After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World-Chapter 1273: Challenges

A/N: First town war is a bit different xD I hope it's not too underwhelming. The power differences are still there (should explain more in this chapter) and Alterra's powerhouses are not that many and are spread thin. I'll feature them in their own areas soon, including where the heck Althea and Garan are lol.

That said, OP Town Alterra will still need time and a few more improvements. For now, we're just happy to minimize casualties (because there will be quite a few in this war).

(Of course, Alterra still has a few cards in their sleeves, though nothing too overwhelming)

Anyway, back to the story~

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In a blink of an eye, more guards entered from the balcony. They also heard scuffles from the ground floor and knew that area was being attacked too.

BANG!

SLAP!

It became a full-on scuffle inside a simple house, creating a few cracks on the sturdy System building walls. These enemies were way past level 20 so Oslo didn't hold back at all, knowing that most of the Alterran guards were weaker than they were.

A prolonged battle with them would be too dangerous for Alterrans, especially since the houses were small and it'd be difficult for them to gang up on an enemy as they could on the streets.

Fortunately, the ones on the ground floor successfully managed to lure out most of the enemies, where they'd be greeted by even more Alterran guards.

Oslo disappeared and appeared behind two people, grabbing the back of their heads and lunging toward a nearby wall.

BANG!

Their faces hit the wall. They struggled, but Oslo continuously smacked their faces in until small cracks formed—both on the walls and on their faces.

A moment later—Squelch! —metal spikes released from Oslo's palms, entering their skulls—or at least a portion of it.

Oslo had to use a little mana for this. Their levels made their skulls hard, but fortunately, a spike impaling half one's brain should be enough to kill them.

Oslo decided to make sure and, since he had already burst through the skull anyway, elongated the spike until it went out of their eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked, wiping his hands of blood as he walked towards the balcony to see the fights going in the streets.

Oslo quickly took boulders from his space and threw them at the enemies, distracting them enough so the Alterrans could finally take them down by ganging up on them.

While he did so, Rebi appeared at this side. "T-Thank you."

"Well, good that you learned that signal, otherwise I might have just passed by."

"I wish I could've been less of a trouble…" was all he said.

Some select and trusted people—including civilians—were taught a hand signal to indicate that they were in distress without having to say so.

It was hiding the thumb behind the palm, using four fingers to do what five normally would. In Rebi's case, it was pointing in a direction.

Knowing what it meant, Oslo—as soon as he turned the corner—took a flare and lit it up, leading to the current scene.

This had always been a risk in wars. If the attackers got in and didn't want to fight or needed someplace to hide, they could just enter a house. The rules were void during wars, after all, and they could do whatever they wanted.

This was why they encouraged 'weaker' people to stay together. On average, each occupied 'house' would have at least 10 people, while the rest of them would be in the evacuation centers. Few people could actually get into the bunkers, so several villas were set to be evacuation centers, though these places were surprisingly never full.

A part of this was because there was a stigma attached to these people. After all, most of the people there—except for the disabled, the very old, or the very young—were seen as cowards and leeches.

In any case, if the house didn't have enough people, Alterra didn't mind just leaving it empty. What was the use of putting people in danger when enemies would always find a way to hurt them, anyway?

These people could hide if they wanted as long as they didn't hurt a citizen. Alterra set it so that, if these bastards wanted to hurt civilians, then they'd go to places where there were a lot of people, and would therefore be easier to track and deal with. That was the strategy to handle such leaks.

"They… it seems like they kidnapped the kids just before the war, so we couldn't find a hiding place." Oslo nodded, realizing this was why Rebi was alone with two kids when they should've at least been in an evacuation center.

At this, Fiona tugged Oslo's shirt. "We were taken and had blindfolds," she told him. "But we were pushed…" she said, pointing at the opposite house. "I think it's from there."

They might've been blindfolded, but Fiona was smart and remembered the steps and the feeling.

At this, Rebi nodded, recalling the person he 'told directions' with. "I think it's true! I wasn't sure earlier but in retrospect, it seemed like he was monitoring if I would say anything."

Oslo's eyebrows rose as he stared at the opposite house, which was very quiet. He knew there was someone there, considering he just asked them for directions.

If it was loyal Alterrans living there, they'd have long joined the battle royale happening below (Oslo sent a spike or two on enemies while he stared at the opposite balcony), even if just from the windows or the balconies.

However, they were quiet—as if they were hiding who was actually inside.

"Thanks," he said, patting the girl's head, just before he jumped over the next balcony —ready to kill.

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In the meantime, the battles outside entered a peak. The logistics team continuously sent supplies to the front lines, but the enemies were a lot, and not many could actually be one-shotted among them.

This meant a lot more energy and mana were required to kill a person compared to what they were used to.

Similarly, Alterra had witnessed a lot of injuries.

Everyone expected their first town war to be very difficult, even with the new injection of forces, but seeing the enemy forces made them feel a bit anxious.

They had been warned many times that Town Wars were very different level from Villages, but it was different actually witnessing it themselves.

No matter the training and preparation—it was a fact that one could not be mentally prepared for something like this.

Some would argue they were spoiled. Alterra—after the first ones—had barely seen casualties in its previous wars and mobs, and it became difficult to imagine otherwise.

The majority of Alterra's current population was barely past level 10. Compare this to an older town averaging level 15, with a thousand or so fighters past level 20—they couldn't overpower that so easily, even with weapons and elements.

Their elite forces could only be in a few places at once, too. It was inevitable there'd be weak spots.

Even the current sentries had limited effectiveness to people past that level, especially if they had equipment. This was why the Elders wanted Level 7 Sentries, because that would be the overwhelming sentry for this level.

In any case—upgrading to a Town recalibrated their expectations, as well as their current standing in this world.

However, Alterrans were not ones to ever feel hopeless. Their trust in their territory was too strong for that.

Anyway, unlike Basset, Alterra hadn't shown most of its cards yet!