Chapter 26: Apocalypse's Ambush: A Sudden Shift in the Situation
Two hours of bloody warfare had thoroughly soaked the narrow channel of the Eternal Canyon in viscous plasma and shattered remains.
The "Flesh Walls" surging on both sides greedily absorbed the dissipated life energy and agony, their colors turning more eerie and profound, as if they had gained life, emitting silent, satisfied sighs.
Hefeng stood at the very front of the Death-Defying Army's defensive line, like an unyielding reef in a sea of blood.
His platinum Heavenly King Armor was covered in scorch marks, sword slashes, and congealed blood scabs. The light flowing through its star-patterned veins had dimmed, yet it still radiated an indomitable majesty.
The golden radiance of the King's Sword was smothered by a thick layer of dark red. Every swing stirred up a storm of blood and gore, shedding strings of viscous crimson droplets.
His breathing was heavy and searing, each inhalation pulling at muscles and bones that were fatigued to the point of shattering. The regenerative capacity of a third-generation super-warrior seemed like a drop in the bucket against such endless attrition.
The world before his eyes flickered between clarity and a blood-colored mist—a warning from both his mind and body that he had reached his absolute limit.
Behind him, the steel barrier once constructed by sixty thousand Death-Defying soldiers had been compressed to its limit, pressed tightly against the tail end of the massive "Seed" fleet.
Fewer than ten thousand soldiers remained standing.
Backing against the cold, scarred bulkheads of the transport ships like a pack of wolves driven into a corner, there was no fear in their eyes—only a resolve burned to its peak and a lingering yearning for the home behind them.
The corpses of the fallen were intermingled with the remains of the enemy, piled into a gruesome wall of flesh that served as their final physical barrier.
Adjutant Ryan, that old brother who had followed him for thousands of years and walked out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood from the Unification Wars, now lay silently in a heap of remains not far away.
Hefeng hadn't even seen how he fell; he only remembered his final roar over the communication channel: "Hold the right flank!" Then, the voice had ceased abruptly.
There was no time for grief. Even a backward glance was a luxury. All emotion had been devoured by the heavier burden of duty and the endless slaughter before him.
The assault of the female angels was like an incessant white tide. Their casualties far exceeded those of the Death-Defying Army; the piled bodies nearly choked the channel. Yet, the fire burning in their eyes was not extinguished. Instead, fueled by the sacrifice of their comrades and the frantic roars of Liang Bing, it grew more scorching, more reckless.
"For freedom!"
A young female angel screamed, half her cheek scorched by energy to reveal a stark white cheekbone, her voice raspy and distorted. "So there will be no more oppression by the Heavenly Scum!"
"For the hard-won peace! For our thousand years of bloodshed!" Another veteran swung a flaming sword that had been snapped in half, tears of blood in her eyes.
"Kill the Heavenly Scum! Leave none alive!"
"For the Queen! For the New Order!"
Fanatical shouts rose and fell, converging into a spiritual torrent that destroyed everything in its path. They trampled over the bodies of friends and foes alike, stepping through sticky pools of blood like brainwashed martyrs, their eyes red, using their last ounce of strength to slam their weapons against that crumbling defensive line!
Hefeng swung the King's Sword mechanically. Every parry, every slash, felt as heavy as dragging a mountain. The hairline fracture on the shoulder guard of his Heavenly King Armor had spread into a fine web of cracks under the impact of countless attacks. Although the energy was struggling to repair it, the speed of restoration had clearly slowed.
A tricky blade of flame grazed his left arm. The armor failed to fully deflect the impact, leaving a burn deep enough to expose bone. The excruciating pain made him grunt, his movements faltering for a split second.
It was in that hesitation that several flaming swords, fueled by a suicidal momentum, thrust viciously toward his vital chest and abdomen!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
At the critical moment, the King's Sword knocked aside two, while the Heavenly King Armor bore the brunt of the third. The tip of the blade carved a dazzling trail of sparks across the chest plate, leaving an even deeper dent.
Hefeng countered with a backhand strike, cleaving the reckless female angel in two, sword and all! Scalding blood splattered across his face, blurring his vision.
What kind of war was this? It was a millstone of flesh and blood, grinding down ideals and survival!
It was an abyss where freedom and existence devoured one another!
There were no victors, only shattered hope and piled corpses! There were no villains, only wretches caught in the torrent of the era, forced to raise the butcher's knife for the "future" they each believed in!
Hefeng’s cold gaze swept across this hellish battlefield, across the female angels rushing toward their deaths, and across the remnants of the Death-Defying Army behind him, who were also burning their lives while backing against their home.
An indescribable sorrow and fury, like a dormant volcano, erupted within his nearly exhausted body!
Defend? He couldn't hold it anymore!
Retreat? The threshold of his home was behind him; there was nowhere left to fall back!
"Death-Defying Army!"
Hefeng’s voice was like the roar of a wounded, dying ancient beast—hoarse, yet possessing the power to tear the firmament. It instantly drowned out all the shouting and reached the ears of every surviving soldier.
"Since we cannot hold, we will not hold anymore!"
"With me—charge out!"
There was no pre-battle mobilization, no impassioned slogans—only the most primitive, naked command to kill!
"Kill—!!!"
