Chapter 257
2572 vs 5000, what the hell?
Ascending the city wall.
Tattered banners bearing the imperial emblem were stained with the marks of blood and fire, fluttering in the gray mist and wind.
Amidst the solemn and murderous atmosphere, everyone gazed into the distance, faintly able to see dense red dots moving at extreme speed from within the sea of mist, the island forest shaking.
Through the images displayed by the sentries’ spirit artifacts, they could see that these were Nightmare Beasts responding to some kind of summons, emerging from various parts of the forest and converging on White Emperor City, with over five thousand of them appearing one after another!
However, Xia Feng keenly perceived that these were not Nightmare Beasts, but rather Half-Calamities formed from humans who had undergone the calamification process –
Because their calamification failed, they didn’t become rational Calamity Eaters, nor did they perish, thus becoming beasts that were neither human nor Nightmare.
But subconsciously, they wished to return to being human and regain their sanity. Driven by their subconscious, they constantly slaughtered and devoured humans – they could recover their sanity by devouring humans who still possessed theirs.
However, for a Half-Calamity to recover their sanity this way, they would need to devour humans numbering in the tens of thousands, and very few Half-Calamities succeeded.
Seeing so many Half-Calamities gathered, the old soldiers on the city wall understood. They were already meant to die, but the enemy didn’t want them dead, so they didn’t launch a full-scale assault, instead sending a few hundred Half-Calamities to harass them from time to time.
However, a mere few hundred Half-Calamities were enough to make them fight desperately for a long time.
Two thousand Half-Calamities could easily annihilate them, and now, five thousand had arrived.
“There are no Half-dragons, surprisingly,” Xia Feng expressed some regret. This rendered his Dragon God True Name useless; he had wanted to test its further effects on Half-dragons.
“Fine,” Xia Feng looked back at the white-haired old soldiers with their sabers, then at Li Zaishi, asking doubtfully, “Are you the only Level 5 soldier here?”
“Most high-ranking generals died over twenty years ago. As for the City Lord, Venerable Wei Zhong and other cultivators of the Venerable realm, they also perished in that defensive battle twenty years ago, their souls scattered. It was around that time that the casualties of the one hundred thousand troops began to increase year by year.”
Li Zaishi sighed, “All the Level 5 soldiers at the true fifth-stage were wiped out. In the end, only I, a mere Pu Wu, managed to barely survive.”
Xia Feng knew of Wei Zhong; he was quite famous in the outside world and had become the empire’s number one traitor in modern history, infamous and reviled.
“Rumble—”
The Half-Calamity army in the mist drew closer.
However, the crowd didn’t notice that not far above the army, a hidden Giant Blue Whale moved its fins, following the approaching force.
And on the whale’s back, seventeen figures were vaguely scattered.
Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong clearly saw their locations through the Eye of Deconstruction.
What astonished Xia Feng was that Teacher Freya was also on the whale’s back, though she was currently confined in a red-glowing cage. A small part of her face had turned into dragon scales, and she emanated a terrifying aura, violently striking the cage’s formation again and again.
The formation cracked rapidly and was on the verge of shattering.
“Roar roar—” Dense Nightmare Beasts, carrying gray mist, reached the city walls, the heavens and earth filled with their roars.
“My comrades, good wine calls for a good saber.”
With the banner rustling in the wind, Li Zaishi stood on the rampart, took a swig from his wine pouch, waved his saber, and roared, “Charge with me!!”
The old soldiers grinned, took a swig of wine, drew their sabers, and charged out of the high city!
They had long known this day would come. This was their final battle, a battle they were destined to lose.
But as long as their blood flowed and their blades remained unbroken, they would fight endlessly.
At this moment, it wasn’t for the sake of any grand cause of country or family, but merely so that the women, children, and remaining soldiers within the city might have a sliver of hope.
Swish swish—
But at this moment, two figures in black robes moved through the air at an even faster speed, ahead of them, revealing themselves to be those two strange individuals wearing masks of ‘K’ and ‘Q’.
