Chapter 502. Disarray (4)
Around the time when the Seven Stars led the main army straight through the enemy’s forces and were in the midst of a fierce battle, the rear, led by the demons on the expeditionary force’s side, were also in a ferocious battle. In a way, the pressure at the rear was greater than at the front because unlike the front, who were dealing with only the enemies before them, the rear had to deal with enemies from both the left and the right at the same time. Therefore, they had no place to withdraw to. While they knew they shouldn’t falter, they couldn’t help but stagger a few steps back.
“Raise your s.h.i.+elds properly! If this area is breached, it’s over for us as well as for the front! Hold out with all your might!” Astarte shouted at the top of her lungs and kicked the demons who were inching to retreat in the back. It was a life saver that Chi-Woo had sent some of the Seven Stars, including Ru Amuh, to the rear. If it weren’t for them, the rear would have already been swept away without a trace from the dense waves of enemies coming their way.
Meanwhile, the enemies had already gotten close despite their strong resistance. The forces of the Abyss and the main force of the Ca.s.siubian League, reinforced by the Sernitas’ information, radiated a terrifying aura of intimidation to those facing them.
Bam, bam! The Shalyh’s expeditionary forces shuddered as the enemy’s stomps shook the whole earth.
“They’re coming!” At Astarte’s cry, the demons at the front gulped and raised their s.h.i.+elds with both hands. 200 meters…100 meters…50 meters… The distance decreased by the second, and soon, the enemies were right in front of them. But at that moment—
“Freeze—!” Eshnunna’s fierce cry suddenly broke out. Immediately afterward, the land, which had been turning into a swamp, froze at once. As a result, ice emerged everywhere and caught the enemies’ feet. Since their enemies had been rus.h.i.+ng toward them at full speed, the chaos that unfolded was only a natural order of events. A ma.s.sive number of enemies stumbled and rolled on the ground, and then those who followed behind closely tripped and also fell and b.u.mped into each other. They got tangled, stepped on each other, and rolled over the ice toward them. Meanwhile, Shalyh’s demons put their weight on the s.h.i.+elds they were holding.
Bam, bam, bam! There were violent collisions everywhere, shortly followed by the moans of the demons. However, there was no time for them to dwell on the pain. The demons in the second row supported their comrades in the first row with all their strength so that they wouldn"t be pushed back.
“Pierce them!” At Astarte’s cry, the demons in the third row thrust their long spears down. Through the gaps between the s.h.i.+elds, they steadily pierced each enemy one by one. Every time an enemy slipped and struggled, a series of spears would bury into their bodies. The more they pierced, the more bodies piled up, creating a wall-like barrier. As if a game of tug-of-war was taking place around the wall, they fiercely fought and defended against their enemies.
However, they could only hold out for a brief moment. There were too many of them. The constantly surging enemies began to step over the wall of corpses like a ladder. They pushed forward with quant.i.ty and rushed toward them. Although it was a simple and crude method, there was nothing more effective than using the power of numbers. As a result, the first row of demons, which seemed like they would be able to hold out for a bit, began to slowly falter.
Furthermore, Hawa, who had been shooting arrows nonstop, suddenly s.h.i.+fted her eyes when she saw a shadow fall over them. Then with a loud bang, one of the piles of bodies that was growing from a wall to a hill collapsed at once. From the pile emerged a monster boasting an enormous body—it was the Abyss’ monster. Moreover, it was joined by many more. Each of the ma.s.sive monsters let out a ferocious roar and arrived one after another. Huffing, they stomped on the ground and lifted their front feet as soon as they arrived. At this rate, it was inevitable that the battle line would be destroyed or crushed. Hawa fired an arrow reflexively, and several people raised their spears, but it was futile.
The monsters weren’t fazed in the least and continued to slam their front feet down. Soon, there was a tremendous tremor. Certain that their bodies would explode, the demons squeezed their eyes shut, but then their expression turned puzzled. It was less painful than they thought it would be. When they cautiously opened their eyes, they saw a half transparent barrier in front of them; it was ma.s.sive enough to cover the entire left and right wings, and no matter how much the monsters slammed against it, the s.h.i.+eld did not budge.
Of course, Evelyn was not exactly fine, considering the ma.s.sive scale of the barrier. A drop of blood trickled down from her mouth, and she pressed her lips tightly together to prevent more blood from flowing out. In an instant, the spears of light created in the air poured out like rain, penetrating the monsters and turning them into hedgehogs, and they collapsed with painful screams. Evelyn hurriedly withdrew the protective s.h.i.+eld after knocking down all the monsters that were threatening the battle lines. Given its wide range, it was too burdensome for her to keep holding it up. She thought they might be able to take a breather after putting out the most urgent fire, but she was sorely mistaken.
There were still numerous enemies. They ran over the mountain of monster corpses, where they collapsed and rushed toward Shalyh’s forces with no care for their lives. Moreover, if Evelyn wasn’t just seeing things, the monsters she had knocked down were starting to come back alive one by one. They were not resurrected, but combined to create new monsters with stronger energy than before. Evelyn scowled. At this rate, they wouldn’t be able to last long even though they need to buy more time.
“There are too many enemies!” Hawa saw the frontlines slowly get pushed back and shouted at the top of her lungs.
Evelyn’s face stiffened, and she called out to Eshnunna and said, “We can’t let things be. We originally developed it to deal with the Sernitas main body, but…let’s use it now.”
“What? But Master, that’s…” Although Eshnunna showed reluctance, Evelyn’s will was firm. When Evelyn urged her on, saying ‘Quickly!’, Eshnunna chewed her lower lip and nodded.
