Trash in the Apocalypse

After leading the National Police to victory, Paolo Canlas managed to solidify his prestige on the heart of the people. In the future, he would learn about the secret of aura and gain Aura (Command) that would make sure allies will perform with discipline and confidence.

In the eastern part of the town, near the bridge. The Frontier fought the wild dungeons invasion with several parties of powerful survivors.

Each and every one of the Frontier members was experts of their own. They trained individually for a long time until they could fight with the confidence to survive.

In the long run, the Frontier faction members were able to accept the new changes in the world. They were able to bring joy out of hunting monsters and adventuring the wasteland.

Alday Ruan oversaw the battlefield from his apocalypse truck. The wild cemetery carriers were weak and offer a good experience for everyone. Still, the best goodies one could find in the town siege were the loot. Also, there's an additional loot that came from the Dark Priest who constantly summons regular carriers and unique ghouls. It was the black gem that dropped after killing the boss monster.

Although they were used to the attack pattern of the boss monster, they still took some time before successfully killing the Dark Priest.

And no, the Dark Priest nor its summons didn't become stronger.

The reason was simple.

The Frontier was using the boss as a training partner for their new recruits.

For someone to become stronger in a short amount of time, they need to experience a lot of life-threatening situations. If they survive, they will become experienced fighters who survived the initial change and their first practical battle.

Confident and battle-hardened warriors regularly appear from the Frontier. Their slogan of becoming stronger together has been effective, and as long as one was willing to work hard, they could become powerful.

After killing the Dark Priest and regrouping the army formation, the Pillar of Light descended on the east. Even when the monsters couldn't be seen, the menacing presence could be felt from a distance.

The area became hotter as the ground proceeded to tremble.

In the distance, regular carriers appeared rushing towards the eastern bridge. Most of them were bloody and injured, while also having incomplete limbs.

These regular carriers were the unlucky few who had to run past the Earth Elemental's earthen spike surrounding.

Being on top of the truck, Alday Ruan was able to see how many layers of monsters they have to confront.

There were four layers; a horde of regular carriers at the vanguard and the rear, a batch of Fire Elemental at the center, followed by a group of Earth Elemental. 

The injured regular carriers were fast runners and easily overtook the slow Earth Elementals. However, since the Earth Elementals doesn't distinguish enemy or ally, anything that enters its treble sense would be attacked by an earthen spike.

The batch of regular carriers crossed the bridge and met the first line of defense.

The Bruisers.

A group of survivors who loved melee battles. These people had natural adrenaline when fighting in close quarters. They love the rush and excitement one could only get when up close with the enemy.

"Archers ready!"

"Aim!"

"Fire!"

The well-trained group of archers perfectly executed an arcing shot that fell many of the regular carriers.

There were hundreds of regular carriers, but the Frontier isn't one to be underestimated. They have more than five hundred people of expert fighters holding the fort. It was impossible for the enemy horde to plow through their defenses especially when they were properly equipped with decent gear.

The bridge became a meatgrinder. Regular carriers continued rushing forward even when their horde were getting slaughtered at an unbelievable pace.

Things only turned difficult when the Elementals joined the fray. Among the Frontier, no one was able to perfectly remain scot-free while battling them.

The Fire Elementals turned arrows and bone spears into dust with only the scorching heat coming off their bodies. If the materials were of higher quality, the arrows could have reached them.

And to deal with the Earth Elemental, they have to first deal with the Fire Elemental since they can't advance forward or shoot them from afar. 

A few people received degree burns and had to be rushed back to the Black Nurse, a title bestowed to Sheila by other faction members since she asks for exorbitant prices every time she heals someone.

On the other hand, members who got impaled by earthen spikes were rushed to the Quack Doctor, a title given to Noel Arada after he got caught doing experiments on his patients. In Noel Arada's defense, the patient agreed with the procedure and received proper explanations before and after the operation.

The operation was the reattachment of a severed arm due to a Destroyer yanking the man's arm off. The procedure failed and succeeded at the same time. The arm was reattached but cannot be used due to the nerve's disconnection.

In the end, the Frontier was able to end the battle thanks to the Battlefield Commander, Gener Guevarra, taking risks for the group.

He brought his elite crew and charged forward at the Fire Elementals. His plan was to kill all the Fire Elementals as fast as they could before they get cornered and pushed back to the town plaza. if that were to happen, the whole Frontier would be considered an embarrassment to the three main powers.

With a bit of casualty on their side, also a burned arm and leg, the Battlefield Commander, Gener Guevarra, prevented the humiliation to come.

His heart and spirit were engraved into his members and to some members of the Frontier.

After getting rid of the Fire Elementals, the Earth Elementals became a breeze. It took some time for the Frontier members to deal with the Earth Elementals, but they still did it in the end.

If they only knew the weaknesses of these two elementals, then they could have fought them easily.

Jun took care of a Fire Elemental using a fire extinguisher. If the Frontier thought of using water to weaken the Fire Elemental, they could have fought more easily. On the other hand, if the Earth Elemental was lifted into the air, they would lose access to the earth underneath them.

These secrets were easy to spot and yet people only notice them after some time. This tactic would be continuously used in the future town siege.

After a brief waiting period, the Pillar of Light shone on the lake waters in the south.

The Alliance of Small Factions did a good job defending the southern waters. Takaw didn't even have to intervene as the Alliance killed all fishmen trying to get out of water. Every time a tide of water came towards the shoreline, a group of fishmen appears above the waterline.

The previous experience with these slimy figures gave the Alliance the wisdom to use spears and pikes as they stabbed the enemies at a safe distance.

Weirdly enough, the Alliance didn't encounter a single Water Elemental during the whole monster wave.

It was due to the veteran fisherman intercepting them from underwater. Gilbert took his friends to catch some Water Elementals. The Water Elemental dropped good loot when they first killed it during their village occupation of the Lakeside Marina.

By doing this, Gilbert was expecting to get another skill book. Unfortunately, most rare and unique books drop only from naturally raised mutations. Also, the stronger the monster, the better items can be looted.

Still, that didn't lower the value of the dropped orbs from the elementals. Each elemental dropped its corresponding orb. Fire Elementals dropped fire orbs, Earth Elementals dropped earth orbs, and Water Elementals dropped water orbs.