92: Chapter 92 Mountain-Embracing Demon Ape

On the highway twenty kilometers outside Jiangcheng.

A mechanized armed force of nearly a thousand people was speeding toward Jiangcheng at 100 miles per hour; it was the Elite Assault Team from the Sixth Battalion and Seventh Battalion led by Li Chengxi.

This time, Li Chengxi had emptied out almost everything the camp had.

Not only had he mobilized all the armored vehicles in the camp, but he had also dispatched the entire Elite Assault Team to serve as the vanguard, all to reach Jiangcheng in the shortest possible time.

"How much longer?"

Lin Mo, sitting in the lead military truck, asked for the third time.

"Report!"

The adjutant in the front turned around.

"About fifteen more minutes!"

"Fifteen minutes..."

Lin Mo gritted his teeth and looked out the window.

The black line in the distance was now appearing and disappearing; dust filled the sky, blotting out the sun, and the air was thick with the heavy stench of blood.

"Faster! Tell those behind to keep up!"

Li Chengxi, who was beside him, urged.

"Yes!"

The driver floored the accelerator, and the truck sped wildly down the highway.

And just at that moment—

"Boom—"

A deafening roar came from the distance.

The ground shook violently.

Lin Mo's expression changed drastically.

"That is... the direction of Jiangcheng!"

He stood up abruptly and looked into the distance.

As far as he could see, there was only dust and smoke; he couldn't make out the specific situation.

But judging by the commotion, the battle had fully broken out!

"Faster!"

Lin Mo roared.

"Yes!"

The driver gritted his teeth and accelerated.

And when they were still five kilometers from the city wall—

"Bang—"

A signal flare rose into the sky.

It was red.

This was... a distress signal!

"Oh no!"

Lin Mo's heart sank.

Had the city wall... fallen?!

"Battalion Commander, the situation is urgent; I have to go ahead!" Lin Mo turned his head and said.

Li Chengxi opened his mouth, just about to say something to persuade him, but suddenly, a blinding bolt of lightning erupted from Lin Mo's body, and with a flash, his figure vanished from the truck.

...

As it turned out, just fifteen minutes ago...

"Kill!"

Deafening shouts of battle erupted from the city wall.

Reinforcements poured in through the city gate.

At the lead was a tall, middle-aged man, the captain of the Lingwu City defense force, Zhou Zhiyuan, whose strength was at the early Fifth Order!

"Captain Liu!"

He strode toward Liu Jianguo.

"What is the situation now?!"

Liu Jianguo was commanding the battle, and seeing Zhou Zhiyuan arrive, his spirits lifted.

"Captain Zhou!"

"You finally arrived!"

He quickly explained the situation.

"The fierce beasts in the west and north have already been forced back by us!"

"But there is still fierce fighting in the south and east!"

Zhou Zhiyuan nodded.

"Good!"

"Let the reinforcements I brought also join the battle!"

"Yes!"

The two commanders quickly reached an agreement.

The ensuing battle entered a white-hot stage.

With the addition of fresh troops, the morale of the Jiangcheng defenders surged.

"Kill!"

"Drive these beasts out!"

"Charge!"

The shouts of battle resounded through the clouds.

Although the fierce beasts were numerous, under the powerful counterattack of the Awakener troops, they began to retreat steadily.

"Report!"

An adjutant rushed over excitedly.

"The fierce beasts on the western defense line have all been cleared!"

"The fierce beasts on the northern defense line have all been cleared!"

"Good!"

Liu Jianguo was overjoyed.

"Order all troops!"

"Counterattack along the entire line!"

"Kill every last one of these beasts!"

Zhou Zhiyuan, however, frowned.

"Captain Liu... isn't this too impulsive?"

"Although the fierce beasts are retreating now, their numbers still hold an absolute advantage..."

However, Liu Jianguo had been blinded by this brief victory.

"What is there to fear?!"

"Our morale is high right now!"

"If we don't pursue the victory, more people will die once they recover!"

Zhou Zhiyuan wanted to say more, but Liu Jianguo had already issued the order.

"Counterattack along the entire line!"

"Charge!"

The soldiers shouted and swarmed down the city wall.

Zhou Zhiyuan, helpless, could only order the troops he brought to follow.

However—

Just at the moment they rushed across the moat, a sudden change occurred!

"Roar—"

A deafening beast roar sounded from all directions.

The fierce beasts that had been retreating suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Then, they turned around and killed their way back.

But this was not the most terrifying part.

The most terrifying part was—

Behind the beast tide, countless powerful auras appeared.

Fourth Order!

Fifth Order!

Even... an aura close to the Sixth Order!

"Oh no!"

Zhou Zhiyuan's expression changed drastically.

