Chapter 208: A Lone Blade Cannot Hold
The heavy front paw of the third-tier scaled beast on the left slammed down mercilessly. The two soldiers who had charged at it did not even have time to let out a complete cry; their bodies were instantly battered into the sand, their steel helmets caving in and deforming. Black blood dripped from the crevices of the beast's claws. The behemoth did not pause. Forming a pincer with its companion on the right, two pairs of cold, piercing gazes locked firmly onto Old Zhou.
Old Zhou gasped for air, his chest heaving violently as waves of dizziness from blood loss surged upward. The energy core of his oscillation stinger emitted a buzzing static, the blue light flickering dimly as its stored power neared depletion. He knew he could not withstand a simultaneous assault from two third-tier scaled beasts, but right behind him lay the ammunition piles and the wounded. Taking a single step back would lead to catastrophic consequences.
"Don't come over! Hold the flanks, stop the ordinary scaled beasts!" Old Zhou roared at the remaining soldiers around him. Lowering his center of gravity, he held the oscillation stinger horizontally in front of him, determined to bear the pincer attack of the two behemoths entirely on his own.
The third-tier scaled beast on the right struck first. Its thick tail swept out like a steel whip, carrying a howling wind. Old Zhou forcibly twisted his body to dodge. The tail grazed his back and slammed viciously into the steel plate of the cover behind him with a loud clang, the metal instantly denting and bending. Before he could regain his footing, the beast on the left lowered its head and charged, its bone spur thrusting straight for his chest and abdomen.
Weng—
Gritting his teeth, Old Zhou forced the last remnants of his energy into the weapon. The oscillation stinger erupted with a blinding flash of blue light, meeting the bone spur head-on.
The shockwave of the energy collision exploded outward, sending sand billowing into the air. The scaled beast was forced back half a step by the impact, but Old Zhou was equally blown backward by the recoil. He crashed heavily onto the blood-soaked pile of corpses, a sweet metallic taste rising in his throat as he spat a mouthful of blood onto the sand. The blue light of the oscillation stinger extinguished completely. Fine cracks spiderwebbed across its shell; it had lost all combat capability.
"Captain!" A few soldiers nearby, their eyes tearing with rage, desperately tried to charge over to support him. But they were firmly entangled by the endless tide of ordinary scaled beasts pouring in. Short blades clashed against beast claws in a chaotic melee, leaving them unable to save themselves, let alone anyone else.
The two third-tier scaled beasts stepped forward slowly. Low, rumbling growls circled above Old Zhou's head as their cold, vertical pupils stared down at their prey, now lying on the ground and stripped of heavy weaponry.
Inside the rocky hill observation shed, Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness was tightly locked onto the battlefield signals, his heart sinking to the abyss. He could not think of any way to reverse the situation. There were no reinforcements, no spare neutralizing bombs, and only three Sea of Consciousness cultivators left, teetering on the brink of collapse. The northern defense line was also critically low on ammunition. All he could do was continue watching the movements of the five ancient beings in the cavern and issue continuous warnings to everyone.
"Two third-tiers have locked onto Old Zhou. His oscillation weapon is disabled. The Beast Commander has not deployed the final reserve main force from the hidden intersections. It is still watching, waiting for this node of ours to completely collapse before committing them," Lin Yan's voice sounded dry and raspy over the channel. "The Sharp-Sense Ancient Being is condensing a psychic spike of even greater intensity, targeting the three remaining Sea of Consciousness cultivators."
No sooner had he spoken than a concentrated, razor-sharp edge of consciousness pierced through the chaotic noise of the battlefield, striking directly at the Sea of Consciousness defense group.
The three cultivators had been barely maintaining their resonance link by sheer willpower. This long-planned psychic spike struck precisely at the weakest point of their connection. The cultivator in the middle trembled violently, his eyes rolling back as blood poured simultaneously from his nose and ear canals. His Sea of Consciousness defense shattered with a silent boom, and he fell straight to the ground.
The resonance network of the remaining two instantly lost its support, collapsing in a chain reaction.
"The link is broken! The Sea of Consciousness reinforcement is gone!" The defense captain shouted those words with his last ounce of strength. Immediately after, his Sea of Consciousness was swallowed by the agonizing pain of backlash. Curled up on the ground, he could no longer output any power. Seeing his comrades fall one after another, despair flooded the heart of the last remaining cultivator. His consciousness could no longer endure; his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
The entire Sea of Consciousness defense group was completely incapacitated.
