"Stop!" Inac finally snapped out of his daze and bellowed loudly.
Perhaps, the goblin archer was aware that the human would not stop his movements at all as despite his earlier shout, Inac still fiercely pulled the string made of beast tendons rearward.
A strange bone arrow similar to a drill was waiting to be released as Inac's hands trembled slightly due to the strength he was exerting to pull the string of his weapon to its maximum.
However, his movements were still a lot slower than those of Bai Zemin.
Craaaack… Crack… Crack…
The sound of bones breaking seemed to be even more terrifying than the miserable cries and screams of the Unclassified goblins and First Order ones that were being slaughtered by the thousand-plus blood threads that Bai Zemin was mentally controlling.
Still trapped by Bai Zemin's hands, Geminder's eyes widened and opened as much as possible as if threatening to pop out of their sockets at any moment. Tears quickly accumulated as a piercing scream automatically escaped from his mouth along with a gush of blood.
Geminder's scream was heard even by Shangguan Bing Xue and the rest of the survivors in the distance outside the base. That's how terrifying it was. Everyone shuddered in fear at the scream that seemed to be the cry of a ghost in grief.
"Enhanced Drill!"
"Enhanced Speed!"
"Triple Arrow!"
Inact shouted the name of three skills at the same time and the strange arrow in his hand took on a slight sandy yellow hue before shooting off at full speed as his grip on the bowstring relaxed.
The arrow traveled at a speed that completely broke the sound barrier and the tip spun continuously in the process of flight. A war tank would be turned into a pile of scrap metal immediately if this kind of attack hit!
Bai Zemin coldly snorted and without saying a single word kicked his Blazing Scale Greatsword without looking back.
The greatsword was hit with all of Bai Zemin's Strength and shot out with the tip pointed in a particular direction. There didn't seem to be anything in its trajectory when it suddenly stopped in mid-flight before a powerful explosion sent it flying.
BOOM!!!
The bone arrow shaped like a drill as well as Inac's most powerful attack was stopped in its tracks. The greatsword flew through the air before landing far away somewhere in the sea of goblins, out of Bai Zemin's reach and sight. Whether it was whole or not was still unknown.
"What?!" Kreir cried out in shock.
Even Geminder could not take Inac's best attack the way the human before him had done!
On the other hand, Inac felt as if his soul had left his body and his grip on his weapon hesitated for the first time since birth.
Of course, the reason why Bai Zemin managed to suppress such a powerful attack was because he not only used his 750+ Strength points but also used Gravity Manipulation to lighten the weight of the sword and propel the speed at which it flew, which consequently also increased the power behind it.
In the distance, the goblins surrounding the army of mankind finally could no longer wait for any kind of command. With fear overcoming them and taking possession, the beasts roared and charged forward with their swords and spears held high.
The goblin archers raised their bows and fired immeasurable numbers of bone arrows that momentarily obscured a patch of the azure sky. With thousands of arrows falling from the clouds at the same time, there was no doubt that at least half of the gunmen would die while many soul evolvers would also fall without life.
For an instant, it seemed that the roars of the beasts in the forests were silenced as they sensed a second battlefield being unleashed.
The humans were not idle about it either, and despite their fear, they bared their own fangs.
"Fire!!!"
The several team leaders roared practically at the same time and the hundreds of armed men shouted at the top of their lungs as they pulled the trigger of their guns relentlessly.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
…
The goblins were fast, and so were the arrows that fell quickly as they were drawn to the ground again by the gravity of the world. However, no matter how fast they were, it was impossible for Unclassified existences to go faster than the speed of a bullet. Thus, by the time it seemed that everything was within their grasp, the goblins had to pay a heavy price in order to cover a few hundred meters of distance.
Hundreds of goblins collapsed per second. Because of how many and densely packed they were, even a blind man could easily hit a goblin's body with each shot by simply aiming and firing straight ahead.
Goblins fell to the ground on their own blood or that of their fellow goblins. Some lost their lives immediately after taking a bullet hit to the head while those less fortunate received different numbers of bullet wounds in varied parts of their bodies before falling to the ground and screaming in pain as they felt their lives gradually leaving their bodies alongside the blood loss.
It was only about 10 seconds before the front line of the army of now less than 30,000 goblins reached the first defensive line of the human army formation. By that time, the number of goblins that had been killed exceeded 5,000. Moreover, the most surprising thing was that the arrows had been stopped by Nangong Lingxin, Shangguan Bing Xue, and other soul evolvers with active defensive skills so the humans did not suffer any real casualties except for some light injuries.
