e-booksonline Chapter 1098 Sky and Earth
Chapter 1098 Sky and Earth
The second line of defense on the continent of Tahrir.
The cold winds of the North still carried the chill of the place, which seemed to have become even colder due to the arrival of the Void.
Looking up, the deep purple sky, seemingly within reach, was rapidly devouring the last rays of light at a heart-stopping pace.
This indicates that the countdown to the final withdrawal of the second line of defense has begun.
However, at this moment, the fierce battle on the city wall has reached a fever pitch, with every inch of space filled with the clanging of metal, the hissing of energy, and the roars of warriors.
Look up at the sky above.
Compared to the surging purple tides on the ground, which resembled thick asphalt, the enemies in the sky, though fewer in number, were more agile and deadly.
There are no city walls in the sky to stop them.
In this three-dimensional sky, they can soar freely and break through the defenses from the air.
Arthropods with bat-like or bony wings emit high-pitched hissing as they swoop down in droves.
The energy body, shaped like a giant amethyst prism, levitates and changes direction by the foul light stream gushing from its tail, constantly emitting deadly energy rays.
Even more terrifying were the flying behemoths that looked like skinned animals, reduced to skeletons and amethyst crystals, flapping their tattered membrane wings as they tried to crash into the floating towers.
There are no steel defenses here.
It is forged from flesh and blood.
The Night's Watch's aerial forces formed a formidable defensive line.
Several floating towers, like mobile fortresses, had runes flashing on their bodies, weaving a dense network of intercepting firepower, while alchemical turrets spewed flames.
Countless constructs and flying dolls, like a swarm of bees, fearlessly rushed towards their target, using self-destruction or energy cutting to hinder the enemy horde.
Those who truly dance on the edge of a knife are the warriors with the ability to fly.
The elven ranger rode on magical wings of light, while the human wind mage rode the wind.
The winged race belonging to the orcs soar through the skies.
"Damn it! There are too many!"
A winged warrior named Carlos roared, his once pristine white wings now stained with purplish-black blood and energy burns.
His enchanted spear, Windhawk Beak, pierced precisely through the chest of an oncoming bone-winged monster, and with a flick of his wrist, flung its remains away.
Immediately afterwards, he drew a short spear, "Lightning Bolt," crackling with lightning, from behind his back with his left hand and hurled it!
The spear transformed into a blinding bolt of lightning, instantly piercing the core of a crystal prism in the distance that was about to unleash a beam of energy, triggering a small-scale purple energy explosion.
Then he clenched his fist.
The weapon transformed into lightning and returned to his hand.
However, just as he threw the object and his old strength had dissipated while new strength had not yet been generated, three extremely fast amethyst flying snakes pounced from his blind spot on the flank.
Their mouths held corrosive purple light bullets, and their compound eyes gleamed with cruel light.
Carlos tried to flap his wings to dodge, but the pain in his wings slowed him down, and he was about to be covered by crossfire.
"what!"
Screams.
His health was reduced, but the pain was affecting his combat ability even more.
Pain can deceive the body.
His wings could have continued to allow him to soar through the sky, but the pain deceived his body, making him feel as if his wings could no longer move.
Fortunately, he had been a member of the Night's Watch for several years and was already used to this kind of deception.
"Grab him!" A clear shout rang in his ears like a thunderclap.
A huge shadow swept past with a gust of wind.
It is Aiden, the Sky Knight of the Night Watch.
He rode a massive stormbird called Ironfeather, covered in bluish-gray metallic feathers.
Aiden lowered his body, while [Iron Feather] displayed astonishing agility, making a sharp side turn, and its huge wings swept away a flying monster blocking its path like an iron barrier.
Aiden's strong arm reached out at the last second and precisely grabbed Carlos's outstretched wrist.
"Sizzle—!"
Three streaks of purple light grazed Iron Feather's tail feathers and Carlos's ankle before exploding in the distance.
He swung the [Lightning] out with a backhand.
"Thanks, Aiden!" Carlos was thrown off balance by the immense force, then flung onto the broad back of the bird by [Iron Feather], narrowly escaping death.
"Don't be shy! Buckle up, it's our turn to fight back!"
Aiden laughed loudly and slapped the bird's neck.
[Iron Feather] let out a piercing shriek that could shatter metal and split rocks, its wings whipping up a violent gust of air, carrying the two of them like a diving fighter jet, rushing towards the three-headed flying snake that was launching a sneak attack.
