They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World-Chapter 139: It’s Time to Level Up [3]

Scarlet met the beast head-on, claws extended.

The impact when they collided was tremendous.

But Scarlet was stronger than I’d realized.

Her claws sinking deep into its shoulders, her legs bracing against the cobblestones.

The beast’s momentum drove her back several feet, her boots scraping against stone, but she held.

Then, with a grunt of effort and a savage twist, she threw it.

WHOOSH!

The boar flew backward, airborne for a good ten feet before crashing into the door of the first house, the one where Tessa and Crew One were positioned.

Damn. She’s very strong.

I made a mental note not to piss her off more than necessary.

From inside the house, I heard screams, but not just fear. Battle cries. The sound of weapons striking flesh, again and again. The plan was working.

One more wolf tried to break past me toward the houses. I modified the ground beneath it mid-stride, creating a sudden depression that caught its front legs.

It went down hard, momentum turning into a face-first crash into the cobblestones.

Scarlet was on it before it could recover, ending it with clinical efficiency.

Another group was forming near the broken gate, six or seven beasts preparing to charge together.

I caught Scarlet’s eye and jerked my head toward the second house.

She grinned and nodded.

We both moved to intercept the charge before it could build momentum.

I took the lead creature head-on, a massive dire bear that reared up to its full twelve-foot height and roared challenge, the sound reverberating through my chest.

[Dire Bear - Level 16]

[HP: 680/680]

Shit. It’s higher level than the others.

I ducked under its massive swipe, feeling the displaced air ruffle my hair, and drove my axe into its gut with maximum sharpness modification.

The blade sank deep, finding organs, warm blood pouring over my hands.

But the bear didn’t go down.

It roared in pain and rage, swiping at me again. I barely rolled aside, the claws gouging deep furrows in the stone where I’d been standing.

Scarlet hit it from the side while it was focused on me, her claws raking across its ribs, opening wounds that exposed bone beneath matted fur.

The bear turned on her, and I took the opportunity to strike again, this time at the back of its leg, hamstringing it.

It collapsed on one side, still fighting.

We had to hit it four more times between us before it finally stopped moving.

Then Scarlet planted her foot against its massive chest and kicked, sending the corpse sliding backward, crashing through the door of the second house.

Crew Four was handling their assignment.

I took a moment to scan the battlefield, my chest heaving, sweat dripping into my eyes despite the cold.

The guards had managed to drag some kind of temporary barricade into place, creating a makeshift secondary wall about twenty feet inside the gate.

They were fighting desperately to hold that line, spears and swords working to keep the beasts from flowing deeper into the village.

But I could see the cost.

Six guards were down, four clearly dead, their bodies torn open. Another two wounded, being dragged back by their comrades.

The remaining defenders looked exhausted, their movements slowing, their formation starting to crack.

If another major push came, that line would break.

And if that happened, the beasts would flood into the village. Into the streets. Toward the shelter where terrified civilians huddled in the dark.

Then suddenly, a movement caught my eye.

Tessa and her group emerging from the first house, blood-covered but alive. All five of them. They moved quickly toward the next position I’d indicated in the planning phase, staying low, weapons gripped tight.

Crew Four emerged from the second house moments later, similarly bloodied but functional.

The plan was holding.

I gestured to Scarlet, catching her attention as she finished off a wounded wolf that had been trying to crawl away.

"Phase Two," I said, my voice rough.

She nodded, understanding immediately. We’d gone over this before the fighting started.

The crews knew their positions.

I opened my status to check how was my stats doing.

[STATUS]

Name: Jin Raith

Age: 17

Class: Debugger

Level: 19

EXP: 210/3,770

Rank: D

MC (Mana Capacity): 161/220

HP: 695/840

MP: 91/194

Stats:

STR: 30

VIT: 31

AGI: 34

INT: 77

WIS: 45

LUK: 19

Allocation Points: 0

Skills: Poison Resistance (69%), Social Engineering, Alchemy (Basic), Debug Vision, Iron Will (Passive), Light Orb, Mana Reservoir (Passive)

Combat: Unorthodox Fang (Proficiency: 84%)

I let out an exhale.

HP is good, I hadn’t taken much damage, but my MP... it was going down with my continuous edits.

With a mental command, I closed the window and started to move toward the barricade, ready to reinforce the guards.

I need to be careful about the next edit—

ROAR!

A roar split the night.

Different from the others. Deeper.

Everyone froze.

Guards. Villagers. Even Scarlet went still, her ears flattening against her head.

The beasts beyond the gate scattered, fleeing to either side of the road with panicked speed.

Something was coming.

I stared at the darkness beyond the broken gate, my debug vision activating automatically, trying to identify the threat.

Then I saw it.

A shape moving through the shadows. Massive. Easily twice the size of the dire bear I’d just killed.

Then another beside it. And another.

Three of them, moving with coordinated purpose toward the breach.

My gaze locked onto the lead and biggest beast.

[Alpha Dire Bear - Level 31]

[HP: 1,640/1,640]

[Threat Level: EXTREME]

My blood went cold.

The temporary barricade the guards had erected, wagon wheels and wooden beams, wouldn’t even slow these things down.

The lead alpha reached the gate and simply pushed.

The remaining wooden supports, already cracked and weakened, exploded into splinters.

The entire gate structure collapsed inward with a thunderous crash, sending up a cloud of dust and debris.

The barricade behind it was crushed flat under tons of falling timber.

Guards screamed, diving aside, the formation completely shattered.

And through the settling dust, three massive shapes stepped into Oakmere.