Chapter 870: Three Against One

"Whoosh—"

At the very same instant Priest Wu was suppressed by three consecutive auras of Sword Immortals, three figures appeared around him, surrounding him in a triangle.

One was a short young girl with her hair in double buns and eyes like rubies. One was a dignified woman with silver-white hair wearing palace attire, and the third was a stout man with a string of precious beads around his neck.

Although they looked strange in their own ways, they were undoubtedly powerful Sword Immortals.

They were none other than the three supreme Taiyin Swords of the Taiyin Domain—Jade Rabbit Sword, Ice Wheel Sword, and Toad Soul Sword!

Like three bright moons hanging high above the Taiyin Domain, these three Sword Immortals, who had always maintained a vague stance on the disputes between the Human World and the Tianmo and even remained detached from the Jianshan system, had actually descended simultaneously to surround Priest Wu! Their three swords shone with cold light, jade bones and icy souls, like a bright moon shining upon the Nine Provinces.

For a moment, Priest Wu felt quite important, but he immediately became furious and shouted, "We are still in a truce! What are you three trying to do? Are you trying to ambush me? The Earth Barbarians are indeed despicable and cunning, failing to keep their word!"

If he had said this to the Sun Swords of the Sun Domain, every single one of them would have exploded, not only attacking him with their swords but also berating him for "twisting black and white and being utterly shameless," but the three Taiyin Swords were relatively calm. For instance, Toad Soul Sword merely puffed out his cheeks, while Ice Wheel Sword was completely expressionless; only Jade Rabbit Sword reacted more strongly, her red eyes turning even redder.

"That is the kind of thing only you could say. You people have been burning and killing for half a day, yet we never appeared. If you hadn't crossed the line too far, using your status as a Sword Immortal to forcibly bully the younger generation, we wouldn't have appeared either," Jade Rabbit Sword said. "One should never have had any expectations for the bottom line of the Tianmo, especially since you are among those who believe in the Evil God..."

As soon as she said this, Priest Wu roared, "Do not blaspheme my God!"

As he roared, the green robe on his body surged. The vibrant Luse expanded in an instant, protecting his entire body as if it were a suit of green armor.

Yes, this was the power of the Evil God. In the end, he did not choose to resist on his own first, but directly utilized the power of the God to grant himself the greatest amplification. Because he was not stupid; while he could be considered a powerhouse among the Immortal-level, he was not enough to fight three against one. Rather than waiting to be beaten up and then pathetically begging the Holy God for help, it was better to be fortified with the most powerful strength in his best state from the start.

He believed that with his own profound foundation, combined with the power of the Holy God and his pious heart toward the Holy God, he could defeat even three opponents of the same level.

By now, his armor had wrapped his entire body, even covering his face with a thin, translucent green mask. The armor had not finished developing but was growing wantonly; sharp spikes grew out from the body armor, and two curved horns extended from the helmet, just like a large beetle. However, a large mouth split open at the very top of each horn, with spiral-like teeth growing inside. Before long, he was covered in sharp spikes from head to toe, forming a dense mass like a dried chestnut shell.

If he had looked somewhat human before, then once the green armor was activated, he looked almost nothing like a human, nor even like an animal, but like a plant—the kind of plant that had been polluted and twisted. The green surface was still flowing slowly, expanding outward at every moment.

"This is the Evil God. He is currently being eroded." Jade Rabbit Sword's red eyes turned, and she clicked her tongue. "Truly evil stuff. There is no need to communicate with such a thing. The Tianmo Jie can be considered finished."

The two Taiyin Swords beside her both nodded. Most Taiyin Swords were cold and independent, unwilling to get involved in disputes, but the expansion of the Evil God in the Tianmo Jie over the past two years had truly crossed the line, so these three Sword Immortals had finally walked off the battlefield from their high moon.

"Be careful, this green stuff on him cannot be touched."

"Let me go first." Toad Soul Sword swung his sword, releasing his Sword Image—a giant toad. The toad's back was covered in bumps, bubbling with yellow foam. Those bubbles detached from the skin one by one and rolled outward, quickly covering the city wall. Under the flickering moonlight, those bubbles were golden and crystalline, like dreamy pearls coated in gold dust.

At the same time, the green substance on Priest Wu was also flowing downward, and both sides were competing for space on the ground. In an instant, the green climbed onto the golden bubbles, almost immediately dyeing the bubbles green.

"Pop!"

The golden bubbles burst, and the green skin wrapping them also exploded, turning into specks of green light.

"It can be eliminated. Though not thoroughly, containment should be no problem," Toad Soul Sword said, leaning against the giant toad to inform his two teammates.

"Good, then Sword Technique—Envy of Others!" Jade Rabbit Sword turned her body and glared fiercely at the green monster.

In an instant, red light shone!

The green substance, which had been flowing quietly on its own, suddenly froze, held firmly by the red light for a moment.

Instantly, all the golden bubbles on the ground swarmed up, piling onto the green monster.

"Destroy!"

"Boom!" Golden light shot into the sky, covering half of the city wall.

