Abyssal Chronicles

Chapter 266 - 267: Counterattack [5/5]

The earth-shattering roars of the Abyssal Demons echoed into the city and the towering flames outside instantly ignited the deepest fear within the hearts of the people.

Although the citizens of the Skye Dome had always lived in peace and comfort, they had still learned about the horrors of the Abyssal Demons from historical books.

His Majesty Xue Tianao had once said that with his presence, the Abyssal Demons would never be able to invade the south.

But now?

The Abyssal Demon horde had directly arrived at the city gates, and the nauseating aura and deathly oppression weighed heavily on the shoulders of the people, making everyone feel suffocated. At the same time, their absolute trust in Xue Tianao wavered at this moment.

Even the people outside the castle felt this way, and the crowd in Dragon Dance Square, witnessing the image of the founding emperor’s illusion crumbling and the shattered crown, felt it even more intensely.

Along with their growing unease, they couldn’t help but cast skeptical gazes at Xue Tianao. The penetrating looks of doubt felt like sharp blades, and Xue Tianao found it rather annoying.

At the same time, unease stirred within him. The failure of this epic Quest, losing the opportunity to become an eighth-tier, had already left Xue Tianao angry and greatly disappointed.

If he were to lose the support he had painstakingly built among the people, Xue Tianao felt that he might truly go mad.

Faced with the Abyssal Demons’ attack, he can’t retreat.

He must save the people’s trust in him! He absolutely couldn’t let his rule falter because of this. In order to regain the adoration of the people, he must lead the army and crush those beasts with overwhelming superiority.

He had to reshape the image of a hero who saved the country, making the people realize that the empire’s army was capable of defeating the Abyss Demons and defending their homeland.

As for why the northern region had fallen, that could be investigated later. It would be a good opportunity to find a scapegoat.

At the same time, in order to make other forces willingly cooperate with him in the future, he must demonstrate absolute strength now.

Besides, he had already decided to hold a new weapons exhibition a few days after the coronation ceremony. Starting a bit earlier wouldn’t hurt!

And compared to those boulders and dummies, the real Abyssal Demons were the most suitable targets!

Finally, and most importantly, Xue Tianao’s inner fury was difficult to contain at this moment. He urgently needed to find a target for his venting. Choosing the Abyss Demons as the outlet was the perfect choice.

"Hehe, you beasts."

With this mindset, Xue Tianao issued the order to attack.

...

....

On the other side of the northern city wall, looking at Toma, who was sent by His Majesty to replace him, Xavier, the commander of the Second Army Group, showed some astonishment, not because His Majesty’s confidants appeared here, but because the countless heavy weapons brought by Toma...

As one of the Empire’s generals, Xavier was aware of the existence of these weapons and hesitantly asked,

"Commander Toma, are we... going to use these weapons?"

"Of course! If not now, then when? The current battlefield is the best place to demonstrate the capabilities of these weapons!"

Saying that Toma walked to the edge of the city wall and looked out at the overwhelming Abyss Demon wave, which exuded a strong sense of oppression. The aura of the Abyss Demons made him nauseous, but it didn’t evoke an ounce of fear in Toma. His heart was filled with an eager desire to try them out.

At this moment, following Xavier’s orders, the firepower of the Second Legion unleashed a barrage of arrows, cannons, and magical attacks on the Abyss Demon horde without reservation. Although it caused significant damage to the Abyss Demons and inflicted casualties, it still couldn’t effectively halt their advancing momentum.

After all, the number of Abyss Demons was simply too great...

In the northern region of the Skye Dome, the three outer barrier enchantments set up to prevent the southward invasion of the Abyss Demons had already been activated, but now two of them had been torn apart by the Abyssal Demon minions. The Abyss Demons were less than a hundred meters away from the final barrier in the water domain and just a kilometer away from the Skye Dome’s city wall. In the blink of an eye, the Abyssal Demons could reach the city.

Although using the sturdy city wall and the magical lightning nets arranged on top of it could inflict heavy damage on the Abyssal Demon horde, effectively wearing them down and ultimately annihilating all the attacking Abyss Demons, Toma didn’t want victory to rely on ancient methods, and neither did Xue Tianao...

