There weren't many who fell from this raid, but that didn't mean there weren't any casualties. At least a total of twenty-five Players' bodies were brought back: some still intact while a handful weren't.

The Players excitedly came down to clean up the dead bodies that littered the very floors. For the Crystal Raptor's crystals were a great source of magical energy that was used to enhance their armor.

Quickly, the three significant guilds scored the floor, bringing in their kill into the very fortress itself. They brought the carcass into the corner where the blacksmiths and butchers were present. Already, the butchers went into work, carving out the crystals, skin, and even bones into separate pieces.

Players lined up, making orders to enhance their armors or amulets.

Red waltz in scanning each carcass with excitement. Her fingers clasped the bodies to examine the crystals. She had personally decided to work together with the blacksmith in studying different effects and outcomes that the crystal would bring.

She had made it her second home, which brought in excited crowds of Players near her. They have asked questions and even threw out ideas in the hopes that she could enchant their items, but they knew that her spells weren't always the best as it was a hit or miss. Red had a knack of experimenting on the player's weapons and armor enchantment, which caused a few minor hiccups before it was used out in battle.

Not too far away from them, Snow had set up her food stall. There she had cooked every day for the Players to make some side money for herself. In return, Snow would also use the money to ask for upgrades of her own, when she went to mingle with Red and the blacksmith. Luckily, she didn't get caught up in Red's weird experiments because she understood the faults of magical enchantments a lot better than the Players who gambled away their savings in the hopes of winning it big.

The days slowly crawl by. Snow awoke on and off from being awakened by the alarm that sounded off in the fortress. The Crystal Raptors appeared out from the fog in odd hours of the day. Cannons that were finally installed correctly would go off, killing as many of the Raptors as possible, followed by the long-range skills and spells that would go off right behind it to decimate the blow.

Finally, when the monster got to close another volley of arrows and magic would flow through, wiping the Crystal Raptors from scaling the wall. They knew that the Raptors were dangerous the closer they came, they all had dealt with the consequences of their power from close distance and didn't want to go through with it again.

Snow had worked tirelessly with the other guilds, setting up extra defenses and points. She handed out new and old missions as the supplies were running thin. The amount of weapons and armor that needed to be fixed and replaced did not compare to the death of Hunters and Players that were killed out on the field.

They barely hung on, slaying the Crystal Raptors in a repeated motion, unable to advance but to defend. It wasn't easy. They lost quite a bit of Players and Hunters from this constant war.

She was running herself ragged: taking places in the field operation, managing the supplies, moving around and healing the injured, and sometimes fighting head-on with the Crystal Raptors herself. Exhaustion was setting in, but she knew she couldn't stop.

"How much longer do you think we have?" Dairen's eyes were sunken, he was tired as he was on the constant night shift and day shift, watching out for any enemies that would attack.

"Less than three days." Snow said with a strained voice. At the rate they were going, this fortress was going to fall. There was no stopping it, mostly because of the constant grind of nonstop fighting, making it harder and harder to get up.

How long has it been? Her mind was foggy, making it difficult to keep track. Thinking about it, it has already been over two weeks and a half. They were barely able to pass by with the supplies they had as the Players did a quick run to bring in supplies, food, and anything they could scrounge around. It was honestly a miracle they kept up this long.

The meat on the Crystal Raptor was not edible as most of its muscles were made out of hard rock crystals. Some had tried, but in response, their teeth were broken.

"Only three?"

"Probably less." Snow placed the large parcel of Beast crystals that they have personally put on the back of the truck. She had to commission a handful of Players to go back down to the first floor and back outside to bring in much more needed supplies that the dungeon did not provide.

Sending a large chunk of the Players wasn't ideal, but at least a group of ten people should be enough to safely cross down without dying and returning.

"There is nothing we can do to extend it?" Dairen asked, hoping for a better answer.

"If that damnable Lily didn't hang up on me, we could have-" Snow stopped herself. She knew that blaming others wasn't going to solve the problem. She needed a different solution, a way to extend the time, allowing whatever reinforcement that was coming from Heather's end to arrive.

