The destructive shockwave, like an invisible giant hand, fiercely swept away everything on the city wall.

Zhou Huai clutched the battlement in front of him, his entire body almost pressed parallel to the ground by the gale.

Shrapnel and scorching hot air currents scraped across his cheeks, bringing a fiery, stinging pain.

The deafening roar seemed to tear his eardrums completely.

He didn't know how long passed.

The dazzling white light finally slowly dissipated.

Zhou Huai shook his somewhat dizzy head and reopened his eyes, but the sight before him made him freeze.

The sky had darkened.

The sky, which had been bright daylight just moments ago, was now covered by thick, dark clouds. Within the clouds, dull thunder rumbled, as if a giant beast was growling.

Outside the city, the already crumbling golden Formation barrier finally completely collapsed in that terrifying self-detonation.

It transformed into countless golden specks of light, dissipating into the air.

A cold System notification sound simultaneously rang in the minds of all the students.

【Phase One Mission: Protect the Formation Barrier, Failed.】

“Damn it!”

Wang Xicheng was the first to scramble to his feet, spitting out a mouthful of bloody saliva. He looked up at the pitch-black sky and cursed, unwilling to accept defeat.

“Just that little bit! And that beast still managed to blow itself up!”

Lu Zhiyi steadied herself against the wall, her delicate brows furrowed, a hint of confusion in her voice.

“Strange, the time this barrier completely shattered seems to be earlier than in our previous challenges.”

Next to her, another girl who had fortunately not been blown away struggled to her feet and analyzed,

“That’s because in the previous times, those BOSSes never encountered such a great crisis.”

“But this time is different, Student Gandalf hit them too hard, directly forcing the BOSSes to the desperate path of self-detonation.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Xicheng’s face showed a wry expression.

“Damn it, in this broken dungeon, being too strong has become a drawback.”

“Sure enough, will this time still end up like last time?”

His tone was filled with a deep sense of powerlessness.

Lu Zhiyi, however, shook her head, a glimmer of hope rekindled in her clear eyes.

“No, this time is different.”

“Every time the city gate was breached before, it was led by those three BOSSes charging, and we simply couldn’t hold them off.”

“But now, those three beasts are dead, our pressure will be much lighter!”

As soon as she said this, the eyes of all the surrounding students instantly lit up.

“That’s right! Senior Sister Lu makes sense!”

“Without those three big guys, we still have a chance!”

“Let’s fight them! Let’s go all out against these beasts!”

Just then, large raindrops, without warning, fell from the sky.

Whoosh—

A torrential downpour instantly engulfed the entire Simon City.

Having lost the protection of the Formation barrier, the endless Strange Beast outside the city let out excited roars, surging like a tide towards the city gate.

Wang Xicheng made a decisive move, wiping the rain from his face, his voice like a booming bell.

“The city gate won’t hold for long!”

“All ranged classes, stay on the city wall, and throw your skills down! Suppressive fire!”

“All melee, follow me down the city wall, and block the city gate!”

At his command, nearly half of the classes in the team immediately turned and rushed down the city wall.

On the city wall, the Fat General also recovered from his shock. He drew the command saber from his waist, pointed its tip towards the city below, and let out a heart-wrenching roar.

“City Guard, listen up! Guard the magic cannons for me! Don’t let those scoundrels climb up!”

“As long as the magic cannons are still here, we have hope!”

“Yes!”

Responding to him were earth-shattering roars.

However, before his words fully fell, dozens of agile Strange Beast had already climbed rapidly up the slippery city wall, stepping on the corpses of their companions.

They were like black geckos, leaping onto the city wall in the blink of an eye.

“Kill them for me!”

The Fat General’s long saber was unsheathed, its blade pointed forward, and he let out a bloodthirsty roar.

“For Simon!!!”

“For Simon!!!”

Instantly, the City Guard on the city wall fiercely clashed with the climbing Strange Beast.

Swords flashed, and flesh and blood flew.

Claws tore through warriors’ chests, and long sabers severed the heads of Strange Beast.

Hot blood and cold rainwater mixed together, staining the entire section of the city wall a shocking dark red.

The scene was extremely tragic!

The students remaining on the city wall were not experiencing this scene for the first time.

They quickly adjusted their mindsets and roared as they joined the battle.

Just then, a vast, dark mass of flying Strange Beast, flapping their fleshy wings, rapidly approached in the downpour!

Seeing this, the Fat General immediately shouted.

“Magic cannons! Aim at the sky for me! Blast them down!”

“Absolutely cannot let these beasts fly into the city!”

However, these flying Strange Beast were extremely fast. Under the cover of night and heavy rain, it was already too late for the magic cannons to adjust their aim and lock onto targets.

“Not good!”

The Fat General’s face changed, his expression incomparably solemn.

Watching as that large group of flying Strange Beast was about to cross the city wall and rush into the defenseless city.

Just at this critical moment!

On the city wall, the always silent Gandalf finally raised his staff again.

He looked up, his eyes under the hood calm, and low, ancient syllables were clearly chanted in the downpour.

“【Forbidden Spell: Gravitational Field!】”

Buzz—!

