Chapter 105 – Breakthrough

Volume 3: Rising Winds and Clouds

One Bipedal Lizard after another charged the Outpost. Some clawed their way up the wall; others launched themselves into the air and crashed into the Heavy Shield Guards defending the battlements.

Blood sprayed in every direction.

In the end, Level 3 and Level 4 Class Holders were still at a severe disadvantage against Level 5 Bipedal Lizards.

Worse, the creatures outnumbered them dozens-perhaps hundreds-to one.

Yet the Heavy Shield Guards the Military had cultivated at such great expense stood rooted to the wall through Shield Wall and Immovable. Like a dam before a raging flood, they held the terrifying assault at the battlements.

At the same time, the Mana Mage Special Operations Unit continued launching super fireballs, blasting entire swaths of Bipedal Lizards to pieces.

"Hold!"

Cao Ling braced his heavy shield and shoved the Bipedal Lizard before him off the wall. His short axe flashed, cutting the slick tongue wrapped around him in two. Then he turned and shouted at Fang Wenhai.

"We can't stop them! The gap in Physical Attribute is too large. Old Fang, decide now-do we run or do we fight?"

Fang Wenhai swept his gaze across the battlefield.

The Heavy Shield Guard Special Operations Unit had stopped the Bipedal Lizards outside this wall, but the creatures possessed an overall commander.

They would not fixate on one wall and mindlessly keep charging the Heavy Shield Guards' defensive line.

Large numbers had already circled from the front toward the flanks and were climbing the other walls.

The Class Holders stationed there could never match the Heavy Shield Guards' ability to keep Level 5 members of the Demon Race outside.

Fang Wenhai made his decision.

"Heavy Shield Guards, cover the retreat! Mana Mages withdraw first. Leave the Treasure Land immediately!"

The Mana Mage Special Operations Unit was far more valuable than the Heavy Shield Guards. Once the decision to retreat had been made, something had to be sacrificed.

The Mages were plainly worth more than the rough men with shields.

At Fang Wenhai's order, Shen Yi waved a hand. The Mana Mages behind the Heavy Shield Guards leaped down from the wall and sprinted toward the Treasure Land entrance at full speed.

Shen Yi did not withdraw with them. Instead, he condensed an enormous fireball and blasted away the Bipedal Lizard in front of Cao Ling.

"What now?" he asked Fang Wenhai.

"Get off the wall. We can't meet them head-on. Withdraw quickly and fight them in the streets."

It was a sensible decision. Fewer than five minutes had passed since contact, yet the Heavy Shield Guard Special Operations Unit had already suffered twenty percent casualties. In another five minutes at most, every Heavy Shield Guard on the wall would be dead.

Cao Ling nodded sharply.

"First and Second Squads, change formation and raise the defensive line! Everyone else, get off the wall and prepare for street fighting!"

At his roar, the Heavy Shield Guards rapidly changed formation.

Nearly a hundred Warriors took the front. They activated every Skill they possessed and forcibly stopped the Bipedal Lizards trying to climb onto the battlements. The others released their Skills, turned, and leaped from the wall before disappearing into the Outpost's maze of streets.

"Go."

In the brief time it took to cover the retreat, nearly half the Heavy Shield Guards in the First and Second Squads died.

Fang Wenhai's judgment had clearly been flawed.

He had underestimated the Bipedal Lizards and overestimated the damage Level 3 and Level 4 Class Holders could inflict on them.

Given how the defense was unfolding, beginning with street fighting might have been the better choice.

There was no room for regret now. Before the battle began, Lin Haifeng had ordered Fang Wenhai to hold the Bipedal Lizard assault with the forces available. All Fang Wenhai could do was hold here with everything he had.

Fang Wenhai and Cao Ling were the last to jump down. As the final Heavy Shield Guard covering the retreat was crushed beneath the foot of an enormous Bipedal Lizard, Fang Wenhai's unease deepened.

"How much longer until the foreign Reinforcements arrive?"

A voice came through the communicator.

"Several dozen minutes."

"Hurry them! Tell Commander Lin to hurry! We need Reinforcements-we need top-level fighters! The Outpost is about to fall!"

After quickly reporting the situation, Fang Wenhai followed Cao Ling and Shen Yi toward the Central Castle.

…

The rules of the Outpost were simple: whichever side destroyed the Central Castle first won.

Under such battlefield rules, the wall held little strategic importance.

It was too low to serve its intended purpose. To the enormous Bipedal Lizards, it was no more than a small ridge of earth.

At Fang Wenhai's command, the Class Holders on all four sides abandoned the useless walls and began playing cat and mouse with the Bipedal Lizards inside the city's tangled streets.

The urban environment was hostile to the creatures.

Most of the city had been built from high-strength metal and was difficult for them to destroy. Their immense bodies had no room to maneuver, while the Military's Class Holders could vault walls, move through buildings, and attack from every direction.

Fang Wenhai reached the Central Castle first and looked down through a window.

Bipedal Lizards were pouring over the walls into the city. In front of the Treasure Land entrance, the Mana Mage Special Operations Unit had already withdrawn.

Vast numbers of Class Holders now used the Central Castle as their base, hunting Bipedal Lizards throughout the surrounding alleys.

The creatures possessed the Physical Attribute of Level 5 lifeforms, but their actual combat ability did not truly reach Level 5. They had only one Skill: Split Reproduction.

Combined with the unfavorable terrain, that allowed the battle to tilt slightly toward the Military.

Only slightly.

More Bipedal Lizards climbed over the walls with every passing moment, and those already inside the Outpost continued their Split Reproduction. Their numbers would keep growing until they occupied the entire city.

"Open a channel to Wen Yu!"