The Grand Weave

Caldur unleashed a bestial roar as he cleaved the serpent-bodied blood beast in two. The monster, mere inches from sinking its giant fangs into the lion-man's shoulder, dropped to the ground and began dissolving into a puddle of red goo. With a final dramatic upswing, Caldur sent out a massive arc of shadowy energy that killed four more monsters at once.

The beastkin was a reaper of death on the field.

"What is this?!" Caldur roared out. The few remaining monsters near the man tried to rush him all at once but were quickly met with a whirlwind of shadowy lines and cold steel. One beast even suffered a swift, meaty fist to the jaw before being beheaded. "What nonsense is this?! Where's the rest of the horde?"

Nobody answered him, not the blood beasts charging at us, not the few remaining guards standing on top of the wall, and not the adventurers fighting beside him. There was no answer to give, not that some of the others didn't share the same bubbling frustration.

Like the last wave, the wave was smaller than expected. And to top it off, it wasn't just the flying units missing this time. It didn't take long to notice that the cat-based monsters were absent. They didn't show up and run away. They just never popped out of the woods.

On the one hand, it was a double-edged sword. The waves were more manageable, meaning fewer chances of injury or death. On the other hand, it meant that something could go explosively wrong. And there would be almost no way to predict what could happen. With a narrative set, we could plan and predict what we needed to do to an extent. Now that the leading actor went off script? We could only hope it doesn't bite us in the arse with unbeatable odds.

I turned my head to look at Petraeus and walked over. "So, I'm going to assume Orsk hasn't had any hits on his ward?" I asked. After I finished speaking, Petraeus made a weird face that I couldn't interpret. "Uh... what? Is something wrong?"

"Hmmm, no, no. Nothing more alarming than what we already know. It's just..." Petraeus started.

"Just what?"

"Well, sometimes I've noticed you and Sam speak very strangely. Most of the time, you are fluent and even have our kingdom's local accent. Other times? There are weird, stilted inflections to your words, and sometimes you two speak unusual words in a sentence that I don't understand. It's jarring when I hear it, making it stand out even more," he explained.

I sucked a small breath in between my teeth. Sam and I always found it weird that we spoke English from our world and yet found everyone else spoke it here. The primer touched upon it briefly, stating an in built function of the system and something special to Reborns. Either we weren't really speaking English, or we were, but there was a magical auto-translation power affecting our speech. I only wished the system would have shown me some perk or passive skill to explain it.

"Heh, sorry about that. As you know, I'm a felkin and not exactly from these lands. I'd like to think we did a good job learning your people's language. Guess we're not as fluent as we thought," I lied. I must not have sounded entirely confident in my answer, and Petraeus opened his mouth to speak, but I quickly cut him off. "Anyways, has Orsk detected anything? I assume the town is fine, considering he hasn't asked for help."

He narrowed his eyes, and for a brief moment, I was afraid he would call me out on my lie, but thankfully he didn't and shook his head. "Fortunately or unfortunately not. It looks like wave five will finish without any additional issues popping up. Our only concern now is if we'll face another champion after. If it follows a pattern, we'll expect another champion monster on wave six, with a reduced timer between the current wave and the next one."

"We plan on stalling before we complete the wave, just in case. Give us enough breathing room to get prepared. If you can, try to preserve your mana so we can make sure everyone is completely healed. There's no excuse this time. We will respect the power that those beasts can wield. We will not repeat our mistakes."

The last sentence was spoken with cold steel in his voice. His knuckles were white, gripping his staff hard enough that I could imagine it creaking in protest. It seemed that he wasn't entirely over the near-death experience.

I let the conversation lapse into silence and watched the battlefield before us. It didn't take long for the team to whittle down the horde to only a single monster. There were very few injuries thanks to the ever-decreasing numbers.

The only major injury came from a monster who slipped through Dyllan's guard and managed to crunch down on his arm. Thankfully, a quick reaction from Sam saw the wolf monster smashed into a pulp. Áine was all too happy to rush off my shoulder and mend the broken bone.

Petraeus tripped the last blood beast by trapping it in a giant ball of mud and had Xertalus flash-freeze the outer layer. The sight would have been comical if it wasn't for the creature trying to furiously snap its jaws at the air. With little injuries, my and my familiar's mana was back at full within the time we spent resting. We took the time to drink water and lightly snack on some rations.

