The Creators: From Night City

Page 345

Under the massive spiked clubs of the Fallen warriors and the sharp teeth of the hellhounds, it and its companions charged once again toward the towering wooden fence before them.

But strangely, the deadly arrows did not fall from the sky this time, pinning it to the ground like its previous companions. It was as if the people behind the wall had all retreated, leaving no trace.

Its brain wasn't big enough to support it thinking any further, and instinct drove it to wiggle its short legs and rush quickly toward the fence.

But just as it raised its bloodstained scimitar, intending to take a few quick steps and hack at the fence to vent its restless, murderous urges, the wooden wall in front of it suddenly collapsed and crashed down on them.

The impact of the six- or seven-meter-high log was like a mountain collapsing for a Fallen Demon of this size. Pupaba's four companions were instantly crushed under the log, turning into several piles of minced meat. The other Fallen Demon was only half-pressed down, and he immediately burst like a balloon, his internal organs splattering all over Pupaba's head and face.

It stuck out its tongue and tasted it; it was salty and had a slightly fishy, ​​foul smell, like freshly rotting human flesh.

"That kid must have been sneaking food again," Pubaba thought to himself.

"For the Black King!"

A strange roar rang in its ears, and a metal giant burst out of the gap. He was so tall that he didn't even notice Pubaba and kicked him directly.

Before following in the footsteps of its companion, the Fallen howled and swung its scimitar, successfully leaving a slash on its opponent's toe.

[Maned Horse, be careful of the enemy's weapons. They're strange. That little imp called 'Fallen Demon' was able to penetrate your armor's outer layer with its attack.]

In the newly set-up combat command center, the Edos-like figure responsible for monitoring the data gave a reminder.

But the mane horse had no time to reply; it was busy slaughtering its way through the enemy ranks.

Each swing of the Arbiter's blade sent a trail of blood and gore through the air. The maned horse had never seen such a valiant creature. The burly Fallen warriors, wielding spiked clubs, leaped at him, slashing recklessly, completely disregarding the fact that they were exposing themselves to the sharp blades. The hellhound it led also opened its mouth and frantically tore at the Arbiter's shinbones, utterly ignoring the hard, cold steel beneath its jaws.

The Fallen warrior was cleaved in two mid-air, while the vicious dog was kicked into a dead dog on the roadside. But more Fallen and more vicious dogs instantly surrounded and overwhelmed the horse that had led the charge.

The leg armor was the first to break, and the armor, which was strong enough to withstand the fire of a heavy machine gun, had a layer of steel scraped off by the teeth of the hellhound. The spiked wooden club that struck the shield was unexpectedly hard and powerful.

The horse could even sense the shield undergoing subtle dents and deformations.

Fortunately, his weapon was equally effective against them. Although these demons' bodies looked as hard as those metal vehicles, his battle blade was more than enough to handle them.

A barrage of arrows rained down. Aside from those blocked by his shield, a small number of arrows managed to penetrate his armor only slightly. Although a depth of one centimeter was barely a scratch on his seven-centimeter-thick armor, the fact that arrows could pierce through steel was noteworthy in itself.

The javelins that followed were firmly embedded in the shield he was holding. These javelins were powerful and heavy, each one no less powerful than a high-explosive armor-piercing shell.

Just as a Dark Rogue leader gathered his magic, preparing to throw a second javelin, the roar of an explosive bomb came from behind the horse.

Even though Rogge was corrupted, it didn't change the fact that she was a fragile marksman. The accurately delivered bomb blasted her face, leaving her with disfigured features.

She tried to dodge the continuing bombs by sidestepping, but she completely overestimated her strength and underestimated the density of the bombs.

After the Slayer who rushed out from the gap in the wall steadied himself, he unleashed a barrage of firepower. Although the Dark Rogue elite managed to dodge the first incoming bomb with his experience, he was immediately overwhelmed by the barrage of bombs that followed.

Chapter 705 Beyond Visual Range Strike

In the midst of the violent explosion, black magic flashed across her body, forming a thin magical barrier in a last-ditch effort to resist the attack. However, this barrier was quickly destroyed by the overwhelming firepower. Amidst the flying shrapnel, a pale leg was blasted off, spinning and slamming into the head of another Dark Rogue wielding a spear, but it did nothing to slow down the speed of the opponent's spear charge.

This is clearly a highly sophisticated technique for applying magic.

Along with this dark rogue, four other spear-wielding rogues charged forward. Their legs were wrapped in ominous black magic, and their bodies moved like figure skaters speeding on ice, rushing towards the continuously firing [Slayer] at four or five times the normal speed.

The spear tip was constantly emanating dense dark magic power; if this attack were to hit, it would probably pierce even steel.

