Chapter 2784: Chapter Seventy: The Great Decisive Battle

A pitch-black treasure chest covered in golden patterns appeared in Su Xiao's hand, feeling heavy to the touch, and just one glance made people feel a desire.

Obtaining an Immortal-tier treasure chest does not guarantee Immortal-tier equipment; in fact, the chance of obtaining Spirit-tier items is higher, with a 90% to 10% gap.

Through the prompt, Su Xiao learned that the difference between Immortal-tier equipment and Spirit-tier lies in their unique "core enhancement" effect, which is too specific for him to understand temporarily; he will only know after obtaining Immortal-tier equipment.

He speculated that this "core enhancement" effect should be a strong boost to a single aspect—for example, some Spirit-tier equipment may have multiple effects, but they are not interconnected.

Immortal-tier equipment avoids this issue, as all equipment has a fixed enhancement cap—for instance, if the enhancement value is 100 and there are four enhancement effects, each would average 25 points; if these four effects are poorly related, the Spirit-tier equipment would be worth at most 50 to 80 Soul Coins.

Of course, this is just a metaphor; put simply, compared to Spirit-tier equipment, Immortal-tier equipment is more focused—even with multiple abilities, they combine and ultimately enhance in the same direction.

Unique trait, rarity, core enhancement—these key prompt words indicate one thing: Immortal-tier equipment will be very expensive.

Looking at the 【Immortal-tier Treasure Chest】 in his hand, Su Xiao somewhat wanted to open it to see if he could obtain Immortal-tier equipment to boost his combat power.

Considering the fluctuating luck, Su Xiao did not want to waste this Immortal-tier treasure chest, unsure if the Goddess of Luck was secretly watching nearby; other deities would not, but that goddess truly has no scruples.

That is why Su Xiao rarely opens treasure chests in mission worlds; these chests are obtained at the risk of his life, and after returning to the Reincarnation Paradise, the Goddess of Luck can no longer influence him.

Su Xiao put away the 【Immortal-tier Treasure Chest】; several hundred meters away, within the rift of the alternate space, the floating Goddess of Luck bit off her chocolate bar and let out a light scoff.

"Tsk, really cautious."

The Goddess of Luck muttered, her divine incarnation gradually dispersing into golden mist.

In the fortress bedroom, Su Xiao turned his head to look right; that faint sense of being watched appeared again momentarily, completely without malice, yet just staring from afar, besides the Goddess of Luck, he could think of no one else who would do such a thing.

According to the agreement, the battle should begin at dawn, but Su Xiao does not intend to keep his promise with Duke Yin, as the other side has already mobilized.

Flame Demons: 4.7 million, Wolf Cavalry: 530,000, Flame Giants: 3,400, Ancient Tree Tribe: 5,000, Evil Ghosts: 20,000.

Besides these, there are 30,000 Snake People, of whom 10,200 are responsible for controlling the Flame Giants in battle, while the remaining Snake People are in charge of operating the giant ballistae.

These 1,012 giant metal ballistae were captured in the Northern Border's Winter City, all war weapons; the large metal ballista bolts found in Winter City's supply warehouse are sufficient for a decisive battle.

This is all of Su Xiao's forces for the decisive battle against Duke Yin; as for Duke Yin's side, he has a general understanding, but he believes Duke Yin also knows their situation.

Where there is a great tree, there must be dead branches—such a massive legion naturally has Duke Yin's spies, which is normal; conversely, Duke Yin's side also has spies from the Chaos Legion.

Boom—

The two gates of Black Melt City opened, the Flame Demon army led the way, marching out in mighty numbers.

At the same time, Duke Yin, in the imperial capital's outskirts.

Many imperial soldiers stood in formation; the deputy legion commander of this unit received orders to depart early this morning, march at full speed, and is expected to reach the border by noon to launch a surprise attack on the Chaos Legion's defenses.

Clearly, Duke Yin does not intend to wait until dawn to begin battle; some things are understood without words.

Behind, Duke Yin's capital.

Duke Yin sat on the Wang Zuo, with senior officials seated around him in the council hall.

At this moment, Duke Yin was listening to the spy's report; soon, he smiled and shook his head.

"War—you indeed do not intend to keep your promise."

Duke Yin's expression remained normal, feeling no psychological burden for breaking the agreement first; he looked at a legion commander kneeling on one knee, this commander already over sixty but still strong, with a dignified aura.

"Geat, go avenge your second son·Teuert; you and your son are among the few I trust most."

Upon hearing this, Legion Commander Geat slightly lowered his head, his expression calm.

"Your Majesty, I, Geat, will surely respond to your trust—this is not revenge; Teuert is my pride; he fought the War Demon and fell; this is a difference in belief and stance, not personal grudge; the return of my son Teuert's corpse already signifies the War Demon acknowledges my son worthy of respect; for a knight, this is an honorable death."

Legion Commander Geat's voice was loud; saying he feels no pain would be false—he has six sons, among whom Teuert is the one he is most proud of.