I pulled some candy out of my candy pouch and shared a generic chocolate bar with Sam. Of course, the others, who had a better sense of smell, quickly questioned what we were eating, and I found myself giving away the rest of my prize. I was sad to see my gummy worms go, but it was nice to share with the team.

After half an hour, we got into our positions. With a tap of his staff, Petraeus crushed the blood beast inside the mud ball. After three seconds, the all-too-familiar notification icon appeared.

Protect the Village of Holmfirth

Wave: 5/10 Survived

Villagers Survived: 98%

Time remaining till next wave: 0h: 9mins: 55sec

Prepare yourselves, Ascendants. A Champion of Blood and Pride approaches! The Sixth Wave will commence in ten minutes.

We didn't waste any time discussing or meeting. We planned as much as possible during our rest break. Without knowing exactly what would appear, there was no reason to build a detailed battle strategy. The only plan we had was to have the ranged fighters bombard the creature the moment it appeared. If we could weaken the monster before it ever got the chance to come closer, then we'd have vastly decreased the chances of one of us dying.

Soon, the timer ticked down to the last couple of seconds. Once it hit zero, the world pulsed, and a whoosh of wind blew through the field. The sudden gust nearly blinded me, but pushed through and stared at the open field. The wind had cleared the fog but left a sphere of the mist near the tree line.

It had a pinkish glow that lit up even in the darkened night. It started to condense into two parts as it reached about ten feet high. One was the vague shape of a bird's body with its wings tucked in, and the second was a plume of tendrils spreading out behind it. After about a full minute, a brief flash of light pulsed from within the fog, revealing a fully formed champion.

The Champion of Wrath had been massive lion with two horns and wielded lightning like a cloak.

The Champion of Pride was a tall peacock with a head of sapphire blue and a body adorned with ruby-colored feathers. Behind it extended a large plume made of pink and white. Where the lion gave out a sense of anger and bloodlust, the peacock emitted an aura of arrogance. Its very being radiated a sense of majesty and beauty, but underneath, there were tones of superiority and disdain.

That sharp aura was soon overshadowed by a warcry from someone on top of the wall. A shower of arrows rained down, followed by a burst of lightning and a wall of fire. The fog from before was blasted away by the explosion of power unleashed. Skills zipped through the air and soon covered the champion so completely it hid the champion behind a curtain of dust and fire.

"HALT!" Petraeus called out. Matias and Melena kept an arrow knocked but ceased attacking. The world held its breath as we waited for the dust to settle.

There was no way we killed the beast with the opening salvo. It was almost assuredly alive, even if it got hit by enough firepower to blow apart several buildings.

Slowly, the dust dispersed. The champion stretched its legs and rolled its neck--a new form in the wake of death.

The champion's wings were spread wide into the air, curving into each other to form a ring of feathers. The feathers from before had morphed and now looked like the petals of a giant red flower. There wasn't even a scratch. And despite the wind, I noticed that not a single feather ruffled or fluttered.

"Meleena, fire at the center. We need to know what we're dealing with," Petraeus ordered.

Without wasting a second, Meleena pulled back the string of her bow and unleashed a brightly lit arrow. It was one of her usual exploding light arrows. As it raced through the air, it left a fading trail of golden-white light in its wake. When it neared the beast, instead of hitting the dead center of the flower, the arrow swerved about a foot away and hit the edge of the circle.

After half a second, the arrow exploded in a flash of light.

"Something's happening to the explosion," Matias called out.

Without having my eyesight modified by tier or skill, I was unable to see as closely as the others, but I could make out what Matias was talking about. The light did something I had only ever heard about in theory and bent back over itself. The light was like a cloud of dust being vacuumed and absorbed into the feathers. The petals of the champion's wings glowed brighter the more light it sucked in until it emitted a dim pink glow.

The glow brightened into a beacon and Petraeus jumped to action.

"Xertalus! Barricade formation. Spencer put a barrier in front of us now!"

With a tap of his staff, an eight-foot wall of mud rose from the ground, cutting off the increasingly blinding light being sent our way. After the wall finished growing, Petraeus stepped back, and his brother stepped forward and put his hands on the wall. Like the mud ball from earlier, he froze the mud, and I could feel his mana being channeled into his skill. An even thicker layer of ice started forming until Caldur blinked next to the elf and pulled him back.

"Incoming!" Caldur yelled out.

