Chapter 19: Days of Hardship

The most critical part of Neo and the others’ journey from the Valley of Refuge to Elara took place on the second day. If things went well, they could reach their destination easily by the third day; but if something went wrong, they would likely have to spend another night in the wilderness. Under normal circumstances, they could endure such delays, but in the current situation, every extra day brought more uncertainties—this was certain. After all, the monsters also needed time to gather and set up ambushes, and beyond Fangyan Post, there were no natural barriers or defenses to rely on at night.

With one of the enemy’s powerful figures dead, Green and the others breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the monsters’ ambush plans must have been disrupted, and they might even scatter without a leader. Yet that day, the monsters intensified their harassment of the caravan and destruction of the roads. Their organized and methodical approach showed no signs of disarray—on the contrary, they became even more cunning.

Throughout the journey, Green, as the temporary leader, was utterly overwhelmed. The caravan itself remained unharmed, with no deaths or significant damage to its cargo, but they were far behind schedule. As the sun set, they were still over 40 kilometers away from their target.

“Captain, we need to choose a campsite nearby,” said Ni, looking exhausted, as she stepped forward to remind him.

Green took the magic map from Ni’s hands and examined the surroundings with her guidance. Sighing, he said, “It’s the only option. We must set up defenses before dark. If we keep going, we won’t have time to camp and won’t have a proper place to stay. Let’s settle here!” He pointed. “Since there are no defenses, we might as well camp in this open area. I don’t believe there are enough monsters to kill us all.”

After 13 harassment attacks during the day, the carriages’ levitation capabilities were exhausted, Hes was too tired to cast spells, and they had to change route three times. Even the usually gentle Green grew frustrated, his words taking on a sharper edge.

“Oh, I’ll inform everyone,” Ni replied. She cast a simple spell on the wild dogs running beside the caravan, and more than a dozen of them rushed to various parts of the caravan, communicating the message in human speech. The soldiers of Star 745 were no longer surprised by this. Although Ni used spells that consumed very little energy, they enabled these dogs to perform amazing feats. The soldiers considered them competent warriors, as loyal as guards, executing orders without hesitation.

The caravan finally chose a huge ridge that resembled a hill, covering nearly 25,000 square meters. Overall, it appeared fairly flat, but it actually had many bumps and dips. While humans and animals could cope, the carriages needed to be parked on smoother ground. Otherwise, not only might the cargo tip over, but it would also cause serious problems when setting off again the next day. Those who worked with the carriages knew that starting and stopping was the most labor-intensive part. Although the giant rhinos were strong, the weight of these carriages was equally formidable.

Hes was no longer able to help level the ground, so the soldiers had to do it themselves. For those who had been on their feet and fighting all day, it wasn’t an easy task. But under the leadership of officers like Zanjin, they gritted their teeth and quickly completed the work of leveling the ground.

The mages watching the scene were impressed not only by the discipline of the soldiers from Star 745 but also by Nio’s foresight. If they had seized supplies from Fangyanyi yesterday and spent the time drinking and making noise, leaving the Night Watch to handle more duties, then after a full day of fighting and exertion, the soldiers would have been too exhausted to even muster strength. Without proper rest, they would be too tired to fight, unlike now—though they were tired, it was clear they could still hold on. If they could get a good night’s rest, nothing would be delayed the next day.

But would the enemy let them have their way?

The answer was no.

With still over half an hour until dark, the monsters gathered once again and launched an attack. This time, their numbers were the highest yet—roughly over 200, most of them being silver-frosted wood demons, along with the monsters the soldiers called “crocodile heads.” These had been seen on the first day, and their appearance reminded Nio of an evolved form of the chaotic monsters from the Night of the Earthquake Battle—similar long snouts, but with many ferocious lizard-like traits, making them look more robust. The prominent tendons on their cheeks clearly indicated their powerful biting ability. Thanks to their semi-reflective scales, they were also quite resistant to light. Like the wood demons, they didn’t rely on eyes to see—wood demons used life sensing, while these crocodile heads relied on smell, allowing them to fight blindly.

