Episode 633
A strange sound emanated from the cocoon nestled in the center of the beast’s massive body.
The cocoon pulsed rhythmically, growing ever so slightly with each beat. Despite its three-meter size, it seemed minuscule against the beast’s enormous frame. Yet, its ominous presence was undeniable, positioned at the heart of the creature like a vital organ.
Suddenly, a bizarre transformation occurred within the beast.
With a loud, slithering noise, thousands of tendrils shot out from its belly, stretching toward Atlas. One of the airborne beasts flung a man it had captured toward the tendrils.
“Ahhh!”
The tendrils caught the man mid-air, wrapping around him tightly. In moments, they pulsed and released, revealing a mummified husk, drained of all life.
The remains crumbled, scattering into the air. Other beasts began capturing more humans, delivering them to the tendrils. Among them were injured knights and soldiers.
“Ugh!”
The knights swung their swords desperately, trying to free themselves from the tendrils’ grip. But even they were drained dry, left as lifeless mummies.
As more humans were absorbed, the cocoon’s growth accelerated. Watching from the city walls, Kali clenched her teeth in frustration.
“They’re using us as nourishment.”
She realized why the beasts, despite their numbers, hadn’t launched a full assault on Atlas. Their strategy was to exhaust the defenders, then use them as sustenance.
Fury burned within Kali at the beasts’ disregard for human dignity, treating them as mere resources.
A rumbling storm of energy gathered around her as she gripped her sword. The beasts, sensing her power, began to converge on her once more.
With a fierce cry, the silver knights rushed to her defense.
“Protect our leader!”
Their armor, stained with the blood and remains of beasts, the knights fought with all their might to shield Kali. Their aura-infused swords sliced through the beasts, severing limbs and tendrils.
Yet the beasts were relentless, continuing their assault.
A knight, impaled by a sharp claw, screamed in agony but refused to drop his sword. He swallowed the blood rising in his throat and drove his blade into the beast one last time.
Thanks to the knights’ sacrifice, Kali gained precious time.
Her sword, known as the Great Force Blade, began to hum with concentrated energy. She shouted to her knights.
“Fall back, now!”
At her command, the knights rolled aside, clearing the path.
With a thunderous roar, Kali’s sword swung upward, unleashing a torrent of energy that tore through the beasts and the massive creature behind them.
The colossal energy wave cleaved through everything in its path, but as it reached the giant beast, a translucent barrier appeared, absorbing the blow.
Kali’s face fell into despair as her attack was thwarted. Exhausted from the battle, she could barely stand.
“Move, damn it! Move!”
She willed her body to rise, but it refused to obey.
The giant beast shifted again, its back splitting open to reveal cannon-like appendages aimed at the walls.
A foreboding sound echoed as the cannons charged.
Sensing the danger, Kali shouted to her knights.
“Jump off the walls! Quickly!”
The knights and soldiers scrambled down, but Kali couldn’t move. Others tried to reach her, but the distance was too great.
The beast’s cannons fired, launching black spheres that distorted the air as they hurtled toward the walls.
With a deafening crash, the spheres struck, obliterating a section of Atlas’s sturdy walls.
The black spheres swept away everything in their path, leaving a gaping void where the wall once stood.
As the dust settled, the destruction was laid bare, the wall erased as if it had never existed.
The surviving knights, seeing the devastation, cried out in anguish.
“Our leader!”
Kali, caught in the blast, had vanished without a trace. Her loss left the knights in despair, their hope shattered.
Beyond the ruined wall, a dark mass approached.
The beasts, advancing on Atlas, now surged through the breach.
Faced with no escape, a soldier threw down his weapon and fled, only to be snatched by a beast and delivered to the tendrils.
In this grim scenario, the silver knights rose once more, driven by their pride as warriors.
Despite their defeat and despair, they stood, swords raised, ready to face the oncoming horde.
“Silver Knights, charge.”
Without battle cries or fanfare, they advanced toward the beasts.
But then, a massive bolt of lightning struck the beasts, halting their charge.
The beasts writhed in agony as more lightning bolts rained down, reducing them to ash.
The knights, stunned by the sudden turn of events, looked skyward.
Above the battlefield, a ship hovered, unleashing white lightning upon the beasts.
“Is that… a ship?”
The ship soared through the sky, its lightning decimating the beasts.
Amidst the chaos, a familiar figure approached.
A celestial horse, Bucephalus, carried Kali, thought lost, back to her knights.
“Leader!”
Bucephalus had whisked her away just before the wall collapsed.
From the horse’s back, Kali shouted to her knights.
“Regroup and reform the line!”
Her commanding voice snapped the knights back to their senses.
The lead knight saluted her, then pointed to the breach.
“Leader! If the beasts enter through the breach, we’ll be overwhelmed. We must defend it with all our strength…”
Kali shook her head firmly.
“There’s no need to worry about that.”
Her confident words left the knight momentarily speechless.
And then, the ground began to tremble once more.
Astonishingly, the broken sections of the fortress wall began to rebuild themselves.
Rumble—
Not only were the shattered walls being restored, but the existing fortifications were also transforming. Gun emplacements appeared atop the walls, and openings for cannons were created at intervals.
Boom!
The newly installed artillery targeted the flying beasts, unleashing a barrage of magical projectiles.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The beasts, struck by the magic bullets, plummeted helplessly from the sky.
A translucent barrier then materialized in front of the fortress, halting the advancing beasts in their tracks.
As the knights struggled to comprehend the sudden changes, an unexpected presence emerged from the flanks.
Whirr—
The undead, harbingers of death, appeared not at the Thermo Fortress but here at Atlas, leaving the knights bewildered once more.
Clatter! Clang!
Contrary to the knights’ fears, the undead legion, servants of the Abyssal Overseer, had arrived under an alliance with the
Armed with bone armor and swords, the undead warriors charged at the beasts.
Screech!
A never-before-seen battle between the undead legion and the beasts unfolded.
“Good thing we weren’t too late.”
Zeke sat in the control seat of the Ark, monitoring the battlefield in real-time through the system. Instead of using a portal to reach Atlas, he had brought the mobile fortress, the Ark, from Death Valley.
[Successfully synchronized Defense Mode with the city of Atlas.]
[The Ark’s control system is now linked with Atlas.]
Upon assessing the battlefield, Zeke immediately used the synchronized Defense Mode to reconstruct Atlas’s shattered defenses. He rebuilt the walls and installed the necessary anti-air artillery. Although it consumed resources, the sheer number of beasts eliminated within the Defense Mode’s range more than compensated for the expenditure.
Zeke strategically deployed guardians and shadow spirits throughout Atlas, applying chess tactics he had learned in the demon realm. This allowed him to minimize allied casualties and effectively annihilate the beasts.
Thanks to his efforts, the number of invading beasts rapidly dwindled.
With Atlas’s defenses stabilized, Zeke turned his attention to a massive beast resembling a whale, visible from the Ark’s front. His gaze fixed on the angelic cocoon growing from the creature’s exposed back.
Zeke’s eyes gleamed with determination.
“You’ll regret ever touching Atlas.”
He murmured, gripping the Ark’s control orb.
“I’ll shatter you before you hatch.”