A deep thrumming was heard from the champion's direction, causing everyone to brace themselves behind Dyllan, who placed himself in front of Spencer.

"God's cleave you, Spencer. Hurry up, the blasted chant!" Dyllan rumbled out.

The hair on the back of my neck rose, and the air felt alive as the wall rumbled. The night sky lit up as if it were day—a blinding mix of bright orange and shimmering pink cutting through the crimson-stained sky.

A powerful blast of energy smashed into the icy wall, and a spiderweb of cracks began to spread. As it crumbled, Dyllan slammed his tower shield down and braced himself behind it.

"SPENCER! Hurry it u-" he started shouting but was cut off as the wall exploded outwards.

A laser beam of energy smashed into a barrier at the last second, right before it hit Dyllan's shield. But it only held up for long enough to take in a deep breath before it started to shatter. With a tinkling of broken glass, the barrier broke. The shaft of energy smashed into Dyllan's shield and pushed him back several inches. He began to lose footing until Sam stepped behind the tank and braced her body against his, preventing him from sliding.

The beam continued blasting against the thick piece of metal until it petered out to a thin stream. When it died down, it took a dozen seconds of furiously blinking my eyes until my vision returned to normal. I turned my head towards Dyllan when I heard metal clanging on the ground. The metal glowed hot like a furnace, sending rippling waves of heat. I could even hear it sizzle against the wooden floor beneath us.

"By the gods, how did that come from a tier one monster," Edithe mumbled.

"That's because it didn't, at least, not really. The damn thing is, no doubt, peak tier one, maybe even tier two, but that attack? You saw what it did to Meleena's arrow. It absorbed her skill. Think about it. We bombarded it with a barrage of attacks. It probably absorbed all of it at once and multiplied the power, sending it back at us. That was way more powerful than something of its tier should have been able to send against us," Levin explained. He gestured to Dyllan's still glowing shield and then pointed to the champion. "Look at it. It's not even attacking us, probably waiting for us to foolishly repeat the same mistake and throw more skills at it."

The peacock fluffed up its tail feathers in response, turning its head high while looking at us. After firing off the laser attack, it returned to its previous form of a giant bird. The aura of arrogance and pride made it feel like the bird was looking down at us, daring us to try again.

Xertalus jumped down from the wall and pulled out his axes. "We got no time to waste. I bet we can overcome it at close range. No skills. All we need to do is skin the overgrown bird."

Caldur, the twins, and Levin jumped down as well. They started to stride closer to the beast, but it continued to ignore them. Sam was about to jump down and follow the others, but I grabbed her by the arm before she could.

"What is it?" she asked?

"Just be careful. I know you're a blue amazonian now, but we're not immortal yet," I replied.

I gave her arm a comforting squeeze and let go. She returned the gesture with a wide grin before nodding and leaping off the wall.

Petraeus cleared his throat.

"Dyllan, how are your hands? Need healing?" he asked the man as Dyllan picked up his shield off the ground.

"Aye, burnt my hands a little. Other than that, I'm good to go."

Petraeus gave me a look, and I silently commanded Áine to go heal. After a brief flash of glowing green light, Dyllan gave the little fairy thanks and rushed to join the others.

"This is pretty annoying. A monster who devours skills is generally rated as one of the worst opponents to face as a ranged combatant," Matias commented.

"Yes, but if the monster's abilities work the way we think they do, then you can still fill it with arrows. You'll lack the penetrating power from your Wind Slicer, but that doesn't mean you can't hurt it," Petraeus said.

As the others got within a couple of yards of the monster, it finally lowered its head and glared at the adventurers. Spreading its wings wide, it flapped once, and the wings changed shape. The feathers became longer and sharper, turning into small blades.

With a silent agreement that I couldn't hear, they attacked as one. Levin and Sam rushed to circle the monster as the twins tried to pincer the beast between themselves. Xertalus, Dyllan, and Caldur charged at the champion in sync and slashed out their blades.

The champion responded by sweeping its extended wings out like two swords, the feathers making a cutting noise through the air. The twins managed to parry, but Levin and Sam were forced to back off before they got bisected.

Xertalus ducked low but didn't stop his charge. Before the sharpened wings could reach the elf, Caldur and Dyllan met the champion's attack with sword and shield. The feathers screeched, sending sparks flying from the collision. But Caldur held his ground, pushing the wing downwards and away from his head. Dyllan braced his shoulders and bashed his shield into the other wing, forcing it to a stop, and Xertalus was able to raise his two axes and swing upwards at the monster's neck.