"I don't know." Snow shoulders slumped, she was out of ideas of what she could do. Her mind was stuck in the gutter from stress. "We just need a few more days for Heather's reinforcements to arrive." She let out a strained smile that fell into a deep frown.

"Why don't you go and rest?" Dairen replied, "Mike and I are going to try something out to see if we could stall for time."

"No." Snow replied, "Later."

"But-"

She raised her hand to silence him. "I'm thankful for your concern, but I feel like I need to be up for this. What do you guys have in mind?"

Dairen gave up, trying to persuade her. He understood that her stubborn streak would show its ugly head.

"Well, we thought about putting different ammunition in the cannons and creating more specialized traps before they arrive at the foot of the fortress," Dairen explained, he started to pace a bit. "Which should cut off a good portion of the Crystal Raptors from climbing the wall."

"But that doesn't solve the problem." Snow replied, having a defensive strategy was all great, but that was all they could do. Everybody has been struggling with a way to make it into an offensive battle, but so far, the fog wouldn't allow them too.

The Crystal Raptors were finding many different ways to lure the Hunters and Players out and destroy them in their own little game of hide-and-seek.

"It's something." Dairen felt a bit defeated, he was getting a bit rushed and annoyed at the number of times they thought of an idea, and it didn't work.

"Yes, it is, but we need something to keep this fortress intact while we attack." Snow replied, "or we abandon this place and go all in or nothing."

Dairen was uncomfortable at the thought of leaving the fortress behind. It was their source of protection and safety. If it fell, there was going to be more trouble than they might not be able to handle.

"How is Red and her group doing?" Snow asked the last time she heard of Red was that they were doing something to possibly solve the problem that they were having now."

"Red is not doing so well." Dairen sighed, he knew what Snow was hoping for. He wasn't going to sugar coat her. "Their protective seals keep breaking every raid. It doesn't take even last ten minutes. It's getting overloaded with magic from the Crystal Raptor's attack that it doesn't have time to cool down."

"Did she not find a different source to help solve this problem?" Snow asked.

"No. None of the mana stones that she brought with her can contain the power she needs. She said we need a bigger source."

Snow's shoulder slumped as she threw back her head and looked up into the sky. They were doing so well until now. The Crystal Raptors were learning, making each fight a bit more complicated than the last.

"We'll figure something out." Snow replied; even though she had nothing, it was the only thing she could say. "I'm going to cook some more food for us." She needed something to do, the thought of overthinking the problem made her lose her touch, and she didn't want that.

Quickly, she went back to her stall, cooking delicious meat and other strange ingredients that she was trying that Red recommended that was edible. The most popular one that she made was the Crystal Rock lollipop with Shark's fin steak. It had a natural affinity to decrease their fatigue and help them become much more productive.

Dairen helped her at times, either it be washing the dishes, serving the food, or sometimes helping her cook small things. Without him and a few other Players that she had hired, she would not have been able to handle the orders that came one after another every lunch or dinner.

The guild leaders had their meetings in front of her food stall on one of the wooden tables. They were trying to throw out ideas or ways to find the source of the endless Crystal Raptors. Still, none was agreed upon or found an answer too. Mostly because they disagreed with each other's thoughts.

With her last customer's food completed, Snow pulled off her apron and cleaned up.

"Thanks, guys." Snow called out to her team. She wiped down the table as she finished up; she paid them for their help.

The Players gratefully took the money, waving their hands at her goodbye.

She headed back to her tent, walking through the crowded areas as almost every inch was tightly packed with tents or busy with customers.

Once again, the horn announced the encroachment of the monsters, spurring many into action.

Snow dashed in her tent as she left it out to dry. She grabbed all her gear as she was stumbling in to change. When she came out, most of the Players and Hunters were at the wall, shooting at the monsters that were coming towards them.

Just when she was about to rush out, she saw a glimmer from the warp gate, halting her.