In Geat's view, Teuert died as a knight, his corpse returned intact; for knights who battle on the field, this is homecoming; since they participate in slaughter, they must prepare to face death—this is the knightly spirit of the "Graham Family."

Legion Commander Geat is the overall battlefield commander for the Duke Yin side in this great decisive battle; besides him, there are five deputy commanders and numerous subordinate officers.

Border region.

At eleven o'clock in the morning, the originally clear sky suddenly turned overcast, with rolling dark clouds moving from the Western Border toward the center.

Beneath the clouds lies an endless Flame Demon army—4.7 million is what concept? Standing on a low hill and gazing out, one cannot see the edge.

Within the Flame Demon army, Flame Giants are mixed among the demons, averaging over 12 meters in height, each step causing thunderous booms.

On the back of each Flame Giant's neck is an iron basket containing three Snake People, their bodies covered in alchemical diagrams, their pupils also shaped like those diagrams, working in groups of three to jointly control the Flame Giants' movements.

Further back, the Flame Demon army mixes with War Treemen, their bodies full of chains—not to bind, but as they pull the 1,012 giant metal ballistae.

Near each giant metal ballista, dozens of Snake People follow; the nearby Flame Demons carry individual rectangular iron boxes nearly ten meters long, filled with large metal ballista bolts.

Looking further back, nearly 20,000 Evil Ghosts float in midair at a height of 100 meters, their disheveled hair drifting without wind, their beautiful faces fierce.

Lastly, 530,000 Wolf Cavalry press the formation—they are the elite of the elite, having fought their way here, none lacking in combat experience.

Boom!

A flash streaked across, the march causing the ground to tremble—this formation can only be called the Chaos Legion; wherever the great army goes, all living things retreat.

When the Chaos Legion reached the junction of the Western Border and the center, the army halted; opposite, one li away, countless imperial soldiers had formed numerous formations, their number hard to count; conservatively estimated, the scale exceeds 6 million.

The Chaos Legion and Duke Yin's army faced each other one kilometer apart, neither side first using war weapons; the murderous atmosphere made people nearly suffocate.

Hum—

A War Treeman blew a horn several meters long; the demon flame dragon Babatoss descended from above, crashing down before the allied army.

Su Xiao stood on Babatoss's head, gazing at the imperial army ahead; a wild wind blew, lifting his black hair; he gripped his sword hilt with one hand, drew his blade, and pointed it forward.

"Trample them."

"Kill!"

Battle cries and roars merged into one; the Flame Demon army surged forward entirely, behind them the War Treemen strode at great pace—these usually dull-eyed giants were now exceptionally brave.

Meanwhile, Duke Yin's imperial soldiers also drew their swords; the front-line shield bearers roared and advanced to meet the Flame Demon army.

The two armies rapidly closed in; the beastman hero Wolbol charged ahead, swinging his war hammer; opposite him was a soldier wielding a greatsword.

Clang! Sparks flew; the next moment, imperial soldiers and Flame Demons on both sides collided, bloody magma splattered, and shattered shield fragments flew everywhere.

"Roar!"

Babatoss flew above the enemy army, spewing dragon flame downward; in this grand scene, the decisive battle between Duke Yin and the Chaos Legion began.

On the distant battlefield, Mu Xiao, Yan Huo Shi, Huang Hai, Yao Ren Mao, and other contractors were present; for such a major battle, they naturally came, or rather, over 80% of the contractors in this world had arrived.

Almost simultaneously, all contractors in this world received several announcements.

【Announcement (Void Tree): The Duyin Empire and the Chaos Legion have launched a full-scale decisive battle.】

【Supreme Commander of the Duyin Empire: Wang Jian·Gait.】

【Leader of the Chaos Legion: War Demon·Kukulin·Bai Ye.】

【Announcement (Void Tree): Due to the unfolding of this campaign, all contractors may now, by consuming 30% of their current battle merits as cost, reselect their faction; if their faction achieves final victory in this battle, their current battle merits will increase by 100%.】

【Announcement (Void Tree): The acquisition rate of merits at this stage will be increased by 1.2 times.】

【Warning (Void Tree): Do not lightly attempt to attack Wang Jian·Gait and War Demon·Kukulin·Bai Ye, as both are leader-level units; launching a surprise attack on leader-level units will draw the hatred of a vast number of soldier-type units.】

【Announcement (Void Tree): If one insists on attacking leader-level units and succeeds in killing them, after success, they will complete the achievement mission·??? and additionally obtain an exclusive title.】

……

On the dragon's back, Su Xiao also saw these announcements, but he saw one additional hint from the Void Tree compared to others.

【Hint (Void Tree): Due to the contractors' special identity at this stage, you may possibly be attacked by other contractors; if attacked and you successfully kill the enemy afterward, you will obtain the Crimson Medal (the Crimson Medal can be exchanged for blood weapons, which have no fixed quality, rated at 500~??? points, with a maximum possession of 1).】