Ch. 136 - Clearing the Stronghold

When the assembly call sounded, Tianyang jumped up from his sleeping mat. Wearing his defense armor, there was no need to spend extra time equipping himself. The youth grabbed the knife and gun beside his bed, fastened his multifunctional belt, and without even putting on his uniform, he and Han Shu hurried out of the tent.

Outside, Yan Bing and seven or eight soldiers had already split into two teams and climbed into two Falcon assault vehicles. Tianyang and Han Shu rode in one, and the two vehicles set off, joining the other squads' vehicles outside the camp, heading toward the battlefield together!

Tianyang had bloodshot eyes and chapped lips, but his spirits were still good.

Over the past three days, he had begun participating in battles, setting out each day with his squad. On the battlefield in the town, the Night Walkers weren’t responsible for the main front; their job was to clear out tricky strategic points and eliminate any dark creature that posed a threat to the main force.

However, Han Shu was sometimes called away to the frontlines. His fortress-ranked abilities were highly valuable in large-scale warfare.

Just yesterday, Tianyang had witnessed his captain unleash a large-scale defensive barrier on the main battlefield, withstanding a barrage of fire from the dark creatures and allowing the allied forces to counterattack with ease.

Because of this, most fortress-ranked abilities served in the regular army or held positions in the Storm Legion.

Someone like Han Shu, who joined the Night Walkers as a fortress-ranked ability user, was quite rare, as such powers were not fully utilized in small squad explorations.

From deep within the town came the sound of artillery fire and the dull thuds of explosions. Leaning against the vehicle window, Tianyang checked his class information.

[Class Rank 2: Obliterator Abilities: Weakness Detection, Instant Kill, Phantom Ascension Progress: 31% Enhanced Domain: Physical Strength +1 Next Class Rank: Ripper]

…

He remembered when he killed the sorcerer a few days ago, his ascension progress increased by 9%. Yet in the past three days, after defeating several 2nd-level dark creatures, his progress only increased by 2%.

Comparing the gains from past missions, Tianyang felt that after his class rank advanced, the same level of dark creatures seemed to provide less ascension progress.

“Listen up, here’s today’s mission. We’re going to take out a dark creature fire point,” Han Shu said, pulling out his communicator and switching to the squad channel so the other assault vehicle could hear him.

“The detailed mission info and location have been sent to your communicators. The area is inaccessible to vehicles, and I’ll be needed on the main battlefield today.”

“So, you guys take six soldiers and complete the mission.”

Cang Du's voice came through the communicator, “And after we take out the fire point?”

Han Shu replied lazily, “Then do as you please. If there’s no new mission from Four Eyes, you can rest on the battlefield or act freely to earn merits, just don’t die on me.”

Tianyang opened his communicator, found the mission info, and memorized the location of the fire point. He then took out the Crimson Moon Warblade and infused it with star essence.

Soon, the vehicle stopped. Han Shu got out and, after casting a layer of star essence protection over Tianyang and the others, sternly said, “Don’t be reckless, use your brains. I better see you all alive tonight, got it?”

Tianyang and the others nodded and replied, “Got it, Captain!”

Han Shu chuckled. “Then get going.”

Tianyang’s group, including Yan Bing and six soldiers, approached the town from another direction.

As indicated in the mission info, the area was filled with rubble from buildings, making it impossible for vehicles to pass through.

Raven Squad could only climb over these obstacles or find their way through windows or doors.

Before long, they spotted their target.

Three hundred meters ahead stood a building, with black-red beams of light continuously shooting from the windows on the fourth floor toward the main battlefield.

Judging by the number of beams, there were at least a dozen spectral snipers in the building. These goat-faced snipers had long range, and while their numbers were small, the main army wouldn’t waste troops on dealing with such fire points.

Clearing these enemy strongholds that disrupted the main battlefield fell to the Night Walkers. On any given day, they would handle one or two, sometimes four or five such missions.

Tianyang lied behind a large rock, twisted steel bars jutting out of it, possibly from a building’s wreckage. He used his tactical eye to scan the front, noticing Lurkers roaming through the rubble and several Mad Dogs lying near some gaps under the building.

The boy wasn’t surprised; the dark creatures were no fools. They wouldn’t leave snipers unguarded, often placing Lurkers and Mad Dogs around fire points as sentries.

Cang Du drew his long sword, Spring Water, and whispered, “Old rules,” before suddenly leaping out from behind cover and charging forward.

It was nearly impossible to infiltrate a building unnoticed by dark creatures. Over the past few days, for similar missions, Cang Du or Tianyang would typically launch a frontal attack, drawing the attention of dark creatures.

This allowed Ji Yu and the soldiers behind them to attack.

Today was no different.

Seeing Cang Du charge forward, Tianyang also darted out from behind the rock, running between the rugged ruins.

At several openings in the building, the Mad Dogs that had been lying on the ground suddenly stood up, barking loudly as they rushed toward Tianyang and Cang Du.

