A series of system notifications flashed before his eyes.

  System: The siege of [Starlight Village] is about to commence.

  Defenders' Victory Condition: Survive for two hours.

  Attackers' Victory Condition: Capture the revival area and hold it for three minutes.

  Releasing Spirit upon death will result in elimination from the event.

  For a full list of points and rewards, please see the event tab...

  Kael skimmed the rules. It was more or less the same as last time, only this time neither side possessed a Saint Relic.

  Already, the eastern and western gates of Starlight Village were swarmed with players, both armies poised and waiting for the signal. Kael stood atop a war chariot, surveying the village's perimeter fence hundreds of yards away. He was accompanied by 25,000 players and 5,000 level-25 Blackwind Brotherhood soldiers.

  He felt the urge to jump down from the chariot and push his way to the front lines, but a system prompt stopped him.

  System: As a Right Wing Commander, your duty is to observe the battlefield and command your troops. You cannot leave your command post, attack, or use personal skills and items for the duration of the battle.

  Kael felt his blood boil. Damn it! They're benching me again!

  Before he could even finish his thought, a war horn blared through the fields.

  Bwoooom—

  "Charge!"

  The attacking players surged forward as one.

  Just then, another system prompt appeared, this one sending a jolt of pure ecstasy through him.

  System: The battle has begun. Your title, [Right Wing Commander], is now active.

  [Right Wing Commander]: Commander of the Blackwind Brotherhood's eastern flank.

  HP +500,000

  Physical Attack +1000

  Magical Attack +1000

  Physical Defense +1000

  Magical Defense +1000

  Vision Range +1000 yards

  [Valiant Charge]: Friendly units within a 100-yard radius gain a 20% bonus to Attack Power and Defense.

  A wide grin split Kael's face. Now that's more like it!

  An extra 500,000 health and a thousand points in attack and defense. With stats like these, he wouldn't even flinch if a few thousand players tried to swarm him.

  Thanks to the enhanced vision, the battlefield ahead was crystal clear. The first two rows of the attacking force were composed of tanks, their shields raised to soak up the volley of arrows raining down from the ten watchtowers lining the village walls. Healers, positioned safely behind them, were already busy topping off health bars and casting buffs.

  A contingent of defenders rushed out from the village gates to meet the charge, and in moments, the two forces collided in a chaotic melee.

  Initially, the attackers tried to zerg rush the fence, planning to brute force a breach by overwhelming the front line with sheer numbers. But the ten arrow towers were no joke, their damage output shockingly high.

  For every player who managed to weather the storm of arrows and reach the enemy line, they were met with a new hell of hidden caltrops, snare traps, and other defensive placements. The assault was a meat grinder.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  After ten grueling minutes, the right flank had lost over 3,000 players. The defenders had only lost 600.

  Realizing the frontal assault was a failure, the attackers fell back to regroup. Seeing their enemy retreat, the defenders immediately started trash-talking.

  "Hey, what happened? Run out of steam already?"

  "A bunch of noobs trying to play at siege warfare."

  "Doesn't matter how much trash you pile up, it's still just trash."

  "You're all just free points on legs to us!"

  A few hot-headed players on the attacking side couldn't take the taunts and charged forward recklessly.

  "Fuck you! 1v1 me, you coward!"

  He barely took a few steps before being unceremoniously pincushioned by arrows from the towers.

  The defenders erupted in laughter. "Hahaha, '1v1 me, you coward,' get a load of this guy! Hahaha!"

  The attackers could only watch, their faces a mixture of fury and helplessness. They were completely stumped.

  But Kael, observing from his chariot, was beaming. During that first brutal skirmish, he'd been receiving a different set of notifications.

  System: A friendly unit has killed an enemy player. Your Right Wing War Treasury has gained 1 point.

  System: A friendly unit has killed an enemy player. Your Left Wing War Treasury has gained 1 point.

  ...

  At first, he hadn't understood what the "War Treasury" was. He opened the Commander System interface and found a tab for it. Inside was a list of items he could purchase with the points his flank had accumulated.