Right as the blades made contact, the champion opened its mouth and unleashed a brief flash of pink-white light, covering Xertalus and the champion.

Xertalus was sent tumbling away from the monster, but he got up. However, the man had visible burn marks covering his face and torso, and his armour was burnt black and smoking. But he wasn't the only side to not come away from the clash unscathed. The sapphire feathers that adorned the champion's head sported two jagged lines of dripping red.

The monster's neck wasn't as protected as its wings.

"Cyrus!" Petraeus shouted.

"Áine, go heal him, but don't get hit. Take all the mana you need," I said to the fairy on my shoulder.

Already, I could feel her bubbling energy, ready to wash away any and all wounds the moment they appeared.

Áine zipped through the air, flying low to the ground, and made her way to Xertalus. The other five were cautiously engaging. While the twins lacked Caldur's strength and reach, they were faster than their team leader. Levin managed to sneak in a second attack occasionally. Sam and Dyllan would reinforce one of the twins, helping slow the momentum of the attack before they hit. Despite being beset by attackers from all sides, the champion lived up to its name and kept most of the attacks to only shallow cuts.

As Áine reached Xertalus, I saw the elf flinch as the glowing green light that accompanied her healing touch skill activated. Luckily, he had enough sense to control his instincts and didn't accidentally swing at my familiar. As Áine channeled her magic, I focused on our connection to gauge how much mana she was spending. It was as I feared, the champion's attack left behind some form of caustic mana that actively slowed the elf's natural healing. Luckily, the burn marks were mostly surface-level injuries, and Áine didn't have to bottom out her mana to heal them all.

She still used around half of her mana pool for Xertalus alone.

Once Xertalus was fully healed, I instructed Áine to move back and wait. If the others got hurt again, she could fly in quickly and heal them without wasting time by flying across the field. So, she settled herself behind the remnants of one of the wooden barricades.

Xertalus rushed in with his weapons drawn and joined the others. Slash after slash, cut after cut, they slowly covered the monster's body with wounds, staining the ground with its blood. Occasionally, the beast would open its beak to unleash more blasts of light, but after the second time, Matias managed to lodge an arrow in its mouth. The bird slammed its mouth shut and crunched the arrow, spitting it out into two pieces.

Caldur capitalized on its momentary distraction and landed a nasty cut across the base of its neck. It unleashed a sonic screech that stunned the melee fighters, flapped its wings, and launched itself backward.

Áine zoomed in and fluttered around, spending enough mana to repair the adventurers' ear drums before flying away. Her mana pool was left at only a quarter. I already popped out a few potions from my inventory in preparation.

The champion glared at the others once more as it drew its wings in. With another screech, it began fluffing up the plume of its tail feathers. They spread out wide like a real peacock, but the feathers began morphing, and on the ends of the feathers, little orange orbs hung from the tips.

The aura coming off the monster's body grew in strength and began to infect my thoughts. It felt like a bird was chirping faintly on the wind, sending whispers into your ear. If I was feeling it, it meant the others were feeling it full blast. It wasn't enough to stun them completely, but I could see their movements were sluggish as they slowly backed away.

"Spencer, barrier now, even if it absorbs it, block that attack," Petraeus ordered.

Spencer started rushing through a chant as the champion lifted its tail higher, lowering its body to the ground. Spencer had to cut the long chant short and conjure a weaker barrier when the monster flicked its tail. The little orange globes were flung out in an arc. They exploded with a loud pop as they made contact with Spencer's barrier.

The little orbs were grenades, and the sheer amount of the barrage quickly broke through Spencer's skill. Still, it was enough time for the others to rush away. Caldur used his teleportation skill to blink at Sam and Dyllan, the team's slowest members and flung them forward.

Levin managed to dodge two orbs sent his way but was caught by a third hidden explosive that had flown low at his feet. It sent him rocketing into the woods, accompanied by the sound of breaking branches.

"Áine, take care of Levin now. Don't let him bleed out."

As the others were getting up, the champion swished its tail in the air, and the little orbs grew back on the end of its feathers. It let out a series of caws, rapidly alternating between high pitches and low chirps.

It took me a second, but I recognized what it was doing.

That bastard.

