Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon
Chapter 343 - 342: Machine and Blade

Chapter 343: Chapter 342: Machine and Blade

Flames burst along the march route, raising columns of mud more than ten meters high! The soldiers marching in the middle of the road were caught completely off guard, and many who were unable to escape into the forest were sent flying into the sky by the bombs.

In that moment, the main troop descended into chaos, and many soldiers, instead of scattering into the forests on either side, turned and ran back the way they had come, as if trying to flee the spreading sea of fire before them. But how could two legs ever outrun a bird in flight? In Mekefa’s eyes, such foolish actions could only lead to a congested road and cause unnecessary casualties for the rear troops.

"Moses! Protect Earl His Excellency and General Hollis!"

Avoiding this kind of bombardment was not difficult for the Blooming Excalibur, but it was a different story for the two nobles. Though he had little regard for them, they were, after all, the army’s commanders; if they were to be seriously injured here, the Royal Guards could not escape blame. As Mekefa watched the explosions approach the center of the troops, he flipped onto his horse’s back and positioned his sword in front of him.

He could see that the speed at which these bombs fell was much slower than regular artillery fire, which meant that if his sword was fast enough, he could cut down or knock away all the bombs.

And what he excelled at most was fast swordplay!

As the giant bird swooped over Mekefa’s head, he leaped up and swung his long sword—a blade named Blooming, which could extend and retract freely according to the will of the wielder, its swinging sword shadows resembling scattered flower petals. It was a Third Class Construct and a secret weapon impossible for humans to replicate!

Instantly, a protective net made up of layers of sword light appeared over the heads of the core troops, and all the incoming projectiles were deflected, with not a single one exploding in the ranks.

But even when Mekefa exerted his full strength, he could only protect an area about thirty meters around him. The giant bird’s bombs soon passed over them and fell onto the road behind.

And all the commanders knew that the killing range of an artillery strike was far beyond a few tens of meters, some shrapnel still lethal even after flying hundreds of meters.

If there were still soldiers up ahead who had not managed to scatter in time to block the explosions, the soldiers at the back had nearly all retreated into the forest, leaving the entire road without any cover.

"Please leave the next part to me," Moses stepped forward, standing in front of Mekefa.

He drew the thick-bladed sword off his back and slashed backward, creating three sword winds in rapid succession, each like a howling wind wall, sweeping away all the incoming fragments of rock, roots, and soil. When the blast waves from the explosions collided with the wind walls, the onlookers could even hear a double explosion not unlike that of the bombs themselves!

With the protection of the two Royal Guards, the central part where the commanders were located suffered hardly any damage.

The Iron Birds quickly covered a distance of four kilometers, then began to turn, seemingly preparing for another attack. This time, however, someone stood in their way.

Mekefa could only vaguely make out a figure dashing out from the woods, rapidly shooting towards one of the Iron Birds; with a flash of light, the enormous Iron Bird was cut in half, followed by a violent explosion in mid-air. And that figure, like a shadow, bounced off and collided diagonally with another Iron Bird!

Even with his observing abilities, he could not discern the outline of that figure. Had it not been for the smoke from each explosion tracing the path of that presence, Mekefa might have mistakenly believed that the Constructs were exploding one after another not due to external force, but because of internal malfunctions.

Moreover, the way that shadow darted back and forth through the air did not seem like flying, but as if propelled by terrifyingly powerful leg strength! Each time it left an Iron Bird, it would cause the bird’s shell to deform severely, and the path it took was a straight line without any change in direction.

Without a doubt, this was beyond the realm of human warriors.

The only person he could think of was one: Engfelt, the legendary God of Heroes.

Although Mekefa knew there was such a person in Zhaixing City, he had never actually seen them. According to Duke Rosha, this divinity was not keen on being seen by others, nor willing to meddle in mundane affairs. It only guaranteed to intervene when facing the God of All Machines; most of the time, even the Duke himself didn’t know where it was.

Now Mekefa understood.

It turned out that the God of Heroes had been with this troop all along.

When the enemy’s construct crashed to the ground, a few cheers briefly erupted at the scene, but they were quickly overwhelmed by groans and wails of sorrow.

"Where are my men? Jock, Jock, where are you?" Count Francken looked around blankly for a while before finally finding his personal guard in a crater by the road. Sadly, the young nobleman was now only half a body, his legs blown away.

The scene ahead was even more disheveled. The forest path used for marching was almost unrecognizable, with injured soldiers and burning corpses everywhere. Judging by their attire, the vast majority of casualties belonged to the Western Army, the forces brought by Count Francken. The Kingdom Army also suffered losses, but thanks to the previous infighting, it seemed that their numbers were much less than the Western Army. For example, the soldiers now rushing to help everywhere were almost all wearing standard military uniforms.

"Where is the Priest? We need help here!"

"Save, save me..."

"I can’t see with my eyes, it hurts so much!"

Mekefa swept over the people dealing with the aftermath... and for a moment, his mind went blank. He had experienced large-scale battles before, whether it was the eradication of the Heretical Cult or the head-on confrontation with Long Jiu’s forces in the west. After every battle, chaos reigned, with corpses strewn everywhere. But those fights always had a process: a battle that started and ended, a clear outcome of either victory or defeat. If they lost, they would retreat; if they won, they would pursue the victory. Military school had taught all this in great detail.

But what did this count as now? Had they won? They hadn’t even seen the enemy, and a day and a night’s journey from Thistlefort, some unseen flying constructs had bombarded them relentlessly, not even knowing whom to pursue as the target. Had they lost? The constructs were indeed annihilated, but the United Army was still standing... yet to be decimated.

Of course, that was only for now.

The battle had lasted less than ten minutes, and most people probably had no idea what had just happened. If the enemy launched another attack like this one, the situation could become quite dire.

Mekefa could not find a similar example in past scenarios, and he did not know what to do next until a Kingdom soldier ran up to ask, "Sir, the vanguard has reassembled. What should we do next?"

It was then he remembered it was Ryan Kray’s out-of-the-ordinary move that had spared the vanguard troops. If he hadn’t ordered those soldiers to disperse into the forest to hide, the vanguard’s losses would have been much more severe than those of the Western Army!

The question was, how did Ryan know the enemy’s attack was coming?

And he even knew that the enemy would bomb along the road! There had to be a ghost in the system!

"Is Ryan here too?"

"No... I haven’t seen Lord Ryan. His men have returned, but he is nowhere to be found." The other shook his head.

So... he too was a traitor!

Just like Shandela!

"He can’t have gone far! Let the main force rest here for now and tend to the injured. Moses, you come with me to pursue him!" Mekefa finally had a target, and his previously blank mind started working again.

"No, we can’t go any further. This expedition was a trap from the start." Someone interrupted him, "Let’s pull back to Zhaixing City first, then discuss how to deal with the Paradise Sect."

It was not the voice of Sir Hollis or Francken Hearthfire.

Angry, Mekefa turned around, only to see a semi-transparent man standing behind him. Seeing the two commanders silent, he immediately realized who the man was, "But Your Excellency..."

"We’ve lost the Magic Goddess and Elise Ben; any further delay and the troops’ morale will inevitably collapse," Engfelt said seriously. "This force no longer has the capital to continue advancing."