Chapter 90: You Scared Me to Death

Just as Gawain had predicted, relying on a single cliff collapse and a field full of landmines wasn’t enough to completely wipe out those monsters.

Of course, if he had more depth to his defenses, a larger minefield, and more powerful explosive crystals, it wouldn’t be impossible. After all, those creatures had no brains—if there were enough mines, they’d all just blindly step on them and blow themselves up. But without those conditions, all the planning was for nothing.

Some of the monsters managed to get lucky—or rather, just charged straight through all the explosions—and roared as they surged forward.

At this point, any hesitation or fear vanished. The warriors’ nerves were stretched to the limit. The moment the order was given, blades flashed and swords clashed, and a brutal, unavoidable melee erupted.

Human shouts and monstrous roars filled the air.

This was their second encounter.

The first had been in the now dragonfire-ravaged lands of Cecil. Back then, the soldiers wore crude, makeshift steel armor and wielded weapons devoid of magic, facing off against near-invulnerable, rapidly regenerating mutants. This time, however, they donned extraordinary armor left behind by an ancient civilization, complete with shields and enchanted longswords and spears. Their enemies were already battered and broken from the explosions.

Though the camp was still rudimentary, the situation was far better than before.

Experienced veterans quickly realized this. Their gear performed far beyond expectations under the pressure of the mutants. Humans were no longer on the defensive—they could stand toe-to-toe and fight back. After a brief wavering, the line stabilized and even began pushing the monsters back toward the minefield.

Sir Byron had to shout from behind, “Don’t push too far! Don’t cross the barricades—watch your step or you’ll fall into the traps!”

Gawain casually sliced through a charred mutant and noticed the battle was effectively decided. Even without his help, the two knights leading the camp’s soldiers could handle the remaining enemies.

He let out a breath of relief and was about to check on Rebecca when suddenly he noticed a dozen or so mutants on the eastern side of the battlefield halt mid-charge. Those faceless flesh giants seemed to “sniff” the air, all raising their heads in unison and “looking” toward a certain direction.

Then, ignoring the guards nearby—who were practically radiating magical energy—they charged straight toward that spot.

Gawain froze for a moment before realizing what was there: the tent storing the “dragon egg stone spheres.”

They had sensed the “dragon egg’s” aura? Its pull was even stronger than that of living beings or magical energy?

These thoughts flashed through Gawain’s mind, sending a cold sweat down his back. He immediately shouted to Rebecca, “Take your guards and follow me!”

Without waiting for her reply, he sprinted toward the tent holding the stone spheres.

Of course, there were guards around the tent, but manpower was stretched thin. Most of the fighting force was concentrated on the southwestern defensive line, since the mutants were easily drawn to clusters of human and magical energy. Only a small squad of newly trained militia remained near the “dragon egg tent,” and their combat ability was no match for the monsters.

Soon, the mutants closed the short distance. The militia, seeing this from afar, scrambled to form a defense, but their movements were chaotic and uncoordinated.

One trembling militiaman leveled his spear, trying to recall the few simple maneuvers he’d barely learned days ago. Suddenly, a sound like fabric tearing came from behind him.

He dared not take his eyes off the mutants but couldn’t resist glancing back. The moment he turned, his eyes widened in shock.

About ten meters away, the tent’s door flaps had been ripped open, and a massive stone sphere—about one and a half meters in diameter—was poking its head out. Then he noticed the strangest thing: the sphere was floating in midair!

Recalling the sphere’s bizarre properties, the militiaman instinctively gripped his weapon tighter. But this time, the sphere showed no sign of attracting nearby metal. It wobbled slightly as it emerged from the tent, then emitted a metallic, vibrating scream: “Ouch! What the heck is this?!”

It seemed to have “seen” the mutants charging at it.

The militia guarding the tent all noticed the sphere’s movement. The approaching monsters and the screaming sphere threw these freshly armed and barely trained soldiers into confusion. Even their squad leader was at a loss.

Then, from another direction, a tall figure wrapped in a faint white glow came rushing in.

It was Gawain, having launched his knight’s charge, followed by Rebecca and a small group of family warriors.

From afar, Gawain spotted the floating sphere at the tent’s entrance. The surreal sight nearly made him stumble mid-charge. Then he heard the sphere’s piercing cry: “Help! Monsters! What is going on here?!”

Wait—this thing could make noise?!

Gawain had no time to analyze the freaky “dragon egg’s” mechanics. Deciding to abandon logic in this bizarre situation, he pushed off the ground with a powerful leap and unleashed one of the knight’s signature moves—the Champion’s Strike.

A blinding white light enveloped him midair. His longsword ignited with flames reaching thousands of degrees. Then, like a meteor, he crashed down, slashing fiercely into a monster’s head.

The flesh giant was cleaved in two instantly, its halves barely separating before being reduced to ash by the intense heat. The shockwave from the strike carved a deep trench in the earth.

The nearby mutants were momentarily stunned by the sudden burst of power, hesitating in confusion. Seizing the moment, Gawain shouted at the distant sphere, “Get out of sight! There are monsters out here!”

“Geez!” the sphere screamed back. “What good is hiding in a tent that collapses with a single gust of wind?!”

Gawain dodged a sweeping claw from a mutant and countered with a thrust of his sword. At the same time, a fireball the size of a basin flew past him, exploding near another sneaking mutant and sending it sprawling backward.

Taking advantage, Gawain finished off the off-balance creature. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rebecca arrive at the battlefield’s edge, shielded by soldiers. She raised her left hand, conjuring another massive fireball. Tossing it upward, she gripped her staff with both hands and swung it hard, sending the fireball flying: “Ancestors! I’m here to help hold them off!”

Girl, your fireball technique clearly needs work!

But Gawain had no time to ask Rebecca about her questionable fireball skills. He noticed the mutants at the front were dangerously close to the tent and sphere. A militiaman mustered courage and jabbed his spear to block them but was blasted away by a chaotic energy arrow from another mutant. His shield still flickered faintly, so he was probably alive.

The floating stone sphere, less than half a meter off the ground, panicked and darted wildly, trying to evade the mutants swarming from all sides. But with ten times as many enemies, its escape routes dwindled. Finally, with nowhere left to run, the sphere let out a metallic scream and shot upward—ten meters or more.

Gawain thought it was trying to fly away, but halfway up, it lost momentum and plummeted like a meteorite.

With a thunderous crash, the sphere slammed down on a monster below. The unlucky mutant didn’t even have time to scream before being crushed into the earth, leaving a pit at least a meter deep.

Just like when it had absorbed three soldiers earlier, not even Gawain could budge the sphere an inch—that was its true weight.

Gawain was stunned. Even the sphere seemed shocked.

But the monsters weren’t—they only saw their prey right in front of them. The moment the sphere hit the ground, they lunged again.

The sphere screamed once more, tried to launch itself into the air, failed, and smashed another enemy into the dirt.

Gawain shook his Pathfinder sword, suddenly feeling he hadn’t needed to rush over to save the day after all.

If this was the apocalypse, maybe this crazy egg thing was fine on its own…

The arriving soldiers and the militia around the tent watched the bizarre scene with mixed expressions. The so-called dragon egg screamed in terror, crushing monsters one by one, while the brainless mutants charged in like a line of heroic rescuers—until only three remained.

Gawain noticed the sphere’s “takeoff” height had dropped to less than two meters. He immediately drew his sword and finished off the last enemies.

The stone sphere, having crushed a dozen mutants, floated out of the pile, barely a few centimeters above the ground, clearly exhausted. After confirming no enemies remained, it finally sighed in relief: “Man, you scared me to death…”

Gawain: “…”

(End of chapter)