Chapter 202 - 175: Bloody Battle at Thermopylae
Chapter 202: Chapter 175: Bloody Battle at Thermopylae
Five resounding booms echoed as five huge Energy Balls appeared within the Extraordinary Beastman Infantry array. The spheres began to slowly expand, then erupted in a secondary explosion.
As luck would have it, one of the spheres exploded right next to Wood, sending him flying. Fortunately, Wood was cautious and had already released his Silver-tier aura, covering his entire body.
"ARGH!"
Agonized screams began to erupt from within the Beastman Military Array.
The Magic Crystal Cannon’s blast was powerful, but it had only managed to shatter Wood’s aura barrier. He had sustained no internal injuries.
But Wood was a Silver Sixth Tier warrior, powerful enough to envelop his entire body in his aura. The other Extraordinary Beastmen were not so fortunate.
All five Magic Crystal Cannon shots landed within the array of the Extraordinary Beastman Infantry. Two of them even struck nearly the same spot, subjecting the warriors there to a double blast. Normally, such an overlap shouldn’t happen, but it couldn’t be helped. The Magic Crystal Cannon Teams brought in from Sirich City and Thermopylae were too low-level and had poor accuracy.
The Extraordinary Beastman Corps was an elite force, true, but not all of its members could be like Wood—a Silver Sixth Tier capable of completely covering his body in his aura.
Many of the Bronze-tier Extraordinary Beastman Infantry suffered internal injuries from the blasts.
Magic Crystal Cannons were especially devastating to Bronze-tier Extraordinaries. A direct hit from a shell meant the temperature and Mana at its core could instantly melt a person—the worst possible outcome.
Getting caught in the secondary explosion wasn’t much better.
The constitutions of Extraordinaries meant they wouldn’t be killed outright, but the power of a Magic Crystal Cannon was not to be underestimated. The massive shockwave and the residual power of the Magic Crystal would directly wreak havoc on their bodies.
The lucky ones would only suffer superficial wounds. The unlucky ones might have their Life Seed shaken, shattering the very foundation of their power as an Extraordinary.
Just as it had by the Somme River, the barrage instantly cleared five circular gaps in the Extraordinary Beastman Infantry array.
The Extraordinary Beastman Infantry were either sent flying by the explosions or melted on the spot.
Wood shook his head to clear it and staggered back to his feet. The energy core of the cannon shell had been barely half a meter away. Even at that distance, he could feel the searing power radiating from it.
If that thing had hit him directly, he most likely would have been obliterated.
But, thank the Beast God, the shell’s core had missed him by half a meter and hadn’t posed a fatal threat.
Even so, the blast had left Wood’s ears ringing and his thoughts muddled.
The five Magic Crystal Cannon shots might not have inflicted significant direct casualties on the Extraordinary Beastman Corps, but they had, at the very least, slowed their advance.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Dozens more Energy Balls launched from the Magic Crystal Cannons simultaneously. The sound was like a splash of cold water to Wood, shocking him back to his senses.
"Everyone, get up! Continue the march!" Wood roared the command.
’He’d heard the sound of those dozens of shots perfectly clearly. Their position was exposed, and the enemy’s cannons had already delayed them. That was more than enough time for the human Magic Crystal Cannon Teams to get a lock on them.’
’Wood didn’t know how many of the human Magic Crystal Cannons were aimed at his position, but he couldn’t afford to take that gamble. There was no need to.’
’If all the enemy’s cannons were aimed at them, wouldn’t the entire Extraordinary Beastman Infantry array be blown sky-high?’
He glanced behind him. The Beastman Corps had gathered to execute a War Charge, but it was now clear the enemy had broken their momentum.
’This particular War Charge was centered around the Extraordinary Beastman Infantry array. Now that they’ve been scattered, it will be difficult to reorganize them quickly.’
...
Robson watched the five Magic Crystal Cannon shots detonate and nodded in satisfaction. These five Magic Crystal Cannon Teams were all fifth-tier. He had trained three of them himself and scouted the other two.
’It wasn’t a complete rout of the entire Dwarf Heavy Infantry Legion like at the Somme River, but that couldn’t be helped. A hundred-meter-wide bridge isn’t something you find just anywhere.’
’In fact, if the enemy hadn’t insisted on building that bridge, I’m not sure I could have taken down so many of the Gray Dwarf Heavy Infantry.’
’Besides, the agility of the Beastman Warriors was in a different league from the Gray Dwarf Heavy Infantry. They had those nearly two-meter-long legs, after all.’
’The results are already good. I broke their War Charge, which comes with its own backlash for them. Plus, their military array is clearly scattered and in disarray.’
’That was the power of nearly thirty Magic Crystal Cannons!’
’Even though I assigned five of them to the Extraordinary Beastman Infantry array at the front, that still left more than twenty cannons to smash into the main Beastman Military Array.’
’The plains before Thermopylae are wide open, but the Beastmen still have a full five thousand troops!’
’Five thousand troops is more than enough to cover that kind of ground.’
’It’s just that the enemy’s formation is quite loose, so the Magic Crystal Cannons can’t achieve their maximum effect.’
"That’s good enough. Prepare to fire arrows."
...
Just as Robson suspected, General Griff had indeed prepared for the humans’ Magic Crystal Cannons.
But despite his preparations, he had never imagined the enemy would have so many!