Chapter 259 – Battles Across Various Regions

Two days later,

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Arrows and Bone Spears sliced through the air with sharp, piercing hums, striking flight-capable monsters attempting to soar over the City Walls with precision. They plummeted to the ground like dumplings, thudding into the tide of monsters surging from afar. Sometimes, they crashed into sprinting creatures, sending both tumbling together—either bypassed by the stampede behind or trampled directly, swallowed by the Charge of the monster horde.

Clusters of fiery light erupted intermittently within two hundred meters of the City Walls.

The roar of explosions echoed continuously.

The few flying monsters that managed to breach the layered defenses and reach the walls were meticulously targeted and eliminated by the Arrow Towers and Thundercoil Towers controlled by Deadbone and Lu Liu.

The Ranks of monsters in the tide were generally low, much like the sharp decline in players at the Third and Fourth Orders. Most monsters were only at the Apprentice Tier, Common Tier, or Elite Tier.

However, the sheer number of monsters was overwhelming.

Even with the advantage of terrain, how many Common Tier monsters could an Elite Skeleton General eliminate?

At most, a few dozen.

And that was under the ideal scenario where they lined up to be slaughtered.

Yet, often, the ratio of monsters to human troops far exceeded dozens to one.

Take Tianyuan Territory, for instance: it currently had only 1,234 Professional Tier troops and 269 Elite Tier troops, yet faced tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of monsters.

These monsters were not lambs to the slaughter.

They didn’t crowd together like a zombie horde, allowing a single Blazing Sun to annihilate them en masse. They moved swiftly, dodging obstacles like trees and rocks, and even evaded arrows and Fireballs shot from a distance.

Though lacking wisdom, their combat instincts were innate, no weaker than those of trained troops from the moment they spawned.

The higher the monster’s tier, the stronger their combat instincts.

Tianyuan Territory had Generals stationed at key points, each capable of sweeping through armies and decimating hordes of monsters. But Mu Yuan refused to rely solely on his Generals’ strength. He had to leverage every advantage to prevent his commanders from being caught off guard, drained of power, when greater threats emerged.

Moreover, intelligent monsters lurked within the tide.

They wouldn’t foolishly Charge the walls; they knew how to observe, wait, and excelled at ambushing and assassinating the commanders of human territories.

These were ‘strategies’ summarized by predecessors.

There had been no shortage of rising territories whose powerful Generals charged into the monster tide, rampaging and slaughtering countless foes.

However, these Generals, whose ‘intel was exposed’ after being watched covertly by hidden monsters, often fell prey to targeted assassinations by intelligent creatures.

Many powerful Generals and Heroes had died this way.

Mu Yuan reckoned that his Generals—Deadbone, Dolai, Lu Liu, and others—were far more capable than those of other rising lords. Yet, he couldn’t afford to be too ostentatious.

He wasn’t averse to using his Generals’ power.

He couldn’t possibly refrain from deploying a Sharp Weapon like Dolai for clearing the field. But he had to be cautious, sending them into battle with care and ensuring they conserved some strength while purging the monsters.

Prioritizing steadiness was key.

Boom—

In the distance, clusters of brilliant flames erupted, illuminating the gloomy sky.This is Dolai’s Incarnation acting as a flame turret, continuously outputting with a puff-puff-puff rhythm. It doesn’t use major killing moves like ‘Blazing Sun’—when exterminating countless monsters, sustained output is more important.

Yawning, Dolai maintained a moderate firing rate, launching four Fireballs per second that exploded puff-boom in all directions.

As the residual flames dissipated, the sky darkened once more.

It was currently noon. Though the Crimson Mist was kept at bay above Tianyuan Territory by the Lord’s protection, there was no light either. The entire sky remained gloomy and oppressive, as if on the verge of collapse.

In the core area of the territory, beside the Spell Furnace, stood a radar-like structure—the Outstanding Rank Miracle Building ‘Arcane Astrolabe.’

As one of the three components of the Epic building, the Astrolabe’s capabilities weren’t as prominent as the others, but its prowess was still considerable.

It possessed detection and remote observation abilities.

Mu Yuan was currently using the Arcane Astrolabe’s ultra-long-range observation feature, akin to a Lord’s vision, to monitor the situation far beyond his territory.

While not as convenient as the Lord’s vision, with proper setup, it could extend his sight over great distances.

As for the War Falcon’s vision? It wasn’t very practical at the moment.

Above the vast tide of monsters, ordinary Storm War Falcons would be torn apart in no time. Even a powerful one like Asun could only manage a few daring strikes at most, unable to linger for long.

