“Damn it! So the swarm earlier was just to draw our attention and block our line of sight? They kept the real heavy siege weapons for the back! Because these beetles move so slowly, they needed some other form of cover.”
Blake stared intently at the widening cracks on the array, roaring through gritted teeth.
“You’re right, the situation is far more severe than we anticipated! These black beetles are troublesome enough, not to mention that swarm still circling in the sky. Our task has undoubtedly become even more arduous.”
Aila leaned over to look at the beetles gathered at the base of the wall. Instead of showing irritation, she pointed down and laughed lightly.
“As long as they aren’t cockroaches, there’s nothing to be afraid of! Besides, the Void Demons’ weaknesses are actually much easier to hit once they’re enlarged. Isn’t this our time to shine?”
Everyone looked in the direction she was pointing. Only then did they realize that the iconic red fleshy lumps on the Void Demons were the size of basketballs on the giant beetles. Compared to the ones they had seen before, these were indeed much easier to aim at.
“The array’s defense is about to give way!”
Amidst Rosal’s cry of alarm, the sturdy defense array surrounding Azure Fortress finally buckled under the weight. Under the concentrated and violent assault, it shattered with a boom, turning into countless tiny sparks of white light that gradually dissipated into the sky.
Immediately following, the massive beetles seemed like beasts breaking free from their chains. They slammed frantically into the thick walls of the fortress, each collision accompanied by a deafening boom that made the very air tremble.
Fortunately, the walls of Azure Fortress were no ordinary structures. They were built from a fusion of various rare metals and high-strength stone, forming a complex and solid defense system that resiliently withstood the beetles’ successive waves of violent attacks.
Had it been the fragile walls of Loka City, they likely would have shattered into pieces under the very first wave of impact.
“Blake, have the gunners fire the magic crystal cannons directly downward! Switch to armor-piercing shells! Aila, come with me and hold off these damn bugs!”
Ronald’s voice came from inside No. 23. The massive steel body leaped from the top of the wall, landing squarely amidst the cluster of beetles below.
The iron giant falling from the sky crushed the beetle at its landing point into a heap of black meat. It then grabbed the sharp horns of the beetles on either side with its massive hands, flinging them away amidst the roar of machinery. Simultaneously, the spear-like equipment on its back detached and lunged forward, skewering several giant beetles like a kebab.
Aila followed close behind, leaping lightly from the wall and drawing a long, slender katana from the Arms Crafter mid-descent.
Using Iron Man No. 23’s broad back as a landing point, her body shot out like a crimson comet. The long blade in her hand neatly pierced the fleshy lump atop a beetle-type Void Demon’s head.
Under her precise and lethal strike, the giant beetle’s weakness was completely destroyed. Its massive body instantly became sluggish and heavy, and its once indestructible defense seemed to lose its support, becoming incredibly fragile. However, even so, these giant insects were still not something ordinary soldiers could easily defeat.
Aila spun gracefully, withdrawing her weapon. She skillfully utilized the tiny gaps between the giant beetle’s carapace, driving her katana deep inside before slashing downward along the seam with explosive force.
With every precise swing of her blade, a black aura sprayed out along with shards of carapace—the evil energy accumulated within the beetle was dissipating.
In just a few seconds, the giant beetle was dismantled by Aila into a mess of parts. It crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
A flash of joy at the victory crossed Aila’s eyes, but she quickly regained her composure and scanned her surroundings.
At that moment, Aila noticed that beneath the massive bodies of the beetles, numerous small and medium-sized Void Demons were hidden. They were crawling on the ground, seemingly waiting for something.
However, when she prepared to draw her weapon to deal with these potential threats, she was surprised to find that these Void Demons had no intention of fighting her. Instead, they scattered in all directions.
Faced with the sudden evasion of the smaller Void Demons, Aila felt a chill in her heart.
The Void Demons before her clearly possessed higher intelligence. They had chosen to avoid a direct confrontation, turning instead to use their agility to climb the walls, attempting to break through the defensive line from another direction.
The one Aila had just killed was only one of hundreds of beetles. If she continued to clear them at this speed, it would indeed be too slow. Before she could finish clearing the Void Demons in front of her, the wall would be completely overrun.
Meanwhile, Midir joined the battle. He condensed dozens of light spears in front of him, thrusting them fiercely toward the beetles below.
But the light element magic that had previously been invincible seemed to lose its original power. After the golden spears struck the beetles’ glossy carapaces, a portion of the energy was actually reflected away, and the remaining power was insufficient to break their solid defense.
Seeing that the hastily condensed light element was not very effective against the giant beetles, Midir clicked his tongue in annoyance. He considered switching tactics and using fire to burn them all down.
However, he feared that large-scale magic would affect Aila and Ronald fighting below the wall. Thus, he shifted his attention back to the swarms still rampaging in mid-air.
The locust-type Void Demons in the sky, having been drenched in the concentrated mineral powder, were no longer as dense or frenzied as before. However, they still gathered into dozens of small swarms, stubbornly attacking the soldiers on the wall from various directions.
Once the aerial swarms were split into several small units, their threat immediately diminished significantly.
Midir condensed wings of wind element behind him and flew high into the air. Holding his sword in his right hand, every swing produced a massive wind blade that tore the swarms blocking him into shreds.
Each time he passed through a swarm, he used his left hand to toss out a small fireball, just like the move he had used during the Grand Mage examination.
Soon, under his manipulation, the sky was filled with small, pale gold sparks, as dazzling as stars in the daylight.
With a wave of his left hand, the sparks floating in the air drifted precisely toward every swarm. Dozens of brilliant fireballs exploded in mid-air. The locusts hit by them turned into wisps of black smoke, completely incinerated in the sky.
While Midir was wreaking havoc in the sky, the magic crystal cannon battery below began a fierce bombardment of the giant beetles at the base of the wall.
The armor-piercing shells specifically prepared for the magic crystal cannons finally came in handy. Those giant beetles that had seemed indestructible now had shocking craters blasted into their armor under the fierce bombardment.
This was especially true for the beetles whose weaknesses had already been found and destroyed by Aila and the others. They found it even harder to withstand such piercing attacks and were often completely killed by just one or two shells.
Aila was like a red meteor, weaving flexibly through the gaps between the beetles. Every strike was aimed directly at a vital point, and she retreated quickly after a successful hit, giving the enemy no chance to counterattack.
In the sky, Midir continued to cast his magic, forming a perfect coordination with the cannon fire on the wall, significantly easing the pressure on the ground troops.
Ronald, driving Iron Man No. 23, became the focus of the battlefield. He tore through the Void Demon swarm directly in front of him. Every charge was accompanied by deafening roars and flying sparks. With its immense strength and speed, the machine crushed every Void Demon that tried to approach the wall.
In terms of pure volume, the black beetles were slightly larger than Iron Man No. 23. However, the machine’s body—made of unknown metal—and its brute force far beyond imagination were not something the beetles could compare to.
After realizing that the bombardment from above was effective against the beetles, Ronald immediately changed his combat strategy. He switched from a melee struggle to flipping the beetles over.
Even the beetles enhanced by Void Energy still possessed soft bellies. Once they were flipped upside down, they became sitting ducks for the magic crystal cannons above. At that point, their massive and heavy bodies became a hindrance instead.
In this manner, under the offensive led by Aila and the others, a gap was forcibly carved into the battlefield directly ahead.
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