Apocalypse Gachapon

Chapter 2293: Battle (2)

A common convention among the Glory Army was that the higher-ranked battalions were stronger. Conversely, one could say that the stronger battalions ranked higher.

This situation had been gradually changing since Mu Hanyi went up to the sky.

Although the First Army and Second Army still existed and had been rebuilt and reinforced, the strongest in the Glory Army now was the Third Army.

At this moment, they were holding the very front.

Compared to Cloud Peak's versatility and the Resistance Zone's expertise in war machinery, the Glory Army placed greater emphasis on close combat. Their combat model had evolved from the early days' balance of ranged and melee to one primarily focused on melee, with ranged support as a supplement.

They built their forces around heavy armor and heavy weapons, forming what they called heavy infantry.

These soldiers advanced slowly, ill-suited for pursuit or rapid marches, but in this kind of frontal clash, their style was ideal.

From the outset, they had entered the battlefield in full heavy armor, and the sea beasts before them seemed as fragile as paper.

The strongest—the Glory Third Army—had taken an extreme path.

Their evolved were of high rank, generally seven-star, with squad leaders at eight-star and the commander at nine-star. Each wore heavy armor, at least green-grade; over thirty percent were fully equipped with blue-grade gear, and even a small fraction wore full gold-grade.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, fighting exactly like a peak-era cold-weapon army. Raise shields, strike; raise shields, strike—that was their combat style. Even most of their skills were meant to support this style.

They had various weaknesses, but on a battlefield suited to them, their power was astonishing.

Even if some skills or attacks got past their shields and struck their bodies, the heavy armor provided excellent protection. After all, these suits did not need many abilities—just enough durability, with perhaps a bit of added strength or agility.

As the strongest battalion in the Glory Army, the Third Army drove like an arrowhead deep into the sea beast ranks.

Compared to before, the Resistance Zone's combat style now had more of a peacetime flavor—they preferred using a variety of tactics.

Combining ranged and melee, skill attacks and physical attacks, relying on firepower points and high ground, supported by ten war fortresses, they started off smoothly.

This situation—superior at range and holding an edge in melee—made the Resistance Zone somewhat complacent. They kept glancing toward Cloud Peak's camp, hoping to see looks of surprise.

Unfortunately, all they saw were sea beast shadows.

In the first half hour of battle, both the Glory Army and the Resistance Zone encountered some resistance, but things went largely smoothly, boosting their confidence.

That began to change after half an hour.

More sea beasts arrived on the battlefield. Cloud Peak's lines were too dense, so the later arrivals—or those that could not get through earlier—began trying to break through on the flanks.

Do not think these sea beasts were disorganized. On the contrary, though their command systems might be somewhat crude—after all, their higher-ranked beings had intelligence but lacked the command skills that humans had elevated to an art form long ago—they still knew how to use their numerical advantage to find openings.

The sea races capable of direct amphibious assault, with no loss of combat power on land, focused their breakthrough attempts on the flanks of the human lines.

Led by four nine-star beings, they trampled over their own dead to cross the muddy middle ground and launch their assault.

The Glory Army and Resistance Zone began to lose ground. Not because they did not want to continue their earlier momentum, but because they lacked the means to stabilize the situation when facing enemies several times their number.

Their top evolved were tied down by peer-level opponents, their ranged firepower was suppressed, and in close combat, the sea beasts traded numbers for casualties. Suddenly, they were in dire straits.

Remembering their earlier indignation when Cloud Peak had sent word for them to just hold steady, the two major powers now felt somewhat humiliated.

They kept pulling back their extended lines, reducing the engagement area to ease the pressure.

While the flanks struggled, Cloud Peak's camp held the advantage.

In terms of top-tier lifeforms, Cloud Peak had a full eighteen present!

Of these, fourteen were fighting across the line, serving as anchor points and framework for the entire Cloud Peak front.

It was also worth noting that there were real gaps between top-tier lifeforms. For instance, although the cavalry unit had not engaged, Little Tiger had played a huge role!

He had told his men that merits could be earned even without the battalion entering battle, and so from the rear, he activated... Linglan Borrowed Soldiers.

This ability, derived from his eyes, had now been upgraded to its highest level—level three.

He stood motionless, a powerful energy coalescing in the air above his head. Moments later, three hundred humanoid metal aircraft materialized above the sea beast ranks.

Each was only half a humanoid body, with a barrel-like structure a meter in diameter facing the ground.

The instant they appeared, these half-humanoid metal aircraft fired thick pillar-like lightning bolts from their undersides.

These bolts split into arm-thick streaks, forming a thunderstorm zone that rained down below.

The sea beasts' few flying lifeforms were instantly incinerated by the dense barrage. The lightning even passed through them to strike the Naga Battle Mage Legion below.

Then, the humanoid metal aircraft launched a second wave. This time, nothing in the sky could stop the thunderstorm—the rain of lightning bolts from the split pillars began to scour the sea beasts' main force.

If you were inside the thunderstorm, even looking up, you would see only lightning—not the metal aircraft.

Deacon Tong and Deacon Water coordinated their attacks, keeping the four nine-star Nagas occupied to maximize the thunderstorm's results.

Then came a third wave of thunderstorm!

Before the third wave, the agile flying aircraft had repositioned themselves.

Little Tiger awoke from his trance, and the metal aircraft vanished along with it. His Linglan Borrowed Soldiers ability entered a long cooldown.

He sat cross-legged on his war beast, pouring medicine into his mouth while saying indistinctly into the war medal: "Sister Lei, have Uncle Ah Tao leave me an opening later—I'll cut in from there."

"I feel... that Demon Whale is over there. We'll be the bait."