Roderick waved his hand impatiently.
"Beasts carried away, rainwater washed it all away—anything can happen!"
"We don't have time to doubt everything! Hegros and the others are waiting for rescue!"
"Roderick, Anvil Village has complex terrain, it's an excellent ambush point. If we get stuck here..."
"Then we'll charge through!"
Roderick shouted. "We have over ten thousand men! Even if there's an ambush, we can crush it, don't you think?"
Aaron remained silent for a long moment, staring into the distance. Finally, he spoke slowly.
"You're right, we don't have time to hesitate, but we must be prepared for an ambush."
"...Now, that's more like it!"
Roderick grinned widely.
"Enter the village, all troops rest for half an hour!"
"Also, clean this place up, and let the Lord of the Castle take over the supply point afterward!"
Although the villagers here had been slaughtered, the facilities were still intact and could be put to use with minor adjustments.
On the other hand, Anvil Village was a necessary route between Iron Dragon Fortress and Bloodhowl Highlands, and controlling it would also create a buffer zone for the castle.
This was one of the main reasons for their journey through here.
Orders were quickly passed down.
The troops formed two columns and marched towards Anvil Village.
Raine walked in the fourth squadron, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
The surrounding stone houses stood like silent spectators, watching the human army step into their territory.
The army entered the village.
Thinking back to the encounter a few days ago, Raine couldn't help but feel his nerves tighten.
He could still clearly remember the grotesque faces of the gargoyles!
Half of the army had already entered the village, and Roderick walked at the head of the seventh brigade.
He seemed pleased with how smoothly things were going, even turning around to shout to Aaron.
"See! I told you—"
Before he could finish,
Boom!!!
The ground in front of him collapsed suddenly!
"What?!"
Roderick's warhorse reared up in panic.
The dozen or so soldiers at the front didn't have time to react, and their feet gave way as they fell into the suddenly formed deep pit!
At the bottom of the pit, there was not dirt, but life-consuming quicksand!
"Ah—! What is this?!"
"SAND ERODING WORM! There are sand eroding worms underground!"
An experienced veteran shouted hoarsely.
"Stop advancing, no—there are alien races too!"
At almost the same time, the stone houses on both sides exploded from the inside!
In a shower of debris, creatures covered in gray rock-like armor, resembling armadillos, charged out!
They were as large as wild boars, with thick armor and sharp, short horns on their heads.
"Boulder Beetles! Shields up, defend!"
"Block the first wave of their assault!"
The officers shouted loudly.
The strength and defense of these insectoids were terrifying, especially their first charge!
If one of them took a hit, they'd likely be sent straight to the afterlife!
But that wasn't all; the attack came from all directions.
Dozens of ghostly green lights suddenly appeared on the slopes outside the village.
The next moment, sharp whistling sounds rained down like a storm!
"Bone spikes, take cover!"
Poof, poof, poof—!
The dense bone spikes pierced through shields, leather armor, and flesh!
"Ah! My hand!"
"My eye—!"
Screams echoed as the team fell into chaos.
"Don't scatter! Find cover right where you are!"
Roderick's furious shout rang out amidst the chaos.
He drew a two-handed sword and cleaved through three bone spikes aimed at him.
"Damned Spinepiercers! They're on the mountain!"
"First squad, get up there and cut off their heads!"
In the blink of an eye, a well-equipped team rushed up the mountain toward the Spinepiercers, braving the bone spikes.
But the chaos was already spiraling out of control, as another wave of attacks came!
From the abandoned mine behind the village, shadows darted out.
These creatures resembled hunting dogs, with long, curved claws on their four paws, and a faint bluish glow under the firelight.
Shadowclaw Beasts.
They were incredibly fast, darting through the ruins like ghosts, targeting soldiers' lower legs and flanks.
Their sharp claws tore through leather armor, sending fountains of blood spraying!
"Eighth Brigade! Move toward the nearby buildings!"
Lia unsheathed her long blade, and with a flash of blue, she sliced through several approaching Shadowclaw Beasts.
"Damn, there really is an ambush!"
