Chapter 678: Calgas

Above the southern city wall of Xuanbing City.

Calgas hovered at the very front of the formation, standing nearly three and a half meters tall.

His entire body was covered in heavy iron jaw armor, and two beast-tooth-shaped protrusions on his shoulder armor trembled slightly in the cold wind.

The Star-Shattering Axe was slung across his back, and the visor of the Rending Horn Helmet was lifted, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes.

He closed his eyes, and his senses began to unfold.

Amidst the wind and snow, countless auras were approaching from all directions, and directly ahead, the Blood Demon Sect's siege army had already entered within ten miles.

The air was thick with scents, like a tidal wave pressing in.

Deep within the tidal wave, an extremely composed aura was slowly approaching the southern city wall, followed by twenty equally profound auras.

Calgas opened his eyes, his fangs clenching slightly.

"The Blood Demon Sect is serious this time."

Without further ado, he gave the order: "Execute the second plan."

As the order was given, Victor behind him cursed, "What the hell are our main forces doing? The Blood Demon Sect has launched two such attacks on Xuanbing City in a month. I'm about to be driven crazy by this."

He complained, but his actions were anything but hesitant.

He sheathed his short-handled warhammer, and with a swift movement, retreated, shouting to the surrounding aerial forces as he flew: "Move! According to plan two, retreat to a position five miles away and form ranks!"

Gu Qingchen followed beside him, releasing her senses as they flew.

The dark red line of troops was closing in from afar, and he frowned slightly: "I don't know if any more reinforcements will come. With our current strength, I'm afraid we can't hold out for long."

Victor didn't even turn his head: "Who can send reinforcements? The entire Eastern Region is full of the Demon Sect's spies. If we send troops from outside, they'll be intercepted and killed halfway before they even reach Xuanbing City. They'll just be sent to their deaths."

Gu Qingchen did not refute, but only said, "Let's hold this wave first."

Viktor snorted and slung his warhammer over his shoulder: "Let's defend, it's not like it's the first time."

The two stopped talking and flew off to their respective locations.

On the city wall, commanders began issuing orders to retreat.

A polar bear-man centurion swung his warhammer, smashing a piece of ice in front of him, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Retreat! Everyone retreat! Get off at the ramp, quick!"

The Frostwolf centurion kicked a still-stunned elven recruit in the backside: "Stop looking! Run!"

"My goodness! The Demonic Sect has once again amassed a superior force to attack Xuanbing City!" A polar bear-man soldier carrying a warhammer ran up the slope, shouting as he ran.

"Even if we have tens of millions of soldiers, we can't withstand this kind of attrition!"

"Shut up and keep running!" A polar elf swept past them, her long, pale golden hair fluttering in the wind. "The ramp is ahead, don't push!"

Every hundred meters along the inner side of the city wall, there is a gentle slope that extends from the top of the city wall all the way to the ice field five miles away.

Millions of troops retreated rapidly along the slope, their footsteps creating a deep rumble on the ice.

"Make way! Make way! The Frost Giant is coming!"

A six-meter-tall frost giant strode down the slope with heavy steps, cracking the ice with each step.

The goblins behind it scattered and fled, like a group of mice whose nest had been trampled.

An elite goblin officer strode forward and slapped the nearest goblin on the back, sending him face-first into the snow: "Get back to the ranks! If you run off again, I'll nail you to the wall!"

The goblin scrambled to its feet and scrambled into the shadows behind the frost giant.

It had just breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was safe behind this big guy, when the frost giant suddenly stopped and looked down at it.

The goblin looked up, met the expressionless, armored face, gave an awkward smile, and silently slipped out of the shadows, sneaking back to the group along the wall.

...

Calgas remained motionless above the city walls.

He felt the growing pressure approaching, and slowly raised his right hand—【Sacred Judgment】!

The power of the rules blasted out from his palm, transforming into an invisible ripple that rolled forward.

Almost at the same instant, a similar force of rules also came from the opposite side, dark red and carrying a bloody, malevolent aura.

The two forces collided in mid-air, two miles in front of the southern city wall.

There was no sound, no light, only a visible spatial distortion spreading outwards from the point of collision.

All the snow on the ice was blown away instantly, revealing the dark gray permafrost underneath.

After a few breaths of stalemate, the two forces dissipated simultaneously, turning into countless shards of ice and dark red mist.

Calgas snorted and withdrew his right hand.

He took one last look at the distant horizon, then turned around, stomped his foot heavily, and retreated five miles behind.

A few breaths later, Shen Shiyuan, level 58, led twenty Blood Demon Sect Void Shattering experts and landed on the south city wall from the air.

Shen Shiyuan looked to be in his early fifties. He was rather thin, with narrow shoulders and back, a slender and upright face, low cheekbones, and a sharp jawline.

He held a bone-corroding staff in his hand; the staff was pitch black, with a layer of eerie green light emanating from its surface.

After landing, he glanced at the deserted city walls, his gaze lingering for a moment on the Nightmare Army, which had regrouped five miles away.

Shen Shiyuan withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "The old rule applies: do not damage their defensive formation. Deploy defensive forces on the city walls and wait for their counterattack. The sect's support forces can withdraw after we have deployed them."

"Yes," the twenty Void Shattering experts behind him replied in unison.

Shen Shiyuan looked at the Nightmare Army five miles away and thought to himself: As long as this Xuanbing Formation is not broken, they will not be able to reach five miles away.

However, disrupting it would ruin the sect's grand plan. But compared to launching an attack from outside the city, the current situation of waiting for the enemy to attack is better.

On the city walls, Blood Demon Sect soldiers began to deploy their defenses.

Five miles away beneath the city walls, the Nightmare Army silently awaited the call to charge for the next assault.