61: Chapter 61 The situation turned around so quickly!

At noon the next day, the blazing sun hung high in the sky, casting a fierce light. Outside Mingkong City, a murderous aura surged, and the clouds of war gathered thick.

All thirteen trial takers made their appearance, flanked by their respective sub-races. This time, they did not plan to sneak into Mingkong City, but instead intended to launch a frontal assault.

The lesson of Xu Yuan being instantly killed yesterday was still fresh in their minds, and no one dared to attempt to sneak into the city again.

After yesterday's coordination and discussion, the coalition army was now full of confidence.

With the thirteen of them joining forces, they were confident that the defenders of Mingkong City alone stood absolutely no chance of resisting them.

In an instant, on the wilderness outside the city, all kinds of exotic beasts, undead, and elemental sub-races gathered in dense crowds, stretching out in a dark mass for thousands of miles, assembling a force of nearly a hundred thousand.

On the other hand, inside Mingkong City, the total defending force was only eighty thousand. Although the disparity in numbers was not overwhelming, and the defenders had the advantage of being on the defensive, their strength was far inferior to that of these sub-races.

Previously, they had been reluctant to launch a frontal assault, not because they feared Mingkong City, but because they were afraid of others reaping the benefits of their struggle.

But now that everyone had joined forces, all worries vanished, leaving only the greedy obsession to breach and seize the city.

Looking at the boundless army outside, the defenders on the city walls turned pale, their hearts trembling, their eyes filled with unconcealable fear and despair.

At this critical juncture, two figures stepped through the air and landed on the city walls.

One of them wore gilded holy armor and had a tall, upright posture. It was none other than Gavin, the Guardian of Mingkong City.

The other wore divine robes and had a hunched figure. It was Archbishop Wilson, who had secretly intervened yesterday.

The two of them looked down at the city gates with solemn expressions, their entire bodies tense and filled with vigilance.

"Gavin, how many more times can the remaining crystal cores power the crystal energy cannons in the city?" Wilson asked in a low, urgent voice, suppressing the anxiety in his heart.

Gavin let out a long sigh upon hearing this, his tone filled with bitterness and helplessness. "Archbishop, under normal energy storage, the crystal energy cannons only have three shots left."

Hearing this, Wilson closed his eyes in pain. Only after a long while did he slowly open them, his eyes now filled with nothing but determination and the madness of a desperate gamble.

"I have already extracted all the Power Of Faith accumulated in the city's divine statues. If I forcibly infuse it into the crystal energy cannons, we can overdraft them for an additional five shots. But once we do this, the crystal energy cannons will be completely ruined."

"From then on, the survival of the city and the lives of its people will be left entirely to fate."

Gavin's body shuddered, his face darkening suddenly as a mix of complex emotions welled up in his heart.

Extracting the Power Of Faith from the divine statues would have been considered a blasphemous and heinous crime in the past.

But now, with a formidable enemy surrounding the city and its fall imminent, they had long been driven into a corner and could only strive to find a way to survive in the face of death.

There was no time for sighs of lament, as the coalition army outside had already launched an all-out assault.

The overwhelming army of sub-races roared as they charged, pouncing toward the city walls in a dark mass, officially starting the siege.

Five trial takers headed straight for the top of the wall, tightly pinning down Guardian Gavin.

Gavin had already taken a half-step into the Paladin realm. With his incredibly powerful physical body, he remained calm and composed even when fighting one against five, blocking them so effectively that they could not advance an inch.

However, the goal of these five was never to kill Gavin in the first place.

Their task was merely to pin him down and delay him, keeping this strongest combat force occupied while waiting for the other trial takers to wipe out the defending troops, before turning back to surround and kill Gavin together.

They were completely unaware that in the shadows, a pair of old eyes had already taken in everyone's movements, quietly lying in wait for a fatal opportunity.

Without any top-tier combatants to stop them, the coalition army swept through everything like crushing dry weeds. In just one hour, they broke through the city's defensive array, completely breached the defensive line on the walls, and occupied the key passages.

Watching the defenders suffer defeat after defeat and get slaughtered, Gavin, who was pinned down, had bloodshot eyes and was seething with rage. The battle qi around him surged violently, putting him on the verge of madness.

Seeing this, and fearing that he would unleash a desperate outburst, three more trial takers immediately pulled away to join the fight.

With eight trial takers joining forces to besiege him, even with Gavin's strength as a half-step Paladin, he ultimately fell into a disadvantage.

However, while he appeared to be struggling on the verge of death on the surface, a trace of cold indifference was hidden deep within his eyes.

"Work harder, everyone! The native defenders are already in utter disarray. The fall of the city is right before our eyes!"

Seeing that a grand victory was imminent, one of the trial takers could not hide his ecstasy and shouted loudly.

The others all showed joyful expressions, their eyes filled with the greed of capturing a grand city and seizing its resources.

"Now is the time!"

In the dead-silent shadows, Wilson's eyes lit up. The opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived.

He infused the massive amount of crystal cores and Power Of Faith entirely into the crystal energy cannon.

The violent energy crashed wildly inside the barrel and boiled intensely, as power far exceeding its load rampaged unchecked. Wilson knew the price of a forced overdraft all too well; the moment the infusion was complete, he turned and flew back without hesitation, distancing himself from the cannon position at the fastest speed of his life.

In the next second!

Buzz—!

