Chapter 53

A black shadow shot forth from the gray mist ahead!

It tore a rift through the air, and a fully armored shield soldier was instantly hurled backward!

His shield exploded midair, and the arrow pierced straight through his chest!

“Damn it!”

“This damn thing’s power!”

“Is it really a Legendary Leader?!”

“Charge!!”

A massive, dark mass surged forward into the War Fog!

One soldier after another fell dead.

They cleared patches of land, dispelling the War Fog.

“This arrow’s range… is it really this far?”

After advancing several hundred meters, over twenty soldiers had died,

Xu Meng couldn’t help but complain,

and this familiar, terrifying range stirred up unpleasant memories deep in his heart.

But he was no longer the novice lord he’d once been,

he was now extremely powerful!

“Take down the Legendary Leader—get rich quick!”

Yu Zhuo let out a sharp cry, fearing someone might back out.

“I’ll do it!!”

A lord, gripping a massive shield, strode to the front line.

He cultivated an advanced martial arts technique,

and his physical body was even sturdier than that of high-tier heroes at the same level.

“Bang—!”

The arrow struck the man-sized great shield,

sending him stumbling backward several steps, a trickle of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth,

but he’d barely managed to block it.

“Healers—apply healing magic now!”

The group advanced steadily.

Yet they’d already pushed forward one kilometer,

and the War Fog ahead remained bottomless,

with arrows still piercing through.

The shield-wielding lord could no longer hold on—he didn’t want to die here.

He retracted his shield and leapt backward, and a soldier took the hit instead.

Bang!!

The arrow struck a shield soldier like a high-speed car.

“Could he be running away?”

One lord couldn’t help asking.

“All Leader Bosses possess territorial awareness—they won’t stray too far!”

Yu Zhuo reassured everyone,

and if they failed to kill this Legendary Leader now, their losses would be devastating.

With the 【Global Human Civilization Lord Selection Tournament】 approaching, he wanted to take a risk!

“Xu Meng!”

“I’ll compensate you for your losses!”

Yu Zhuo looked up at the airborne forces and shouted.

Flying units were exceedingly rare in the Ten Thousand Realms Battlefield.

Among these seven lords,

only Xu Meng possessed flying troops—the griffins.

Flying troops held a natural advantage of 2.8 in attacking territories.

They could choose to carry troops and land at a weakly defended point within an enemy territory to seize it.

Flying troops could not claim territory while airborne.

Only upon landing could they begin territorial occupation.

Even so,

flying troops held enormous advantages over ordinary troops.

Whether for scouting War Fog or for transport,

they could completely ignore terrain,

and that alone made them incomparable to any other troop type.

Hearing Yu Zhuo promise compensation, Xu Meng gritted his teeth and replied: “Fine!!”

Instantly, over thirty griffins,

flapped their wings and shot forward at top speed.

They launched a desperate, all-or-nothing assault!

They wanted to see what that Legendary leader actually looked like!

One after another, griffins died before they could even cry out — blood sprayed across the sky, feathers shot in all directions.

Patch after patch of war fog was driven back, revealing a land of grassy hills and knolls.

Xu Meng clenched his jaw, gazing into the distance.

His griffins’ loyalty was plummeting rapidly.

Even his hero’s loyalty had dropped by 5 points.

At last, riding on his griffin’s back,

Xu Meng made out the Legendary leader launching those ferocious attacks.

A Legendary… leader?

An arrow defense tower entered Xu Meng’s field of vision.

A buzzing filled his head, then everything went blank.

He plummeted straight off the griffin.

What the hell kind of boss is this?!

It’s clearly an arrow defense tower!

What level of arrow defense tower packs this kind of power?!

Is a standard arrow defense tower really worth upgrading to Level 40+ in the early game?!

Or did you use some utterly insane territory items on it?!

“Xu Meng, what’s wrong with you?!”

Watching Xu Meng suddenly plummet from the sky.

Everyone rushing here froze in place.

“Run!!!”

Xu Meng let out a wailing cry.

However,

Extraction

: 86

10

647

46

Escape? It was utterly impossible.

They had advanced here holding shields, suffering heavy losses among their troops.