"The fucker is mocking us. It's laughing," I spat

The rest of the members gave me confused looks before they processed what I said, and a series of scowls spread across their faces.

With a swift shake, the explosives went flying again, making the adventurers scramble away to avoid getting turned into chunks. The peacock never stopped its mocking caws as it repeated its actions in an endless barrage of attacks. Every time one of the others tried to get close, it sent an increased concentration of the orbs their way. It didn't look like the monster was running out of steam as the spheres kept regrowing.

I could already feel Áine tugging at my mana pool like a dying man in a desert. The explosives were filled with the same hostile mana as all its other attacks. Combined with the man's injuries, the mana drain was extensive. I needed to think quickly. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before Sam or someone else got hurt.

If the monster had to change forms when it attacked, there was a good chance the flower form would activate again if we sent another salvo of skills. So far, every form had a specific function. Xertalus' attack during its bladed-wings mode showed that it wasn't invincible. If the flower form was made for heavy artillery-like attacks, it probably meant its physical defense was at an all-time low. That meant we could bait it into switching forms and have someone finish it off. I had no way to prove I was right, and the plan was just a hunch. But if we didn't do something soon, somebody was going to get severely injured, or worse, die. I wasn't made of infinite mana.

"Zharia, I need you to do something for me," I asked the little bird clutching my shoulders.

Zharia paused, and then I felt her determination radiate through the link. "What is it, Master? Do you need me to burn that pompous fool?!"

I chuckled and gave her a light pat on the head.

"No, no burning. The overgrown chicken will eat your beautiful flames. Instead, I want you to convey a message for me." Her feathers bristled in excitement, and she shifted from foot to foot, nodding her adorable little head in reply. "Glad you're enthusiastic. I need you to take a message to Caldur. Fly low and be careful, but I need you to hurry. If we waste any more time, Sam might get hurt."

I quickly rattled off my plan to Zharia, and she flew off my shoulders in a streak of golden fire. Petraeus was already walking towards me after seeing Zharia zoom away, but I motioned for him to get everyone's attention.

"Cyrus? What are you doing? If I recall correctly, your familiar can only use mana-based attacks. What's going on?" He started peppering me with questions as he called over the other members standing on the wall.

"Cyrus?" Edithe asked.

"Yeah, what do you need from us?" Matias added.

The members of team Talon didn't ask any questions, but Meleena gave me a look filled with annoyance. I shook my head at the sight but ignored her for now.

"I have a plan, and I need you guys to help with it," I answered.

This time, Meleena gave a small hiss and openly glared. "What is it now, pearl? Whatever half-baked scheme you have won't work. You're up here as useless as us while my teammates are down there getting toyed with. If you think you ca-"

When she was chastising me, I gave the crow beastkin, whose name I still didn't know, an unflinching look, silently imploring him to hear me out and silence his unruly teammate. I already expected a kickback from Meleena, the haughty cat had a stick up her ass when it came to dealing with me, and I had no time for it. Thankfully, the beastkin put a hand on Melena's shoulder and stopped her speech. I gave him a slight nod in appreciation before turning to the others.

"Look, okay. If we don't do something, there's a good chance somebody down there will get hurt, and I won't be able to heal them. Levin already has multiple bones broken, and Áine is sucking my mana away like it's nothing," I spoke quickly. Edithe stiffened at my mention of the extent of Levin's injuries but held her tongue. Seeing as nobody had any questions or caustic remarks, I continued. "Meleena is correct; the monster is toying with them, and they can't get close. It seems to have an unlimited supply of energy. And without skills, they can't do anything about it. So here's my plan. Let's blast it to kingdom come."

Petraeus gave me a weird look while the others frowned.

"But, if we do that, it'll change forms again and shoot that stupid beam. There's no way we can block it. It took Petraeus, Xertalus, Spencer, and Dyllan to stop that attack. We could easily get everyone killed," Edithe countered.

She wasn't wrong.

"Yes, that's true. But think for a second. The others were able to injure it. Even with the changes, the main body was still vulnerable. I would bet anything that the weird flower form it made when it blasted us with that energy beam is highly susceptible to physical damage," I explained.

The others paused at my words. Petraeus was the first to understand what I was getting at.

"You want us to bait it into switching forms. If we can get it to shift into the first form from earlier, you'll have the others land a fatal blow before it can kill us," he started.

"Yes, exactly. That's why I sent Zharia out. We already have someone perfect for the job."

