Chapter 289

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud of a heavy object hitting the ground, one of the assault team's breachers, holding a pneumatic shield, suddenly staggered, rolled his eyes back, and collapsed outright.

"Ambush!"

The sergeant, noticing this, snapped into action, ordering his soldiers to scatter and deploy, while calling for rear support teams to provide suppressive fire.

Yet even after the support team rushed over and swept every possible hiding spot—even dismantling parts of the floor—they still failed to locate the attacker's position.

Worse still, since the first breacher fell, it was as if an unknown plague were spreading rapidly: one soldier after another rolled their eyes back and collapsed.

Whether hiding behind pneumatic shields, behind the tower's steel beams, or retreating into already-searched compartments, none could stop the mysterious attacker's strikes. The breach team couldn't find the enemy's location, nor could they understand how their comrades kept falling.

Everyone was safely behind cover, no limbs exposed, yet it was as if Death himself was calling out their names—one by one, every few seconds, a soldier collapsed with rolled-back eyes, and the rate of casualties kept accelerating!

"Retreat! Front ranks become rear ranks, breachers with shields hold the rear—fall back now!"

When the thirtieth soldier collapsed, unconscious for no discernible reason, the sergeant, who had held on through sheer grit, finally cracked under pressure and issued the order to abort the sweep and evacuate immediately—everyone instinctively exhaled in relief.

Unfortunately, the soldiers didn't get to relax for long.

Although the number of soldiers collapsing suddenly dropped after the assault team began retreating, less than fifteen seconds later, the unseen "Death" followed them down.

In the soldiers' terrified expressions, more and more men collapsed mid-retreat, eyes rolling back without warning—not just the lagging breach team, but even the front-line support team began dropping, blocking the escape route.

He wants to annihilate us all!

Realizing the "Death"'s intent, seeing their comrades lying unconscious on the ground, the assault team's soldiers grew even more panicked.

At first, the sergeant had tried to maintain order, but once he too rolled his eyes back and collapsed, the already fragile retreat dissolved into total chaos.

One soldier after another, eyes wide with terror, shed their heavy gear and sprinted desperately downward, constantly dropping without warning, constantly tripping over fallen comrades, only to collapse themselves moments later under Death's call.

In less than two minutes, nearly a hundred men lay sprawled along the five hundred-plus steps of the staircase.

Whether from the initial assault team or the follow-up support team, all had lost consciousness, lying in neat rows on the ground. The entire boarding tower fell utterly silent, save for the breathing of the unconscious.

…

I overdid it…

After confirming all who entered the boarding tower were down, Leon, having activated the Holy Pendant over a hundred times, let out a long breath and rubbed his aching temples.

Under the condition of avoiding mass deaths, the Holy Pendant's mental shock ability was stable and efficient—no need to show himself to incapacitate targets, and the stamina cost could be covered by the 【War Counterpart】, making it theoretically the fastest and safest combat method.

Unfortunately, while the 【War Counterpart】 could replenish stamina infinitely, it couldn't compensate for mental exhaustion.

Each activation of the 【Holy Pendant】 to launch a mental shock meant forcing his own will against the enemy's—like a man who trained his skull to be iron-hard, smashing watermelons one after another with his head; eventually, even he'd suffer a concussion.

Had the assault team not been terrified by the unknown method, causing their morale to collapse rapidly, those hundred mental clashes alone would've been enough to break Leon.

I need to change tactics!

Estimating his condition, Leon realized mental shocks alone wouldn't handle so many soldiers—he immediately shifted strategy, climbed back upward, and set up his long-dusty sniper rifle at the mid-level of the boarding tower.

If he used the Black Goat's ability to incite the guards to kill each other, he could certainly escape safely—but unlike the Night of Ryan's Blood, these soldiers outside were merely doing their duty, committing no unforgivable sins.

He himself carried three survival mechanisms: the Goat's Horn's 【Unceasing Bloodshed】, the Goat's Heart's 【Dominant Substitute Death】, and as his final trump card, 【The Immortal in the Wine】—he had no need to slaughter them all.

The most suitable option now was to temporarily disable their command system, then break out during the chaos, feign being neutralized, completing the "future" loop, and only after Joshua's soul flame departed, rise up and fully escape the encirclement!

Solid. That's the plan.

…

Five fully armed elite squads—all wiped out in just over two minutes since the first gunshot?

Watching the now-silent boarding tower, the officer outside gripped his trembling hand.

What the hell happened inside?

The troops who entered carried not only pneumatic shields and standard light arms, but even a medium automatic weapon—this was standard equipment for clearing fortified positions in large-scale warfare.

With the assault and support teams advancing in tight coordination at a slow pace, even if hundreds of armed rebels were hiding inside, they shouldn't have posed any real threat.

Even if the interior wasn't rebels but another similarly equipped military unit, given the elite status of the breach team, they should've held out for at least a little while—how could they go silent in the time it took to take a breath?

Just as the guard commander hesitated, staring at the boarding tower like a beast ready to devour him, wondering whether to send another team in, other units stationed at perimeter checkpoints rushed over.

"Matthew! What's going on inside?!"

A tall commander, flanked by guards, approached and grabbed the lead guard officer, growling anxiously:

"We set up so many checkpoints—how did someone slip in?!"

"And where are your men? I saw you send the breach team in—why is there no sound inside? What's happening in the tower?!"

"Inside the tower… watch out!"

"Bang!"

With a sharp crack as air was torn apart, a nail shot out violently from the mid-level of the boarding tower, piercing through the gap between two pneumatic shields and embedding itself with a wet thud into the ground nearby.

There's a sniper?!

Seeing the bullet crater just a step away, the two commanders turned pale, cold sweat soaking their undershirts—they were grateful the sniper had missed; otherwise, they'd have died right there.

Yet before they could even call for guards, a tiny dog paw emerged from the crater and pushed out a strange deep-purple crystal.

Is that… Thunderstone?!

Recognizing the sudden crystal as the Thunderstone stored in the airship's cargo hold, the two commanders' pupils shrank violently, and they spun around to flee.

Too late—before they could complete their turn, the tiny dog paw slammed down hard, shattering the deep-purple Thunderstone instantly. A torrent of crackling lightning erupted, swallowing their figures whole.