novelraw Chapter 603: War and Guidance
Chapter 603: War and Guidance
Chapter 603: War and Guidance
The speed at which the enemy forces poured out grew faster and faster.
The rift had been torn open to the point where it could no longer heal. Spatial fragments at the edges peeled off layer by layer like broken ice shells, revealing the darkness behind that was so thick it seemed almost solid.
Countless points of light flickered within that darkness—the eyes of hundreds of billions of beings from different races, all driven by the same will, waiting to pass through the rift.
Leading the vanguard was an exceptionally massive star beast. Its body spanned the distance of several planes. With every breath, it drew away vast amounts of free-floating elements from the void.
Its head had no eyes, only a horizontally split giant maw lined with tens of millions of teeth. Each tooth was engraved with ominous red-glowing runes.
It opened its mouth and let out a silent roar.
It was pure spiritual shock, powerful enough to instantly tear apart the spiritual seas of low-ranking wizards.
“Crush them!” Its will spread throughout the entire vanguard legion. “Let these self-righteous wizards know that the Alliance is the true master of this void!”
Behind it, the billions-strong army of high-ranking creatures simultaneously erupted with their strongest auras. The star beasts stretched their bodies, prying the rift even wider. The energy aggregates spun madly, releasing radiation capable of distorting space. Those creatures of all shapes and forms surged out like a tsunami, filling the entire void until it was airtight.
They roared and howled, displaying their power, and charged forward frantically under the star beasts’ commands, attempting to crush the wizards’ defensive line into powder with absolute numbers.
Then, they slammed into a wall.
It was a wall made of flesh and metal.
It was the cannon fodder units of the four major powers—hundreds of billions of artificial puppets, elemental creatures, modified beasts, combat weapons… They surged out from the positions of the four major powers, forming airtight battle lines across the endless chaotic void.
The moment the parallel world’s wizards saw these cannon fodder units, their pupils collectively contracted.
Because the vast majority of those attending the gathering were high-ranking wizards, the quality of these cannon fodder creatures was terrifyingly high—the lowest were sixth-ring.
The Myriad Realms Alliance’s vanguard collided with them.
Sixth-ring against sixth-ring, seventh-ring against seventh-ring… The Myriad Realms Alliance’s vanguard was horrified to discover that, at the same rank, they could not defeat the other side!
Even worse, even the Myriad Realms Alliance would not be so extravagant as to use only high-ranking creatures as vanguard.
Among the creature tide rolling, writhing, and roaring in the void, the vast majority were cannon fodder below fifth-ring.
Of course, for most civilizations, this level of quality and quantity was already enough to inspire despair.
Relying on their advantages in quality and quantity, they had been unstoppable in previous wars.
But now, facing the cannon fodder units sent out by wizard civilization, they were doubly crushed in the very areas they excelled at most—quality and quantity.
In the Myriad Realms Alliance’s vanguard, the squad leaders commanding fourth- and fifth-ring creatures looked at the enemies before them—sixth- and seventh-ring creatures led by eighth-ring beings—and felt as if they were primitive people wielding wooden sticks charging into an armored force.
The first wave of impact was crushed within seconds.
Those creatures below fifth-ring did not even have time to touch the armor of the cannon fodder units before they were turned into sieves by long-range firepower.
The sixth- and seventh-ring creatures barely reached the front lines, but their attacks only sparked against the cannon fodder units, while the counterattacks from the cannon fodder units tore them apart directly.
Some star beasts roared as they charged forward, attempting to crush the battle lines with their sheer size.
But the largest war puppets met them head-on. Although they were not as large as the star beasts, their strength was in no way inferior, and more importantly, their numbers far exceeded the enemy’s.
Almost ten puppets entangled each star beast. Some were responsible for restraining, some for outputting damage, and some for repairing damage.
Every attack from a star beast could only repel one or two war puppets, but more puppets surged in from the rear, filling the gaps and pinning them firmly in place.
The Myriad Realms Alliance’s command center floated several hundred thousand kilometers behind the front lines, built from the back armor of a giant star beast.
Inside the command center, more than a dozen figures of various shapes sat around a stone table. Real-time footage of the front lines was projected in the void before them.
The situation was dire.
The vanguard had been completely suppressed. Losses among the cannon fodder below fifth-ring were catastrophic, and the sixth- and seventh-ring forces were also entangled by the wizards’ cannon fodder legions, unable to break through.
The combat effectiveness of those cannon fodder units far exceeded expectations. Their defenses were ridiculously thick, their firepower shockingly fierce, and their numbers… just how many did they have?
A lizardman beastman commander slammed to his feet, his tail slapping the ground uneasily. “This is wrong! This isn’t the wizard civilization we fought before! Their cannon fodder are stronger than our main forces!”
“Didn’t we already say it was another one?” A hoarse voice came from the corner.
It was a humanoid figure wrapped in a black robe, the hood pulled low so that its face could not be seen.
Its voice was calm, carrying a strange gentleness that was completely out of place with the irritable commanders around it. “Another, more powerful wizard civilization.”
“Bullshit! I know it’s another wizard civilization, but wasn’t it supposed to be from a parallel world? How can the combat power gap be this huge?!!” the beastman commander roared. “What do we do now? Pull the vanguard back first?”
“Pull back?” Another energy aggregate commander let out a shrill laugh. “Pull back where? The main forces haven’t fully passed through the rift yet. If we retreat now, are we just waiting for them to counterattack?”
The argument continued for a moment with no resolution.