Seeing the two vanguard squads ensnared by the Boulder Beetles and Shadowclaw Beasts, Roderick's eyes turned red.
"Everyone, listen up!"
"Converge on me, charge through! We can't get trapped here!"
"Roderick! No!"
Aaron shouted urgently, slicing through a bone spike with his sword.
"The alien races intend to divide us in the open! We need to consolidate immediately, take cover in the advantageous buildings, and wait for reinforcements!"
"Wait? Wait for how long?!"
Roderick roared, cleaving a Shadowclaw Beast that tried to pounce on him with his battle axe.
"The main force won't be here for at least two more hours!!"
"Exactly! That's why we need to conserve our strength!"
Lia's eyes were sharp. "Aaron's right, charging blindly plays right into their hands!"
Roderick glared at the frontline squads, locked in desperate combat, his teeth grinding.
"Eighth Brigade, consolidate defense! Move toward the stone houses on the right!!"
"Seventh Brigade! Move toward the Eighth Brigade! Cover each other!"
Aaron nearly simultaneously gave orders.
In this critical moment, the two brigades displayed an admirable level of coordination, using the buildings to counter the ranged advantage of the Spinepiercers and the charging space of the Boulder Beetles.
...
"Fourth squad! Follow me! Take the left side!"
Black Falcon's roar resounded nearby.
He was covered in blood, but his eyes remained fierce.
"Kyle, uncle!"
Raine immediately shouted.
"Got it!"
Kyle raised his greatsword, flames dancing on its blade.
"Left side blacksmith shop! Matthew, take the roof for long-range shots! Pros on the left, Gore on the right, Raine, be mobile!"
The five-man team quickly charged toward the blacksmith shop ruins, the thick walls offering excellent cover.
As soon as they entered the ruins, three Boulder Beetles charged toward them.
"Take this!"
Kyle stepped forward.
His burning greatsword swung in a blazing arc, striking one of the Boulder Beetles on the side!
Sparks flew, and the Boulder Beetle was sent staggering sideways, its shell groaning under the impact.
The Boulder Beetle shook its head, letting out an enraged screech, and charged again.
At that moment, Raine moved!
He darted past Kyle like a ghost, his iron-cutting sword coming down with deadly precision!
The blade slammed into a gap in the Boulder Beetle's slightly cracked armor.
Splat!
The blade sank halfway in!
Yellow-green viscous fluid poured out.
The Boulder Beetle howled in agony, its charge stopping immediately.
[Kill Boulder Beetle, bloodstone +100]
Raine expressionlessly drew his blade, sidestepping as another Boulder Beetle brushed past him in a close call!
He twisted his wrist, delivering a heavy strike to its side!
Crack!
The sickening sound of cracking echoed, and the Boulder Beetle lost its balance instantly.
Gore, ready to strike, grinned as he leaped in, pirate hook slashing at its neck, while his short sword drove into its eye socket!
"Heh, let's see what's in your brains!"
"Left roof! A Spinepiercer!"
Matthew's voice came from above.
Whoosh!
An arrow flew through the air, knocking over a Spinepiercer that had been aiming at Kyle!
Matthew took the high ground, his eyes glowing with blue light.
His precise archery disrupted the Shadowclaw Beasts trying to climb and the Spinepiercers aiming from a distance.
Pros held his shield firm, blocking the Boulder Beetles' repeated charges, while his battle axe cut through the air with sharp wind sounds!
Kyle and Gore fought fiercely with the Shadowclaw Beasts, alien races' blood quickly staining their bodies.
Raine moved through the most critical gaps in the battle.
He surveyed the battlefield calmly.
Wherever a crisis appeared, his figure appeared there.
His attacks were not as wild as Kyle's, nor as deceptive as Gore's, but they were precise, efficient, and deadly!
Each strike aimed at the weakest moment in the alien races' defenses, achieving the greatest result at the smallest cost.
The iron-cutting sword in his hand became a cold sickle, harvesting lives!
A Spinepiercer was reloading bone spikes from afar.
Raine's eyes glinted purple as he activated Bewitching Eye and threw his long sword with all his might!
