A Night of Desperation

Chapter 373: Operation 371 One

These Magicians heading into battle wore uniform black military uniforms, which appeared to be modified combat garbs similar to Daoist robes, and donned helmets. They formed small arrays in groups of three and advanced toward the densely packed undead army, whose exact numbers were unknown.

"The ones from the Mutual Aid Alliance going into battle now are the lowest-tier Level One Magicians, six groups comprising eighteen individuals," explained the person in charge at Spirit Station.

"They were originally peripheral Magicians who had mastered only one type of Magic, the closest tier to ordinary people.

But now, with the amplification of Spirit Light, their defensive strength is impressively formidable. The boost to their strength and stamina is also quite exaggerated."

The moment the words fell,

the first wave of three Magician groups shone with silver Spirit Light and charged headfirst into the undead army.

Among them, a man at the forefront clenched a Seal in his hand, muttering incantations, while a sawtooth-patterned white ring appeared floating beside him.

As soon as the ring came into contact with the undead, it spun rapidly, crazily slicing through everything it touched.

It seemed that the cutting wasn’t physical, as the bodies of the undead remained unharmed, but they would fall to the ground on the spot, as if something invisible inside them had been injured.

The other Magician groups also cast their spells one after another, covering themselves in Spirit Light and bravely charging into the ranks of the undead.

The undead swung their hands at them, only rippling the Spirit Light, rendering their attacks useless.

"It seems okay, but they won’t be able to hold on for long like this," Yu Hong spoke out.

"There are other groups ready to rotate in afterwards, while other areas rely on incendiary bombs for containment and repulsion," a Magician from Spirit Station replied.

"There are too few of these groups. If we could increase their number tenfold, we might be able to hold off the Spirit Disaster on the outskirts," Yu Hong sighed.

"Alliance Hierarch need not worry, Spirit Light has greatly enhanced our stamina and physical strength. With this kind of combat, enduring for several hours is no problem. When it’s time to rotate other groups in, there won’t be an issue. Over three hundred people can protect this small block of land," the Spirit Station Magician in charge responded.

"Indeed," Liu Shanhe, as the commander-in-chief of the military Magicians, had a clear understanding of the overall situation and nodded in agreement with this statement.

"Let’s go see the conditions outside the other black walls," Yu Hong suggested.

"Alright. Please follow me."

The person in charge of Spirit Station led the way.

The group left Spirit Station and moved along the spacious black wall toward other positions.

As expected, only a little more than a hundred meters out, the number of Spirit Disaster Monsters attacking outside the black wall had reduced a lot.

There were only one or two Magician groups performing cleanup and containment outside.

The situation seemed manageable.

But without walking much further, a blast suddenly erupted from a distance behind them.

Boom!!

Flames soared into the sky, dyeing that part of the sky a pale red.

Yu Hong and the others turned around rapidly, and at first glance, they saw several silver-armored snake-headed beings leaping onto the black wall and engaging the defending Magicians in a brawl.

The Magicians glowed with silver Spirit Light, resembling turrets with tortoise shells on their backs, rotating in groups of three and continuously unleashing Techniques.

The Techniques, carried with tails of different colors on the spiritual plane, flew toward the snake-headed beings.

Some froze and slowed them down, some corroded and burned them, others were razor-sharp blades that pierced into their bodies, causing paralysis on the spot.

The Magicians had a variety of backgrounds and mastered inconsistent levels of Magic. The effects they produced looked messy and chaotic—spectacular to a Magician’s eyes but completely invisible to ordinary people.

Bang!

A snake-headed being smashed its spear with great force onto the forehead of a petite Female Mage.

The spear collided with the silver Spirit Light, splintering into numerous silver shards.

The Female Mage was flung backward, rolling on the ground over a dozen times and smashing into the wall of the Spirit Station before coming to a stop.

Yet she actually got up, unscathed and promptly rushed back into her original position to continue the battle.

The only damage the spear had inflicted was slightly thinning and dimming the silver Spirit Light on her. That was all.

And such scenes were not just happening here alone.

