Chapter 86 – War Has Arrived

Within the assembly hall, all Professionals who heard Commander Duan’s explanation fell into contemplation, then began whispering among themselves in low voices.

“So this is the condition for victory?”

“Simply put, we just need to buy time, right?”

Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei were also whispering beside Su Ming, causing Lei Hao and Ye Bai to unconsciously lower their voices as they conversed.

An Zijin continued clutching Su Ming’s clothes, as if this alone was enough, showing no signs of tension.

Su Ming actually had a question he wanted to ask.

However, he chose not to be the one to speak up first.

He believed many others would likely have the same question and wouldn’t be able to resist asking it.

Sure enough…

“May I ask approximately how long it will take for the Sorcerer Guild to seal the entrance?”

The person who spoke these words was none other than Xu Yanyan.

She seemed to represent all the Professionals present, boldly posing the question to Commander Duan even in this formal setting.

Everyone glanced at Xu Yanyan but raised no objections.

As the Young Miss of the Xu Family and a Three-Star Hunter, Xu Yanyan stood at the pinnacle among those present in terms of both strength and family background. Aside from Gao Xu, no one could rival her prominence.

Even Xu Qianqian currently fell slightly short compared to Xu Yanyan, as she was still just a student. No matter how talented or noble her Bloodline might be, she still appeared somewhat immature and inexperienced before these established Professionals.

Naturally, the same applied to Li Wei.

Therefore, having Xu Yanyan serve as their representative wasn’t inappropriate.

In response, Commander Duan provided a straightforward answer.

“According to preliminary assessments by the detection department, this entrance is medium-sized—not too large, but not small either. Even if the Sorcerer Guild deploys all their Upper-Rank Professionals, it will take a full day to completely seal this entrance.”

This was unavoidable.

Those capable of using the highest-level sealing Spell Formula like 【Distant Abyss Gate】 were extremely rare—even searching throughout the entire Sorcerer Guild, there would be no more than five such individuals.

Moreover, 【Distant Abyss Gate】 was the 84th sequence Spirit Art, ranking relatively low among Advanced Spirit Arts. Combined with the inherent complexity of performing sealing-type Spirit Arts, the Sorcerer Guild’s Upper-Rank Professionals also needed to coordinate with each other while managing Spirit Power output, reserves, consumption, replenishment, and other factors, making the process particularly draining.

Additionally, once the entrance opened, the Phantom Demon army would invade. The casters attempting to seal the entrance would have to withstand Phantom Demon attacks from the closest positions, forcing them to divide their attention between sealing and defense—sometimes even triple-tasking—while resisting alongside the frontline Professionals.

All these factors contributed to repeatedly extending the sealing time.

If any accidents or problems occurred during the process, the timeframe could be further prolonged.

This was precisely why multiple Defense Lines needed to be constructed, requiring everyone to diligently resist the Phantom Demon army.

Of course, the greatest pressure would be on the Frontline—the pressure on the Defense Lines here wasn’t particularly severe.

“All Professionals can proceed to the Frontline with confidence. Our military personnel will provide support from the rear. If any Phantom Demons break through your Defense Lines and reach the back, we will suppress them with firepower.”

Commander Duan began explaining his strategy for confronting the enemy.”For this campaign, the Base City has already opened its military supplies to us. Ordinary weapons might be ineffective against Phantom Demons, but with alchemical bullets, even we can deal effective damage to them.”

The so-called alchemical bullets refer to spirit bullets created by Alchemists, imbued with some characteristics of Spirit Arts and made from special Extraordinary Materials. They can suppress the regenerative abilities of Phantom Demons.

Although their lethality falls short of Spirit Arts, they are still effective attacks against Phantom Demons. As long as vital points are hit, while high-Rank Phantom Demons may be another matter, lower-Rank Phantom Demons—mere small fry in the Spirit Demon Abyss—should be manageable to eliminate.

There was a time when humanity placed great importance on these alchemical bullets, considering them a crucial weapon capable of altering the current situation.

If human armies could be fully equipped with sufficient alchemical bullets, even ordinary people could eliminate Phantom Demons, significantly enhancing humanity’s combat effectiveness against them.

Unfortunately, this vision ultimately collapsed.

The reason is simple.

Not everyone can become a Professional, and Sorcerers are a minority among Professionals. Among Sorcerers, those who choose to become Alchemists are an even smaller minority.

The scarcity of talent and the importance of technology have elevated the status of Alchemists above that of ordinary Professionals.

Such individuals are usually busy researching potions, developing new weapons, and creating more uniquely effective tools. Coupled with manufacturing commissions from various Domains, the number of Extraordinary Items they need to craft daily is countless. How could they possibly act like arms dealers, mass-producing bullets for ordinary soldiers?

Wouldn’t that be a waste of precious resources?

