Chapter 406 - 403: A Bird Startled by a Bowstring

Chapter 406: Chapter 403: A Bird Startled by a Bowstring

The laughter was jarringly shrill. Unable to restrain itself, the Great Faceless Ghost swallowed Amira and another man whole in a single gulp.

With a sickening "CRUNCH... CRUNCH...", it devoured their souls and spat out a pile of shredded flesh.

The remaining woman had watched this process thousands of times and had long since grown numb. Even the two who were devoured wore expressions of relief, tinged only with a hint of regret—likely that they wouldn’t get to see this monster die, wouldn’t get to see all the Demons exterminated.

Forcibly suppressing the urge to devour the last one, the Great Faceless Ghost grabbed her and moved rapidly amidst the ceaseless explosions.

"Tell me their weakness! How do I break out of here? I can guarantee you’ll live!"

"WHIIINE~" "WHIIINE~" "WHIIINE~" "WHIIINE~"...

As the whining sound closed in from all sides, a chill went through the Great Faceless Ghost. It felt as if there was no escape, no matter where it fled. It frantically gathered its Magic Power while dragging several large Demons into a protective circle.

"BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!"...

The closest 152mm howitzer shell detonated less than ten meters away.

The shockwave, a blast of fire and a searing wave of earth and rock, instantly knocked over the Demons in front of it.

"THWACK, THWACK, THWACK..." "THWACK, THWACK..."

As the force of the blast washed over them, shrapnel tore into their bodies, ripping gaping holes in their flesh. Several of the Demons were left half-paralyzed.

Even without a heart to pound in its chest, the Great Faceless Ghost was tense. Thanks to its meat shields and concentrated Magic Power, the volley of explosions hadn’t harmed it, but it had been a terrifyingly close call. Before it could even catch its breath, the whistling sound returned from overhead.

Without a second thought, it dragged the half-dead human woman aside and dodged.

"BOOOOM~"

A large patch of earth was scorched in the blast. The few Demons that had just struggled back to their feet were caught in the epicenter. They were torn apart like oversized rag dolls, clearly dead.

"Answer me! Answer me, damn it! How do I get out of here?!"

Even with the Great Faceless Ghost shielding her, the last explosion had rattled the remaining woman so violently that she was bleeding from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. She was on the verge of death.

The roars of the Great Faceless Ghost and the surrounding Demons, along with the ceaseless explosions, sounded distant, as if from the edge of the world. She stared blankly at the sky, watching the swarms of long, steel arrows trailing fire as they streaked toward the Demon Tide. A faint smile touched her numb face.

But she wouldn’t live to witness that next wave of explosions. A nearby Blade Demon tore her to shreds and devoured her.

"Stop asking her! She’s not going to tell us anything!"

The Blade Demon’s face was a mask of fear as it watched the rockets closing in. Acting on instinct, it and several other nearby Magic Creatures darted deep into the dense forest.

They no longer dared to be curious about those things.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!..."

A rocket barrage rained down, blanketing the area. The explosions converged from both flanks toward the center, erupting in a violent crescendo.

Unlike the staggered pattern of the artillery shells, the rocket explosions merged into a solid sheet of fire. The dense flames formed a veritable firewall, advancing and mercilessly incinerating any Demons attempting to flee.

Immediately after, a dense artillery bombardment followed, plastering the same area.

Only a few minutes had passed since the assault began, but the Demon Tide had already thinned considerably. The entire, seemingly endless forest was ablaze as far as the eye could see, littered with countless corpses.

As the first wave of bombers completed their payload drop and began their return flight, a second wave was already turning around behind the Demon Tide, preparing to begin the second round of "herding" bombardments.

Along the entire line of fire, only the missile divisions had remained relatively inactive. The few missiles they did launch were armed with thermobaric warheads, meant only to cover the gaps between bombing runs.

The terror inflicted by this "herding" tactic was especially effective on the monsters at the rear, relentlessly forcing the Demons at the front to charge toward the defensive line.

The world had become a maelstrom of blinding fire, deafening explosions, and rolling black smoke—a scene straight out of Hell.

A four-legged Cyclops, wreathed in blue Magic Power, and a small group of Magic Creatures didn’t run forward like the other Demons. Their instincts told them something was wrong.

Relying on their powerful bodies, they weaved through the burning forest, trampling over the corpses of other Demons. They scrambled madly through any opening they could find, trying to flee to the rear.

"ROAR~~"

The Cyclops was filled with a mix of terror and the exhilarating hope of escape. Unable to contain its frantic energy, it let out a series of furious roars.

"Stop roaring, Yalulu!! Are you trying to get us killed?!"

A two-tailed, blood-red monster, racing low to the ground, couldn’t resist lashing out and striking the Cyclops with one of its tails.

"WHIIINE~" "WHIIINE~"... "BOOM!" "BOOM!"...

Fire and destruction descended upon them in an instant.

"ROOOAR~~~" "Guh~~ hrrghh..."

Two heavy bombs detonated right next to them. The intense heat from the thermobaric explosions made the Cyclops and the red monster shriek in agony.

Their roars and frantic tumbling finally attracted the attention of the fighter jets, which were already scanning for high-value targets.

The surrounding Magic Creatures fought through their pain, about to flee again, when they felt the crushing pressure of an air-to-surface missile lock.

"BOOM!" "BOOM!"

