfortunately, even with the combined power of the three, it wasn’t enough to stop the attack.

Bang!

The three guys crashed into the wall, but the damage to the wall was less than the previous impact.

Still, they had previously been fighting rank 5 beasts respectively. Now that they were away, the two rank 5 beasts gathered their power to kill all of them.

"Kh. Move!" The Lightning Emperor gritted his teeth, trying to do whatever he could to stop this attack.

However, several people suddenly jumped off the wall.

"Squirling Slash."

"Guardian!"

"Fire Shield."

Multiple attacks hit the incoming attacks from the rank 5 beasts, and it ended with a big shield.

They failed to stop the attacks completely, but their action reduced the impact. In the end, more people crashed into the wall, but at least everyone survived.

"You guys..." The commander was surprised.

"It’s just ten minutes, right? We are also doing whatever we can to stop the beasts. It’s been five minutes, so another five minutes..."

"Leave this to us, Commander."

"We’re not going to let you protect this city by yourself."

The commander felt like tearing up, but the next attack might be his last. His body had a hard time keeping up with the damage.

The commander looked at the Lightning Emperor and Mr. Popo before nodding to each other. They knew each had a role to fulfill.

"Let’s go back to the wall!"

Some people descended using their power to fly, some created ropes to catch the people below and pull them up.

Seeing its attack failed once again, the rank 6 beast looked angry.

The overlord beast wanted to try something different this time. It was charging toward them as if it wanted to close the distance to attack. This way, the humans wouldn’t be able to stop the next attack.

"This..." The commander gasped. He looked left and right. "Lightning Emperor. Director Popo. Thank you for the help, but please allow me to take that attack by myself."

"You..." The Lightning Emperor widened his eyes. His request meant only one thing. The commander was ready to die.

"With that distance, there won’t be any reinforcement the moment we fail. That was why it was better for me to handle it. Please continue to protect this city until the reinforcements arrive."

The Lightning Emperor wanted to argue, but Mr. Popo suddenly grabbed his shoulder. "A man has made his resolve."

The commander smiled. "Thanks."

He took a few deep breaths before releasing all the energy he had left. Why did he choose to protect this city? Was it simply because he was the commander? Was it because this was the city where he grew up? Was it because he was a failure in other fields that the only thing he was good at was being a commander?

Even he didn’t know why he volunteered. He just felt this was the normal thing to do.

As the head of the city’s defense, he had sacrificed a lot of subordinates to protect the city. If he backed down because he wanted to survive, he was afraid that he couldn’t look all the subordinates he had ordered to die in the face.

That was why he was planning to release everything he had in this one attack.

Seeing the beast make its move, the commander leaped off the wall and swung his poleaxe. "Grand Slam!"

He once again used his strongest technique, causing a much more massive clash between the two energies. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough.

The commander saw his poleaxe snap and his right arm disappear. This was the end, he thought.

But if it was enough to bring some hope to the city, he didn’t mind.

With a smile on his face, he closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

Fortunately, a massive ball of fire suddenly fell upon this attack. The intense heat clashed with the wind and ended up producing a powerful burst, launching the commander to the wall. His body was battered, but he might survive.