Faust stood on the rampart waiting for the first monsters of the third wave to crawl from the rainbow gate. The lights caressed his skin softly despite its danger. The Gate was far too close to the walls.

Diego’s voice echoed throughout the world.

"Stand firm! We can beat them! Look beside you, you are not alone! Long live the fighters!"

His Schema allowed his voice to reach everyone, but still not be overwhelming and eye-piercing. Instead it was reassuring. The players gripped their weapons harder and nodded to the people beside them.

Then the first monsters sliced through the gate. Hands tightened around their shield. People began shaking.

Lightning fast, white shapes speared through the heavens, crossing the distance between the gate and city in seconds.

"Shields!" Kite shouted on the ground.

These monsters were avian in features, but had white crocodile heads and spikes running along their narrow back and wings.

[Void Eater]

[Level: 4]

[Combat Power: 471]

[Details: Extremely fast and deadly. They hunt by releasing a bomb of void energy that briefly traps an area in stasis where only they can move.]

Before even reaching the army lines, their mouths opened and balls of dark energy formed. Each ball dropped quickly and the monsters were gone even faster.

The bombs were each small and barely visible, but their aim was obvious.

Mages erected shields quickly and the bombs exploded against them in a swirl of light-devouring darkness. The entire area above the shield briefly became dimmer and blurry, but the shield repelled the effects after.

Faust noticed Kite glancing into this distance. She, like Faust, had marked the Void Eaters with the Observe skill. Blocking those Stasis bombs needed prior warning before they came. She would be that warning.

At the Gate, more monsters began to spawn. Fast figures shot out of the rainbow light, streaking across the unburnt grass to hide. Many people hadn’t even tracked where these monsters went but Faust knew.

[Midnight Lynx]

[Level: 4]

[Combat Power: 398]

[Details: A skilled hunter and stalker. They can bring down almost any enemy in the Mind’s Forest alone.]

These were the event’s newest assassin’s and Faust had to give it to the system, he was actually worried about these ones.

Meanwhile, Goblin riders and Small Kobolds surged from the gate in equal numbers, snarling at their people to get into formation. These were level 4 goblins leading what seemed like a more organised group of monsters.

Kite called out to the mages to prepare to fire. She glanced up briefly at Faust and gave him a brief nod. He and a few other Schema users were in charge of interception.

He returned the nod with a smile and focused on the monster mages coming out of the gate. They were already channeling mana to cast. His superior Spirit didn’t only increase his mana capacity, but it also heightened his senses.

But first he had to deal with the Midnight Lynx.

Several people moved at once. Those with high level Observe skills, with Faust being the fastest.

◇◇◇

Three mages on the wall were in between casting, glaring at the Gate with furious expressions. Their vanguard watched for assassins, a tight hand placed on his sword.

"Let’s light them up!"

"I’m almost ready to fire."

"Look west of the gate! Fire there."

A fireball was let loose, streaking across the sky, and striking the target accurately. They high-fived each other and the tense vanguard smiled.

They all sensed the atmosphere change when the Midnight Lynx zipped up the wall. The huge black cat landed on the wall silently, silver eyes measuring everyone on the walkways.

The vanguard moved to defend the three mages, but another lynx landed behind him. The walls were too vast. It was impossible to protect all mages at once.

The vanguard fell with a bad gash on his belly and back. His eyes shrank as one lynx dodged a weak fireball and charged at the mages. One of his friends from the real world.

"No!"

He pushed through his injuries, but the second Lynx slammed him against the crenellated ramparts. He stopped it’s jaws with his hands. All that time he watched them. Claws reached for his friend’s face. A powerless scream escaped him. But—

BANG!

The pouncing lynx snapped backward as a blurry shape slammed into it. Its body slammed through the stone ramparts with a thunderous crash and a spray of dust.

The vanguard barely had a second to focus on the lynx pinning him against the wall before it was ripped off him.

A white cloak fluttered behind the struggling lynx. Two pale hands were wrapped around its thick neck. The monster that could bend steel with its strength bucked and fought, but barely moved its captor.

SNAP!

With a savage twist, the creature fell limp. Then it was thrown off the wall casually. The vanguard laid eyes on his saviour.

Red hair was trapped under a fur cap and white hood, but blue eyes shined through the shadows over the boy’s face.

"That’s the fifth lynx I’ve killed in ten minutes," the saviour grumbled. "Too many of them are out here."

The three mages and their vanguard stared at the red-haired boy in open shock. But the injured vanguard gasped as he noticed something behind them at the portal.

"Incoming spells!"

Magic lit up the sky. Fireballs, pillars of water and stone, invisible slashes or air. Even spells that were unfamiliar. Like a cloud of phosphorus green mist and a spear of blue light.

The three mages panicked, rushing to cast spells. But the hooded boy only observed the spells casually.

Then he muttered something under his breath almost casually.

Instantly all the incoming spells detonated mid air. There was no build up to their destruction. It just happened.

"Keep working. I should get back to helping against the Lynx," the boy muttered to himself before just disappearing.

The four people looked around briefly before accepting he was just that fast. They had just joined the Player army; everyone was doubtlessly stronger than them from the rewards of the last two waves. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

One of the mages knelt by their friend and used a healing spell. "Glad, you’re still with us."

***

A/N: Thanks for the GT and PS! How crazy do you think the 5th Wave will be after you read this :)

Drop more Powerstones and reviews. We’re only 2 reviews away from an extra ch release. I believe we can reach a hundred Powerstones this week too. So that would be four extra chs ;)