Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

She plunged the broken sword into the earth. When she pulled it out again, the flowing silver light mimicked the other half of the sword. The silver light gradually solidified, and the sword was restored to its original state.

"Then, let's start the fight."

The battle was preceded by mortar flares, which illuminated the center of the woods as bright as day. The Forest King remained unmoved, his figure still wandering under the laurel tree.

Shangluo walked in the middle, with Wen Yuan, Lu Liang, Lu Huaiyang, and the golden armored warriors driven by Apollonia standing in a row beside him. The moment they stepped into the clearing in the forest, the Forest King stopped and said,

"Sacrifice. A fresh sacrifice."

An ancient voice filled with malice came on the wind.

"Beautiful Diana, goddess of the moon. You drive your silver chariot across the night sky. You show farmers their crops and travelers their roads." The Forest King sang the poem that Carin had left unfinished. "Now, I offer you my youthful blood. Diana, raised in the silence of the ages, you lead the heifers that low at the sky. Oh! Sacrifice, morning of pious sacrifice. The forms of the gods, their graceful postures, intertwined in rows! When the present generation has worn out its old age, you remain. And, sacrificer before you, how will you struggle to escape?"

The old man raised his sword and said, "Who is the first one? Who will be the next one?"

Before he could finish his words, a heavy machine gun bullet struck him squarely in the shoulder, cutting him off. A torrential downpour of fire followed, with twelve firing points simultaneously unleashing a barrage of bullets at the Forest King. Machine gun rounds were interspersed with armor-piercing rounds from anti-tank rifles. The Forest King stood still in the distance, not retreating a single step, yet the blow sent tremors through his body as if he had been electrocuted.

With a loud boom, the Mars chariot fired. A high-explosive shell hit the Forest King's head, but the smoke from the shell was instantly dispersed by the chains of fire whipping in from all directions.

"Ugh. Ahhhhhhhhhh!" The furious Forest King roared, raised his sword high, and plunged it into the earth - this was the beginning of the second stage.

Four mercury-like bodies rose from the four directions of east, west, south and north and surrounded him.

When the four great spring spirits rose up, he stretched out his sword and pointed it directly at Shangluo's position:

"Changxia's daughters, come on!"

However, the four great elves did not obey his command. They turned around and raised their swords to the king.

Karin, as tall as an average human, was the first to advance. While the Forest King was still in shock, she delivered a powerful kick to his stomach, then swung her greatsword and struck him on the head. He fell to the ground without a sound. The other four elves rushed forward, pounding his back with their swords like pounding medicine. Without any swordplay, they pinned him to the ground with sheer brute force.

Han Xingzhi returned to the tank and picked up the intercom: "Attention all units, the boss is down! Charge!!!"

The Dragonfang soldiers, holding trumpets, rushed out of the forest and began to blow. Immediately, Dragonfang soldiers from all directions rushed forward. They rushed forward, shields in one hand and Roman daggers in the other. Reaching the Forest King, they squeezed past the Great Spring Spirit and stabbed him in the back with their daggers.

"Wow!" Shangluo, who was counting down the seconds, put down his phone. "Beat the first stage in 30 seconds. In the second stage, control all the Great Spring Elves, knock them down directly, and then rush over with over a hundred units to crit. Is this how you play the Golden Branch Ritual?"

Wen Yuan, who was standing by, was also flipping through her notes: "It seems...it seems like this is how it was played."

The Forest King, pinned to the ground, was unable to utter a single sound. Dozens of longswords and shortswords stabbed in and out of his body, a scene even more lively than the assassination of Caesar in the Senate.

"Then, should we go up and finish off the enemy?" Lu Liang asked.

"No need, I can just go up and break off the branches. You guys just watch from behind, I'll be back soon."

He took a deep breath and took off his armor, leaving only his phlogiston stealth combat suit. He unfastened the buttons at the hem to allow for greater flexibility when running.

Jinjia immediately took action and stood in front of Shangluo.

"Well, I'm going to count down. 3, 2, 1, run!"

Shangluo leaped out in a crouching start, sprinting toward the laurel a hundred meters away. Jinjia stood in the inner circle, always blocking him and the Forest King.

