Chapter 71: A Declaration of Changes! Beasts Surging From Every Direction!
The instant the protective barrier shattered, towering walls rose up from the depths of the earth, encircling the Fertile Lands Territory completely.
They stood ten meters tall, with a thickness of a full two meters. Built from massive stone blocks bound together by a cement-like substance, and though the stones weren't carefully carved or uniform in size — giving the wall a rough, plain appearance — it still looked sturdy enough to withstand even the fiercest attacks.
On all four sides, massive iron gates rose up, sealing off every entrance to the Territory.
But that wasn't all.
Roughly every hundred meters, an automated wooden arrow tower appeared, similar to the towers Kaiden had obtained before, while the most formidable defensive weapons were positioned beside each gate — twin giant ballistae, the same model mounted atop the Lord's manor, bringing the total to eight ballistae covering every entrance to the Territory.
Kaiden didn't get much time to admire these new fortifications.
At that moment, the voice no lord had forgotten since their first day arriving in Orandra rang out.
[Welcome back, Lords.]
The same voice.
Calm... yet it seemed to come from everywhere at once.
This time Kaiden focused his full attention, waiting for what would come next.
[Congratulations on successfully surviving Novice Protection. And now... it's time for the real test.]
[There is no longer a protective barrier shielding your territories. You may now freely invade the lands of other lords, and whoever succeeds in conquest will receive enticing rewards... power, wealth, and even extended lifespan await you.]
The voice paused briefly before adding in a cold tone:
[But before that... you must survive the beast wave attacking your territories. Good luck.]
The voice vanished.
Right after, the familiar automated system notifications began appearing before Kaiden one after another.
[System Alert: Protective barrier removed. Based on the Lord's Crown level, each lord has been granted a defensive wall as a replacement.]
[System Alert: The Novice Lord Support Program has been discontinued. Please observe the changes yourselves.]
Kaiden's brow furrowed.
"Novice Support Program...?"
He didn't understand the meaning of the second alert, but before he could give himself time to think, new notifications began appearing in succession.
[System Alert: Seals have been removed from the following:
1 - Beasts of Rare rank and above.
2 - Various resource veins.
3 - Mysterious ruins.
4 - Dimensional gates.]
"Seems like this world just got a lot more exciting." A faint smile appeared on his face — he'd somewhat expected changes like these, and now they'd actually happened.
A new notification appeared before him, and this time it was blood-red.
[System Warning: Your territory is currently under invasion by a raging beast wave. Please defend your lands.]
He didn't need to read the warning.
The roars of beasts filling the horizon were already enough to tell him the battle had begun.
Swoosh!
A sharp sound cut through the air above his head.
Kaiden quickly raised his eyes to see a massive boulder streaking across the sky at tremendous speed, sailing over the Territory's walls before plunging toward the distant horizon.
This was the work of the catapult behind him, and moments later, another fainter roar echoed from farther away.
He turned to see the other two catapults had also launched their payloads, sending giant boulders arcing over the walls one after another, heading toward the approaching swarms of beasts.
Silence reigned for a few seconds...
Then system notifications began flooding before his eyes.
[System Alert: Your catapult units have killed a Common-rank Wolf beast. You have gained ×3 Origin Points.]
[System Alert: Your catapult units have killed a Common-rank Prairie Lizard beast. You have gained ×5 Origin Points.]
[System Alert: Your catapult units have killed...]
Five or six consecutive notifications appeared before him, confirming the deaths of various beasts from the very first volley of projectiles.
With that, half of the catapults' daily quest was already complete: staining the stones with beast blood.
Kaiden felt no joy at all — quite the opposite... his expression grew increasingly grim.
"Where are the blueprints?"
He muttered, reviewing the notifications again.
Over the past few days, nearly every kill had granted him Origin Points alongside a guaranteed chance at blueprints.
But now... only Origin Points were showing up!
"Damn it..."
He cursed under his breath. He had a guess as to what had happened, but this wasn't the time to think it through.
The battle had already started.
He pushed the thoughts from his mind, then turned toward the forces positioned behind him and shouted in a booming voice:
"The battle's begun! Everyone, stick to the plan!"
Nora rushed straight for the ladder leading up to the top of the wall, followed by seven elite archers, while the militia soldiers waited to climb up behind them.
