Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 124 Ruins Exploration: Firepower Leads the Way

Even Lord Chen Mo, who is hailed as omniscient by the people of the Vast Sea, cannot clearly explain what kind of existence the Ruins Guardians are.

According to the Magic Society, this is called "manifestation of a spirit."

Because of a special mechanism that condensed the core of the ruins, driving the psionic energy of the region, it was an ominous object formed in the black mist of magic accumulated in the ancient battlefield.

It is said that this has nothing to do with the original soldiers, but is just an aggregation of energy.

However, since the mercenaries' and summoned creatures' swords can solve it, it means that physical attacks can also be effective.

For the troops in the Han Hai Territory, it's just a matter of a few more bullets.

"Bang! Bang! Bang—!"

The deafening gunfire echoed through the ruins of the Blood Fortress, shattering a century-old silence.

"Prepare to engage the enemy! Maintain your positions and be prepared for cross-cover!"

Kaga's roars echoed continuously among the broken stone walls. As the first of the lord's trusted generals, Kaga had the most in-depth understanding and mastery of Dongxia's tactical requirements.

At this moment, the assault team was in a standard combat formation, ready to search for the enemy at any time and engage them.

There are three queues on the front left and right, each with twelve combat members, arranged in order from position one to position twelve.

Because the number of firearms is still relatively tight, each squad is equipped with three assault rifles, two grenade launchers, a number of grenades, and the rest are melee weapons.

The middle and back rows are mostly equipped with long-range crossbowmen, while the front row is supported by swordsmen, spearmen, and shieldmen.

The person at the front is in position number one, with a long sword in one hand and a large shield in the other. They are responsible for leading the way and keeping an eye on the ground nearby, alerting their teammates to any suspicious objects such as pitfalls or traps.

Position two is a tall, muscular centaur with a high-powered searchlight on his shoulder and an assault rifle. He is also on guard duty ahead, but is responsible for observing into the distance ahead, creating a mismatch with position one.

Those who look far are not allowed to look near, and those who look near are not allowed to look far.

According to the tactical manual, the centaur in position two is forbidden from looking at his feet, so he can only hold his gun in his right hand and put his left hand on the shoulder of position one, and be led forward by position one.

Position 3 is responsible for monitoring the sky ahead.

Position 4 to the left front, position 5 to the right front, position 6 to the left rear, position 7 to the right rear, position 8 directly behind, and position 9 behind the sky.

Position 10 is responsible for observing the drone's overhead view, position 11 is the commander, and position 12 is the backup operator.

Although theoretically, since several teams are advancing side by side, one side must be their own friendly forces, so there is no need to be on guard, Kaga still arranged the formation according to the most rigid tactical manual.

Forget about battlefield flexibility, just follow the strictest methods.

For these green recruits, the best way to protect them is to train them the way they are taught.

The fortress was said to have been razed to the ground by the orcs, but it was clear that the orcs did a very shoddy job; half-built low walls, huge stones, and building ruins several meters high were scattered everywhere.
Every now and then, one or two ruin guards would leap out of the shadows, roaring.

The soldier in the corresponding position gave a warning: "Enemy approaching from the left front!" He raised his assault rifle and fired a few bursts, sending the rushing enemy away.

If there are many enemies, the captain will issue the order to engage. The entire squad will remain on alert with melee weapons, while all other firearms and ranged crossbows will turn around and focus their fire.

This tactic had been practiced countless times. At first, the team's movements were still somewhat stiff. Whenever the order to engage the enemy came, some soldiers who shouldn't have turned around would turn back in a panic and lose their guard positions.

The commander shouted sternly, "Watch your position!" He punched and kicked to maintain the overall formation.

Soon, after only one or two engagements, the team's proficiency improved rapidly, and they gradually developed a methodical offensive and defensive strategy.

The members of the Nightblade mercenary group, who had been ordered to lag behind the group and follow closely, had completely recovered from their earlier fear and were now exchanging quiet conversations with each other.

"What are those things they're carrying? Dwarven muskets?"

"No, dwarven muskets need to be reloaded after each shot, but this one seems to have unlimited ammo. It must be a magical item!"

"Without any magical fluctuations, how could our guild leader, a mage, not know that?"

"This is terrifying! There isn't a single first-tier professional among them. I feel like they're even more frightening than the Duchy's Royal Guard!"

