Chapter 897: Tight Encirclement
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Tauren troops began to come after them.
It was a squad made up of about a dozen tauren guards. This was the last few defenders left on the east gate’s city wall. Mu Zi’s diversion tactic was indeed very successful as it left the east gate with only a few people. Even though most of them were wounded, Hyde and others weren’t afraid to make a stand against the taurens. While the wounded people continued to flee to the shrub forest, Hyde, Noraba, and a few dimensional humans who were in better condition stayed to intercept this wave of taurens. However, unfortunately, before they could attack each other, the other party’s reinforcements had arrived.
They were the griffin cavalries. The first batch was made up of about two dozen of them. They were all those that were scared off by Mu Zi’s fog outside the south gate and eventually just circled around in the air because they couldn’t find anything to do except get angry. As such, when they heard the signal for backup at the east gate, they immediately flew over.
They were all Great Swordsmen. Any one of them was sufficient to beat Noraba in a one-on-one fight. The individual strength of the Octopus elites at this level was indeed a lot more powerful than normal Holy Disciples. Hyde immediately activated his Heavenly Domination Rune, allowing him to fend off around five or six of the griffin cavalry, but it was far from enough…
Noraba was sent flying backward after getting slashed by one of them. Even though his body was as tough as steel, a bone-revealing wound was formed on his body. An attack from a Great Swordsman, combined with the unique blade of the Octopus people, was definitely not the same as a tauren’s attack. The situations of the other dimensional humans were also similar. Although they were considered elites in the Seekers, they could only get beaten up by this griffin cavalry even if they were at their peak. Moreover, it was already a miracle to have one-third of their original combat power after being held and tortured for such a long time. How could they beat this griffin cavalry who were obviously out for their blood?!
They merely exchanged a single blow, and while Hyde barely remained on his feet, several other people were knocked off their feet. Noraba was severely injured, and as for the other five dimensional humans who had stayed to fend off the enemy, four were severely injured, and one was killed. He was beheaded with a single sword strike!
Hyde tried his best to help them, s.h.i.+elding all of them within his defense range. Now, there were 10 griffin calvary elites surrounding him!
There were countless streaks of terrifying Sword Qi flying towards them. Even if Hyde was alone, he might not be able to survive this, let alone protect everyone? Within an instant, his body was filled with countless sword injuries. His Heavenly Domination Runes was destroyed the moment it condensed. On the surface of his golden body, there were numerous holes, just like the surface of the moon. The situation was getting worse.
Fortunately, at the moment when he was about to be killed by the enemy’s heavy fire, a large wave of long-range attacks came flying at the enemy. Those injured people who had almost made it into the shrub forest came charging back.
They had yet to see the ‘legendary’ w.a.n.g Zhong and Mu Zi. Now, they only knew that their lives were saved by Hyde and Noraba. Not to mention those dimensional humans who were extremely united by their code of brotherhood, the people from the Federation, including Vladimir, etc., would never abandon them under such circ.u.mstances. Besides, where could they run to? Even though they had a slight head start, was it even possible for them to escape the griffin cavalry in the air?
Random attacks came flying over, many of which were mixed with a few Soul Domination abilities. For these Great Swordsmen, this kind of attack was sufficient to scare them away for the time being.
These 10 griffin riders who were surrounding Hyde immediately dispersed, and he got out of the situation for the time being.
“Die!”
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
“Kill all these motherf*ckers!”
No matter whether one was severely or minorly injured or whether one could still run or could only limp, every one of them came rus.h.i.+ng back wildly. At this moment, whether one had close relations or whether one was from the same exploration team no longer mattered; there was no room for selfishness now. Everyone was a human, and everyone was from the Holy City. Now, they were facing the same enemy, and all their lives were tied together. They could only stick together in life and death!
However, in this world, having a strong will didn’t mean that one could conquer everything. This group of wounded people seemed far from enough to deal with the griffin riders who seemed enraged.
The twenty or so griffin-cavalry elites split up. Seven or eight of them stayed to deal with Hyde while the others directly charged at the wounded. Those supposedly powerful attacks released by Heroic Souls couldn’t even scratch these Great Swordsmen due to their griffins’ agility. On the other hand, the enemy’s deadly Sword Qi ravaged them. It was only the first strike, but seven or eight people’s chest instantly split open, and blood splattered out. With that kind of injury, they should have been dead within seconds.
However, at this critical moment of life and death, the humiliation they suffered in the city these days and the pursuit of hope inspired everyone to toughen up.
Several dimensional humans who were about to die after getting slashed by the Sword Qi completely ignored the blood on their bodies and began to roar wildly. At the same time, they leaped into the air and directly detonated their Soul Seas. This was the final move of the Tyrants. Many of them chose to contribute even in the last moments of their life!
The Soul Seas of Heroics Souls were extremely powerful. The moment they exploded, it had the power of a huge bomb. Even the strong griffins and the Great Swordsman couldn’t withstand the powerful force. Several of the griffin cavalry who underestimated the humans and hovered at slightly lower heights were caught up in the explosions. The griffins cried out in pain and fell to the ground, while their blood splattered out. It was said that a dog would leap over a wall in desperation. The crazy behavior of the humans made the other griffin riders be on their guard, and all of them began to fly higher.
Did they still have a chance?
Everyone could sense the enemy’s apprehension, and their hopes were reignited. However, this misconception was completely shattered after a few seconds.
Immediately after that, a squad of about forty to fifty taurens began to rush out of the Shadow Moon Fortress. At the same time, a group of about ten griffin-cavalry elites began to charge towards them as well. In less than thirty seconds, they would all arrive at their location, and with the addition of these two new forces, the humans would surely meet their end.
The hope that was reignited by Hyde quickly dissipated. They had been so close to succeeding! Both w.a.n.g Zhong and Mu Zi had put their lives on the line for this, and everyone had successfully escaped from the Fortress. Who knew all of them would die here?!
They fell short of success at the last stage; it seemed that they were fated to die.
Hyde’s eyes revealed a hint of regret. Previously, when w.a.n.g Zhong discussed the plan with him, w.a.n.g Zhong once said that he should only save those who were still able to walk on their own. Although this was a little cruel to those who were injured, the possibility of everyone else escaping the place successfully could be greatly increased. At that time, Hyde had agreed to this and had mentally prepared himself to do it. However, when he arrived at the dungeon and saw his comrades-in-arms, he totally threw out this plan without even thinking about it. In the end, this became the reason for their deaths. If he had only rescued those people who could move freely on their own at that time, the time taken from the moat to the shrub forest would have been shortened from four to five minutes to two minutes and below. During this period of time, they would have escaped successfully without attracting the attention of the defenders at the city wall.
The timing decided their fates.
Hyde sighed to himself. He knew where he had gone wrong, but if he was allowed to choose one more time, to be honest, he couldn’t imagine how he would make such a decision within those few minutes in the dungeon.
It wasn’t just Hyde. Everyone else could see the current situation on their own.
There was no more hope!
Everyone, including all the wounded people, was now gathered together, and their eyes revealed despair as well as sorrow.
The present situation was now extremely obvious. Only death was awaiting everyone, but at least everyone still had the opportunity to choose their own deaths instead of staying in that terrible dungeon and being cruelly dissected by the Octopus people! This was probably the only comfort for everyone.