The appearance of these crawlers also changed, making them look more like beasts overall, but their heads remained inverted, and a row of sharp spines grew on their backs.
"This guy actually evolved, developing spines for defense at its weak points? How interesting!"
Zhang Chen said with a smile.
"Crawlers? Do you mean Spine Rippers?"
"These guys have high defense, and their claws are extremely sharp, capable of easily tearing through alloy!"
"Ordinary armor is as fragile as paper in front of its claws!"
Tang Xueyao's expression changed slightly upon seeing the Spine Rippers.
The sight of Soul-Lost scattered across the mountainside, coupled with the surging Spine Rippers, struck terror into the hearts of the people.
Some delivery teams turned tail and fled immediately!
"Hey, don't go, wait for us, we also need to return to the city, we're not doing this mission anymore!"
"Retreat, quick retreat, only those in the Hua Ling realm or above can possibly kill Spine Rippers, we'll be cannon fodder!"
"Don't shout, the noise will attract the Soul-Lost, you idiots!"
"Quick, break out to the south, avoid the Spine Rippers..."
The scene descended into chaos instantly.
The delivery teams that had been so spirited when they left home were now in disarray.
If everyone had united and broken out in the same direction, there would have been casualties, but at least half would have survived.
But now, everyone was only concerned with their own survival, and the team immediately became a scattered mess.
In such a state, not only was breaking out impossible, but survival itself would be difficult.
"I will never retreat, I must make the True God Sect a respected sect in the eyes of others, my actions represent the True God Sect!"
"Long live the True God!"
Tang Xueyao shouted loudly, raising her Thousand Bone Blade high.
"The cultists are crazy again!"
"Let her go die and draw fire, let's escape quickly!"
At this moment, the energy from the interference arrows was weakening, the noise produced by the bells was rapidly decreasing, and some interference arrows had even stopped interfering.
"Ugh..."
"Roar..."
The Soul-Lost, having lost their interference, slowly turned around and noticed the delivery teams breaking out.
In an instant, they seemed to go mad, letting out strange cries and charging forward at a hundred-fold speed.
"The Soul-Lost are coming, everyone prepare to fight!"
"Volley fire!"
"Earth-Splitting Slash!"
"Triple Thrust!"
"Strangler!"
The members of the delivery teams immediately unleashed their ultimate moves.
Arrows, sword energy, weapons, energy attacks – a dazzling array of attacks rained down on the surrounding Soul-Lost.
The Soul-Lost fell in waves, but more surged forward.
Soul-Lost from afar were also gathering towards the battlefield, their numbers growing. Even those that had been headbutting the gates turned around slowly and joined the assault.
"Damn it, these city guards are running faster than anyone. Returning to the city is impossible now, let's continue to break out!"
Someone shouted.
The battlefield was in such chaos that it was impossible to tell which direction to go.
Everywhere were the terrifying cries of the Soul-Lost, their pale arms, and vacant expressions, along with the moans of injured members of their own delivery teams.
At this moment, the Spine Rippers had reached them.
These creatures charged into the crowd like wolves entering a flock of sheep, their claws easily tearing through the survivors' armor, weapons, and bodies.
Blood mixed with internal organs scattered all over the ground.
The strong smell of blood instantly filled the air, further exciting the surrounding Soul-Lost.
*Clang!*
A Spine Ripper lunged at Tang Xueyao, its claws slashing fiercely, but was blocked by Tang Xueyao's Thousand Bone Blade.
"The Thousand Bone Blade is intact?!"
Tang Xueyao rejoiced, having thought she was doomed.
"This Thousand Bone Blade is made from the claws of crawlers... that is, Spine Rippers. I also injected energy to reinforce it."
"So their claws cannot break through this weapon. Instead, you can use this weapon to easily slay them!"
"Be aware, their weak point is their spine!"
Zhang Chen reminded from the side.
"Understood, True God!"
Tang Xueyao swung the Thousand Bone Blade, parrying a sneak attack from a Spine Ripper, then lunged forward and struck its spine fiercely.
*Slash!*
Green blood instantly spurted out, and the Spine Ripper let out a pained cry before dying.
A surge of energy slowly detached from its body and flowed into Tang Xueyao.
"So this is how humans absorb energy now. By killing targets, they can seize the energy. That's quite convenient!"
Zhang Chen nodded in approval.
"Look quickly, the city gate is open! We have hope of retreating!"
Someone suddenly shouted loudly.
Now that they had attracted the attention of the Soul-Lost, they no longer cared about shouting.
"Did the guards finally have a change of heart?"
"Hmph, we are few of the remaining combat forces within the city. If we all perish, there will be no one left to deliver messages!"
"It seems the City Lord is sensible enough to know that keeping us alive means preserving strength!"
"Given how understanding he is, I might consider asking for less compensation, after all, my brother's life is also a life, and it cannot be wasted!"
"However, we are surrounded and can't move, making it impossible to get close to the city wall!"
Everyone said this while fighting hard.
At this moment, a team of Swift Beast Cavalry emerged from the city gate.
Leading them was the captain of the West Gate guards, a practitioner at the fifth level of the Imperial Guard realm.
He took the lead, his axe cleaving the heads of four or five zombies, and then rapidly advanced.
The dozens of cavalrymen behind him followed closely, using the cover of archers on the city wall to bypass the besieged messenger team and break out towards the distance...
"What's going on? Weren't they supposed to save us? Why are they leaving?!"
"It's bad, we've fallen into a trap! The City Lord tricked us!"
"He offered a reward of five hundred thousand just to make us cannon fodder, attract the attention of the Soul-Lost outside the city, and then his own men could break out!"
"With the strength of this city gate captain, he shouldn't be afraid of these Soul-Lost, but rather the Spine Rippers. We are the bait, used to draw the fire!"
"Damn it, the City Lord is too ruthless, drawing a false fifty thousand to lure us into coming here with our lives."
"Even if I become a Soul-Lost, I won't let this black-hearted fat pig off! Argh!~"
Seeing the city defense team bypass them and charge into the distance, the morale of the messenger team plummeted to the lowest point, and more people were devoured by the Soul-Lost...
"I will not die, nor will I lose, what the City Lord promised must be kept!"
Tang Xueyao, with strength she didn't know she had, suddenly charged forward, her Thousand Bone Blade flashing up and down, cutting the surrounding Soul-Lost into pieces.
*Hum!*
An energy beam shot out, directly striking a soldier off his Swift Beast in the distance.
Subsequently, Tang Xueyao, as if injected with adrenaline, sprinted forward and quickly mounted the Swift Beast, chasing after the cavalry in the distance.