Alisa watched with a trembling gaze as her men fought. She was worried about everyone, first Ethan, now the others who were killing the last monsters.
'Unbelievable... We can actually manage without casualties...?' Alisa internally muttered in disbelief.
A lot of people were injured, almost every other person, but no one had died yet. Of course, this was greatly influenced by the regeneration effect and the fact that Sentinels and Guards were in front.
They could absorb more damage since their regeneration was much higher than the same Peasants.
"Argheeee....." Suddenly a muffled voice sounded as a clumsy silhouette approached Alisa.
This monster had green skin not blue like the ones the students were fighting against.
"Agh!" Alisa gasped in a fear and confusion. She didn't understand how the monster could get to her.
"Grhhhhhhhhh!"
Grinding came from the stone fangs of the hounds, as the two beasts pounced on the monster, tearing it apart.
The powerful jaws effortlessly managed to tear massive chunks of flesh off the monster until there was nothing left of it.
Alisa's face turned pale at the scene, and she was even more terrified when the stone hounds ran towards her with jaws covered in blood. They wagged their tails, clearly wanting praise.
'Well... I guess I have no choice, right?' Alisa gulped, then she leaned over and smiled happily.
"Good boys! You did a great job!" Alisa said as sincerely as she could, patting the hounds on the head.
Ethan watching this scene smirked, 'Hah, whether you want to or not, sometimes you have to put on a mask, and it doesn't matter if it's to deceive your enemy or not to upset your loved ones.'
Then, he looked to the side, 'This monster is definitely not from our tower... It seems like someone missed a few opponents.'
...
Gradually, the Third Wave was passed by each of the teams, but they all had to pay a price, especially for killing Commander Monster.
"This is a failure..." Maris muttered with a shudder while staring at the twenty dead bodies.
Emrim, who was sitting next to the corpse of the huge monster cast a dark look at them and sighed deeply.
Perhaps they were forcibly members of the same team, but even so, it made them worry about each other and think of themselves as one.
No one wanted to see their allies die especially from creepy monsters.
...
Nitra shook her head. Thanks to the tremendous strength of her Knights, led by Sara they were able to defeat the Commander Monster, but they had lost over sixty people.
'Agh... I was prepared for this, but... It's still too much...' Nitra clenched her fists tightly, biting down on her lip until it bled.
...
The last one was Freda, her men had higher defenses, but ironically she was the one with the most casualties - ninety people.
'Not a single Soldier, Guard, Sentinel, or Knight even got hurt, but the ones I didn't give a position died... Fuck... I'm a real failure... If I had led them then they probably would have survived...' Freda pondered with a dark as an abyss face and a desperate look.
"I'm tired..." Jarin muttered, exhaling a stream of air.
In his hands were two iron maces, completely covered in blood as well as his entire body which was emitting hot steam.
...
Crackle.
The young man had pierced the neck of the last monster, which meant that Team of the Heart Princess had passed the third wave without casualties. Just the way Ethan wanted it.
"Well, it's time for a little speech before that mechanical voice interrupts me." Ethan picked up the ground and walked slowly towards the center of the battlefield.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Ethan clapped his hands together drawing attention to himself. He had a smile on his face, slight but radiating success and pride in a job well done.
"We were able to accomplish our goal, but I don't want to praise you." Ethan said calmly, causing puzzled expressions among the students.
"We are about to receive many awards and that will be the best praise. We have the sixth and tenth waves ahead of us and it is obvious that they will be special and more dangerous. Use the experience that you have gained in battle and then you will not die. Staying alive should be your main goal." Ethan said seriously, crossing his arms over his chest.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Magnus slowly walked up to him, limping. He glanced at the others and smirked, "He's right, but he's such a bore. I'll make this easier."
Magnus raised his fist high up and exclaimed, "Pain, blood, and result!"
It was a simple phrase that Ethan used at the end of his team selection speech, but it described their situation perfectly. They fought for results but inevitably encountered blood and pain along the way.
"Pain, blood, and result...!" The short girl with glasses exclaimed uncertainly, timidly raising her hand up.
Magnus's part was the catalyst, and the girl's awkward repetition was the only spark needed to ignite an entire flame.
"Pain, blood, and result!" "Pain, blood, and result!" "Pain, blood, and result!"
Dozens of people were repeating the same phrase, and it seemed like they were becoming more and more enthusiastic with each passing second.
Ethan was genuinely surprised, but he didn't try to stop it in any way. At the very least, it greatly increased the fighting spirit among the people, which was a huge advantage in a situation like this.
[The third wave is over!]
[Your Tower was able to defeat all the monsters, including Champions and Commander!]
[Points are being counted... For 200 common monsters, you got 300 Points! For three Champions, 240 Points. For one Commander, 360 Points! A total of 900 Points!]
[You killed all monsters, so your tower will receive a special upgrade that won't cost any points!]
[Princess, please make your choice!]
Whooooooooooosh.
At the same moment, three cards appeared in front of Alisa each with a certain design on it.
The right one had a crystal sphere with a destructive laser flying out of it. In the center one - a red tree with scarlet fruit. On the left one - two knights with paired swords in crimson armor.
Alisa was puzzled, and out of habit, she looked at Ethan, waiting to hear his advice.