Chapter 418: Frontal Assault, Covert Infiltration

Chirp! The fire phoenix flew out ferociously, reaching before their eyes in the blink of an eye.

Facing such a secret technique, such True Flame—even if it only possessed fifty percent of its power in the hands of a puppet—it was still extraordinary, far surpassing ordinary Profound-grade Daoist arts.

General Ming's eyes narrowed; he dared not be careless at all and hurriedly turned his fist to meet it.

Boom! The collision of fist and fire was unexpectedly violent; the fifth-rank great serpent was instantly sent flying heavily, and the grim, towering city walls and gate towers immediately developed a terrifying spherical indentation, colorless and distorted, even drawing in the sea of fire falling from the sky as if it were a black hole.

This was the enemy's intentional dragging.

It was not just the fire sea air-dropped by the Jingni puppet, but even the fierce spatial strikes of the Xiangkun puppet, which had been dodging and flapping, were all dragged over together and crushed by the aftermath of the two attacks.

Then came the stalemate, as the surging, immense power of the flesh and the raging, unceasing True Flame Phoenix Fire formed a domain that outsiders could not approach, locked in a struggle of strength there.

However, the puppet army did not consist of only it, of only them!

"Twang! Twang!"

The bowstrings were pulled taut.

"Creak, creak!"

The winches were engaging.

Massive structures emerged bathed in light, grinding over the surface material and traveling through the space behind; they now lined up in a row, taking the opportunity to fire off one after another city-piercing chisels, which came straight through the air with astonishing speed.

There were thousands of them, covering both flanks and encompassing a vast range, including the city wall of Anjing—which was measured in units of li—all within their scope; it was a true, full-range coverage! Very few people on the An army's side could react, and even those few generals who did react had no way to stop them.

At the same time, although the Anjing city wall had been worked upon and was protected by the power of the An God, these offensives also carried the blessings of the Holy God, so they easily pierced through the nearly hundred-zhang-wide wall, then opened their hooks, caught hold, and pulled back violently.

Crack, crack, crack! The city wall immediately groaned under the unbearable burden, emitting a shrill, mournful sound and trembling violently; the entire face was about to be dragged down and collapse, and the defenders who had mostly gathered on this side were about to be dragged right to the front! Only by relying on the city wall did the defenders have any possibility of putting up a stubborn resistance; otherwise, a single charge from the puppet army would be enough to overwhelm them with the disparity in quantity and quality!

General Ming naturally sensed this; he frowned beneath his helmet and, forced to divide his focus and strength, lifted his foot and stomped down hard, his power penetrating the city wall in an attempt to shake off and shatter those city-piercing chisel hooks.

But the puppet Du En was no block of wood; he naturally took the opportunity to suddenly increase the fire, and he had other tricks as well. A brilliant golden light flickered in his pupils, and the fire sea air-dropped by the Jingni puppet, which had been dragged by the enemy, immediately returned like a swallow to its nest, unexpectedly merging into the True Flame out of thin air and rapidly increasing its power.

Fifty percent, sixty percent, seventy percent!

The previously clear boundary of the stalemate was immediately burned away, replaced by a fireball like a sun, constantly spinning and burning, causing the surrounding air, city walls, ground, and space to either vaporize and vanish or melt into a strange, black, asphalt-like substance, clogging the sick sea in the inner layers and sealing it inside so it could not come out.

At the same time, the Xiangkun puppet's spatial strike also shifted its offensive; after the spell patterns engraved on the puppet body lit up, it turned into an ancient spell that Du En himself had not mastered: Soaring Wind Howl.

The puppet Du En raised his hand again to cast a Daoist art of Killing Wind Turning to Sand; the two winds immediately mixed, borrowing the wind to aid the fire, causing the Phoenix Fire to instantly spread across the plains and grow ragingly once more.

Eighty percent, ninety percent...

The An God general, who had just shaken off that wave of attacks, felt a chill in his heart; he hurriedly gathered his remaining strength, boosted his immense power, and stood tall to meet the increasingly vigorous two-colored sea of fire, advancing without fear.

At the same time, the heavy armor on his body awakened like a primordial beast, beginning to bloom with the radiance of a blood-colored tide, making him look as if an ancient god of war were being resurrected.

The elevation of the True Flame could continue; to make up for the deficiencies here, Du En had specifically prepared various auxiliary means. After all, Jiang Ying had not yet awakened at that time, and it was uncertain whether she would have any growth, so he naturally had to rely on himself to think of ways.

But there was no time left to improve further; seizing the flaw of the opponent prioritizing the overall situation, he could only raise it to this extent, which was already the advantage brought by a so-called "first-strike kill."

Therefore, Du En did not hesitate and controlled the puppet to meet the charge.

The Five Undying Light Wheels, True Flame at ninety percent power!

A supreme physical body, battle armor forged from divine remains!

