An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 326 Three Lines of Defense
In the race against time to refine the product, time flies by.

Soon, it was time for the mission to begin.

The refining process during this period has strengthened the ghost army, and the same is true for the corpse refining.

Furthermore, a large number of souls remain unconsumed.
Unfortunately, there was no time left for him to slowly refine it.

Chu Xiu leaped out of the building, his speed increasing under the pull of gravity, but he suddenly slowed down as he approached the ground and landed silently.

He activated the Concealing Qi Technique to its maximum, suppressing all his aura and silently stealthily approaching the Black Death Pillar.

Along the way, he saw the army gathering near the Black Death Prison.

Heavy tanks and anti-aircraft rocket vehicles moved through the ravaged streets, with Awakened Ones clearing the way on both sides. Although these heavy weapons were just toys in front of general-level creatures, there were quite a few in stock, and ordinary people could use them. They could also play a certain role in attacking fixed targets such as the Black Death Pillar.

Especially long-range rockets with a range exceeding fifty kilometers.

These items are almost useless when defending against horned demon attacks due to their lack of flexibility, but they can play a significant role in providing fire support in specific areas.

The army has even assembled this kind of weapon; it seems they are truly preparing for the final battle.

A few minutes later, Chu Xiu arrived at a ruin near the Black Death Pillar in the southeast direction.

This used to be a 50-story luxury restaurant, but now all that's left are layers of reinforced concrete piled up like mounds.

Chu Xiu sneaked into the ruins and found a small space deep inside that could barely accommodate a few people. There were already two people inside.

The two men completely concealed their auras, appearing no different from ordinary people. The man on the left had a square face and was a serious-looking middle-aged Taoist priest, while the man on the right was a young man with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes.

It was Shenwei Daoren and Zhao Fengming, who were also members of Chu Xiu's team for this mission.

Chu Xiu bowed and approached the two, then asked, "Hasn't Chen Yuan arrived yet?"

“She was transferred to another group, and a close demigod wanted to take care of her personally,” Huang Anhua said.

Chu Xiu understood, realizing that it was most likely Chen Yuan's master who had spoken.

However, Chen Yuan was never really a good fit for their group.

Their offensive capabilities are already quite strong.

Needless to say, Shenwei Daoren's thunder magic is earth-shattering. Although he was defeated by the enemy demigod a few days ago, it was because he was in poor condition after being ambushed by the murderer.

After several days of recuperation, he has barely recovered from his injuries and can now exert at least 80% of his peak strength, which is enough to rival most demigods.

The other person, Zhao Fengming, is also extremely strong. As the number one person on the Dragon and Phoenix Ranking, although he is only a heroic spirit, his powerful talent of [Dragon God Possession (SSS)] allows him to briefly unleash power close to that of a demigod.

Not to mention, as a capable henchman of the King of Slaughter, he should possess a considerable amount of equipment and life-saving trump cards bestowed upon him by the King of Slaughter.

In comparison, Chen Yuan only excels in offensive capabilities and is indeed struggling to keep up with the pace of their group.

Knowing what was going on, Chu Xiu sat down cross-legged and began to meditate and regulate his breathing, adjusting himself to his best condition before the great battle. The other two did the same.

Ten minutes later, Shenwei Daoren opened his eyes.

He looked at the other two and said, "The operation will begin soon, and I have three things I need to tell you in advance."

"First, all actions must be under my command; no one may act without authorization."

"Second, during the operation, do not stray too far from me, otherwise I may not be able to provide timely support if we encounter enemy generals."

"Finally, if the extraterrestrial demons attack during the operation, do not have any illusions. Abandon the mission immediately and escape as quickly as possible! You are as vulnerable as babies in front of the extraterrestrial demons."

"understand?"

Chu Xiu and Zhao Fengming nodded in agreement.

Shenwei Daoist said no more, but instead used his perception to explore outwards.

At this point, almost all the weapons and equipment had arrived at their designated locations.