"Oh, right, right, right!" Just as the three Taiyin Swords descended, Han Shengyuan suddenly felt his mind clear up, remembering many things, and he patted his head. "That is to say, the few Sword Immortals had been waiting in the city all along. It's just that they were hidden by your Sword Technique. Except for you, no one could have realized their existence. Even if you had told me about this plan before, I had forgotten it completely."

"Mm, yes." Wei Zhangle was currently armored, commanding from the highest building of the Research Institute, slightly fatigued after just receiving an assault team. "If they hadn't been so despicable, only launching a surprise attack with more Sword Hero-level fighters, the Sword Immortal Highnesses would not have appeared. We are not as shameless as them."

Han Shengyuan nodded and said, "In that case, it was better that the guy showed his face, otherwise wouldn't we have had no reinforcements? No, wait..."

He suddenly realized something, and immediately saw figures darting outside the protective barrier, with one reinforcement team after another arriving from all directions. Each team had at least two or three Sword Heroes and several Sword Guests, cooperating tacitly and fully equipped. As soon as they arrived, they launched a barrage of attacks, leaving the invading Tianmo with no power to fight back.

"This... so many?" Han Shengyuan couldn't help but gasp. A rough look showed that the number of these reinforcements far exceeded the Tianmo; two-on-one, three-on-one, or even more—the Tianmo were effectively surrounded.

He couldn't help but say, "Actually, there was no need for so many to come. They've already finished the fighting; what are we supposed to fight? We usually do quite well fighting evenly, but this time, using numbers to bully the few... it's a bit of a waste."

Wei Zhangle said, "Better to waste than to be defeated. The Art of War is inherently the art of using many to fight few. The so-called 'winning by surprise' is when one is outnumbered globally, to create a situation of using many to fight few locally. This time we grasped precise intelligence and gained an initial advantage; we couldn't just abandon the safest tactic and create difficulties where there were none, forcing ourselves into a desperate struggle for survival. That would be my mistake."

Han Shengyuan said, "I know, this is your style—stability above all. I could tell from when you transferred those research results; you are meticulous about everything, even down to a single coin, let alone a battle. Three against one at the Sword Immortal level, and the same at the Sword Hero level. This is also good; firing this opening shot will give that bunch of Tianmo a hard blow, otherwise they would be so arrogant they wouldn't know who they are. I'll go charge into the fray while I'm at it, otherwise I really won't feel satisfied."

Just as he said this, the city wall exploded. He turned his head and saw a firework of gold and green blooming on the city tower. Although gold was the most eye-catching color, the emerald green in the middle was indeed very rich and intense.

"That's the Evil God, right? I heard the Evil God makes Tianmo particularly powerful. Are our Sword Immortal Highnesses okay?"

Wei Zhangle's expression remained unchanged as he said affirmatively, "No problem. Although they are enhanced, there must be a limit. We planned with intent against the unsuspecting, and it is still three against one. If that doesn't work, then what is there to fight? Everyone might as well just sit and wait for death."

Just then, the city wall lit up again, and a massive bright moon rose above it.

Compared to the usual bright moon, the light of this moon was particularly cold and grim. Han Shengyuan only took one look, and his Soul felt as if it had been frozen.

He was knowledgeable and immediately recognized it: "Ice Wheel Sword Highness."

At this moment, his heart settled down: Ice Wheel Sword often acted last among the three Taiyin Swords, used to "finish off" the enemy and clean up the battlefield, suppressing any desperate last-ditch efforts. This meant the opponent had definitely been defeated; they might still have a breath left, but Ice Wheel Sword was going to extinguish that breath completely.

It seemed the battle on the city wall was about to end? Just as well, the battle here was also showing a one-sided trend. The Tianmo besieging the Research Institute had already suffered setbacks, their morale beginning to dampen, and now that they were attacked from both front and back, they must be in chaos. Already inferior in strength and numbers, plus having their morale collapse, how could they not be routed?

What was even more miserable was that the Tianmo had previously used a space-restricting weapon to seal the space here, originally to prevent humans from escaping, but now it was their turn to be unable to run.

This first battle in three years was, in the end, going to be won by the humans.

At this moment, another loud noise came from the city wall.

They saw a green light pierce through the grim white light of the silver moon wheel and shoot toward the horizon.

Han Shengyuan saw it and blurted out, "He's trying to run!"

Although the opponent fleeing in defeat counted as a victory, since the humans had made such thorough preparations, they must have been aiming for a complete victory. If the main culprit were allowed to escape, it would be a bit lacking.

Wei Zhangle said very calmly, "He cannot run!"

Before the words fell, a large green net fell from the sky, covering the escaping green light perfectly, then wrapped him up and plummeted, instantly crashing to the ground like a trussed-up pig.

Han Shengyuan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Wei Zhangle, "As expected of you, truly well-prepared."

It was just that he couldn't help but feel secretly surprised in his heart: Was that greenish net our own method? Why did it look exactly the same as the Evil God's power from the Tianmo side?