Chapter 240: Tower Defence - 2 Chapter 240: Tower Defence - 2 "You guys are getting held up by weak rock golems?!" Vorin barked, his voice sharp with disbelief. "L-leader!" the man stammered, sweat dripping down his face. "They seem to be Peak 1-star—no! Some of them even feel Low 2-star. And since you ordered us to refrain from summoning our beasts, our personal strength isn’t much greater than theirs. Their numbers are also high..." He swallowed hard before adding, "W-we already have two casualties..." At the word casualties, a vein bulged violently on Vorin’s forehead. Without warning, he kicked the man squarely in the chest, sending him tumbling across the ground. "Tsk. Weak." With that, Vorin hoisted his greatsword and turned toward the dying python. Slash! The blade cleaved straight through the snake’s head, killing it instantly. "W-what?" Vorin froze, momentarily dumbfounded. The python... really died. "Did they not put a life bracelet on it?" he muttered—and then realization struck him like a hammer. "Shit!" His eyes widened. "They’ll know someone invaded their territory. Someone will receive the backlash!" He spun toward his men. "Quick! Use all your strength to occupy the territory. Siege the plateau and take the advantageous position before they return!" As he spoke, Vorin summoned his Skyrend Eagle, grabbing onto its legs as the massive beast surged skyward and carried him straight toward the earthen walls. He didn’t notice Python’s body slowly melting like clay as if it was getting absorbed somewhere. The man he had kicked scrambled to his feet and hurried toward the golem group, shouting orders to release their full strength. Vorin let go midair. He free-fell and landed inside the wall with a heavy thud, rolling once before rising to his feet. Immediately, he unsummoned the eagle. It didn’t have a life bracelet—if anything happened to it, the backlash would hit him directly. He stared around, stunned. "Such high mana density..." he muttered, eyes gleaming as he slowly moved deeper into the territory. He passed 3 small sheds along the way, giving them only a brief glance before ignoring them entirely. His priority was clear—destroy the beacon sensor first. Looting could come later. With cautious steps, he advanced toward the source of the dense mana. The closer he got, the stronger the sensation became, a maddening pressure that made his skin tingle and his blood heat up. "What the hell is this mana density?" Vorin breathed, drawing in a deep lungful of air and savouring the intoxicating feeling. "I’d be practically invincible here!" His eyes sharpened. "Damn it... I need to figure something out. I can’t give this treasure beacon to that instructor. I need it for myself." So consumed was he by the euphoria that he failed to notice the vines slowly creeping around him. Rustle. "Who?!" Vorin spun sharply—but saw no one. "...Must have been the wind," he muttered. Another step forward, and his eyes finally landed on it. The beacon. Or what he thought was the beacon Blueleaf branches swayed gently, their blue leaves pulsing softly, like a living heartbeat. "There it is!" His breath hitched—and then he noticed the surroundings. "And what are all these...?" His eyes widened as he took in the clusters of berries scattered around the beacon. "It’s a treasure grove!" he exclaimed, reaching toward a veiny, green apple-like fruit. He plucked one and examined it closely. "This—this is a green quality magic fruit!" He gulped. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to eat it. And he obeyed to his desire. Vorin raised the berry toward his mouth—only to realize he couldn’t move. Skkriipp! Vines snapped tight around his limbs, coiling up his torso and arms, locking him in place mid-motion. "W-wha—!" A massive shadow loomed before him— BAAAAM! His magic armour flared with yellow light as it absorbed most of the impact, but the sheer force shattered the barrier anyway. The crushing blow knocked the air from his lungs, and Vorin was hurled straight through the plateau wall. He flew beyond 100 meters BOOOM! The earthen wall collapsed outward, but his momentum didn’t stop. Saliva sprayed from his mouth as he slammed onto the ground outside, rolling helplessly until he landed beside Karen. "Brother!" Karen screamed, rushing to him. She turned his body—and froze. The magic armor was badly dented, caved inward at the chest. Several ribs had shattered, piercing straight through his lungs. "Arrhhhggg—eeehhhgggg—ah—hah—hha—eeeeeggghhh..." Vorin wheezed incoherently, his face pale, saliva and snot spilling freely from his mouth and nose. "B-brother! What happened?! Who did this to you?!" Karen cried, panic flooding her voice. Inside the plateau, Bigfoot snorted softly and picked up the fallen Swiftroot Berry Vorin had dropped. Without hesitation, he popped it into his mouth. "Ohh... guggugu..." he muttered possessively, as if declaring ownership. Then he vanished once more into hiding. Outside, Vorin’s followers rushed toward him. The other group had also regrouped—but their numbers were reduced from 10 to just 4. The golems had taken 6 of them. Altogether, only 22 remained. "Leader! Who did this to you?!" "Leader, who was it?! Say the name!" "We’ll get revenge for you!" "Eennnhhhggg—aaahhhh..." Vorin continued gasping. With trembling hands, he reached into a pouch and pulled out a potion shimmering green. They had no healer so they utilized healing potions He gulped it down. As his ribs slowly shifted back into place, his thoughts raced in terror. F-fuck... who was that? I didn’t even get a proper look! The group watched closely, beasts summoned and guarding the perimeter as another wave of golems appeared out of nowhere. If Vorin had been injured this badly, the attacker had to be monstrously strong. "Kaahhh!" Vorin finally sucked in a full breath, relief flooding his face. But before he could relax— A sense of overwhelming danger washed over everyone. Every head snapped upward. In the sky, a group approached, riding atop a massive eagle. But that wasn’t the real threat. The real threat was the 2 white beams, tinted faintly gold, crashing straight toward them. HUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM! Leo sat in the front seat of Eagle, even leaving Brok behind, holding 2 massive spheres of condensed solar light in his hands, the beams tearing downward with apocalyptic force. "J-JumA!" Vorin screamed, his voice cracking as he summoned his beast. But— The beams didn’t target him. HUMMMMM! THUM! SEEEEEZZZZZZ! Like twin death rays from the heavens, they swept through his remaining 22 members and their beast—clean, merciless. Before any of them could even scream, their bodies vanished, teleported back to the temple one by one. By then, Juma had fully manifested. A 6-meter-tall bipedal rhinoceros beast, its entire body forged from metal instead of flesh or shell. It was even 3 meters tall horizontally, a real bulky beast. Since the rays ignored it, the beast stood stunned, rolling its head left and right in frantic confusion, checking the sky and its surroundings. Then— A new sense of danger descended from above. [Magic Stinger]!