To have defeated 5000 enemies with 0 casualties was quite a feat considering the difference in numbers. However, this only happened thanks to the humans taking advantage of the distance and firepower disadvantage of the enemy…. The real problem would start now, when the remaining 25,000 or so goblins reached the human defensive perimeter.
How were about 1,000 humans going to defend themselves against 25,000 goblins that not only had an average level equivalent to that of human soul evolvers, but the advantage of using firearms would immediately disappear when goblins with swords and spears or knives arrived to engage in close combat? Such a thing was not possible no matter how much one thought about it.
Fear and despair were visible in the looks of every human present as the survivors sobbed or screamed in terror inside the various modified vehicles. Many of them cursed Bai Zemin and the other leaders like Shangguan Bing Xue for wanting to leave the base while others took the opportunity of what seemed to be the last second before death to embrace their loved ones while apologizing for their own lack of power to do anything about it.
Just when all seemed lost, an incredibly cold celestial voice like that of an ice fairy echoed far and wide:
"Ice Bastion!"
Shangguan Bing Xue called out the words that identified what she wanted to create as she crafted the various ice stakes and raised her delicate hand towards the sky. A large wave of mana burst outward with her as the center, coming into contact with the several tens of ice stakes an instant later.
Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!…
A faint blue flash shone on each ice stake and when the melee goblins reached the distance of 50 meters, Shangguan Bing Xue's multiple traps activated at the same time to form a massive array.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!….
Huge walls of ice rose into the sky, curving after reaching the height of twenty meters before they began to merge with the ice walls growing from the ice stakes located in the rear. In addition, the ice walls also widened, merging with the ice walls of the ice stakes that had been placed on the different sides.
Several goblins jumped in an attempt to attack the humans, but their bodies only hit the ice wall hard before being rejected.
A number of bone arrows struck what appeared to be an impenetrable turtle shell, leaving only tiny marks that did not even serve to weaken the defense of the ice barrier.
From the inside, the soldiers, soul evolvers, and survivors watched in amazement as a huge fortress magically rose above and around them all, protecting them from the ferocious attacks of the malicious goblins.
The ice was transparent from inside the bastion so everyone could see the enraged and vile expressions of the small green creatures. Those with bone swords slashed without any skill in an attempt to break through the defenses that impeded their steps and those with spears stabbed again and again unsuccessfully in an attempt to break through the thick layer of ice that blocked them from their targets and prey.
The nearly 4000 humans automatically looked up at the position on which the woman who rightfully occupied not only the position of the woman most longed for and dreamed of by countless men of the faction but also the position of the second most powerful and authoritative existence right after the supreme leader.
Still standing on the body of the ten meter tall scaled rhinoceros, Shangguan Bing Xue looked like an ice goddess in her sky blue armor. Her silver hair danced gently as her beautiful face turned slightly pale, making her look extremely pitiful and evoking everyone's desire for protection.
"Great!"
"We're alive!"
"Thank god…"
"Thank god? We should be thanking her instead of god!"
…
It is not known who started it but the survivors who had already given up began to shout Shangguan Bing Xue's name out loud, worshipping her as if she were the true goddess of their faith. They even forgot that a moment before many of them had cursed her and all the high commanders of the base for leaving to the south.
As she was showered with cheers and praise, Shangguan Bing Xue secretly gritted her teeth. She couldn't care less about the stupid things the survivors were doing at the moment nor was she in a position to give any kind of order.
All her attention was focused not only on providing constant Mana to the Ice Bastion to keep it standing and to repair the openings created by the countless goblin attacks, she also needed to focus on controlling the temperature of the place as much as possible!
With so much ice, the humans were currently locked in an ice chamber capable of freezing them to death in a matter of minutes!
If not for the fact that Shangguan Bing Xue's Ice Maker skill had evolved to Second Order two nights ago, which gave her more information and knowledge as well as control over the skill, she would not have been able to control the temperature of the ice she created by herself!
Shangguan Bing Xue realized that she underestimated Mana's consumption of creating a castle over twenty meters high and almost half a kilometer long and wide a little too much. At first, she thought that she could withstand 10 minutes even with the goblins attacking but now she realized that she could barely resist 6 at most and it wouldn't be much of a surprise if that amount was reduced by a couple of minutes depending on the circumstances.
Her increasingly exhausted blue eyes looked in the direction of the main battlefield. Even though she couldn't see what was going on there, the frequent explosions, screams and curses, as well as the strange behavior of the goblin race were enough to tell her that Bai Zemin had already started his own battle.
Moreover, he seemed to have the upper hand at the moment.
Shangguan Bing Xue could only secretly pray that he would finish as soon as possible and hurry up before she was running out of every drop of Mana.
* * * * * * *
Thank you very much to everyone who voted for Blood Warlock with Golden Tickets! <3
