Doomsday Pillars

Tratattatatata! Tratattatatata!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Continuous gunshots resounded and intense explosions arose in the battlefield as the battle between thousands of insurgents against 35 people plus 20 stone golems went really fierce. 

Theo and the others, helped by the stone golems, did their best to resist the endless bombardment the insurgents threw at them. Fortunately, the pressure they withstood was slightly elevated by the presence of twenty golems who assisted in blocking and deflecting the bullets.

Even though there were thousands of insurgents, the majority of them were only ordinary Mortal realm fighters who use firearms or ordinary weapons. Nor were they able to simultaneously attack and take advantage of their numerical advantage due to the limited space the battlefield could offer.

Meanwhile, each of these Star Army fighters was accustomed to fighting enemies in large numbers, thanks to their experience against hundreds of red zombies who were stronger than the insurgents in front of them.

Apart from the massive difference in average level of strength, the standard between their weaponry also differed greatly, where the Star Army's fighters were armed with the finest equipment available while the insurgents were poorly equipped.

Even if the bullets fired by the insurgents' rifles did hit the Star Army fighters, the tier 2 protective vests that they wore would be able to completely repel it.. While the insurgents' weapons nearly did nothing to them, the fighters were able to wreak havoc among the insurgents using the tier 3 weapons that they had.

The counterattacks issued by the fighters certainly made the insurgents afraid. Each of the tier 3 weapons in their possession had magical powers enchanted to them, such as elemental attacks that could create chaos in the insurgents' camp. And coupled with their own spells and abilities, one could imagine how the insurgents currently feel about the situation.

Not only the Sky realm Magus who was able to fight using spells terrified the insurgents, even the Sky realm Knights were fearsome. Each of those chosen fighters possessed some battle art skills; such as [Speed Up] which increased their speed, [Mighty Swing] a battle art for machete-type weapons, [Revolving Blade] a sword battle art skill, and [Vicious Barrage] a battle art specialized in spear.

A circle of bullet-proof and blade-resistant stone golems also stood around the Star Army fighters. These rarely seen creatures made the insurgents even more scared. Within minutes of the time these golems appeared, hundreds of Mortal realm and Earth realm insurgents immediately broke off their ranks and scattered to escape.

Therefore, the main opponent of this Star Army was the 500 Heavenly Gate fighters in red-robes, the most zealous devotee who had the strength of Sky realm. These fanatics were so faithful to their so-called god that they still didn't stop attacking when Alex managed to kill and capture their leaders.

This was especially so for those who have consumed the strange red liquid. They would turn into an abomination that lost their logic and proceeded to attack wildly and blindly.

Luckily for the presence of Alex, who not only raised their morale but also fought the Heavenly Gate strongest Sky realm Magus fighters; Rama, Ardeth, and Theo could move freely against the weaker Sky realm fighters.

[Fire Infusion]

Stab!

Rama thrusted his tier 3 spear which was engulfed by flames towards one of the Sky realm enemies and pierced the man's tier 1 protective vest. Before the man's blood could fall to the ground, it was instantly evaporated by the blazing flames.

*swish* Slash! Slash!

Casting [Windwalk] again, Ardeth swiftly dashed and flickered towards the enemy as he used his ability [Cross Slash]. The two knives in Ardeth's hands gave off a gust every time he swung them at the nearby red-robed fighters. With each slash, a single head flew into the air followed by a body that fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, even though Theo was still using his favorite, signature [Sword Formation] as his means of taking down opponents, he began to use [Mind Blast] more frequently to reduce the bloodshed when he saw the situation slowly turn for the better.

When the battle had been going on for more than 1 hour and there had been hundreds of casualties who had fallen, the situation finally could be counted as nearing the end. On the Heavenly Gate side, there were only dozens of red-robed fighters left and hundreds of other wounded insurgents who could only lie down and wait for their fate or death to come for them.

Meanwhile on Alex's side, most of the fighters were already injured. There were even 3 people among them who were in critical condition and desperately needed medical treatment. One of them was Rick whose chest was stabbed by a sharp weapon. Luckily, he and the other two were getting emergency healing treatment from Daisy and Theo.