"This is a trap!"

"They retreated on purpose!"

"To lure us out of the city!"

However, it was already too late.

The beast tide formed a huge encirclement, firmly surrounding the troops that had sortied.

"It's over..."

Liu Jianguo's face turned deathly pale.

"We fell for their trap..."

Below the city wall, the squad of hundreds surrounded by the beast horde immediately shrank into a circle.

"Kill!"

"Fight to the death with these beasts!"

"Brothers, all together!"

Shouts of battle and screams merged into one.

But soon, these sounds grew weaker and weaker.

In the face of an absolute numerical advantage, the sortieing troops were like a lonely boat in the ocean, liable to be swallowed at any moment.

"Crack—"

A soldier was torn in two by a fierce beast.

"Ugh ah—"

An Awakener was tackled by five or six fierce beasts.

"Help—"

Someone knelt on the ground begging for mercy.

But what responded to him was the blood-stained maw of a fierce beast.

In just an instant, more than half of the sortieing troops were killed or injured.

On the city wall, Liu Jianguo watched this scene, his eyes splitting with rage.

"No..."

He muttered.

"It's all me... it's all my fault..."

"If I hadn't issued the counterattack order..."

"So many people wouldn't have died..."

Zhou Zhiyuan's face was also livid.

"Now is not the time to say these things!"

"We must organize a rescue!"

"Save as many as we can!"

He picked up the communicator.

"All Awakeners still able to fight!"

"Prepare to go out of the city and rescue them!"

However, just at this moment—

"Roar—"

A deafening roar sounded.

A huge figure slowly walked out from behind the beast tide.

It was a Mountain-Hugging Demon Ape over a hundred meters tall, its entire body covered in blue-black scales, with a ferocious wound on its back; although it had healed, it was still shocking to behold.

"This is... a Mountain-Hugging Demon Ape?!"

Liu Jianguo muttered..

"This aura..."

"It is even more terrifying than an ordinary Sixth Order human Awakener..."

The giant ape raised its head and looked at the city wall.

In its eyes, dark red flames burned.

Then, it opened its mouth.

"Roar—"

The deafening roar resounded through the clouds.

The city wall shook violently.

The soldiers on top fell down one after another.

Some Awakeners with lower cultivation were directly shaken until blood flowed from their seven orifices.

"Oh no!"

Zhou Zhiyuan's expression changed drastically.

"This beast's strength is too strong!"

"Everyone retreat into the city!"

"Quick!"

However—

It was already too late.

This Mountain-Hugging Demon Ape leaped up violently; its hundred-meter-tall body, like a small mountain, soared over the heads of the surviving soldiers and slammed heavily into the moat, forcibly changing the direction of the river's flow.

Tens of thousands of tons of river water were shaken, surging upward, exploding in mid-air, turning into a torrential rain that poured down!

"Pfft—"

Countless people were shaken by this shockwave, spitting out blood.

The city wall was trembling.

The earth was cracking.

Those fierce beasts that were originally fighting to the death now crawled on the ground, shivering.

This was the pressure of a superior being.

This was the arrival of a king.

Even if it wasn't the true leader of the beast horde, it was enough to make those low-level fierce beasts lose their will to fight.

Liu Jianguo was shaken to one knee, looking up at that mountain-like figure.

"Fifth Order peak?"

His voice was hoarse.

"Or Sixth Order?"

The deputy beside him, who was already seriously injured, had collapsed at his feet, covered in blood.

"No matter what order it is, we... are finished."

The giant ape slowly turned around.

Its dark red eyes swept over the shivering humans on the city wall.

Just like looking at a group of ants.

It opened its mouth.

"Roar—!"

The terrifying sound wave exploded again!

This time, those soldiers with low cultivation were directly shaken into unconsciousness.

The bricks and stones on the city wall began to peel off.

The iron gate of the city began to deform.

The water of the moat had completely reversed its flow, flooding a large area of land outside the city.

The giant ape raised its huge palm.

It struck the city wall with one palm!

"Boom—!"

The city wall shook violently, and cracks spread from the palm print in all directions.

Another palm!

One more palm!

After three palms, that section of the city wall was already tottering.

"It's over..."

A soldier slumped on the ground.

"It's really over..."

"Mom... I want to go home..."

"Who will save us..."

No one answered them.

The giant ape struck with another palm.

This time, the tens-of-meters-high city wall finally couldn't hold up, and under the brutal force of the giant ape, it collapsed with a crash!

Rubble flew, and dust filled the sky.

The fierce beasts roared and poured in through the breach.

"Boom—"

The ground cracked.

Countless houses collapsed.

"Run—"

"Run quickly—"

Cries and screams rang out everywhere.

...