100: Barriers, Collaboration

Five days later, just as Brian, with an iron fist, purged internal resistance and completed his substantial control over the Dawn Continent, the Orc army of the Azure Wolf Continent finally surged forth like a breached dam!

Over 1.3 million elite Orcs, mixed with an even larger number of irregular legions, spread across the Golden Grassland, extending as far as the eye could see.

The sound of war drums, roars, and wolf howls converged into a heart-pounding symphony of war, and the furious aura even made the sturdy walls of Blizzard Fortress seem to tremble slightly.

The sky was obscured by the two-legged flying cavalry of the Falcon Hawk Clan and the bloodthirsty bat swarms summoned by the shamans, casting an ominous shadow.

Within the ranks, over twenty rune-enhanced War Behemoths moved like mountains, each step making the earth groan.

This was a destructive force capable of crushing any human defense line from any previous era.

However!

Today, they faced Brian's iron legion!

Outside Blizzard Fortress, on the newly constructed defensive positions, one hundred thousand iron oath guardians stood like ancient mountains, forming the foremost iron defense line.

Their heavy armor gleamed with a cold luster in the sunlight.

The giant tower shields on their left arms were deeply embedded in specialized bases.

The "Mental Pollution Wave" amplifiers on their backs resembled folded metal wings, silent and deadly.

Behind the iron oath defense line, over three hundred thousand Military City and Blizzard Fortress defenders, who had completed preliminary human-machine collaborative restructuring, were tightly deployed in their pre-set positions, based on months of training.

They were no longer isolated and helpless individuals, but organic components of this vast war machine.

Further back, one hundred fifty thousand breakers lay like dormant volcanoes, their thick muzzles and dense missile launchers pointing into the distance, waiting to spew destructive flames.

Even further back, fifty thousand sky patrollers had already ascended, like an invisible celestial net, transmitting real-time details of every corner of the battlefield back to the Mage Tower and every combat unit on the front line.

One hundred thousand annihilators, like ghosts merging with shadows, quietly disappeared into the complex terrain on both sides of the front line.

One hundred thousand sanctuaries were dispersed at key nodes, their pure white paint like points of hope dotted within the iron torrent.

Brian stood in the Mage Tower's operations room, a panoramic battlefield sandbox displayed before him in minute detail.

Vera, beside him, nonchalantly ate snacks, showing no sign of pre-battle tension.

Spirit Eye watched Vera eating snacks; she wanted to eat too, but she was still commanding the operation!:

"Master, the Orc main force has begun its charge. The vanguard consists of three hundred thousand wolf riders, mixed with five War Behemoths, and aerial units are beginning to dive."

"Engage the enemy according to the predetermined collaborative plan."

Brian's voice was calm and unwavering.

The moment the order was given, the battlefield ignited!

The iron oath guardian legion simultaneously activated the "War God's Horn"!

A deep and resonant hum echoed across the battlefield, and an invisible mental pollution wave and a dazzling energy taunt field spread out like ripples of death.

The charging wolf riders instantly had blood-red eyes, their reason drowned by furious rage, and they crashed into the steel barrier without hesitation.

The flying cavalry and bat swarms in the sky also seemed to be pulled by invisible chains, madly unleashing javelins, sharp claws, and acid onto the "iron oath" formation.

"Bang!"

"Boom—!"

The collision of flesh and steel erupted in continuous roars.

The wolf riders were broken and battered against the sturdy shield wall, the howls of the direwolves and the wails of the Orcs merging into one.

Yet, the iron defense line, supported by the joint barrier system, stood firm like a reef, only rippling the energy shield.

Just as the Orc wolf riders were firmly held by the iron oath, smashing their heads against the shield wall, the human spearmen and heavy infantry deployed in the gaps of the iron oath and behind the low walls in the rear calmly thrust their enchanted spears, precisely harvesting the Orcs who had miraculously survived the impact and were trying to climb over or squeeze through the gaps.

They didn't need to worry about directly enduring the impact of giant beasts, because that wall of steel bore everything for them.