The two sides clashed head-on once again! Silently and soundlessly.

Two types of violent, immense powers were grinding against each other, and even the laws were being stirred and affected; to the sensory perspectives of others, there was only a silent stillness at this moment, and the sense of time was completely disordered, as if even their memories were being affected.

What was there? Unknown.

What happened? Unclear! In the end...

Boom! The city wall was dragged and collapsed in a large section by the city-piercing chisels that still had residual power.

The An Kingdom's elite suddenly snapped back to their senses.

"Kill the enemy! Kill the enemy!"

"Swear to defend Anjing to the death!!!"

The soldiers roared, and the commanders shouted.

Immediately, a stream of troops surged toward the breach, toward the places where the city-piercing chisels were hooked and connected.

Various types of heavy military equipment were activated, baptizing these chisels first, but it was of little use, barely knocking off a few dozen of them.

They did not wither; instead, they exerted themselves even more.

Their armor grew darker, their pupils grew exceptionally scarlet, and waves of immense power and various types of magic were rapidly becoming dense, responding to their unity of purpose.

At the same time, the city wall also gained residual power from the An light, which was emerging in an attempt to completely sever these city-piercing chisel hooks.

But before that, various types of small puppets had already come sprinting along the tethered cables, as if walking on flat ground.

"Fire!"

"Cast spells, use equipment!"

"Do not be stingy or regretful, blast them for me!!!"

The spells, magical artifacts, and weapons of the An Kingdom side poured down like rain, attempting to block and kill them.

But these puppets were all fifth-rank, occasionally using spatial movement and Five Elements evasion to avoid the locks of various spells and artifacts; amidst the dazzling display, they quickly killed their way into the enemy formation on the city wall.

This was not the end!

Accompanied by the rumbling of the earth, the Land of Bones that had already been churning and cracking in front of the left and right flanks of the city wall suddenly shattered even more, and rows of burrowing puppets pushed forward like fish.

They began to further ram and break the wall! "Hiss!"

The great serpent, which had been stunned for a long time after landing in the no-man's-land behind the wall, now leaped out; as large as a mountain, it landed with a boom, its demonic power spreading to form a demonic domain, which it used to begin rampaging and destroying.

But these burrowing puppets were actually just bait; using these ground-based ones as cover, the main force directly began casting spells to push forward at the base of the wall, attempting to overturn and destroy the city wall.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

With the unceasing vibrations, the An God's blessing had to shrink back once more to deal with these root-diggers below. Once this most critical element retreated, under the gaze of the great serpent and the soldiers, various magical cannons and Five Elements spells were launched from beyond visual range.

Furthermore, rows and columns of puppets in formation began to emerge from the light, surging forward like a tide.

"This, this!"

"How can this be?! Why does the Holy Kingdom still have so many troops?!"

"They aren't human! They aren't human!"

"No blood, no tears, no fear, no dread—these, these are just puppets!"

A general slashed open the outer shell of a puppet and discovered the situation inside, immediately unable to hold back a sorrowful cry, and then.

Boom! The puppet's Dharma treasure spine on the opposite side suddenly thrust into its core, triggering a sympathetic detonation, turning the remaining Dharma power source, along with its own vessel restrictions and puppet Dharma patterns, directly into a final lethal strike.

Caught off guard, the general died on the spot! Then, the sound of self-destructions became incessant, bringing a heavy blow...

"War apostles without blood or tears!"

"Holy God, must you really kill them all?!"

Accompanied by a thunderous question that exploded forth, the god-like and demon-like Great General Ming completely reduced the city gate and gate tower, in the sky and on the ground, to nothingness.

Streaks of pitch-black Annihilation Thunder emerged from the fully awakened God-Remains Armor, twisting crazily like snakes, rampaging in all directions, severing grappling hooks, annihilating puppets, and blocking attacks, temporarily stabilizing the current situation.

The An Kingdom army finally remembered their Great General, and the morale of the army immediately steadied.

It really wasn't that simple.

Du En just thought calmly.

The puppet version of him quietly landed beside Jiang Ying.

Having just fought hard for a while, even with auxiliary means applied, it was indeed difficult to contend.

It was mainly because the puppet body couldn't take it; the base five-tenths strength was hard to substantially improve, and it lacked the true indestructibility of the original body, so when the opponent activated the God-Remains Armor just now, this side had to retreat.

And so, it turned its head and looked at Jiang Ying, who had been a spectator for quite a while, expressionless, its meaning obvious.

You should have recovered by now; hurry up and go up there to be a meat shield for me.

Jiang Ying could only read this very impolite meaning.

Although, in reality, it was about the same.

Since the puppet body's strength couldn't support high-intensity, high-density collisions, it would only be responsible for output, while she, with the same physique—though her realm was a bit worse, at least the original body was here—was more resistant to beatings and would entangle and hold the line in front.

Perfect.