An invisible, extremely heavy force field, centered on him, suddenly spread out towards the sky and below the city wall!

The next second, an astonishing scene unfolded!

In the sky, the flying Strange Beast that were rapidly diving shrieked in terror, as if being fiercely yanked by an invisible giant hand.

They fell from the high altitude, out of control, like birds that had lost their wings, or like dumplings being dropped into a pot!

Not just the flying Strange Beast!

Even the Strange Beast that were struggling to climb the city wall screamed as they detached from the wall, being fiercely smashed into the beast tide below by that terrifying gravity!

“Well done!”

Seeing this, the Fat General looked at Gandalf with an incredibly appreciative gaze, full of excitement.

“Hero! When the city defense is over, I will personally erect a monument for you in Simon City!”

Zhou Huai: “...”

He didn’t have time to pay attention to this passionate NPC. His staff waved again, and another round of Meteor Fire Rain fiercely struck the beast tide below.

Although he continuously killed a large number of Strange Beast.

However, he had no way against the Strange Beast that had already begun to attack the city gate.

He couldn't possibly use a Forbidden Spell to blast the people, the gate, and the Strange Beast all into the sky together.

Finally.

“Boom—!!!”

The thick city gate, which had only held for less than ten minutes, was forcibly smashed open with a loud bang!

The Strange Beast outside the city let out earth-shattering roars, surging into the city like a flood from an open sluice!

“Let’s fight them to the death!”

Behind the city gate, a large number of guild classes had been waiting for a long time.

Wang Xicheng, transforming into a Titan, took the lead, roaring as he met the first wave of the beast tide!

Just as Lu Zhiyi expected.

Without those three terrifying BOSSes, the pressure of defending the city gate this time was indeed reduced by more than one Rank.

Coupled with Gandalf continuously providing destructive fire support from the city wall.

This led to a significant reduction in the number of Strange Beast that could actually rush into the city.

Soon, two hours passed.

With the barrier shattered and the city gate destroyed, they miraculously withstood the beast tide’s attack.

Wang Xicheng cleaved open the head of an Strange Beast with his sword, feeling the dwindling stamina in his body, but his eyes grew even brighter.

“There’s a chance! There’s a chance!”

“Before, we couldn’t even last two waves before everyone was wiped out, but this time we’ve lasted so long! And not a single person has been lost!”

“This time, we might actually be able to clear it!”

On the city wall, Zhou Huai, controlling Gandalf, quickly chugged a bottle of Advanced mana potion.

Even with Gandalf’s powerful passive mana regeneration, he couldn’t withstand such high-intensity consumption.

However, these two hours also allowed him to farm to his heart’s content.

The experience points he gained were almost equivalent to what Gandalf would get from farming in a Rank 25 dungeon for several days.

At this moment, his Rank had already reached 29.

Rank 30 was within sight.

As long as no new BOSSes appeared in the south of the city, he had absolute confidence in holding out until the last moment of this city defense battle!

However, just at this moment.

Crack—!

An incredibly huge bolt of lightning suddenly tore through the pitch-black night sky.

The light that burst forth in that instant illuminated the world as bright as day.

And in that very instant, Zhou Huai saw it.

In the distant, thick clouds, an unimaginably huge shadow was coiled.

Its outline was blurry, yet it exuded a terrifying aura that made one’s heart palpitate, like something from ancient, primordial times.

It was too large, so large it seemed like an island floating in the sky!

Not only Zhou Huai, but everyone on the city wall saw it.

“What... what is that thing?”

The Fat General’s voice trembled, and he then let out a hysterical roar.

“All magic cannons! Aim at that damn thing! Fire!!!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Dozens of thick energy beams shot into the sky, precisely striking the giant shadow.

However, the shadow didn’t even budge.

All attacks were like mud oxen entering the sea, stirring not a single ripple.

A deathly silence enveloped the entire battlefield.

The atmosphere grew increasingly heavy.

Just then.

“Roar—!!!!!”

The shadow in the clouds let out a monstrous roar that seemed to come from the abyss.

In an instant, the entire dark cloud began to spread violently outwards.

Simon City below, along with its sturdy city walls, trembled violently with this roar!

Subsequently, the beast, as vast as a mountain, finally slowly revealed its true form from within the clouds.

It was a huge, ugly head, like that of a catfish.

Around its mouth, countless octopus-like tentacles grew, each wildly writhing.

Its body was covered in layers of thick, smooth black scales, reflecting a cold, eerie glow under the lightning.

The moment the Fat General saw this giant beast, his face instantly turned ashen, devoid of all color.

He trembled as he raised his hand, pointing at the sky, his voice filled with endless despair.

“Abyssal Demon Catfish...”

“It’s... it’s a Hell-Level... BOSS!”

【Abyssal Demon Catfish · Kraken LV40 (Hell-level BOSS)】

Before his words fully fell.

The giant beast named Kraken had already opened its abyssal maw.

An incomparably thick, dark-purple energy beam, as ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) if capable of piercing through heaven and earth, shot out with a thunderous roar!

Its target was precisely the South City Wall!

In an instant, a good part of the South City Wall, along with all the defenders and magic cannons on it, were turned to dust in this world-destroying strike!