“Suspected intelligent monster detected in Zone A36.”

“Suspected intelligent monster detected in Zone D49.”

“Zone L…”

Beside Mu Yuan was Isloria. She was also using the Arcane Astrolabe’s control panel, conducting visual screenings.

In addition, Isloria was handling multiple observation tasks.

To manage this, she had unsurprisingly deployed two Incarnations to assist with the workload around her.

So far, they had identified 52 intelligent monsters.

He hadn’t dispatched his generals to eliminate them specifically.

He kept these intelligent monsters alive, using the Arcane Astrolabe’s power to mark them for close monitoring.

The emergence of intelligent monsters was related to Rank, but not entirely.

A Fourth Order BOSS didn’t necessarily possess intelligence.

In recent days, most of the Fourth Order BOSSes eliminated by Dolai and the others lacked intelligence, possibly due to their recent emergence.

Conversely, Professional Tier and Elite monsters could also possess high intelligence.

Like the Snakemen Commander and Spider Chieftain he had encountered before.

Most of the intelligent monsters Mu Yuan discovered were Elite and Commander Tier. In a monster tide of this scale, even if Elite and Commander Tier monsters developed intelligence, they were likely only mid-level figures.

Merely minor generals.

Mu Yuan had used the first few intelligent monsters he found as bait to lure out more and more intelligent BOSSes.

Otherwise, even with the Arcane Astrolabe’s assistance, pinpointing a few dozen special individuals within the endless monster tide would have been extremely difficult.

It was the second day of the monster tide’s rapid surge, and the Tianyuan Territory’s defenses remained very stable.

“The timing is about right. We can begin decapitating these intelligent monsters and move into the second phase—the harvesting stage by igniting the Calamity-Inducing Demon Flower.”

Mu Yuan’s mental intent spread out, conveying the message to his frontline generals like Deadbone and Lu Liu.

The upcoming tasks would be left for them to handle.Mu Yuan was quite at ease.

He could go and take a break, have a cup of tea and some sweets.

……

Many newly appointed Lords were not so relaxed.

Tan Moumou stood atop his castle, gazing into the distance at the flying monsters entering his territory. His expression was grave as he zoomed out his view, continuously controlling the Arrow Towers and other defensive structures, locking onto the intruding monsters and eliminating them one by one.

He wiped the sweat from his brow.

He hadn’t rested for two days and a night.

For an Elite-level Peak expert like him, going without sleep for a few days wasn’t a big issue. However, he had been constantly operating the defensive structures these past two days, expending considerable mental energy. Even after consuming recovery potions and nutrient supplements, Tan Moumou still couldn’t avoid feeling fatigued.

But he didn’t dare rest.

He was afraid that if he fell asleep, something might go wrong in his territory.

He had actually hired many veteran players, but commanding troops and operating structures could only be done by himself, or rather, only by his trusted forces.

Tan Moumou did possess considerable trusted forces.

He had one Hero and two generals who had consumed precious Treasures to awaken their self-awareness ahead of time.

These three generals were the three pillars of his territory.

However, three pillars were truly too few, and among them, there was only one Hero.

This Hero was currently commanding troops and coordinating players at the front lines. As such, the task of operating the defensive structures fell solely on Tan Moumou himself.

In addition, he had to handle territorial affairs, communicate with players, process information, and gather intelligence, among other duties.

None of these could be delegated to others, at least not the most critical ones.

“The current situation is manageable. My territory has the capability to withstand this Crimson Mist disaster month, but I’m going to be completely exhausted!”

“Still, compared to me, other newly appointed Lords are probably in a more precarious position.”

At least he had one Hero to share some of the burdens.

Most newly appointed Lords didn’t have any Heroes. Their batch of newcomers was already at a disadvantage, with only a very few having gained anything at the Festival Grounds.

Many Lords couldn’t afford to hire players for assistance either.

No wonder so many territories were being abandoned, turning into ruins.

“I wonder how the others are doing.”

He glanced at his phone from Blue Star.

The screen was lit, but the small group chat was dead silent, clearly everyone was too busy to spare a moment.

……

Liver Emperor’s situation was slightly better than Tan Moumou’s.

Because he had won the favor of a wealthy patron.

Currently, there were more players assisting in defending his territory than in Tan Moumou’s, and there were also many defensive weapons purchased through connections and special channels, firing away and eliminating monsters.

Liver Emperor’s face also showed unmistakable fatigue, with dark circles under his eyes, but he still managed a smile when he looked at the person beside him.