Stripped of the Sea of Consciousness reinforcement, the residual stabilizing resonance effect of the barrier vanished entirely. The energy membrane at the edges of the breach, which had been barely maintained, began to autonomously melt and peel away. The speed at which the gap expanded suddenly accelerated. More scaled beasts poured into the position through the breach, the black beast tide spreading across the阵地 (position) like a flood breaking through a dam.
Seizing this perfect opportunity, the Illusion Ancient Being activated the concealed illusion array nodes near the entrance on a massive scale.
A vast expanse of twisted, gray fog illusions spread outward, shrouding the entire left flank position in chaotic mirages. The soldiers' vision was completely disordered; they could not tell the enemy's location. Their ears were filled with the calls of loved ones, the wails of fallen comrades, and the low, seductive whispers of the ancient beings. Their firing rhythm descended into total chaos. Some fired wildly at empty patches of sand, while others stood frozen, trapped in the illusions, and were pounced upon by scaled beasts before they could even react.
Simultaneously, the Spiderweb Ancient Being increased its output intensity to the near-suburb anchor points. Two more spore nodes erupted. Panicked residents fled through the streets and alleys, and the rear security and serum squads fell completely into the quagmire. Distress messages were transmitted back to the command hall one after another, but there were absolutely no forces left to dispatch for rescue.
A deathly silence reigned within the command hall.
Scholar Su stared at the continuously reddening points on the sand table. The main breach on the left flank had fallen completely, the northern defense line was on the verge of collapse, Sea of Consciousness combat power was at zero, and ammunition reserves were nearly exhausted. He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them, and issued a heavy command into the communicator.
"Remaining personnel on the left flank position, retreat in batches to the secondary temporary fortifications. Prioritize the transfer of the wounded. Leave a rearguard squad to delay the beast tide. Notify the secondary position to immediately activate the pre-buried spore-blocking mines."
The orders were relayed down the chain layer by layer.
The soldiers still fighting bitterly felt a complex mix of emotions upon hearing the retreat order. No one wanted to abandon their wounded comrades, but staying in this lost position meant everyone would be swallowed by the beast tide. Clenching their teeth, a few soldiers near the breach continued to fire to suppress the scaled beasts while dragging Old Zhou backward. Old Zhou was still conscious, his body wracked with excruciating pain. Looking at the corpses of his comrades scattered everywhere and the endless influx of scaled beasts, he clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms.
"Do not stop the suppression. Buy time for the wounded," Old Zhou whispered through ragged breaths.
Over a dozen soldiers voluntarily stayed behind as the rearguard. Leaning against the piled corpses, they formed a loose defensive line, unleashing their final ammunition at the swarming scaled beasts. They knew this was a suicide mission; those who stayed behind had almost no chance of survival.
Deep within the cavern, the consciousness waves of the five ancient beings showed a slight fluctuation.
Sensing that the human frontline was retreating, the Beast Commander prepared to dispatch a portion of the scaled beasts to pursue. However, a signal from the supreme ruler intercepted it. The supreme ruler was not eager to push forward across the entire line immediately. It first wanted the scaled beasts that had poured into the position to solidify their occupation of the area and clear out the rearguard. At the same time, it would wait for the Illusion Ancient Being's consumption to drop before deciding whether to release the final main force echelon hidden in the dark intersections.
The Sharp-Sense Ancient Being was digesting the consumption brought on by the recent psychic spike, and the Sea of Consciousness tremors temporarily slowed. The Illusion Ancient Being maintained the illusion coverage, harvesting the soldiers who were trapped and unable to retreat. The Spiderweb Ancient Being continued to monitor the anchor points, sustaining the chaos in the rear.
They had won this round of positional warfare, yet they maintained their patience, refusing to advance recklessly.
On the left flank position of the wasteland, gunsmoke continued to billow upward. The gunfire of the rearguard squad gradually thinned, and screams were constantly drowned out by the roars of beasts. The surviving defenders escorted the wounded, struggling to retreat toward the secondary fortifications. Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness tracked the movements of the beast herd all the way, watching as the scaled beasts occupied the original trenches, the energy control consoles, and the firing positions step by step.