Their task became simple and efficient—clear the stragglers and consolidate the defense line.

In the sky, the sky patrollers circled like falcons, their reconnaissance drones transmitting critical information such as shaman gathering points and catapult positions behind the Orc formation, in real-time, to the human legion's commanders and elite archer squads.

The next moment, powerful magic-breaking arrows, shot by human magic archers and guided by the "sky patroller" data, flew as if with eyes, crossing long distances and accurately landing on the heads of shamans who were guiding large-scale spells, effectively interrupting the Orcs' strategic-level attacks.

On the ground, the breaker legion opened fire.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!!"

Tens of thousands of small magic missiles, like a reverse meteor shower, covered the middle and rear sections of the Orc charging swarm with shrieks of death.

Continuous explosions turned the earth into scorched land, and violent shockwaves and shrapnel tore Orc soldiers and their mounts to pieces.

The five War Behemoths were specifically targeted by over a hundred breakers, with specialized armor-piercing warheads precisely hitting their joints and eyes like surgical knives.

Amidst earth-shattering wails, their massive bodies collapsed like falling mountains!

After the devastating missiles turned the earth into a sea of fire, creating large zones of death, a brief vacuum appeared on the battlefield.

At this moment, human infantry formations, receiving orders and accompanied by a small number of "iron oath" units for cover, rapidly advanced, occupying and consolidating the areas swept by firepower, expanding the depth of the defense line.

They walked beside the steel giants, treading on the scorched earth, a sense of security and power rising from their hearts.

On the flanks of the front line and in the shadows further afield, annihilators hunted Orc commanders like specters.

Human scouts complemented them.

The scouts used their familiarity with the terrain to guide the annihilators along hidden paths and were responsible for dealing with targets unsuitable for robots (such as Orc nobles disguised as ordinary warriors), or establishing temporary observation posts in areas cleared by the annihilators.

Throughout this process, the pure white figures of the Sanctuary robots were particularly striking.

They not only saved the lives of human soldiers with emerald healing beams but also provided temporary cover for wounded soldiers with energy shields.

Seeing their comrades quickly healed from fatal wounds, the morale of the human soldiers received an immeasurable boost.

They knew that as long as they weren't instantly killed, there was a chance of being saved.

This belief allowed them to maintain unprecedented calm and courage when facing the Orc horde.

This was no longer a simple steel slaughter, but a precisely coordinated dance of death!

The new type of robots were the protagonists on the stage, bearing the most dangerous and heaviest parts.

The human army, however, was an indispensable supporting cast and collaborator, filling the gaps in the robots' functions, making the entire combat system more flexible, resilient, and efficient.

The wild courage and vast numbers of the Orcs appeared so pale and powerless in the face of an absolute technological gap and systemic warfare.

This "Blizzard Fortress Defense Battle," destined to be recorded in history, lasted for a full three days.

For three days, the Orcs launched dozens of desperate charges, even employing the power of soul inheritance.

A chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, possessed by a wolf spirit, briefly erupted with terrifying combat power approaching Level 5, tearing through the defense line of dozens of iron oath guardians.

But under the focused fire of a breaker ten-thousand-man squad, mobilized by Brian through Spirit Eye, that chieftain, along with his surrounding personal guards, was ultimately annihilated in endless artillery fire!

Orc blood dyed the snowfield before the fortress red, and bodies piled up like mountains.

Their courage and strength were slowly ground down.

Finally, after losing over seven hundred thousand troops (mostly irregulars, but nearly one hundred thousand elites were also lost), and still unable to shake this unprecedented collaborative defense line constructed by steel and flesh, the remaining Orc army finally collapsed!

They retreated northward in a panicked tide.

An unprecedented glorious victory!

More importantly, the over three hundred thousand human troops involved in the collaborative operation personally experienced all of this; they became the most steadfast proponents and living advertisements for the "human-machine collaboration" concept.

Their testimonies more powerfully refuted all doubts than any propaganda.

At a negligible cost, the entire invading Orc army was severely crippled!