99: Chapter 99 Power Crisis

The Jade-Horned Flying Tiger was sent tumbling through the air by that blast of lava energy, only managing to stabilize itself after several rolls.

It let out an angry roar and turned its head back toward the direction it had come from.

The Lava Bear.

That Beast King was staring fixedly at it, its blood-red eyes filled with mockery.

"Want to kill my subordinates?"

"Dream on."

After knocking the Jade-Horned Flying Tiger away with a single blow, the Lava Bear let out a triumphant roar and lunged at the City Lord once more!

The Jade-Horned Flying Tiger roared in fury and attacked the Lava Bear again.

The two Bright Moon Level behemoths clashed once more.

The City Lord's expression darkened instantly.

It was so close!!!

He stared intensely at the fleeing Raven King, raising his long blade once more.

But the Lava Bear had already entangled him.

Furthermore, the Raven King, which had been on the brink of death, began frantically unleashing Ink Feather Mist after being wounded.

The dense mist concealed its figure once again.

It would not give the City Lord a second chance.

The entire battlefield fell into a dead silence once more.

The people who had just been cheering were now completely stunned.

The Raven King was not dead.

It was still alive.

Although severely wounded, it was still alive.

And behind it, there were still thousands of members of the Raven Flock.

Upon seeing the Raven King injured, those ravens did not scatter; instead, they became even more frenzied!

They let out angry screeches and threw themselves desperately at the Beast Tamers attempting to pursue them!

They were going to use their own lives to buy time for the Raven King to escape!

The situation had reversed once again.

Falling short at the final hurdle.

These four words weighed on everyone's heart like a massive boulder.

The smiles on the faces of the Beast Tamers who had just been cheering froze.

The light in the eyes of the civilians who had just ignited with hope was extinguished.

The movements of the squad members who were fighting desperately slowed by a beat.

It was only a hair's breadth away.

Just that tiny bit.

If that Jade Condensation Light hadn't veered off course, if that strike had landed squarely in the Raven King's heart—

That damnable beast would be a corpse by now.

But there were no "ifs."

The Raven King was still alive.

Though severely wounded, it was still alive.

The morale on the battlefield plummeted rapidly, like a receding tide.

The previously stable defensive line began to loosen.

Some ferocious beasts that had been firmly suppressed seized the opportunity to charge frantically, and the front lines began to waver once more.

"Hold steady! Everyone, hold steady!"

An officer roared.

"Don't panic! Keep fighting!"

But the effect was minimal.

Because everyone knew that the Raven King would definitely retaliate.

When that time came, the entire power system would face an even greater crisis.

And this would determine the safety of the entire city defense system.

...

Sure enough.

"Caw——!!!"

A shrill, miserable cry came from high above.

In the sky, the severely wounded Raven King began to emit extremely shrill screeches.

Those screeches were filled with rage, pain, and venomous hatred.

At this moment, without the influence of its Ink Feather Mist, the Raven Flock could no longer cause much damage to the Power Hub.

On the contrary, the attacks of the numerous Silver Rank and gradually arriving Gold Rank Beast Tamers could finally hit those ravens without any interference.

Large numbers of ravens began to be taken out.

"Caw!"

The Raven King in the dense mist did not linger; it immediately recalled the Raven Flock that was attacking the Power Hub.

Then, it turned around itself.

Carrying its severely wounded body and wrapped in increasingly dense Ink Feather Mist, it flew unsteadily toward the main city.

That was the area where the beast tide was densest.

There, countless ferocious beasts could serve as its barrier.

It wanted to retreat.

It wanted to hide.

And before it left.

"Caw!"

A sharper, even more frenzied screech rang out.

Thousands of ravens let out answering screeches simultaneously!

Those screeches were filled with madness and determination!

Then, in everyone's eyes.

The ravens filling the sky all scattered.

They no longer feared death, no longer cared about tactics, and no longer dodged attacks.

Like a swarm of moths flying into a flame, they were frenzied and reckless.

They lunged at every operational crystal core weapon!

They lunged at every section of the roaring city wall!

They lunged at every place that could cause damage to the city defense system!

At this moment, the Raven Flock began a retaliatory strike against the entire city's power system.

They were almost trading their lives for it!

One raven dove down and was riddled with holes by anti-aircraft guns, but before it died, it still sprayed its final burst of Ink Feather onto the turret.

On the other side, two ravens dove simultaneously; one was shot down, while the other broke through the fire net and poured Ink Feather Mist onto an energy emitter.

Ten, twenty, one hundred—

They surged forward one after another, fearless of death!

The pressure on the city defense system skyrocketed instantly!

Although this time, there wasn't the same oppressive force as when the Raven King personally descended to attack the Power Hub.

But this time, the scope of the impact was even greater.

Because there were too many nodes being attacked by the ravens.

So many that every corner of the entire power system was enduring their attacks.

So many that the entire city's power network was fluctuating violently.

...

Fengling City General Staff Headquarters.

On a massive electronic screen, a holographic map was displaying the real-time situation of the entire battlefield.

Green areas were stable zones.

Yellow areas were alert zones.

Red areas were crisis zones.

At this moment, the image on the screen was changing at a shocking speed.

Yellow spots began to appear at the edges of those previously green areas.

Those yellow spots rapidly expanded and turned red.

The red areas were becoming more numerous and denser, frantically spreading toward those green, stable zones.

On another screen to the side, the percentage of the power supply system's integrity was displayed.

100% ... 95% ... 90% ... 85% ...

The numbers were jumping rapidly.

80% ... 75% ... 70% ...

Each jump meant that a few more crystal core weapons had lost their power supply.

Each jump meant that the pressure on the defensive line had increased by another notch.

Each jump meant that death was one step closer to this city.

The staff officers gathered in front of the screen, each with a grave expression.

"Report! The Third Defensive Zone in the East District requests support! Their crystal core tower is about to collapse!"

"Report! The Ninth Defensive Zone in the West District has fallen! The ferocious beasts have broken through the defensive line!"

"Report! The South District..."

"The integrity of the power network is dropping rapidly!"

"At this rate, it will drop below 50% in twenty minutes!"

"Once it drops below 50%, the city defense system will experience large-scale paralysis!"

"By then, the ferocious beasts flooding into the city will be completely out of control!"