15: The Ring of Embers! The flames of the blue flames ignite the soul, and the bloody battle escalates!

(PS: It wasn't explained clearly before, so I'll clarify now: the Monster Siege Battle is based on the Lord's strength, and there's an upper limit to the final strength of the monsters.)

"Prepare—Fire!"

Zhui Yun ordered sharply, his arm sweeping down.

On the city wall, bowstrings vibrated in unison, hundreds of arrows soared into the air, their tips gleaming coldly in the dim light, dense as locusts, covering the surging monster horde below.

Puff! Puff!

The arrow rain fell into the frontmost monster ranks, accompanied by the dull thuds of weapons piercing flesh.

The hundred or so Rot Wolves at the very front were pinned to the ground before they could even let out a full howl.

Several heavily armored, two-tiered Scale Armor Lizards were also shot in vital spots, their heavy bodies crashing to the ground, twitching a few times before becoming rigid and still.

However, this brief but fierce assault did not stop the monsters' advance. The monsters behind roared, trampling over the corpses without hesitation, their speed increasing rather than decreasing, charging forward even more frantically.

"Damn it, there are too many!" Zhui Yun frowned, raising his hand again, "Second volley, prepare..."

Just then, Bai Xiao appeared at the very front of the city wall, holding a longsword, its blade burning with a fierce, bluish-green spiritual pressure flame.

He slowly raised his longsword, its tip pointing directly at the sky, and softly uttered two words: "Halo."

Clang—! A light, ethereal chime rang out without warning, not from any physical object, but more like a tremor on a soul level.

An indescribable wave of energy, centered on Bai Xiao, suddenly spread out! A pale white halo, visible to the naked eye, rippled out like water, quickly sweeping across the entire city wall, covering every soldier.

Where the halo passed, a miraculous change occurred. A thin, yet incredibly solid, pale white flame instantly ignited on the surface of all the weapons in the soldiers' hands—halberds, bows, swords, shields!

The flame burned silently, yet it seemed to carry an intense and annihilating intent that could directly scorch the soul.

"This is..." A young Halberd Warrior looked at the pale flame flickering on his halberd blade, feeling the strange power emanating from it, and couldn't help but gasp.

Even Mu Yang and Stone Rock felt the enhancement of this power; the sensation from their weapons was completely different, as if an indescribable vitality had been injected into them.

Zhui Yun's hand, which was about to order another volley of arrows, paused. He looked at the flames coiling around his bow arm, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, then a slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Interesting... Everyone, free fire! Let these bastards taste something new!"

The firepower on the city wall suddenly reached a new level.

Under Zhui Yun's command, the sound of arrows leaving bowstrings was as dense as a sudden downpour. Every arrow, whether a regular feathered arrow or a Hurricane Arrow infused with wind elements, had a strange pale white flame flickering on its tip.

These flaming arrows tore through the air, emitting a shriek unlike before, like soul-reaping specters.

As the arrow rain fell, the Rot Wolves that were hit were not only pierced through, but pale white flames also ignited in their wounds, emitting a burning smell accompanied by a deeper, more profound wail.

Some relatively fragile low-tier monsters rapidly withered, disintegrated, and finally turned to dust in the pale flames, as if even the traces of their existence were completely erased.

This double-strike effect far surpassed the previous pure physical damage, and for the first time, the monsters' forward momentum was clearly curbed.

Bai Xiao stood at the very front, his longsword pointing diagonally downwards, the bluish-green spiritual pressure and the pale flames covering the city wall reflecting each other.

He didn't immediately launch an attack, merely watching his power enhance his allies, his eyes as calm as an ancient well, as if the area-of-effect ability that had drawn gasps of awe from everyone was nothing more than a casual act for him.

From above, Su Jin took in the entire scene, and the almost imperceptible curve of his lips widened slightly.

Bai Xiao's Ashen Extinction Ring was far more than just "not bad" in its effect.

A thousand-meter radius of coverage, directly incorporating the entire initial city defense system into its buff, already exceeded the scope of conventional tactical skills. More crucially, the double damage of 'Soul Scorch' (soul and fire) was a devastating blow to these low-tier monsters, especially those that might possess some special resistances.