As for Kaiden, he looked at the force that remained with him.
Twenty-four Elite Soldiers specialized in melee combat...
Piedra, the giant single-horned lizard.
He took a deep breath, then gave his next order.
"Open the gate!"
Two Elite Soldiers rushed to the lifting mechanism and gripped the massive iron wheel.
Creeeak...
The heavy gears turned slowly, and the iron gate began rising gradually, revealing the outside world for the first time since their arrival in Orandra.
At Kaiden's signal, Piedra charged out of the Territory first.
Fortunately, the gate was wide enough for her massive body to pass through, or else getting her out would have turned into a real problem.
Kaiden gestured with his hand and issued a new order:
"Shield bearers, to both sides of the formation! Position yourselves behind Piedra!"
Six Elite Soldiers moved immediately, taking their positions on both flanks, locking their large shields together shoulder to shoulder without leaving any gaps.
At the same time, the rest of the Elite Soldiers positioned themselves in between, with Piedra standing at the front of the line and the walls behind them.
It was a simple formation, but an effective one — the best that Kaiden and his commanders had been able to work out in the few hours they'd had to prepare.
Kaiden looked ahead, where a massive cloud of dust was rapidly approaching, while the ground continued trembling beneath his feet with every passing second.
The source of the tremors was the beast wave, charging toward the Territory at full speed, accompanied by the frenzied roars of beasts echoing from every direction.
The shape of the horde soon came into focus. At a distance of roughly four hundred meters, dozens of beasts appeared, surging forward like an unstoppable flood — wolves, wild boars, hyenas, snakes, foxes, buffalo, giant lizards. It was a mix of different species that should have been preying on each other, but strangely, none of them paid any attention to one another at all — they were all charging toward the Territory with the same singular goal, as if some hidden force had driven them to forget their natural instincts.
Kaiden didn't linger long looking at the ground — he raised his eyes to the sky and saw several small black dots approaching from different directions. His brow furrowed immediately; he realized the flying beasts would be an additional problem in this battle. Even so, no trace of fear or hesitation showed on his face.
At that moment, a new volley of catapult projectiles launched. Since he was standing outside the walls this time, he could watch the massive boulders tear across the sky before crashing down into the midst of the approaching beast horde, sending up clouds of dust mixed with blood and severed limbs.
He couldn't gauge the scale of the losses from this distance, but the system notifications flooding in front of him were answer enough.
Notification after notification appeared announcing beast deaths, until his eyes stopped on the eighth one, where he finally received a residential hut blueprint. The type of blueprint didn't matter to him, but what caught his attention was that he'd only gotten one blueprint after eight kills.
At the same time, kill notifications from the other two catapults kept appearing. Kaiden touched the wall behind him.
Then a new notification appeared.
[Quest "Stones Soaked in Blood" completed. Reward sent to the Lord's inventory: Runic Weapon Package ×1.]
The moment he saw the notification, he hurried back inside the walls, where the logistics support team was waiting. He pulled the package from his storage and opened it immediately without even reading its description.
The next instant, eight weapons made of mithril appeared, covered in fine runic engravings that gave off a faint glow. These weapons were exactly what they needed at this point — despite Hook's nonstop work over the past few days, he hadn't managed to forge more than five weapons.
"Distribute them to the Emerging Heroes as fast as possible."
"Yes, my lord!"
He calmly gestured to the soldiers at the gate as he passed by them.
"Close the gate."
The heavy iron gears turned, and the gate began lowering until it closed completely, cutting off the last route of retreat. Kaiden had never intended to retreat from the start.
Kaiden didn't turn to watch the gate close behind him — he kept his eyes forward. In those brief moments he'd been distracted, the beasts had covered a great deal of ground, while the catapults fired their final volley, pushing their tally past twenty Common-rank beasts killed, along with a large number of injuries. As the beasts drew closer to engagement range, the catapults lost their effectiveness, and could no longer be used without putting their own forces at risk.
Even so, Kaiden felt no disappointment. The catapults had been designed primarily for siege operations, not wall defense, and yet they'd performed their role better than expected, giving his forces an excellent head start before direct engagement.
Either way... that had only been the beginning.
The real battle... was about to begin now!
End of Chapter 71.