The first interception occurred at the edge of the abandoned industrial zone leading to the city, where a squadron of Arasaka main battle tanks, using dilapidated factories and stacked containers as cover, attempted an ambush.
As the Guard Corps' phalanx entered firing range, tank cannons roared in unison, high-explosive and armor-piercing shells trailing their wakes as they shot towards the pale golden shield.
The result was no different from before.
The shells struck the shield, erupting into dazzling fireballs, and the shockwaves kicked up dust all around. But the shield merely rippled violently for a moment before stabilizing.
The phalanx's advance showed not the slightest hint of disorder.
Sekhmet didn't even order a change in formation; she simply raised the Arc Lance in her hand.
The next moment, dozens of thick electrical arcs once again shot out.
Like living lightning snakes, they accurately drilled into the tanks' cover.
Steel was instantly melted through, ammunition compartments detonated, and a series of explosions illuminated the entire abandoned industrial zone as if it were day.
The ambush position turned into a sea of fire after a single volley, leaving only burning wreckage and molten metal.
The Guard Corps phalanx passed through this death zone unscathed, continuing its advance.
Arasaka's command channel was in chaos.
"Their shield is impenetrable!"
"Our attacks are ineffective!"
"Requesting retreat! Repeat, requesting retre—"
Communications were cut off amidst a violent burst of static.
The subsequent battle became a one-sided, highly efficient slaughter.
Arasaka tried various tactics.
Realizing that long-range firepower was completely ineffective, Arasaka Command quickly adjusted its tactics, attempting to find vulnerabilities in this mysterious unit's defenses from multiple angles.
They first deployed a formation of armed helicopters.
Several armed helicopters approached at low altitude, attempting a surprise attack using the cover of building ruins.
The Gatling cannons beneath their noses were the first to spit fire, tracer rounds lashing at the pale golden shield like scorching whips, splashing dense energy ripples.
Immediately after, air-to-ground missiles, trailing white smoke, roared out from under the stub wings, streaking towards the phalanx from different angles.
However, all of it was futile.
The missiles were deflected and detonated the moment they touched the shield, failing to shake it in the slightest.
Almost simultaneously, the Guard Corps on the ground reacted.
They made no evasive maneuvers; several Heavy Guardsmen simply calmly raised the Arc Lances in their hands.
There was no aiming process; the spear tips subtly adjusted, and the next moment, several dazzling blue electrical arcs, like living lightning snakes, shot upwards in a nearly straight trajectory.
The helicopter pilots didn't even have time to evade; their vehicles disintegrated in fireballs blooming mid-air, and burning debris rained down like a shower.
With the aerial strike thwarted, Arasaka immediately deployed elite oni power armor squads, attempting high-speed close-quarters assaults using the complex environment of the city ruins.
These experienced pilots used the cover of broken walls and crumbling structures, approaching rapidly in extremely agile zigzag patterns, attempting to tear through the enemy's formation with the power armor's formidable close-combat capabilities.
But the Guard Corps' reaction speed far exceeded their imagination.
Just as the oni power armor burst from cover and entered Sprint distance, the inverter magnetic shields on the left arms of the front-line Heavy Guardsmen glowed faintly.
Short, deadly arc pulses erupted in a fan shape, weaving an invisible net of death.
The first few power armors to charge were instantly entangled by multiple electrical arcs; their thick armor rapidly glowed red and melted in the dazzling electric light. The pilots inside were carbonized by the extreme heat within a hundredth of a second, turning into charred sculptures along with their mechs.
Occasionally, one or two, relying on excellent maneuverability, broke through the arc interception and closed to extremely short range, but what awaited them was an even more precise and ruthless strike.
The Arc Lance stabbed out silently like a venomous snake; the destructive energy condensed at its tip did not simply pierce, but directly vaporized the hit area, be it the cockpit or the power core, leaving only a molten-edged void.
After successive failures, Arasaka employed its last resort deployed at the edge of the city.
An entire self-propelled artillery battalion carried out a frenzied saturation bombardment.
Deafening cannon fire continuously roared, and dense shells streaked across the sky, falling with a deathly shriek.
In an instant, the area where the Guard Corps phalanx was located was completely engulfed by continuous explosions and towering plumes of smoke and dust.
Scorching heat waves rolled, and shrapnel and shockwaves fiercely tore at everything within range.
This steel storm, lasting several minutes, was enough to completely obliterate any conventional combat unit.
However, when the artillery fire finally ceased and the lingering smoke slowly settled in the breeze, a desperate sight emerged—the pale golden combined shield still flickered steadily, its light not dimming in the slightest.
Beneath the shield, fifty-one iron giants maintained their strict formation, their pace never faltering, still advancing at that constant, unchanging speed.
It was as if the intense artillery barrage, powerful enough to level several streets, had merely been an irrelevant gust of dust.
Wraiths and Lazarus' forces, under Colonel Hansen's command, cautiously followed several kilometers behind the Guard Corps phalanx.
They were responsible for clearing scattered Arasaka units that had been defeated by the Guard Corps but not completely annihilated, and for securing the rear passage.
All allied soldiers watched this incomprehensible war with a mixture of awe, fear, and disbelief.
"This isn't even a war..." a young Wraiths soldier murmured, looking at the distant pale golden light shield steadily advancing through a hail of bullets and shells, "It's like... weeding."
Colonel Hansen observed everything through his binoculars, his single eye filled with complex emotions.
He had witnessed the brutality of the Unification War and experienced countless street brawls, but he had never seen such... efficient destruction.
These fifty iron cans were demonstrating to the world, in the most direct way, what irresistible force truly meant.
The Guard Corps' path left a clear trail, paved with burning wreckage, molten metal, and charred bodies.
Any Arasaka unit that attempted to block them, be it tanks, aircraft, power armor, or infantry, was completely destroyed within an extremely short time upon contact.
Their advance was without hesitation, without any tactical evasion—it was a straight, deathly path towards their objective.
Arasaka's will to resist began to crumble under this undeniable display of force.
Many units, upon receiving interception orders, chose passive avoidance of combat, and even small-scale routs occurred.
They preferred to face military justice rather than confront those iron giants, like incarnations of death.
Finally, as the setting sun's afterglow painted the sky blood-red, the Guard Corps phalanx reached their destination—Arasaka Waterfront.