Chapter 160: The Siege, The Bizarre Winged Statues
A deafening rumble, like muffled thunder, echoed from the giant cave, shaking the stalactites at its summit.
Intermingled with the booms were the rising and falling cries of battle and screams of agony.
Helmed and armored Jackalfolk, Kobolds, and Lizardmen stood atop the city walls, their eyes bloodshot as they desperately resisted the Stone Golem's assault.
Even as their comrades fell to the Stone Golem's colossal fists, these normally cowardly beings showed no fear, fighting like berserkers.
Behind them, a flock of Eye Demons floated in the air.
They resembled massive eyeballs, each with a gaping, fanged maw in the center, long tentacles sprouting from the sphere; the ends of these tentacles were connected to small, eerily glowing purple eyeballs.
A closer look revealed that the depths of the Slave's eyes also held a trace of that same eerie purple light.
Chi chi chi!
Streaks of gray light sliced through the battlefield.
One after another, the Puppets were blasted into fragments.
The Slave and the Puppets battling on the frontlines were simply expendable to both the defenders and the attackers.
As a result, both sides were ruthless with their losses, pouring troops into the fray without hesitation.
The war had reached a fever pitch from the moment it began.
Farther back, Xie Man and Cole watched the scene, their expressions grave.
It was their first time witnessing an Underworld siege firsthand.
Before the war, they hadn’t thought much of it, but now, standing on the battlefield, they were deeply shaken by the brutal spectacle unfolding before them.
In a war where even Knights were treated as cannon fodder, the prowess of a Second Level Wizard Apprentice felt woefully insufficient, and death could come at any moment.
The pride and complacency they had felt upon reaching the Second Level Wizard Apprentice stage had completely dissipated, washed away by the deafening cries of war.
The members of the Knight Guard behind them instinctively tightened their grips on their sword hilts, their faces betraying their nervousness.
After all, this was their first real war.
Compared to the war unfolding before them, the skirmishes they had encountered during their exploration seemed nothing more than child's play.
However, as they touched the Magic Pattern Constructs hanging on their chests, the tension in their hearts dissipated significantly.
Boom!
A loud rumble suddenly echoed in the distance, accompanied by billowing smoke and dust rising into the sky.
The crumbling city wall had finally succumbed to the impact of the Golem, collapsing with a thunderous crash.
The road leading into Giant Eye City was now wide open.
Seeing this, Red Widow, the commander, immediately ordered a general attack.
Rumble, rumble.
The Legendary Puppet squad, led by the Higher Stone Golem and the Elite Double-Bladed Spider, charged forward with fierce momentum, entering the battlefield.
The Knight Guard did not want to be left behind either. Their captain, Xi En, shouted "Construct Activation!" and everyone simultaneously grasped their Magic Pattern Constructs, infusing them with Battle Qi.
In the next instant, bizarre black patterns suddenly covered the exposed skin of each soldier.
An invisible wave enveloped their bodies, as if they were draped in intangible armor.
In that moment, everyone in the Knight Guard felt their momentum surge.
"Charge!"
With a fierce swing of his sword, Xi En led the charge on his Black Rock Leopard.
A group of Rune Knights rallied around him, roaring as they followed suit.
Five hundred Rune Knights swept toward Giant Eye City like a torrent, their force irresistible.
Xie Man and Cole exchanged a glance, then activated their Magic Pattern Constructs. They also invoked their Protection Rings, casting Shield Spells around themselves before riding their Black Rock Leopards into the fray.
The wind scattered the smoke and dust, revealing the scene within.
As the city wall crumbled, the Eye Demons, originally positioned at the rear, continued to retreat further back, while more Slaves surged forward like a tide, attempting to halt the advancing force.
However, in the face of the charging Rune Knights, these cannon fodder proved to be little more than an inconvenience.
Kobolds and Lizardmen fell one after another beneath the enchanted weapons.
The Knight Guard was like a sharp blade, slicing through the defenders' formation with ease!
Buzz!
A ray shot from the distance, striking Xi En, but it was halted less than a centimeter from his body by the invisible force field of the Magic Pattern Construct.
Xi En swayed slightly, then turned to the direction from which the ray had come. He spotted an Eye Demon and, with a cold snort, changed course to eliminate it.
At the same time, Xie Man and Cole also identified the Eye Demon hiding in the rear and charged toward it.
To catch bandits, one must first capture the leader.
These slaves acted so fearlessly only because they were under the control of the Eye Demon. Once all the Eye Demons were defeated, the slaves would naturally collapse as their sanity returned.
As they closed the distance, the two of them simultaneously raised their hands and tossed out a Rune Gem.