The Lurkers slowly moved in the direction where Raven Squad had appeared, but before they could intercept Tianyang and Cang Du, star essence beams had already pierced through the air, hitting the will cages in their chests.

One Mad Dog locked onto Tianyang, and when it was only ten meters away, its powerful hind legs pushed off the ground, and it leaped, pouncing down toward the boy from above.

Tianyang drew his Crimson Moon Warblade, ready to slash. But before he could strike, a star essence arrow shot through the air, hitting the Mad Dog squarely in the head, driving deep into its skull and shattering the cage beneath it.

In midair, the red glow in the Mad Dog's eyes faded. Tianyang stepped aside casually, avoiding any effort, as the hound's corpse fell to the ground and began to disintegrate.

The Crimson Moon Warblade met a new opponent, a crimson light sweeping across the battlefield. The heads of two Mad Dogs flew into the air.

By the time they hit the ground, Tianyang had already plunged into the Lurkers' ranks. The Crimson Moon Warblade sliced through the air, each flash of light signaling the shattering of another Lurker's cage.

In the blink of an eye, Tianyang had fought his way through the Lurkers. Turning around, he tossed a stun grenade.

The grenade landed amidst the Lurkers and Mad Dogs, far from where Cang Du was. Upon hitting the ground, a burst of electricity erupted from the ruins!

A high-voltage electric field was released, and within its range, blue and white lightning swept wildly over the bodies of dark creatures. When the field dissipated, the smoking corpses collapsed one by one and then began to disintegrate.

In the blink of an eye, a vacuum had been cleared on the battlefield, at the cost of 300 contribution points. A few minutes later, Ji Yu and the soldiers arrived inside the building. But the real battle for the fire point was only just beginning.

The spectral snipers wouldn’t foolishly stay in place, waiting to be picked off. These goat-faced creatures were both cunning and agile, and Tianyang could already imagine that their assault had alerted the snipers as they entered the building.

By now, the goat faces were probably scattered throughout the building, hiding in various concealed spots, waiting for a chance to strike.

After a brief rest, Tianyang and Cang Du led the charge again, rushing up the building, using themselves as bait to draw the snipers out from hiding, while Ji Yu and the others provided cover and suppression, allowing the two to swiftly clear the snipers.

During this process, Tianyang, having undergone one round of physical enhancement, was evidently more composed than Cang Du in the face of sudden attacks.

Tianyang reacted faster, dodging attacks with more agility. Cang Du was noticeably a beat slower than the youth, narrowly avoiding beams that came out of nowhere each time.

Finally, as they reached the fourth floor, a beam suddenly shot out from deep within the building, and Cang Du didn’t notice in time.

Fortunately, Tianyang had detected it first, blocking the beam with his Crimson Moon Warblade in front of Cang Du’s chest. The beam struck the blade, leaving a teacup-sized red mark on it.

Cang Du broke into a cold sweat. Although his defense armor could absorb some of the beam’s power, who would dare bet their life that the beam wouldn’t penetrate the armor?

The ponytailed young man gave Tianyang a complicated look, but Tianyang had already charged toward the source of the beam. With Ji Yu and the soldiers providing cover, Tianyang closed in on the sniper and finished it off with one slash.

At this point, all the snipers in the building had been cleared. Tianyang sat down heavily on the ground, wiping his forehead with his hand, which was covered in sweat.

Suddenly, the light dimmed, and Tianyang looked up to see Cang Du approaching.

The ponytailed young man looked elsewhere and muttered hesitantly, “I owe you one.”

Tianyang was momentarily stunned, then laughed and said, “No problem, just treat me to a meal when we get back.”

Unexpectedly, Cang Du snorted. “Get lost! My favors aren’t that cheap!”

He walked off in a huff, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Tianyang shook his head. This guy was still as awkward as ever.

The team rested, and Ji Yu raised her hand, gently gathering her loose hair, then put down her communicator.

She had already sent the mission completion report. If no new orders came from the command, the squad would be free to act.

Should they head to the battlefield to earn more merits, or hide somewhere and slack off?

Ji Yu was conflicted. Just then, she suddenly noticed that a section of the wall above the two soldiers resting against it began to bulge.

From behind the bulging wall, a dark mass suddenly burst forth, crashing down!

“Get out of the way!” Ji Yu screamed, but her voice was quickly drowned out by the explosion that followed.

The dark mass slammed into the ground, and before the two soldiers could even react, their bodies were crushed beyond recognition by the heavy object. A large amount of blood gushed from their protective suits, pooling inside their fully enclosed helmets, forming a small puddle of blood.

Amid the rising dust, a massive hammer with a surface glowing faintly with green light slowly lifted. Its construction was extremely crude, looking as though a large mass of metal had been carelessly melted together.

On the uneven surface of the hammer were large patches of blood and human tissue, which continued to drip from the hammer’s underside...

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