End of Chapter Seventy-One

Figures darted above the Royal Knights, each one a member of an elite hunter squad. Roy hovered midair, an ice-blue crystal suspended in his right hand as mysterious corridors of magic rapidly took shape.

“All hunter squads, do not let these ghouls break through the encirclement.”

Massive icicles formed in the air, circling around him. Roy raised his hand slightly, and all the icicles pointed downward. As his palm fell, dozens of enormous icicles shot forth like artillery shells.

The icicles struck the ground, piercing through the bodies of several ghouls, erupting in ice-blue brilliance as everything nearby froze in an instant.

Other hunter squads unleashed their own powers, demonstrating astonishing combat prowess; various magical and tactical attacks rained upon the ghouls ahead.

Hundreds of ghouls were unable to approach; even those that slipped through were swiftly dealt with by shadow masters or knights.

Yet this was only the beginning. As silver-ranked hunter squads, they could easily overwhelm these ghouls, but the sole issue was how to kill them.

As expected, the ghouls that had been torn apart by the hunters’ fierce assault rose again, launching another charge. This familiar scene made the elite hunters grimace; previous attacks had ended the same way. Unable to truly kill these abominations, they had ultimately been forced to flee.

Just as all hunter squads prepared to unleash another round of attacks, the foremost ghouls suddenly collapsed.

Black dots descended from the sky, striking the ghouls down like wheat; each one emitted white smoke and howled in agony.

Everyone looked up to see steel eagles circling above, whipping up fierce winds and roaring thunderously.

The helicopter units, which had just withdrawn to avoid psychic attacks, noticed the Royal Knights had neutralized the assault and lowered their altitude once more.

“This is the Xuanyuan Helicopter Unit. Royal Knights, please remain alert for enemy psychic attacks and neutralize them within ten seconds.”

The amplified voice echoed in every ear below.

On the helicopters, snipers squeezed their triggers relentlessly, each bullet striking its target—a ghoul—with flawless accuracy.

They were Xuanyuan’s most elite snipers, forged by the great world war, each responsible for hundreds of lives.

On one helicopter, unlike others staffed with three snipers, sat a tall female soldier and a peculiar weapon resembling a heavy machine gun, fitted with a massive scope.

This was Xuanyuan’s custom heavy sniper rifle, firing 12.7mm caliber rounds, with an effective range of 3,000 meters and a maximum precision range of 2,100 meters. It used a sixty-round open-link belt, capable of rapid-fire.

Its only flaw was its tremendous recoil, which could injure its user and required stringent physical qualifications.

It was designed for Xuanyuan’s elite, especially for national treasures like the Falcon, intended to slay individual strong foes of the New World.

Falcon’s calloused fingers curled around the trigger. She took a deep breath, her cold eyes glinting with icy light, emptying her mind completely.

Bang!

A dazzling flash and smoke accompanied the bullet as it tore through, blasting a ghoul’s head apart.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Falcon kept squeezing the trigger; every two seconds, another ghoul fell. She was like a high-efficiency killing machine, taking out each enemy in turn.

The ghouls tasted the terror ruled by the silent death gods of the world war.

The Royal Knights’ conjured phantom knights and the twisted branches of the gray-white giant tree clashed furiously, while ghouls pouring forth were intercepted by the elite hunter squads.

Snipers in the sky pulled the trigger of death again and again, sending ghouls crashing to the earth.

Under a siege by the kingdom’s three greatest forces, the gray-white giant tree was indeed terrifying, but it remained trapped within the encirclement, unable to advance, its strength steadily worn down by the Royal Knights.

The Hunter Guild and Royal Knights were filled with exhilaration; as long as Xuanyuan’s army was present, they could destroy the gray-white giant tree.

Yet, at the rear command of Xuanyuan, optimism was absent. Instead, a heavy sense of gravity prevailed, for the hastily produced mithril would run out in just over ten minutes.

Moreover, the inferior mithril could not truly kill evil creatures, only inflict irreparable wounds.

…

Royal Palace Command.

After several minutes of discussion, the think tank swiftly finalized their plan.

“Sir, given the current state of enemy losses, it’s clear that victory through this method is impossible. We recommend abandoning the use of mithril weapons to wear them down, and instead deploying heavy firepower,” the think tank leader said.

“According to domestic research, the ghouls are not truly immortal; conventional attacks simply cannot inflict fundamental damage. Repeatedly devastating blows can kill them, and the most effective attack at present is fire.”

Qin Le raised his brows and asked, “You mean—?”

“All frontline units should retreat and fight as they withdraw.” The leader adjusted his thick round glasses, a smile tracing his lips.

“Then have the artillery units fire the latest incendiary weapon, the thermobaric bomb, developed by Dr. Li Zhiyuan from the fuel-air explosive.”

“Let’s proceed as you suggest,” Qin Le nodded as always.

Though he held decision-making authority, he relied almost exclusively on the arrangements of the think tank. After all, his personal wisdom was no match for these tacticians and psychologists.

From how they had the entire capital dancing to their tune, it was clear their tactical minds were particularly ruthless. Their decisions might not always be flawless, but never suffered major oversights.

Qin Le turned to the Dawn King seated beside him, briefly explained the situation, and sought his opinion.

Although the Dawn Kingdom had followed their plans thus far, both sides were partners, not superiors and subordinates. Basic respect was always necessary.

The Dawn King shook his head. “Grand Duke, leave the next step to me. My body has recovered somewhat; swinging the sword once or twice is no problem.”

The Sword of Dawn, wreathed in golden light, quivered slightly. In an instant, the king’s aura became sacred and inviolable, as if he were the legendary holy monarch.

Even the most inept king, upon wielding the Sword of Dawn, remained a sovereign no one could defile.

“If I don’t act soon, some people may think I’m already dead.”

…

Within the capital, anyone who looked up could see two giants locked in fierce combat.

The gray-white giant tree’s branches grew ceaselessly, stabbing at the phantom knight like spears, while the knight wielded a sword as large as a house, fending off the overwhelming assault.

“We can’t keep fighting like this; we must settle this quickly,” Mark said, his expression grave as he stared at the gray-white giant tree ahead.

The battle formation brought unparalleled strength, but also immense consumption. In such all-out combat, even the Royal Knights could not hold out much longer.

“One decisive move… Wait, this aura!”

Mark suddenly turned and saw golden light flooding the sky, dyeing it entirely gold.

A brilliant ray of gold flew from afar, landing before everyone.

“This farce must end.”

The Dawn King raised the Sword of Dawn, gazing at the hideous face on the trunk of the gray-white giant tree, sighing inwardly.

As the Sword of Dawn slowly descended, in the eyes of all in the world, only dazzling gold remained.