The gem bloomed in mid-air, radiating a dazzling red light. With a whoosh, it transformed into a surging wave of flames, sweeping forward like a landslide and forcefully clearing a wide passage through the dense enemy ranks!
Xie Man and Cole did not pause their advance. Following the path they had created, they quickly reached the Eye Demon and rapidly began chanting spells, launching several Magic Missiles.
Puff! Puff!
The Magic Missiles pierced the spherical bodies of two Eye Demons, instantly killing them!
The remaining Eye Demons panicked at the sight and the tentacle-eyes surrounding their bodies began to glow with an eerie light.
Waves of invisible, strange fluctuations instantly enveloped Xie Man and Cole.
However, the two remained unfazed.
Before charging, they, along with everyone in the Knight Guard, had consumed Clarity Potions, granting them extremely high resistance to illusions and enchantments.
Unless the Nest Mother Eye acted personally, the control abilities of the Eye Demons were completely ineffective against them.
Chi chi chi!
With the help of their Rune Gems and spells, Xie Man and Cole managed to keep over a hundred Eye Demons from even raising their heads.
Conversely, the rays fired by the Eye Demons could not penetrate the four layers of defense created by the Magic Pattern Construct, Protection Ring, Shield Spell, and Energy Particle Protection Layer.
In a short while, dozens of Eye Demon corpses lay on the ground.
At the same time,
As two wizard apprentices, the Knight Guard, and numerous legendary puppets joined the battlefield, the scales of victory gradually tipped in favor of the besiegers.
The defense line of Giant Eye City was retreating step by step, soon pushed back to the city center.
"Screech!"
A sharp, piercing scream suddenly echoed from the enemy's rear.
In an instant, Xie Man and Cole felt a daze wash over them.
But quickly, a delicate shout rang out, awakening the two from their stupor.
Xie Man regained his composure, his gaze wary as he turned towards the distance. There, in the midst of the dense Eye Demons, floated a unique Eye Demon. It was relatively small, but the tentacles connected to its spherical body numbered in the hundreds, far exceeding those of ordinary Eye Demons.
The eyeballs at the ends of its tentacles displayed a strange purplish-black hue.
Making eye contact with those eyeballs, Xie Man immediately felt a dizzying sensation and quickly looked away.
Illusion!
It was a Nest Mother Eye!
Xie Man and Cole quickly reacted, their hearts racing.
Beside the Nest Mother Eye were four Eye Demon mutants, clearly larger in size.
In addition to their eyeballs, their tentacles were armed with sharp claws and fangs. As they swung, they tore through the air, producing a sharp, whistling sound.
Furthermore, these Eye Demon mutants were riding atop ferocious giant insects.
"They're Guide Eyes!" Cole said gravely.
Xie Man nodded solemnly.
He recognized the descriptions of the Guide Eye from his studies; they were exactly like the Eye Demon mutants before them.
Guide Eyes usually emerged in Eye Demon groups ruled by a Nest Mother Eye or an Overseer Eye, and they were a common variant among Eye Demon mutants.
The rays shot from their eyeballs were no more powerful than those of ordinary Eye Demons, but their melee combat abilities far surpassed those of their kin. They excelled at riding giant insects deep into enemy lines, causing chaos.
They were a rare melee type among the Eye Demons!
At that moment, the four Guide Eyes frantically waved their tentacles, adorned with claws and fangs, desperately trying to stop an approaching Bloodlight.
That Bloodlight was none other than Red Widow!
The beautiful female vampire was, at some unknown time, enveloped in a thick layer of blood mist, her entire being exuding a demonic and sinister aura.
Each time she raised her hand, blood mist gathered and surged to the front of her palm, forming a blood-colored spear that tore through the air, shooting like lightning towards the Nest Mother Eye.
Four Guide Eyes were exerting all their strength to barely hold off her attacks.
"Squeak, squeak!"
Sensing the threat, the Nest Mother Eye let out a piercing shriek.
As the sound echoed, the surrounding Eye Demons intensified their assaults, continuously firing streams of gray rays that struck the blood mist surrounding Red Widow.
The blood mist rapidly dimmed, visibly losing its luster.
"Annoying beasts!" Red Widow snorted coldly.
Suddenly, she stopped, raising her right hand as if grasping something, her eyes igniting with a fierce red light.
In an instant, the dozens of Eye Demons surrounding her cried out in unison, countless blood beads seeping from their bodies, spiraling towards Red Widow's hand to form a blood ball!
Those Eye Demons, drained of their blood, transformed into shriveled corpses that collapsed to the ground.
Immediately after, the blood ball in Red Widow's hand changed shape, morphing into an even more vivid scarlet spear, which she hurled with tremendous force. Like a bolt of lightning, it pierced the void, instantly impaling a Guide Eye and pinning it to the ground!