“What are you doing!” An old soldier’s expression shifted slightly. “Come back quickly!” Even when fighting enemies, strategy and formation were important. Although there were many Nightmare Beasts, as long as they watched each other’s backs and prevented sneak attacks, they could naturally last longer.
For these two to rush directly into the Nightmare Beast horde was tantamount to walking into a trap.
Li Zaishi was also startled and quickly transmitted a message, “You two, hurry back—hey?”
His words abruptly stopped, as these two black-robed figures moved as if no one were there, like two black blades slicing through a watermelon on the battlefield. Swish, swish, swish— crimson heads bloomed, exploding in the air with a splat.
Li Zaishi keenly perceived that wherever these two black-robed figures passed, the movements of the surrounding Half-Calamities became noticeably sluggish.
Furthermore, their swords were extraordinary, capable of easily slicing through the heads of Three-Eyed or even Four-Eyed Calamities, completely disregarding their physical toughness.
[Killed one Two-Eyed Half-Calamity, inflicting 1t of pain, gained 0.1 point of Strength Value increase]
[Strength Value +0.1 +0.1]
[Consecutively killed 501 One-Eyed Half-Calamities, 161 Two-Eyed Half-Calamities, 8 Three-Eyed Half-Calamities, cumulative pain inflicted 900t, gained 90 point of Strength Value increase]
[Current Strength Value: 1199]
[Casually set up a trapping formation, cast Finger Lightning and Concentric Lightning, inflicting cumulative 1500t pain on targets, you gained 150 point of Strength increase]
!
[Current Strength Value: 1349]
One thousand to two thousand was the standard for Level 4, and two thousand to five thousand was the standard for Level 5.
Xia Feng felt the steadily rising surge of power within him, his heart filled with exhilaration, and he swung his saber with even more vigor.
These Half-Calamities, having lost their minds, had extremely low Mental Power. Even if their physical bodies were strong enough for Level 3 or even Level 4, the lack of Mental Power was an extreme weakness for Mu Qingtong.
With a single control, hundreds of surrounding Half-Calamities would be immobilized, becoming mere lambs to the slaughter.
Some Half-Calamities grew wiser, or perhaps they felt fear and began to flee. However, upon seeing Xia Feng, who seemed to be provocatively inviting them, they swarmed forward again, only to be reaped by Mu Qingtong, her Strength Value soaring and increasing wildly.
The old soldiers who had just charged down the city wall stared blankly at this scene, somewhat dumbfounded.
Wait, what about the decisive battle you promised?
We were all prepared for a fight to the death, and now you two are taking on five thousand?
“Lord Li, who exactly are they?” the old soldiers asked Li Zaishi.
“…” Li Zaishi fell silent and looked at Lin Musen.
“Don’t look at me, I was saved by them too,” Lin Musen waved his hand.
Li Zaishi knew that these two taciturn mysterious individuals were quite strong, but he hadn’t expected them to be this strong.
They only appeared to be at the third-stage based on their Spirit Pressure?
Ye Li Beizhou stood on the Giant Blue Whale, frowning as he saw the distant Half-Calamity army scattering and fleeing.
“Outsiders, perhaps…” He hadn’t expected two mysterious individuals to appear at this time. Could they be from the investigation team?
However, if they were from the investigation team, it would be perfect to let them perish along with this city! He turned to look behind him and smiled gently, “Sister-in-law, I deeply respect you, but I need you to help me with something now.”
He waved his hand, and instantly, the cage confining Freya flickered and disappeared.
“Help me kill these lowly peasants!”
As his faint words fell, the cage instantly appeared above the battlefield and then dispersed with a boom.
Freya’s alluring eyes were outlined with dragon scales, her eye sockets almost completely filled with blood red. She turned her head indifferently, her gaze directly meeting Xia Feng’s.
“Roar—” She bared her teeth and charged directly at Xia Feng!
