Chapter 645: The Final Wave
Thud! Thud! Thud!
One arrow after another, more and more vampires had their wings sabotaged before they could make any kind of response.
And once they had been demoted to earth crawlers…
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Their fate was no different than the Hellhounds!
In fact, considering that those blood-sucking leeches' main attributes were speed and blood abilities, cutting them down proved even easier thanks to having no basic form of protection.
'Their instincts are suppressed.'
In reality, the vampire that Leo faced on the Multiversal Arena had shown the ability to instantly create blood shields to defend against any form of attack.
However, perhaps due to the directive of the castle's destruction being their number one priority, these copy-pasted seemed to be a lot less sharp.
The time they took to react was longer than the time Leo needed to hook his greatsword into their open mouths and pull out their entire jaw, so these abilities might as well not be there!
'No, maybe this actually is more realistic than I realized.'
Thud! Thud! Thud…
Not stopping his attacks, Leo contemplated the puppet-like nature of the Tria of Defense's Combat Units.
Sure, at first, it appeared to be a weakness caused by the Multiversal Arena's ability to recruit actual cannon fodder.
However, as Leo considered this from a different perspective, the mindless nature of these cannon fodders might as well be a more accurate simulation of what could come to be.
'Interesting.'
If the actual invaders were to make it to this earth, the first force they were likely to send was exactly an army of cannon fodder.
Such cannon fodder might not be initially mindless, but amidst the chaos as well as the general directive of causing destruction, they were also likely to degrade to that level.
The difference between a goblin being smart or not might be visible in singular combat, but once it became a game of numbers, it all boiled down to raw strength.
Unless it was a combatant on the level of Leo or Aurora, it was quite plausible to die for something as simple as a stray sword pierce coming over from another battle on the left or the right.
They might know how to evade, but such evasion would lead to their death on their opponent's blade. It was an equation with an equal sum of zero!
When it came to a cannon fodder skirmish, it was simply a game of numbers and tactics; individualistic scheming would only yield a result in the rarest of cases.
'Is this a case of intentional weakening?'
Take the vampires for an example.
Sure, in an optimal situation, these wielders of blood power's prime senses might have granted them the ability to defend against any harmful intent.
Solely relying on their instincts, they could achieve crazy combat feats that one would come to suspect they had eyes on the back of their heads, or even had the ability to predict the future.
However, on the chaotic battlefield flooded with killing intent, these sharp vampires were bound to become as blind as bats… Ironically enough.
'Regardless, it's good to be able to finish this quickly.'
While the simulation basis was quite an interesting theory, Leo had no way of directly confirming it.
Crunch!
He was just happy to be able to finish the third wave with the least amount of resources!
Bang! Crunch!
Once again, the last two vampires met their end at both Aurora's and Leo's hands, though it was Leo that managed to grab the final kill this time.
'Nice.'
48 Dragonoids, 66 Hellhounds, 77 Vampires… All successfully vanquished! All without their castle receiving a single lick of damage!
In a normal circumstance where this was the limit of danger, a single person on this team would have been enough to deal with the terrifying line-up.
However…
{ The Final Encroachment Wave is being deployed! }
This was not such a case!
'Here it comes.'
This was the real crux of the Trial of Defense; everything preceding it didn't even count as a warm-up.
However, just like it was in the gym, the trick to winning this thing was knowing how to properly warm up the muscles, aka eliminate the cannon fodder, without fatiguing them, aka exaggerating the use of Enigma, all so the first proper set doesn't end up in shambles!
As for what the first proper set referred to-
Groarrrrr!
An angry cry spread through the entire battlefield as six large figures appeared in the sky, filling the world with terror.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
At the same time, yet another swarm came rushing over. Only, this time, they didn't jump or run; instead, large octopus tentacles shot ahead, embedding themselves in the ground before pulling the main body forward.
'That's thirty-six octopus heads.'
Calmly looking at the final threat to their imminent success, Leo ignored the meteor-like figures shooting down from the sky, considering the few options he had devised for dealing with these bothersome octopi-like aliens.
"Cage them."
After looking at Aurora for a moment, Leo made his decision and gave out his order.
In response, Kara only waited for the moment when the aliens were all within the same range before giving rise to a cube of starry shadows, holding all three dozen of them in place.
'Distractions can't be allowed.'
Just like the Multiversal Arena of Ascension's final level, the final wave was meant to be the real separator between those who are worthy and those who are not.
It was, in all meaning, a recreation of despair, culminating the only quest that the Trial of Defense posed.
If such a horrifying threat were to befall your world, would you be able to stop it?
Did you stand enough of a chance to deserve the right to fight? Or would it just be more convenient to help the invader and end a world conquest war as early as possible?
'This can be done.'
As his final chance to weaken the Final Boss' means as much as possible, Leo naturally intended to prove himself in every way possible.
In order to do so in the best way possible, the flimsy bugs merely acting as gatekeepers just weren't allowed to interfere!