Suddenly, with the command issued from the radio, all the weapons opened fire simultaneously without warning!
Amidst a deafening roar, thousands of long-range rocket launchers fired simultaneously, unleashing tens of thousands of rockets in a single salvo!

The enormous recoil force caused the 20-ton rocket launcher to sway back and forth like a toy. The liquid fuel thrusters were at full power, bursting into a dazzling burst of fire in the air, accelerating the rocket to supersonic speed in just a few breaths!
A barrage of rockets roared in unison, like arrows piercing the sky, hurtling towards the Black Death Pillar!

However, just as they approached the Black Death Pillar, beams of spiritual light shot out from within the city, precisely intercepting the rockets in mid-air and causing them to explode into huge bursts of fire.

Unfortunately, the rocket's speed is still too slow for a general-level creature!

However, this does not mean that these modern weapons are completely useless!
Some rockets carrying split warheads, after being destroyed, still have fragments that explode at extremely high speeds, forming a large "spray of bullets". These heavy fragments, under high explosion and high pressure, accelerate instantly to more than 3,000 meters per second, and slam into the Black Death Pillar like raindrops, making a huge sound!
While these fragments may not cause much damage, the problem is that they are almost impossible to intercept completely.

Meanwhile, the long-range rockets' extremely long range allows them to provide a continuous barrage of fire from safe positions within the city! And the various artillery positions at the near end also opened fire one after another!
These artillery pieces are not as expensive as long-range rockets; their main selling point is that they are high-quality, inexpensive, and plentiful!

The entire city was shaken, and all that could be seen as far as the eye could see was the raging flames!

While it may not be able to break through the Horned Demon's defenses, it can greatly disrupt the enemy's detection capabilities.

Chu Xiu and the other two exchanged glances, said nothing, and tacitly made their way to the edge of the battlefield.

In order to conceal his aura to the greatest extent possible, Chu Xiu did not even use his divine sense, and could only rely on his naked eyes to observe the enemy.

At this moment, before they even got close to the Black Death Pillar, they saw layers of giant city walls, each over fifty meters high, rising like mountains from the ground.

There are three such city walls, surrounding the Black Death Pillar in layers, with heavy troops guarding each section of the walls!

These city walls can't stop awakened heroes, but their purpose is to block your low-level troops.

Without the cover of those troops, it would be difficult to get close to the defensive line and launch a surprise attack.

At the same time, it also increases the difficulty for strong individuals to stealthily navigate. Numerous detection devices are deployed on these city walls, with higher detection power the closer one is.

Although demigods possess various mysterious methods of concealment, they still must adhere to basic physical laws. The more they want to be discovered, the more they need to suppress their energy intensity to an extremely low level.

If the flight were to pass over the city walls, the energy intensity would inevitably increase, making it extremely easy to be detected.

Without mobilizing spiritual power, climbing with physical strength alone is not possible, because these city walls are made of "black mist" and are filled with sensors. Any physical contact with the city walls will immediately trigger an alarm!
In this situation, one must either possess exceptional stealth abilities, making it impossible for powerful enemies to detect them even when flying in the sky, or rely on the cover of lower-level awakened individuals.

The former is something that Chu Xiu, this "pseudo-heroic spirit," could never accomplish, so we can only place our hopes on the latter.

Ideally, a breach would be made in the city wall, which would make things much easier.

Unfortunately, shells rained down on the city wall. Those heavy mortar shells, with a kill radius of tens of meters, were as powerless as mayflies trying to shake a tree in front of this magnificent wall.

At this moment, horned demons flew out from inside the city walls. They flew rapidly in the sky, and with a single sweep of their demonic pupils, they easily spotted the artillery camp several kilometers away. The horns on their heads emitted golden light, and golden longbows materialized in their hands. As arrows pierced the sky, the nearby artillery camp was destroyed as if it had been attacked by high-precision missiles!
This scene left Chu Xiu and the other two feeling quite helpless.

There's no way around it; modern technology is still too fragile against advanced life forms unless nuclear weapons are used!
A single Horned Demon of the general rank is equivalent to a heavy bomber capable of supersonic maneuvering and trajectory changes! And the enemy can easily deploy thousands of Horned Demons in a single advance squad!