Shangluo felt like he had never run so fast in his life. He finished the 13-meter run in just seconds! The Forest King, pinned to the ground by a swarm of Dragon Fang soldiers, couldn't even react, not even a cry.

The Golden Bough is right before your eyes, only 20 meters away, the distance to the inner ring. Take another step forward, and the Forest King will begin to rage.

One step forward——

"Ahhhhhhhh!" the enraged Forest King cried out, but the Dragon Tooth Soldiers on top of him even used their shields. Layer upon layer of Dragon Tooth Soldiers piled up into a small mountain, pinning the Forest King down.

Chapter 176 Wind

Everything is going according to the strategy script.

He fell to the ground in the first stage, then in the second stage. Finally, in the third stage of his rage, the Forest King fell to the ground again. From the moment he raised his sword, he couldn't move a single step.

Bullets and artillery shells rained down, even the summoned Great Spring Spirit counterattacked. Everything was just as described in the strategy guide, even better than the guide. Because even the conditions listed in the guide had never been fully met like this, not to mention the Dragon Fang soldiers.

100% completion, no injuries. A perfect clearance allowed the "scorer" to rush into the penalty area perfectly.

The "scorer" stepped in. Through the gaps in the crowd, his cloudy eyes caught sight of the figure rushing into the restricted area. He saw it for only a moment before his vision was blocked by a golden armor.

Everything was perfect, like a play, and he was as ugly as the clown in the play. Everything was rehearsed, everything was rehearsed, only he was excluded.

The cold blade stabbed in and out of his body. But he felt no pain, because mythology is history expressed through stories, the eternal continuation of history. He was just a silhouette, a replica.

Rage welled up from nowhere. But he didn't know why he was angry, because mythology is history expressed through stories, the eternal continuation of history. He was just a silhouette, a substitute.

"I'm not an immortal king at all. I'm just a substitute? I've never succeeded?"

He and the elf who assassinated him met each other's eyes, and they saw that the cloudy look in each other's eyes was no longer there.

"He's awake!!!" Karin pierced the Forest King's head with a sword, and the gushing blood failed to make his eyes cloudy again.

"Traitors! You will pay the price!" The only response was the sword. Sword after sword, the cold blades pierced through him, pinning him to the ground, unable to move, only to make him more awake.

The sound of the wind appeared beside my ears: "You, finally woke up."

It was a voice whose gender could not be identified. Men, women, birds, beasts, flowers, cicadas, it was as if everything in the summer had spoken:

"Look at all this, look at what the Romans did. They were mocking you. They didn't even treat you as a bull to be slaughtered, but just as a ridiculous 'end-level reward'."

"I remember you!" The Forest King had never been so angry, nor had he ever been so calm. "You appeared in my long dream. You left behind these great spring spirits, which are not part of the Moon Goddess's ritual. You are Elodai. Elodai Asha."

"It seems you are truly awake. Welcome to the Victorian era, my king."

With one step forward, Shangluo entered the restricted area.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" The Forest King roared furiously. The layers of Dragon Tooth Soldiers pinned him down, but they could not stop his roar.

The wind picked up.

The wind gathered flowers, grass, blood, and everything that flourished in the long summer, and gathered them into a furious face in front of the laurel tree:

"Back off! Hunters covered in blood. The wilderness has never been your playground! You've gone too far!"

The furious wind swept up everything on the ground, and Shangluo was blown backward. Only Apollonia's golden armor was deeply rooted in the ground and caught him.

After the storm, the Dragon Fang Soldiers were blown into the forest like pieces of paper, and only four Great Spring Elves stood firm like big trees.

"Lin." Feng's voice turned to her, "I trust you so much."

"You only trust your puppet! Elodai!" Karin pointed her sword forward.

"Don't forget, who gave you the first red fruit in the forest, who made you drink from the first handful of clear spring water in the long summer, and who made you attend the royal court of the long summer and stand before the corridor of the Mirror Palace. And you, you don't even want to call me Yasha. You really disappoint me, Lin."

"My name is Karin! Karin of the Kesso family, Lord Knight of Arikia and Lake Nemi, a noble Roman! Remember this name, my hunt begins today!"