Some advocated retreat, some advocated continued attrition, and others suggested splitting the forces to outflank.
But every plan had its own problems.
Retreating would expose the main forces that were not yet fully prepared. Attrition meant using a piecemeal tactic. Splitting forces meant being defeated one by one.
Finally, the black-robed figure stood up.
Its movements were slow and unhurried, like a drop of oil falling into boiling water.
All eyes were drawn to it.
“I have a suggestion,” its voice remained gentle, but every word clearly reached the ears of all the commanders present. “The reason the enemy’s defensive line is so stable is because their average rank is higher than our vanguard.”
“Since the vanguard’s combat effectiveness is insufficient, why not simply send out all our high-ranking combat forces at once and crush their defensive line in one go? Give them no chance to catch their breath. Give them no time to react…” It paused, then added meaningfully, “…and don’t let them escape.”
The command center fell silent for an instant.
Then, the beastman commander slammed the table. “Good! We’ll do it that way!”
The other commanders nodded one after another.
They did not feel that their overall combat power was at a disadvantage. Right now, it was simply that the main army had not yet fully deployed.
Fortunately, all the high-ranking combat forces had already arrived completely.
In truth, the combined combat power of the armies behind them was probably not even comparable to this batch of high-ranking combat forces.
Previously, they had not committed everything at once out of fear of excessive losses.
But now that the effectiveness of low-ranking forces was limited and they had already suffered such heavy losses, they might as well press all their high-ranking combat forces forward in one go and crush everything.
The resolution passed with astonishing speed.
The commanders rose one after another and flew toward their respective legions. Soon, only the black-robed figure and one beastman commander remained in the command center.
The beastman was about to leave when he suddenly stopped, turned to look at the black-robed figure, and a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes.
“Have we… met before?” He tilted his head, examining the black-robed figure’s silhouette. “You look very familiar. I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere.”
The black-robed figure turned around, revealing half of a gentle smiling face beneath the hood.
“Of course we have,” he said. “We once worked together.”
The beastman commander’s eyes lit up. “Right, right! I knew it!”
He enthusiastically stepped closer and patted the black-robed figure’s shoulder with his tail. “During the last war, weren’t you in the Third Legion? I remember you. You commanded very well!”
The black-robed figure nodded, his smile unchanged. “You flatter me.”
The beastman commander laughed heartily, exchanged a few more pleasantries, then hurried off to assemble his troops.
The black-robed figure stood in place, watching his back disappear into the void.
Then he raised his hand, revealing a fair wrist from his sleeve.
On the wrist, a small, bracelet-like magic network terminal was glowing faintly.
“Reply: Guidance mission completed. The enemy is about to launch a full-scale assault. All high-ranking combat forces are mobilizing.” He calmly reported the intelligence through spiritual power.
The other side was silent for a second.
Then, a voice suppressing ecstacy rang out in his spiritual sea: “Confirmed?”
“Confirmed.”
“Good! Well done!” The voice was practically roaring. “Everyone, prepare!”
The black-robed figure shut off the magic network terminal and withdrew his hand back into his sleeve.
He raised his head and looked toward the distant battle lines.
There, the Myriad Realms Alliance’s armies were regrouping. All sixth- and seventh-ring creatures were converging toward the front lines.
Tens of millions of eighth-ring forces and hundreds of billions of sixth- and seventh-ring forces were all pressing forward.
He smiled, turned, and walked into the void, his black robe fluttering behind him.
Inside the Star Ring Federation’s command center, the atmosphere had completely changed.
The eighth-ring wizards who had been complaining earlier about “excessive cannon fodder consumption” now had eyes shining with frightening brightness.
Some were already checking their equipment, some were loosening their muscles, and others were impatiently flying toward the front lines.
One eighth-ring wizard couldn’t help but nod in admiration. “That old thing really lived up to studying soul-system knowledge his whole life. He completed infiltration and guidance in such a short time…”
“Looks like it was correct not to release all the eighth-ring cannon fodder units at the beginning. If there had been too many eighth-ring cannon fodder, they might have scared the enemy away directly.”
“Full-scale assault?” An eighth-ring wizard grinned. “Then they won’t be able to run.”
The war weapons of the four major powers began to surge forward.
The eighth-ring wizards of the four major powers formed ranks in the void.
However, to avoid startling the enemy into fleeing, they did not all reveal themselves.
Only the original four hundred peak eighth-ring members from the delegation showed themselves. Facing tens of millions of eighth-ring forces, they showed no fear. Instead, they smiled as if it were New Year’s.
One eighth-ring wizard from the Crimson Court even licked his lips. “So many materials. Enough to last for years.”
The Star Ring Federation wizard beside him rolled his eyes. “Can you have some ambition? Those are eighth-ring beings. Capturing them alive is worth more than killing them.”
“Who said I was going to kill them?” The Crimson Court wizard revealed a ferocious smile. “Capture them alive and use them slowly.”
The two exchanged a glance and laughed at the same time.
In the void, the Myriad Realms Alliance’s tens of millions of eighth-ring forces had finished assembling.
They formed a battle line stretching tens of millions of kilometers, leading the vast sea of seventh- and sixth-ring units as they advanced majestically toward the wizards’ positions.
The star beasts let out silent roars. The energy aggregates spun madly. The creature tide surged like a tsunami.
They intended to crush everything in one decisive push.
On the Quantum Entanglement Ship, Felix’s projection appeared.
It looked at the enemy forces covering the sky and earth, its expression as calm as ever.
“Attention all units. The enemy is about to enter firing range. Prepare… free fire.”