Chapter 977: Chapter 977

East side of South City Command Center

A demolished truck sat at the edge of the street, its fiercely burning, shattered carriage partly revealing the remnants of destroyed military equipment.

Behind these trucks, lined up armored vehicles had been deployed. Soldiers clad in exoskeleton armor leaned against these vehicles for cover, operating the vehicles’ turrets and nearby small electromagnetic cannons, continually bombarding the rubble mounds on both sides.

In response, dense fire rained down unceasingly from the rubble mounds, pouring onto the armored vehicle convoy below like a sudden downpour.

It was apparent, after a surprise attack had destroyed a part of the convoy, that the armored vehicles were being suppressed in terms of firepower.

Above the armored vehicles, Hell Apostle Mechs spewing flames tangled in combat with the pristine Blazing Angel Mechs.

The artillery fire from both Mecha Squads struck around them, blasting large holes in the nearby abandoned buildings and architectural ruins.

Amid the exploding artillery around him, a young military officer ran through the rising dust to the row of electromagnetic cannons and artillery, looking up at an older man in a temporary command station above who was watching the fiery battlefield,

"The ambush is proceeding well, but the enemy’s response was quicker than we anticipated; we didn’t completely achieve the goal of destroying all their transport vehicles, but we’ve now suppressed their firepower and are tightening the encirclement."

"Have you seen the B-level and C-level Transcendents hidden within their ranks?"

Corvey asked hoarsely, lowering his head.

"No, the enemy hasn’t displayed any significant individual combat prowess to break through,"

the young officer quickly responded, "A few C-level Transcendents tried to break through our encirclement with some troops, but we pushed them back using our terrain advantage and fire suppression."

"Did you see the Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb?"

"We haven’t found it yet; all their trucks lack identification marks, and we can’t be sure if the bomb was destroyed in the first artillery barrage. However, most of their trucks designed to counter electromagnetic pulses have been destroyed."

The young officer shook his head, then looked at Corvey somewhat puzzledly,

"General, we currently have a significant advantage in numbers and firepower, and they can only put up a feeble resistance with some advanced weapons.

"But if they use the Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb, under these circumstances, their advanced weapons will be affected too, which would only increase our numerical advantage even more. Would they really use the Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb?"

"Nothing is absolute,"

Corvey shook his head, looking at the officer in front of him, "Stay alert."

The officer immediately nodded.

"Maintain fire suppression,"

Corvey then looked up, his gaze returning to the battlefield, "Continue to tighten the encirclement according to the original plan. Have the artillery units increase their covering firepower, and be cautious of their high-tier Transcendents and Electromagnetic Pulse Bombs."

The young officer responded and grabbed the walkie-talkie, quickly running from behind the row of electromagnetic cannons.

An electromagnetic cannon shot not far from the artillery position, the violent explosion kicking up a cloud of dust.

The young officer shielded his eyes from the dust, crouched down, and, taking the walkie-talkie, quickly ran to the other side through the haze.

At that moment, the communicator on Corvey’s chest vibrated.

Corvey pressed the button on the communicator, connecting the call. The projection of a middle-aged officer appeared in his field of view.

The middle-aged officer seemed to be standing in a makeshift area, where one could faintly see behind him, on the giant projection wall, the dense artillery and aircraft.

"Has the Yiwis Space System launched the full assault?"

Corvey looked at the middle-aged officer, asking rapidly.

"Not yet, they are still probing with their attacks, probably trying to tie down our main forces,"

the middle-aged officer responded quickly,

"But they’ve already closed the front lines. Staff analysis indicates they’re preparing for an all-out assault, likely waiting for the ’Beheading Operation’ inside the city to succeed and for the city defenses to lose control, then they’ll break through the gates.

"However, with the current situation, communication inside and outside the city is blocked. They probably haven’t received the message that the Beheading Squad has been ambushed."

Corvey nodded lightly, "Keep the firepower steady and try to prevent them from getting any closer to the high wall."

Hearing Corvey’s voice, the middle-aged officer responded before hesitating. Under Corvey’s perplexed gaze, he quickly continued, "Additionally, the staff have analyzed the ambush team’s current layout and unanimously think that you’re standing too close to the battlefield. The staff suggests you move a bit further back, behind the hillock, behind the long-range artillery."

"Don’t worry about me."

Corvey shook his head. He took out a white crystal-like keepsake watch from his breast pocket, opened the watch cover, but there were no moving hands inside, just a lifelike tree embossment carved on the inner side of the watch.

"General Corvey, the position you’re standing at is still too dangerous,"

the man in the projection continued to urge, "The enemy has at least two B-level Transcendents—"

But his words were forcefully cut off.

A fierce explosion echoed among the hills, as if invisible ripples covered all surrounding areas, causing countless electronic devices to burst forth with dazzling electrical arcs at that moment.