“Once this disaster month is over, we’ll return to Blue Star and get married.”

……

Red Leaf Territory.

Lord Zhou Ye was overwhelmed with problems. He had no Hero, and his trusted subordinates were only a few unreliable junior officers.

He had to run around handling everything himself, while also delegating some authority to players who weren’t necessarily loyal or dependable.

“There are still too few defenders, damn it!”

“And the players aren’t reliable. They’re fine when things are going smoothly, but when the tide turns…”

Red Leaf Territory was originally a pioneering territory. Before the Crimson Mist disaster month arrived, he had attracted quite a few players. Unfortunately, when the disaster month descended and the Crimson Mist enveloped the land, these pioneering players vanished one after another.

Not a single one dared to stay and face the hardship together!The remaining veteran players were only here because he had paid a hefty price to hire them.

He had spent money, land deeds, contracts for Altar usage, and more.

Even so, if the situation turned dire, no player would stay behind to live or die with him.

If the City Walls fell, it would trigger an avalanche.

“Please don’t let it come to this—my hard work, all my efforts!”

…

At the same time,

Stone Ridge Town.

Boom—!

Deafening roars echoed continuously, resounding beyond the City Walls in all four directions.

The explosions never ceased, and the ground trembled incessantly.

Compared to Tianyuan Territory, the horde of monsters assaulting Stone Ridge Town was dozens of times larger.

Every frontline stronghold faced an extremely fierce tide of monsters.

The railway had long been severed, and the town was besieged on all sides by surging waves of monsters. Stone Ridge Town was like an isolated island in a roaring sea.

However, its defensive capabilities far surpassed those of Tianyuan Territory.

On Tianyuan’s City Walls, the troops were sparse, unable to fully garrison even one side. Here in Stone Ridge Town, the towering City Walls were manned by countless diverse troops, with soldiers stationed at every section and firing port.

Squads and regiments waited in readiness below the walls, prepared to rotate in at any moment.

A great number of players were stationed here.

Among them, a veteran Lord typically commanded a fully-developed regiment and a secondary regiment, stationed together.

This amounted to over a thousand elite soldiers.

In terms of ordinary troops, this already rivaled Tianyuan Territory.

And there were several such veteran Lords within Stone Ridge Town, along with over a dozen older Lords and an uncertain number of ranger players.

This was the backbone of a military stronghold.

Even so, the battle was exceptionally intense, even brutal.

High-level monsters had already broken through into the territory, wreaking havoc before being slain by powerful players. The remains of many flying monsters had crashed inside the town, stirring up clouds of dust.

Stone Ridge Town was vast, at least several times the size of Tianyuan Town.

Its streets crisscrossed in a complex network.

Most ordinary residents had taken shelter in underground refuges or locked themselves in their homes, yet the town was still filled with an atmosphere of anxiety, unease, and oppression.

In front of shops, private guards from various merchant guilds stood ready.

Passing players moved with hurried steps.

“I participated in the defense of Stone Ridge Town last year, but it was nowhere near this intense!”

“There seem to be too many high-level monsters hidden within the horde—they even use deception and ambushes. Two of my troop types have already fallen because of this. How infuriating!”

“Hmm, I heard the experts suspect that highly intelligent monsters with strong command abilities are hiding deep within the monster tide. They just haven’t been located yet.”

…

Several kilometers away from Stone Ridge Town.

One, two, three, four figures gathered here.

Their forms were indistinct, as if shrouded in a hazy black mist, yet through the blur, one could vaguely glimpse the massive totemic shadows looming behind them.

It was as if powerful beings had descended, squeezed into these small vessels.

“Our goals are the same.”

The figure with four pairs of black wings spoke, his voice raspy.Another powerful being whose totem shadow was that of a Black Crow also spoke, “I agree. Devouring human power and weakening purification forces are our shared goals. But what about that foolish Great Serpent?”

“The Great Serpent has gone elsewhere. It seems he has enemies in this area.”

“Hah, the Great Serpent really is falling from grace.”

The other two powerful beings spoke in succession.

The final decision was made.

“Since the Great Serpent isn’t here, this plump human town shall be divided among the four of us and offered to our great god.”

“Praise our god!”

At the same time, somewhere outside Tianyuan Territory.

A blurred figure stood quietly within the dense forest, a massive and terrifying totem shadow looming behind him.

Upon it, a pair of serpent-like vertical pupils peered into the distance.

Faintly visible, these vertical pupils—one large, one small—swirled with the light of hatred.

(End of Chapter)