The blade flashed like black lightning, traveling twenty steps and piercing the Spinepiercer's chest, pinning it to the chimney.
[Kill Spinepiercer, bloodstone +130]
[bloodstone +90, bloodstone +80, bloodstone +100...]
System prompts kept ringing in his mind.
His bloodstone reserves steadily rose, quickly climbing over 2000!
But the overall situation still hadn't improved.
The entire village had become a killing field.
All the forces were divided by rock walls and quicksand, forced to fight separately.
Screams, roars, and screeches mixed into one.
The left side of the village, where the fourth squad was, showed no signs of alien races decreasing.
"Dammit! Can't we kill them all?!"
Matthew's quiver was half-empty, his voice filled with panic.
"Save your ammo!"
Kyle cleaved through a Boulder Beetle with a single swing, but his breathing was already becoming heavy.
"Kill as many alien races as possible before we die!"
Raine's mind raced.
Breakthrough?
There were more alien races outside, and leaving cover would mean certain death.
Hold the position?
Their supplies and stamina were limited, and they would eventually be exhausted.
The only hope was waiting for reinforcements.
He looked up towards the central square.
Blades, flames, and energy lights flashed continuously, as Roderick, Aaron, and the other strong fighters clashed with the alien races.
The intensity of the battle there was beyond their imagination.
At that moment, something unexpected happened above the square!
The dark clouds were torn apart as ten figures descended from the sky.
They landed gracefully, and the stones beneath their feet automatically arranged themselves into steps.
The firelight illuminated their faces—perfect, handsome, like statues carved by sculptors who had poured their life's work into creating divine figures!
Their golden eyes burned with cold flames, and behind them, massive stone wings spread.
High-level gargoyles!
The aura from each of them made Raine feel suffocated.
The moment the ten high-level gargoyles arrived, the battle in the square seemed to freeze!
They raised their hands, pointing towards the area where the human troops were most concentrated.
In the next instant, the ground trembled.
Dozens of sharp stone spikes erupted from the earth, skewering dozens of soldiers in one go!
This terrifying scene drove the new recruits into a frenzy, charging recklessly at the alien races!
If not a single alien race was killed, it would be a huge loss!
"Master-level alien races!"
"No! There's even a Grandmaster-level, it's a gargoyle lord!"
An officer screamed in disbelief.
But that wasn't all.
In the shadows, three blurry figures slowly emerged.
They had no physical form, only pairs of ghostly green eyes flashing.
Soul Devourers!
A silent psychic scream swept across the battlefield!
"Ah... my head!!"
"No, don't come... go away!"
"Kill! Kill them all!"
Soldiers screamed, clutching their heads. Some fell to the ground with blood pouring from their eyes, while others went mad and began attacking their comrades.
The whole squad was plunged into chaos.
Then, twenty Heartwitch Succubi appeared.
They flapped their black membranous wings, their pure faces bearing innocent yet cruel smiles.
Purple mental waves rippled out, combining with the psychic shrieks of the Soul Devourers to form a terrifying psychic storm.
Finally, gargoyles swooped down in a massive flood!
Among them were even a few high-level gargoyles with perfect features, though most were at the Trainee and Formal levels—clearly young members of the gargoyle race!
Earlier, the main gargoyle forces had been hidden in the rear to avoid detection by the human army.
Now, they had all come out in full force!
It was over!
This was the thought that rose in everyone's mind.
The gargoyles were responsible for the slaughter, the Soul Devourers for the confusion, and the Heartwitch Succubi for the control—an almost unbeatable killing combination.
On the human side, the strongest officers were held back by the gargoyle lord, and many soldiers, under the psychic attack, could barely stay on their feet.
In the blacksmith shop ruins, Kyle was kneeling on one knee, using his greatsword to support his body.
Matthew and the others were also covering their ears, desperately resisting the psychic assault.
Only Raine, with the help of Bewitching Eye, was barely able to ignore the psychic shock.
But he also felt despair—the power gap was too great!
The only thing he could do now was to fight back as hard as he could against the alien races trying to take advantage of the situation.
Fortunately, the psychic shock didn't last long.
