Chapter 192 : Tiger and Leopard Demon Cavalry! Cao Ang Appears!
Chapter 192: Tiger and Leopard Demon Cavalry! Cao Ang Appears!
Everything was ready!
After returning to Luoshui Main City—
Hang Yu began watching the show and waiting for a massive harvest.
These players really were talented. They had fully carried forward the fine tradition of squeezing every last benefit possible—even managing to fleece Zhang Xiu himself!
If they had merely extracted a few benefits, that would have been one thing.
But they had actually managed to obtain quite a lot!
With the reinforcements and assistance provided by Zhang Xiu, Hang Yu was spared quite a bit of trouble.
This time, he had placed the Calamity Army directly on the frontlines to clash head-on against the Abyssal army. His primary objective was to probe and gather intelligence. Unless some special circumstance arose, he had no intention of personally entering the battlefield for the time being.
Because now was still not the right time.
Hang Yu’s strength was continuously and rapidly increasing, but at present he could only guarantee that he possessed the power to fight Dian Wei evenly. He still had no confidence in defeating Dian Wei in a one-on-one confrontation.
Moreover—
Dian Wei was not alone!
Old Wan City possessed numerous Corrupted beings, while the Abyssal army itself was massive in scale!
The territory’s current forces were insufficient to defeat Old Wan City’s army. Even setting aside the low probability of victory in a direct battle, if the fight dragged on and no quick outcome could be decided, there was also the danger of the New Wan City faction led by Zhang Xiu stabbing them in the back and raiding their territory.
Therefore—
Hang Yu remained seated in the rear.
This clash was being handed over entirely to the Calamity Army.
This would both temper the Calamity Army, allow detailed intelligence gathering throughout the process, and also provide an excellent opportunity to harvest vast amounts of “leeks,” letting the territory experience explosive growth!
Of course—
The disparity in strength could not be ignored.
Hang Yu was also worried the Calamity Army would collapse at first contact and prove utterly incapable of resistance.
He had once proposed leaving behind the eight Azure Dragon Guards to assist them. It was even possible to dispatch Zhou Cang temporarily to help as well. After all, Xinye possessed a Blessing Point. If Zhou Cang and the Azure Dragon Guards sensed danger, they could quickly teleport away.
However—
For the sake of higher quest evaluations.
For the sake of greater quest rewards.
The Calamity Army not only requested that the Lord refrain from interfering, they even declined the participation of the Azure Dragon Guards, insisting on fighting this battle through their own strength alone.
Admirable courage!
Since they were so eager to achieve merit, so desperate to prove themselves, even willingly throwing themselves onto the sickle—
How could Hang Yu possibly object?
Although he would not personally enter the battlefield to help the players this time, he still permitted them to crowd-fund the construction of some basic defensive facilities. At present, the Calamity Army had already completed the relevant deployments using the ruins of the old city as a stronghold and the Starsea Blessing as the core.
The primary facilities included:
1 defensive wall, 10 Arrow Towers.
These walls and Arrow Towers were all extremely basic Starsea structures.
Each Arrow Tower only required 100 Magic Crystals to construct. Altogether, the total expenditure amounted to little more than one thousand Magic Crystals. Given the Calamity Army’s current financial strength, crowdfunding such construction was not difficult.
If not for the maximum construction limit on Arrow Towers within each stronghold or town, the Calamity Army would have happily built dozens more, preferably turning Xinye City into an entire tower defense zone and shooting every approaching Abyssal creature into hedgehogs.
Starsea structures all possessed corresponding attributes and effects.
The attributes of the Arrow Towers and defensive walls were as follows:
【Arrow Tower】, Tier-One Building. Can affect ten archers. Bow and crossbow range +600 meters, vision +300 meters, arrow attack attributes +50%!
【Defensive Wall】, Tier-One Building. Causes all hostile units crossing the wall to suffer -5% attributes, up to a maximum reduction of 200 points.
They were not especially powerful buildings—
But they were more than sufficient to effectively strengthen defenses.
With Xinye City’s Respawn Point serving as a stronghold, these defensive facilities providing support, along with the large quantity of Summoning Talismans and Fate Formations obtained from Zhang Xiu’s side—
They had formed a fairly decent defensive force.
At this moment—
Within Xinye City.
