Chapter 4324: The Raven?
Chapter 4324: The Raven?
One good thing about this elite group was that its members were strong enough that they rarely needed to remain on the battlefield for long periods. Usually, they could stabilize a struggling battalion within a minute. In the worst cases, it took two or three.
Because of that, most of their time was actually spent traveling from battalion to battalion instead of fighting directly.
That became a huge advantage.
The elite group’s experts spent far more time recovering energy while moving than expending energy in combat. Thanks to that, they managed to keep their reserves in remarkably good condition despite the nonstop interventions across the battlefield.
Even after more than twenty deployments, Sudo himself had only entered combat twice, and only briefly each time. He, too, managed to preserve most of his energy reserves.
That was excellent news.
Everyone already expected Zone Gods like him to become crucial once the Godly Predators finally appeared.
Still, there was one major issue with this entire arrangement.
Because the elite groups constantly stabilized collapsing battalions while reinforcements from the rear kept replenishing losses, the battlefield never truly lost enough cultivators for the Three-Eyed Raven to leave.
After all, the current theory stated that the Raven’s anti-sensory ability only worked when large concentrations of enemies were present.
As long as enough cultivators remained on the battlefield...
The Raven would continue circling above them.
Of course, that situation also brought its own strange advantage. Every previous appearance of the Three-Eyed Raven throughout history shared one common point: No other Godly Horror had appeared alongside it.
At most, Godly Horrors would emerge on battlefields belonging to other countries, but never in the same location as the Raven itself. In that sense, the Raven’s presence alone was oddly reassuring.
Just like that, ten entire hours passed since the beginning of the war. Then suddenly, Kentucky noticed something.
’Roan... it stopped!’
Roan immediately shifted his attention toward the distant hordes of Godly Creatures. The fighting remained intense, but something had undeniably changed. The Godly Creature waves were no longer advancing.
They had finally lost their momentum.
Because the frontline held firm, the Godly Creatures arriving from behind continued piling up over several kilometers, cramming together into massive overcrowded masses.
"The momentum finally halted..." Roan murmured quietly.
Almost the same instant he said those words, every cultivator stationed along the fourth defensive line received the same message through their RCs.
-Everyone must brace for impact. All explosive arrays beyond the fourth defensive line will activate shortly. T-minus thirty seconds.-
The message came directly from Huriu himself, the supreme commander of this battlefield.
Sudo immediately reacted.
"Finish the Godly Beasts here quickly! Then prepare for the shock wave!"
The Aura Gods of the elite group immediately stopped conserving energy and unleashed their full power to eliminate the remaining Godly Beasts nearby.
Within barely twenty seconds, the battalion they were supporting stabilized completely once more, while replacement cultivators filled the emptied positions.
Then everyone prepared themselves. For a brief moment, the battlefield almost seemed silent. But that silence lasted less than a second.
If one looked carefully into the distance, countless pillars of light suddenly rose from the earth for an instant.
And then...
*BOOOOOOOOM!*
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
The world itself seemed to shake.
Every cultivator immediately anchored themselves to the ground as body parts from Godly Creatures began flying everywhere alongside overwhelming shock waves.
There were simply too many explosions.
Thousands.
No...
Tens of thousands.
Every explosive array had been fueled using enormous quantities of hidden Celestial Stones, with each formation containing dozens of them at a minimum.
The resulting destruction was absolutely terrifying.
Godly Beasts had no hope of surviving those explosions. As for the weaker Godly Spawns, they were erased instantly. In mere seconds, almost one hundred thousand Godly Creatures disappeared from the battlefield entirely.
And that was only this battlefield alone.
There were still several battlefronts spread across Turanzo Country, not to mention the neighboring nations participating in the war as well.
If similar operations succeeded elsewhere too...
Then the total death count across the war likely surpassed several million already.
Eventually, the explosions finally subsided.
However, enormous clouds of dust and smoke still covered the battlefield so densely that visibility became almost nonexistent.
Still, one thing was immediately clear.
The Godly Creatures’ assault had completely stopped.
