Chapter 762: Too old for this [1/2]
Under the curtain of fire from the soulless, the girls and I marched forth. In the skies, Switchblades, the Magusta attack helicopters and Mike's Wyvern Air wing were clearing our opponents. However, although we had superior fire power, the sheer number of enemies was slowing us down.
It was the same problem I had when I fought hordes of zombies. We just couldn't fire enough bullets to kill them all. As I was beginning to grow annoyed at the South American Champions, Jo and Bella both raised their hands as they invoked Lilly's {Fate}.
"{PORTAL}!" x2
The void space doorways opened behind us at an angle. I was about to wonder why that was the case only to hear the sound of sharp whistling coming from them. As someone who loved big guns the iconic sound immediately allowed me to understand what the girls just did.
In the next moment, 155m howitzer shells began to leave the {Portals}. Carrying enough momentum and explosive ordinance they struck the spots in front of us where the enemy was concentrated. Like flowers made from gunpowder and smoke, small mushroom clouds bloomed.
Each of explosions decorated the surroundings in bloody rain and severed body parts. Men of lesser tolerance would have vomited at the pieces of meat who once constituted a whole person. Fortunately, my tenure at Hellsgate already desensitized me to such a sight.
The ones that didn't however were the allies of those around us. Similar to how those from World War I grew shell shocked from relentless artillery fire, those around us saw the carnage and began to grow anxious.
Seeing your former allies turn into paste naturally took a toll on one's mind. When presented the reality of how easy it is to lose one's life, most naturally would be more careful. While some Champions did manage to resist, that was only one or two rounds at most.
Hercules beetles, armadillos, snails and crabs of some sort all tried to withstand the power of out artillery. Sadly, that wasn't the only thing they needed to defend against. Like the beats in a dance, the four Sirens of the Anvil team interlocked their tactics, creating a plan few could defend against.
As we walked forward the beasts that could resist the shells would be targeted by Jo's brainwashing abilities. Despite her not having any {fate} related to such abilities she created them from scratch on her own.
It only took a moment, but soon more and more of the powerful Champions joined our ranks. Those that Jo failed to turn had their own bleak ending. I found myself arguing which would be the least worse way to die. To die to a howitzer shell, die as a disposable puppet, or…
"TSK! Get lost you slimy cunts! [KITTY PUNCH]!"
The gigantic hercules beetle and snail champion ate a full powered attack from Robyn and exploded. It was similar to stepping on a bug on the ground or a bunch of bees that hit your windshield.
Juices, entrails and blood mixed together and were violently expelled out of the holes in our opponents' bodies. Naturally the same end occurred for the Reapers who rode them. It was a grotesque display of power that would make anyone fearful of my Aussie lover.
The crab thing and the armadillo on the other hand turned and now joined our forces. They along with their Reapers now attacked their former allies. However, despite our supposed domination, I couldn't relax.
According to Exa, Hellsend already terminated this group numerous times. Thus, it didn't matter how much we killed right now. Until we stopped the army from being brought back, all our efforts hardly changed the outcome of this battle.
There was only one person who could change the tide of this battle.
[The arrival of Roach radically impacted the battle. For one those he personally has killed do not return. The Sirens of team Anvil believe it has to do with his lance having Anti-soul properties. Roach's ability has forced the South Americans to play defensively and focus on him, giving the rest of our forces some breathing room.]
As Robyn, Jo and Bella were busy I turned to Aki and made a request.
"Kamisan, please bring Roach here."
"As you command Anata. Exa, please tell Roach, I am opening a {Portal} near him."
[I already have.]
A few steps in front of me, a subspace {Portal} opened. On the other side I saw Roach who was busy cleaving apart Champions more than twice his size. Aki's observation was right. The hairs behind my head all stood up the moment my eyes saw my blood brother.
His current strength was incomparable to the one we fought against. In fact, I wasn't sure the girls and I could win against him now if we fought.
Roach who noticed the {Portal} picked up his halberd and walked nonchalantly. His lizardkin followed after him. Looking at him now, my first monster ally looked more imposing than ever. I also noticed the sounds his foot made. Fissures appeared on the ground each time he took a step.
'Just how heavy is this fucker?'
[According to the analysis by the Anvil Team, Roach's current form is so dense his weight is almost as heavy as his Dragon form. We saw him stop Champions the size of Cyclops with a simple punch. Even when trampled underfoot by large beasts he remains unscathed.]
"Limitless. I kept my promise. I protected your mates," Roach growled ferociously.
Surprisingly, the South American's ceased attacking us when Roach showed up. It seems that they were already aware of how dangerous this toad bastard was.
"Indeed, you have, Thank you brother. Can I ask for your help until I drive them back?"
"Sure. I am now king of Lizardkin, as promised I will follow you. Lead on."
Listening to him talk reminded me of the weird clicking sounds Juno and the other Awakened made. Turning around, Roach slowly walked towards the enemy weapon in hand. I noticed that Bella, slowed down our march to give Roach time to act as the vanguard.
'That went really well. This asshole barely followed anything we asked,' Bella complained.
'Oh? I thought he agreed to Jo's request?'
'Not really agree Darling. I suggested things to him and wasted a lot of souls just influencing him to follow. It's not like now where he only listens to you.'
'Considering that Shujin holds his life hostage at least we know he is no fool.' Stay updated with My Virtual Library Empire
'It is a shame we cannot mass produce his halberds. Dealing with these drongos is tiring. They just keep coming!'
'Yeah, we are going to have to do something about that. Although trying to avoid getting surrounded would be a more immediate concern.'
Using Exa's 3D map model, I saw that as we moved forward the amount of enemy forces surrounding us grew at an alarming pace. However, while they outnumbered us, not all of them attacked. They merely tried to keep us contained.
[My lord, the rest of Hellsend has begun to advance. As instructed by lady Bella, only Krishna and half of the ten graves stayed as base defenders. Everyone else are moving towards us.]
'Bella, Lilly, Jas and Liv will be coming later with some friends. They will be accompanied by maybe over fifteen Lizardkin dragons. And thousands of Lizardkin. All I got was to grab the enemy's attention and have them strike the rear. Thoughts?'
'Fifteen? Fifteen of those giant beasts like Roach? The ones that look like a small mountain? The same one we almost died to? Those monsters? Honey you are joking right?'
'No, I am not. I saved a bunch of them along the way. They agreed to help me because I saved their babies. They are a bit smaller than Roach but are just as powerful. Exa, CSS Liv, [Overdrive], [Sniper]. [Inventory] M107, FT5.'
[Yes, my lord!]
'W-What? Your serious? Hmm. Jo, Aki, brainstorm with me for a bit.'
'Okay!' 'Certainly.'
Leaving the smart people to the planning, I switched weapons. Pulling out the Barrett anti-material rifle I was about to begin snipping our enemy when Exa made a suggestion.
[My lord, do you wish to load {Bestow} ammunition?]
'You mean like the ones Jas uses? The ones from Joshua?'
'That's the worse one of them all, Possum. We have five types right now. Red rounds that explode, Orange rounds that burn, White rounds that pierce and Sunset rounds that does all three. Joshua's Yellow rounds are the only nonlethal ones.'
'Ho? Is that why the Howitzer shells seemed a bit too overpowered, Kitten?'
'Yep, the only problem is that Sunset rounds fucks up the bullets and shells that gets the enchantment. No matter what we did the rounds and artillery shells we used them on can only be rewinded 12 times. They then turn to dust permanently even in our {Autos}. So, we use them sparingly.'