The Calamity Army was still preparing.
“Anyone who hasn’t eaten yet, hurry and eat!”
“You need a full stomach to have the strength for a major battle!”
“It’s best to eat foods that increase maximum health. Anyone with temporary enhancement potions should prepare them in advance too!”
“Does everyone have Taiping Protection Talismans, Yellow Turban Blood Sacrifice Talismans, and Yellow Turban Strongman Talismans? If not, hurry over and collect them from me! Also prepare your Soul-Calming Heart-Protecting Talismans and be ready to use them at any time!”
“The moment the enemy appears, activate the Lord’s Aura immediately!”
“Our territory’s Lord’s Aura is already Level 2 now. It can last for several hours and effectively increase combat strength!”
“Check your mana potions, health potions, and other supplies again!”
“Warriors and Rangers, count your arrow supplies!”
“Everyone memorize your squad assignments and missions. Keep an eye on the information panel and obey commands at all times!”
“Prepare for battle!”
“The Abyssal army will arrive soon!”
“……”
The player leaders headed by the various Legion Commanders hurriedly adjusted supplies, organized formations, and completed battle preparations.
Two thousand players—
Yet they all displayed military-like discipline and obedience!
Under the autonomous leadership of the various Legion Commanders, provisional commanders, and player leaders, everyone clearly understood what they were supposed to do. Every person had their own role and assignment.
“Holy crap!”
“I can’t believe this!”
“Ten minutes ago I was at home feeding my baby!”
“And now I’m actually here participating in a war!”
“Hahahaha, this is a battle destined to be written into the history of Twisted Three Kingdoms!”
“This is way too fun!”
“I’m sick of nine-to-five jobs, boring routines, and mediocre lives! Today I’m going to cut loose completely! This is the charm of a truly great game!”
“Though a thousand men oppose me, I shall still go forth!”
“No one stop me later—I’m going to one-on-one duel Dian Wei!”
“……”
Dark Lucifer: “Oh God, this is so exciting! I feel like I’m experiencing some epic large-scale battle straight out of The Lord of the Rings!”
Moose Girl: “Honestly, I’m a little nervous. I never imagined I’d get to participate in such a thrilling battle.”
Gungnir: “The enemy is very strong, but that’s good. It makes my soul and fighting spirit burn!”
Arthur King: “Everyone, after this battle our Twilight of the Gods Legion will officially be established. So this operation must go well—we need to show everyone how powerful we are!”
……
On the other side—
Little Bell took out a black talisman paper.
It was a consumable item provided to the Calamity Army by New Wan City.
【Extreme Yin Skeleton Summoning Talisman】, Tier-Two Consumable, High White-Grade Quality. Consumes 120 Mana Points to summon a Level 18 Elite Extreme Yin Skeleton. Maximum duration: 8 hours. Maximum activity radius: 800 meters. Cooldown: 15 minutes.
This was an extremely rare Tier-Two summoning-type talisman.
The talisman’s effect was to summon a Tier-Two Elite Skeleton to assist in battle.
Its advantages and disadvantages were both extremely obvious!
The advantage was that the talisman’s cooldown time was short, while the skeleton’s duration was extremely long. Furthermore, the skeleton could operate independently after summoning. Even if the summoner completely left the perception range, the skeleton would remain in place and continue executing combat tasks.
This also meant—
As long as one had enough Mana—
And enough talismans—
Anyone could summon large numbers of skeletons to assist in battle.
The disadvantage was that the skeleton soldiers only possessed an activity radius of 800 meters. Once they exceeded this range, they would automatically disperse and vanish. Furthermore, the talismans could only summon fixed Level 18 Elite Units. Players with lower attributes consumed more Mana to summon them, while stronger players consumed less Mana.
Little Bell was a member of the Calamity Army’s first echelon. Not only had her level reached 17, her skill training was highly advanced, she possessed a Level 9 Ninefold Curse Staff, and her equipment was extremely luxurious.
Even she required 120 Mana Points to activate the Skeleton Summoning Talisman.
For others with weaker attributes and strength—
Several times the Mana consumption would not have been strange.
Overall, the consumption was indeed rather high.
However—
Resource consumption was not a problem for the Calamity Army.
