Son of the Spirit Beast - Chapter 169

The battle was about to begin. The c.o.c.kroaches had arrived, and from how they had gathered their companions, they didn’t seem to have any intention of friendly dialogue. But not even the first-year students of the Southern Royal War Academy were willing to give up without fighting. They were ready to put themselves at risk and become one of the next heroes who would mark the future era.

“Archers! Prepare to hit!” ordered Long Tian, who was in charge of that improvised army on the spot. Nobody contested that choice. It wasn’t just for his title as Imperial Prince. All present were geniuses of their generation and knew when someone was worthy of commanding.

The archers stationed on the walls began to position themselves with their bows. Generally, those who used the bow as their primary weapon would be divided into two categories: material archers and spirit archers.

The material archers would use arrows made by a resistant material capable of absorbing spirit power. Their power would, therefore, depend not only on the amount of spirit power infused but on the maximum amount that the base material could absorb. Therefore, as their ranks rose, material archers would have to buy more and more valuable arrows. Although it was a constant expenditure, using existing arrows would reduce their consumption of spirit power.

Spirit archers instead used their spirit power to create an arrow. This arrow had no absorption limits and depended directly on the quantity infused by the martial artist. Since spirit archers created their arrows directly from their spirit power, they didn’t have to buy new arrows continually. However, their expenditure on spirit power in battle would be faster than material archers.

“Shoot!”

Long Tian’s order was followed by a series of arrow sounds that were fired from the bows. The arrows flew at high speed cutting through the air until they reached their respective targets. Each c.o.c.kroach struck was pierced in depth by the arrows, yet they didn’t stop. Despite the hole in their bodies, the c.o.c.kroaches continued to advance.

“Shoot!”

Long Tian continued to order to shoot arrows as the c.o.c.kroaches approached the fort. Since there were still tens of meters away, he wanted to take advantage of the distance to deal as much damage as possible.

“Archers, back off! Position yourselves in the center with the supporting martial artists. Support the air unit to keep our airspace free. Attack unit, move forward!”

The archers on the walls immediately descended and went to the center of the fort. Emergency tents had been set up there so that martial artist medics and chefs could assist those in need. At that point, there were also martial artist musicians who were waiting to start their Battle Concert.

As for the attack unit, Long Tian had divided all the martial fighting artists into two teams. The first would fight in the beginning while the second would enter when he gave the order. Those who fought in the first team would go to the center of the fort to get medicated or recover their energy. After that, the first and second teams would swap places again. That would continue until the c.o.c.kroaches stopped attacking, or all of them were annihilated.

By doing so, Long Tian would ensure that each side of the fort had fighters with fresh forces, decreasing the chances of c.o.c.kroaches breaking through their fort. Furthermore, although the internal area of ​​the fort could accommodate all 3,500 people, it wasn’t so large as to allow everyone to fight so many c.o.c.kroaches at the same time. As a result, the division into two teams was also to ensure that the fighters had sufficient room for maneuver and not hinder each other.

The only ones who would have no rest, however, would be Long Tian and the three people named generals: Feng Chen, Hu Jie, and Hei. As the pivot of their respective side, they couldn’t afford the luxury of resting and leaving their companions deprived of a leading figure. For this reason, the generals were chosen according to their fighting skills and abilities.

“Air unit, take off! First attack team, unleash your weapons! The second team will be waiting for the replacement order! Don’t die! Survive so you can redeem your rewards!”

“FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”

The fighters gathered there began to scream with all their strength a battle cry as they released their spirit powers. The time had come.

Clash!

The c.o.c.kroaches arrived like a madding crowd and crashed into the walls of the fort. The crash was violent, but thanks to the long formation etched by the formation scholars, the walls resisted such violence. Flying c.o.c.kroaches filled the airspace above the fort, but the beast tamers with their flying-type spirit beasts were awaiting them. Below them were the archer unit attacking from the ground.

Soon, streams of blood began to pour from above onto the people on the ground. Yet no one cared about this; they didn’t have time to worry or feel disgusted with such a thing. Their lives were at stake.

