Apocalypse Architect: A Tower Defense LitRPG

Hearing the woman’s remark, Captain Sterling couldn’t help but glance back toward the front line.

He watched as Jax wound up for a brutal swing, obliterating a fourth Rodent-Maw Creeper in a spray of ichor. A flicker of genuine shock passed through Sterling’s eyes.

“Is it possible… is the kid an Awakened?”

Pike, standing beside him, let out a dismissive scoff. “Captain, you’re overthinking it. He’s just a gutter rat from The Sprawl. How could trash like that possibly Awaken?”

The woman shook her head slowly, her eyes narrowed. “No, he’s not Awakened. But his body… it’s been enhanced.”

Sterling nodded, his composure returning. “You’re right. If he were truly Awakened, he would have slaughtered dozens by now. Looking at how rough his form is, he’s probably just burned a few Cores to juice his stats.”

Satisfied with the explanation, the three officers turned their gaze back to the bloodbath, fixing their attention on Jax.

Out in the killing field, Jax kept moving, swinging his sledgehammer in a deadly rhythm as he sprinted.

CRUNCH.

Another Creeper’s carapace shattered, sending it skidding across the sand.

Jax’s eyes locked onto the massive boulder ahead. Less than thirty feet to go.

“Finally.”

He did a quick threat assessment. Several Creepers were closing in on his flanks, chittering aggressively, but he calculated the distance. He had the speed.

Jax took a deep breath, his legs pumping harder. He hit the base of the rock and launched himself upward, fingers digging into the rough stone edge. With a roar of exertion, he hauled himself up onto the flat summit.

The pursuing Creepers, unable to check their momentum, slammed face-first into the granite base of the rock.

Thud. Thud.

Jax wasn’t about to waste the setup. He lay flat on the rock, reached down with the long-handled hammer, and played a lethal game of Whac-A-Mole.

Smash. Smash. Smash.

Three distinct cracks echoed as skulls caved in.

Jax stood up, wiping sweat from his brow. That made five kills.

From his vantage point, he scanned the battlefield.

The Vanguard was getting chewed up. Bodies lay scattered in the sand, but the swarm wasn’t infinite. There were maybe a hundred Creepers in total, and no reinforcements were pouring from the Hive Spires.

Jax let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

“Twenty-five left for the mission. Fifty-five minutes. I can do this.”

In the distance, Sterling and his lieutenants watched Jax secure the high ground with mixed reactions.

“Damn it,” Pike spat. “He actually climbed the rock! That’s practically cheating!”

“If he can fight, why doesn’t he get down there and kill more?” Sterling grunted. “Instead, he’s pulling these little tricks to save his own skin.”

“I hate cowards like that,” Pike growled. “Captain, let me teach him a lesson.”

Like a magician performing a sleight of hand, a pistol suddenly appeared in Pike’s grip. He raised the muzzle, aiming directly at Jax’s distant figure.

“Wait,” the woman interrupted, her voice cool. “He’s calling out.”

Pike hesitated, lowering the gun slightly.

On top of the rock, Jax cupped his hands around his mouth, his voice booming over the chaos. “Everyone! Get over here! Move!”

The Vanguard recruits, currently fighting for their lives, looked up. They saw Jax perched on the safety of the boulder and realized the tactical advantage immediately.

Desperate, the mob began a fighting retreat, backing toward Jax’s position while fending off snapping jaws.

As the first wave of survivors reached the base of the rock, Jax hefted his sledgehammer and pointed the handle at the lead man.

“Don’t come up!”

The man froze, his face twisting in confusion and rage.

What the hell? You call us over and then ban us from safety? Are you just showing off?

Panic overrode reason. The man brandished his blood-slicked machete, screaming at Jax. “Fuck you! Get out of the way or I’ll cut you down!”

Jax offered a cold, humorless smile. He tapped his hammer against the stone. “You really think there’s room up here for everyone? Shut up and cooperate! Behind you!”

Before the man could process the warning, Jax hurled the heavy sledgehammer like a javelin.