A dazzling, blinding beam of light soared into the sky. Due to the overload, the entire crystal energy cannon was instantly torn apart by the violent energy and exploded with a bang, completely ruined.

This was the price of a forced overdraft.

Eight highly condensed beams of destructive light tore through the sky, blasting toward the eight trial takers besieging Gavin!

"Not good!"

The eight trial takers felt their scalps tingle and their faces turn pale. A strong crisis of life and death swept through their bodies, and everyone desperately channeled their divine power for protection, scattering and dodging for their lives.

But Wilson had endured for so long, and he had already calculated everyone's escape routes.

Five shrill screams rang out almost simultaneously!

Five trial takers were pierced head-on by the beams, their divine power clones instantly annihilated, scattering into specks of light.

Losing the support of divine power, the sub-races under their command were instantly forced back to the Divine Realm.

The remaining three were lucky enough to avoid the fatal core of the blast, but they were also heavily injured by the aftershock. Two of them had almost completely exhausted their divine power, their bodies turning illusory and transparent; they had completely lost their combat capability and were rendered useless.

Only Wang Haoyu escaped unscathed.

It was not because his strength far surpassed the others, but because he had remained highly vigilant throughout, never letting his guard down for a single moment.

While the others were immersed in the joy of victory and losing themselves in complacency, he alone had been constantly on guard against the hidden killer moves in the city.

Even though he was prepared, he still had to expend half of his divine power to dodge in a disheveled manner, barely escaping the fatal blow, and his own combat power was reduced by half.

Wilson walked slowly out of the shadows. Looking at the devastated coalition army, his eyes were filled with cold disgust, and he sighed softly, "In the end, it wasn't a complete success; three rats still managed to escape."

The remaining trial takers looked at Wilson as he appeared, their faces turning ashen and extremely unsightly.

A victory within their grasp was forcibly overturned by this man in a single move, completely reversing the situation.

Of the remaining eight people now, two were virtually incapacitated, and one was half-crippled, with less than ten percent of their combat power remaining. Let alone breaching Mingkong City, whether they could retreat in one piece was an unknown.

The two trial takers, whose divine power was exhausted and whose bodies were turning illusory, exchanged a glance and instantly understood each other's thoughts.

This place had already become a death trap; staying for even a moment longer meant certain death.

They would either die at the hands of Gavin and Wilson, or be ambushed and silenced by their remaining companions, who harbored sinister designs.

Without the slightest hesitation, the two of them turned around, speeding through the air as they fled in panic.

The remaining people were all stunned, completely unexpected that the battle would collapse so quickly.

Wang Haoyu looked at the backs of the two fleeing, pondered for a moment, and also decisively turned and left.

Now that the tide had turned against them, his own divine power was cut in half, and his condition had plummeted. Even if he luckily managed to wear down the defenders and take the city, he would have no strength to compete for resources or defend the fruits of victory. Rather than dying in vain, it was better to withdraw and preserve himself.

However, how could Wilson and Gavin possibly let them escape? Before those two trial takers could fly very far, they were blasted to death by the duo's attacks.

As for Wang Haoyu, he only managed to save his life after sacrificing a hero-tier sub-race.

After Wang Haoyu fled, only five trial takers remained on the field, and they exchanged glances.

"Run! Everyone, break out in different directions!"

At this moment, they had long discarded their greed to capture the city, with only the instinct for survival remaining in their hearts.

"You want to leave?"

Gavin, who had been tightly pinned down all this time, finally broke free from his constraints, the killing intent in his eyes skyrocketing.

He had been suppressed for so long; how could he allow these invaders to escape safely?

Gavin and Wilson moved simultaneously, striking from the left and right, instantly locking onto a stranded trial taker.

Within just a few breaths, a shrill scream pierced the sky as this trial taker's divine power clone shattered and fell.

The remaining four were scared out of their wits. Daring not to linger for even a moment, they fled wildly in all directions.

After a moment, the battlefield returned to a dead silence.

Gavin focused his mind to probe the surroundings. Only after confirming that all auras had completely dissipated did he withdraw his power and lower his hands. His eyes were filled with unwillingness and anger as he waved his hand resentfully, "What a pity! In the end, a few of them still managed to escape!"

Wilson's expression was calm, showing little emotion. He shook his head slightly, "There is no need to be greedy. It is already a great fortune that we were able to turn the tables in such a desperate situation."

Gavin was still full of regret, "But we paid a heavy price and completely ruined the city-defending crystal energy cannon, yet failed to wipe out the invaders entirely. It is truly a pity."

Wilson sighed softly, his tone heavy, "Alas! Be prepared. They failed this time, but they will absolutely not give up just like this."

Gavin's eyes dimmed instantly upon hearing this, a wave of endless powerlessness welling up in his heart. He spoke in a low voice, "Archbishop, could it be that we..."

"Silence!"

Wilson suddenly barked sharply, directly cutting off his unfinished words. His eyes were fierce, "You bear the duty of the Guardian. Some things must absolutely not be said lightly!"

Gavin let out a bitter sigh, ultimately suppressing all his worries and despair, remaining silent.

The two of them turned around side by side, preparing to return to the city.

But at this very moment, their minds suddenly tensed up, and their hairs stood on end as they simultaneously sensed a deathly, silent aura.

Their faces changed dramatically, and they barked in unison in low voices:

"Not good!"