“Everyone, prepare for battle!” Green issued the order reluctantly. With Elan’s feather guards around, it would be difficult for the monsters to launch a surprise attack. But the camp construction wasn’t yet complete, and the soldiers were exhausted and hungry. It seemed the record of no major casualties among the convoy was about to be broken.

“It seems the monsters are determined to fight us day and night. The main forces responsible for daytime harassment must be coming out in force.”

Hearing this, Green was delighted. Turning around, he saw it was indeed Nio.

“You always show up at the critical moment. Is this the effect of the most formidable protagonist aura?”

Nio smiled and shouted loudly, “Soldiers, I have good news for you—the barbecue party is coming early! Bring out all the flamethrowers and let’s see how many roasted chicken wings we can get!”

By using a battle cry technique, Nio’s words could be heard throughout the camp. Hearing his voice, the soldiers perked up immediately, many feeling playful and eager. They rushed to the supply carts. In no time, aside from the skill masters, firekeepers, and a few wounded soldiers, nearly 40 soldiers equipped with flamethrowers were assembled.

Green had also seen flamethrowers before, but the ones used by the soldiers of Star 745 were clearly modified and costly, as they used energy crystals instead of ordinary flammable liquids, and their nozzles were equipped with magic arrays that amplified their power far beyond that of regular flamethrowers. The modification involved adding high-pressure valves, which increased their range significantly compared to ordinary flamethrowers.
“Did you make these flamethrowers yourselves?” Green already knew that Star 745 had a highly skilled technical team, but seeing so many advanced weapons still left him in awe.
“We don’t have that kind of production capacity. We ordered them custom-made,” Nio explained simply. “When fighting monsters, light and fire are the most effective countermeasures, so we started preparing early on.”
“How much gold does such a flamethrower cost? 70?”
“150, not including the energy source.”
“…” Green was speechless. The armor worn by the knights of Hylfanis’ main army was barely a fraction of the cost of these weapons. Simon, the Wind Walker, was indeed as rumored—able to make money and spend it freely, harsh in training but willing to invest, and highly strategic. “Look at these soldiers—holding a flamethrower in one hand and a special asbestos-coated tower shield in the other. Their formation shows they’ve been trained. This is clear evidence of thorough preparation.” Green thought to himself. Compared to Star 745, their magic team felt like they were fighting naked, with no effective plans or equipment prepared for potential threats. Mediocrity and lack of preparation—wasn’t that also a sign of being amateurs?
By now, the monsters had completed their encirclement and charged in from all directions. Their strength lay in close combat, and their commanders knew Star 745 had powerful cannons and light thunder bombs, so they wouldn’t gather together to allow a concentrated bombardment. With large beasts, the camp covered a considerable area, forcing the 40 members of Star 745 to spread out for defense. The monster commanders also knew that Star 745’s best close-combat fighters were only about 20 people, so a four-sided attack forced the defenders to choose: protect their supplies or save their lives!
If they chose to save their lives, they would have to fight from a distance. Based on past battles, more than 200 monsters were indeed a tough opponent. But if the camp was destroyed, how could they cope with the impending long night? Moreover, damaged beasts and ruined vehicles would disrupt supply deliveries, reducing the urgency of sending emergency supplies. The longer they stayed on the road, the less meaningful such deliveries would become, and more monsters might gather to completely destroy the team.
If they chose to protect their supplies, Star 745’s soldiers would face the risk of being divided and annihilated. 200 against 40, 5 to 1—but in reality, it wasn’t just a simple ratio. Fighting 1 against 5 was very different from fighting 2 against 10.
Star 745 chose to protect their supplies, but they didn’t spread out as much as the monster commanders expected, thanks to their two siege spiders.

