Chapter 634: Trial Of Defense Starts!
{ The Trial of Defense will be immediately deployed! }
Crack. Crack.
As soon as the announcement reached everyone’s ears, the barren land they stood upon started shaking, threatening to collapse at any given moment!
’What kind of Trial is this supposed to be?’
Aurora’s heart was still beating harshly in reaction to Leo’s presence, but once again, she forcefully calmed herself to deal with the matter at hand first.
Building upon her experience with the last Encroachment Gate, Aurora understood that clearing this Trial as quickly as possible was of paramount importance.
She wasn’t sure exactly what the rising percentage she saw last time represented, but deep down, Aurora could tell that something very bad would happen if she let it rise too far.
’Answering my questions comes later.’
Last time, she had almost been too passive, and while the final challenge had been handled astonishingly quickly all the same, Aurora wasn’t going to bet on that.
She was going to personally deal with her problems!
Regardless of Leo’s intentions, she wasn’t going to let him bear all of the burden once again!
Whether it was keeping the Encroachment Rate as low as possible, or clearing the final Gate keeping her from achieving her freedom... This was a moment that Aurora couldn’t afford to back down from!
’Good.’
Seeing the determination in Aurora’s eyes, a soft smile bloomed on Leo’s face.
This time, he was really hoping that Aurora would help. Unlike the first Gate’s final ordeal which relied more on burst firepower, this Trial wasn’t meant to be challenged as a solo stage.
Crack!
As Leo’s thoughts converged, the ground shook even more, all the way to the point that the ground around Leo started cracking open!
From afar, Leo could see some apprehension in Aurora’s eyes as the barren land crumbled right in front of him, finally making her move as she rushed towards him.
Given that Kara was barely holding herself back from coming over to keep up her pretense, she immediately darted behind Aurora.
In a big event like this, a true Star Pupil had to stand next to their Master!
’There it is.’
On the other hand, Leo was the exact opposite, calmly looking into the hole that broke open without moving...
Woosh!
In an instant, the hole vertically widened, quadrupling in size. At the same time, something emerged from deep down at lightning speed, causing the duo who were running over to stop in their tracks.
’Another construct?’
With its full body almost revealed, Aurora stared at the barren field’s latest addition, being reminded of the tower from last time.
However, while both constructs looked like well-crafted antiques, the one in front of her was way larger in comparison to the red tower.
’It’s too bad we can’t keep it.’
Raising his head to see the end of the construct, Leo believed it to be deserving of critical acclaim, the novel really didn’t give it justice.
’It’s almost ironic.’
Standing in front of them was castle, with its largest peak standing as tall as the red tower and its width stretching as long as, if not longer, than the shadow line he created, only one word could describe it.
Gigantic.
{ Defend the Verse Defense Base from the incoming Encroachment Wave! }
Unlike last time, the gigantic castle wasn’t a target for destruction, but rather meant for protection.
At first glance, one would think that having such a large base was a great fortune. However...
{ 0.0% }
In the Main Encroachment Center, time wasn’t the factor affecting the Encroachment rate. Instead, any destruction inflicted upon the Verse Defense Base counted towards the final total!
In such a case, the large size of the castle virtually became a detrimental factor.
After all, the larger the area that one had to protect, the more likely that a certain amount of damage would be received.
In fact, if it was up to Leo, he would rather defend a glass bottle rather than such a majestic castle.
At that size scale, he was confident he could complete guarantee its safety regardless of how fragile it would be. The same couldn’t be said about the castle.
{ Warning: If the Verse Defense Base is completely destroyed, True Encroachment will immediately take place. }
Furthermore, the consequences of total destruction were even more grave.
If Leo was an actual Villain who desired world destruction, just holding Aurora back until the castle ended up in tatters would immediately bring about an early Apocalyptic finale.
Thankfully, however, even on her own and completely worn down, Aurora hadn’t failed that badly in the novel, so Leo didn’t give that possibility too much consideration.
{ First Encroachment wave is being deployed! }
Once the announcement came through, red light flashed past the faint red line, taking the form of numerous figures of varying sizes.
Once the light subsided, red was replaced by green as thousands of green skins covered the large stretch of land in front of the castle!
Greeeee!
As soon as they appeared a war cry rang out to cover the entire battlefield.
Goblins, Orcs and Ogres were running towards the castle with abandon as if possessed by the spirit of destruction.
"C-cassian!"
Seeing the green tide at the front, Aurora rushed forward once more, arriving in front of the castle where Leo stood.
"Let’s work together!"
However, she didn’t stand right next to him, keeping some distance between them. From the looks of it, she still had to ease herself through the process of normalizing Leo.
"Sure."
Naturally, Leo didn’t decline, but unlike the battle prepared Aurora, he relaxedly stood in place even as the green tide ferociously marched in his direction.
Snap!
However, the moment they were about to cross the faint red line, Leo simply snapped his finger as a long wall of Shadow grew tall over the same line, emerging as instantly as the castle did.
"Though, it’s too early for us to make a move."
Deploying his very first card, Leo disappeared, reappearing atop the highest terrace in the castle.
’Let the game begin.’
Having precisely rushed through the Trial of Ascension for this moment, Leo was more than ready to take this challenge head on!