59: Chapter 59 Elite Giants

Suddenly, the horn sound changed its tune.

It shifted from a long, drawn-out sigh to a short, rapid rhythm, like a heartbeat. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of horns sounded simultaneously from different positions along the city wall, rising and falling in succession, like a massive net cast out from the ramparts.

Soldiers on the wall began to scramble. Some were hauling ammunition crates, others were checking cannon breeches, and some were moving barrels of gunpowder from storage rooms, stacking them into grooves on the inner side of the wall.

The Commander's flag signals came from the center of the city gate—a red flag, meaning "All cannons load and await firing orders."

Lin Yan looked down from the city wall.

That line appeared on the horizon.

A line formed by the movement of countless giants, stretching from one end of the hills to the other, spanning the entire field of view.

Those dots were moving forward slowly. The speed wasn't fast, but every step caused the ground to tremble ever so slightly. That tremor traveled far, passing through kilometers of hills.

It wasn't an earthquake; it was thousands of giants taking steps in unison.

Qin Chuan also stood before a firing port, his voice sounding dry: "They're here."

The first wave of giants had entered range.

Unlike the giants encountered in the wild, which only knew how to run and bite strangely, these giants were walking slowly. Five-meter-class giants were at the front; their gait was stiff but not slow, each step covering three or four meters.

They had no hair, no lips, and two rows of yellowed teeth were exposed directly, their hollow, black eye sockets staring toward the city wall.

The cannons began.

A rising and falling, rhythmic roar. Starting from the center of the city gate, it spread to both sides like dominoes, one blast after another, shaking the stone bricks underfoot.

The loader for every cannon was working at maximum speed—clearing the bore, loading powder, inserting the projectile, ramming it home, aiming, and firing. The entire sequence was as fast as a machine on an assembly line.

The cannonballs were solid iron spheres. When fired, they carried a piercing whistle, striking the giants with a dull "thud."

A five-meter-class giant was hit in the chest by a cannonball; a large chunk of crimson muscle caved in, and its body staggered back two steps.

It looked down at the dent in its chest and then continued walking forward. But after fewer than ten steps, its body began to tilt; its left leg could no longer support its weight, and it knelt on one knee.

Another giant's shoulder was grazed by a cannonball, the entire muscle torn open. Dark red fluid gushed out, streaming down its arm. It didn't even look, its pace never faltering.

The musketeers on the wall began to fire.

A continuous output of firepower. The front-row soldiers crouched behind the battlements, resting their muskets on the stone bricks, aiming, firing, ejecting shells, and reloading.

The rear-row soldiers stood behind them, and as soon as the front row finished firing, they immediately stepped forward to fill the gaps, forming an uninterrupted net of fire.

Bullets struck the giants like raindrops hitting a wall. Dense sprays of blood erupted from the five-meter-class giants. Some bullets hit their eyes, causing the giants to cover their faces and fall, only to be trampled underfoot by their companions behind them. Some bullets hit their knees, causing the giants to kneel on one leg, struggling to get back up and continue charging.

With cannons and muskets, the first wave of the attack was repelled.

Hundreds of giant corpses were left on the slope. Dark red fluid gathered into small streams on the grayish-white rocks, flowing down the hillside. Some giants weren't quite dead yet; their muscles were still twitching, their fingers clawing deep marks into the gravel.

But no one cheered.

Because the second wave had already arrived.

What caught Lin Yan's attention most were the different types of giants.

One type of giant was about forty meters tall with exceptionally thick arms and protruding knuckles, like iron hammers.

[Monster: Strength Titan (40-meter class) · Elite] [Level: 20] [HP: 50000] [Physical Attack: 3000] [Physical Defense: 2500] [Magic Defense: 2500] [Type: Elite Mob, extremely muscular arms, immense strength, a key force in giant sieges, responsible for destroying most city walls. Possesses skill "Rock Throw" — throws massive rocks, dealing 4500 points of physical damage.]

Another type of giant was a size smaller than its peers, moving on all fours, but its movement speed was ridiculously fast, leaving an afterimage behind as it ran across the slope.

[Monster: Speed Titan (25-meter class) · Elite] [Level: 20] [HP: 30000] [Physical Attack: 2000] [Physical Defense: 1500] [Magic Defense: 1500] [Speed: 1000] [Type: Elite Mob, lower stature with long limbs, usually moves quickly on all fours. Has a very long face, dense and sharp teeth, and protruding finger bones that have turned into claws. Possesses skill "Rapid Charge Rend" — charges forward rapidly, dealing bite and claw damage to enemies in a straight line for 3000 points of physical damage.]

The last type of giant was nearly fifty meters tall, its entire body covered in bone armor. It wasn't armor worn on the outside, but rather grown from its skeleton, fused with its muscle fibers.

[Monster: Armor Titan (50-meter class) · Elite] [Level: 20] [HP: 80000] [Physical Attack: 1000] [Physical Defense: 4000] [Magic Defense: 4000] [Type: Elite Mob, covered in bone armor with extremely high defense. Possesses skill "Crystallization" — covers its entire body in white crystals, granting 40% damage immunity for the duration, but reduces movement speed by 60%. Lasts 60 seconds.]

The second wave of giants did not rush to charge.

They stopped outside the range of the cannons.

A Strength Titan stepped out from the ranks, its forty-meter-tall body like a moving tower. It bent over, thrusting its hands into the gravel layer of the slope, digging out a massive rock like a shovel; it weighed at least a dozen tons.

It straightened up and lifted the rock above its head.

The rock flew through the air, rotating, accompanied by a low, whistling sound, crashing toward the city wall like a meteorite.

"Scatter!" someone shouted, though it was unclear who.

The civilians on the wall had already been evacuated, but the soldiers and the Awakened remained. Lin Yan stood next to the battlements, watching the massive rock flying toward their position. He was about to rush forward, but someone was faster than him.

An Awakened wearing a dark blue uniform jumped up from the wall. He spread his hands in front of him, and a translucent, light-blue barrier appeared out of thin air, blocking the front of the wall like a massive shield.

The rock slammed into the barrier.

"Boom!"

The barrier vibrated violently, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on its surface, but it did not shatter. The rock was deflected, crashing into the slope below the wall, rolling a few times before stopping in a pile of gravel.

"Impressive," Qin Chuan remarked.

But more rocks were flying their way.