After these two Siege Spiders fell into Star 745’s hands, Neo spent 40,000 gold coins on modifications. In Zanjin’s words, 40,000 gold coins would be enough to coat these two Siege Spiders in pure gold plating. If not for the urgency, that amount could have bought 20 new-model Siege Spiders from the armory factory. Yet the money was spent on just two of them—how extravagant!

Whether it was extravagant or not was secondary; most Freyians agreed on one thing: wherever the money was spent, it was well spent!

Even if there was a suspicion that it was meant for Carnito and the technicians to practice on, investing 40,000 gold coins would definitely yield some results.

Valrug said, “Hey! It’s thicker, bigger, stronger, and more powerful!”
Kokar said, “It seems to have many more magical devices added…”
Mary said, “It looks more formidable now, but it’s still ugly!”

All of them were right, but none of it was the main point. As auxiliary devices designed primarily for secure camping rather than frontline combat, these two Siege Spiders were modified to possess three features unmatched by other similar products: static energy collection, free limbs, and ray barriers.

The free limbs allowed the Siege Spiders to create more diverse shell frameworks. Right now, their shape resembled two horizontal quarter-elliptical shields, one on each side, enclosing the two ends of the rectangular camp.

Because the convoy was too large, these two shields couldn’t merge into a single half-elliptical shield, leaving an area about 50 meters wide exposed. This was the area the soldiers had to defend: two 50-meter-long defense lines.

Buzz… The ray barriers activated, with bright beams appearing between the Siege Spiders’ limbs. Compared to the earlier versions, these beams were significantly thicker and used a mixed energy of light and fire. Most importantly, they were very stable.

By this time, the monsters had reached less than 50 meters from the camp. In an instant, the four demon handlers didn’t let the monsters dodge but continued to charge at high speed—head-on, aiming to pierce Star 745’s thin defense lines; on the flanks, ready to take damage and force their way through the ray barriers.

Zzzz…

The first to launch an interception attack were the magic cannons in the Siege Spiders’ armor compartments. Lightflame—a rather ordinary magic cannon, simple to use—and chosen because it used the same energy as the ray barriers (in fact, the mixed energy formula from the magic cannons was used to create new types of rays).

Lightflame fired like a stream of liquid flame wrapped in white light. Its firing time was about 2 seconds, which, for an offensive weapon, wasn’t short at all. It was enough to draw a flame line dozens of meters long on the ground, and any monster in that line would suffer from the scorching heat.

Dust billowed like boiling water vapor, and blackened grooves appeared on the ground. Several wood demons instantly turned into burning torches, while three crocodile-headed monsters became fireballs. One of them exploded into flying ashes before it could even let out a scream.