Thus, alchemical bullets cannot be produced in large quantities, and the idea of equipping everyone with them naturally fell apart.

Today, alchemical bullets have become a kind of strategic weapon to some extent. Every Base City is trying every means to stockpile them, and they are rarely brought out for ordinary military use.

This time, however, Longyao City has opened up the supply of alchemical bullets, allowing ordinary soldiers to take to the battlefield and eliminate Phantom Demons.

But this is certainly not without restrictions.

Ammunition is limited, and there are so many battle lines. Even if a large supply of alchemical bullets is needed, the demand at the Frontline is ten or even a hundred times greater than that at the rear Defense Line.

Under these circumstances, the supply of alchemical bullets on this Defense Line is very limited and cannot be used casually unless absolutely necessary.

The soldiers can only stay in the rear, serving as the final rearguard.

As for the Professionals’ combat, it actually follows a fixed pattern.

Due to the clear division of professions, Professionals typically do not change this combat pattern when dealing with large-scale campaigns.

First, Sorcerers use large-scale, wide-area Spell Formulas to attack the Phantom Demon army before it makes contact with their own battle lines.

Hunters generally engage Phantom Demons in close combat. By the time they charge forward, to avoid harming allies, Sorcerers can no longer use large-scale Offensive Spirit Arts.Given this, once the war begins, the Sorcerers must first launch a large-scale wave of Offensive Spirit Arts to reduce the numbers of Phantom Demons as much as possible. When the Phantom Demon army charges to a relatively close position and the Hunters rush forward to engage, the Sorcerers must cease these wide-area attacks and switch to smaller-scale or even single-target Spell Formulas that conserve Spirit Power while allowing precise sniping.

Meanwhile, the Hunters must block all Phantom Demons and protect the Sorcerers behind them, enabling those who can maximize damage through Spirit Arts to attack with confidence.

This is the standard combat model used by Professionals during large-scale wars.

Though simple, this model is undoubtedly the most efficient.

Though Commander Duan is an ordinary person, as a commander and strategist, he is naturally not ignorant of the Professionals’ combat methods.

The Commander had already arranged the formation, zooming in on the screen’s map to their own Defense Line and issuing instructions one by one.

The students of the Demon Hunter Academy listened with exceptional attentiveness.

This was their first time participating in such a large-scale battle, and they couldn’t afford to be careless.

Even Su Ming listened carefully, both confirming the subsequent arrangements of the Defense Line and pondering his own thoughts.

“In that case, I can take advantage of a few intervals to do what I want.”

Su Ming made his plans in his heart.

In contrast, some Professionals seemed rather distracted, either looking down on Commander Duan’s instructions or already thoroughly familiar with this combat model. They whispered from time to time, causing many disciplined soldiers around them to frown slightly.

On the other hand, the Family Hunters brought by Gao Xu and Xu Yanyan from the Xu Family stood quietly in place, silent as finely tuned machines ready to execute orders at any moment, displaying far better discipline than the freelance Professionals.

Afterward, Commander Duan made further detailed arrangements.

For instance, once the situation stabilized, they would implement a shift system for batch deployment.

Another example was how to advance the battle line and reunite with the Frontline if the entrance to the Spirit Demon Abyss was successfully Sealed.

By the time Commander Duan finished his briefing, evening had just arrived.

At this moment, the dark, oppressive sky unexpectedly revealed a trace of sunset glow, making the scenery quite beautiful.

Yet the oppressive atmosphere of the impending storm not only failed to dissipate but grew even thicker.

Commander Duan glanced at the time, his expression turning grave.

“It’s time.”

As these words fell, a live broadcast began on the large screen.

It was footage captured by drones at the very Frontline.

Everyone could see that in a desolate, uninhabited area, space suddenly began to distort.

Then, an anomaly occurred.

At first, it was just a point.

A tiny point, as if compressing all the darkness in the world, appeared in the Void Realm, causing the surrounding space to continuously warp.

The black dot grew larger and larger, gradually spinning and transforming into a black hole.

Inside the hole, countless crimson eyes lit up one after another.

Those were the eyes of hunters.

Those were the pupils of beasts—savage, ruthless, and cruel.

“Roar…”

“Howl…”

“Caw…”Suppressed roars echoed one after another from within, growing increasingly chaotic and deafening.

When the black hole expanded to about ten meters in diameter, the monsters descended.

“Roar!”

“Howl!”

“Screech!”

Amid the terrifying chorus of roars, Phantom Demons began pouring out of the black hole.

Some charged wildly across the ground.

Others soared through the sky.

Some dove into the Underground or submerged into water the moment they emerged.

Beast-like…

Humanoid…

Alien…

Deformed…

Countless varieties of Phantom Demons manifested while roaring.

Witnessing the scene like Hell descending upon earth, everyone was forced to acknowledge one reality.

War had arrived.

(End of Chapter)