  Purchase Siege Ram... Purchase Catapult... Upgrade Chariots... Upgrade Medical Supplies...

  A single catapult cost 300 points and came with its own NPC operator. That first disastrous push had netted the right flank's treasury 600 points. Without a second's hesitation, Kael bought two catapults.

  He immediately sent out a message in the faction channel.

  [Right Wing Commander Ullr]: Everyone hold the line and don't push. I've dispatched two catapults to take out their arrow towers.

  The chat exploded.

  "Catapults! Hell yeah, we got catapults!"

  "Our Right Wing Commander is a legend!"

  .....

  The players immediately cleared two paths through their ranks for the siege engines to pass. The only problem was the catapults' movement speed was agonizingly slow, crawling along at a mere two yards per second. At that rate, it would take them four or five minutes just to reach the front.

  A few impatient players tried to help, getting behind the machines and pushing, but it didn't change the speed at all.

  An idea struck Kael. He assigned four of his NPC soldiers to the task. The soldiers moved to the catapults, two positioning themselves in front to pull and two behind to push.

  It worked. The machines picked up speed, now moving at a steady four yards per second.

  Seeing the attackers halt their advance, the defenders doubled down on their taunts.

  "Hey, what's the deal? You guys turtling up over there?"

  "I'll give you a deal. Surrender now, and we'll only farm half of you."

  This time, however, no one from the attacking side took the bait. The defenders weren't worried—after all, the clock was on their side.

  Three minutes later, the two catapults finally reached the front line. The NPCs set them up and began targeting the enemy towers.

  The catapults had a range of 100 yards. The arrow towers had a +20 range bonus, but even with an archer's natural range, they could only shoot about 50 yards out. The defenders could only watch in horror as their primary defense was bombarded with impunity.

  A massive stone arced through the air.

  Whoosh... CRACK!

  The arrow tower's health bar dropped by 15%.

  Two seconds later.

  Whoosh... CRACK!

  Another 15% gone.

  Just as the attackers thought the tower was about to crumble, its health bar began to regenerate.

  +1.8%

  +2.2%

  +1.9%

  Clearly, there were NPCs in the village dedicated to repairs. And worse, their repair speed seemed to almost match the incoming damage.

  The attacking players collectively lost their minds.

  "What the fuck?!"

  "That's such bullshit!"

  "Are you kidding me?!"

  Kael, watching from the rear, was just as surprised. He hadn't gotten any support like this when he was defending the Blackwind Brotherhood's camp, and his towers certainly weren't this durable.

  He looked at the two catapults, each firing at a different target, and had a flash of insight. Using the Commander System, he ordered both NPC crews to focus their fire on a single tower.

  The operators immediately complied.

  Whoosh...

  CRACK!

  CRACK!

  -15%

  -15%

  +2.1%

  +1.9%

  ...

  This time, the repair speed couldn't keep up. Eight seconds later, the tower splintered and collapsed into a pile of rubble.

  System: Your forces have destroyed an enemy arrow tower. The Right Wing War Treasury has gained 100 points.

  Nine to go.

  "YEAH!" a massive cheer erupted from the attacking line.

  The two catapults immediately began targeting the next tower.

  The defenders weren't about to let that happen. After a quick discussion, they decided to send out a raiding party. The catapults were only 100 yards away, well within reach.

  "Go, go, go!"

  "Smash those damn siege engines!"

  "Destroy them and pull back! Don't get bogged down in a fight!"

  But as they charged out, the roles of attacker and defender were instantly reversed. The raiding party ran headlong into the very same traps their own side had set.

  By the time they reached the catapults, the Starlight Village forces had lost over 1,500 players. They succeeded in destroying the two siege engines, but the Blackwind Brotherhood had only lost 800 players in the exchange. It was a costly victory for the defenders.

  Once the catapults were gone, the stalemate returned.

  As the raiders retreated, Kael simply opened his War Treasury again and purchased two more.

  This time, however, he also spent 800 points on two "upgraded" technology perks. The new catapults not only had higher attack and defense, but their range was also increased to 200 yards.

  This time, he was going to wipe every last one of those towers off the map.