Chapter 25: Weakness
The early sun slowly rose from the horizon. The sunrise was beautiful, but no one cared.
The name "Bloody Battlefield" was no exaggeration. The earth had been dyed red with blood. At this moment, near the base camp of the Reincarnation Paradise faction, the chaotic battle between contractors and aberrations continued, with roars and howls piercing the sky.
Compared to the main battlefield, the Cult, Apocalypse Paradise faction, and Holy Light Paradise faction were faring much worse. The seventh-rank contractors from all three sides had arrived, but this powerful cross-rank reinforcement did not achieve the intended effect.
Including the three seventh-rank contractors, the three sides were beaten so badly they dared not even leave their base camps. The Holy Light Paradise faction had fewer than 20 survivors. Their last hope was that their reinforcements had not withdrawn and were holding the base camp with them.
This stalemate could not last long. The Holy Light Paradise faction's base camp was about to be destroyed. The alloy layer on the side was covered in cracks. Once the base camp was breached, they would be wiped out.
The aberration army did not care much about them, leaving only a few thousand aberrations to surround them, planning to exhaust their strength and capture them alive.
As for the Cult, they were the strongest among the three sides, but they were also the most heavily besieged. The main battlefield was already putting immense pressure on the aberration side. With the Cult as a "cancer," the Aberrant King felt like a thorn in his throat.
Therefore, the original 300,000 terrain-type army besieging the Reincarnation Paradise faction was temporarily diverted by 120,000. Combined with the original 170,000 terrain-types besieging the Cult, a total of 290,000 aberration troops began to surround the Cult.
The Cult was a tough nut to crack, especially with the reinforcement of a seventh-rank contractor. Their threat to the aberrations should have been second only to the Reincarnation Paradise faction.
Unfortunately, internal issues plagued the Cult. The Shepherd was the Cult's leader, and the seventh-rank contractor who had been summoned had once been bullied by the Cult as a large organization.
That seventh-rank veteran had a fiery temper. He indeed could not defeat the seventh-rank members of the Cult, and he could not afford to offend them, so he chose to avoid them. He directly abandoned the summoning mission and withdrew, enduring the mission penalty.
Besieged by 290,000 aberration troops, the Shepherd could not do what Su Xiao did—single-handedly block the aberrations charging from one direction. They also did not have Bubu Wang's recovery aura. The Cult's fate was predictable.
After six hours of siege, they retreated to their base camp. Three hours later, two large holes were torn in the base camp, and the aberration army poured in. The Cult used their base camp to test that it could hold off the aberrations for at most three hours before the outer alloy layer shattered.
At this moment, the Cult had only a little over 40 people left, holding out in the captain's quarters, about to be eliminated.
Compared to the other two sides, the Apocalypse Paradise faction was in much better shape. One previous action had saved them all—mining.
After being besieged by orcs for an hour, the Apocalypse Paradise faction's enemies turned into terrain-types. It was a miserable sight. Although they were not crying for their mothers, they were stunned by the terrain-type army's charge.
From nearly 800 people, the Apocalypse Paradise faction was reduced to about 300 in just two hours. At this critical moment, the Nameless Saint tentatively tried to bribe the Aberrant King, throwing two large chests of rare ores out of the base camp.
At first, there was no reaction. But when a fission-type aberration discovered the two chests of ores, it immediately reported to the aberration commander, who then reported to the Aberrant King.
The Aberrant King might have encountered this situation for the first time, but he recognized the ores and knew their value.
The Apocalypse Paradise faction's contractors had average combat power, were not adept at warfare, and had thrown out rare ores.
Then, a miraculous scene unfolded. Every hour, the terrain-type army would charge at the Apocalypse Paradise faction. The Nameless Saint would throw out two chests of ores at this time. They had plenty of these.
Each time, the terrain-type army would withdraw, only to charge again an hour later.
As the battle went on, even the aberration commander was scratching his head. These humans were far too wealthy. He even considered negotiating with this side.
The Apocalypse Paradise faction seemed to be buying their lives with ores, but that was not the case. The Nameless Saint clearly understood their strengths and weaknesses. Among the various paradise factions, if it came to resource acquisition, even the Reincarnation Paradise faction was slightly inferior—except in terms of space-time power.
The Nameless Saint was using their resource advantage to stall the aberrations. He had already discussed with their seventh-rank strong reinforcement, telling him not to show himself and to stay in the captain's quarters.
The Nameless Saint was waiting for an opportunity to counterattack. They originally had 830 people—a motley crew of 830. Now, those afraid of death were all dead. The remaining 300-plus were all capable contractors willing to fight. It had to be said that the Nameless Saint handled this situation beautifully, at least stabilizing the situation.
The Cult was about to have a grave dance, the Holy Light Paradise faction had already started their grave dance, and the Apocalypse Paradise faction was burning paper to ensure safety.
The Reincarnation Paradise faction was trying to crack the enemy's skulls, but the enemy's heads were very hard.
The blazing sun hung high. The main battlefield.
The third wave of the aberration army's siege stopped at 1 PM on the fourth day of the World Conquest War. The reason was that the terrain-type troops' supplies had not yet arrived. If they continued fighting, the hungry terrain-types would have to eat orcs.
High-intensity combat brought massive consumption. Unless they ate the flesh and blood of superhuman creatures, the terrain-types had astonishing appetites. Other aberrations were somewhat better, but only relatively.
Starving terrain-types would have their bestial nature gradually override their collective consciousness, making them increasingly difficult to command. When the terrain-types were so hungry that they were completely dominated by their bestial instincts, they would eat anything except their own kind. Moreover, due to bestial instinct, they would likely be slaughtered into a rout.
To make these loyal, fearless aberrations fight, they at least needed to be fed. This was a basic condition for sending them to their deaths, and it was not an unreasonable request.
Well-fed terrain-types were combat creatures with a fighting will as tenacious as the insect race and high combat proficiency.
After more than thirty hours of marching and high-intensity combat, the terrain-types had not eaten any organic matter. They were so hungry they were about to gnaw on the dirt.
The Aberrant King knew this would not work, so he had to order the main force to withdraw. They would launch a general offensive once the supply troops arrived.
On the battlefield, flames burned corpses, black smoke drifted into the sky, and large flocks of vultures circled overhead, making harsh cries. Some even burrowed into the terrain-type corpses, greedily tearing at the flesh.
On a pile of corpses nearly twenty meters high, a hand wrapped in a metal bracer reached out. The bracer was pitted and scarred, covered in bite marks and claw marks.
Su Xiao crawled out of the corpse pile. A few minutes ago, a creature over ten meters tall—whether a giant or an aberration—had grabbed him and thrown him into this pile.
Other contractors could occasionally retreat to the base camp to rest, but Su Xiao could not. He stood alone on the south side of the base camp. If he retreated, the aberration army would completely surround the base camp, forming an encirclement.
The other contractors from his side were already struggling to block the aberrations charging from three directions. If Su Xiao could not hold his position, it was over. Within a few hours at most, their base camp would be destroyed, and the war mission would fail.