The Magician’s Magic couldn’t stop the Spirit Disaster Monsters; they could only barely delay the time. But as long as they took the forefront and absorbed the hatred, the monsters couldn’t breach the black wall and enter the interior.

"The effect seems not bad. But there’s more trouble in the distance," Yu Hong said, glancing at the somewhat relaxed few people around him and speaking in a solemn tone.

"For the Golden Armor Dragon-men, we have also arranged high-level Technique groups to engage them," Liu Shanhe replied.

"Here they come," Yu Hong raised his eyes to the distant mist outside the black wall.

There, swathes of white clouds slowly drifted closer, with Golden Armor Dragon-man Spirit Disasters seated cross-legged atop them.

Unexpectedly for Yu Hong, Liu Shanhe’s idea of engagement was entirely different from what he had imagined.

Soon, several movable white-painted cannons were rolled out onto the black wall.

Next to the cannons stood the Mutual Aid Alliance Magicians, clad in a shell of silver Spirit Light.

They nervously directed the gunners on the cannons, simultaneously loading them with Spirit Light Bombs, which had already been enchanted.

Boom boom boom boom!!

In an instant, a series of cannon fires roared.

Flames surged as dozens of cannons lit up simultaneously, like dozens of golden blades descending from the sky, instantly ripping through the approaching ranks of Golden Armor Dragon-men.

The Golden Armor Dragon-men hadn’t even had time to dodge when they were blasted away by the supersonic speed cannons.

Their Golden Armors shattered into specks of light; towering figures over three meters tall were continuously penetrated and shattered by the cannons.

These Golden Armor Dragon-men, whom Yu Hong had previously clashed with — formidable in both speed and strength — were effortlessly repelled by rounds of Spirit Light Enchanted artillery.

"Because Spirit Light can attach to inanimate objects for a short duration and directly contact and attack Spirit Disaster Monsters, we’ve arranged for at least two Magicians beside each artillery gunner, forming teams to temporally affix Spirit Light to the shells," explained Liu Shanhe.

Seeing his preparations effective, he couldn’t help but relax a little.

"Wait, something’s not right!" Yu Hong’s expression suddenly changed, sensing trouble.

Hiss hiss hiss hiss!

Streaks of Golden Light emerged from the smoke of the cannons.

They rapidly closed in, taking shape above the dark walls, reforming into their original Dragon-man appearance.

These Dragon-men plunged down from the sky, roaring with rage, crashing into the walls, and sent Magicians tumbling everywhere in a somewhat comical scene.

"It’s Virtualization ability," Yu Hong shook his head speechlessly, turned to Liu Shanhe, "Any other plans? At this rate, defeat is certain."

"This... of course, there is." Liu Shanhe’s face turned red, quickly pressing a button on a remote control he held.

Instantly, countless cyan-colored flying swords shot out from the Spirit Station, swimming like fish in the sea, swiftly swarming towards the surrounding Golden Armor Dragon-men.

Pfft.

A Golden Armor Dragon-man failed to dodge in time and was violently swept over, engulfed by the school of blue flying swords.

A second later, the swords departed, leaving nothing but a puff of grey mist and tiny fragments of Golden Light.

"Hm? What is this?" Yu Hong raised an eyebrow.

"This is the Spirit Light Technique Flying Sword Swarm formed by Female Mages of Level Six or higher from the Mutual Aid Alliance, employing the Spirit Sword Technique that we provided for free. We’ve unified the teaching and training, forming this Magic group," Liu Shanhe explained. "Consider it our trump card. It was intended for the Three-eyed Dragon Men, but now... it must be used."

He showed a bitter smile.

"... You won’t be able to hold off the Three-eyed Dragon Men. Just the dispersal of their spiritual pressure is enough to knock down a swath of people." Yu Hong shook his head. "Haven’t you forgotten the phenomenon of high-spirit entities exerting great spiritual power pressure on lower life forms?"

"Of course not, that’s why we rely on the Spirit Station to counter the Three-eyed Dragon Men.