A group of officers had already charged towards the Soul Devourers and Heartwitch Succubi, stopping them from using their abilities.
At this rate, forget about reinforcements—every new recruit would likely be killed one by one!
Kyle and the others quickly recovered and braced themselves against the oncoming alien races' army!
Just then,
One of the high-level gargoyles spotted a particularly intense resistance point below.
It was the blacksmith shop ruins where Raine's team was located.
The high-level gargoyle's golden flames flickered, transforming into a gray shadow as it charged down!
Its target was Kyle, who stood at the front!
"Kyle, uncle! Watch out above!"
Matthew shrieked from the beam.
Kyle abruptly looked up and saw a rapidly enlarging stone claw coming toward him!
He roared, his flaming greatsword slashing upward with all his might!
Clang—!!!
The deafening sound of metal and stone clashing echoed through the ruins!
Flames and stone shards flew everywhere!
Kyle's arm muscles bulged to their limit, but the strength of this Formal-level gargoyle far exceeded his own, who was at the Trainee level!
"Ugh—!"
Kyle was hurled through the air by the immense force.
He crashed into the furnace wall behind him with a dull thud.
Blood spewed from his mouth, and the glow on his flaming greatsword instantly dimmed. He struggled for a moment but couldn't immediately rise.
"Uncle!"
Matthew's eyes widened with rage, and he rapidly shot a volley of arrows at the gargoyle that had landed.
But the arrows merely sparked off its smooth stone skin, being deflected with no marks left behind!
The gargoyle's cold golden eyes turned toward Matthew on the beam.
It didn't even swing its claws, instead, it forcefully flapped its stone wings forward!
Boom!
A violent gust of wind, carrying shattered stones, struck the beam!
The beam cracked, and Matthew screamed as he fell!
"Matthew!"
Pros, who had been silently killing alien races, suddenly lunged toward Matthew's falling direction!
The two crashed to the ground.
Pros let out a suppressed grunt of pain as his left arm bent at an unnatural angle, clearly broken.
But his intact right arm tightly protected Matthew in his arms.
The gargoyle seemed uninterested in crushing these two pests. Its gaze shifted back to Kyle, who was struggling to rise with his sword. Clearly, the fiery awakener posed a greater threat.
It stepped forward, its claws raising once more.
At the same time,
Because the main attacker, Kyle, had been injured, the pressure on Gore increased dramatically!
Two Boulder Beetles and five or six Shadowclaw Beasts took the opportunity to swarm the one-armed veteran.
Gore laughed manically as he swung his hook and short sword, quickly being drenched in blood…
"Ha, is that all you got? Not much strength at all, hahaha..."
And then Raine became the target.
A high-level gargoyle had found him!
It flapped its wings and moved so fast that it left a shadow in its wake, its claws lunging straight at Raine's back.
The cold breath of death immediately engulfed Raine.
His past battle instincts forced him to twist his body, bringing his iron-cutting sword up to block!
Screech—!
The shrill sound of friction filled the air!
The iron-cutting sword blocked the claw, but the immense force still sent Raine sliding backward.
What was even more fatal, however, was that the gargoyle's other claw followed immediately. Raine only had time to awkwardly sidestep.
Splat!
The claw tore through the skin of his left arm, leaving a deep wound!
Blood poured out instantly, and intense pain flooded his brain!
"Ugh!"
Raine groaned, his back pressed against a broken wall as he struggled to stay on his feet.
The high-level gargoyle let out a screech, seemingly displeased at not being able to kill him in one strike.
In this life-and-death moment, Raine suddenly smirked.
What a joke!
How could he die here?
Die at the hands of these stone monsters?
"System!"
He shouted frantically in his mind.
A semi-transparent interface appeared in his vision instantly.
[Current bloodstone: 3080, 2000 needed for temporary purchase of Formal-level. Would you like to buy?]
His bloodstone had surpassed 3000 during the previous harvest!
He had originally planned to save enough for 4397 bloodstones to purchase Formal-level, but the situation was urgent now, and he couldn't hesitate any longer!
"Purchase immediately!"