THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 8 - Season 14 Episode 43

“It’s shattered?”

Abandoned Wave released a sigh of relief when he saw the magic barrier disappear. Stone Forest Town’s defenses had truly exceeded his expectations. To destroy the defensive magic array, he had lost over 400,000 Evil Beasts.

Had he expected such losses, he would have waited to attack. At the very least, he would have only moved after readying six or seven Evil Earth Dragons.

…

“Finally! Success!” Singular Burial, who watched the Stone Forest Town battle from Heaven’s Burial’s main headquarters, wiped sweat from his forehead as he watched the magic barrier shatter.

Had the barrier lasted a few more minutes, the operation may have failed.

Although the Evil Beast army had attacked the barrier madly, their numbers had continued to decrease as the fight drug on. Even the three remaining Evil Earth Dragons had less than one-third of their HPs remaining…

Had the Evil Earth Dragons all died before the barrier broke, the threat of the Evil Beast army would have decreased drastically.

Such a sturdy defensive magic array was simply unheard of. Fortunately, the Evil Beasts attacking the array had high HP and Strength. If it were up to players to take the barrier down, the army would pay a horrific price to deplete the magic array’s energy.

After seeing this magic array, Singular Burial’s desire for Stone Forest Town grew.

A Guild town’s key element was its security. It would only attract interested investors if it had powerful defenses.

No one-time-use magic array scroll could conjure such a powerful defensive magic array. The source was likely a defensive structure or tool.

Based on the images he had received from his subordinates in Stone Forest Town, it was obvious that this defensive magic array had originated from the massive machine atop one of the Magic Towers.

“Letting a Guild like Zero Wing hold on to such a tool is too much of a waste.” Singular Burial turned to Broken Flow, the Level 43 Berserker in dark purple armor beside him, and said, “Teleport to Stone Forest Town’s private house with your men. I don’t care what it takes; steal that tool. If necessary, I’ll permit you to expose the Dark Contract.”

Zero Wing was Heaven’s Burial’s greatest competitor in Star-Moon Kingdom. Naturally, Heaven’s Burial had planted plenty of spies in the Guild. They had even purchased two private houses in Stone Forest Town as a preventive measure.

This was the perfect moment to put those houses to good use.

With the magic barrier shattered, Zero Wing would try to hold back the Evil Beast invasion. Meanwhile, Heaven’s Burial could use the opportunity to strike.

The Evil Beasts might be a threat to other players, but Heaven’s Burial had special tools that prevented Evil Beasts and Evil Demons from actively attacking them.

“I can use the Dark Contract?” Excitement flashed in Broken Flow’s eyes. He glanced at the movement-type defensive magic array atop the Magic Tower and said, “Guild Leader, destroying that Magic Tower shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“If it’s necessary, then fine. But only as a last resort.” Singular Burial nodded.

“Understood. Guild Leader, wait for my good news.” Broken Flow chuckled before leaving the Guild Leader’s office.

…

Meanwhile, every Zero Wing player on the ramparts wore a solemn expression. In the end, they had failed to kill all the Evil Beasts before the magic array had run out of energy.

Although there were less than 100,000 Evil Beasts remaining, the leftover monsters were mainly the stronger ones. Weaker monsters such as the Elite Evil Beasts had long since been wiped out. The weakest remaining were Special Elite rank, while over 70 Great Lords and nearly half of the Grand Lords remained. There were plenty of High Lords left as well.

“Magic array teams, prepare to trap those Grand Lords! Ranged classes, support the NPC guards and prioritize killing the Great Lords! All MTs, distract the Evil Beasts below the Great Lord rank! Do not let any Evil Beasts enter the town or destroy the Miniature Ballistas!” Aqua Rose commanded.

Zero Wing had invested tons of Coins to raise Stone Forest Town to its current state. If they let the Evil Beasts invade and destroy it, the consequences would be unimaginable. If these monsters captured the Guild Residence, in particular, Zero Wing would lose Stone Forest Town.

Following Aqua Rose’s commands, Zero Wing’s members burst into action.

The numerous magic array teams promptly activated the Nine-star Polar Domain Magic Array Scrolls they had been given, trapping the Grand Lords that rushed into the town. At the same time, the Level 75, Tier 2 NPC guards charged towards the Great Lords.

Meanwhile, due to the Magic Towers’ buff, Zero Wing’s Level 40-plus MTs were more than capable of blocking the Evil Beasts below the Great Lord rank.

Although the battle was intense, it was not beyond salvation.

Moreover, Zero Wing had the strongest combatants with its three Divine Dragons. These creatures suppressed the Evil Earth Dragons, preventing them from truly entering the town.

…

“Despite having no financial support, Zero Wing sure has hidden a lot of tricks up its sleeves. But it’s too late!” Despite watching both sides sustain casualties and Zero Wing having the upper hand, Abandoned Wave was very calm. He raised the dark gray orb in his hand and began to chant an incantation.

In his opinion, this war had been over the moment the magic barrier had shattered.

As Abandoned Wave chanted, a massive, pitch-black, twofold magic array appeared above him.

When Abandoned Wave finished his chant, Evil Demons began to descend from the sky. In total, more than 3,000 Evil Demons had appeared. The weakest among these Evil Demons was a Level 50 Special Elite, with the stronger being Level 61 Great Lords. A total of 19 Great Lords had joined the battle.

These Evil Demons were the result of his merciless hunt of Guild and independent teams.

Although there were very few demons, they radiated an intensely terrifying aura.

These Evil Demons’ aura resembled that of high-tiered NPCs. Wisdom and intelligence were evident in their blood-red eyes.

“Why are there are so many Great Lords?” Flame Blood, who stood beside Abandoned Wave, could not help his surprise when the 19 Great Lord ranked Evil Demons dropped to the ground.

Although Flame Blood had guessed that Abandoned Wave had not revealed all the Evil Demons he had nurtured, he hadn’t expected the man to hide so many.

Based on his estimates, the man should be lucky to have nurtured seven or eight Great Lords after killing the various Guild elites and experts. After all, it was far more difficult to upgrade an Evil Demon than it was to upgrade an Evil Beast. Correspondingly, an Evil Demon was much stronger than an Evil Beast of the same rank. Against players, in particular, Evil Demons had an overwhelming advantage.

A Chieftain ranked Evil Demon would have no problem slaughtering even an expert player with an active Berserk Skill. There was no need to mention the Lords and Great Lords.

They were practically living nightmares!

“My servants, it is time to devour some souls!” Abandoned Wave sneered as he pointed to the distant Stone Forest Town. “Your target is the town before you! Gorge to your hearts’ content!”

He hadn’t dared risk his Evil Demons while the magic barrier had been in place; each one was just too precious. They could only be created from the corpses of powerful players. Nurturing them was even more difficult. In addition, they had much lower HP than their Evil Beast counterparts. Even the Great Lord ranked Evil Demons would likely die if they received an attack from the Intermediate Mana Pulse Cannons.

However, the situation had changed. Without the magic barrier, the Evil Demons could easily hide in the player crowd and infiltrate the town. Due to their small stature and high reaction speed, Zero Wing would not casually target them with its AOE war weapons.

Without this issue, slaughtering the Zero Wing members in Stone Forest Town would be a piece of cake.

Following Abandoned Wave’s command, the highly intelligent Evil Demons left afterimages as they dashed towards Stone Forest Town.