Following closely were the firefighters from Star 745, also known as grenadiers. In the words of the firefighters, “Let these monsters taste the strength honed by our ancestors through daily practice with big pots!” Unlike the light bombs used by the night watch soldiers last night, the firefighters now used so-called “sun bombs,” which had strong shockwaves but weak light radiation; the opposite type from last night was called “shadow bombs.” “Sun bombs are meant to make a loud noise!” Nio had explained when introducing these grenades to the soldiers. Boom! Boom! Indeed, these bombs produced a hard, crisp sound upon explosion, similar to the thunder heard before a storm, causing ears to ring even dozens of meters away. Their explosive power was formidable—white light burst forth, with the dazzling part alone having a diameter of 5 meters. If any monsters were within this range, they would almost certainly die; even those further away would be flung aside, burned on the outside while still alive inside, with smoke rising from half their bodies. Tut tut! The demon herders blew their wooden whistles quickly and urgently, producing an extremely unpleasant sound. The monsters seemed to be in just as much distress; upon hearing the whistles, they rushed forward with red eyes and drooling, ignoring the casualties among their own kind. Amid the howling sounds, the flamethrowers came into action. These weapons seemed simple to use—just shoot fire—each covering a specific area and firing whenever targets entered range. However, since it was a team effort, coordination was crucial. The monsters weren’t foolish either; they didn’t move in straight lines or simple S-shapes. They darted, rolled, and leaped, all possessing the strength of professionals at level 4 or above—strong physiques, rapid reactions, and agile movements. Even with pressure-enhancing devices, the flames required time to travel, and combined with the soldiers’ judgment, reaction speed, and operation, dealing with them wasn’t easy. The key was to stay calm, avoid greed, and coordinate as much as possible to create a tight firewall, thus fulfilling Nio’s plan for a “barbecue.” Of course, even so, it was impossible to prevent all monsters from crossing the line. Some still managed to break through, relying on their thick skin, energy shields, and smoke-covered, flaming bodies to reach the inner defenses. That’s when the grenadiers came in handy again. Each of them carried a large, cylindrical device—round and bulky, difficult to hold even without a special handle. It looked heavy but wasn’t actually that heavy because it was hollow. The soldiers called it a “wind cannon.” It wasn’t a new invention by Nio or Carnito but a weapon originally used by Frey Town’s riot control forces. The original model was smaller and could shoot gusts of wind, causing victims to be pushed back 2 or 3 meters as if struck by a strong man, but only resulting in a fall. But the version used by the grenadiers, in the words of the soldiers, “well, you get hit, but not by a strong man—by a steam train.” Boom! Boom! With dull sounds, the wind cannons fired. Due to their large area of effect, they could be fired as soon as a target was in sight, without the need for precise aiming. The approaching monsters were sent flying backward, and the soldiers with flamethrowers took the opportunity to add more fire, ensuring these monsters were thoroughly burned.

Meanwhile, the monsters attempting to break through the ray barriers encountered serious trouble—the rays were far more powerful than they expected. Dozens of monsters were cut in half the moment they tried to pass through.

The monsters were clever enough to use the corpses as shields to try and get through, which worked to some extent but still wasn’t enough to allow them to pass safely. So they came up with a new plan: working together, they used the bundled corpses as shields to create a path for other monsters to follow.

This method did work, but there were people behind the barriers—Zanjin, Valrug, Green, and the others were scattered across different areas, naturally not allowing the monsters to act freely. Moreover, Guangliu Yan wasn’t to be underestimated either; he would strike from time to time, causing heavy damage to the monsters. Those that managed to get in were quickly strangled and couldn’t make much progress.

Neo stood on a stack of goods in the center of the camp, wielding his energy gun and directing operations, mainly focusing on the two defense lines. The biggest difference between his gun and those used by the soldiers was its energy amplification. The shot that blew out the head of that dark magician in the early morning was a well-charged, amplified strike. Otherwise, given Neo’s personality, he wouldn’t have wasted words on that guy—it wasn’t acting, where atmosphere and buildup mattered. But now, he didn’t need to be so cautious about exposure. He used an external energy cell, and light emanated from the back of his gun. Every few seconds, Neo would fire a shot, with light mist escaping like exhaust.

Neo’s marksmanship was merely average, and with the smoke and flames at the front line, it was difficult to lock onto targets visually. But with Nancy’s help, she modified the structure of one of his eyeballs, giving him vision even better than HawkEye’s. Nancy would quickly tell him the shooting parameters and correct any errors in his movements. Thus, Neo’s gun became a deadly weapon capable of piercing through smoke and killing enemies.

Of course, Neo wasn’t a novice anymore. The periods of panic and excitement had long passed, so he wasn’t obsessed with killing as many monsters as possible. Instead, he carefully observed the overall situation.

“Skilled artisans, fire flares ahead of time to cover the entire camp—hurry up!”

At Neo’s command, the skilled artisans put down their tasks, picked up the sunlight launchers, and got to work efficiently. One after another, glowing balls appeared around the camp.

Almost simultaneously, a dark cloud suddenly rose from a distant valley. Kanito in the siege spider’s armored cabin was the first to see it and warned through his magic horn: “Insects! A huge number of insects!”