WHOOSH.

The man flinched, feeling the wind of the heavy iron head grazing his scalp. He clutched his head, terrified, thinking Jax had tried to kill him.

But there was no impact on his skull.

He turned around slowly.

Directly behind him, a Rodent-Maw Creeper lay twitching in the sand. Its head was obliterated, the iron hammer buried deep in the ruined mess of chitin and brain matter.

The man stared, mouth agape. Jax had saved his life.

“Hey!” Jax shouted, snapping his fingers. “Bring me my hammer!”

The man snapped out of his daze. “Oh… right! On it!”

He scrambled over, yanked the hammer free from the insectoid corpse with a wet squelch, and reached up to hand it back to Jax.

Jax gripped the handle, his eyes hard. “Work with me, and you live.”

The man nodded vigorously, the thought of climbing the rock completely forgotten. He turned to the other survivors arriving at the base, waving his arms.

“Don’t try to climb! There’s only room for two up there! If we crowd it, we die! The brother up top is providing air support!”

Whoosh.

Another hammer throw. Another crushed insect.

The man sprinted to retrieve it again.

Seizing the momentum, Jax looked down at another recruit who was eyeing the climb. “If you don’t want to die, toss me your spear!”

The recruit hesitated for a split second before tossing his weapon up.

Others followed suit. Soon, a pile of makeshift spears and clubs lay at Jax’s feet.

Jax transformed into a turret of death. He rained weapons down on the swarm with terrifying accuracy, treating the spears like javelins and the hammers like cannonballs.

Below him, the panic subsided, replaced by adrenaline and strategy.

“Form a circle!” someone yelled. “Backs to the rock! Don’t let them flank us!”

The Vanguard formed a defensive phalanx around the base of the boulder. The outer ring held off the Creepers with their rusted weapons, while the inner ring rested and swapped out with the injured.

One man dedicated himself solely to running out into the kill zone to retrieve Jax’s thrown weapons.

From their vehicle, Sterling and Pike watched the chaotic mob transform into a disciplined unit.

“They…” Sterling blinked. “They actually organized a formation.”

Pike holstered his pistol, shaking his head. “Looks like… the casualty report won’t be as bad as we thought.”

The woman watched for a few more seconds, then lost interest. She turned around, hopped back into the passenger seat, and pulled out a bottle of nail polish, resuming her task of painting her toenails a vibrant crimson.

[Mission Complete]

Objective Met: 30/30 Kills.

Reward: Flux Stone x1.

[Item Info]

Flux Stone: A material used to enhance standard weaponry. Slightly increases lethality.

Jax felt the weight of a small, jagged gray stone manifest in his dimensional storage.

Below him, a cheer erupted.

“They’re running! The bugs are retreating!”

“We won! Holy shit, we actually won! I’m alive!”

“Why didn’t we think of this sooner? Next time, we use our brains before we rush in!”

The relief was palpable. The recruits hugged each other, laughing hysterically. Then, one by one, they turned their eyes upward.

Someone started clapping.

“Thank you! Thank you, brother!”

The applause spread like wildfire. They looked up at Jax not with envy, but with reverence, as if he were a war god descended to save them.

Jax stood there, slightly taken aback.

He hadn’t expected gratitude. In The Sprawl, a stunt like this would have earned him scorn. People there would have mocked him for waiting so long to help, or cursed him for taking the safest spot.

But these recruits—refugees from the shantytowns outside Redrock Bastion—were different. They were simpler. More honest. It reminded Jax of the people from his old life, struggling but decent.

In the distance, two figures approached.

Captain Sterling strode to the front of the group, his face impassive.

“Alright, show’s over! Clean up the battlefield. We need to clear these Hive Spires, and we’re burning daylight!”

The recruits grumbled, shooting Sterling angry glares, but no one disobeyed. They dispersed to collect the bodies of the fallen.

Sterling walked up to the base of the rock, looking up at Jax.

“Kid,” Sterling grunted, a grudging respect in his tone. “You’re not bad.”