All projection screens and flickering electronic lights almost simultaneously went out of control.

The remorseless muzzles spitting flames and bombs almost simultaneously extinguished, and the flames that once filled the firmament seemed to freeze in that instant.

And in the skies, the Hell Apostle Mechs and Blazing Angel Mechs entangled with each other also began falling almost simultaneously.

"It’s an electromagnetic pulse bomb! It’s an electromagnetic pulse bomb!"

A loud, amplifying speaker carried the officer’s voice among the rows of gun muzzles, "Abandon all electromagnetic cannons! Abandon all electromagnetic cannons! Turn off all cannon automation systems! Repeat, turn off the cannon automation systems! Switch to mechanical hydraulic mode for manual aiming and shell loading! Repeat, switch to manual hydraulic mode for manual aiming and shell loading!"

Accompanying the short, urgent orders and instructions, the booming sound of cannons once again erupted in the night, and the falling mechanized armors, one after another, switched their operating modes, barely maintaining form in the air.

Yet, this time, the force of the counterattack below was much smaller than before. However, faintly, strong Transcendent figures appeared on the battlefield below, hindering the encirclement with their high-speed maneuvering abilities.

Listening to the roaring, burning sounds of cannons and combat, Corvey put away the keepsake watch, turned around, and began with a hoarse voice,

"Is this your ’arrangement’? A beheading operation within a beheading operation?"

"General Corvey, we know you are strong,"

Two pale-faced figures, one tall and one short, emerged from the spreading smoke, looking at the elderly man, "But if you die here, it would be considered half of our mission complete."

"It seems you’ve made your preparations."

Corvey looked at the two men in front of him, slowly raising his right hand.

"Talent Sequence 195: Mountain Bearer Man,"

the shorter man said, "A strength and offense B-level Talent Sequence, such a strong combat capability paired with good intelligence, merely to serve as a military commander, General Corvey, it’s a pity. Yet, perhaps it’s the injuries left over from your younger days of striving, which wouldn’t let you continue seeking promotion to an angel?"

"But the two of us for you is still a feasible trade,"

the taller man also contributed, "It’s a shame Black Snake died; if he were here today, your death would be certain."

This time, Corvey didn’t respond but instead picked up a nondescript black stick about a meter long leaning next to him, watching the two men calmly.

"It seems we brothers are underestimated."

The tall man sneered, and then his body shot out like a fish in water, heading straight for Corvey. Behind him, a dry, elongated fish-like illusion instantly appeared, its giant mouth full of triangular fangs opened wide and bit at Corvey.

Corvey raised the black slender stick in his hand and sprang upward, striking the tall man and the fish illusion with the stick.

The large mouth of the fish illusion stiffened in that instant and its soft body twisted like a struck rope.

The black slender stick had no sharp blades but cut through the tall man’s body as effortlessly as a sharp sword and green glowing blood spurted out in an instant.

However, the tall man, with a wound now gashed open, didn’t seem disheartened but rather, a cold smirk appeared at the corners of his mouth, and his body twisted and along with the fish illusion, entangled Corvey’s black stick.

Right then, a scorching breath of air almost immediately swept through the darkness, striking at Corvey’s back.

Corvey immediately turned to the side, throwing a punch with his free hand to meet the scorching breath behind him.

The specially reinforced ground beneath his feet shattered instantly, spreading numerous cracks, and the entire hill made of ruins collapsed several meters. A nearby roaring cannon also shifted due to the displacement of the ground.

At that moment, Corvey also caught a glimpse of the attacker behind him.

It was a giant phantom, about tens of meters tall, covered in flames, with a human body and a bull’s head.

The short man floated within this giant phantom, looking at Corvey who had caught his fist, somewhat surprised.

"General Corvey, you truly live up to your reputation."

The short man sneered, and the bull-headed giant raised its fist again, smashing it toward Corvey.

At the same time, the tall man next to Corvey twisted his body and the giant fish illusion swung its tail, whipping at Corvey.

Corvey swallowed the blood that welled up in his throat, glanced at the attacks coming from both sides, and abruptly lifted the black stick, hitting the giant mouth of the fish, shattering its triangular fangs.

Then he flipped over while avoiding the attack of the bull-headed giant, and thrust the stick into the bull-headed giant’s chest, slashing downward toward the short man hidden within the giant.

Surging flames scorched his uniform, melting the fabric, and the fiery waves blew his hair violently.

But just as Corvey’s black stick was about to touch the short man, a huge fish tail struck his back, hurling him along with his black stick into a nearby pile of ruins, raising a cloud of dust.

The tall man, now fully merged with the fish illusion, once again opened its giant mouth, sneering as he lunged at him.

Corvey, pale-faced, struggled to get up from the dust, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked again at the encroaching fish illusion.