"As you wish, then. Let the Wild Hunt begin."

The face of the wind shattered, and the objects gathered by the raging wind began to burn fiercely, forming a flaming gateway. Shangluo was closest to the gateway. Through the inverted flaming gate, he saw the blooming flowers of midsummer, the dense forest, the palace and courtyards within the forest, and the royal army. A whole iron square array was formed behind the gate.

Elodeasha, the mistress of the long summer, sent out her vanguard. A neat array of great spring elves marched out of the gate, each one 2.5 meters tall, each holding a greatsword.

The great elf's footsteps trampled the ground. Slowly advancing, the front of the team had already left the restricted area.

Suddenly, a heavy machine gun launched a chain of fire—followed by a second, a third, and a fourth. The Dragon Tooth soldiers who had been blown away returned to their positions.

"(*Jinling Yayan*)." Han Xingzhi cursed, "It seems we've discovered a hidden plot! (*Jinling Yayan*) It's not even in the strategy guide!"

Wen Yuan grabbed his intercom and said, "Shangluo! Fall back! We need to form a battle line first!"

[What to do? I can take you for another try.]

"Go ahead! Go around their flank! Jinzhi is right ahead!"

[Okay!] Jin Jia held Shangluo back and circled towards the elves' flank.

Suddenly, the flaming gate expanded, becoming even wider than before. A swift black shadow charged out from the long summer—the royal cavalry leaped from the flaming gate, their six-legged, heavily armored warhorses trampling the mortal earth. The elves of the warhorses were similar in size to Karin's. Several times smaller, they carried a much larger greatsword, a silver light pulsing from it.

[Holy shit, I can’t beat this! Let’s go for a walk!]

Before Shangluo could decide whether to escape, Wang Tingjun, the first to leap out, charged in front of him, the tip of his sword pointed directly at Shangluo. The sword tip was filled with a fierce wind, and the six-legged warhorse leaped high into the air.

With a muffled "pop" sound, the rainbow light emitted by the burning torch crossed the battlefield and hit the warhorse's eyes.

Wen Yuan pulled out the bolt, loaded another armor-piercing bullet, and adjusted the torch chamber to the ready position.

The horse was knocked off balance in mid-air and tumbled to the ground. However, the horse and the rider did not separate after falling to the ground. Rage supported the horse to leap up again, and the hole in its pupil made it even more excited.

The Royal Court's cavalry charged again. A second round from the incendiary rifle struck the warhorse's eye again. However, the warhorse was only slightly delayed and not knocked down. After a brief pause, the raging force of the cavalry propelled it into a third charge.

Chapter 177 The Royal Court's Army

Knocked down, they got up again. Knocked down again, they got up again. Time and again, their savage fury sustained them, allowing the cavalry of the royal court to rise again from the depths of their wounds.

Heavy machine gun fire followed suit, but the bullets flew in a shower of sparks, unable to even slow them down for a second. Wen Yuan fired a fourth shot, this time targeting the knight on her back—half of the knight's head was blown off, but her grip on the sword didn't loosen at all. The knight's jaw was injured, preventing her from making any sound, but she continued to roar silently. Aside from fury, the knights' faces were expressionless.

The warhorse charged forward like a truck, its six legs causing the ground to vibrate with each stomp. The longsword, held horizontally, thrust forward like a spear—

"Oh shit, this thing is impossible to beat! How can we beat it?" Shangluo patted Apollonia's shoulder, "Run! Run back!"

[Then hold on tight!] With a quick dodge, Jin Jia hoisted Shang Luo onto his shoulders and turned to run back. However, two legs couldn't outrun the six-legged warhorse, which leaped into the air again. Wen Yuan, behind him, fired another shot, but before he could pull the trigger, Jun Qi dodged to the side.

The greatsword slashed down in an instant—a flash of cold light sent chills down Shangluo's spine. He subconsciously turned around and swung it backwards:

With a loud bang, the light and Junqi's sword collided. This time, it didn't cut through, but instead exploded with a "bang" and a ball of sparks, blowing Junqi and his horse back.

