Chapter 238: One Rider Against a Thousand
"When I used to read martial arts novels, I loved the scenes where the hero fought against the army," Chu Hengkong said. "On one side, a massive army approaches, heavily armored and armed, the cavalry ready to charge, the archers straining their bowstrings... On the other side, there's just one man, carrying his sword or knife, maybe a jug of wine. As arrows rain down, he draws his weapon and charges at an enemy a thousand times his size."
"Sounds cool."
"It's so handsome, that's why I've always liked it." Chu Hengkong smiled. "People who don't understand romance would say that the hero turned into a hedgehog in the end, that he would die in the middle of the charge because he couldn't reach the enemy's armor. At that time, I thought that there would always be people in the world who could defeat a thousand men, and there would have been warriors who were invulnerable to swords and guns, but those people had never seen it..."
Later I became this kind of person, but I never encountered such an opportunity."
"Now you have your chance, don't you?" Ji Huaisu also smiled. "How romantic! Let's toast to this romantic adventure."
She actually took out a wine gourd and poured two sips of the remaining wine into a small ice cup. This was confiscated from Qingye the night of the banquet to prevent the girl from drinking too much. They drank and toasted, laughing happily.
"I really admire you two heroes for being able to laugh. I've cried so hard I've run out of tears." Vander said expressionlessly, "I don't think we'll turn into hedgehogs. We'll be struck by lightning and turned into asphalt. Years from now, a new group of brave men will dig us out and say, 'Wow, you're the heroic veterans of the 35th class...' They'll salute us and then go on to their deaths."
The explosive roar of thunder drowned out Fander's groaning. Lightning danced like snakes through the thick clouds, and muddy rain fell, turning into sharp knives in the air. All around him was a blanket of darkness. It wasn't night, but the enemy.
Slayers growled in the shadows, corpses paced through the shadows, and further away, three demons roared, while giant corpse puppets raised their blades. Raining knives slashed their skin, and foul-smelling black blood flowed down and merged with the earth. At a glance, the total number of the heretic army exceeded fifty thousand. They surrounded the settlement, like darkness transformed into the hand of despair.
The army's opponents were just three people, sitting in the rain drinking, like slightly larger water droplets. The seemingly distant distance was but a step for the slayers, yet they dared not advance. Not a single outsider dared to act.
The divine sword lodged in the earth, rain streaking across the charred blade. Its ferocity was barely tangible, a trace of that fierce aura like the half-closed eyes of a ferocious beast, its mere presence driving back all outsiders.
"This scene is more magnificent than I imagined."
"If you're scared now, you can still retreat."
"How could that be?" Chu Hengkong laughed, "That's more like it!"
The ice cup shattered to the ground, and the killer and the knight rose simultaneously. At this moment, command overwhelmed fear, and the massive army officially moved out, water droplets and sea tides charging at each other!
The Divine Slash lifted off the ground, its blade piercing the slayer's soaring form, cleaving it with ease. Shadows seeped into the blade like blood, and the Divine Slash rang with excitement. Chu Hengkong shook off the enemy's corpse, his blade slashing with the smoothness of flowing water. The blade's arc traced a black circle in the rain, plunging into the enemy formation, slicing through thousands of bodies, spilling blood and forming a filthy fan across the vast army.
He put away his sword, and the fan flew up with the forced release of Qi. In just a short moment, the power of the slash exploded three times, crushing nearly one-tenth of the army!
The forest people's method of controlling the mind and using the weapon, the weapon master and the weapon are one and the same, and with a little strength, they can perform various magical powers.
Ji Huaisu cheered, pointing her shield skyward. Rain swirled beneath her feet, transforming into a mighty wave. This wave surged through the gap created by Chu Hengkong, sweeping away the outermost enemy troops and sending the two of them directly into the center of the enemy formation. A blinding light emanated as she landed. She drew her shadow blade and slashed around herself, shattering every shadow cast by the intense light.
The corpse puppets at the rear of the battle formation fell, their massive bodies easily disintegrating as their shadows were slashed. A mad demon scattered its body and launched a sneak attack from behind. Chu Heng kicked away the dusty claws, and a flash of bloody aura incinerated the elemental body to ash. An assassin corpse puppet emerged from the ground, attempting to restrain the killer with a bone cage, but the knight struck with a single sword, severing the torture device and the puppet itself in two.
"Is that all you've got?" The killer laughed. "It's not very impressive."
"Don't be like this. If you stay in a nightmare for too long, you will get rusty~" said Ji Huaisu.
"How much is the rusty guy worth now?"
"One in ten, I guess?"
"That's why you said it wasn't good enough—"
Weapons clashed in unison as they struck, their will and magic surging, sending the surrounding enemy troops flying. They stood back to back, drawing their swords simultaneously. The winds of their swords shook the earth, interweaving into a two-toned whirlwind. Nearly one-fifth of the enemy force vanished in that instant, and the assassin and knight pointed their weapons at the castle atop the Black Mountain.
They laughed at the same time: "At least send me ten times the troops, Demon King!"
The army had just launched its first offensive, yet the enemy had already nearly broken through the battle formation. There truly were heroes in this world who could defeat a thousand with a single horse. Even a 50,000-man army couldn't stop their advance!
