Start, Monster Wave! (1)

It was like any other day—nothing out of the ordinary.

The only new routine, about once every three days, was visiting the children’s house.

Naruan followed me every time.

Surprisingly, Naruan got along well with the kids; they bonded quickly—playing, bickering, sulking, even crying together.

Her childlike appearance made her behavior indistinguishable from theirs.

I sat idly watching Naruan interact with the children—then.

Zziiing―

A strange ringing filled my ears as a message materialized in the air.

“Captain!”

Naruan, who’d been playing with the children, rushed over—she must have seen the same notice.

I met the children’s worried gazes, crouched to their level, and spoke calmly to avoid alarming them.

“Monsters are coming, so we have to go help defend the village. How about you stay at our house during the Monster Wave?”

The children glanced at one another and then looked to the girl who appeared oldest among them.

The “eldest” was only about thirteen—around the same age I was when I first met Miku.

“I wonder if that’s a burden…”

“Children your age don’t have to say that. Let’s go. Naruan, take the kids home. Lubeit, don’t let Naruan wander off. I’ll head to the North Gate first—tell Lee Hyo-ju to prepare and come as planned.”

After giving brief orders to Naruan and Lubeit, I moved off without looking back.

I lightened my step, activated War God [Ex], and soon reached the guards manning the North Gate.

“Close the gates!”

Before those who recognized me could greet me, my shout—laced with divine power—forced the guards into action.

Citizens who had been about to leave through the gate froze and stared at me.

“The Monster Wave has begun. Close the gates immediately and deploy supplies. Prepare thoroughly for city defense. 11 hours 41 minutes remain. From this time onward, the Rebound Legion will oversee North Gate defense. What are you doing! Evacuate the citizens, you!”

“Yes!”

“You received the procedure, right? Broadcast it according to the action code. Prevent merchants and citizens from leaving, and if possible, light the beacons so everyone outside returns. As fast as possible!”

“Yes!!”

After the guards answered and ran off, I warned the still-dazed citizens around me that the Monster Wave had begun.

To be honest, this was overkill—over eleven hours remained; there was no need to rush like this.

It’s not that we couldn’t stop the Wave; this was the final-stage tutorial test, designed to measure how much damage we’d take while defending.

Do you think monsters will just blindly climb the walls? Some use swords, some use brute force. Of course they use tools—thrown stones, spears, and arrows kill many. The better prepared you are, the fewer the casualties, and the more merit you earn. Yes, you’ll earn unwanted reputations too, but this is the council. The Battlefield of the Gods is full of temptations.

If a representative only wants to live comfortably, this place isn’t terrible. You could surrender as soon as year five begins and live as a noble under the Dark Empire or the Holy Realm Alliance.

Every moment here is a test. A five-year chick-protection period? It’s like a narcotic. You don’t die, so you don’t train. Fools who oppress continentals and take satisfaction in it will become targets for ‘absorption’ when year five begins.

And the Monster Wave is essentially a tutorial test. The harsh results here determine a patron god’s reputation on the gods’ playing field. Rewards vary with performance—I’m not entirely sure of the details.

I ordered the North Gate captain, who’d rushed in to close the gates, to relocate residents within the combat radius.

The guards bustled, raising weapons to the walls, and representatives began arriving at the North Gate one by one—probably because they’d received the message.

“Ugh, damn it. Of all things, this…”

“Ah, what a bother.”

“Huh? Isn’t that that person?”

Those muttering as they walked spotted me and stopped.

Seeing the representatives approach, I stepped twenty paces from the North Gate into the avenue, as if to greet them.

Did that sight reassure them? The representatives laughed, chatted, and grumbled as they resumed toward the gate.

When they were about twenty meters from the North Gate and I about ten meters from them, the one at the front suddenly couldn’t take another step and sank to the ground, trembling.

One after another, as if picking up coins from the ground, they plopped down in the same spot.

By the time thirty of them had collapsed, a trembling woman still took a step forward. I felt neither admiration nor surprise.

