Chapter 472: A Secret Shadow
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
"Pull Back! PULL BACK!" Marcos shouted desperately. If he didn't give the order then, the entire army would be swallowed whole by the swarming Zergs.
Marcos fought at the back of the retreating line to protect his soldiers. Around him were a few heavy METAL that he had taken along with him as contingency measures, but right then, it had become a necessity. Even with the slight advantage in firepower, Marcos reckoned that it would be a close call. The thought of a chest buster in him spurred him to double down on his defense.
Despite being overwhelmed by the Zergs, the two factions' soldiers didn't lose their formation while retreating from the battlefield. However, things were much more difficult on the other side of the hill among the rank of the Battle Wolf. The warriors of the Battle Wolf were no less competent, and neither did they lacked mettle. Their wavering formation was a direct result of being at the focal point of the Zergs' aggression. Five years ago, the Zergs rarely fought with such purpose. They were usually no better than mindless animals driven solely by their instinct. But right then, they fought like a disciplined army under the command of the dark ones.
It was difficult for people who had never fought against the dark ones to understand the profound challenges the dark ones had brought to the battlefield. Intelligence used to be the unique gift of the human race, but now, it had been used against the humans.
Guan Dongyang had no time to lament on the dire situation he was in, since he needed to focus on the trouble ahead of him.
As one of the top fighter on Mars, Guan Dongyang was more than just a level eighteen fighter. His mastery technique, especially that of the fire element, was unprecedented. Not even Michaux could unleash the same amount of fiery destruction as he could.
After Guan Dongyang and the dark one exchanged a few moves, it was evident that Guan Dongyang was not as nimble and agile as the Zerg Hybrid. From time to time, Guan Dongyang was able to sneak a mastery attack or two at the dark one. But, despite the deadliness of the attacks, none were able to land on the elusive target.
A few times, the dark one had an opportunity to finish Guan Dongyang off, but he didn't. It was clear that the dark one wanted to capture Guan Dongyang alive and take him back to the Zerg lab to further their unspeakable experiments. Even if Guan Dongyang's genes were proven to be nothing extraordinary, the dark ones would consume him alive to strength their cultivation. A young and able body was the best supplement for the dark ones.
"Human, be my food!" The dark one evaded another fiery ball and shouted with a husky voice mixed with a wet croak in the throat.
The dark one suddenly swooped down, but Guan Dongyang didn't flinch and announced, "Remember! My name is Guan Dongyang—the Lord of Fire!"
"Kaboom!"
A ring of fire rippled out from Guan Dongyang's position—an onset of the killing blow—and then Guan Dongyang raised his staff. A blinding light shot out of the energy crystal atop the staff. Wherever the light touched, rocks and sands were swooped up, lit on fire, and wheezed toward the dark one. Meanwhile, Guan Dongyang recited a few words and attacked the dark one with the fiery spell at point-blank while the Hybrid Zerg was busy fending against the blast of rocks.
"KOM!"
The fire spell landed squarely on the dark one.
"Hehe... Your puny attack can't even scratch me!"
"Is that so?" Guan Dongyang sneered. So absorbed in his victory was the dark one that he didn't even realize that a hidden sharp tip inside the fire spell had pierced through his chest.
Knowing that the hybrid Zergs had inherited not only human's intelligence but also conceit and ignorance, Guan Dongyang had custom-made a few spells that would turn the dark ones' human side against themselves. The normal fire spell was not enough to kill a dark one of the same level—Guan Dongyang knew it, and so did the Dark Ones. Driven by ego, many dark ones would choose to take the fire spell head-on instead of evading it. Little did the dark one knew that Guan Dongyang had hidden a spear tip in the ball of fire, like a deadly trap that looked benign on the surface.
As soon as Guan Dongyang saw regret flicker in the dark one's eyes, he charged up his soul energy and set his hands on fire. He reached out his blazing fingers into the wounded chest and wrenched out the energy crystal, the hybrid Zerg's life force.