How were they supposed to retreat?

Expose their backs to the enemy?

Or retreat backward while holding shields?

Their speed was simply too slow to withdraw from the arrow defense tower’s attack range in time.

Only one outcome awaited them—

Total annihilation.

“What’s that kid thinking? Is he insane?!”

“He’s running now, of all times?!”

Yu Zhuo gritted his teeth and led everyone forward in a final charge.

Xu Meng’s griffins and hero had all fallen in battle,

and the others had now reached Xu Meng’s side.

Xu Meng sat dazed and listless on the ground, utterly disheveled.

Though his level had already reached ten, he showed no will to fight.

“Brothers—charge!!”

Yu Zhuo roared furiously, leading by example,

channeling his physical strength,

gripping his tungsten-steel alloy weapon and bracing himself to withstand a direct arrow strike.

As a contestant in the Global Human Civilization Lord Selection Competition,

he naturally possessed some hidden trump cards.

With prior preparation, he wasn’t easy to kill.

“We’re almost there!”

“I see it—I see it!”

“That’s…”

A 3-meter-tall arrow defense tower—Tower 105—standing there.

The charging formation instantly halted.

Everyone stood frozen,

struck dumb with shock like cicadas silenced by cold.

Only the hiss of arrows slicing through air,

only the explosive shattering of shields,

only the thud of fallen troops collapsing lifelessly—

a wave of despair surged up from within,

erupting like a geyser, unstoppable.

What is despair?

Even if it weren’t a Legendary-tier leader,

but merely an Epic-tier leader,

it still wouldn’t have driven them to despair.

Yet it was—just an ordinary, utterly mundane arrow defense tower.

The reward for capturing it was zero.

Troops had died for nothing.

Instantly, the lords present broke down.

They frantically ordered their troops to scatter and flee in all directions.

“Don’t run!!”

“You can’t escape!!”

“Destroy it! Destroy it!”

Yu Zhuo screamed in desperation,

given the arrow defense tower’s attack range and damage output,

escape was simply impossible.

Yet,

at this moment, everyone was panicked and disoriented,

each hoping just to save themselves—if only one could get away.

At the very least, the hero must not die here!

Arrow after arrow,

slashed through life like the scythe of Death itself.

[Your hero has died.]

[You have died. Returning to the Lord Crystal for rebirth…]

[Rebirth complete.]

Reborn in his territory, Yu Zhuo felt his nose sting,

his throat choked tight—unable to cry out.

How can there be such a terrifyingly powerful arrow defense tower?

This makes no sense at all!

Who the hell would boost a single arrow defense tower to this degree?

How many territory items did they spend?

And they even paid a massive price to move it onto unclaimed, no-man's land outside their territory?

What's the point of doing that?

Thinking of the fallen rare troops,

thinking of the fallen heroes,

thinking that in half a month, the All-Human Civilization Lord Selection Tournament was about to take place.

Yu Zhuo could finally hold back no longer and burst into loud, bitter sobs.

"Fuck you, fuck you..."

Tear after tear rolled down in streams.

A grief so deep and unspeakable tore his heart and soul to shreds.

"@Yu Zhuo @Yu Zhuo @Yu Zhuo!! This isn't over between us!!"

"@Yu Zhuo! Come out and meet your death!"

"Motherfucker!! You goddamn team-wrecking noob!!"

Inside the group chat, a ceaseless torrent of cursing erupted, wave after wave,

instantly flooding the screen to 99+ messages.

Over two months of developing troops and heroes, wiped out all at once —

who could possibly accept this?

As the lord terminal's messages flooded the screen, Yu Zhuo wept even louder.

At the same time,

Xu Meng sat dazedly on the ground,

as one arrow after another from the defense tower

crashed against his body.

Ripples spread outward, yet he remained completely unharmed.

This was the effect of the equipment and item bonuses on Xu Meng.

[Hunter's Ward]: Reduces incoming arrow damage by 100 points.

[Arrow-Resistance Aura]: Reduces incoming arrow damage by 30% for 1 hour.

[Arrowproof Custom Armor]: Reduces incoming arrow damage by 50 points.