At this last moment of battle, the large eagle that previously only circled in the sky suddenly dived to the ground. This made Alex's expression turn aghast as he immediately ran fast toward the bird.

The bird grasped and knocked down two fighters at once using its talon. The others who were bewildered by Alex's sudden panic had finally realized the reason. Above the body of the giant mutated bird was a familiar figure of a young girl.

Tiffany, Alex's eldest daughter.

As he ran towards the descending bird, Alex used the hexagram technique to make sure he reached the bird fasted and that no threat was approaching his daughter.

…

It didn't take long for the battle to end with the remaining dozen or so Heavenly Gate fighters kneeling in surrender. However, instead of taking care of those people, Alex was currently busy scolding his daughter.

"The deal is you stay in the air." said Alex firmly with an angry expression.

However, Tiffany also didn't want to lose and pouted. "Aaa! Come on, daddy! The battle was basically over when I joined. Snowy and I were bored and I knew that she surely can protect me, daddy."

Veins appeared on Alex's face when heard that. "The problem isn't about the battle that's over, Tiffany. This is a warzone! There are too many things you are not supposed to see."

Still didn't want to lose, Tiffany replied, "Daddy! I'm 13 now! I'm a teenager!"

"Exactly! You are 13, still too young for this."

"What about brother Tommy? He has been fighting since he's 13."

"Well… he's different." said Alex while surprised by the wits of his daughter.

"What's the difference between him and me?" asked Tiffany, annoyed.

"He is not my kid, that's why."

Alex and Tiffany argued quite extensively, making it awkward for Theo and the others who were waiting for their next orders. A few moments later, the argument finally over and Alex joined the group. 

"Sorry about that… Anyway, how is it, Theo? Any intel?" asked Alex as he watched the fighters tie the surrendered enemy.

Theo grabbed the Lightning Magus, who previously claimed to be the god of thunder, whose body was currently full of bruises because of Alex's hits earlier.

Squatting down, Alex asked the man with a smile,"Ah! The great and powerful Zeus! Do you have any intel for me?"

The skinny brown-skinned man's demeanor turned 180 degrees into a completely different attitude after he received ample beating from Alex. The man was currently kneeling on the ground while crying in pain. Seeing Alex's devilish smile, the man desperately begged, "Please, please.. I am no god. Please let me go!"

"That's easy, tell me everything you know about the Heavenly Gate." said Alex.

The man then immediately spouted out the information he knew. Surprisingly, this man was trusted with a lot of important information like the insurgents' number and base location. After a while, Alex finally asked the most information question.

"Where is he? Where is Hafiz? Tell me and I will not hurt you anymore." said Alex with a smile while grabbing the man's shoulder. The man's body trembled when Alex's hands landed on his shoulder.

"P-Please… H-High Priest Hafiz is with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. They are currently staying at Burj Al Arab."

In his heart, Alex slightly praised Hafiz for choosing the most famous hotel in Dubai, maybe even in the world, as his headquarters. Hearing the location of their target, Theo asked, "So, what is the plan?"

Thinking for a moment, Alex then opened his mouth. "To prevent more casualties, I think it's better for me to just head there myself with the bird."

"Her name is Snowy, Daddy! Not bird!" shouted Tiffany.

"Yes, yes, Snowy.. Tiff, you don't mind asking Snowy to let me take another trip right? It's not that far."

Turning her head to the side, Tiffany replied, "Huh! Snowy won't let anyone ride her without me coming."

"..."

Alex could only shake his head thinking why this daughter of his could be so stubborn. That behaviour definitely didn't come from him… right?

After arguing with Tiffany for a long time, finally Daisy approached Alex. "Brother Alex, let me come along. I will definitely protect Tiffany from harm. I also can help you track the enemy's whereabouts."

Alex knew very well that her real reason was not that, but to look for Adam. However, it seemed like a good idea to let her come too.

"Alright, then. We will go immediately."

Daisy nodded and approached Tiffany. "Hello, little sister. Can you tell good things about me to your friend here? You see, big sister is afraid to fly." said Daisy while pointing at Snowy.

"I see. I will! But promise me one thing, sister."

"Uhm?! Of course, what is it?"

"Promise me you won't fall in love with my daddy."

"..."