Chapter 11: The First Siege Wave? Wiped Out in 3.42 Seconds!

And even if it were only for those rewards—

John had every intention of taking first place.

The door to the wooden house swung open.

All fifty-eight wasteland natives had been awakened by the commotion. They were huddled in the shadows of the houses at the edge of the settlement, secretly watching John.

"My Lord..."

Gru swallowed hard.

The words We’ll fight alongside you were stuck in his throat.

Because they were terrified too.

John didn’t care.

He strode toward the outer edge of the territory.

"Get back inside and stay out of the way."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Gru looked as if he’d just been granted a pardon.

He hurriedly ushered everyone back behind the wooden doors, leaving only a few pairs of eyes peeking through the cracks.

At the edge of the territory, one hundred heavily armored Undead Sentinels were already in formation.

Their massive square shields, each taller than a man, had been driven deep into the soil and locked together, completely sealing off every frontal approach.

Behind them stood fifteen hundred Undead Spearmen in perfect ranks.

Pale bone spears rested at an angle above the shields, their tips protruding through every gap and groove in the defensive line.

John glanced at the countdown floating in the air.

[00:00:03]

[00:00:02]

[00:00:01]

[The First Siege Wave has arrived!]

"AWWWOOOO!"

A piercing wolf howl shattered the silence of the wasteland.

Beyond the protective barrier, pairs of crimson eyes opened one after another in the tall grass.

Fifty enormous Blood Wolves emerged from the darkness.

Drool streamed from their jaws as they sprinted wildly over the broken stones, charging straight toward the territory.

John stood behind the formation, watching the monsters with a calm expression.

[Wild Monster: Wasteland Blood Wolf]

[Tier: 1-Star]

[Level: Lv.1]

[HP: 100]

[Attack: 20]

[Defense: 2]

[Skill: Frenzied Bite]

Fifty ordinary Level 1 monsters.

For most novice Lords, that would indeed be a serious threat on the very first day.

Even someone developing at an exceptional pace would probably have no more than twenty or so Spearmen at this point, ignoring the cost of resources.

Facing fifty Blood Wolves with that kind of force would be brutal.

But against John?

He had only one thing to say.

"Heh."

Fifty meters.

Thirty meters.

Ten meters.

The Blood Wolves let out shrill howls.

Using the momentum of their charge, they leapt into the air, yellow-brown claws and exposed fangs aimed straight at the front line.

"Skill."

John spoke.

Hum!

Identical gray patterns lit up across the bodies of all one hundred Undead Sentinels.

[Skill: Iron Wall]

The Blood Wolves slammed into the shield wall—

and were instantly knocked back.

At that exact moment, hundreds upon hundreds of pale bone spears thrust through the gaps between the heavy shields.

Pshk! Pshk! Pshk!!

-42!

-35!

-62!

The dense sounds of flesh being pierced overlapped with a flood of damage numbers.

The Blood Wolves were still suspended in midair.

They didn’t even have time to let out a single cry before more than a dozen bone spears tore through each of them.

Dark-red blood splattered across the black plate armor before running down the cold surfaces of the shields.

The bone spears swept sideways.

Recoiled.

Then thrust forward again.

More than thirty Blood Wolves were pinned dead in front of the shield wall almost instantly.

The dozen or so wolves behind them couldn’t stop their momentum in time.

They crashed directly into the forest of bone spears waiting ahead.

Wolf corpses lay scattered everywhere.

The thick stench of blood filled the air.

And just like that—

the battle was over.

From the moment the monsters appeared to the moment the last one died...

less than five seconds had passed.

Behind the cracks in the wooden doors, Gru and several villagers stared with their mouths hanging open.

"W-We won?"

Gru swallowed.

"By the gods... those vicious Blood Wolves didn’t even touch His Lordship’s shield wall before they were all dead."

"Long live our Lord!"

Cheers of relief erupted from behind the houses.

