Reincarnated As The Heroes Guide

For one glorious hour, the plan worked.

The artillery barrage surrounding the city brought the number of attackers at the walls to nearly zero, and the heroes finally got a moment to rest and eat.

However, the System was not going to go that easy on them.

As the composition of the attack waves changed, so did their abilities. And one of those abilities was a projectile attack that the massive centipede horde used to great effect to detonate the artillery rounds in the sky.

The pulses simply exploded when they hit the chitinous spines, the same as they would if they contacted any other large object.

And with that ability, the damage was greatly reduced, and the {Air Defence Battery} emplacements were forced to change their tactics, in order to continue their assault. First, they began changing the distance, testing the intelligence of the creatures.

If they only reacted to rounds that were targeting them, the defences could take out the rest of the horde.

That was moderately effective, as the creatures had neither the reaction speed nor the precision aim to intercept rounds moving that quickly. However, what really made the difference was when someone noticed a beast on their right breaking through the lines, and changed targets.

That round detonated in the front lines, taking out three of the centipedes, as well as countless smaller insects.

That was the key.

They could react well enough to rounds coming straight at them, but not ones coming from the sides. So, the orderly formation fell apart, and the gunners began spraying rounds wherever they saw an opening.

Once again, the insects ranks were thinned, and the majority of the giant centipedes were blasted apart by artillery fire.

However, not all of them were eliminated before they got too close to the walls, and the front lines were once again in great peril, facing creatures that now used ranged weapons.

The ranged weaponry appeared to be an optional evolution path, as the ones that could fire spines, acid or sticky ichor did not have the strong offensive melee weapons of the earlier attackers.

And that change gave Kalli hope.

The attackers without close combat skills would inevitably be stopped outside the walls, or they would be engaged in close combat by the warriors, where they lost their advantage.

This force had not been designed for the front ranks to be wiped out so quickly, and their sheer numbers had kept the ranged support from reaching the front lines in time to do their jobs effectively.

Chitinous spears the size of a small car slammed into the front ranks of warriors as the first centipedes made it near the wall, while defensive skills were activated to block the incoming projectiles.

Rifle shots and Pulse Cannon fire tore into the centipede’s face, splattering green blood all over the front lines of the battlefield. But within seconds, the creature rolled to the side, dead.

Just to be safe, they put a bit more Pulse Cannon fire into it, while dealing with the smaller monsters that had accompanied it to the front.

Then came the true horror of the Centipedes.

They were a form of armoured transport, and the body was filled with smaller insectoids, like the ones that had been rampaging inside the city.

Nobody had noticed further out because the ones that fell were obliterated by Air Defence Batteries.

But when you simply killed the creature, the small ones inside quickly cut their way free of the corpse and joined the assault.

They were quickly cut down by the area spells of the mages, but the distraction was enough that more of the warrior type bugs, the ones that were larger than the heroes defending the walls, managed to advance into shooting range.

That brought the first bad news to the Hall of Heroes.

Derek, one of their front-line warriors, ran in wearing the resurrection pod sheet like a bath towel.

”Coordinator, I need power armour, and a shield, and likely a new sword too. I broke everything before the end.”

Kalli gave him a sympathetic smile, then brought out a Rare Grade power armour and shield, before deciding what sort of sword to give him.

He was a big guy, might as well make it a big sword.

”Hey, do you want a spear? A short spear might be better for those things. Give you a bit more range.”

Derek paused for half a second, then nodded. ”I’ll take it. I’ve got a backup sword that I can switch to if I’m trash with a spear.”

Kalli passed over all the gear, and Derek equipped it before running out the door at a mechanically enhanced sprint.

Then, a few seconds later Belle and Amber, a warrior and a healer jogged into the hall, followed by a pair of mages.

”Damn, alright, let me get you what I can. Belle, are you doing Power Armour?”

She nodded. ”I will now. I wasn’t a tank type before, but we need the extra defence. Spot me a shield as well. I have my sword still, I pocketed it as I was dying.”

Kalli could see how hollow their eyes were, fully traumatized by the battle outside, but certain that if they didn’t return, it would only get worse for everyone. That was the common sentiment on the lines, nobody could stop, and the horror could just wait until they had time to deal with it.

There was no way that they were coming out of these trials with anything but a bunch of battle hardened traumatized veterans.

The changes were already noticeable in the heroes, and with every day of battle they became even more pronounced. Soon, Kalli knew that she was going to have to start keeping an eye on them for signs of major breakdowns.

Some of the heroes were already showing signs of imminent breaks, but that could be because they had just died.

Solution? Candy.

”Here, take the chocolate to get your blood sugar back up as you return to battle. It’s the best comfort I can offer for the moment. I will start arming the level 0 crowd for backup if we need to.

They’re currently clearing the city.”

The group nodded. ”We will take care of it. Let us know if you come up with something to get us out of this bind.”