Chapter 161 Skirmish
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"Bang"
The gunshot rang out at the moment the monster charged forward. The sniper rifle bullet penetrated its head, instantly bringing it down to the ground.
Blood splattered, the monster collapsed twitching, hit by a bullet but still not dead, its body convulsing.
"First Order Inferior?"
Guo Wutao and the others, watching the monster, had a slight glint in their eyes. If it was just First Order Inferior, then there was a chance...
Just as this thought came to mind, however, another figure burst out from behind the dimensional rift at high speed, identical to the Gray Inferior Demon before.
One after another, they swarmed out, nearly filling the entire rift, and in an instant, four or five burst forth.
"Attack!"
Guo Wutao immediately ordered an attack, having seen the figures of those monsters behind the space rift, numerous as a tide.
"Bang Bang"
The sound of gunfire started up. The Gray Inferior Demons that rushed into the real world were quickly pierced by bullets and fell to the ground under the assault of firearms.
But more Gray Inferior Demons surged out from the space rift, wildly excited and brutal. The corpses of their kind on the ground did nothing to halt their pace; rather, the blood and slaughter seemed to excite them even more.
The corpses hindered the bullets' trajectory. As more and more monsters rushed out, the number increased, and the bodies of Gray Inferior Demons gradually spread toward the position of the defense line.
They charged farther and farther, getting closer to the position of the Southern City Guards.
The ground was already dyed red with blood, chaos, brutality... Mind, willpower, the forces converged, spiritual energy surged, and the blood on the ground moved stealthily toward the space rift.
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The rift was expanding, slowly becoming wider, allowing more Gray Inferior Demons to pass through.
Zhao Yaqian noticed this change and her face turned drastically, "The rift is expanding."
Everyone's faces darkened, knowing this was a bad sign.
The Gray Inferior Demons kept on charging, but the swarming monsters were no longer limited to First Order Inferior; even larger Gray Inferior Demons began to pour out from the gateway.
They were almost two meters tall, their skin a terrifying gray-white, and extremely tough. Bullets landing on their bodies did not inflict fatal damage.
"Angel Envoys, hold the line."
Being unable to kill quickly with bullets meant that more monsters could emerge from the space rift.
Guo Wutao issued a second command, and several First Order Upper Grade Angel Envoys swiftly entered the battle, charging violently and knocking down the First-level Intermediate Gray Inferior Demons, then pummeled them heavily, brutally killing them off.
After the Angel Envoys charged, they didn't retreat to the line of defense, instead, they began to grab other Gray Inferior Demons and slaughter them recklessly.
Upon seeing living beings approach, hundreds of Gray Inferior Demons immediately launched a frenzied attack, with piercing roars they swarmed and assaulted with frenzy.
In their crazy demeanor, not a hint of fear could be seen, as if they were indeed mindless killing machines.
One after another fell, but more and more beasts kept coming out. The number of First-level Intermediate Gray Inferior Demons increased, and First Order Upper Grade Gray Inferior Demons began to appear as well.
Their skin was tough, their claws as sharp as knives, bursting forth and immediately fighting against those First Order Upper Grade Angel Envoys.
Their resistance allowed even more Gray Inferior Demons to break through the limitations of the bullets and crossbow arrows. Inside the factory, their numbers had already reached hundreds, and they began to strike at the defense line.
The Angel Envoys held the defense line while the Contractors coordinated the offense; for the moment the defense line was not breached.
However, it was clear that the number of monsters inside the dimensional rift was still increasing, far from being limited to this.
"Abandon the first line of defense; limited space gives those monsters an opportunity."
Yan Tiejun decisively ordered, with the Shield Claw Tyrant and Blood Thorn Double-headed Dog by his side immediately grabbing and killing a First Order Upper Grade Gray Inferior Demon.
As more and more monsters appeared, an hour had passed without any decrease in their number. On the contrary, as the dimensional rift expanded more rapidly, even more monsters poured out.
The ground was littered with corpses, piled up like small hills. In such an environment, it was increasingly beneficial for the monsters.
Yan Tiejun made a decisive decision. Zhao Yaqian, Duan Jie, and several others' Second-Rank Apostles also at the same time, killed First Order Upper Grade Gray Inferior Demons and then loudly ordered, "Retreat in order, seal the factory."
The Apostles served as a blockade, ferociously killing the Gray Inferior Demons. The Blade Mantis Tyrant and Bullhead Tyrant even blocked the entrance to the rift, directly facing the monsters that surged out from inside.
One after another, they tried to kill as many as possible.
The Southern City Guards quickly retreated, sealing the entrances and exits of multiple factory buildings.
With the retreat of many snipers from Southern City Guards, the suppression on the Gray Inferior Demons significantly weakened, and despite the blockade by two Second Order Tyrants in front of the rift, more and more Gray Inferior Demons rushed out.
"Duan Jie, let's go."
After the personnel retreated, Zhao Yaqian messaged Duan Jie; their group of Second-Rank Apostles were now the last stand, blocking the attack of the Gray Inferior Demons. The number of Gray Inferior Demons in the factory had reached five to six hundred, continuously assailing Zhao Yaqian and the others' Second-Rank Apostles.
"Alright."
Duan Jie agreed, then controlled the Bullhead Tyrant and Blade Mantis Tyrant to suddenly charge towards the doorway, plowing through the flood-like mass of Gray Inferior Demons.