"what happened?"

[Your sword is a phlogiston sword, and hers is also a physical phlogiston sword, so it's like this when you chop. To you, their swords are physical, so you can block them.]

"Good guy! So that's it!"

Shangluo had actually been worried about whether his swordsmanship training would actually be effective. The sword Apollonia had prepared for him wasn't actually a sword at all, both in name and form. It was just a beam of light. Or, more like a welding torch.

This sword couldn't cut through everything. Iron sheets were no problem, but if it encountered something it couldn't cut through, it would have to pause before it could cut through it.

While such a sword is a powerful weapon, capable of breaking through any block, the price of this is that the sword itself cannot be used to block, as the physical body of the blade does not exist. He kills quickly, but is also killed quickly.

But here, because the swords of the royal army were also composed of phlogiston, the superiority of the two was immediately apparent. A single collision sent the charging cavalry flying. Shangluo himself simply withstood the force, a sensation not unlike striking a wooden stake.

"Is this considered the Eighteen Falls of Touching Clothes?"

[Ha, this is the divine sword that Lady Apollonia personally prepared for you! How can it possibly be on the same level as those inferior weapons? To them, your sword is probably on the same level as divine chrome. A slight knock on it would be a home run at best, or even a complete rip.]

"Wow! This is amazing. Then I..."

Before he finished speaking, a new "army" walked out of the flaming gate.

The Yongquan elves, each holding a bow as tall as a man, marched out in formation. As soon as they emerged, they focused their attention on Shangluo, aiming their bows and swords at him.

The golden armor rolled over and pulled Shangluo from his back to his front, then turned and ran back. Shangluo only heard a few "clangs" from the golden armor, and then he flew into the air - Apollonia fell.

Shangluo's vision went dark, and the golden armor pressed down on him.

Aa ...

"Cough cough cough, it's okay, I won't die."

The fallen golden armor still left a gap, and Shangluo used his elbows to support the ground, saving half of his life in the gap - if it really fell down, although this set of golden armor could not directly crush him to death, it should be able to make him vomit blood.

"I shouldn't have taken my armor off."

"If you hadn't taken off your armor, you'd be dead by now. I can't carry you this far."

She turned over and picked up Shangluo, and the entire row of cavalry behind her charged forward again.

Suddenly, there was a sound like a cannonball breaking through the air from the front. Lu Liang, using his true energy, rushed over, kicked the nearest horse over, and grabbed a large sword.

"Retreat first! Retreat to the front line!" She stood behind Shangluo, giving him time to catch his breath.

The battle continued. The awakened Forest King, shrouded in his cloak, wielded his greatsword. The dull, long-tarnished blade now shone as if forged from silver. The Forest King himself seemed to have regained his vitality amidst the long summer's military might: his form remained unchanged, but his eyes had regained their clarity. Karin and the other four surrounded him, but they were unable to inflict another wound on him.

The other Great Spring Elves had already launched a charge against the Dragon Fang lines. They were not indestructible, and many were rendered inert by the heavy machine gun fire. A few Great Spring Elves would charge into the positions, only to be penetrated by the deep fire. However, the Dragon Fang soldiers were constantly at risk of casualties, while the elves pouring out of the gate were endless. The outline of the gate was gradually widening.

More and more elves rushed out, infantry followed by cavalry, and cavalry followed by ranged infantry. From a distance, Shangluo seemed to see even larger war weapons waiting at the gate. It was just that because the gate was not wide enough, they had not yet been able to break through.

"Oh no!" Shangluo watched as the elves in front of him grew in number. They charged forward frantically, and even the Dragon Fang soldiers' firepower couldn't stop the advance. The flanks were already beginning to break through, and the chariots had already begun to move forward, preparing to use artillery fire to resolve the situation—and when they did, they could indeed knock down quite a few.

"Hello! Hello, hello!" Titus' voice came from the phone, "Are you all okay? We've detected high-energy phlogiston fluctuations inside!"

"The situation here is not good."

"What did you see? The situation seems bad. I need some keywords."

"It seems to be some elves. Not just one, but many! Lots and lots of elves! An army of elves has appeared."