After all, the territory possessed Alchemy Workshops capable of continuously producing Qi-Replenishing Pills.
These mana-restoring medicines were currently impossible to exhaust. At any moment, players could send people back to the main city to purchase supplies and transport them to the battlefield. Players simply did not lack health potions or mana potions.
As for the limitation on the skeletons’ activity radius?
That was not a disadvantage in a defensive battle!
Although the summoned creatures from these talismans had fixed strength and could only summon standard Level 18 Elites, none of the players had surpassed Level 18 yet anyway.
Thus, this was not a bad thing for the Calamity Army at all!
At the current stage—
These talismans were incredibly useful consumable items!
Little Bell activated the talisman in her hand. Accompanied by a massive expenditure of Mana, the black talisman paper instantly turned into ashes that scattered across the ground.
A few seconds later—
The ash-covered ground suddenly softened and began trembling like boiling water.
Soon after—
A pitch-black skeleton slowly crawled out from the earth.
The skeleton possessed a tall and thin frame, wore tattered robes, and held a long staff resembling a spine bone in its right hand.
【Extreme Yin Skeleton Warlock】, Level 18 Elite Unit…… Introduction: A skeleton soldier summoned through a summoning talisman. Although merely a summoned creature, it possesses impressive spellcasting abilities.
It was a mage-type skeleton!
Little Bell glanced toward the skeletons summoned by the others.
The skeletons summoned by Ye Li Meng, Salted Fish Thrust, Mad Blade Old Wang, Street Slayer, and the other Warriors—
Were all large-framed Skeleton Warriors carrying shields in their left hands and blades in their right hands.
The skeletons summoned by Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Lone Boat, and the other Rangers—
Were all Skeleton Assassins wielding bone bows with daggers hanging from their waists.
The skeletons summoned by Chenxi, Midnight Pig Slayer, and the other Monks—
Were all Skeleton Priests holding skull-shaped magical implements.
This was another characteristic of the Skeleton Summoning Talismans.
Players were astonished to discover—
That players of different classes, or rather different attribute distributions, summoned entirely different types of Extreme Yin Skeletons. Different skeletons also differed in abilities and combat strength.
Skeleton Warriors: Thick health and high defense, capable of tanking and fighting.
Skeleton Assassins: Fast movement speed, stealth capabilities, and ranged attacks.
Skeleton Warlocks: Although fragile and lacking mobility, they possessed several powerful spell abilities. Their damage output was the strongest among all skeleton types, and they also possessed area-of-effect attacks.
Skeleton Priests: Although lacking offensive capability, they could heal and restore other skeletons, apply various enhancement buffs to allies, and inflict curse debuffs upon enemies, thereby increasing the overall combat power of the skeleton army.
In terms of strength—
The skeleton soldiers possessed the power of second-rate same-level elites.
They could not compare to first-echelon players like Ye Li Meng, Lone Boat, Mad Blade Old Wang, or Little Bell.
After all—
These dozen or so first-echelon players, through various support items, skill training, and highly reinforced equipment, had already reached strength levels approaching same-tier Commander-Class units.
However—
Compared to second- and third-echelon players, the gap was not especially large.
Their only weakness was the lack of intelligence.
“Heh, you know what? These skeletons actually aren’t bad!”
“That old fart Zhang Xiu didn’t screw us over after all!”
“Yeah!”
“With this special army helping us!”
“Our confidence in this quest just shot way up!”
As the players watched skeleton soldiers being summoned one after another, surprise and delight filled their eyes, and the Calamity Army’s morale immediately surged.
No one had expected—
That the troops they begged for—
Would turn out even better than imagined.
Even within New Wan City, this could already be considered a small elite force.
At the very least, it would greatly assist the upcoming battle.
The Defense Battle of Xinye was a defensive campaign.
Logically speaking, when assembling the skeleton army, they should have summoned more Skeleton Warriors with thick health and high defense.
Yet the players did not do this.
Among the eight hundred skeleton soldiers—
There were 100 Skeleton Warriors, 100 Skeleton Priests, 100 Skeleton Assassins, and 500 Skeleton Warlocks.
There was naturally a reason for organizing the skeleton legion this way!
Although the eight hundred skeletons possessed decent overall strength and could be considered a small elite force—
Before the Abyssal army and powerful Corrupted beings, they were still far from being a decisive force.
