Chapter 478 - 421: Cultist Legion Interception Battle (Part 2)

Chapter 478: Chapter 421: Cultist Legion Interception Battle (Part 2)

Her furious assault threw the front ranks of the Cultist Legion into chaos. But instead of fleeing, the Parasites all floored it, ramming their vehicles into the Mecha in kamikaze-style attacks.

"What are they doing...?" Chen Na, who was perceiving all this, couldn’t understand. "They’d rather crash their cars and blow themselves up than try to escape?"

"What? They’re ramming their own cars to blow themselves up?" Although Yang Ran couldn’t see, he could imagine how horrific the scene was from Chen Na’s description. "What a bunch of lunatics!"

"Whether they’re Parasites or Cultists, the vast majority of them likely have no free will," Silver Fox said seriously. "According to Dr. Zhang’s long-term research, Parasites completely obey the Prophet’s commands, while Cultists completely obey the Pope’s commands. They will obey even if the order is to die."

"That’s terrifying..." Yang Ran said. "No wonder I’ve heard it’s almost impossible to turn Parasites or Cultists, and that it’s extremely difficult to infiltrate their ranks with spies."

"Beings like them are destined for destruction." Shangyuan Zi, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke up, which was a rare occurrence. One had to wonder if she was thinking of Mizusawa Chun, who had once held absolute power in Sakura Prayer and could order his subordinates to their deaths on a whim.

"Their goal is to drain our Psychic Power faster," Guan Tong said.

Just as he’d said, while the enemy’s front line had fallen into some confusion due to the power of Bai Xuewu’s Mecha, their rear convoys were constantly driving around to flank them.

The strategy was simple and direct. Through a combination of ranged attacks, kamikaze-style car ramming against the Mecha, and flanking maneuvers, they intended to force Guan Tong to use more shadows to stop them and quickly wear out the duo.

The Cultist Legion had a commander. The Mecha and the Shadow Thorns puncturing their tires were more than enough to identify who was blocking their path.

The former was already hated with a passion by the Parasites for its effectiveness on the front lines in the Black Banner Country, while the latter was the infamous "Shadow."

Since the two were so powerful, it was more practical to try and drain their Psychic Power with saturation attacks than to attempt to kill them outright.

Once an Ascender lacked sufficient Psychic Power to sustain them, even the greatest strength was useless.

"Huff, huff... My Psychic Power is running low."

Before long, Bai Xuewu was panting heavily. Her relentless assault had eliminated numerous enemies, but the Mecha’s Psychic Power consumption was simply too high. Now, she had less than a tenth of her Psychic Power left.

"You pull back. I can handle this on my own," Guan Tong said.

"You still have plenty of Psychic Power left?!"

Bai Xuewu was incredulous. Forgetting the power Guan Tong had used to break through the Array earlier, just in the few minutes they had fought together, his Psychic Power consumption should have been even greater than hers.

Bai Xuewu knew she only had to fight head-on, but Guan Tong’s shadows had to both protect her Mecha and spread out to both sides of the road to block the flanking enemies. His Psychic Power consumption was probably more than double her own.

"Not a whole lot, but definitely more than you have."

"..."

"You’ll be in great danger once the Mecha vanishes. Get back to cover immediately."

Guan Tong’s tone was an order. Bai Xuewu bit her lip, then immediately used her last bit of Psychic Power to fire two missiles, blowing up a few vehicles before finally retreating. The Shadow Armor covering her Mecha automatically detached, transforming into a towering Shadow Wall to block the ranged attacks aimed at her and cover her retreat.

As soon as Bai Xuewu was back under cover, she glanced at Guan Tong, who had his head down and eyes closed in concentration as he manipulated the shadows, and then immediately contacted Li Meng.

"Haven’t the reinforcements arrived yet?!"

Now only Guan Tong was holding the line. But even for him, how long could he hold back so many Cultists? A minute? Two minutes?

"The ’Annihilator’ is being deployed now! ETA three minutes!" Li Meng replied. "The Ascenders they sent are also about to arrive on-site to provide support!"

Their hearts sank at his words. Three minutes didn’t seem like a long time, but in a situation like this...

’This can’t go on.’

Guan Tong realized his Psychic Power was draining far too quickly. For him to single-handedly hold back a massive army with his shadows for three minutes, even his entire reserve of Psychic Power might not be enough.

Silver Fox picked up a pair of Eye Shields left by a Soldier of Soloma and put them on. With a flick of her wrists, she tightened her grip on her two daggers. "I’m going out to relieve some of the pressure on your shadows."

She was about to get up when Guan Tong put a hand on her shoulder. "Wait. It’s too dangerous for you to go out there."

"It is too dangerous for Silver Fox in close combat. Let me go!" Yang Ran puffed out his chest and declared loudly. "I’ll cover my eyes and have Na guide me to a suitable distance to unleash my flames. I’ll burn those sons of bitches by the hundreds!"

