Larikson and Hofs assumed that in the House of Han, Han Shuo was the only powerful expert while the remaining members were as harmless as kittens. With Han Shuo not in Fort Lasberg, they assumed that the fort would be as fragile as a dried leaf. Therefore, as soon as they were outside the fort, Hofs commanded his divine guards to attack.
The assaulting army they formed were made of the most elite divine guards in Hushveil City and highgods from the House of Broadhurst while both the commanders, Larikson and Hofs, were late-stage highgods.
Against such a powerful army, not just the House of Han, but perhaps even the House of Kinson and House of Kisa which had stood tall in the City of Shadows for countless years wouldn’t be able to survive.
Outside Fort Lasberg, Larikson and Hofs wore gloomy faces and watched coldly as their troops transformed into streaks of shadows and charged at the fort recklessly as though nothing in the fort could harm them. They felt that the House of Han should be honored that they would be present to watch them get exterminated. The two wouldn’t go to the frontlines of the battle unless there emerged an enemy of their class.
The army ferociously charged at Fort Lasberg while making loud battle cries. The divine weapons in their hands emanated an astonishing amount of divine auras. They seemed as though they were certain of their victory.
Then, suddenly, thunderclap-like rumbles sounded from Fort Lasberg. Shortly after, dazzling pillars made of light carrying astonishing powers shot out from the fort like arrows.
The magnificent, pillar-shaped radiances had the same width as a human adult’s waist. More than a dozen of those energetic beams shot out from the fort at once. Many of Hofs’s divine guards from Hushveil City were caught off guard and were struck. The energetic beams vaporized everything in its path and made large holes through the divine bodies of midgods. Many of the invaders were severely injured if not instantly killed.
Ever since taking over Fort Lasberg, the House of Han had invested tons of black crystal coins on the fort’s defenses. The energy crystals from the numerous mining pits nearby were delivered to Fort Lasberg so that they can be used as batteries for the energy crystal cannons. The energy crystal cannons would deliver beams of extreme destructiveness. With enough energy crystals, a blast from the cannon could be as deadly as a highgod’s attack.
The dozen something energy crystal cannons were usually proudly displayed on the defensive wall around the fort to intimidate its enemies. But when Phoebe and the others learned that Hofs and Larikson were going to attack the fort, the energy crystal canons were relocated and hidden in the energy towers so that they could give their enemies a big surprise.
But their plan wouldn’t have worked so well had Hofs and Larikson not been so arrogant to take the House of Han so lightly. Had they been just a little more cautious, the energy crystal cannons wouldn’t have caused them such great casualties.
The energy crystal cannons, powered by energy crystals in energy towers, shot out resplendent beams at the followers of Hofs. In the blink of an eye, a dozen or more divine guards from Hushveil City were struck by the energy crystal cannon. They instantly perished.
Below the energy towers, the members of the House of Han were busily refilling the towers with fresh energy crystals. When the energy towers were refilled and energized, the energy crystal cannon began to glow. Its luminosity rapidly increased before a loud rumble was heard the moment it shot out towards the horizon as a blinding beam of light.
“Welcome to Fort Lasberg, motherfuckers!” shouted Gilbert as he unloaded energetic beams on Hofs’ divine guards, shooting them down from the sky.
“Watch out! Get scattered!” shouted Hofs at the top of his lungs. He did not expect that the small little Fort Lasberg would possess such a large number of high-yield energy crystal cannons along with the piles of energy crystals needed to power them.
The energy crystal cannons were not just costly to acquire, but they were also extremely expensive to operate. Many considered firing such high-yield energy crystal cannons as burning money for each blast would consume energy crystals worth tens of thousands of black crystal coins. Therefore, most of the family clans that possessed energy crystal cannons would only use it sparingly.
Unfortunately for Hofs and Larikson, they did not know that the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy under the House of Han had countless branches in the Death, Destruction, and Darkness Dominions that generated them a magnanimous wealth of black crystal coins. The House of Han was filthy rich and could easily afford to consume that tremendous amount of energy crystals.
Due to Hofs’ underestimating and lack of scouting his enemy’s strength, nearly a hundred of the Hushveil City divine guards had perished.
Hofs’ cries were submerged under the deafening rumbles of the energy crystal cannons. His divine guards continued charging at Fort Lasberg recklessly as the energy crystal cannons continued to greet them with hellfire, but they had gotten smarter. They flew in a more dispersed formation and made large distances from their comrades.