The non-flying c.o.c.kroaches that were blocked by the fort walls began to climb them using the bodies of their companions as a ladder. However, the first c.o.c.kroaches that managed to set foot inside the fort were mercilessly slaughtered instantly. But as their numbers grew, it was difficult for the humans inside to get rid of c.o.c.kroaches as soon as they descended the walls. Soon, therefore, a chaotic battle began.

Thumm! Ding! Boom! Tootle! Fling!

Sounds of musical instruments began to resonate across the fort as a chorus of melodious voices rose in that dawn of blood. It was the Battle Concert created by the martial artist musicians. At their cultivation level, each martial artist musician could at most enhance up to three people at a time. But now that they were inside the Battle Concert, that limit had gone up to 5. It meant that every martial artist musician could empower up to 5 of their companions.

Suddenly, the battle power of the people affected by the Battle Concert’s music increased as their senses became more acute, and their nervousness vanished to be replaced by a glacial calm. It was the power of the Battle Concert, a large-scale battle formation capable of empowering entire armies.

Peng! Stab! Crash!

The sound of weapons clashing against the c.o.c.kroaches’ resistant exoskeleton began to ring as fighting martial artists shouted their battle moves. Nonetheless, despite how noisy it was, it couldn’t dominate the music of the Battle Concert.

“Full Combat Mode! Snake Fist! ”

Hei, leading the unit in charge of protecting the east side, was moving quickly with Spider Run, Two-legged Mode. At the same time, he was using Snake Fist to deliver quick blows while his hair was manipulating his spear.

“Don’t try to take their heads off. Aim for the abdomen! Stay at the edges of their field of vision; they tend to see less well in those points. Alternatively, target the eyes, the antennae, and the cerci, which are small appendages near the butt. They are how c.o.c.kroaches can see beyond the eyes. If you have the Law of Fire, burn their hair too. Whoever possesses the Law of Light, create dazzling lights while whoever possesses the Law of Illusions can create red lights.”

While Hei was fighting, he was advising on how to fight c.o.c.kroaches. During his cultivation session, Hei had brought up his memories to find out if there were other important details about the c.o.c.kroaches. And as he had hoped, after a long afterthought, he managed to remember other information that his mother had taught him years ago.

The other students who were under his leadership appeared amazed by such accurate information. Even the other beast tamers were impressed. Each of them knew in depth the species of spirit beasts they possessed, but very few bothered to study the other species carefully, except for some general information. Meanwhile, those pieces of information were circulating on the different sides of the fort as well, through Long Tian’s four guards. In this battle, they served as spokespersons between Long Tian and the three generals.

With the information provided by Hei, the situation improved dramatically. The c.o.c.kroaches were falling one by one, and since the walls were still holding up, they couldn’t use the numerical factor to their advantage.

“Change! First Team back off! Second Team Forward! ”

Long Tian gave the replacement order. The fighters of the first team, despite having fought for just ten minutes, could already feel the fatigue acc.u.mulating in their bodies. Some had been injured while some had even died.

Long Tian and the three generals drew back the line of combat to facilitate the replacement between the fighters. Once the maneuver was complete, the four led their respective units to return the fighting line to where they left off earlier.

In the meantime, the martial artist chefs and medics began to take care of the injured so that they could go back to fighting. The odds of success on this plan depended on how quickly they healed their companions and restored their spirit power.

The battle lasted for about half an hour. Fatigue was present in all of them, especially the respective commanders of the four sides of the fort. To last as long as possible, Hei had avoided energy-consuming moves such as Spider Lance or those based on his Elemental Laws. He had limited himself to using his spear and Snake Fist, which was one of his techniques with the lowest consumption. Yet as he was fighting all the time relentlessly, his reserve of spirit power was also decreasing gradually.

‘If this continues, I don’t think we can do it. The amount of c.o.c.kroaches seems to be endless, and each body acc.u.mulated on the ground makes it more difficult to fight on foot. But if we were to move the combat into the sky, our expenditure of energy would become bigger and faster.’

The situation didn’t seem to turn in their favor. The fighters of the fort had lost count of the number of c.o.c.kroaches killed, but each time they killed one, two more would pop up. It was like a sequence that never ended.

Fortunately, the flow of c.o.c.kroaches began to decrease, and the fighters inside finally had a few moments to breathe. However, this wasn’t the end. From afar, twenty black spots, five on each side, could be seen advancing at high speed. They were c.o.c.kroaches.

