Chapter 31: Large Territory
The next day, every available regiment that wasn't on guard duty on the outer perimeters was gathered inside the school, with the mages on top of the walls surrounding it with their elementals. The lowest level among these Mages was level 10. The women Luna saved beforehand were among them, they stood tall at level 15.
Someone volunteered before to test if someone would gain an elemental if they had different elements, and turns out that they wouldn't. That person was handed other spells of his choosing to continue his path as a hybrid elemental Mage.
Luna had instructed his soldiers to clear the school beforehand and move out things like desks, blackboards, and other school-related materials. Thinking about it now, he was probably too naive to think that there might be a chance he could preserve some of the structures, but at least with this, he won't have to worry about school equipment as much.
As soon as everything was set, and the additional turrets he installed were ready, he pulled up the prompt.
<Would you like to claim this territory? Y/N>
"Yes."
<Challenge for a Large Territory will commence in 5 minutes>
Just as they were bracing themselves, the middle part of the biggest field in the school sprouted 4 saplings in a square formation, each one on top of a mound, this was four <Life Trees> and in the middle of them all was an egg, engraved on it were ancient Filipino characters called Baybayin* that literally translated to "Sealed by Bathala**: Egg of the Bakunawa***."
"Damn it!" This sudden mix up just ruined their whole plan, truth be told he was sort of expecting something similar to a Life Tree, but the issue with this is, this school is so large and had different areas, as opposed to the barren medium territory from before, that there was no way they'd possibly know where it would spawn. Thus, Luna was hoping that wouldn't be the case. Alas, luck was not on his side in that regard.
"Boni, take your regiment and surround those life trees! Apple, take four Mage squads and come with me and Boni! Rangers, protect those Life Trees at all costs!" Luna sent out a slew of orders as he dashed to the Life Trees himself with Maxene and Sura by his side.
He had to make sure they gained these Life Trees at all costs. This would be a major source of water for their <Nation> if they ended up having five in total. They were still unsure what fruit these trees would bear as the first one hasn't grown any just yet, but the water alone was more than enough to fight with their lives on the line.
With less than 1 minute left, everyone was in formation, surrounding the saplings.
"SHIELD WALL!"
The moment the command was given, all the higher level VIT-based soldiers who were in front planted the bottom part of their War Shields on the ground. This was much more effective than the previous concrete barricades they used.
As soon as the rifts all over the area spawned, there were no Evolved Zombies or Regular Zombies, they were all Tank Variants. Even still, every one forming the shield wall was at least level 20, with more similarly leveled people prepared to switch with them during this siege.
The first part where the zombies were attracted to the abundant life force the Life Trees gave, was as expected. It was similar to how it was the first time around.
As the tank variants were dashing towards them, the Mages and their Elemental summons already started firing a barrage of spells. Each Mage squad composed of ten Mages, two of each had the same element: Fire, Earth, Ice/Water, and Wind, and the other two having Lightning.
Earth Mages deployed their <Earthen Spikes> skill in advance, constantly producing more, wounding the incoming horde, but more importantly slowing them down.
Fire Mages would bombard them with <Fire Balls> while maintaining a <Fire Wall>, far enough from the front line, so the horde would be weakened a bit when they passed through it.
Ice/Water Mages would freeze the ground a decent distance enough behind the Fire Walls catching the zombies off-guard and lose their footing and fall onto the earthen spikes.
Wind Mages would help out with their <Wind Slash> if the zombies got too close, but their most potent skill was their <Cyclone> skill that, despite having a 5-minute cooldown, when used in conjunction with the Fire Mage's <Fire Wall> skill, would produce Fire whirls that spun outwards towards the incoming horde, inflicting massive damage.
The lives of the ones in the front lines were pretty relaxed, as the Mages exchanged shifts when they needed to regenerate their MP.
At this point, Luna could care less about the damage they caused to the school, none of that was in their control now.
Around the 9th wave, as they were observing everything, some people started noticing something peculiar that they didn't pay much mind to before.