Li Ruikang, Guo Wutao, and the others also ordered their Angel Envoys to strike at the mass of Gray Inferior Demons and then ran towards the last exit.
As soon as the Gray Inferior Demons were scattered by the charge, their pace slowed quite a bit. At that moment, Guo Wutao's Bone Spur Giant Dog, after everyone had burst through the main door, turned back and opened its gaping maw.
Bone Spur Bomb!
A gray, bony sphere was violently ejected from the gaping maw, landing among the several hundred pursuing Gray Inferior Demons. It exploded into numerous bone spurs, the piercing noise penetrating their bodies and immediately killing them on the spot.
In an instant, dozens of the pursuing Gray Inferior Demons fell, diminishing their momentum.
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Guo Wutao and the Bone Spur Giant Dog charged out of the main gate of the factory at the same time.
Duan Jie and Cheng Zhenyong had already prepared, and as soon as Guo Wutao came out, they pushed the two metal gates on the left and right shut.
This was the main metal gate of the factory, six meters tall and quite thick, which they slammed shut and locked with a heavy lock.
Banging sounds of crashing against the door rose up as the Gray Inferior Demons gave chase, but they were stopped by the factory's doors and walls and couldn't break through for the time being.
"Go!"
Guo Wutao and the others didn't stay here long, trying to use a factory to hold back these monsters was wishful thinking, the real battlefield was the manufacturing area.
The towering walls were a hindrance, but the vast space inside was the true battleground; whether it could be defended or not would depend on this battle.
The sound of crashing against the door continued, and Guo Wutao and his team had quickly reached the perimeter walls hundreds of meters away. By now, almost all of the Southern City Guards had arrived and were setting up defenses along the wall.
More than a thousand Southern City Guards, each holding a rifle or crossbow arrow, with their Angel Envoys summoned in front of them, stood firm like an army.
Inside the factory, without the suppressive fire from the Southern City Guards, Gray Inferior Demons continued to pour out – First Order Inferior, First-level Intermediate, First Order Upper Grade... In less than ten minutes, the factory interior was crammed with one to two thousand Gray Inferior Demons.
They howled incessantly, slamming into the exits; finally, some Gray Inferior Demons found the windows.
Bang
They smashed through the windows, breaking out of the factory, discovering the vast open space, and also the Southern City Guards in the distance.
"Roar"
With that roar, the Gray Inferior Demons inside the factory began to turn and aim for the windows to rush out.
"Detonate!"
Yan Tiejun saw the Gray Inferior Demons and immediately gave the order with a cold voice.
A Southern City Guard next to him activated the detonator, and with a thunderous explosion, a huge fireball surged out.
In an instant, the factory became a ruin, collapsing under the fiery blast and huge billows of smoke.
Nearly two thousand Gray Inferior Demons were buried in the wreckage, consumed by the explosion's fire.
"Look fast, the crack is still there!"
However, as the dust had barely settled, someone saw the otherworldly space crack standing atop the rubble.
The crack was now over five meters tall and about three meters wide, emitting an even more intense purple glow.
Blocking the door was of little use against such a large crack, through which several Gray Inferior Demons could rush out at the same time.
Rustle
The rubble stirred, and the Gray Inferior Demons that had not died, though wounded and covered in dust, charged toward the Southern City Guards with large strides.
"Dadada"
The guns spat fire as they opened fire on them, bullets striking the Gray Inferior Demons' bodies.
There weren't many Gray Inferior Demons that hadn't been killed and could still stand, less than a hundred, but the otherworldly space crack was still there.
Monsters surged out again.
One hour, two hours, three hours...
Time passed by slowly, and the number of Gray Inferior Demons emerging from the space crack grew increasingly horrifying, swelling into the thousands, surging like a gray tide toward the Southern City Guards.
The bullets killed quickly, and the occasional chemical bombs could handle any Gray Inferior Demons below First Order Upper Grade.
But this had only led to a stalemate in the battle, because facing such a vast number of monsters, the number killed was far less than the number emerging.
Li Ruikang and the other Second-Rank Apostles were all sent out, along with the Southern City Guards' apostles, to prevent the monsters from getting close.
Blood drenched the ground, and the corpses of monsters piled up like hills.
"How can there be so many monsters; what exactly is that place?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Guo Wutao, fighting alongside the Bone Spur Giant Dog, his brow furrowed, looked toward the otherworldly space crack.
"Two hours, if there is no change, I'll cover the rear, everyone else retreats," Yan Tiejun's voice came through. His military green camouflage had darkened, soaked in blood, the blade in his hand had dulled considerably, but his eyes were fiercer than ever.
"Wait, look at their movements."
However, just then, the Gray Inferior Demons' fast charges slowed, the purple light from the otherworldly space crack flickered, and behind it, huge figures suddenly appeared.
With gray skin covered in purple lines and standing five or six meters tall, the giant Gray Inferior Demons squeezed themselves out.
"Second-grade Monsters."
With just one glance, Zhao Yaqian's expression turned serious. As the otherworldly space crack stabilized, more powerful monsters among the Gray Inferior Demons appeared.
One, two, three... altogether seven Second-grade Monsters
Everyone's hearts tightened; the Second-Rank Apostles gathered. Yet, in the next moment, an even bigger monster with two heads emerged, standing one or two meters taller than the Second-grade Monsters, with gray keratinous skin forming a thick hide, and an even more ferocious appearance.
The faces of everyone changed – were there stronger beasts?