"Retreat! Pull Back!" Guan Dongyang shouted as soon as his mission was completed. It had been a close call; the fire spell had cost a significant portion of his soul energy. So, if he had missed his last attack, he would have had to face grave consequences.
As soon as the soldiers of Battle Wolf received the order, they started to retreat up toward the hill. Guan Dongyang used the rest of his energy and sent out a few blasts at the jagged cliff face that hugged the trail, sending a cascade of rocks to block the path.
Guan Dongyang turned his head and darted to catch up his comrades. All the while, he lamented for not following his first instinct and give up the plan. How naive were they to think that they could have raided the provision unharmed?
When everyone thought that they had finally gained a moment of respite, the sky suddenly turned dark as the sun was eclipsed by dark smoke that billowed from a huge column of fire boring down on them.
The hill moaned under their feet as the deadly fire rammed into the hillside slope. It missed the human forces by a few dozen yards and landed on a group of Zergs. Those Zergs didn't have the chance to let out a cry and were turned into ashes.
A shadow flickered in between the fire and the smoke. It passed the leader of the dark ones like a phantom before both of them were eclipsed by a gush of billowing smoke. As the bright fire cast a shadow of the dark one onto the screen of smoke, the hybrid Zerg's head lolled to his shoulder and fell to the ground.
The human force was surrounded by fire and could not move, but five minutes later, Guan Dongyang was surprised to find out that he could no longer sense any dark ones on the battlefield. It was an opportunity of a lifetime to get rid of the rest of the low-level Zergs once for all.
"Listen up, everyone! All the Dark Ones are gone, and victory is upon us! Follow me! CHARGE! "
Guan Dongyang shouted. Using mastery, he was able to amplify his voice so that the METAL fighters of the two other factions on the other side of the hill would hear his call to arms as well.
Marcos knew that it was the opportunity that he could not pass up, so he led his bannermen out of the hill and charged at the Zergs with a newfound determination.
Although the dark ones were eliminated, the Zergs still held the advantage in number. This time, the human soldiers were able to leverage on their wits more effectively as they quickly held onto a few strategic choke points. After a few minutes of waiting, the slower Heavy METAL finally caught up with the rest of the force and started to bombard the mindless Zergs with deadly steels. It wasn't until then that the scale of the battle finally started to tip in favor of the human soldiers.
Although Battle Wolf had the least number of warriors, they were the first in the line of attack. The group of mastery casters worked together and weaved one deadly spell after another. The dead bodies of Zergs quickly piled up in front of them like anthills
Wang Tong made his way back to the distant hill and watched the rest of the battle quietly.
"Master, why do we have to waste our time on these weaklings."
"Hehe, Charcoal, I can guarantee you that they are not weaklings. It seems like I will have to stay around the camp a little longer than I had thought." Wang Tong said as he nodded in approval of Guan Dongyang's ability.
"Have you finished extraction?" Wang Tong asked.
"Yes, master. These are low-level dark ones, so the result was not great. " Charcoal said as he waved a crystal in his hand; it was a crystal similar to that used on Mastery casters' staffs. Due to the lack of production and mining capability, the human had resorted to pillaging dead bodies of dark ones to gain such precious resources.
The battle was almost over, and the humans' victory was sealed. However, Guan Dongyang couldn't stop asking himself one questions: who was the dark shadow that sent the column of fire down from the sky? Guan Dongyang could tell right away that the fire was a mastery spell, but it wasn't just any spell. It was one that could only be cast by a level twenty mastery fighter.
"KILL, KILL, KILL! " Ross shouted and led a group of soldiers down the hill to chase after a few fleeting Zergs.
"I have killed fifty-three bugs today. How many have you killed, Duo Lun?"
"Haha… I have squashed eighty-nine of them! I won again!"
After the warriors had cleared the battlefield, the three factions gathered around the transport cargo to loot the spoils before the Zerg reinforcements arrived.