Chapter 565: Chapter 565. Racing to the Tower
The metal-clad figures were battle puppets. These puppets assaulted the two nearby Khode soldiers without warning. The two soldiers were unprepared to be ganged up on by so many puppets. They fell in no time.
More battle puppets emerged from the fog. The first thing they did was destroy the two closest rods with the glowing orbs. Those rods maintained the barrier dome. When they were destroyed, the barrier lost a small section where the two rods were.
The battle puppets then spread all over the city, but a large portion went to the city’s Western gate. The soldiers stationed at that gate stared at the incoming horde without knowing what to do. One of them finally sounded the alarm.
As they waited nervously for the battle puppets to arrive, one soldier ran toward them from the other side. He yelled, "The radar detects someone approaching the wall a hundred meters South of here! Hurry and check it out!"
One of the soldiers guarding the gate turned to him and yelled back, "You are too fucking late!!"
The battle puppets descended on them.
*
The battle puppets came from Amon’s black space ring. They were the twenty-thousand high-tier engraved battle puppets still operable after the operation to exterminate the rebels. Amon released them once he made a hole in the barrier.
After the battle puppets destroyed the two nearest barrier rods, he shouted, "Now...!!!"
Gao Xingzi instructed her Yao Bird to stop spewing its black fog after receiving Amon’s signal. The Yao Bird reversed its action and started devouring the fog. The fog slowly cleared.
Xin Wuming and everyone with cultivation at the Martial Realm flew and charged into the fog. Only Yong Baili was left to command the Human Realm soldiers.
"To the gate!!" Yong Baili shouted the order. By now, stealth was no longer necessary. The alarm was blaring all over the city.
The soldiers removed their black cloaks and bellowed a war cry. They followed Yong Baili and rushed toward the gate.
With the fog clearing up, the flying Martial Realm soldiers could see a big missing section within the flashing barrier above the wall. Amon was standing beside this opening. Everyone flew in through the opening.
"Go!" Amon commanded as the first soldiers trickled in. "Our target is that tower!"
He was pointing at the tallest structure at the peak of the city. The tower was also Bright Rock City’s city hall. Everyone flew toward the tower, following the battle puppets already moving ahead on the ground.
Wu Di landed beside Amon instead of following the rest. He looked at the barrier’s missing section inquisitively before asking Amon, "How did you breach the barrier so quickly? This barrier doesn’t appear to be that weak."
Instead of answering, Amon repeated his command, "Assault that tower. Do you want our ally to lose more men because you waste time chatting here?"
"Tch, aye aye, Boss!" Wu Di uttered and flew away.
Gao Xingzi flew in with her Yao Bird. There was still black fog outside, but the Yao Bird didn’t bother to clean everything up. It only cleaned the area directly in front of the barrier’s missing section.
Amon called her. He climbed atop the Yao Bird and told her to go to the tower. By then, the battle puppets had already dispatched the soldiers guarding the Western Gate. Together with the soldiers outside, they broke the gate. Human Realm soldiers started pouring into the city.
Yong Baili had also been briefed about their target. He directed the soldiers to charge in the tower’s direction.
Khode still had a substantial number of soldiers inside the city. The bulk of their army battling outside consisted of the controlled civilians. Only their Martial Realm soldiers went outside to fight Jiang Tong’s army. Most Human Realm soldiers were on standby at the Eastern side of the city, in case the army outside needed aid. These soldiers were now aware that the enemy had infiltrated the city from their rear. They now rushed over to meet the enemy.
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Xuang Feng was fighting Jiang Tong, supported by his many followers. Jiang Tong had charged ahead of his army. He put himself in harm’s way to take the enemy’s attention and to destroy as many of the controlled civilians as possible.
Before the battle, Jiang Tong told his troops to have the resolution not to be concerned with the mind-controlled civilians. They should consider those people already dead. It was cruel, but that was better than having his soldiers hesitate and end up losing their lives.
The Echos Army fared better in maintaining their battle formation compared to the first battle. However, they didn’t fare better overall. This was because the enemy size was much larger than in the previous battle. Though they had already adjusted their tactic to endure the enemy’s suicide explosions, the enemy was unending.