Naturally, the creatures already engaged directly against the fourth defensive line survived since the higher-ups couldn’t activate explosive arrays beneath their own cultivators.
Those surviving Godly Creatures still had to be dealt with normally.
Aside from that, though, the battlefield had entered a temporary calm. Unfortunately, Huriu didn’t allow anyone to relax for long. Soon, another message spread across every RC on the battlefield.
-We eliminated many low-level Godly Creatures, but more are certainly coming. They simply have not crossed the gap left behind by the dead creatures yet. Use this opportunity to recover as much as possible and prepare for the next waves.-
Nobody needed convincing.
Everyone already understood the situation.
Huriu’s warning merely forced them to stay sharp instead of lowering their guards after the explosions.
Immediately, cultivators across the battlefield began absorbing Celestial Stones and Godly Crystals while keeping their eyes fixed ahead.
The battle had now entered its second phase. And everyone knew things would become very different from this point onward.
While the fourth defensive line waited for the next assault, Sudo led his elite group back toward their original gathering area.
"Well done, everyone," Sudo praised openly. "Thanks to your efforts, the fourth defensive line survived long enough for the Godly Creatures’ momentum to collapse completely. That allowed the explosive arrays to achieve their maximum effect."
He then smiled slightly. "Naturally, everyone here will receive substantial rewards once this war ends, especially those who made exceptional contributions."
Almost immediately, numerous eyes shifted toward Celis. For Sudo, Kentucky’s warnings remained the most strategically important factor.
However, for the cultivators actually fighting on the ground... Celis had unquestionably made the greatest visible difference during battle.
Celis himself maintained a composed expression externally.
Internally, however, he was extremely excited. Was it because people admired him? Hell no! He couldn’t care less whether these cultivators respected him or not.
The only thing occupying his thoughts was the enormous amount of Godly Crystals they would obtain after the war. Now that was something worth getting excited about.
"Sudo!"
Suddenly, another cultivator approached their group while leading over a hundred additional experts behind him.
Sudo immediately smiled upon seeing the newcomer. "Danfan! Good to see you. Looks like we managed to hold things together after all."
Then Sudo narrowed his eyes slightly while examining the man. "You look exhausted, though."
Danfan sighed helplessly. "Do you have any idea how many times I had to intervene personally in my sector? Honestly, I’m more surprised you still look perfectly fine. Your sector may have been the smallest, but it was definitely one of the most troublesome to support."
Sudo simply shrugged shamelessly. "That just proves what an amazing commander I am. Hahaha!"
"Bullshit!" Danfan snorted immediately. "If we survive this war, I’ll personally review your battlefield recordings afterward."
Naturally, for Danfan to speak so casually with Sudo meant he was also a Zone God. More specifically, a Middle Stage Zone God, just like Sudo himself.
"Hahaha!" Sudo laughed even harder. "Fine, fine. Truthfully speaking, I found a few hidden gems that made my life much easier. Believe it or not, I’m still in perfect condition."
Danfan shook his head before sighing once more. "Good for you. Naraqi, Rok-Fir, and Landrudu weren’t nearly as fortunate. The four of us spent too much energy preventing our sectors from collapsing. We probably won’t contribute much once the Godly Predators appear."
Sudo’s expression immediately turned serious.
"I see..."
Then he nodded slowly.
"Still, considering I was originally expected to expend myself similarly, we should consider ourselves lucky that at least one of us retained most of their reserves." Afterward, he asked, "Any updates from the command center?"
"Huriu is monitoring the battlefield using drones," Danfan replied. "The explosions appear to have intimidated the Godly Creatures temporarily, but it won’t take long before they advance again."
At that very moment, Huriu truly was observing the battlefield through several drones flying above the devastated wasteland.
Normally, such drones were nearly useless during battle due to the flying Godly Creatures destroying them quickly.
Now, however, the skies were temporarily clear enough for proper observation.
Everything seemed relatively normal.
At least at first glance.
Still...
One thing continued bothering Huriu greatly.
’Where did the Raven go?’