In truth, that pressure and killing intent were the same I’d used on my men when dealing with that piece of trash Ribor before. Back then it was the end of year three; now it was nearly the end of year four. Only one stepped forward while most collapsed—no reason to be surprised.

The woman who lasted the longest only took two more steps.

Which meant—

“Tch. Get lost, trash.”

It meant exactly that—they were trash.

“Guh!”

“Damn it!”

“Who the hell are you!”

The representatives protested immediately. I looked down at them and let my killing intent speak as a warning.

“I’m the Monster Wave-limited North Gate defense captain. This area falls under our Rebound Legion’s jurisdiction. We don’t need trash like you, so get lost.”

Thirty representatives grumbled and left. The remaining one was the woman who’d come within two steps.

She lifted her bowed head and looked at me with a face that asked what to do.

“Tch. Behind me.”

“Thank you.”

Perhaps she didn’t even know why she was thanking me. She tilted her head and stood behind me.

After that, more representatives approached, and over ninety percent collapsed to the ground.

If we’d been risking our necks in direct combat, it wouldn’t be this easy—powers are wildly unpredictable. But faced with such a thick, murderous aura, they gave up and sank down.

They’d lived like kings among the continentals for four years. Could they have imagined they’d be treated like this?

Moreover, participation wasn’t forced by the message, so there was no reason to confront my presence—many gave up even faster.

And so this happened.

I don’t know all the details, but records say the first ten days are filled with monsters so weak they’ll make you yawn. After that, true to the name Monster Wave, they come ceaselessly, growing stronger each day. Later you’ll fight ones that use tactics better than human armies.

It’s better to fight from the start and become accustomed than to back out later and cause unexpected losses or morale collapse—so I wouldn’t accept those who’d chicken out.

Suddenly about five hundred representatives rushed in at once.

Whether they’d heard a rumor or those who’d left earlier wanted revenge, they spotted me and charged with a battle cry: “Uaaaa!”

Like a vanguard charging the walls.

Why wait for them on an avenue wide enough for two wagons to pass?

Because the technique I used doesn’t project killing intent at each person individually. I unraveled divine power to press space down with an overwhelming aura and intent.

“Guh!”

“Aah!”

“…Ugh!”

Clatter―

Representatives fell like dominoes amid screams.

Some at the front were injured after being trampled by others. They screamed and denounced my injustice as if it were absurd.

While five hundred representatives writhed, others walked calmly past the fallen—more than a few.

They wore cloaks of dark crimson, an ominous blood color. A magic staff and sword were crossed at the center of each cloak. Those wearing them walked calmly up to me.

Twenty-six red cloaks in total. They bowed in unison.

“Rebound Legion—26 members, all assembled.”

“Good. Toss that trash over there out of the area first.”

“Yes.”

At Lee Hyo-ju’s report and command, the Rebound Legion sprang into action.

Those who had been lying or watching nearby repeated the same result.

At the moment a red shadow seemed to shimmer, a representative who’d been lying on the ground suddenly found himself just outside the area.

After that, the five hundred sat dazed on one side of the avenue for a long time, witnessing my divine might.

At first, since they were all representatives, they couldn’t believe such a difference and looked for magic circles or some trick. Time passed, yet my breathing never changed; later they accepted it when I even brought a chair and desk onto the avenue and worked while maintaining that terrifying aura.

They didn’t know I hadn’t even used a quarter of my true power.

What they clearly saw on the first day—my divine might—spread among representatives and continentals alike, and later some even attempted to challenge my gate.

Even after eleven hours had passed and the first monster approached Exorsus, I didn’t budge from the avenue; I spent the time reviewing documents and reading books.

The first day the Monster Wave began, two hundred twenty-seven representatives passed my test and stepped into my area.

[Monster Wave 1st Day]

North Gate.

15 hobgoblins, approximately 400 red goblins.

They approached Exorsus’s northern wall but were annihilated in 1 hour 27 minutes by 30 combat mages from the five magic towers.

Benialis smiled broadly at the suddenly appearing message. A Monster Wave!

“Wahaha, this is an opportunity!”