"What terrifying young people..." the spider muttered. "They're always like this, like shooting stars streaking across the night sky, yet never falling, hanging resolutely in the sky. Your teachers were like this back then, too. That's why I always feel fear when I see them."
Limb Spider stood atop the city walls of Nightmare City, halfway across the misty wilderness, yet he could see everything in the distance with crystal clarity. Just as the warriors would grow stronger within the city, the emissaries could now regain a glimmer of their former glory. The enemy's choice had surprised him. He had expected the vanguard to bring the rest of their warriors into a desperate fight, but surprisingly, there were only two of them.
No, it was the two men standing on the shoulders of a hundred men. Through his energy vision, he saw a vast life force descending from the light tree, pouring down upon the two men's heads. Every warrior in the settlement, young and old, surrounded the sacred pillar, channeling their energy in a united force. Among the hundred men was Jie An, wielding the pestle, and the long-forgotten people of the mist. They poured forth their strength, regardless of the cost, just to spare the two vanguards a single ounce of energy.
The heroes must use their strength at the most critical moment, so the battles before that will be borne by everyone!
"All troops, leave those two behind and attack the settlement with all your might. We must make the War Ghost use up at least one Brilliant Sky Flow attack," the Spider ordered. "Burning Embers, can you still draw your bow?"
"My flame will not die."
Burning Embers stood at the highest point of Nightmare City, pulling the flaming bowstring. His posture was precise and meticulous. He had once been a hunter in the mountains, where a single misstep would mean the loss of both his food and his future. Flames flowed down his glowing arm into the bow, forming a long, semi-fluid arrow.
Sephiroth 3's magic fire arrow, the most standard apprentice technique.
Burning embers spun the longbow, the bowstring coiling around the arrows. The moving shadow of the bow was fixed by the light, and with each degree of movement, a brand new bow was formed. The fire spread like petals, nocking identical arrows onto the newly formed bow. Three thousand six hundred flaming arrows retreated with the tip of the flame, the bowstring, twisted to its limit, feeding them with power. He let go, and three thousand six hundred rays of light shot into the thick clouds, reflecting into a flaming rain of arrows!
"Eternal Rain."
The battlefield was illuminated by blazing flames, and countless streams of fire rained down from the sky, like a divine punishment from myth. A hail of arrows enveloped the entire battlefield, exposing not only the battle formation where the two charged, but also the entire settlement. Each flaming arrow pursued the heat relentlessly, pursuing the brave from all directions, unwilling to rest until stopped or slain.
Ji Huaisu slapped the ground without thinking, and the triple dragon-sealed mountain rose from the ground. Her power was continuously injected into the mountain, making the seal and the rain of arrows compete for a while.
"Can you withstand it?" Vander was terrified.
"No big deal, just a little numbness in my hands!" Ji Huaisu shouted, "I'll hold the settlement. Let's rush to the city gate first!"
Chu Hengkong grabbed her arm and charged forward, ignoring the hail of arrows, carving a bloody path through the army. Burning arrows, drawn by the heat, followed, but they couldn't match the killer's speed. In just three seconds, they had reached the center of the ancient battlefield. Thunder rumbled from the blazing clouds, and purple lightning was drawn out at the messenger's call.
"Zhu Lei, it's your turn."
"Anger, hatred, resentment, sorrow, thunder and punishment gather..."
A purple giant emerged from the clouds, clutching a lightning bolt as thick as a building. The lightning, warped with malice, refracted through the air into a forest of lightning that ripped through the sky. The cursed thunder roared, like a cursed and maddened thunder god, bringing down a harsh divine punishment on the earth.
“Curse! Curse! Curse!!”
Every call caused the lightning to surge, and every curse doubled the number of thunder trees. The destructive power of the thunder punishment became three times... nine times... twenty-seven times!
"Can you really hold on?!" Vander screamed amidst the thunder, "I don't think this will work!"
Curse Thunder swung his fist into the air, and tens of thousands of thunderbolts simultaneously struck the center of the battlefield. The iceberg, worn down by the rain of flaming arrows, could no longer withstand the violent blow. Ji Huaisu created a transparent staircase in the air.
Chu Hengkong leaped onto the icy steps, raising his sword to meet the thunderbolt that descended from the sky. The raging lightning struck the charred blade, its surface gleaming with lightning, but its will was locked in place, preventing it from penetrating the warrior's body. He swung the sword through the air, with twice the force of before. The purple-black blade light danced like a flying bird, piercing the giant's chest.
Steel Edge Flow: Returning Strike. Take the hit and return it double!
The cursed thunder in the clouds collapsed at the blow, and Ji Huaisu seized the opportunity to transform her armor, switching to the speed-focused steel armor. She caught up with her partner and rode the wind stealthily, like a sword wielding a blade through thorns. Raindrops retreated at breakneck speed, the scenery blurring as they raced. They crossed the mountains, shattered during the battle of Wen Yao, and arrived at the gates of the royal city, the highest point.
"Wake up, old bastards!" Ji Huaisu yelled, "Come out and fight!"
She created a water column like a battering ram and smashed it on the gate of Nightmare City!
(End of this chapter)
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