"... I really do envy you."

Jiang Ying didn't mutter anything, just uttered this sentiment from when they first set out, and then, without needing more words, the person and the puppet disappeared from where they stood.

When they reappeared, it was naturally in front of the enemy Great General.

No need for words, fight!

The two-on-one battle that made the An Kingdom army anxious began, and both sides immediately became locked in a melee.

Terrifying wild power rampaged; because it was too fast and too intense, and due to Great General Ming's deliberate actions, the aftermath of the battlefield spread quite wide, as if a bird of destruction had spread its wings in front of the city wall, completely destroying the Wasteland of Corpse-Bones and Sickness, forcing the puppet army to slow its pace of attack and attempt to split forces to flank and cut in.

The pressure on the An Kingdom's garrison suddenly lessened a lot; although on that incomparably wide city wall, the sounds of killing still rose everywhere and many puppets were still constantly surging up to attack, it was now temporarily a relatively normal exchange of attacks and defenses, with no situation where one side was overly crushing the other.

The elite level of the army was relatively average, but with that Great General present, it was enough to make up for this point, becoming the most difficult line of defense Du En had encountered since he began acting in this world!

The situation was a bit troublesome.

Du En thought to himself.

On his shoulder was a hanging lamp, quite sneaky, trying hard to restrain its own light.

It was very clear that he, who could also be an army of one, had thrown the puppet army outside, and then, with the help of the Holy God, managed to penetrate the An God's domain, passing out the control threads, thereby achieving a containment effect and dragging the enemy—who was not only powerful themselves and had no obvious shortcomings to exploit, but was also wearing God-Remains Armor—to the city gate and city wall.

The opponent's strength was somewhat unexpected, and if that blade of the opponent hadn't been broken, I'm afraid the actions here would have been hard to be effective; the control of the puppets would have been significantly affected, and might even have been broken along the way without knowing it!

Because looking at the current situation, that might also be a divine weapon cast using the remains of an ancient old god, a pathetic sacrifice from the experiments of the Unmoving True Lord, as raw material!

Compared to ordinary fifth-tier Dharma treasures, it was a world of difference; it could be called a precious treasure or divine artifact. Du En would need to use his life-bound Dharma treasure to even be comparable and contend with it! But the life-bound Dharma treasure had to be saved to deal with the An God and couldn't be left to the puppet... Fortunately, the Sickness Apostles had launched an offensive earlier and broken one of the opponent's divine artifacts, otherwise, even if I grabbed Jiang Ying and used her as a blade, I reckon there would be no way to fight.

Jiang Ying, fighting in the distance, suddenly shivered.

Du En, who had infiltrated the city, just stopped silently.

Having previously changed the An Moon Shuhua and brought the dawn, jumping directly to this city of extreme west and extreme night, the An Capital, he had already quietly entered the city by choosing an opportunity through that god-made spiritual vein.

At this moment, he was sneaking all the way, passing over the civilian residences that were all sleeping in the night and seemed not quite right, and arrived at the very core of the An Capital.

"An Moon King Tower."

The Holy God looked at this heaven-reaching tower pavilion before them, their tone unreadable, their gaze restraining itself from looking at the An Moon adjacent to the back of the tower top.

That place was both the place where the god's radiance was received and where the An God's supreme divine throne was located.

"He never thought about interfering in human affairs, yet those who worshiped him chose to build a tower upward. At first, it was just an ordinary high-rise, until two hundred years ago, when the King of the An Kingdom ascended the throne and ordered the whole country to spare no effort in building this tower, this palace of the An Kingdom."

"The nobles of the An Kingdom live inside, from top to bottom, with clear ranks, arrogant and indulgent from bathing in divine grace at close range, extravagant beyond measure, decadent and corrupt."

Just as they said, this palace tower was indeed incomparably luxurious and wasteful, incomparably costly; it occupied an area almost as large as a small city, did not narrow, and was built to a full fifty stories, each story fifty zhang high, with a total height of two thousand five hundred zhang!

Ordinary high peaks were not as tall as it, and in terms of materials, it was inlaid with gold and jade, dazzling to the eyes; it was simply piled up with treasures!

The most critical thing was that it had almost never considered the factors of magical combat; Du En could poke through its walls with a casual thrust without even using force; it was simply made of tofu, good to look at but useless! "That guy knows that this kind of behavior is just an extravagant, decadent, and corrupt evil path, yet he does nothing at all, still practicing his idea of non-interference."

"It's truly ridiculous to the extreme! Since you don't want to interfere, then just shrink back and hide on the moon; why still manifest traces in the human world, why still hang the moon over the city?"

"Trying to cover up what is obvious, deceiving oneself; clearly having the heart to interfere in the human world, yet being timid and fearful, hesitant and indecisive, struggling, and yet still daring to point fingers and nitpick at my actions..."

(End of chapter)