Only I Am A Reader

’Changing the rules comes first.’

The concept behind the Trial of Defense was as simple as a Gate Challenge could get, especially when compared to something like the puzzle maze that New Team Aurora faced at the start of their career.

In the simplest words, it could be described as the exact opposite of the challenge that Leo had already cleared in the first Encroachment Gate.

Instead of allowing as many basic challengers as possible to fight against one strong foe, the target of the second Encroachment Gate was singling out the planet’s strongest contenders through its first Trial.

Leading up to the situation where these few strongest would be forced to defend against the threat of many.

The contrast between the easy preliminary challenges of the first Gate and the Trial of Ascension, bottlenecked by terrifying Dragons, made all the difference, but that was the point.

Considering the actual threat they would be facing later on, Leo understood the point behind these Trials.

After all, when the time came to face both terrifying threats and overwhelming numbers, a typical army could never do the trick, even if it was made up of Ability Users.

However...

’The setting itself is lacking.’

While Leo didn’t mind facing the whole thing alone, facing it without preparation was simply unfair. Preparation was the one thing he could emulate in reality.

Furthermore, the setting of this Trial of Defense was undoubtedly that of a Tower Defense Game.

In such games, wasn’t it the norm to provide a time window to install proper defense mechanisms?

Being force-dropped into the battlefield after the stage had already started was Aurora’s fate.

However, as a Reader, Leo’s destiny was to rewrite these forced dilemmas.

Even if this world was meant to end either way, Leo wanted to at least even things out to the best of his ability before accepting the outcome.

Bang!

Unable to see the invisible Shadow Barrier, the green tide was brought to a screeching halt, unable to fulfill their endless desire for destruction.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

However, just because they couldn’t press forward didn’t mean they would accept defeat. Clubs, daggers, fists... All kinds of weapons and body parts slammed into the barrier, thoroughly draining its Enigma reserves.

’Push back.’

Naturally, Leo’s purpose would never be as pointless as a simple delay. The barrier was only meant to serve as a butterfly net to round up the prey and stop them from going forward; the real defense was...

Splatt!

Without any prior warnings, an orc at the very forefront of the green tide was squashed into green pulp by a club twice his body size.

As the rest of the army turned to look at the culprit, it turned out to be a member of the same species, only it was three times the victim’s size.

Splatt! Splatt! Splatt!

Following the very first casualty, more and more figures started emerging out of the invisible barrier, killing their way through the green tide.

In the end, there was no greater defense than offense!

Unfortunately, seeing their oversized counterparts start a massacre, the green skins didn’t show the slightest hint of fear or confusion, quickly organizing their ranks to remove these new obstacles.

’As expected.’

Although Leo had never bet on achieving a spiritual defeat when he deployed these Shadow Nightmares, he was still disappointed to see how unaffected the assailants were.

It really was as the novel had mentioned, unlike the opponents he had faced in the Trial of Ascension, this green tide wasn’t made of actual monsters.

Instead, this was actually an army of virtual clones made to mimic the specs of their real counterparts.

Unsurprisingly, this emotionless army was also created by the administrators of the Multiversal Arena of Ascension. This was yet another one of their advanced services, employed by the constructors of the Encroachment Gates.

Such clones weren’t advanced enough to behave as the original would. They only possessed the same strength and were given a few one-directional command and response protocols.

Splatt!

Even as more and more of them died, the green tide wasn’t a complete lost cause, aside from the ones who surrounded their oversized hunters, the rest still continued banging into the invisible barrier.

Without a doubt, their number one priority was still to destroy the castle standing in front of them!

The abundant number of the terrifying Shadow Nightmares was doing quite a good job of thinning the green tide out, but the green skins still held the absolute numerical advantage.

Whether he liked it or not, Leo had to sit still as he watched the Shadow Barrier quickly fade out as he manipulated the Shadow Nightmares to achieve maximum efficiency.

The Martial Artist in him was itching to jump into the battlefield himself, but his rational thought process kept him cool-headed. It was not yet time for him to personally make a move!

’It would have been a lot better if this was an actual Tower Defense Game.’

The environment of the Trial was really unfriendly. If all he had to protect was just a single tower, Leo wouldn’t have had to stretch out the Shadow Barrier over such a large distance.

Unfortunately, even such an inconvenience made sense when it came to the challenge’s theme.

An otherworldly army invading a populated city wouldn’t single out one specific building. Naturally, they would lay waste to any kind of visible structure that stood in their way.

If anything, this was likely to be quite the accurate simulation for the invasion to come...

’Patience.’

While he still felt stiff from remaining in place, Leo only manipulated a part of his Shadow Nightmares with Shadow Movement, whisking them back to the starting line, allowing them to strike at the unguarded backs of the barrier destroyers.

Of course, the now unoccupied groups that previously surrounded them rushed back to fight, but by the time they made it back, almost half of the green skins at the front had been eradicated.

Although the Shadow Barrier was almost out of juice at this point, the army of green skins could no longer be considered a tide, their numbers dropping to match those of Leo’s small army.

’There we go.’

Lacking any suspense, the terrifying Nightmares made quick work of the leftovers, restoring the battlefield to its original clear state... Almost.

’One down, two to go.’

The real Trial of Defense was far from over!