"No," Guan Tong immediately vetoed.

"But, Captain..."

"It’s not about your ability. It’s Na—she’s already at her limit."

Startled, the others all turned to look at Chen Na.

Only then did they realize her face was drenched in sweat and her body was trembling slightly.

The group finally realized that they had overlooked something: Chen Na, who had been keeping her Perception Realm active this whole time, was also rapidly consuming her Psychic Power!

"I... I can still hold on!" Chen Na said, opening her eyes and trying to sound strong.

Guan Tong shook his head. At that moment, Shangyuan Zi suddenly proposed, "Commander, I remember you can summon the Living Dead. If you summon them, I can transform them into Snake Servants to join the fight and hold back the Cultist Legion."

’Snake Servants!’

Guan Tong’s eyes lit up at her words.

Indeed. In terms of combat effectiveness, while the transformed Snake Servants couldn’t match a stronger Ascender, they were far more powerful than the Living Dead.

"All right, let’s do it."

Desperate times called for desperate measures. With no time to worry about exposing Shangyuan Zi’s abilities, Guan Tong took out the Corpse Whistle and began to blow it repeatedly. Large numbers of Living Dead crawled out from the surrounding area. Shangyuan Zi removed her sunglasses, and under the gaze of her vertical pupils, the Living Dead underwent genetic mutations, transforming into half-human, half-snake Snake Servants.

The scene left Bai Xuewu and Yang Ran deeply shocked. Neither of them knew Shangyuan Zi well; they had assumed she was just an Ascender sent by Sakura Prayer. Having previously seen her always wearing sunglasses, a mask, and gloves, with not a single patch of skin exposed, they had already found her mysterious and strange.

And hearing her call Guan Tong "Commander" just a moment ago had only made them more curious.

But now, seeing her remove her sunglasses to reveal bizarre Snake Eyes and scales around them, both of them felt a sense of inexplicable horror. ’Is she human or a snake?’

In contrast, Chen Na and Silver Fox were much calmer, as they had known Shangyuan Zi for a while and understood her better. However, when Silver Fox saw that snake scales now also covered the skin around Shangyuan Zi’s eyes, she guessed her ability had likely developed even further.

Under Shangyuan Zi’s command, the newly transformed Snake Servants leaped from cover and charged the Cultist convoy. Once they were within range, they opened their mouths wide and spat streams of emerald-green venom. Some of the Parasites failed to dodge in time; hit by the venom, they immediately began to scream and writhe on the ground in agony.

The Cultist Legion immediately launched a counter-attack. While continuing their assault on the various spiked walls formed by Guan Tong’s shadows, they also diverted some of their forces to eliminate the Snake Servants.

Furthermore, through observation, they had pinpointed the cover where Guan Tong’s group was hiding and were now mobilizing forces to charge their position.

Although there was a decent number of Snake Servants, it was nowhere near enough to match the Cultist Legion. They could only buy another twenty or thirty seconds.

With two minutes still to go before reinforcements arrived, the situation was critical. Chen Na and Bai Xuewu had nearly exhausted their Psychic Power and could no longer fight, while Silver Fox, Yang Ran, and Shangyuan Zi were all restricted and unable to bring their full power to bear.

For a fleeting moment, Guan Tong considered retreating for the sake of everyone’s safety. It was just as Li Meng had advised him before: if things went south, retreating was an option.

But if they left, the incoming war machine, the ’Annihilator,’ would have no one to guide it, rendering it ineffective. In that case, their desperate fight for the last few minutes would have been meaningless.

As his thoughts raced, Guan Tong stood up.

"What are you doing?" Bai Xuewu asked immediately.

He took the Silver Hunter from his Storage Ring. "The enemy has found our hiding place. It’ll be too dangerous if they get any closer. We have to stop them."

Seeing what he was about to do, Chen Na grew extremely worried. She grabbed his arm. "Guan, you’re going out there? Don’t!"

"This weapon has a limited range," Guan Tong said. "I have to leave our cover and get a little closer to the enemy to use it."

"What about the Crimson Fear?" Silver Fox asked calmly. "Those guys have pictures of Crimson Terra plastered all over their vehicles. You’re bound to see one if you go out. And if you wear an Eye Shield, then..."

"Exactly," Guan Tong said. "If I’m the only one who can’t see, that’s a disadvantage. But if neither I nor the enemy can see, then the playing field is level."

Hearing this, Shangyuan Zi seemed to guess his plan. "You mean..."

Guan Tong nodded and put on the Eye Shield. The next moment, countless shadows spread out from around him as the Shadow Realm rapidly expanded.

He couldn’t see, but he would use the Shadow Realm to block the enemy’s vision, ensuring the members of the Cultist Legion couldn’t see either!

Seeing this, an idea struck Silver Fox. She also stood up, her daggers glinting coldly. "If everyone is plunged into darkness and unable to see, then I can use my speed to help you kill enemies quickly. At least I won’t have to worry about friendly fire."