w.a.n.g Tong clapped his hands again and sent out another shockwave. This time, the shockwave was able to stagger even the high lever dark ones.
The Zergs inside the city were all very high in level: the Kamikaze Zergs, the Giant Zergs, and the Tank Zergs. In a few moments, they were able to gather themselves and continue their charge.
Yin Tianzong knew that the casters only had one shot, since the METAL warriors wouldn"t be able to hold the line for too long. Leading the METAL warriors, Yin Tianzong formed a human s.h.i.+eld in front of the casters.
"KILL!"
They couldn"t allow a single Zerg to pa.s.s. The success of their operation lay in the spell Guan Dongyang and Xiao Yuyu were preparing. Any disturbance to them would lead to failure, and failure meant death for all of them.
w.a.n.g Tong suddenly disappeared and reappeared right in front of Dunluo and blocked the Zerg lord"s path.
Dunluo was level twenty-two, so he was able to sense the immense power the spell was gathering. If the casters were able to unleash the spell, they would be able to destroy the entire city and all the Zergs in it.
He could not let it happen!
Dunluo shot hundreds of bone shards at w.a.n.g Tong. Meanwhile, his hands had transformed into two drills made out of flesh and bones as he shrieked with an ear-piercing voice.
The shockwaves were extremely taxing on w.a.n.g Tong"s soul energy due to the large area it had to cover. The potent power of the Zergs meant he needed to crank up his soul energy even further. After two of such high-intensity spells, w.a.n.g Tong looked pale. He didn"t bring Charcoal or Mr. Wannabe with him, and was all on his own.
If he couldn"t even pull this operation off, he would definitely fail while standing against Patroclus.
b.u.t.terfly Step!
w.a.n.g Tong"s power had made this common technique extremely effective. The Zergs that were charging toward w.a.n.g Tong were confused by the movements and were unable to locate his position.
w.a.n.g Tong punched at Dunluo with abandon. He knew he could not let the Zerg Lord reach the casters.
KOM!
The punch sent an explosion in the sky and the energy traveled through the air, whizzing toward Dunluo. Dunluo was taken aback by w.a.n.g Tong"s ability to attack with such belligerent force after nearly exhausting his soul energy.
KOM.
The Lord of Danube blocked the attack with both hands. The high-level dark ones such as Dunluo were capable of diverting all of his energy to one part of the body in order to strengthen the attack or defense. Hence, Dunluo was able to block the first attack; however, he didn"t know that there was a second, more powerful gush of energy immediately striking after the first. With his guard down, Dunluo was dealt a blow squarely in his chest. The force in the blow was so powerful that it tore his defense into pieces like a piece of paper.
KOM!
Dunluo"s body was shattered into hundreds of pieces, and his death rendered the other Zergs panicking. They paused their charge and looked toward the remains of their lord with fears in their eyes.
Seizing the opportunity, w.a.n.g Tong plunged himself into the group of Zergs on the ground.
"Everyone, PULL BACK!" Guan Dongyang"s voice boomed. He was in charge of the energy gathered from all the other casters. The power burnt like fire inside him, dancing in his eyes; his nickname had never been more fitting for him: the Lord of Fire. He was ready to pull the final trigger of the powerful spell.
Inferno h.e.l.l!
Guan Dongyang finally unleashed his full potential. Although he was as talented as Michaux, he had gotten the shorter end of the stick compared to the young master when it came down to education and guidance. Therefore, his talent was largely wasted until he met w.a.n.g Tong. The latter"s training had given him the key to the treasure cove of the mastery. By now, he could wield different natural energies and bend them to his will.
The hybrid mastery of the fire and wind, for example, had been further refined by Guan Dongyang: by giving the tornado attack a molten core, he was able to transform the elemental attribute of the attack completely.
The ultimate state of fire element attack was reached: the Infinite Scorch!
Infinite Fire, Infinite Heat, and Infinite Kills.
As the molten rocks and fire rained down on the Zergs, Guan Dongyang had finally become the one and only Fire Lord.
Since the spell was an area effect spell, the METAL warriors quickly pulled back to avoid friendly fire. Once unleashed, the fire attack would go out of control, and its damage was indifferent toward enemies or foes.
The Zergs were still unaware that doom was near, so they charged right into the fiery rain. However, they simply melted as soon as the deadly fire touched them. Before dying, they could only let out a wave of agonizing shrieks.
Yin Tianzong and Vorenus linked their GN force with the rest of the METAL warriors and created a GN s.h.i.+eld to protect them from the cinders and embers spit out by the storm. The flame was so powerful that they could not afford to lower their GN s.h.i.+eld.
After the first wave of the fiery downpour, the second wave quickly followed suit. Seeing the deadliness of the spell, most Zergs started to find shelter instead of charging blindly into the fire rain.
Amidst the fire and smoke, a dark shadow moved about from one dark one to another, killing them in one blow.
The fire seemed to have no effect on the shadowy individual. In a blink, another dark one"s head was twisted off its shoulder.