Trying to clash head-on—
Would be no different from a mantis attempting to stop a chariot.
After all—
These skeletons could not revive.
Rather than summoning huge numbers of Skeleton Warriors and throwing them onto the frontlines as disposable cannon fodder—
It was better to place them in the rear to provide sustained firepower support, while the immortal and undying Calamity Army handled the direct confrontation!
Skeletons were valuable. Every loss mattered.
As for dying and suffering—
Players were already used to it!
Naturally stepping forward!
Duty-bound and unflinching!
Once the skeleton legion had been assembled—
The Calamity Army also completed its battle preparations.
At this moment, Chenxi, who had been scouting with Thunderhorn Eagles, arrived to report:
“A massive dark-red fog tide has appeared in the northeast direction I was scouting. It’s rapidly approaching us. My Thunderhorn Eagle was shot down the moment it got close.”
“They’re here!”
A sharp glint flashed through Black-Eyed Rui Ge’s eyes.
“This fog tide should be formed from the aura emitted by the Abyssal creatures moving together. I didn’t expect these bastards to march so quickly!”
Mad Blade Old Wang said, “It might only be an advance force.”
Ye Li Meng laughed loudly.
“Hahahaha, who cares? Soldiers come, generals block; water comes, earth dams it! We’ve made so many preparations already. We’re not vegetarians anymore. I really want to see what tricks these Abyssal Citizens of Old Wan City have!”
Salted Fish Thrust also shouted:
“Prepare for battle immediately! This time we’re going to give these little Abyss brothers a taste of Calamity Shock!”
Everyone was just about to move out.
“Not good enough!”
Toasting the Moon suddenly voiced opposition.
Ye Li Meng asked, “Wangyue, you’ve got an idea?”
Toasting the Moon replied:
“I think we shouldn’t stubbornly follow convention and passively sit here waiting for others to attack us!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge narrowed his eyes.
“You mean…”
Toasting the Moon said:
“Take the initiative and attack first!”
Upon hearing this—
Everyone froze for a moment.
Street Slayer burst into loud laughter.
“Commander Wangyue’s right! Why should we stay in the stronghold like idiots waiting to get beaten? Our mission is to hold out as long as possible and kill as many enemies as possible. Since the enemy hasn’t reached us yet, why not hit them first?”
Brother Xiao Ma said:
“Makes sense. We have several free revivals that don’t even deduct EXP. It’d be a waste not to use them. Instead of waiting for the enemy army to attack us, we should charge at them directly!”
There were at least two advantages to doing this.
First—
Although defeat was inevitable, they could at least inflict some losses on the enemy, reducing the pressure of the upcoming battle to some extent.
Second—
The players could gain more time outside the defensive line and gather intelligence during the process, especially regarding the abilities of Corrupted beings like Dian Wei and Cao Ang, thereby preparing for the subsequent defense.
“Well said!”
“I was being too conservative!”
“I almost forgot this is a game!”
“Life and death mean nothing! If we’re dissatisfied, then fight! Since we’ve discovered the enemy, let’s gather our forces and smash them hard first!”
“All troops move out! All troops move out! Leave five people behind to keep watch. If anything unusual happens, report it immediately!”
“Are five people enough? What if we get our base raided?”
“Afraid of what? Don’t we still have the skeleton legion? If some sneaky bastard really raids us, then everyone stop hesitating and immediately suicide and revive back here!”
“True enough!”
“Nothing to worry about!”
“……”
The skeleton legion remained behind guarding the Blessing Point.
These skeletons only possessed an 800-meter activity radius, making them extremely restrictive to use.
However—
Their advantage was that even after completely separating from their summoners, they would continue existing until the summon duration expired or they were destroyed.
With this skeleton force guarding the Blessing Point—
And several clever players left atop nearby Arrow Towers to keep watch—
Even if enemies truly launched a surprise raid, the Calamity Army would still have sufficient reaction time. Before the Blessing Point came under serious threat, they could immediately commit suicide and rapidly return to reinforce it.
After nearly two thousand members of the Calamity Army departed the ruins of Xinye City—
They advanced four to five li toward the northeast.
At this moment—
A notification suddenly echoed within every player’s mind, causing every single one of them to feel their blood accelerate and their hearts tremble with excitement!