Unfortunately, the assault team was cut down halfway by Mane Horse, who had switched to providing cover. Two of them were killed by Mane Horse. Before the remaining three could get close, they were blocked by several Black King Apostles who emerged from behind the Slayer. The apostles joined forces to launch the Aard Sign, using telekinesis to knock the enemy off balance, and then bombarded them with a barrage of explosives.

The advantages of combined arms operations are fully demonstrated.

The long-range [Slayers] provide fire support, while mid-range enemies and attackers are concealed. Other agile and smaller individual soldiers are dealt with by the 'Black King's Apostles'.

This happened all along the entire front, and all the demons who dared to launch a surprise attack were mercilessly killed by the combined efforts of the crowd and the Rogs's cold arrows.

However, the demons were not to be trifled with. Their attacks inflicted varying degrees of injury on several 'Black King Apostles', and one 'Slayer' even had his weapon destroyed by a barrage of spears fired from a distance by several Dark Rogues.

The Palicoes had already carried stretchers out of the Rogue Encampment through the gap, prioritizing the rescue of the wounded by following the RIG warning beacons on their goggles.

However, these demons were not the main force of the Burning Hells. Their first wave of attacks was quickly thwarted. The 'Apostles' used explosives and swords, courage and blood to clear a wide, bloody no-man's-land in front of the Rogue Encampment. The fleeing demons were often reduced to corpses by dense heavy explosives and heavy electromagnetic sniper rifle bullets after only two steps.

The ever-growing Blood Raven nests became easy targets for the 'Apostles' marksmen, while the swarms of Blood Ravens became the perfect test subjects for the anti-aircraft firepower network set up by the support troops.

Six minutes into the battle, the momentum had completely shifted to [Anti-Entropy].

Compared to the close-quarters combat of cold weapons, distance is the true friend of the 'Apostle' legion, which fights with firearms and other firearms.

The demons' offensive ceased, but the 'Apostles' offensive had only just begun. A large number of explosive bombs began to accurately fire at the demons in the distance, and the fire and dust kicked up by the explosions completely obscured the demons' positions.

The Demon Overlord was completely stunned by the new tactics of [Anti-Entropy] and could only order his army to retreat out of the firing range of the 'Apostles' and reconsider his strategy.

Of course, such a fierce attack did not come without a price. Truck after truck of floating open-top supply vehicles loaded with ammunition drove out from the spatial rifts opened by 'Heiml' and delivered them to various parts of the front line, thus ensuring the continuity of firepower.

In just six minutes, the spent shell casings from the bombs fired by the 'Apostles' had lightly covered the ground in front of the Rogue Encampment fence.

The statement that modern warfare is purely a money-burning exercise cannot be more true.

The established communication base stations, along with a large number of launched drones, worked together with engineers and hackers in the information command center to integrate and analyze information such as the battlefield terrain, enemy movements, and personnel deployment, providing intelligence support for the upcoming battles.

Meanwhile, the demons on the other side were simply burning their lives. Stunned, the demons began to recover quickly. Originally, Andariel, located in the monastery, had been gathering demons from all over the place and sending them to the Blood Wasteland where the Rogue Encampment was located to integrate into the demon army. However, the establishment of this demon had already gathered all the scattered demons near the monastery. No matter how hard Andariel tried, he could not create friends out of thin air, and the new blood could only become less and less.

The commander-in-chief, who was overseeing the battle from the far rear of the battlefield, already sensed that the upcoming engagement would be the decisive moment.

The demon corpses killed at a distance in front of the camp were quickly put to good use. Their flesh and blood were drained of their last bit of magic by the blasphemous magic of hell, and piled together to form several huge 'flesh puppets'.

Several banshees busied themselves around these 'Frankenstein' monsters, drawing numerous blasphemous spells on their bodies to enhance their strength and physical resilience. Meanwhile, several enormous beasts, constantly wailing, were forced down by the goat-headed monsters, their bellies ripped open, their blood and flesh drenching the Frankenstein's creatures. Twisted and corrupted souls served as the 'CPU processors' for these magical creations.

There was a shortage of flesh and blood, but the warlord quickly filled the gaps with a large number of zombies.

The initial clashes appeared to have resulted in heavy casualties for the demons, but in reality, they only suffered casualties among cannon fodder such as Fallen Ones and zombies, as well as Blood Raven creations catalyzed by flesh and blood. The truly elite Moon Clan, the corrupted Rogue, the Banshee, and the horned crippled demons were kept in the enemy's grasp, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

These blasphemous scenes were witnessed by the high-altitude drones launched by [Anti-Entropy], and upon receiving the news, Jiang Bing immediately authorized the use of heavy firepower to teach these demons a lesson.

Heavy firepower delivery platform, as the name suggests, is a floating version of a rocket launcher.