This was not merely an increase in lethality, but an absolute tactical advantage.

"A Hero Unit, truly lives up to its name," Su Jin mused. "But such a large-scale, high-intensity group buff must consume a considerable amount of energy, right?"

He subtly glanced at Bai Xiao, who seemed to be under no pressure, but the noticeably paler complexion compared to before did not escape Su Jin's eyes.

"Heh, suffering for the sake of appearances," Su Jin couldn't help but inwardly grumble, but his evaluation of Bai Xiao undoubtedly rose a few points.

With such a powerful trump card in hand, his confidence in defending against this monster siege, and even future development, grew stronger.

"Well done," Su Jin thought to himself, his gaze once again turning to the seemingly endless sea of monsters. The real test was yet to come.

As if to confirm his thoughts, the dense fog seemed to be thoroughly enraged by the setback at the front lines, churning even more violently and ferociously.

Immediately after, the number of monsters surging out of it suddenly increased, more than doubling the previous wave!

This time, the types of monsters also changed. Besides the still fearless Rot Wolves and Scale Armor Lizards, the ranks were conspicuously mixed with several exceptionally large and ferocious beasts with menacing auras!

Some were up to five meters tall, resembling giant gorillas, with bulging muscles and dark green tough hides covering their entire bodies; each step caused the ground to tremble slightly. Others looked like centipedes enlarged several times, their carapaces a ghastly pale white, and their countless segmented legs scraped across the ground, emitting a hair-raising "shasha" sound.

The aura of these monsters was clearly stronger than the previous Tier 2 creatures; they were genuine Tier 3 ferocious beasts! Just the oppressive feeling they exuded made many new recruits on the city wall turn pale and their breathing grow heavy.

Even more troublesome, following these behemoths was a group of short, stocky, hedgehog-like monsters.

They were about half a person's height, their backs covered in dense, metallic-sheened spikes.

After emerging from the dense fog for a distance, these "hedgehog monsters" uniformly stopped, suddenly arched their bodies, and their back spikes bristled, aiming at the Infinite City's wall.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—!"

The next moment, the sound of tearing air suddenly erupted! Thousands of sharp bone spikes, like arrows leaving their bows, trailed grey-black trajectories, raining down on the city wall in an overwhelming barrage!

The attack's range was vast, and its density was immense, instantly covering a large area of the city wall.

Facing this sudden, almost saturation-level ranged strike, Stone Rock, who had always been as steady as a mountain, his eyes suddenly sharpened. He slammed his Lava Greatshield into the ground in front of him with a dull "thud," and the lava totem on the shield's surface seemed to come alive, a fiery glow flickering erratically.

"Shields up!!" Stone Rock's deep voice boomed across the city wall like thunder, "Form ranks!!"

"Hmph!"

The Heavy Shield Guards and Tie Jia Bu Bing (Iron Armor Infantry) in the front row of the city wall roared in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized, raising their greatshields, which glowed with pale flames and their own light, almost simultaneously.

The edges of the heavy shields precisely interlocked and collided, creating a clang of metal, instantly forming an impenetrable steel barrier.

Immediately after, a hazy but tough white light curtain rose from the shield formation, enveloping the entire shield wall; this was the "Copper Wall Iron Wall" skill collectively activated by the Heavy Shield Guards!

The moment the shield wall formed, the overwhelming rain of bone spikes had already arrived!

"Clink, clank, bang, bang, bang—!"

A suffocatingly dense series of impacts merged into one, like countless hammers frantically striking an anvil.

Innumerable bone spikes violently struck the shield surfaces, which glowed with white light and pale flames, sending up sprays of fine energy sparks and bone dust.

The entire steel shield wall trembled violently under this first wave of saturation attack, yet it remained as steady as a rock, blocking every single attack!

Above the city wall, Bai Xiao slowly raised his longsword again. On the blade, the bluish-green spiritual pressure arcs leaped even more violently, and an even more terrifying aura began to brew.

Mu Yang and Zhui Yun were also poised, ready to face an even fiercer onslaught.

The most brutal stage of this city defense battle had clearly just begun.