"Are you sure about this? If you're wrong, someone's going to die. And that's hoping for the bare minimum," Matias argued.

"I'm not," I admitted. "I don't fight weird, multi-form shifting monsters. But I think this is our best shot."

Matias grinned. "I'm in."

Edithe looked worried, but she gave a thin-lipped smile and turned towards Petraeus. The crow-man was already facing the battlefield, watching our teammates dodge around the field. Meleena, who I was expecting to be ready to strangle me if she could, gave me a snarl of displeasure before joining her companion. And so I turned towards Petraeus and waited for his answer.

In the end, he was the main combat leader during the waves. If he said no, then I doubted the others would defy him.

Petraeus studied the field, and then glanced at me. His eyes narrowed but he eventually sighed.

"Everyone, prepare yourselves. On my count, fire off as many skills as possible. Spencer, create another barrier. If all else fails, we can protect our team members below us. If the plan backfires, everyone jumps off the wall towards the village. That should give us enough time to dodge out of the way," he ordered.

Matias slapped his brother on the back and got into position. The rest followed, and I could feel the air come to life as mana seeped into the world. It was frustrating to know I was the only one unable to help attack, but with Áine using up all my mana, I wouldn't be much help anyway.

We spent an agonizingly long minute letting Spencer build up enough mana into his barrier. Throughout the wait, Sam was saved from a stray explosion by Dyllan's quick reflexes. Together, they were blasted off their feet and fell on top of each other in a tangle of limbs. I gripped the wall, waiting.

"NOW! USE YOUR RANGED SKILLS!" Petraeus bellowed out.

There was a brief look of confusion on the members fighting the champion on the ground, all except for one.

Edithe was the first to start by sending a rushing blast of lightning at the monster. Glowing arrows and massive fireballs soon followed it. The monster's eyes widened at the sudden barrage of attacks sent its way. And for the first time in minutes, it shut its beak and spread its wings above its head.

After the first attack landed, the next was sucked into the champion's wings. The arrows turned to dust, and the lightning crackled along its feathers. The giant balls of fire turned into liquid midair and rushed into the tips of its plume. Every attack made the champion glow brighter and brighter.

Xertalus and the twins shook off their confusion and sent arcs of energy slashing across the field. After a dozen seconds, Spencer's barrier snapped into existence before Dyllan and Petraeus issued the final command.

"Cease fire! Everyone, get behind the barrier. Dyllan, brace yourself and prepare to dodge."

The melee fighters rushed behind the barrier of light and helped brace themselves against Dyllan's back. Petraeus conjured up a series of mudwalls, and Xertalus began freezing them.

The champion was now a lightbulb in the night, blazing so brightly it nearly blinded me. With a ripple across its feathers, its form shifted into that of a giant flower, its feathers acting as petals. In the middle of the circle was a wall of crimson energy, contracting with strobes of orange-pink light.

An even deeper thrumming sound started pulsing through the air—a bassy echo thumping dust off the ground and sending the branches shaking. Unlike last time, a high-pitched screech started to whine. I slammed my hands over my ears and stared.

Come on...

The flower swiveled and settled to stillness. The champion faced the mudwall, and wisps of energy started to appear around the tips of the petals.

Pulses of pink light started flashing faster and faster down the center of the flower, and the thrumming turned into ground-shaking madness. Right as it looked like it was about to fire, a loud bestial roar slipped through the chaotic noise, drowning out all other sounds.

A massive blade of blackened steel came slashing down from above the monster's hjead. It was positioned so the edge would align with the beast's neck. Like a rocket, Caldur crashing down and slammed himself into the beast's body. A large plume of dust flew up from the impact. The pulses of light continued until the sound abruptly cut off.

Slowly. The champion's wings slowly tilted till they fell over and landed on the ground with a heavy thump.

Like a hero from a story, Caldur unleashed another roar and stepped on the monster's body, using it like an pedestal. Cheers rang out from the people on the wall, and I joined them. When the rest of the team peeked out from their mud barriers, they too, joined in the cheering.

The champion was dead.

Protect the Village of Holmfirth

Wave: 6/10 Survived

Villagers Survived: 98%

Time remaining till next wave: 13h: 59mins: 29sec

Stand tall, Ascendants. You have vanquished the Champion and secured precious time for the villagers of Holmfirth. Take the time to rest and nurse your wounds, for you have more to weave into this heroic story of yours.