"Commander, judging from this, can they really break through the second level?"

Doyle shook his head: "Difficult!"

Taking a few quick steps, Doyle approached the central main formation of the Han Hai Territory forces and gave Kaga a warning.

"Captain, there are mid-level ruin guards ahead. They often come in groups and are very dangerous. Please be extremely careful!"

Even without Doyle's reminder, Kaga had already sensed the difference in atmosphere.

The first reconnaissance drone suddenly lost signal, and it was unclear what had shot it down. Kaga had to order the drones above the line to advance while continuing to launch backup drones.

The drone's rear-mounted camera clearly captured this scene.

The drone, dragging a searchlight, emitted a bright yellow halo. As its lens swept across the dilapidated wall, groups of three or five, or seven or eight, were densely packed with guardians of the ruins.

One of the disturbed ruins guards looked up and could vaguely see a flash of red light beneath its rusty helmet. Then, an arrow shot out from somewhere and instantly shattered the drone in front of it into pieces.

Clearly, this is a major defensive line of the ruins' guardians.

Kaga pressed the communicator.

"All units, halt advance! Grenade launchers in position, prepare to bomb!"

The Hanhai Pioneer Team concentrated ten grenade launchers at once. With the command "Fire!", the high-explosive grenades roared out and exploded into dazzling bursts of fire in the group of ruins guarded by the ruins, instantly turning the area shrouded in black mist as bright as day.

After six rounds of bombardment with grenades, the exploration team began real close combat.

The enemy density was too high. Although most of the groups had been scattered by the bombs, behind those broken low walls, there was a constant stream of ruin guards wielding damaged spears, wearing tattered armor, or even unarmed, rushing forward.

The gunfire became an impenetrable web of death. The assault formation quickly contracted, transforming into a solid semi-circular fish-scale formation.

The shield stood at the forefront, protecting against the opponent's ranged attacks; spears thrust out from behind the shield in an orderly fashion like venomous snakes, while broadswords flashed and slashed with a cold light.

Hand grenades kept flying out from the middle and rear rows, and the sound of explosions echoed throughout the ruins.

Row after row of enemies were killed, turning into scattered rusty armor pieces. In this fierce battle, two figures stood out.

One is the Black Knight summoned by Doyle.

This guy wasn't particularly burly; he seemed smaller than an average warrior. His body was covered in jet-black bone armor that shimmered with an eerie light, and his eyes held two leaping, cold glints.

High-ranking undead creatures possess intelligence, and Doyle's black warrior had been with him for over a decade, possessing incredibly rich combat experience.

Even though Doyle can now summon the Death Knight, he still regards this Dark Knight as his core and trump card.

This black warrior was like a dancer on the edge of a knife, each strike precisely and cleanly severing the head of the ruins' guardian with precision, efficiency, and ruthlessness.

Seemingly unwilling to waste a single ounce of energy, the Black Knight drifted through the enemy ranks, leaving behind a trail of mangled guards.

The other eye-catching bag belonged to Liu Zaiyue.

Unlike the Black Knight's light and graceful movements, this guy's fighting style is earth-shattering.

The old ox was holding a stick that was at least three meters long and nearly twenty centimeters in diameter... Oh, I can't call it a stick anymore, it should be called a pillar.

This thing is a replica of an orc totem pole, a favorite of those strong orc warriors. It's a standard heavy-duty blunt weapon, and although it's made of the cheapest gray cast iron, it still weighs over 700 kilograms.

After Chen Mo commissioned the Seven Luminaries Garland Trading Company to buy it from the orc tribe, Liu Zaiyue was immediately captivated by it, even sleeping with it close to his body. As for its effects...

Well, if you get hit by one of these, the patterns on the totem pole will not only be imprinted on your face, but they might even be etched into your bones.

The totem pole had several interlocking rings nested one in front of the other. Old Niu wielded these things with great skill, deliberately heading towards areas where the enemy was concentrated.

Seeing the swarming enemy squads, Old Niu, relying on his strong armor and thick skin, charged straight in, followed by War Stomp to control them, then picked up a pillar and spun around on the spot.

Those ruin guardians that were grazed by the giant pillar were either torn to pieces or smashed into the ground, thus ending this local battle.