He rose and immediately summoned all officers of captain rank and above. At that moment the captain-general of guards arrived with documents.

You are appointed as the overall commander of the East Gate defense.

Benialis’s smile deepened as he read.

Seeing him genuinely pleased, the representatives who always assisted him grinned as well.

A conference room with about two hundred people gathered.

Benialis, who purposely arrived last, slammed the door open and entered. He moved to the head seat and, without sitting, spoke standing.

“You’ve all seen the message, so you know. I want only one thing this time. We outnumber that shit-streak by a full 2,500 people. Monster Wave! It’s a war of numbers. Moreover, this is still within the training period. We must win the collective honors. Understood?”

“Yes!!”

At two hundred voices answering in unison, Benialis trembled slightly, then ordered everyone to gather at the East Gate in five hours and dismissed the meeting.

Arriving at the East Gate ahead of the others, Benialis flashed his signature flourish when the gate captain handed over two documents.

When the captain bowed and handed him the commander seal, his smile deepened further.

But that lasted only thirty minutes.

Nothing was prepared. They didn’t even have space for over ten thousand representatives to rest. No basic items—arrows, food, or supplies for siege defense—were ready.

Only then did he realize the situation wasn’t simple and sent someone to the guard captain-general—but the reply was absurd.

“Didn’t you sign the documents the East Gate captain gave you? We only distribute supplies according to that.”

Hurriedly flipping the back of the document he’d signed, he found in bold letters: ‘All supply support refused.’ He couldn’t plead ignorance.

Crumpling the paper, Benialis resorted to his trump card.

“Conscription. Forced conscription!”

“Yes!”

He burdened the continentals—particularly citizens living east of Exorsus. He forcibly evacuated homes near the eastern wall, requisitioned food, and even began conscripting young men and women under the guise of war support.

Until now, people tolerated the misdeeds of Benialis’s and Violentia’s camps because Benialis’s representatives had restrained themselves in the shrine-dense eastern residential area. Violentia likewise hadn’t persecuted continentals in the west; each side wreaked havoc in the other’s territory.

But this time, it all went wrong.

Citizens who mistakenly believed previous harms were the doing of the other side tearfully moved to the Garden of Gods. There, after hearing that I’d prepared facilities, they cried out, “As expected, Councilman!”

Violentia’s situation was no different. She too was given a wall with no defenses and stamped her feet in frustration—she even uprooted the Black Tower’s foundations.

Naturally, the Black Tower mages were not pleased.

Moreover, they were seething watching the mages from the five magic towers who’d recently prospered under me. Not only were they deprived of what little support they’d had, they were ordered by Violentia to participate in the Monster Wave against their will.

The Black Tower mages were rightly angry.

Sitting at my desk on the avenue leading to the North Gate, watching Benialis and Violentia’s antics, I had to stifle a laugh.

Were Benialis and Violentia really so stupid as to make such mistakes?

No. In my previous life, both had fought with their followers; they simply hadn’t led a siege defense.

Siege defense isn’t just climbing walls and attacking. The enemy is monsters—some fly, some are nearly as large as the walls. There’s much to prepare and countless contingencies to consider. They were chosen for combat, not to command sieges. Given the task of holding one of the four directions, it was only natural they’d flounder.

“It’s probably because of me. Heh.”

Because of me, I showed I could oversee North Gate defense alongside the magic tower mages. Because of me, I provoked them and set them against each other. Because of me, under my orders I beat the camps’ representatives nearly to death, making this irreversible. Because of me, I advised the guard captain-general that since both sides had expanded in numbers in competition, one wall could be handled.

“Run harder. The stage I’ve prepared won’t be left for long.”

[Monster Wave 1st Day Report]

Eastern Wall.

Led by a Goblin Lord: 14 hobgoblins, about 500 red goblins.

They approached the eastern wall; about 100 representatives held them back.

Western Wall.

Led by a Goblin Lord: 16 hobgoblins, about 320 red goblins.

They approached the western wall; Violentia and about 50 representatives repelled them.