Two precise explosions rang out. The Cyclops’s upper body was obliterated, and the other monster’s tattered red tail was sent flying, landing in front of several distant Black Beetles.

The beetles were scared witless and immediately veered northeast in a panic.

A dozen or so of the seven-to-eight-meter-long Black Beetles fled faster than they ever had in their lives, their limbs moving so quickly they created a phantom blur.

They covered over twenty kilometers in just a few minutes, soon running into more chaotic Demons and encountering some Magic Creatures that had been ahead of them.

"We’ll die if we stay here! We have to get over that mountain! Get past it!"

The back of the lead Black Beetle, once smooth as a gemstone, was now covered in cracks. It shrieked without stopping as it fled.

Many of the magical entities in Kaslopa had been corroded by the world’s decay, and now, spurred by immense terror, they were driven into a frenzy.

By now, the border fortifications had gauged the Demon Tide’s strength. The main firepower from the cliff-face defensive line had shifted from heavy ordnance to infantry firearms and machine-gun fire from the weapon stations.

The close-in weapon systems were mostly inactive. They would only fire a basic ammunition load if a weak point was detected, clearing out the targeted area in four or five seconds.

The high-precision smoothbore cannons, on the other hand, fired continuously, picking off primary and secondary targets.

Dawn had broken on this side of the mountain, and the barrage that had looked like whips of fire lashing the sky had diminished significantly. Furthermore, the Laser Weapons were busy sweeping the area for Yin Spirit targets, and since their beams were invisible, the mountain ridge did indeed seem "safer" than the apocalyptic scene behind them.

Even so, the sheer volume of fire from large-caliber weapons pinned down any Demon that tried to cross. The thousand-meter zone in front of the line was a true kill box, a vacuum of death.

The Blade Demon at the Great Faceless Ghost’s side wanted to stop them from charging the ridge. These Magic Creatures, pushed forward from the rear, had no idea of the terror that awaited on the other side of the cliff.

But just as it was about to speak, it suppressed the urge and simply let them go.

The Magic Power radiating from the large beetles intensified, their black carapaces glowing faintly. Combined with their incredible speed, they looked like a dozen streaks of light hurtling toward the mountain.

More Demons from all around them also charged madly toward the perceived line of escape.

Meanwhile, the Great Faceless Ghost, the Blade Demon, and a few other Magic Creatures quietly dispersed. Using Demon corpses for cover, they began to approach the ridge from different directions, planning to make their move the moment the beetles drew all the attention.

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!..." "CLANG!" "CLANG! CLANG!..."

The beetles were so fast they dodged much of the incoming fire. Even when bullets did connect, they sparked and ricocheted off their shells.

But only they knew the truth: the agonizing pain in their carapaces and the drain on their Magic Power told them they couldn’t afford to take many more hits.

The close-in weapon systems on two nearby weapon stations had already swiveled their barrels to aim.

"BRRRRRRRRRRT..."

Four barrels opened fire simultaneously, their slight rotation blanketing the area in a solid curtain of shells.

"CRACK!" "CRACK!" "CRACK!"...

Rock chips and gore filled the air. An entire layer of the stone ledge was sheared away. Countless low-level Demons were pulverized. The Black Beetles lasted only a second or two longer; several were blasted into the air, only to be shredded mid-flight by the stream of shells.

The Great Faceless Ghost and the Blade Demon froze in their tracks before they even had a chance to make their move.

"WHIIINE~" "WHIIINE~" "WHIIINE~"... "BOOM!" "BOOM!"...

The artillery shells began to rain down in a deluge once more. As the sky brightened and the bombardment continued, the battlefield where the Demon Tide was trapped became increasingly visible.

WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP...

The sound of steel rotor blades grew louder as attack helicopters closed in.

Five of them were heading directly for the Great Faceless Ghost.

The Great Faceless Ghost and the Blade Demon fled without a moment’s hesitation. Another Magic Creature, one that had once shot down an old Nippon Army helicopter, tried to repeat its feat. But before its Magic Chain could even form, it saw a volley of missiles streaking down.

They were clearly high-value targets. The helicopters instantly unleashed a quarter of their pod-mounted rockets, dozens of missiles saturating the area.

"BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM..."

When the fire and smoke cleared, anything that had been even a split-second too slow, regardless of its size, was reduced to twitching, mangled remains.

To be safe, the helicopters’ cannons mercilessly strafed any corpses that looked like they might have been powerful.

After what felt like an entire nightmare, the constant baptism of artillery and bombs finally began to subside.

The surviving Demons had no idea how much time had passed. All they knew was that only scattered individuals and small groups remained, fleeing in every direction—a pitiful sight compared to the once-boundless Demon Tide.

The containment line wasn’t a solid wall, after all. A small number of Demons had surely escaped in the initial stages, but it had no significant impact on the overall outcome. As time went on, the remaining Demons’ chances of escape dwindled to nothing.

Most of the nearby corpses were still searingly hot, many of them carbonized husks. Countless trees were still burning.

The Yin Spirits were all but wiped out. Even if they had dodged the artillery and lasers, it was impossible for them to hide and survive in such an environment.

Attack helicopters and fighter jets continued to sweep over the smoke-filled, corpse-strewn battlefield, hunting for any remaining high-value targets.

Whenever the lower-level Demons heard the telltale whump of rotor blades, they scattered in terror. They had become like birds startled by the twang of a bowstring, utterly broken.

PS: First Chapter for Sunday.