Having received orders from 'Black King' and possessing the enemy's coordinates, the signature beyond-visual-range strike of modern warfare was about to begin.

Flames erupted as a rocket roared out of the camp and soared into the sky, its orange-red tail leaving a beautiful white trail across the heavens.

The Rogues stared in disbelief at the giant 'whistling arrow' that soared into the sky, watching it trace a graceful arc before plunging precisely into the demon camp, blooming into a blazing flower.

“Litan, this weapon has such a long range, and its destructive power is almost comparable to Lord Kasha’s explosive arrows. Is Lord Sabur an alchemist?”

Before Ellie's question could be answered, more rockets were ignited, and even larger flames lit up the sky. Hundreds of rockets, like a meteor shower in broad daylight, painted the sky with dense white lines before raining down on the enemy camp.

For the first time, the demons experienced what it felt like to be bombarded by rockets.

Chapter 706 Legion Spells

Flesh and blood shattered, the earth shook, and death proliferated everywhere. Hundreds of missiles sacrificed themselves to exchange for several times the number of demonic lives, living up to the name of "Anti-Entropy."

The demon overlord was stunned. It had encountered similar barrage attacks in its battles with the higher heavens, but this time it had underestimated its enemy and was careless, completely unprepared for this move and unable to dodge.

After all, the higher heavens are powerful and have been mortal enemies of hell for thousands of years. It is not surprising that their fierce wars have given rise to terrifying weapons of mass destruction. But what right do insignificant humans have to possess such deadly weapons?

Of course, even if it had foreseen this, with its current small fry and crab generals, without the assistance of ritual demons, the Moon King, and evil warriors—these powerful demons—it couldn't defend against it even if it wanted to.

Since [Anti-Entropy] exploited a loophole in the world barrier, the power of technology had not yet flourished in this world and therefore had not been included in the World Stone, so there was no way to talk about suppression.

It underestimated its enemy, and naturally, it had to pay a heavy price for it.

This rocket barrage wiped out more than 30% of the demons that the warlord considered elite. The ongoing flesh-twisting ritual was also interrupted by the rockets' focused attack. Only a small fraction of the dozens of banshees survived, with broken arms and legs or wings torn to shreds, severely damaging their combat capabilities.

However, the Demon Overseer was a seasoned veteran of war, and after a brief moment of astonishment, it immediately made the most correct decision at that moment.

All troops, launch an assault!

Only by engaging the enemy in close combat and fighting them closely, making them hesitant to strike, can we avoid being hit by this weapon from beyond visual range again.

A hasty retreat might invite continued bombing from the enemy.

From its perspective, this decision was not wrong, since it did not know that the previous bombing had exhausted the rocket reserves of the [Anti-Entropy] vanguard. Even if the logistics personnel ran themselves ragged, they would have to wait for more than ten minutes to launch again.

Charge! The entire army charges!

Charging forward is the demons' favorite moment.

The howling of demons covering the mountains and plains can instantly shatter the fighting will of even the most resolute human warriors.

The ram-headed shamans frantically pounded their war drums, and blood-red ripples spread continuously. Under the influence of evil witchcraft, a large number of Moon Clan members had bloodshot eyes and their speed increased dramatically, as if they had eaten some kind of magic potion.

The corrupted rogues continued to use black magic to wrap around their legs, increasing their speed dramatically.

In a short time, the apostles were unable to build a decent position, so under the command of Flying Eagle, all the apostles lined up and formed a metal defensive line with their flesh and blood and courage, ready to withstand the demon's attack on the spot.

The battle flag behind the eagle fluttered in the wind, but the flagpole remained motionless, just like the will of all the 'Apostles'.

Countless explosive and heavy bombs intertwined to form a visible, bright web of fire, relentlessly eroding the charging demon horde.

Every moment, every second, demons were being blasted apart, torn to pieces, blood splattering everywhere, limbs flying everywhere, their corpses being trampled underfoot by subsequent demons, layer upon layer, turning into minced meat, which then stained the soles of the feet of other surviving demons.

The heavy casualties did nothing to dampen the demons' morale. Death was commonplace for them; it was simply a matter of returning to hell. Their tyrannical nature fueled their growing bloodlust and ferocity. The demons' roars rose and fell until, at a certain point, an invisible pressure suddenly spread across the battlefield, rushing towards the apostles.

This is a chaotic aura passively formed due to the accumulation of dark magic. It is a massive legion aura effect, a magical reaction caused by the gathering and death of too many demons, resulting in a large dissipation of dark magic.

Of course, this is also inseparable from the guidance of the Demon Overseer.

This halo is the natural enemy of all orderly living beings. Dark magic can not only corrupt the enemy's fighting spirit and mind, but also affect the enemy's body on a real level.