Carlos quickly steadied himself on the bird's back, gripped the [Wind Falcon Beak] tightly once more, and his eyes were sharp as knives.
On the ground.
The fighting on the ground was far more intense than in the air.
The city wall was like a dam being gnawed by countless purple ants, and the defenders fought valiantly, filling every gap with their own flesh and blood.
"Boom—!"
A loud bang was followed by a violent tremor.
In the distance, on a section of the city wall, the upper half of a sturdy arrow tower suddenly exploded.
Gravel mixed with purplish-black energy residue fell like raindrops.
The culprit was a bizarre void behemoth with four thick, lizard-like legs supporting its bloated body covered in a heavy amethyst shell.
What is most striking is its unusually long and thin neck, like that of a plesiosaur.
The end of the neck is not a head, but a huge cannon muzzle filled with energy holes.
At this moment, the muzzle still held scorching, distorted air.
Taking advantage of the brief overload and flickering of the "Light of Descent" shield caused by the excessive attacks on a section of the city wall, it accurately hit the target with a void fireball containing the rules of destruction.
"You beast!" A low growl filled with rage rang out.
From behind the crenellations of the city wall not far away, Loren, the captain of the Soul Guardian squad and a legendary elven ranger, instantly locked onto his target.
The legendary longbow in his hand, [Starfall], burst forth with a dazzling emerald light, and an arrow, [Sky Rift], highly compressed from pure wind element and wrapped with tearing rules, was already on the bowstring.
The bow is drawn to its fullest extent, and the arrow flies like a shooting star!
"call out--!"
The moment the arrow left the bowstring, it seemed as if even the sound was left behind.
It ignored the densely packed low-level monsters in the middle and pierced through the gap in the still-open muzzle of the "Long-necked Cannon Beast" with unparalleled precision.
There were no earth-shattering explosions.
The colossal beast's massive body suddenly stiffened, and countless dazzling emerald green cracks instantly appeared inside its slender neck. "Pfft—sizzle!"
The next moment, its body was like a bomb detonated from within, completely torn apart from the inside out by the raging wind elements.
The thick, amethyst-covered carapace shattered and flew like paper, and foul-smelling purple flesh and energy slurry splattered like a fountain, staining the surrounding area a filthy purple and clearing out a large number of monsters.
Loren killed the enemy with a single, fluid motion, his fingers already on the bowstring, ready to support another critically injured defensive line.
However, just as he was focused on finding his next target, something unexpected happened.
The space less than five meters to his side rippled silently like water.
A slender, incredibly swift purple figure appeared without warning.
It was a humanoid Void Legend, about two and a half meters tall, but its body structure was full of deadly insect features.
Its arms, starting from the elbows, transformed into two enormous, scythe-shaped bone blades, longer than its own height, gleaming with a chilling purple light.
The edge of the bone blade is not smooth, but covered with fine, high-speed vibrating serrations that are so fine they are almost invisible to the naked eye. The space at its edge presents subtle, cut-like ripples—a manifestation of sharp, regularity.
It has no eyes; its entire face consists of a gigantic mouth covered with spiraling teeth, exuding an aura of pure destruction and slaughter—Level 12 Void Legendary: [Slayer].
"Captain, watch out!"
The closest team member, human shield guard Barton, let out a thunderous roar.
Almost instinctively, he activated the unique coordinated defensive formation of the [Soul Guardian] squad. The heavy enchanted tower shield [Wall of Sighs] on his body burst forth with a thick, earthy yellow light, and the runes engraved on it instantly lit up—the Resilience Rule was activated at full power.
His massive body appeared as if he had teleported, blocking between Loren and the Slayer, and slammed the giant shield into the ground.
"clang--!!!"
The piercing clang of metal, so sharp it seemed to tear the soul apart, echoed across the battlefield.
The Slayer's right arm scythe, accompanied by a piercing shriek that seemed to tear through space, slammed fiercely into the [Wall of Sighs].
The terrifyingly sharp rules clashed violently with Barton's tenacious rules.
The yellowish-brown light on the shield's surface flickered violently and erratically, and a clear, deep crack several inches deep instantly appeared on the legendary shield's surface.
Barton felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer; his arms ached terribly, his legs below the knees sank deep into the alloy ground, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. If it weren't for the fact that his core principles were "tenacity" and "protection," coupled with the fact that his squad's formation shared the impact, this blow would have been enough to cleave him and his shield in two.
"Roar!" Another team member, the orc berserker Grom, reacted just as quickly.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his violent battle aura soared into the sky like blood-red flames. His huge two-handed battle axe, the Skull Crusher, swept towards the Slayer's waist with the force of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, attempting to relieve the siege by attacking from the rear.