"General Corvey, it seems you are indeed getting old. You still have quite a few injuries. Did we overestimate you before coming here? Maybe after a few more hits, you’ll be dead?"

The tall man within the fish mocked him, his voice tinged with sharpness.

Corvey lifted his head, gave him a glance, and bent forward, stepping forward, rushing out like an illusion, raised his black stick, and plunged it into the fish’s body, slicing open its lower abdomen, heading straight for the tall man inside.

But at that moment, the bull-headed giant’s hands also came from both sides, slamming into Corvey’s back.

With a muffled sound, Corvey forcefully took the hit; the fierce fire and immense force tore through his back, scorching his flesh with orange glowing blood spurting out, then evaporating in the intense flames.

Yet the elderly general kept silent, stepped forward, thrusting further into the fish’s body, and at the same time, the crystal-made watch fell into his palm.

The bull-headed giant behind Corvey scoffed, raising its burning hand again, aiming another blow at Corvey, "If you don’t let go now, you are certainly going to die."

The crystal watch, touched by elderly fingers, opened.

In that instant, accompanied by a crisp sound, the fiery bull-headed giant’s body paused and then leaned backward, falling.

Like jade with golden veins, a longsword pierced through the flaming body as well as the short man within it.

The colossal Minotaur Giant roared as it coalesced beams of green light within its flaming body, forming a huge pulsating heart made of flesh and blood in the short man’s pierced torso.

At that moment, the jade longsword that had just pierced the giant’s body suddenly turned and flew back, becoming a streak of light that pierced through the heart.

The previously roaring fiery Minotaur Giant’s body stiffened instantly, followed by the blazing fire that extinguished rapidly as if it had lost its nourishment.

Streams of remaining green light seeped from the extinguished flames, being absorbed into the jade longsword.

At the same time, Corvey saw his opportunity and pushed further, wielding a black stick. In the moment of surprise caused by the short man’s death, he thrust his sword through the tall man’s torso, slicing his body open completely.

The giant fish’s body burst out with immense strength, flinging Corvey away, shattering the surrounding rocks and raising a cloud of chaotic dust.

Numerous green lights spread out around the body of the fish, converging at the head to form a massive heart of flesh and blood.

And from behind the fish, the blood-soaked Elder staggered up from behind a hill slope.

He lifted his hand, and the jade longsword circled in the sky before falling back into his palm. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he threw the longsword again.

The Elder walked slowly past the fish’s side, and the flying longsword, accompanied by his steps, cut through the night like a golden streak of light, piercing through the fish’s still-growing heart.

By the time the Elder reached the deep pit where Corvey had been flung, the streak of light had also passed through the dust and landed in his hand, turning into a brass cane inlaid with rubies, supporting his body.

He then lowered his head and reached out to Corvey, who was also covered in blood amid the rubble, and smiled, "It seems I arrived just in time."

"I must say, you always time it perfectly."

Corvey glanced at the Elder in front of him, raised his hand, and grasped the extended palm, standing up with difficulty.

Then he handed over the crystal keepsake watch to He Ao, "This is for you."

"An extraordinary item for healing?"

He Ao did not take the Life Keepsake Watch but looked at it and spoke slowly, "You stood here on purpose to attract their attack, didn’t you?"

Corvey supported himself with the black stick, standing beside He Ao, watching the gradually dissipating artillery fire, "It means fewer people die this way."

"It just means your chances of surviving are lower,"

Corvey glanced at the blood on He Ao’s body, "Isn’t it the same as mine? You didn’t tell me what we would face out west."

Then he took the Life Keepsake Watch further, accepting it, "But because you arrived in time, I wasn’t much hurt while you seem much more injured than me, and I probably won’t be fighting anymore, so you need this more."

"It looks like something from the Life Goddess Church."

He Ao slowly reached out, took the Life Keepsake Watch, opened the lid, and displayed a lush tree emblem inside.

"Probably, it has the World Tree on it. I got it by chance,"

Corvey nodded slightly, "This thing isn’t entirely a healing item. After using it, you temporarily heal all injuries, returning to full strength, but the cost is that once the effects wear off, your injuries will rapidly worsen, even to the point of death."

"It sounds like a lifesaver,"

He Ao tucked away the keepsake watch and looked down at the military forces gradually encircling them, "Thanks."

"It is I who should thank you."

Corvey glanced at the nearby fish and the Giant’s corpses, his voice hoarse.

Then he also withdrew his gaze, along with He Ao, looking towards the rapidly shrinking encirclement below.

Communications, disrupted by the Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb, gradually restored. The gunfire ignited glows in the night sky, simultaneously reflecting on both elderly men’s weathered cheeks.

In the flickering gunfire, a young officer, covered in dirt and dust, raced towards them with a telephone, "General Corvey, a call from the staff headquarters!"