Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 702 - 695: Heavy Defense Line

Chapter 702: Chapter 695: Heavy Defense Line

Knights, fully armed like an armor torrent, clashed with the oncoming monsters. For a moment, there were endless sounds of war cries and horrible screams. The ground was littered with the monsters’ severed limbs and blood.

Facing these heavily armed knights, the monsters had almost no strategies. Whether it was the teeth and claws of exotic beasts or the horrifying ten-centimeter mouthparts of the exotic insects, they were of no use against the magically augmented armor.

They tirelessly attempted to tear the knights’ arms, but no matter what, they could not break through. This result was expected, because thirty years ago, when humans from Earth invaded the Otherworld, their prideful bullets had also proven ineffective against these knights.

The knights’ biggest vulnerability was the gas masks they wore on their faces. In order to fit the gas masks, they had to forgo facial protection, thus making it their biggest weakness.

Even so, it was very difficult for these monsters to breach the knights’ defenses and focus their attacks on their gas masks. Or rather, these monsters couldn’t possibly think that the knights’ vulnerability lay in their faces.

The knights looked down on these monsters because, in the long history of fighting them, they realized that these monsters are virtually brainless, charging and attacking with brute force and not employing any type of strategic method that requires thought and planning.

While there were knights who perished or got infected due to attacks on their faces, the successful instances of such attacks did not spread amongst the monster group, and remained isolated cases with the rest of the monsters still relying on brute force to mount their attacks.

The advance team and the magic troops retreated to a relatively safe distance and stood guard. They did not participate in the battle because the traditional armies had begun their attack and were fighting the monsters, they had a clear advantage and thus did not require their help or additional firepower from the rear.

"Something feels a bit off," Cheng Ziang looked at the battle not too far away with a frown and couldn’t help but voice his concern.

"What feels off?" Murong turned his head to look at him and asked.

"In our understanding, exotic insects and exotic beasts should be in a hostile relationship. How could they unite to confront us together?" Cheng Ziang said with a puzzled face.

"Isn’t this kind of unity against outside enemies a very normal operation?" Hu Daoke, holding a machine gun, asked with confusion.

"Bullshit," Cheng Ziang gave him a glare, then patiently explained. "This kind of unity is only seen among advanced social species. Exotic insects and exotic beasts are two completely different groups. One is an arthropod, the other is a mammal, they are as different as night and day, just like the Beastman Race and the Elf Race of Otherworld. What I find curious is, both types of monsters have not demonstrated a high level of intelligence, so why can they put aside their prejudices to fight against us together?"

"You mean..." Murong couldn’t help furrowing his brows upon hearing Cheng Ziang’s response.

"Someone is directing them!" Luo’er said calmly.

"You mean," Hu Daoke looked at Cheng Ziang with wide eyes and asked, "someone is commanding these monsters to attack the Otherworld?"

"Not necessarily a person, but this individual certainly has the authority to lead the two races," Cheng Ziang pointed at the distant battle and continued, "Look, the exotic insects and exotic beasts aren’t attacking in separate groups, but mingling together. There are exotic beasts among the exotic insects and vice versa. This suggests that they can put aside their hostility towards each other and unite against a common enemy, just like lions and hyenas in Africa would unite to attack human settlements."

"The tentacles," Hu Daoke had a moment of realization and then carefully asked everyone, "Are they by any chance Cthulhu?"

"You even know about this," Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but shake his head and said, "Don’t casually speculate and muddle our thoughts."

"I’m not just making wild guesses. Who can guarantee that the Annihilation World won’t be governed by the Old Gods?" Hu Daoke retorted.

"Regardless, it is better for us to keep our distance from the door at this stage," said Luo’er, seriously. "Even if we can’t close the Door of Annihilation this time, we’ll have another chance. We need not take a huge risk for this mission."

Upon hearing Luo’er’s words, Tangmo opened his mouth as if to say something, but eventually closed it without uttering a word, casting a worried glance towards the reverse rune that was operating beneath the doorframe.

Because the horses were frightened by these monsters, the knights that were supposed to charge forward on horseback had to rely on their feet to fight these creatures, effectively becoming heavily armed infantry.

Although they all used melee weapons, their tools were all distinct, with the only common factor being that they all used long-handled weapons. To fight these monsters, short swords were insufficient, while spears were too restrictive. Therefore, they opted for an alternative that lay in between.

As Earth increased its interaction with Otherworld, various ideologies from Earth began to sweep across all aspects of Otherworld. These knights were not averse to the concepts of melee weaponry from Earth.

As such, amongst their long weapons were primarily medieval European cold weapons such as battle axes, greatswords, and mauls. Of course, there were also East Asian styled long-handled cold weapons like straight swords, sickles, and field knives.

Despite being enhanced with magic, these cold weapons were somewhat outdated for combating Earth’s soldiers. However, they were more than suitable for fighting these unarmed monsters that could only rely on claws and teeth.

Although there were some casualties among the knights, the fight was largely one-sided from the start. Generally, in conflicts during the melee-weapon era, thousands could hack at each other from morning till night without losing many lives.

However, within just over two hours of the battle against the exotic beasts, the area in front of the Door of Annihilation was piled high with monster corpses. The monster casualties were dozens or even hundreds of times higher than that of the knights, and the ground was smeared with the monsters’ tacky blood.

The situation was nevertheless not optimistic, as the knights relied on their physical strength for combat. After over two hours of intense battling, their vigor was obviously flagging, but the monsters were still pouring out endlessly. As a result, some were starting to falter.

Nevertheless, these soldiers enforced strict military discipline — those who fled in the face of battle were executed on the spot. Even if not executed, the soldier would be effectively finished in the army, as they would carry the label of a coward for life.

Because of this, even though the knights were showing signs of weakness, they continued to hold their ground without retreating a step.

Most of these knights came from noble families; to them, the honor of their family came above everything else. Therefore, in line with the knight’s code, they would rather die in battle than retreat.

The Advance Team remained on alert at a nearby position, observing the battle between the knights and the monsters. With nothing else to do, Tangmo Rangfeng continued to replenish her mana to ensure she was in optimal condition.

The battle started at noon and continued until four in the afternoon. After exactly four hours, the monsters’ onslaught finally slowed, and the exhausted knights saw a glimmer of hope.

With the demise of the last exotic beast by a sword that cleaved its body and head in half, the four-hour long battle finally came to an end. The battlefield was stacked with the corpses of these monsters. They once advanced more than a hundred meters forward but were quickly pushed back by the knights.

Although they had won, the knights were exhausted and sat in place, breathing a sigh of relief. Despite the presence of magic, their armor was heavily damaged, and the magic crystals that provided the power were completely dimmed. Most of the weapons in their hands were curved or even broken. Many could only resort to the short sword at their waist continued the fight.

This was probably the most intense anomaly battle they had experienced in a while. Thousands of knights with their bodies of steel resisted the successive onslaught of the monsters, not letting a single one escape. Without them, the monsters would have broken through the defense line and spread the epidemic even wider in no time, rendering all previous efforts in vain.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.