“Master, I need some time.”
“Don’t worry about it. Hurry!”
Eshnunna ran quickly and found Apoline. It was not difficult to persuade her as Apoline also clearly felt the limits of her firepower. Enemies that burned easily at first gradually developed resistance, and they relentlessly pushed forward even while their bodies were on fire. She needed more, much more firepower. Thus, Apoline accepted Eshnunna’s offer right away.
Evelyn, Eshnunna, and Apoline decided to carry out the special technique that they had developed shortly after the war against the Abyss. Although it was still incomplete, its firepower was unrivaled. Soon, flames burned in Apoline’s hands, and ice bloomed with cold air from Eshnunna’s. The more spells the two women cast, the more intense the energy formed in their respective hands quickly became.
Meanwhile, the front was facing a series of crises. Their enemies showed no signs of diminis.h.i.+ng. The more their enemies pushed, the more their defense line cracked. The dispatched Seven Stars ran around to provide support, but it was impossible to cover all the battlelines. Some areas were on the verge of collapsing because they couldn’t hold out, but—
“Hurry up and shoot! I said shoot!” In the end, they succeeded in holding out again as Yeriel, who was protecting the front, sensed the danger in the rear and turned the cannon to wipe out a considerable number of enemies at the back. Thanks to her support, the front of the rear was able to hold out once again.
During this precious time they bought, a tremendous echo vibrated the whole area at the back. On one side, there was a fire reminiscent of h.e.l.l, and on the other side, there was an ice cap that seemed to freeze even the sky. Then, the two polar-opposite energies collided. Yet it was quiet as a white barrier had surrounded the two energies just before the collision. While fire and ice clashed like crazy, the round barrier trapping them quickly became smaller and smaller, compressing the clas.h.i.+ng energies and making them more violent and chaotic.
Completely soaked in sweat, Apoline and Eshnunna shook like an aspen tree. Sweat also rained down Evelyn’s forehead as she contained both energies. When the white, round barrier shrunk to the size of a soccer ball, Apoline and Eshnunna weren’t able to endure it any longer and staggered back. At the same time, Evelyn swung toward the direction of the enemies with all her might. The white sphere flew across the air, and cracks formed in an instant.
Flas.h.!.+ The whole area was enveloped in a white light, and everyone was blinded for a moment. The demons standing against the enemies at the front really thought that the sun had suddenly exploded. Since the explosive collision of two polar opposite energies was suppressed and condensed repeatedly and then detonated at once, a destructive force beyond imagination struck the battlefield. It more than shook the ground this time.
Duduududuudu! The ground cracked and shook as if there was an earthquake, and the sky howled. A tremendous wave of light and energy was momentarily ejected and dyed the earth red. The swamp was transformed into a lava-flowing volcanic area with pillars of flames erupting everywhere, and wind with blazing heat like solar winds swept through the battlefield. It felt as if they were standing in the middle of the sun; that was how ridiculous this phenomenon was. The attack was so powerful that even their allies were about to be swept in, but Evelyn used all her strength to create a protective barrier that barely managed to block it.
When the astounding explosion ended, and the flesh-melting heat subsided a little, a demon slowly raised their eyes and gaped in shock. The dizzying mess of enemies and corpses that filled their vision had cleared up, and the pile of corpses had been burned down along with the tides of enemies cras.h.i.+ng toward them. Furthermore, it seemed as if their enemies were struggling to revive as the whole area had become a lava zone; their flesh were burned to ashes as soon as they regenerated.
A large number of the expeditionary force began to cheer. Apoline and Eshnunna, who were sprawled on the ground and breathing hard, smiled slightly when they heard the shouts of their allies. It was too early to celebrate, but it seemed that their skill had shown the expected effect. Yeah, that was how it should be. The three had gathered their heads together and stayed up all night for multiple days to create this move. No matter how great the Sernitas were, they wouldn’t be able to immediately respond to this new skill unless they were a species that could survive in a sun-like environment.
It was then the constant shouts suddenly stopped. Apoline and Eshnunna blinked and raised their heads with difficulty, and their faces soon distorted in astonishment. Evelyn also slightly gaped. They couldn’t help it because they saw new enemy soldiers rise up from where the earlier soldiers had disappeared. They all stood up simultaneously, letting out sparks and covered in red lava.
“No…way…” Evelyn shook her head in disbelief. She hadn’t forgotten about the Sernitas’ phenomenal ability to regenerate, so she had made this skill with the other two with this in mind. If their enemies were at the level of the ones they had faced at the Sky Castle during the great war, their attack just now should have caused the Sernitas serious damage. However, seeing that they recovered this easily…it was clear that something significant had happened to the Sernitas in the meantime, something so out of the norm that Evelyn couldn’t even imagine it. In the end, nothing had changed. Although they took out a secret weapon, they only earned a short reprieve, and it was unclear how much of these short moments they could earn from now on.
It was the same for Ru Amuh. Ru Amuh glanced back at the enemies springing up everywhere. Was it because of the impact of the attack just now? He saw that the Sernitas’ main body had shrunk sharply again. It was clearly different from when it first appeared. How was this phenomenon related to the reduction of the Sernitas’ body? Ru Amuh had many questions, but he forced himself to shake off any miscellaneous thoughts. The important thing now was to carry out his teacher’s orders without making any mistakes.
‘We need to hold out.’ Ru Amuh gripped the hilt and raised his sword with a determined face. ‘We have to.’ Then he swung his sword toward the newly sprung Abyss King, who had already fallen once, without hesitation.