The Guide Eye twitched as if electrocuted, then fell silent.
After executing this move, Red Widow's face paled, clearly showing that the effort had taken a considerable toll on her.
Seizing the moment, the surrounding Eye Demons launched their attack on Red Widow, but a sudden roar erupted. A visible distortion struck the midst of the Eye Demon horde, then exploded with a deafening boom, instantly tearing dozens of Eye Demons to shreds.
Shattering Sound Wave!
Boom!
A Mithril Golem charged into the Eye Demon crowd, instantly creating a bloody storm. Eye Demon after Eye Demon was blasted into a shower of blood mist, and in the blink of an eye, it closed in on the Nest Mother Eye.
Three Guide Eyes attempted to intercept it, but the Mithril Golem quickly dismantled them.
Ultimately, the Nest Mother Eye was obliterated with a single punch!
Witnessing this scene, Red Widow couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.
Each of those Guide Eyes possessed the power of a first-ring legend, and they were surrounded by hundreds of Eye Demon guards. Red Widow had exhausted all her efforts to finally kill a single Guide Eye, yet the Mithril Golem had effortlessly broken through the numerous defenses, slaughtering the Nest Mother Eye and three Guide Eyes as easily as slicing through vegetables!
This power was truly terrifying!
"This is the strength of a Third Circle Legend-level Puppet," Red Widow exclaimed in admiration, her reverence for Su Nan, who could refine such a powerful Puppet, deepening even further.
With the deaths of the Nest Mother Eye and the Guide Eyes, the Eye Demons quickly descended into chaos, scattering and fleeing in all directions.
Unfortunately, the entire Giant Eye City was already heavily surrounded by Puppets.
With the Puppets blocking the exits and the Wizard Apprentices and Rune Knights in pursuit, the fate of these Eye Demons had been sealed long ago.
Over an hour later, the sounds of fighting within Giant Eye City gradually subsided.
The Eye Demons were nearly annihilated; those who survived were captured by the Rune Knights, imprisoned, and escorted back to Youhu City by the Golem to be used as experimental subjects for the Base's future materials.
The remaining slaves were imprisoned as well, to be used as laborers for repairing Giant Eye City and mining.
After hastily arranging everything and leaving the Knight Guard to watch over the prisoners, Red Widow, Xie Man, and Cole quickly rushed to the Nest Mother Eye's lair.
Upon entering the lair, the three made straight for the warehouse.
When they opened the warehouse door and saw the mountain of Silver Ingots piled inside, smiles spread across all three faces.
Xie Man chuckled, “These big-eyed fellows are quite wealthy.”
Cole scanned the cluttered warehouse and soon found a box. When he opened it, his eyes lit up.
“Mithril!”
Inside the box lay a piece of Mithril.
Cole picked it up and weighed it in his hand, his smile growing wider.
"At least three kilograms."
Xie Man and Red Widow also felt a surge of joy.
Before attacking Giant Eye City, Su Nan had ordered that, after taking it down, they must immediately search for Mithril.
With this piece of Mithril, the master would undoubtedly be very pleased.
After stowing the item away in their storage, the three finally began to search the entire lair.
Moments later, at Xie Man's call, the three reunited in a spacious cave.
In the very center of the cave stood a statue.
The appearance of the statue was quite bizarre, resembling a mass of wings crammed together, with a long tail extending from its middle and dragging behind it.
"What kind of creature is this?"
Xie Man and Cole turned to Red Widow in unison.
When it came to knowledge about Underworld creatures, Red Widow's experience far surpassed theirs.
The female vampire frowned and pondered for a moment before shaking her head. "I've never seen this kind of creature before, nor do I recognize it."
At her words, Cole furrowed his brow and scanned the cave suspiciously.
"Speaking of which, why would the Eye Demon place a statue like this here? And why is there only one statue in such a large space?"
Xie Man's gaze swept around, and suddenly, a spark of insight flashed through his mind. He blurted out, "Worship!"
Seeing the surprised looks on Cole's and Red Widow's faces, Xie Man quickly explained, "What if this is where the Eye Demon comes to worship? And this statue is the object of Eye Demon's worship."
Cole and Red Widow were stunned, but after considering it carefully, they realized it was indeed possible, just as Xie Man had said.
This empty cave truly resembled a worship hall.
It was just that they had never heard of the Eye Demon having any religious habits.
After frowning and thinking for a moment with no results, Cole decided to stop worrying about it and said in a deep voice, "Let's take this statue back to the master."
Xie Man and Red Widow agreed without objection.
They summoned a golem to move the statue, and then the three of them left the lair.
The cave where the Eye Demon lived was indeed spacious, but the sanitary conditions were awful.
After only a short stay inside, the three found it somewhat unbearable.
Comments