The Tank Variants seemed as if they were more resilient. Luna used his <Scan> ability and notice something that made his spine shiver.
<Evolved Tank Variant> - Level 20
Seeing this, he could only laugh bitterly. It was one thing after another. Then he remembered that this was how it was since the beginning, you had to adapt to the most sudden of changes. He didn't receive any reports of these evolved tank variants before, he assumed that they would start spawning in the open world after they finish this "instanced version."
That is until.
<Voice Comm Request>
It was Hana.
"Luna-sama! Our walls are under attack by hordes of tank variants, but these ones seem a lot stronger than what we're used to. I've deployed the second regiment and all our available Mage squads to defend as a precaution. Do you have any other orders?"
Damn it all. He just had to run his mouth about "one thing after another" didn't he?
"Defend those walls at all costs, Hana! I'm counting on you, report to me if anything major happens." Despite his frustrations, he didn't show it. He knew that the moment people saw him being weak, morale would drop.
"Understood!" Hana acknowledged his order and then proceeded to focus on the defense. It was quite lucky that he only took 4 Mage squads here, or else they would be in even deeper trouble. Once those evolved tank variants got through those walls, it would be a disaster for his citizens.
Just like any zombie defense game, once they all get through, it's game over. If it wasn't for the fact that part of his conditions for joining the <Sovereign Nation> was mandatory training, his nation would have fallen today for sure. Even then, they still weren't safe. He didn't know how long this fight would last. On the bright side, they were all getting a ton of EXP.
These ETZs were all level 20, after all.
After 8 hours of non-stop casting, even with their perfectly timed switches, the Mages were exhausted. They needed time to rest, so the next few hours would be up to the front line.
Everyone enjoyed a huge boost in EXP during this whole time, Luna himself managed to reach level 35 so far, it goes without saying that those who were at around level 20 or higher managed to reach at least level 29 if not level 30-31.
This made it so they fared better as the ETZ, while at level 20, were naturally much stronger. Those who didn't reach level 30 yet were told to switch with those who were, after a level 29 tried to fend off an ETZ, only to be sent flying and died soon after he landed back to the ground.
Apple saw the front liners struggle, so she proceeded to ask Luna. "Luna, should we have the Mages help out now?" even the Mages that were resting after all their hard work felt some form of guilt once they saw people die, they wanted to keep fighting.
"No. We're not sure how long this siege is going to last. I have to account for the possibility of more advanced zombies showing up. Rest, for now, it's only going to get tougher. I'll go out and alleviate some of the pressure for now." Luna disappeared from his position and appeared outside of their melee defense line, brandishing his Guandao, he started reaping the lives of the ETZs with ease.
Maxene and Sura joined in on the fun as well. Sura danced about like a sword deity, while Maxene took out her own Guandao, which was actually about twice her height.
Seeing the three of them dancing about the battlefield and giving the soldiers some breathing room, they couldn't help but cheer. Their morale boosted.
Boni used this opportunity to further boost morale. "If our leader is willing to swim through an ocean of zombies to alleviate the pressure for us, then who are we to complain! Do not give up! Fight!"
"UOOOHHHHHH!!!!!" Everyone started cheering, even the ones on top of the walls fighting heard them and were filled with the desire to fight, despite having a much easier time defending.
This was going to be a long battle with unknown variables. If he could, Luna would keep fighting till the end, but he had to account for the possibility that there might be some sort of boss fight at the end of all of this.
This is why he was only going to fight for another 8 hours. Enough time for the Mages to recover and fight so he can rest until he reaches his peak again.
What comes after that, is something he can only hope that everybody is ready for, if not, everything they worked hard to build will go up in smokes.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TheLittleFatty
TheLittleFatty * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baybayin
** According to the indigenous religious beliefs of the Tagalog people, Bathala (sometimes spelled Batala) is the all-mighty deity who created the universe.
*** The Bakunawa is a serpent-like dragon in Philippine mythology. It is believed to be the cause of eclipses, earthquakes, rains, and wind.
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