【Ding!】
【Please Note!】
【The Ultimate Darkness Defense Battle has begun!】
【Current Defense Duration: 0 hours 0 minutes 1 second!】
“The timer’s started!”
“This means the Abyssal army has entered within ten li of Xinye!”
Black-Eyed Rui Ge said:
“Everyone slow down. Dismount immediately and prepare for battle. The Abyssal army is about to arrive!”
Upon receiving the command—
The Calamity Army immediately dismissed their Spirit Horses, formed combat formations by squad units, and began waiting in strict readiness for the enemy’s appearance.
Only a few minutes passed—
When a surging current suddenly appeared within their field of vision ahead.
Under the environment of the Day of Ultimate Darkness, this current appeared dark red, surging forward like ocean waves. Everyone could clearly sense the powerful Abyssal aura filling it.
“Careful!”
“There are Stone-Winged Demon Soldiers!”
Before the players could clearly see what was inside—
Amid piercing screeches—
More than a hundred monsters with wings growing from their backs and bodies resembling stone and cement swooped into view like gargoyles.
Their gigantic mouths split their heads nearly in half, yet they possessed no eyes, making them appear especially savage and evil.
They were precisely the Stone-Winged Demon Soldiers from Old Wan City encountered before.
Tier-Three Elite Monsters!
Not only could they fly—
Their petrification attacks were also extremely troublesome!
The moment the Stone-Winged Demon Soldiers burst from the dense fog—
They gave the Calamity Army no opportunity to strike first.
They rapidly dove downward and approached at high speed, spitting energy waves from their mouths carrying the effects of a “Petrification Curse.”
With over a dozen Demon Soldiers attacking simultaneously—
At least one or two hundred front-line players were affected.
Their bodies instantly stiffened. Their muscles felt as though they had turned into stone. Even moving a finger became impossible.
Relying on their incredible speed—
The Demon Soldiers prepared to begin harvesting kills.
“ROAR!”
At that moment—
Ye Li Meng, Street Slayer, and Mad Blade Old Wang simultaneously unleashed furious roars.
Some kind of energy shattered the Petrification Curse effects, allowing the stiffened players to regain movement.
The Calamity Army’s new skill—
Shocking Roar!
This skill could not only effectively remove negative spell effects from oneself and nearby allies—
It also had a chance to interfere with or even stun hostile targets within a certain range!
The nearby Stone-Winged Demon Soldiers were immediately affected.
“Kill!”
The Calamity Army instantly counterattacked!
Little Bell, Chimera Wraith, and Artist Faction Leader simultaneously unleashed Explosive Flame Spells.
The three strongest Warlocks of the Calamity Army detonated their Explosive Flames simultaneously, creating three massive fireworks-like explosions that damaged at least ten Stone-Winged Demon Soldiers and affected several times that number.
“Chain Lightning!”
Brother Xiao Ma and several other advanced Warlocks launched area-of-effect spells. Bolts of lightning wildly arced through the air, further shattering the Stone-Winged Demon Soldiers’ resistance capabilities.
Blade Qi!
Arrows!
Attacks followed one after another!
One Stone-Winged Demon Soldier after another was shot down!
These Tier-Three Elite Monsters from Old Wan City—
Even with over a hundred attacking together—
Could not even approach the Calamity Army, let alone inflict damage upon them.
However—
At this moment—
An arrow wrapped in lightning and storm power suddenly shot down from the sky.
“Careful!”
Mad Blade Old Wang activated a Telekinetic Barrier, then raised his high-grade shield. Combining Iron Armor Technique and Savage Charge into an Army-Breaking Charge, he rapidly blocked the attack for everyone else.
The moment it struck—
A massive explosion erupted.
-263 (Critical Hit!)
Even with protective talismans, Telekinetic Barrier, the super armor effect of Army-Breaking Charge, and a shield all active simultaneously—
Old Wang still suffered considerable damage.
What terrifying archery!
Midnight Pig Slayer cursed:
“Damn it, it’s that pimp Cao Anmin! That bastard really revived again!”
Street Slayer sneered.
“What’s there to fear? We killed him yesterday. Today all of us are fully buffed. I refuse to believe he can still make waves!”
