Apocalypse Architect: A Tower Defense LitRPG

Chapter 62: This Time, There Really Aren’t Any More

The silence on the ramparts was heavy, but it wasn’t the silence of fear. It was the silence of confusion.

The team stood frozen, staring into the darkness. They were conditioned for desperate, bloody struggles against the Insectoids. The first wave had been tense, but this second wave… the anticipation just wouldn’t build.

Silas nudged Gareth with a sharp elbow, his voice a low rasp. “Hey, Old Gareth. You’re not vibrating today. What gives?”

Gareth froze, his face flushing hot in the gloom. He thought he’d hidden his terror well during previous attacks. He thought he’d saved face. But Silas’s casual jab shattered that illusion—everyone knew.

“Ahem. I… I’ve evolved,” Gareth stammered, straightening his spine. “I have overcome fear. From this day forth, I am a stone. A cold, hard stone.”

Strangely, he wasn’t entirely lying. Even with the threat of Rodent-Maw Creepers looming, the panic didn’t come. Perhaps it was simply because they had survived the first wave so easily. Or perhaps it was because Jax was calm.

Down in the kill box, the perimeter lights caught movement.

Jax didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the rappelling rope and slid down the fortress wall, boots hitting the sand with a heavy thud.

The Howitzer Turrets were powerful, but their fire rate was glacial. While the Creepers were slow underground, they were terrifyingly fast once they surfaced. If they rushed the gap all at once, the turrets would be overwhelmed.

Jax intended to complicate their lives.

He watched the swarm approach. Fear was a distant memory now. After facing the Spiked Dune Lord—that mountainous, acid-spitting nightmare—these Tier 2 runts looked like oversized pests.

BOOM.

The first Howitzer shell slammed into the lead pack. Sand and viscera erupted into the air.

As if controlled by a hive mind, the remaining Creepers screeched and dove nose-first into the desert floor. In seconds, the surface was empty.

Jax sprinted to the foremost Barricade. He knelt, pressing his ear towards the earth.

The ground began to bulge. Dozens of small mounds snaked forward like torpedoes beneath the surface, accompanied by the muffled sound of displacement. It was eerie, unnatural movement.

Jax held his ground. He didn’t activate his [Decoy Clone]. He needed data. He needed to know exactly how the AI reacted to physical obstruction.

Fortunately, the subterranean Creepers hunted by vibration, not scent. Jax stood motionless as the mounds raced toward him.

They hit the Barricade.

The mounds stopped. Jax leaned in closer, listening.

Skreee-krrhh-skreee.

The sound of claws grinding against reinforced concrete vibrated through his boots. It was a visceral, nails-on-chalkboard sound that made his skin crawl.

Ten seconds passed. The grinding stopped. The mounds shifted, turning sideways.

Jax stepped over the nearest mound and placed a hand on the Barricade.

[Tier 1 Barricade] [Integrity: 80%]

Jax’s eyes lit up. “Got you.”

His theory was confirmed. The AI wasn’t suicidal. They would test the obstacle, damage it slightly, but if the resistance was too high, they would pathfind around it.

“If they want a maze,” Jax whispered, a grin spreading across his face, “I’ll give them a maze.”

He checked his inventory. Ten Barricades remaining.

“If I extend the corridor here… and force a switchback there…”

It was just like the Tower Defense games from his old life. The goal wasn’t just to block; it was to maximize the time the enemy spent in the kill zone. Every second of delay was another second for the turrets to reload.

Jax moved quickly, materializing ten massive concrete slabs into existence. He staggered them, creating a brutal S-curve that tripled the distance the Creepers had to travel.

Setup complete. He retreated to the base of the platform and waited.

Up above, the team watched in silence. To them, Jax was an enigma—an Awakened One playing a game they didn’t understand. They knew better than to interfere.

Only Barnaby was agitated. The giant shifted his weight, gripping his weapon. “Jax… down there. Dangerous.”

“It’s okay, Barney,” Annie said, placing a small hand on his massive arm. “He’s not in trouble. He’s testing them.”

“Testing?” Barnaby frowned, his brow furrowing.

“Trust him,” Kaleb added, though he kept his rifle trained on the shadows near Jax.

Below, the symphony of destruction began.

The Howitzer thumped rhythmically. The Sentry Towers hissed as they launched heavy bolts.

Because of the new S-curve, the Creepers were forced to surface and re-burrow multiple times, or crawl sluggishly along the surface to navigate the tight corners. They were sitting ducks.

Jax watched the kill feed scroll across his retina.

[F-Tier Bounty Protocol: Eliminate 100 Tier 2 Rodent-Maw Creepers.] [Progress: 53/100] [Time Remaining: 45:32]

“Too easy,” Jax muttered. “Without the maze, this would have taken an hour of heavy combat. Now? It’s a conveyor belt.”

He watched the lead Creeper hit the third wall, pause for ten seconds to scratch at it, and then turn.

[System: Tier 2 Rodent-Maw Creeper eliminated.] [System: Tier 2 Rodent-Maw Creeper eliminated.]

The notifications chimed like slot machines.

By the time the lead Creeper cleared the final wall, the pack had been decimated. Only twelve remained alive.

“This is efficient,” Jax noted, analyzing the resource loop. “Bounties give resources. Resources build towers. Towers farm Bounties. It’s a perfect snowball.”

He frowned slightly. “But where are the new blueprints? Do I have to loot them, or do they unlock with missions?”

In most games, upgrading the Town Hall unlocked the tech tree. But this System was stingy. It relied heavily on RNG—Random Number Generation. Like The Vault.

BOOM.

The final shell landed. A wet splatter echoed off the canyon walls.

[Congratulations! F-Tier Bounty Protocol Complete.] [Reward: Refined Iron x100]

Jax opened the interface. The Bounty icons had all turned gray. A timer ticked down next to them.

[Next Protocol Available: 23:59:58]

“Daily cooldowns,” Jax sighed. “Of course. It limits the grind, but at least it’s a guaranteed daily income of high-tier resources.”

He looked up at the platform. The team was staring down at the carnage, utterly bewildered.

The Rodent-Maw Creepers—monsters that usually required desperate, bloody fighting to repel—had been wiped out. And the team hadn’t fired a single shot. They hadn’t even thrown a Torch.

“Alright!” Jax called out, dusting off his hands. “Show’s over. Go to bed.”

The team exchanged looks of disbelief.

“Boss,” Kaleb called down, his voice cracking slightly. “That… that’s it? It’s over?”

“Yeah,” Silas grunted, lowering his spear. “If I knew you were going to solo the apocalypse, I would have stayed in my bunk.”

“Go rest,” Jax ordered, walking back to the rope. “I’ve got the second watch. Move out.”

They filed back into the fortress, shaking their heads. Jax watched them go, feeling a strange mix of satisfaction and disappointment. It had been too easy.