Chapter 32: [32] : The Siege of Iron Bastion, The Apex Hounds

The alarm was not a standard game notification. It was a server-wide corporate broadcast. The sound resembled a massive war horn, vibrating heavily through the clean paving stones of the courtyard.

A massive and glaring red holographic banner unrolled in the sky directly below the black energy dome.

[Warning: Hostile Guild Declaration.]

[The Apex Hounds have declared a Siege on the Iron Bastion.]

[Sanctum Shield integrity under threat.]

The busy courtyard instantly fell dead silent. Over three thousand players stopped what they were doing. The clinking of coins, the chatter of trading, and the hammering of the forges all ceased. Every single face turned upward to read the red text.

Panic began to ripple through the crowd.

"The Apex Hounds?!" a player near the gate gasped. "They actually sent them here!"

Declan frowned as he looked at the red text.

Sloane walked over to Declan from her mahogany desk. She did not panic, but her face was tense and completely serious. She knew exactly what that banner meant. Everyone in the Grid knew about the megacorps. Apex Paradigm was the ruthless conglomerate that owned this entire digital universe. They held a strict monopoly over the game and the real-world economy tied to it.

"Declan, they deployed the Hounds," Sloane said, stopping in front of him. Her voice was steady but laced with heavy concern. "This means the board of directors has personally signed off on a corporate purge."

Declan gripped his +30 Halberd. He knew this was a massive escalation.

Sloane pointed at the red banner in the sky.

"These are not regular players. They are the official hit squad. They are heavily funded and equipped with max-tier gear provided by the developers themselves. They are sent to erase anomalies and enforce the megacorp’s absolute rule. The system must considers us as a critical threat."

The players around them started murmuring, looking at the main gates with deep fear. A few gripped their weapons tighter, wondering if the dome would actually hold against a corporate assault.

Declan processed the information. He knew his new stats were incredibly high, but taking on the developers’ personal army was a different kind of challenge. He cracked his neck and focused his mind on the tactical situation.

"Let us see what they brought," Declan said.

He walked toward the heavy iron gates of the Bastion and tapped a command into his interface. The black iron wall turned completely transparent, allowing them to see exactly what was waiting outside the safe zone.

The Purge Wave monsters were gone. The Flesh-Stalkers had been completely wiped out in a massive radius around the city.

Standing in the clearing, shrouded by the dark and toxic fog of the Ashen Bog, was a highly organized army.

It was exactly one thousand players!

They looked nothing like the messy and disorganized thugs of the Black Vanguard. Every single member of the Apex Hounds wore sleek and matching silver tactical armor. They looked like a futuristic military force blended with heavy knights. They stood in perfect and silent formation. No one was talking. No one was moving out of line.

In the center of their formation, a massive team of heavily armored players was rolling forward a piece of machinery.

It was a cannon. But it did not look like it fired cannonballs. It was a massive twenty-foot-long barrel made of glowing blue glass and dark steel, mounted on a heavy tank tread.

Bram walked up next to Declan and looked through the transparent wall. The old man inhaled sharply.

"That is a Mana-Breaker Cannon," Bram warned, keeping his eyes on the weapon. "It is a Relic-tier siege weapon designed by the developers. It does not fire physical projectiles. It fires a concentrated beam of anti-magic designed to instantly shatter Safe Zone shields. It will break our dome in a single shot."

Declan nodded slowly. That explained why they were so confident. His defenses were useless against that machine.

A man stepped out from the front line of the silver army. He wore a pristine and high-collared tactical suit. His floating name tag read ’Silas, Commander of the Hounds’.

Silas pulled out a megaphone-like device. When he spoke, his voice was magically amplified, booming through the thick barrier and echoing across the entire courtyard.

"Player V," Silas’s voice was completely devoid of emotion. It sounded like an automated corporate recording. "You are in direct violation of Apex Paradigm terms of service. You have utilized unauthorized modifications to hoard company assets. Lower the shield, surrender the Sanctum Core, and submit your avatar for immediate deletion."

Declan stared at him through the wall. He did not like ultimatums.

"You have sixty seconds to comply," Silas boomed. "Or we will fire the cannon, shatter your zone, and permanently delete every single player inside this dome."

The crowd behind Declan grew restless. People did not want to lose their lives over a piece of digital real estate.

Declan looked around and spotted Kendra standing near the wall. She was holding her basic wooden bow, watching the army outside with a calculated gaze.

"Kendra. Come here," Declan called out.

She walked over and stood beside him.

Declan grabbed her wooden bow. He pulled up his interface and spent a portion of his Origin Points.

"System. Enhance the Wooden Bow to plus ten."

Ten points vanished. The cheap wood flashed with a blinding light. When the light faded, the bow had transformed into a sleek, matte-black composite recurve bow with a glowing red scope attached to the riser.

He handed it back to her.

[Sniper Bow +10]

↳ Trait Unlocked: True Sight.

↳ Functionality: Arrows fired from this weapon have infinite range and perfect accuracy as long as the user maintains unbroken line of sight with the target.

Kendra looked at the stats floating above the weapon. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly adjusted her grip, testing the weight.

"Get up on the wall," Declan told her. "Keep your sights on their backline. Do not let anyone break formation or retreat."

"This is an incredible weapon," Kendra said, looking up at him. "But you are going out there against a full battalion. Are you sure about this?"

"I have to take out that cannon before it fires," Declan said calmly. "I will handle the main force. Just cover the perimeter."

Sloane crossed her arms and looked at the silver army outside. "They have developer codes, Declan. Their gear is designed to counter almost anything. Be careful."

Declan adjusted the collar of his pitch-black Predator’s Coat. He appreciated the warning, but he also knew the power resting in his hands. He grabbed his massive +30 Halberd.

"Quartermaster," Declan said, his eyes focused on the commander outside. "Get ready to list a lot of silver armor on the auction house."

It was time to create a mini apocalypse.

Declan tapped the gate console. A small sliver of the black shield opened.

He stepped outside the barrier. He stood in the mud, holding his weapon, ready to face the corporate death squad.