At that moment—
The dark-red mist had already enveloped the surroundings.
Large groups of figures radiating Abyssal aura emerged from within.
There were still large numbers of Stone-Winged Demon Soldiers circling in the sky—
While on the ground were several hundred to over a thousand savage cavalry units.
These Abyssal cavalry appeared divided into two types. One was enormous and radiated overwhelming pressure. The other was relatively smaller yet extremely agile.
Upon closer observation—
Their information appeared before the players’ eyes.
【Tiger Cavalry Demon Soldiers of Old Wan City】, Level 23 Elite Units…… Introduction: Once the fiercest heavy cavalry under the warlord Cao Cao, and the predecessor of the later Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Now transformed into terrifying Abyssal Demon Soldiers under Abyssal corruption.
【Leopard Cavalry Demon Soldiers of Old Wan City】, Level 23 Elite Units…… Introduction: Once the most elite light cavalry under the warlord Cao Cao, and the predecessor of the later Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Now transformed into terrifying Abyssal Demon Soldiers under Abyssal corruption.
Chimera Wraith said:
“Stone-Winged Demon Soldiers, Tiger Cavalry Demon Soldiers, Leopard Cavalry Demon Soldiers… They’re either flying units or cavalry units. This force really is a highly mobile vanguard!”
“What? This is only the vanguard?!”
“Don’t get careless! Even if they’re just the vanguard, they won’t be easy to deal with!”
“Look ahead!”
“There are several Corrupted beings!”
The players of the Calamity Army barely had time to observe the Tiger and Leopard Demon Cavalry’s appearance—
Because several figures radiating powerful auras at the front of the army drew their attention even more strongly.
【Cao Ang】, Level 25 Commander Unit……
【Cao Anmin】, Level 24 Commander Unit……
【Lü Chen】, Level 22 Commander Unit……
【Xu Ci】, Level 22 Commander Unit……
【Zhang Cun】, Level 22 Commander Unit……
Five Corrupted beings!
Every single one of them was a Tier-Three Commander!
Among them—
The unquestionable centerpiece was Cao Ang!
This man was Cao Cao’s eldest son, reportedly the second most important figure in Old Wan City after Dian Wei. Even among Commander-Class units, Cao Ang’s strength far surpassed Cao Anmin and the others!
“So this is Cao Ang?”
“He actually looks kind of cool!”
Cao Ang rode atop a heavily mutated Abyssal Demon Steed.
This mount was several times larger than an ordinary warhorse. It possessed eight legs, malformed wings, and a pair of savage giant horns atop its head.
As for Cao Ang himself—
He stood roughly three meters tall. His flesh body appeared assembled from huge masses of irregular twisted flesh and writhing internal organs. Yet hard black bone plates covered his body like armor. His entire head was also covered in bone fragments, revealing only a pair of hollow eyes spewing flames.
Most eye-catching of all—
Was the weapon in his hand.
Cao Ang wielded a black scythe taller than himself.
Like the scythe of the Grim Reaper from legend—
It gave the impression that nothing could withstand it, and that a casual strike would effortlessly reap lives.
“So it really is the Starsea.”
Cao Ang’s gaze fell upon the Calamity Army before him.
This immediately caused immense pressure to descend upon the players present.
Five Tier-Three Commanders were already extremely difficult to handle—
And there were over a thousand Tier-Three Elite Units present as well!
How were they supposed to fight this?!
What made the players most wary—
Was that Dian Wei himself had not appeared.
This meant this force was merely fast-moving and thus had been sent as the vanguard. Old Wan City’s true main force had not even arrived yet…
Yet even this vanguard force alone—
Was already not something the Calamity Army could handle!
Cao Ang alone already radiated astonishing pressure.
Just how terrifying must the core Big Boss Dian Wei be?
And how horrifying must the main army personally led by Dian Wei become?!
Although the players had long prepared themselves mentally—
At this moment, they still deeply felt the terrifying difficulty of this quest…
If they tried to fight head-on—
Xinye City would have great difficulty surviving even one full-scale assault!
The enemy was strong while they were weak. The disparity in strength was overwhelming. Direct confrontation was impossible!
The players exchanged glances.
Although outwardly calm and expressionless—
Privately, they were already frantically communicating and discussing countermeasures!