After successfully releasing the spell, the mastery casters collapsed to the ground. This was the first time they had partaken in such an exhausting spell. Overtaken by stress, they had given all of their soul energy to Guan Dongyang. Although the Inferno h.e.l.l was deadly, only the dark ones that were situated right in the center of the storm were eliminated. The firestorm was only able to injure or hamper the moments of those away from the center.
However, despite the exhaustion, determination glinted in the caster"s eyes. They saw hope in that dark shadow who was busy harvesting the lives of the dark ones while being completely unharmed by the fire attacks constantly raining on him.
The figure was w.a.n.g Tong, and he was their last hope.
w.a.n.g Tong had unleashed three waves of "soul energy saw" in a row. His face was hard like a rock, expression cold as ice. Using the most effective and direct moves, he finished the lives of the dark ones with incredible efficiency. Slowly, the fire around him died down.
Seeing that there were still a few dark ones who had survived the onslaught, w.a.n.g Tong knew that the human warriors should strike now while the dark ones were still weakened by the fire.
w.a.n.g Tong threw back his head and shouted a command, "CHARGE!"
The voice carried tremendous soul energy and frightened the remaining Zergs. They looked in his direction skittishly. Another swell of shouts rose from the other side of the battlefield. w.a.n.g Tong"s warriors had answered his call! Sandwiched in the middle, the Zergs panicked as they were not sure where to run.
Yin Tianzong"s hard face carried a great measure of aplomb. As he channeled more soul energy into his blade, he attacked. Duo Lun and Tan Bu charged at the enemy with the same ferocity as a hungry lion out of a cage. The ugly and mean Zergs looked more like sheep waiting to be munched down right now.
KILL! KILL! KILL!
At this moment, the warriors were no longer humans; instead, they were Zerg killing machines.
The battlefield quickly turned into a slaughterhouse. Even the mastery casters joined the onslaught after a very brief respite. One more Zerg killed was one less trouble to worry about for the people in the human world.
The Warriors used their actions to teach the Zergs a hard truth: they were not the only bloodthirsty race in the universe.
Two hours later, the clamor of the war finally quieted down. On the torched ground and amidst the dark smoke and smell of tar, only human shapes could be seen. This borderland city nestled safely behind the front line, a haven for Zerg production, was reduced to ashes.
"Duo Lun, Tan Bu, search for the Queen immediately."
"Roger!"
"Bu Zhihuo, we need more supplies."
"Valentin, set the detonator."
w.a.n.g Tong issued a series of commands. They need to completely raze the city to hamper the Zerg"s production capability. After their final victory, the humans could spend the time to rebuild the city.
Thanks to the dark one"s appreciation for human city design, the warriors knew the queen, the most valuable a.s.set of the city, would be housed at the very center of the city. It didn"t take long before they spotted the blob of undulating ma.s.s that the Zergs called the Queen. Even now, the ugly worm still industriously lay eggs from a dozen holes on her body at an alarming speed. The wet and icky eggs piled on top of each other; the scene was nightmare inducing.
Ten minutes later, with a series of explosions, this grotesque city along with its morbid queen disappeared in the sea of flames.
While w.a.n.g Tong was making progress behind the enemy lines, the Zergs had waged a large scale battle at the human defense. After one day of unwavering resistance, the humans" defense was finally breached, and it forced Lie Jian to order a retreat. He knew his decision meant a huge blow to the morale; however, being outnumbered ten to one, Lie Jian had to preserve the strength of the human resistance and make the strategic retreat.
Both Kaedeians and Zambrotta had also joined the battlefield. Despite their aggressive pushback, they were not able to change the tide of the battle.
As the Zergs poured in through the defense breach, the human forces, mostly comprising of soldiers from House Lie and the Sect, started to pull back. Einherjar Lie Jintian was not only a powerful warrior, but also a brilliant commander and strategist. He knew that Mars was the last hope for the human race, and therefore, he couldn"t waste his soldiers on a frontal confrontation with the vastly superior Zerg main force. He needed to preserve the lives of the remaining soldiers and lure the Zergs deep into human territory, then divert their attention and destroy the Zerg force while they were separated. The Zergs were fighting far from their home base; sooner or later, they would be exhausted. In addition, in order to cover the large area behind the front line, the Zergs would have to separate their forces, creating an opportunity for the humans to strike back.
However, the retreat meant a complete devastation for the people who lived near the front line. In one day, a few cities and a dozen settlements were razed to the ground.
The major factions who held large cities started placating their panicking citizens while drafting more young and bale hands into the force. Meanwhile, inside the commander"s office of the Mars"s united front...
"General, we have retreated for more than fifty kilometers. There have been a few more breaches lately."
"We can"t save everyone."
"The Zergs had attacked us by surprise. I am—"
"By surprise? As the chief intelligence officer, you have to be held responsible for your incompetence!" Lie Jian cut Lunduoer short.
"But...I..." Lunduoer panicked and couldn"t find any words in his mouth. He didn"t think that Lie Jian would be the first to jump at him. Lie Jian was his boss, so in part, it was his fault as well. It seemed that Lie Jian wanted to silence Lunduoer and use him as a scapegoat.