Chapter 2785

The dark clouds blotted out the sky, and the howling gale had calmed down at some unknown point.

Giant crossbow bolts tore through the sky, splitting apart before they even landed, turning into a vast expanse of meter-long shrapnel that rained down upon the enemy.

The enemy troops, who were shouting as they charged, fell in droves. Just as the shrapnel pierced their bodies, a large amount of ice crystals surged forth, exploding after a mere two seconds to unleash an area-of-effect attack.

Blood mixed with ice fragments rained down. A single volley from the thousand giant metal crossbow carts had felled a massive number of enemies. While the casualties were high, they were negligible compared to the enemy's total numbers.

A dozen snake-men operated each metal crossbow cart. Three of them exerted force to turn the guide wheels to reload, while the others began loading the bolts.

These giant metal crossbows were unique war machines of the Northern Territory; other factions could not replicate them. The carts themselves weren't difficult to build, but the giant bolts—capable of splitting in mid-air and carrying ice energy—were impossible to manufacture.

At this moment, all thousand crossbow carts were positioned at the very rear of the friendly formation. Hundreds of banshees were responsible for reconnaissance overhead; once they spotted anything suspicious, regardless of whether it was an enemy soldier or not, they would swarm and attack.

Compared to the rear, the center of the battlefield was the most tragic area. The imperial soldiers and Flame Demons in the front ranks were already locked in melee combat. Furthermore, the two armies were gradually interweaving; it was only a matter of time before they were completely embroiled in total chaos.

Boom, boom, boom!

A trembling sound erupted from behind the imperial soldiers. Those fighting the Flame Demons immediately pulled back to the left and right.

A giant wild boar, over ten meters long, charged out from between the imperial soldiers. As it ran, it tilted its head and bit a soldier in its mouth.

"Save, save me!"

The soldier bit by the giant boar had barely cried for help before a shrill, miserable scream erupted from his throat.

Crack, crack~

The giant boar chewed the soldier up, the sound of armor and bones being crushed particularly chilling, its mouth filled with blood and foam.

This giant boar was not only massive, but its bristles were like steel needles, and the tusks on either side of its mouth revealed a dark red hue, its eyes exceptionally ferocious.

Most striking was the dark red spell formation etched into the flesh beneath its neck.

Normally, spell formations were etched onto weapons, armor, or even city walls. Flesh and blood could rarely withstand them, but there were exceptions—such as transcendent beasts. As long as their bodies were powerful enough, they could endure the etching.

The giant boar charged into the Flame Demons, tossing a dozen of them aside with a flick of its head. They shattered before even hitting the ground, leaving limbs scattered everywhere.

After a wild rampage, the giant boar charged deep into the Flame Demon army. It opened its mouth, bit down on a Flame Demon, and began to chew. The scorching magma burned its mouth.

After swallowing a Flame Demon, the giant boar let out a loud fart. It seemed entirely unfazed by the Flame Demon's high temperature.

Just as the giant boar was about to continue its charge, a flaming giant descended from above—a Flame Troll.

Boom!

Flames splattered. The Flame Troll landed, crushing an imperial soldier in the process. Its massive hands grabbed the giant boar's snout. In the iron basket on the Flame Troll's back, three snake-men were controlling it, working in a group of three to coordinate the Flame Troll's movements.

The Flame Troll grabbed the giant boar's upper jaw with one hand and its lower jaw with the other, forcibly prying its mouth open. It tilted its head back and seemed to take a deep breath, the flames all over its body dimming.

Whoosh!

A stream of fire mixed with magma erupted from the Flame Troll's mouth, spraying directly into the giant boar's throat and into its stomach.

The giant boar let out a shrill howl, struggling with all its might. A scent of roasted meat drifted out from within. A few seconds later, the giant boar turned into a roasted whole pig.

Scenes like this were common on the chaotic battlefield. The Chaos Legion had Flame Trolls and War Ents—massive combat units—while the Duoyin side had various transcendent beasts etched with spell formations.

High above the battlefield, the Abyssal Flame Dragon, Batos, had flown several hundred meters up. It stopped breathing dragon fire downward; the things Su Xiao had set up through the dragon fire were already complete, and there was no need to take further risks.

Su Xiao had been waiting on the dragon's back for nearly ten minutes. No contractors had come to assassinate him; not even a single contractor had attempted a long-range attack.

Su Xiao looked down at the battlefield below. If one looked closely, they could see many contractors fighting. Although they were trying their best to stay hidden, it was difficult to remain completely unseen given their abilities, unless they didn't want to earn merit.

In this decisive battle, the merit acquisition rate had increased by 1.2 times. This was likely the last large-scale battle on the Canglong Continent for years, perhaps even decades.

In other words, for the contractors present, this was the final opportunity to earn merit.

Su Xiao didn't care much about merit. With the Moon Apostle having left the world, it was basically impossible for anyone to surpass his ranking through this battle alone.

What Su Xiao cared about was the 【Scarlet Medal】 obtained by killing enemies. The problem was that an enemy contractor had to initiate the attack on him; otherwise, even if he successfully killed them, he wouldn't receive the medal.

Since no enemy contractors were coming to attack, Su Xiao decided to lower Batos's altitude and land behind his own army.

Batos landed, and Su Xiao leaped off the dragon's back, standing on a mound and surveying the battlefield ahead.

Su Xiao had been in the air the whole time, and given Batos's combat power, it was unlikely anyone would attack, so he returned to the ground.

Pfft.

An assassin wearing leather armor and a mask had his throat ripped open by Baha, who appeared out of nowhere. This wasn't a contractor, but an assassin sent by the Duoyin side.

It turned out that even after Su Xiao returned to the ground, no one came to attack him. There were plenty of reckless contractors in the seventh tier, but those reckless ones still had brains.

If nothing else, Su Xiao's current ranking at the top of the merit leaderboard was enough to keep the enemy contractors calm.

Unable to obtain the 【Scarlet Medal】, Su Xiao decided not to force it. His current goal was to complete this decisive battle with a narrow victory.

If this decisive battle was won, the rewards would definitely be substantial. Su Xiao wasn't prepared to let this battle drag on for too long; he didn't fear casualties among the Flame Demon army—that was his greatest advantage in this fight.

Su Xiao was just about to issue an order when a large amount of foam appeared on his right hand. It was white, and at first glance, it looked like a layer of coral-like material clinging to his hand and forearm.

This white "coral" was heavy and extremely hard; even with Su Xiao's strength, it would be difficult to destroy without using his blade.

A young man stopped near the mound, smiling as he looked at Su Xiao. Any rational contractor wouldn't come to attack Su Xiao, but a small group of lunatics in Reincarnation Paradise lacked rationality.

"Reincarnation Paradise, Death Disciple. This isn't a World Conquest battle, so there's no need to unite against outsiders. I've come to have a fight with Brother Bai Ye. Please forgive any rudeness."

Death Disciple stopped ten meters away. The smiling youth was very polite. ===== CHAPTER 2786 =====