What they wanted was a direct and decisive victory over the Abyssal Demon horde. They wanted to uproot the seed of fear that the Abyssal Demons had deeply planted in the hearts of the people.

They wanted to make them realize that completely eradicating the Abyssal Demons was not a mere fantasy.

So, what if these Abyss Demons managed to break through the northern region? The strength and weaponry of their Imperial Guards were far superior to that of the Fourth Legion. There was a world of difference between the two.

Thinking of this, Toma abruptly drew his sword from his waist, pointing it directly at the oncoming horde of Abyss Demons, and shouted to the numerous Imperial Guards behind him,

"Stick to the original plan! Fire away!"

In the next moment, as Toma gave the command, the magic user corps of the Imperial Guards swiftly mobilized their inner magic. With the coordination of around fifty or sixty fifth and sixth-tier magicians, a massive azure amplification array appeared suspended in mid-air.

Simultaneously, under the control of the Imperial Guards, hundreds of exquisitely designed cannons began to charge up, gathering a destructive force within them.

With Toma’s signal, the cannons fired simultaneously. Angry tongues of fire burst forth from the dark barrels, propelling hundreds of magically infused shells skyward. After being launched, these shells, emitting a blue glow, rapidly disintegrated, each one splitting into several missiles.

They densely pierced through the amplification array arranged by the magicians and acquired the power of lightning within the array.

In an instant, the sky was covered by dazzling blue lights, accompanied by terrifying and awe-inspiring energy fluctuations. Even the nearby Abyssal Demons instinctively felt a shiver and looked up at the sky in confusion.

In the next moment, the missiles amplified by the array poured down like a storm, with an overwhelming momentum, onto the sea of Abyss Demons ahead.

"Boom~"

Accompanied by one explosion after another, under the excited gaze of Toma and others, the storm composed of blue missiles collided with the horde of Abyss Demons. In an instant, the heavens and the earth shook, and as each missile fell into the Abyssal Demon horde, it erupted into terrifying flames, instantly devouring several surrounding Abyssal Demons.

At the same time, the enchanted missiles, upon exploding, triggered the effect of a "lightning chain," further spreading the damage caused by the explosion.

In just a moment, the forefront of the Abyssal Demon horde was engulfed by a sea of fire and lightning., burning in the intense flames, instinctively let out cries of agony.

After their lives were burned to ashes, the Abyssal Demons who had just breached the third barrier fell to the ground, transforming into charred corpses one after another.

"Hahaha, so easily defeated!"

Seeing the effectiveness of his Majesty’s weapons, as they effortlessly broke through the Abyssal Demons’ defenses and brought them to their demise, Toma couldn’t contain his joy.

Following that, dozens of other types of weapons, originally intended to be revealed in two days, were brought up onto the city walls under Toma’s orders.

These weapons now displayed their formidable might, unleashing the anger of the people of the Skye Dome onto the Abyss Demon army ahead.

At once, various types of cannons, death beams exuding a terrifying aura, and large-scale spreading poison mist, all greeted the horde of Abyssal Demons.

But that wasn’t all.

At the same time, high above in the sky, under the escort of hundreds of Gryphon Knights, a massive airship surrounded by magic arrays appeared. Its colossal figure covered the sky, instantly capturing the attention of the citizens of the Skye Dome.

Even envoys from various factions, including Nick, couldn’t help but reveal curious gazes.

The sight of such a massive flying object was truly astonishing. After all, in this world, apart from a few knights riding Griffins, only seventh-tier or higher experts could fly.

And Xue Tianao had managed to suspend such a massive, even steel-made contraption in mid-air? It was truly shocking to hear.

Following that, under the gaze of countless expectant eyes, the cargo doors on the airship suddenly opened. Countless red-glowing orbs descended from the airship, raining an unprecedented onslaught upon the charging Abyss Demons below.

Amidst the deafening explosions, every single Abyss Demon within Toma’s line of sight was consumed by the shockwaves of the explosions.

The vast snowy plain ahead no longer existed, leaving behind a terrifying sea of fire and purgatory.

At this moment, on the Dragon Dance Square, Xue Tianao couldn’t help but curl his lips into a slight smile as he watched the projection screen displaying the Abyssal Demon horde being engulfed by raging flames, and the countless shocked expressions of the people and foreign envoys surrounding them.