With that, the energy crystal cannons were no longer as effective. Although they had been blasting the invaders as frequently as before, only twenty-something additional experts were struck.
The Hushveil City divine guards, although under constant bombardment of energy crystal cannons, managed to reach Fort Lasberg. They flew over the defensive wall and started descending into the fort.
The first divine guard who descended towards Fort Lasberg suddenly jolted and halted. He discovered that he had slammed into an invisible barrier and he could not fly any closer into the fort. But when he tried to move away, the invisible barrier suddenly formed an intense binding energy and stopped him from leaving. He started spinning and rolling uncontrollably as he tried in vain to free himself from the barrier.
Then, abruptly, an energy beam from an energy crystal cannon shot into the sky and scored a direct hit on the divine guard. Most of his body was instantly vaporized while the remaining bits splattered.
Within the next few moments, another fifteen of the invaders were annihilated in the same manner. They were all trapped on the invisible barrier powered by the energy towers all over Fort Lasberg before they were blasted from the sky by energy crystal cannons.
As the energy crystal cannons and the barrier were powered by the same energy, the barrier didn’t obstruct the destructive beams that came from the energy crystal cannons, nor would those beams affect the barrier. For this reason, it may have appeared to an outsider that Fort Lasberg was not protected by a barrier. Those Hushveil City divine guards certainly thought so, which was why they had descended into the fort so confidently.
The energy crystal cannons and the barrier were a match made in heaven. In another few moments, yet another dozen or so of the divine guards were vaporized as they tried to trespass upon Fort Lasberg. They died horrifically.
“Damn it, retreat!” shouted Hofs angrily.
But that command of Hofs was rather late. Most of those who charged at Fort Lasberg had been killed. The remaining divine guards could already tell that it was foolish to try to descend into the fort and dared not proceed recklessly.
Before he had even breached Fort Lasberg, Hofs had lost more than a hundred and fifty divine guards!
The forces under Hofs’ command had been greatly diminished during the Hushveil City incident a few years ago. It was only recently that Hofs had managed to keep the rivaling family clans in the City of Shadows in check. He started to worry if those family clans would resume with their scheme to overthrow him after learning that his troops had further diminished.
“City Lord, Fort Lasberg is protected by energy crystal cannons and an energy barrier at the same time. This is going to be troublesome! We have been too impulsive. It appears that the House of Han is indeed very rich. They are willing to burn their crystal coins to resist us!” Hofs’ Chief of the First Corps Divine Guards reported to him.
“Destroy the energy barrier. As soon as it is destroyed, we can breach the fort.” Although Hofs felt extremely angry, he had not lost his mind. He continued, “Once we breach the fort, they won’t stand a chance against our overwhelming forces!”
“Everyone, attack the energy barrier. It seems that the House of Han is very wealthy. We have struck gold!” Larikson commanded his experts with a sinister smile.
Larikson brought the most elite experts from his House of Broadhurst. These experts did not participate in the first assault on Fort Lasberg. Although Hofs had lost more than a hundred divine guards, Larikson’s experts did not even suffer a scratch. As Hofs yelled all sorts of profanities, Larikson remained unruffled, fantasizing about the piles of black crystal coins in the Han Residence.
Hofs’ eyes suddenly lit up when he heard those words. He gazed at Fort Lasberg lustfully and remarked, “That’s right. If the House of Han has such a great stockpile of energy crystals, then the wealth they have stored in their mansion must be very substantial as well! If I can take that wealth, it would somewhat compensate for the losses I have suffered.”
Larikson took a glance at Hofs and said nothing. Nobody knew what he had in his mind.
“I want everyone to launch ranged attacks at Fort Lasberg. They will have to spend several tens of thousands of black crystal coins just to block a single wave of our attack! Let’s see just how many waves of our attacks those energy crystal towers can resist!” snickered Hofs.
The divine guards of Hushveil City started using their divine energy and divine weapons to launch ranged attacks at Fort lasberg. The colorful divine energies shot towards the fort like meteor showers.
“Refill those crystals! When those bastards get inside, they are going to loot all the energy crystals in the energy towers. Do not leave a single piece of the crystals for them!” shouted Gilbert as he moved the sparkling energy crystals into the energy towers with the divine guards of the House of Han.