His response was a earth-shaking roar from the fewer than ten thousand survivors, a sound mingled with despair and final madness! That sound was no longer a human cry, but a resonance from the deepest depths of hell!
Hefeng moved!
No longer guarding his position, no longer picking off targets with precision. He abandoned all defense, pushing the final power of the Heavenly King Armor to its limit. He transformed into a comet burning with platinum flames, dragging his exhausted yet violently ferocious body as he crashed into the surging white tide ahead!
Counter-charge! Attack instead of defense! Living toward death!
The King's Sword was no longer an elegant reaper's scythe; it had become a violent storm of destruction!
Hefeng abandoned all technique, leaving only the purest release of power and the instinctual trajectory of slaughter! Slash, hack, sweep, smash!
The sword light no longer sought golden radiance; instead, it carried thick plasma and flesh. Each swing was like a heavy hammer smashing into tofu, blasting the female angels ahead into fragments, armor and all!
He stopped dodging, letting those flaming swords, energy beams, and even jagged metal shards strike his Heavenly King Armor, emitting dull, heavy booms and leaving more dents and cracks!
He had only one goal—forward! Tear through! Grind them down!
The remnants of the Death-Defying Army followed close behind! They were like ignited powder kegs, erupting with the final, most brilliant light of their lives! They no longer relied on positions, no longer cared for coordination, acting like a pack of completely deranged beasts.
With red eyes, wielding chipped Star-Silver swords, they used their bodies, their teeth, and everything they could to bite into the edges of the bloody path Hefeng had torn open, forcing the closing gap back open!
This sudden, desperate, and completely reckless counter-attack caught the advancing female angels off guard! They were accustomed to the stubborn resistance of the enemy behind fortifications; they were used to advancing bit by bit after paying a heavy price.
They had never imagined that this group of "Heavenly Scum," driven to the edge and outnumbered ten to one, would dare to abandon their final wall and launch a proactive charge! And one so violent! So... suicidal!
Courage underwent a strange transformation at this moment. When one side casts aside life and death, seeking only to tear a bloody path, the power that erupts is enough to strike fear into the hearts of the other side—even those with an absolute numerical advantage who carry the burden of "imminent victory"!
"This is the art of war!"
"This is the most primitive face of war!"
"The brave win everything!"
"The cowardly lose everything!"
"Hold! Hold them off!" The female angel officers shrieked, trying to stabilize their ranks.
But the rout had already begun!
The female angels at the front had witnessed their companions shattered like foam under Hefeng’s sword, pounced upon and torn apart by the crazed soldiers of the Death-Defying Army. The gruesome spectacle and the pure will to die radiating from the enemy instantly destroyed their psychological defenses!
"Demons! They are demons!!"
"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
Terrified screams replaced fanatical shouts. The white tide began to roll backward! Like an anthill scorched by a red-hot iron, they surged back in chaos!
Hefeng, with fewer than ten thousand men, was like a red-hot blade cutting through congealed butter, actually forcing the vanguard of the million-strong female angel army into a steady retreat.
They pushed back all the way, blood staining the sky, corpses littering the field, charging all the way to the middle of the Eternal Canyon!
Time flew by in the brutal, bloody struggle.
"General! The entrance to the Boundary Sea will be fully open in ten minutes! The flagship 'Ark' is calibrating the final coordinates, preparing to enter the sequence!"
The bridge communications officer’s raspy voice, filled with the ecstasy of a desperate situation, rang through Hefeng’s crumbling consciousness like a heavenly melody!
Ten minutes! The final ten minutes!
Hefeng’s spirit surged, and his exhausted body seemed to be injected with a sliver of strength. He was just about to order them to tighten their formation and rely on the relatively complex terrain of the canyon's middle section for a final stand—
An unprecedented, cold, and deadly killing intent struck from the left without warning! It was fast to the point of extremity! Its target was locked precisely onto the deepest crack in his Heavenly King Armor!
Liang Bing!
The Heavenly King of Revelation, Liang Bing, had finally stepped into the fray herself!
She had abandoned the command of the "Revelation" and held a slender, piercing sword made of pure Dark Star-Silver that flickered with a cold, ghostly light, like a king of vipers lurking in the shadows.
Utilizing the chaotic battlefield and the distorted light of the energy barriers, she bypassed the perception that had dulled slightly due to Hefeng’s exhaustion, launching a long-planned, fatal strike!
"Die, Hefeng!" Liang Bing’s beautiful face was twisted by extreme hatred and murderous intent, her eyes flashing with madness.
The Dark Star-Silver blade was like black lightning tearing through space, carrying all her power and longing for victory, thrusting straight at the vital point of Hefeng’s heart!
The tip of the sword pointed directly at that crack!
Puchi—!
A sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh that would shatter one's heart!
Dark Star-Silver, one of the sharpest materials in the universe!
Even the Heavenly King Armor, fused with Star-Core Gold, could not fully withstand this strike—the pinnacle force of a third-generation super-warrior—now that it was cracked and its energy defenses had dropped to their lowest point!
The tip of the sword struggled through the crack in the armor and pierced deep into Hefeng’s left chest!
A cold, excruciating pain instantly swept through his entire body, accompanied by the frantic draining of his life force!
"Ugh—!" Hefeng’s body shook violently, and he spat out a mouthful of scalding blood! The light of the Heavenly King Armor dimmed abruptly!