However, the slicer was too fast.
Its scythe, at an eerie angle, struck first from behind, hitting the side of the skullcrusher's axe blade with the precision of a venomous snake.
"Clang!"
With a crisp sound, Grom felt a tricky, extremely sharp force coming from him, which not only easily deflected his powerful axe blow, but the sharp force of the rules even eroded upwards along the axe handle.
His hands, which were holding the axe, were instantly slashed with countless fine wounds, dripping with blood.
He groaned, the immense force causing him to stagger backward involuntarily.
The only female member of the squad, Vera, a level 10 peak Shadow Assassin, appeared like a ghost in the Slayer's shadow, her poisoned dagger, [Kiss of the Shadow], silently piercing the energy node behind him.
But the Slayer seemed to have eyes in the back of its head; a scorpion tail covered in amethyst armor suddenly shot out from the end of its spine, lashing out at Vera with a sharp, tearing sound.
Vera narrowly avoided the attack with a shadowy leap, her scorpion tail striking the city wall and leaving a deep gash.
The level 10 peak elven mage Ysera had finished her incantation, and a thick [Ice Chain] appeared out of thin air, wrapping around the Slasher's legs.
But with a casual swipe of its scythe-like arms, the chains binding it with the rules of frost were easily severed, turning into ice crystals and dissipating.
It has extremely high rule resistance.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Loren was alert the moment Barton roared, but the Slasher's attack and speed were simply too fast.
At this moment, he finally turned around completely, and the bowstring of [Starfall] was drawn taut once more. The arrow no longer contained wind, but highly compressed arcane energy that seemed to contain the birth and death of stars.
The arrowhead was firmly locked onto the relatively vulnerable joint connecting the scythe-wielding arm to the torso, exposed by the attack on Barton—his rule was [Implosion].
"Break!" Loren's eyes flashed with cold light.
"call out!"
The arcane arrow left the bowstring, its trajectory piercing through the void, ignoring any possibility of evasion, and shot straight at the target.
The Slicer seemed to sense the threat of the arrow as well. It abandoned its attack on Barton and used its left-arm scythe to spin and parry at an incredible speed, attempting to intercept it.
But the teamwork of the Soul Guardians was already ingrained in their very bones.
"Don't think about it!"
Grom, who had just regained his footing, roared again and, ignoring the injuries to his hands, threw the Skullbreaker.
The massive battle axe spun, unleashing a violent crushing force, not attacking the Slayer's body, but slamming down on the side of its left arm scythe.
"clang!"
The immense impact caused the slasher's left arm to pause slightly, resulting in an extremely minor deviation in the parry.
It's that tiny difference.
The arcane arrow grazed the edge of the scythe on his left arm, tracing a slight arc as if it had a life of its own, and struck the joint connection point that Loren had locked onto with perfect precision.
"Pfft!"
The arrow didn't explode immediately upon piercing the skin. The slasher's body stiffened abruptly, and a blinding arcane light suddenly shone from within the joint that had been struck—and then—
"boom--!!!"
It felt like stars were exploding inside my body!
A terrifying arcane energy erupted from within.
The Slayer's incredibly tough, amethyst-covered scythe-like left arm, along with a small portion of its shoulder, was torn apart and blasted away by this devastating implosion force.
The purplish-black blood, broken crystals, and carapaces were splashed out like a torrential rain!
"Hiss—!!!"
The slasher let out an unprecedented, piercing scream, a mixture of excruciating pain and rage.
Its remaining right arm, wielding a scythe, swung wildly, repelling Grom and Vera who tried to pounce on it. Its single eye gleamed with resentment and chaos.
Even so, he could not possibly escape.
The void has no concept of fear or retreat.
However, with its arm severed and its threat greatly reduced, it is now much less of a threat.
The five members of the Soul Keeper squad instantly rearranged their formation, with Barton at the forefront, Loren's bowstring twanging once more, Grom picking up his battle axe, Vera disappearing into the shadows, and Ysera's staff shining brightly once more...
They were like sophisticated killing machines, determined to completely annihilate this attacking Void Legend atop this steel wall.
Beneath the city walls, the purple tides continued to surge and crash against the shore, and the swallowing boundary in the sky drew ever closer.
But on this small battlefield, the Soul Guardians, with their blood, will, and perfect teamwork, once again defended a corner of the defensive line.
The battle is far from over. (End of Chapter)