Only a very few technological weapons that incorporate extraordinary power can offer some resistance, but these weapons are all extremely precious and few in number!

There are very few creatures that can unleash firepower at the level of a Heroic Spirit, like the Titan Machine!

The entire Pengcheng originally had thirty-four, but after the intense fighting of the past few days, only nine remain. In fact, it seems that the main purpose of the Horned Demon's attack was not to compress the defensive line, but to destroy these weapons of war, thereby greatly reducing the defensive pressure later!

Now, even with the continuous roar of these nine weapons of war, they are unable to turn the tide of the battle.

Finally, after a ten-minute exchange of fire, Pengcheng's close-range artillery fire was almost completely destroyed, while the three giant city walls of the Horned Demons, although riddled with holes as if plowed through, still maintained their main structure! Only a significant amount of the weapons and equipment inside were destroyed.

Unfortunately, the high-level combat power of the horned demons resulted in them possessing air defense and interception capabilities far exceeding those of humans. Pengcheng's saturation attack simply could not reach the upper limit of their defensive capabilities!
This made the three of them look even more serious.

"It seems we'll still have to rely on a surprise attack from the Awakened."

Although the city wall is sturdy, as long as a single awakened heroic spirit rushes close, it can instantly blast a large breach in it!
The moment that thought crossed his mind, more than a dozen figures rushed out without warning!
Those figures were incredibly fast. The horned demons guarding the city wall tried to stop them, but several beams of light appeared, and in just one exchange, hundreds of horned demons were simultaneously blasted into pieces!

The next moment, the five figures in the lead roared in unison, and with a sound a thousand times louder than any bomb, the massive city wall was blasted open, creating a breach over a hundred meters wide! Dozens of horned demons that followed were melted by the dissipating energy waves!
Chu Xiu's eyes lit up; the heroic spirit had made its move!
After these heroic spirits broke through the first city wall, they began to kill the enemy frantically. The scattered horned demon squads were no match for them. They unleashed their terrifying power without any restraint, just like the heroic spirit horned demons had done when they attacked the human defenses!
In less than a breath, hundreds more horned demons were killed, and the weapons in the defensive positions were destroyed by the residual shockwaves alone!
Meanwhile, the core team is relentlessly charging towards the second city wall!
This scene immediately boosted everyone's morale!

Chu Xiu and his two companions quickly concealed themselves and, taking advantage of the enemy's attention being drawn to the group of heroic spirits, stealthily made their way towards the center of the Black Death Pillar.

However, it wasn't long before the excitement on everyone's faces turned into bitterness.

But then a dazzling light appeared in the sky, and streaks of light fell like shooting stars!

Each of these meteors traveled at speeds easily exceeding ten times the speed of sound! And they were incredibly agile, striking our attacking heroes with pinpoint accuracy in the blink of an eye!

With a deafening roar, like a nuclear explosion, extreme light and heat erupted in the middle of the city wall!
The enemy's heroic spirits have also made their move!
Their numbers are enormous, averaging at least three times the number of human heroes! That means each human hero must fight three horned demon heroes simultaneously!
In this situation, even though the average strength of the awakened ones was greater, it was still far from three times that of the horned demons, and they were quickly suppressed.
Let alone continuing to attack the defense line, even some of the weaker heroic spirits are in grave danger and at risk of perishing at any moment!

The first few heroic spirits tried their best, but they could only barely steer the battle to the vicinity of the city wall. They destroyed the second city wall by the aftershocks of the collision, but that was the limit.

Between the second and third city walls, there were layers of interception formed by tens of thousands of horned demons! The attacks of the heroic spirits couldn't penetrate them at all! Moreover, horned demons from other areas were rushing to reinforce this place at an extremely fast speed!
Seeing this, several heroic spirits suddenly stopped their forward momentum and instead fled backward!

The horned demons, who had originally fought against them, did not pursue them, letting them go, and continued to besiege the remaining heroic spirits! This made it even more difficult for the heroic spirits who were still struggling in the arena!