This attack by the dark forces wasn’t solely reliant on those over 200 monsters. Their plan was thorough: first, they took advantage of the weak defenses of the convoy and launched a surprise attack at dusk to disrupt the camp’s construction. Then, once it got slightly darker—right now—they released the corrosive insects. By the time the insects reached their destination, it would be almost completely dark. It wasn’t perfect, but it was tolerable.

Then Neo remained vigilant in this regard. After all, the insects in the Spider Jungle had left a deep impression on him—hundreds of them had flown away at that time, and they hadn’t appeared in the two battles involving Moon 412, Star 743, and 744. Now, on this journey, there were monsters like Wood Demons, clearly related to those from that series, yet no swarms of insects had been seen. Neo thought it was obvious that the time hadn’t come yet; tonight would be the real climax. So, as dusk settled, Neo ordered the skill masters to stop providing supplies to the front line, preferring a tougher fight ahead rather than using flares immediately. And indeed, they caught up just in time.

“Grenade throwers, withdraw and replace the launchers—fire flares!” After giving this new order, Neo also jumped down from the platform to get the grenade launchers. The monsters were one thing, but if a large number of flying insects rushed into the camp, it would be difficult to control beasts like the Thick Camels and Giant Rhinoceroses. Once those “strongmen” charged recklessly, the camp would be destroyed.

At this moment, the leader of the spellcasters also came over, asking what help he could offer.

“Fire flares!” Neo didn’t care about elegance now. Using grenade launchers wasn’t difficult; what mattered was filling the space quickly. For this journey, 50 flamethrowers and 50 grenade launchers had been brought, with enough ammunition, so there was no shortage of launchers.

Carrying a large bag of grenade launchers and ammunition, Neo walked around the camp, distributing them to Zanjin and the others. After all, they were relatively stronger and wouldn’t struggle as much against the monsters. They could spare some time to fire one or two flares—better than having the launchers idle.

By then, the demon herders realized it was impossible to hold the light barrier defense line, so they let the monsters charge along the edges at both ends of the 50-meter-long defense line. Due to the shape of the shields built by the siege spiders, the areas along the edges of the spider legs were shooting blind spots—light and flame couldn’t reach them. With area but no height, it was a helpless situation.

As a result, the pressure on the defense line increased significantly. Soldiers had to rely on their large shields to block the attacks of the monsters that rushed up close. But since ordinary soldiers didn’t have the strength of those 2-Wu warriors, some were still knocked away along with their shields. Gaps began to appear in the defense line, and the situation worsened.

Fortunately, Green and the others stepped in at that moment, especially the fire mage Babo, an expert in handling fire. He could move through the flames of the flamethrowers and use them to create massive clouds of fire, extremely powerful. On the other side, Elan’s feather guards were also formidable. It was already evening, and their combat strength was rapidly reaching its peak. Though not melee units, they excelled at creating illusions and launching psychic attacks. Although it was difficult to kill enemies directly, they could still make the monsters dizzy, slow, indecisive, and confused in a short time. On the battlefield, even a brief moment of confusion could mean losing one’s life—after all, the easiest targets were always the wooden stakes.

“Leave a 30-square-unit area without flares above both defensive lines!” Nio ordered this to ease the pressure of deploying flares and, by mimicking the strategy of surrounding the enemy while leaving one gap, to create a path for the insects. He was worried about excessive blood loss and a lack of refinement for his blood whips, so with the insects coming to him, he certainly couldn’t miss this opportunity.

The commander of the attacking dark forces had seen the convoy continuously deploying flares. Though disappointed, he knew this was the best moment—missing it would be an even greater regret. So he ordered his insect masters to urge their forces to charge, using whatever method necessary, even if it meant sending ants across a river, to carry out the assault at full force. At the same time, he began mobilizing his dark troops, those units suited only for operating in darkness, to fill the power gaps left by the wood demons and crocodile-headed monsters, ensuring the enemy had no chance to breathe. This commander had made up his mind: he would go all out, using every soldier he had, then spend a night gathering more monsters before launching another attack at dawn. If that still didn’t achieve his goal, he would accept defeat!