By connecting the spiritual power of all the Magicians inside the Spirit Station and amplifying it with Arrays, we can elevate to a higher level and resist the spiritual pressure," said Liu Shanhe.

"This project was coordinated with President Liu himself," Yu Mo, the Taoist, added with a nod.

Yu Hong nodded, then fell silent, continuing to watch.

By his estimation, the Three-eyed Dragon Men should be the highest threat appearing here; a formidable being like Cai Jing Taoist was unlikely to show up.

After all, only two gates had been opened here.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but recall the astonishing Sky Stabilizing Plate.

If the Sky Stabilizing Plate were still usable, they wouldn’t be so passive now!

Those idiots from the Taoist Sect!

"A divine object like the Sky Stabilizing Plate should never be in the hands of those who only warm their chairs — it should be controlled by a righteous person like me!"

The more Yu Hong thought, the more aggrieved he felt. There was a treasure capable of resolving the root problem, yet all he could do was watch helplessly, unable to act!

After watching the combat against the Spirit Disaster for a while longer, and after a change of defense had been made, he confirmed that the defenses could hold and the Three-eyed Dragon Men had indeed not appeared.

Only then did he turn to lead his men down from the dark wall.

"I’ll keep an eye on things here; what are your next orders, Alliance Hierarch?"

Inside the vehicle, everyone else busied themselves with their tasks, leaving only Yu Yuhong and Qing Huang in the car.

Qing Huang’s voice, mixed with the continuous sound of cannon fire, reached Yu Hong’s ears.

"I have done my best, but I do not accept this outcome," Yu Hong said in a deep voice.

"You mean..." Qing Huang caught a hint of something amiss from his tone and immediately became more cautious.

He had noticed that his new boss seemed to suffer from paranoid delusions, always expecting the worst in every situation.

Moreover, his mood was very unstable, and he might make some extreme decisions that people couldn’t understand at any moment. Just like now, he had a bad premonition.

"The official side has not yet widely promoted the Spirit Light Secret Skill; they are still hesitant at this point. I’ve decided not to wait any longer. Qing Huang, come with me; let’s pay a visit to the headquarters of the Seven Evil Alliance," Yu Hong said with a serious demeanor.

"This... right now they’re in combat against the Taoist Sect under the leadership of Long Qingzi... Alliance Hierarch, if we get involved directly, does that mean... am I to betray the Alliance?" Qing Huang cautiously asked.

"What? You’re unwilling?" Yu Hong looked at him with a profound gaze.

"..." Qing Huang’s heart skipped a beat, his scalp tingling, and he quickly forced a smile, "How could I be? As a subordinate, it’s my duty to complement the Alliance Hierarch’s weaknesses. With the significant strength improvement, the barren land of the Seven Evils Alliance is naturally dispensable. It’s just... the situation there might be very dangerous... if we get noticed by the Seven Evils..."

"No worry, you just need to lead the way," said Yu Hong. "Actually, I’ve wanted to act for a while now, but only now has the timing become just right. They need to be battling the Taoist Sect’s high echelons to death before I can strike when they are most vulnerable. Let’s see if the Seven Evil Alliance’s warehouse doors are sturdy!"

"..." Qing Huang felt an old complaint in his heart he didn’t know whether to voice. To be able to talk so poetically about raiding and pillaging - it seemed only their Alliance Hierarch could manage such a feat.

"I understand," he swallowed hard, nodding. At this moment, he realized he could no longer muddle through – he had to choose between the Spirit Light Mutual Aid Alliance and the Seven Evil Alliance.

And the choice was obvious.

After all, when he joined the Seven Evil Alliance, it was merely for personal gain and partly to find warmth in numbers from the Taoist Sect’s hunt.

But now he was ’cleaned up’ – different, so naturally, he no longer needed them.

"So, Alliance Hierarch, when do we leave?"

"Now," said Yu Hong.

"Aren’t we going to prepare?" Qing Huang hesitated. "You may not be aware, but even though they’re called the Seven Evils, the headquarters is actually guarded by a Vice Alliance Hierarch, whose power is at least on par with a member of the Seven Evils..."