The defensive arts of the front-line soldiers did not make them invincible. They would still go down if they received repeated blasts. To make matters worse, the enemy slowly surrounded them using its massive numbers. If they were surrounded, it would be difficult for them to maintain their defensive line.
Echos’ Martial Realm soldiers tried their best to cull the enemy’s number from the sky, but there were just too many.
"Give it up, General Jiang Tong!" Xuang Feng taunted. "Bright Rock City is already ours. You will only throw your soldiers’ lives away by insisting on this assault. Retreat and tell your king that if he wishes this city back, he must do it by diplomacy."
"How about this for diplomacy?" The silver axe Jiang Tong was holding in his right hand turned into a large spinning saw. He threw this saw, and it revolved around his body. It cut all the controlled civilians around him.
"Do you care not for your fellow countrymen? How could you mow them down without any hint of remorse?" Xuang Feng said. He activated a talisman that summoned a stream of sharp rocks that fell on Jiang Tong.
"Fuck you! Their deaths are your fault. I’m not that foolish to let you make me feel guilty," Jiang Tong said. He let the rocks batter his body as he rushed toward Xuang Feng.
None of the rocks could pierce his silver skin. However, it turned out the rocks conjured by Xuang Feng’s talisman were not that simple. After hitting his body, the rocks turned into sticky mud and clung to him. His body was soon covered with mud. This mud not only hindered his movements but also pulled his body to the ground. He felt like his weight had multiplied a great deal.
"This is our chance. Restrain him!" Xuang Feng told his comrades. Before they could carry out the order, they were distracted by a loud alarm from the city. They all looked back at the city with concerned expressions, including Xuang Feng.
Jiang Tong didn’t let this chance go. The weapon in his left hand transformed into a javelin. While he had difficulty moving his entire body, moving only his left arm was still manageable. He threw the silver javelin toward Xuang Feng.
"Uncle, look out!!" Xuang Chao exclaimed. He managed to reach Xuang Feng and push him, just as the javelin arrived.
The silver javelin grazed Xuang Feng’s arm. He looked at the bloody cut in his arm, but his mind was currently occupied by a far more important issue.
He turned to Jiang Tong and asked, "Is this your side’s doing?"
Jiang Tong replied to him with a silent grin.
"Everyone! Return to base!" Xuang Feng commanded.
"No one leave!!!" Jiang Tong exclaimed. He had been gathering his aether. He released it in a massive explosion. The mud that stuck to his body was blown apart.
He shot into the sky as the silver saw and javelin returned to his hands. They transformed into a pair of long claws.
"Back!" Xuang Feng pulled Xuang Chao away while activating a talisman in his other hand. An energy shield appeared, blocking Jiang Tong’s incoming claws.
The energy shield shattered from Jiang Tong’s attack, but it stopped him long enough to let Xuang Feng and Xuang Chao retreat. The two flew back with half of Khode’s Martial Realm soldiers. The other half blocked Jiang Tong’s path, aided by Xuang Feng’s mid-tier runic battle puppet.
"Cowards! Come back and face me!!" Jiang Tong taunted. He grabbed the battle puppet with his left hand and lodged his right claw into the junction between the puppet’s shoulder and arm. He performed a downward throw while twisting his claw. The puppet’s arm was torn apart. Its body followed the throwing momentum, and it crashed into the ground below.
Jiang Tong then turned into a twister, while the claws in his hands transformed into whips with sharp edges. The nearest enemies were cut to pieces.
The other Khode soldiers didn’t retreat from such a fierce display. They were willing to sacrifice themselves to stop Jiang Tong’s advance, allowing Xuang Feng to return to the city.
Khode soldiers on the wall noticed Xuang Feng’s approach. They operated one of the rods with glowing orbs. A gap opened in the barrier dome, allowing Xuang Feng and the others to enter.
"What happened?" Xuang Feng asked one of the soldiers stationed there.
"General, a large number of enemies infiltrated the city from the Western side. We don’t know how they managed that. Our reserve troops have gone to engage the enemy."
"Everyone aside from those manning the Yuanxu Cannons, come with me!" Xuang Feng ordered. "We must protect the city hall. Do not let the enemies enter!!"