It felt as if a heavy burden was pressing down on the hearts of all the apostles. Their physical strength and mental energy began to drain rapidly, and they couldn't help but feel thirsty, restless, and their shooting movements became slightly unbalanced.

The exiles at the Rogue Encampment behind them fared even worse.

The well-trained, mentally resilient, and physically strong Rogues were alright; they could resist this negative attack with their willpower and magic, maintaining most of their combat strength.

However, those ordinary people who were originally farmers, merchants, and laborers seemed to have all their strength drained away. Their waists and knees were weak and sore, as if they had practiced too much crafting in a short period of time and could barely hold their weapons.

Magic naturally requires magic to counter it.

Without needing Jiang Bing to intervene from the rear, the 'Spellcaster Apostles' in each assigned squad clenched their fists and began to pray.

A faint flame appeared on their bodies, and the flame inherited from the 'Great One' began to awaken within them.

Spells are an imitation of great flames, and the fire witch Krana, who was fortunate enough to witness the 'Ether Furnace' burning brightly, used her demigod soul to understand and try her best to remember this process, summarizing it into a spell, which was passed down to a group of 'Spell Apostles'.

This spell was originally a clumsy imitation of the primordial fire, but after Klara created the spell, she could cling to the great creation she was imitating, namely the 'etheric furnace' of a certain 'great being,' and constantly observe and 'improve' it (in reality, she used her own disciple Jiang Bing as a model). This spell, which was originally a clumsy imitation, was developed by this ancestor of spells and became increasingly close to perfection.

Furthermore, the magical fire used by the 'magic apostles' when they use spells to guide the art is of the same origin as that great fire, which further makes the performance of this spell 'regress'.

Klara, dressed in a black robe, emerged from the Rogue Encampment surrounded by twelve 'Pyromancer Apostles'. As she advanced, she whispered prayers to guide her spells, and her true form was unleashed. Her originally slender and graceful figure grew to more than four meters tall, a head taller than the tallest 'Slayer' armor on the battlefield.

Golden flames ignited from various points along the defensive line, and sparks flickered in the hands of the 'spellcaster apostles' who were bowing their heads in prayer. As time passed, the flames gradually grew stronger.

The flame of magic is a manifestation of the essence of the soul, and the apostles who have inherited the same source of flame undoubtedly have a closer soul connection, even closer than the blood connection.

So, in an instant, the prayers rekindled the embers in everyone's bodies, and golden sparks began to faintly appear on the bodies of the apostles throughout the defensive position.

Golden flame patterns shimmered on everyone's bodies, and a warm and luminous feeling spread outwards along with the war, instantly dispelling the darkness and gloom in everyone's hearts.

Everyone felt their chronic illness vanish, their hearts lightened, and at the same time, a warm and gentle heat enveloped them, providing them with a continuous source of strength.

This feeling gradually became clearer with the prayers, and finally, amidst the chants of "Black King above" from all the apostles, starlight rose from the hands of the sorcerer apostles, and in the palm of Klara's raised hand, a flame appeared from nothing and burst into flames amidst the gathering of starlight from all directions.

In an instant, light shone everywhere, and golden flames spread across the universe, sweeping away the darkness.

Legion-level spell—[Eternal Flame]—has appeared!

Chapter 707 Total War

In this world, holy light cannot necessarily prevail over darkness.

But at this moment, the firelight certainly overwhelmed the darkness.

The chaotic spiritual energy was instantly forced back into the enemy camp. As the demons charged, the two energies between the two armies clashed like boiling water. The frenzied conflict was extinguishing everything in its path.

Countless flames rose up and entered the bodies of the 'Apostles' on the front lines, giving them a faint golden glow.

The orange-red fire net instantly turned golden-red.

While the physical damage of the painted bombs did not increase, their attack power against the soul finally broke through from 0 to 1.

Jiang Bing, the 'Black King,' instantly sensed hundreds of flames lighting up in his vision; those were all his retinue.

This naturally includes Klara. The relationship between a sorcerer and his apprentice is probably even closer than that between blood relatives. The etheric fire ignited by Klara in Jiang Bing's body has already begun to influence her through the first wisp of sorcery fire she separated.

Of course, it's also acceptable to call it invasion, contamination, pollution, or assimilation. This is the instinctive influence of those of higher status on those of lower status, just like water flows from high to low, which is instinctive.

At Klana's request, Jiang Bing did not stop the process, since this phenomenon was, to some extent, a good thing.

The assimilation and contamination by evil gods can drive people insane, but Boss Jiang's assimilation and 'contamination' has no other side effects other than making people work overtime.

The sheer power of this 'positional bullying' contagion is evident from the fact that Krana's magical flames have now completely transformed into gold.