The frontline of the West Bastion's first barrier had fallen.
And deep within the subterranean darkness, the five ancient lizard beings still harbored their final lethal strike, quietly waiting for the timing of the next push.
End of Chapter.
Old Zhou gasped for air, his chest heaving violently as waves of dizziness from blood loss surged upward. The energy core of his oscillation stinger emitted a buzzing static, the blue light flickering dimly as its stored power neared depletion. He knew he could not withstand a simultaneous assault from two third-tier scaled beasts, but right behind him lay the ammunition piles and the wounded. Taking a single step back would lead to catastrophic consequences.
"Don't come over! Hold the flanks, stop the ordinary scaled beasts!" Old Zhou roared at the remaining soldiers around him. Lowering his center of gravity, he held the oscillation stinger horizontally in front of him, determined to bear the pincer attack of the two behemoths entirely on his own.
The third-tier scaled beast on the right struck first. Its thick tail swept out like a steel whip, carrying a howling wind. Old Zhou forcibly twisted his body to dodge. The tail grazed his back and slammed viciously into the steel plate of the cover behind him with a loud clang, the metal instantly denting and bending. Before he could regain his footing, the beast on the left lowered its head and charged, its bone spur thrusting straight for his chest and abdomen.
Weng—
Gritting his teeth, Old Zhou forced the last remnants of his energy into the weapon. The oscillation stinger erupted with a blinding flash of blue light, meeting the bone spur head-on.
The shockwave of the energy collision exploded outward, sending sand billowing into the air. The scaled beast was forced back half a step by the impact, but Old Zhou was equally blown backward by the recoil. He crashed heavily onto the blood-soaked pile of corpses, a sweet metallic taste rising in his throat as he spat a mouthful of blood onto the sand. The blue light of the oscillation stinger extinguished completely. Fine cracks spiderwebbed across its shell; it had lost all combat capability.
"Captain!" A few soldiers nearby, their eyes tearing with rage, desperately tried to charge over to support him. But they were firmly entangled by the endless tide of ordinary scaled beasts pouring in. Short blades clashed against beast claws in a chaotic melee, leaving them unable to save themselves, let alone anyone else.
The two third-tier scaled beasts stepped forward slowly. Low, rumbling growls circled above Old Zhou's head as their cold, vertical pupils stared down at their prey, now lying on the ground and stripped of heavy weaponry.
Inside the rocky hill observation shed, Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness was tightly locked onto the battlefield signals, his heart sinking to the abyss. He could not think of any way to reverse the situation. There were no reinforcements, no spare neutralizing bombs, and only three Sea of Consciousness cultivators left, teetering on the brink of collapse. The northern defense line was also critically low on ammunition. All he could do was continue watching the movements of the five ancient beings in the cavern and issue continuous warnings to everyone.
"Two third-tiers have locked onto Old Zhou. His oscillation weapon is disabled. The Beast Commander has not deployed the final reserve main force from the hidden intersections. It is still watching, waiting for this node of ours to completely collapse before committing them," Lin Yan's voice sounded dry and raspy over the channel. "The Sharp-Sense Ancient Being is condensing a psychic spike of even greater intensity, targeting the three remaining Sea of Consciousness cultivators."
No sooner had he spoken than a concentrated, razor-sharp edge of consciousness pierced through the chaotic noise of the battlefield, striking directly at the Sea of Consciousness defense group.
The three cultivators had been barely maintaining their resonance link by sheer willpower. This long-planned psychic spike struck precisely at the weakest point of their connection. The cultivator in the middle trembled violently, his eyes rolling back as blood poured simultaneously from his nose and ear canals. His Sea of Consciousness defense shattered with a silent boom, and he fell straight to the ground.
The resonance network of the remaining two instantly lost its support, collapsing in a chain reaction.
"The link is broken! The Sea of Consciousness reinforcement is gone!" The defense captain shouted those words with his last ounce of strength. Immediately after, his Sea of Consciousness was swallowed by the agonizing pain of backlash. Curled up on the ground, he could no longer output any power. Seeing his comrades fall one after another, despair flooded the heart of the last remaining cultivator. His consciousness could no longer endure; his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
The entire Sea of Consciousness defense group was completely incapacitated.
