76: Frozen sky, countdown to despair
The battlefield could no longer be called a battlefield.
It was a slaughterhouse, repeatedly cleansed and reshaped by pure destructive power.
Above the sky, that legendary Sky Eagle Cannon, which had integrated the "War Frenzy" entry, had completely transformed into a merciless deity presiding over death. Its attack interval had long surpassed the realm of human comprehension.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Dense white streams of light, like an eternal downpour, poured down from the blood-red sky. Each stream of light represented the absolute purification of an area.
On the ground, that endless sea of soldiers, amassed by over forty lords who had poured everything they had into it and once filled them with pride, now resembled plastic toys thrown into a furnace. It twisted, melted, and vaporized at an absurd and terrifying speed.
The sharp screams of Goblins, the furious roars of Barbarians, the mournful cracks of Skeleton Soldiers… all sounds were drowned out by the continuous, deafening roar of explosions.
The Tumo Yuanzhengjun channel fell into a silence more terrifying than death.
Every lord felt as if their throat was being squeezed, their eyeballs bulging, staring fixedly at the hellish scene on the spectator screen. Their proud armies, the very foundation of their survival, were being efficiently and coldly erased in a manner almost like an industrial process.
The ID with the SSS-grade dragon head emblem, Dragon Aotian, remained silent. But everyone could imagine the twisted and ferocious expression on that man's face deep within his magnificent fortress.
He was wrong.
He was terribly wrong.
He thought that by gathering the strength of the entire war zone and using the most primitive and barbaric human wave tactics, he could overwhelm Heaven's Choice. He thought that quantity could compensate for the disparity in quality.
But reality slapped him with the loudest possible blow.
In front of Heaven's Choice's war machine, their soldier sea was not only not an advantage, but it became the "fuel" for the terrifying cannon's infinitely stacking attack speed!
The more people they had, the faster they died!
"Dragon Aotian! We can't go on like this! In another minute, our cannon fodder will be wiped out!" Zhinang's voice, for the first time, carried an uncontrollable panic and urgency. "Once the cannon fodder is gone, our high-tier units will be completely exposed to its bombardment! Then it will truly be over!"
These words, like a needle, sharply pierced everyone's last shred of illusion.
Yes, once the cannon fodder was gone, it would be the turn of their precious elite troops.
Dragon Aotian, after a long silence, finally issued an order. His voice was hoarse, deep, and filled with a bloody tang, as if every word was squeezed out from between his teeth.
"All lords above Tier 9! Immediately report the number of Ice Spells you possess!"
Ice Spell!
This word made everyone in the channel perk up!
That was their last, and most crucial, trump card! It was their original plan for a decisive surprise attack, to be used after breaking into Heaven's Choice's core defensive perimeter!
They planned to use Ice Spells to freeze all of Heaven's Choice's defense towers at the most critical moment, and then, in conjunction with Berserk Spells, have their elite troops tear his main city to shreds within a few short seconds!
But now, this highly anticipated "finishing move" had to be clumsily deployed right at the beginning.
Just to… deal with the Sky Eagle Cannon, which was hanging over everyone's heads and furiously harvesting lives.
If they didn't deal with it, they wouldn't even be qualified to approach the second layer of walls.
"I have two!"
"I have one!"
"I have two here!"
"I… I only have one."
After a brief silence, numbers began to be reported sporadically in the channel. Each number represented a glimmer of hope, and also a heavy price.
To conquer Heaven's Choice, all the lords of the Demon-Slaying Expeditionary Force had frantically plundered lower-tier lords, which allowed many of them to reach Tier 9.
Zhinang quickly tallied the numbers in his mind, his fingers trembling slightly from tension.
"Out of forty-three lords, twenty-seven are still above Tier 9…"
A moment later, he reported the final number, his voice dry.
"A total of… fifty Ice Spells."
Fifty.
One Ice Spell lasts five seconds.
This meant that the golden time they could buy themselves, during which the Sky Eagle Cannon could not attack, was only…
Two hundred and fifty seconds.
Four minutes and ten seconds.
Within these two hundred and fifty seconds, their seemingly infinite army, vast in number, had to break through Heaven's Choice's layered, unknown defensive maze and destroy his Tier 10 main city.
Once the time ran out, the Sky Eagle Cannon, having accumulated enough "War Frenzy," would reactivate, and its firing speed would reach a level that would make even gods tremble.
At that point, what awaited them would be a true doomsday.
"Two hundred and fifty seconds… that's enough." Dragon Aotian's voice carried a desperate resolve, as if he had burned his bridges. "This is our only chance!"
He suddenly raised his head, and his golden dragon head emblem seemed to ignite.
"Everyone, listen to my command!"
"At ten-second intervals, release Ice Spells in the order I specify! Target, the Sky Eagle Cannon! Absolutely do not allow any gaps in its attacks!"
"First group, Holy Light Priest, Fire Mage, prepare!"
"All units, abandon defensive posture, all-out assault!!!"
With his command.
A massive, ice-blue magic circle, emanating bone-chilling cold, accurately descended from the sky, covering the Sky Eagle Cannon that was furiously unleashing firepower!
Crack—
A crisp freezing sound rang out.
That arrogant war deity, that endlessly rotating cannon, that dazzling golden pupil, was instantly solidified by a thick layer of ice.
Above the sky, the continuous death barrage came to an abrupt halt.
The entire world seemed to have been paused.
This brief calm lasted less than 0.1 seconds.
"Roar—!!!"
"For survival!!"
Long-suppressed roars, mixed with humiliation and the will to survive, erupted from the surviving wave of soldiers on the ground!
The overwhelming army, like beasts freed from their shackles, charged madly towards the seemingly fragile first line of defense, composed of gold mines and oil wells, with an all-trampling gait.
The few integrated arrow towers and cannons, though still firing valiantly, became like a few wooden stakes trying to stop a tsunami once they lost the cover of the Sky Eagle Cannon.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under the furious impact of tens of thousands of units, they didn't even last ten seconds before being completely overwhelmed, torn apart, and trampled into scattered debris.
The first line of defense, broken!
The dawn of victory seemed to be right before their eyes!
In the channel, a long-suppressed burst of wild joy erupted!
"We broke through! We broke through!"
"Heaven's Choice is nothing more than this! His cannon is frozen, he's useless!"
However, there was no trace of joy on the faces of Dragon Aotian and Zhinang.
Their gazes were fixed on the center of the battlefield, that true "meat grinder" enclosed by solid black walls.
Breaking through the outer perimeter was already part of their calculations.
The real test was just beginning.
Ice Spell Countdown: 240 seconds.
Time was rapidly slipping away.
Every second felt like a death knell ringing deep in their souls.