The villagers clutched axes, pickaxes, and whatever other tools they had been able to grab.

Every gaze directed at John’s back was filled with awe.

Hum.

The space in front of John suddenly trembled.

A brilliant golden light pierced through the darkness.

A gold-framed system notification appeared.

[Ding! Global Announcement!]

[Congratulations to Lord "Tyrant" for becoming the first Lord to completely annihilate the Day-One Monster Siege wave, with a clear time of 3.42 seconds!]

[Tyrant has taken 1st Place on the Speed-Clear Rankings!]

[Special Rewards being distributed:]

[Gold ×10,000]

[4-Star Unit Altar Stone ×1]

[4-Star Unit Training License: Dark Knight ×1]

[Hero Recruitment Scroll ×3]

[S-Rank Spell Scroll: Wrath of Heaven ×1]

[World-First Clear achievement detected.]

[The system will now issue three consecutive Global Announcements.]

[Would you like to hide your identity?]

The corner of John’s mouth rose slightly.

He tapped the option without hesitation.

"No."

BOOM!

A vast system notification appeared before every novice Lord across Godfall Continent—

three times in succession.

[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Lord "Tyrant" has achieved the World-First Clear of the Day-One Monster Siege! Clear Time: 3.42 seconds!]

[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Lord "Tyrant" has achieved the World-First Clear of the Day-One Monster Siege! Clear Time: 3.42 seconds!]

[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Lord "Tyrant" has achieved the World-First Clear of the Day-One Monster Siege! Clear Time: 3.42 seconds!]

For a brief moment—

World Chat froze.

Then messages began exploding across the screen.

"Forty-two in three seconds?! Bro, I can’t even get my pants off that fast!"

"No shot. That has to be hacks. Mods? Admins? Anybody watching this?! Where the hell is the report button?"

"Paying BIG for Tyrant’s coordinates! Cute girl here, great at keeping people warm at night ?? Just keep me from getting eliminated and I’m yours!"

"Warning: that ’cute girl’ is a dude. And trust me, he’s packing more than you are."

"The Sky Dragon Alliance’s Eastern Wastes branch officially extends an invitation to Lord Tyrant. Full resource priority, premium support package, no strings attached. We’re serious."

"Starlight Guild is matching that with a top-tier contract. Tyrant, say the word and we’ll put you in a luxury penthouse overlooking New Avalon Bay the moment you return to the real world. Funds can be transferred immediately."

Meanwhile—

on an unknown plain somewhere in Godfall Continent...

a blond young man pulled his longsword free from the corpse of a Blood Wolf.

He casually wiped the filthy blood from the blade with a silk handkerchief.

The Lord identification number above his head shimmered with faint golden light.

Raine Augustus.

In John’s previous life, Raine had been the captain of a Judgment Alliance expansion squad.

He was also the man who had personally severed Sylvie’s head.

Now, Raine stared at the golden Global Announcement floating before him, his brows drawn tightly together.

A knight standing beside him lowered his voice.

"Lord Raine, we deployed the entire Templar squad, and even then, our clear time was two minutes and eleven seconds."

"Who the hell is this Tyrant?"

Raine tossed the bloodstained handkerchief onto the ground and gave a cold laugh.

"To get a result like that, he either awakened some kind of extreme burst-damage talent..."

"or got his hands on a rare offensive scroll right at the start."

"Should we try to recruit him?"

The knight hesitated.

"The Sky Dragon Alliance has already made a move."

Raine adjusted his golden armor and replied indifferently.

"Send him a friend request first."

"If he’s smart enough to join us, we’ll make room for him."

"But if he doesn’t know what’s good for him..."

Raine’s eyes turned cold.

"Once the three-day Novice Protection Period ends, send people over and flatten his territory."

"In Godfall Continent, lone-wolf heroics mean nothing."

"No unaffiliated player can compete with the resources and foundations of the great corporate Alliances."

...