Stripped of the Sea of Consciousness reinforcement, the residual stabilizing resonance effect of the barrier vanished entirely. The energy membrane at the edges of the breach, which had been barely maintained, began to autonomously melt and peel away. The speed at which the gap expanded suddenly accelerated. More scaled beasts poured into the position through the breach, the black beast tide spreading across the阵地 (position) like a flood breaking through a dam.
Seizing this perfect opportunity, the Illusion Ancient Being activated the concealed illusion array nodes near the entrance on a massive scale.
A vast expanse of twisted, gray fog illusions spread outward, shrouding the entire left flank position in chaotic mirages. The soldiers' vision was completely disordered; they could not tell the enemy's location. Their ears were filled with the calls of loved ones, the wails of fallen comrades, and the low, seductive whispers of the ancient beings. Their firing rhythm descended into total chaos. Some fired wildly at empty patches of sand, while others stood frozen, trapped in the illusions, and were pounced upon by scaled beasts before they could even react.
Simultaneously, the Spiderweb Ancient Being increased its output intensity to the near-suburb anchor points. Two more spore nodes erupted. Panicked residents fled through the streets and alleys, and the rear security and serum squads fell completely into the quagmire. Distress messages were transmitted back to the command hall one after another, but there were absolutely no forces left to dispatch for rescue.
A deathly silence reigned within the command hall.
Scholar Su stared at the continuously reddening points on the sand table. The main breach on the left flank had fallen completely, the northern defense line was on the verge of collapse, Sea of Consciousness combat power was at zero, and ammunition reserves were nearly exhausted. He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them, and issued a heavy command into the communicator.
"Remaining personnel on the left flank position, retreat in batches to the secondary temporary fortifications. Prioritize the transfer of the wounded. Leave a rearguard squad to delay the beast tide. Notify the secondary position to immediately activate the pre-buried spore-blocking mines."
The orders were relayed down the chain layer by layer.
The soldiers still fighting bitterly felt a complex mix of emotions upon hearing the retreat order. No one wanted to abandon their wounded comrades, but staying in this lost position meant everyone would be swallowed by the beast tide. Clenching their teeth, a few soldiers near the breach continued to fire to suppress the scaled beasts while dragging Old Zhou backward. Old Zhou was still conscious, his body wracked with excruciating pain. Looking at the corpses of his comrades scattered everywhere and the endless influx of scaled beasts, he clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms.
"Do not stop the suppression. Buy time for the wounded," Old Zhou whispered through ragged breaths.
Over a dozen soldiers voluntarily stayed behind as the rearguard. Leaning against the piled corpses, they formed a loose defensive line, unleashing their final ammunition at the swarming scaled beasts. They knew this was a suicide mission; those who stayed behind had almost no chance of survival.
Deep within the cavern, the consciousness waves of the five ancient beings showed a slight fluctuation.
Sensing that the human frontline was retreating, the Beast Commander prepared to dispatch a portion of the scaled beasts to pursue. However, a signal from the supreme ruler intercepted it. The supreme ruler was not eager to push forward across the entire line immediately. It first wanted the scaled beasts that had poured into the position to solidify their occupation of the area and clear out the rearguard. At the same time, it would wait for the Illusion Ancient Being's consumption to drop before deciding whether to release the final main force echelon hidden in the dark intersections.
The Sharp-Sense Ancient Being was digesting the consumption brought on by the recent psychic spike, and the Sea of Consciousness tremors temporarily slowed. The Illusion Ancient Being maintained the illusion coverage, harvesting the soldiers who were trapped and unable to retreat. The Spiderweb Ancient Being continued to monitor the anchor points, sustaining the chaos in the rear.
They had won this round of positional warfare, yet they maintained their patience, refusing to advance recklessly.
On the left flank position of the wasteland, gunsmoke continued to billow upward. The gunfire of the rearguard squad gradually thinned, and screams were constantly drowned out by the roars of beasts. The surviving defenders escorted the wounded, struggling to retreat toward the secondary fortifications. Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness tracked the movements of the beast herd all the way, watching as the scaled beasts occupied the original trenches, the energy control consoles, and the firing positions step by step.
The frontline of the West Bastion's first barrier had fallen.
And deep within the subterranean darkness, the five ancient lizard beings still harbored their final lethal strike, quietly waiting for the timing of the next push.
End of Chapter.