Kaga, leading the core mobile team, moved at high speed through the ruins, wielding a longsword in one hand and an assault rifle in the other. They specialized in taking down the enemy's ranged attackers. Once they spotted an arrow flying out, they would unleash a burst of bullets, making the ruin guards, who had just emerged from the black mist and were armed with longbows and crossbows, tremble all over.

In the arena, there were also four [Rock] combat robots carried by the skeletons. The rotating radar towers and compound eye-like sensor arrays on top slowly rotated, and the cold red dots precisely marked every energy reaction source in the black mist.

With their field of vision spanning the entire area, they used heavy sniper rifles to pinpoint those with relatively intact armor, especially the ruin guards wearing helmets, which were typical characteristics of mid- to high-ranking guards.

Although the mercenaries of 【Night Blade】 were also fighting, in this battlefield environment, they could only do some menial tasks and handle scraps.

Those once fierce and eloquent guardians of the ruins, in the face of such a well-organized force, were like clay chickens and earthenware dogs.

Once Doyle recovered from the shock, he was certain that he no longer needed to conserve his strength to protect his teammates, and immediately began to fully demonstrate his expertise as the Grand Summoner of the Undead.

A whole squad of hard-skinned zombies was summoned from the void. These guys had eerie dark blue skin, like over-tanned leather, with viscous liquid seeping from the seams and emitting a strong smell of decay.

The zombies formed a wall at the front, drawing the majority of the ranged fire from the ruins' guards.

The greatest advantage of undead creatures is that as long as the soul fire in their heads remains extinguished, they can still tenaciously fulfill their role as meat shields even if they are riddled with arrows.

However, this exhilarating offensive ultimately ended with the retreat of the pioneering troops.

The further you go in, the more architectural ruins you see, and the thicker the black fog becomes.

The density of the ruins guards increased exponentially, and Kaga even deployed an 84mm low-recoil cannon.

The whistling cannon fire swept past, blasting the ruin guards to pieces time and time again, but it was no use; a never-ending stream of ruin guards kept pouring in.

The troops began to suffer frequent injuries, and the emergency medical teams and stretcher bearers became busy.

At this distance, higher-level ruins guardians have also begun to appear.

The tall guard attracted the attention of the security team as soon as he appeared, prompting them to issue an urgent warning.

This guy's armor was no longer a patchwork of rusted and broken pieces, but a relatively complete full-body armor that shimmered with a dull luster.

The humanoid guard's joints were covered with chainmail, and the helmet's visor was lowered, leaving only two deep slits through which a faint red light flickered.

Dragging a two-handed greatsword, it charged toward the exploration team at an incredible speed. The firepower of several assault rifles was instantly concentrated on its body. Bullets struck the thick plate armor one after another, producing a dense explosion like raindrops hitting a tin roof, with sparks flying everywhere!
However, the high-ranking guard only swayed slightly, and its forward speed hardly slowed down! Only a dense patch of dents and scratches remained on its breastplate.

"Roar--!"

With a strange roar, the greatsword transformed into a terrifying arc of light and slashed down!

With a single sword strike, the tough-skinned zombie, which had been holding the line for over half an hour and riddled with holes from various long-range crossbow bolts, was torn into pieces of minced meat.

If Doyle's Black Knight hadn't arrived at the crucial moment, filling in the gaps and using a series of exquisite parries, dodges, and feints to steer the giant off course.

Otherwise, if it were to crash into the heart of the vulnerable front...

The consequences could be disastrous!

Ultimately, this large, guarding figure met its end with a shoulder-fired missile.

A massive fireball shot into the sky, its violent shockwave sweeping in all directions.

The seemingly indestructible full plate armor was finally torn apart and twisted, disintegrating in the raging flames into a pile of scalding, smoking remains.

Chen Mo, who had been monitoring the situation closely, decisively halted the troops' continued exploration and ordered a retreat.

After nearly seven hours of fighting, they advanced about three kilometers, emptied two basic loads of ammunition, and brought back more than a dozen wounded soldiers, both lightly and seriously injured. The first exploration mission was thus aborted.

Lord Chen, on the other hand, appeared quite magnanimous.

"Isn't this great? We've made a killing on our losses!"

"As long as we keep fighting like this, we can take down any number of enemies; it's just a matter of time."

"Make sure to arrange for rest and recuperation as soon as possible. Oh, and expand the size of the field first aid center!"

"Perfect, let's fight it a few more times, consider it real combat training!"

(End of this chapter)