These specimens of c.o.c.kroaches, however, were not like all the others. They were about two meters long, so they weren’t among the largest specimens. But that wasn’t the unique feature that distinguished them. No, it was something else.

These twenty c.o.c.kroaches had a more massive body, and instead of running with the abdomen facing the ground, they were running using only the two hind legs. And unexpectedly from what one might think, they had an even higher speed than the other specimens that used all three pairs of legs to move. Furthermore, their cultivation was almost comparable to a fifth/sixth stage spirit soldier.

“Bipedal c.o.c.kroaches!” Hei exclaimed that he couldn’t believe his eyes. Suddenly another fragment of memories bloomed in his mind.

‘Pay particular attention because variations in certain species may occur in the wild. For example, some spirit beasts that run using all their limbs may develop the ability to run on two legs just like you. Although it may seem strange, since they use fewer limbs to run, for some spirit beasts, it is a method of further increasing their speeds. Remember that if you have to deal with several specimens at the same time.’

Bao Bei had warned him of this danger, but since Hei was only a child at the time, it was reasonable that he couldn’t remember every single piece of information he received. Swearing between himself, he summoned William, who was the guard assigned to him by Long Tian.

“Warn Long Tian that we have to stop them. Those specimens that run on two legs. If we let them do it, they could gain enough momentum to generate enough strength and break through the walls of the fort.”

William nodded immediately and went to report to Long Tian. It only took a minute for him to return with a space ring, which he handed over to Hei.

“Here are four of the talismans we seized earlier. Entrust them to people with skill and take down those creatures. However, my lord said that one you have to stop the last one by force. We need to keep some talismans in reserve for future dangers.”

“Okay. All right. Call me Lian, Leon, He Fen and Lang. Quick. ”

“It will be done.”

William ran like the wind and returned soon after with the three people chosen by Hei.

“Listen carefully. There is no time for questions. Take one and throw it at those two-legged c.o.c.kroaches. Use all your spirit power without reservation. Then go to the rear.”

“Understood!” Lian, Leon, He Fen, and Lang shouted in unison. The four trusted Hei and did as he asked. The situation was serious, and as soldiers, they could only blindly obey their general so as not to waste precious time.

‘Don’t worry about them. I will make sure they return to the rear safe and sound.’ said Fenrir, who sensed Hei’s concern for Lian. After all, whoever used those talismans would almost completely exhaust their spirit power. And in such a situation, this almost equated to dying.

“Thanks, Fenrir. I entrust it to you.” thanked Hei before addressing his little sisters. “Ye, Xing. Would you like to take down a strong one?”

‘A strong enemy? Who?’ (Xing)

‘Hooray! I got tired of these weak c.o.c.kroaches.’ (Ye)

Hei smiled at the light-heartedness of his little sisters and found his courage. As a general, the task of blocking the advance of those bipedal c.o.c.kroaches was up to him. On the other sides of the fort, Long Tian, ​​Feng Chen, and Hu Jie were preparing themselves to do the same.

“Well, then. Fire!” Hei shouted to his four companions.

Suddenly, four talismans flew through the air in the direction of the two-legged c.o.c.kroaches that were now a few meters away. In an instant, as soon as the talisman and c.o.c.kroaches came into contact, four intense explosions were generated. The same happened on the other sides of the fort. The affected bipedal c.o.c.kroaches stopped their advance; there were severe burns on their bodies, and they were no longer able to continue. However, there was still a c.o.c.kroach for each side alive. It was up to Long Tian, ​​Feng Chen, Hu Jie, and Hei to take them down personally.

“Ye, Xing. Lock his sides. I only need a few moments to aim.”

‘Sure big brother, leave it to us.’ (Xing)

‘We won’t just block him. We will make him regret attacking. ‘(Ye)

Even though their opponent was comparable to a fifth stage spirit stage, the two divine beasts weren’t worried at all. In these months, they had improved a lot and didn’t fear the spirit beasts that were only a couple of stages higher than them. After all, they weren’t mere spirit beasts but divine beasts. How could they be so easily outclassed by other spirit beasts?

“Well said. I rely on you.” Hei said with a smile as he charged his finishing move.