"Damn it, the orders given to these guys were clearly to break through the third city wall! How come they're starting to run away?!" Shenwei Daoist couldn't help but curse loudly through telepathy!
Although the human heroes were locked down by an enemy force three times stronger than them, they could still break through the third wall with just one attack that escaped! It was still difficult, but at least there was a sliver of hope.

However, this opportunity requires risking your life!
And it is clear that the heroic spirits are not willing to sacrifice themselves.

Zhao Fengming's expression was very unpleasant, and Chu Xiu remained silent.

Human nature is selfish, so it's perfectly normal for those heroic spirits to make such decisions. If the roles were reversed, Chu Xiu would do the same.

They've all become heroic spirits, possessing immense power and long lifespans. Even if they never make any further progress in this life, they can still enjoy a life like a top-tier tycoon for thousands of years!

In this situation, who would be willing to sacrifice themselves?
Many of them may still be thinking that if all else fails, they can surrender to the extraterrestrial demons and survive as long as they abandon their dignity as humans!
The three had no right to demand their sacrifice, but since the three city walls had not been destroyed, it would be difficult for the three to get close to the inner layer of the Black Death Pillar, which would greatly increase the difficulty of the raid.

But just as Chu Xiu was about to charge into the Ten Thousand Horned Demon's defensive line, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps coming from behind!
Chu Xiu looked back and saw that behind him, one after another, Awakened Ones dressed in military uniforms had rushed into the city walls and were rapidly approaching the deeper part of the city!
But Chu Xiu only glanced at it before his expression turned disappointed.

Although this team has a large number of members, only the three leaders are Heroic Spirits, and there are not many even at the King or General level. The vast majority are only at the Fierce level!
What role can such a team play?
However, just a second later, Chu Xiu's eyes widened in shock.

But this team, as if it had rehearsed a thousand times in advance, split into small squads without hesitation after breaking through the city wall. The outermost layer was the fierce squad. After approaching the enemy troops, they were like scattered fragments, fearlessly inserting themselves into the enemy troops!
These fierce-level squads, even if they consist of five or six people, are no match for the general-level horned demons. Just as a flash of light appeared above the head of one of the horned demons, the first person wearing heavy armor was blown to pieces along with his armor!

But to Chu Xiu’s surprise, his companion died in such a tragic way before his eyes, and in front of them was the Horned Demon, which was as immovable as a mountain. But the others were not afraid at all. They just roared and charged forward like a mad bull!
Some even bypassed the horned demon and attacked the horned demons further back!

They can't even handle one, yet they want to attack two at the same time!
These people didn't actually want to kill the horned demons in front of them; they just wanted to use their lives to hold them off for even a second!
Even as their bodies were severed, the soldiers roared and threw out psionic chains to trap the enemy before they hit the ground!
But this was far from over. Because the speed of the Fierce Rank was far inferior to that of the General Rank and the King Rank, the charging team gradually separated like a multi-stage rocket.

But with each separation, a large number of soldiers charged out like moths to a flame!

It starts with the Fierce Rank, then the General Rank, and finally the King Rank!

They were all launching attacks against beings of a higher rank than themselves, all to cover the three elite Heroic Spirits!

Suddenly, Chu Xiu's eyes widened!

He saw a golden dragon soar into the sky, with Zhang Qingshan sitting on its back, wielding a ten-meter-long giant spear, roaring as he charged towards the heroic spirits blocking his way!

A general charges toward the heroic spirit!

It wasn't just him; everyone around him in the battle formation was charging forward! Even if it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, they still fearlessly swung their swords forward!

"clang!"

Zhang Qingshan's spear struck the body of the Heroic Spirit Horned Demon. The immense impact caused the tiger's mouth of his hands to split open instantly, and the supreme-level weapon also broke in an instant.

The other party simply grabbed his spear with one hand.

The next instant, under the indifferent gaze of the Heroic Spirit Horned Demon, a torrent of energy capable of instantly killing a King-level or Heroic Spirit poured out!

(End of this chapter)