Chapter 2583 - Counterattack
The non-ether-class ships around them split up and tried to breach the formation themselves. The maneuver would also avoid some friendly fire.
"It's clear that the controller of this astralguard formation is more worried about the ether-class ships making headway. As long as we keep charging in, these three-headed six-armed beasts should be trying to stop us first."
As they expected, the flameyellow fiends that had been pestering the other ships gathered and tried stopping the seven ether-class ships. Almost ten thousand of them appeared before the ships. As for the weaker ships, the fiends seemed 'helpless' to stop them.
"The other ships report that they aren’t meeting much resistance. A few of them have made it through the formation!" Good news like that began spreading among the Star Hunters.
"This sanctuary-class formation is much stronger than others of its class because of these monsters. However, it's no Gladeus. It won't be able to stop us!"
"Brothers, advance! This world will soon belong to us! Everything in it, too!"
"I'll charge ahead and slaughter everything!"
"The bosses have taken the brunt of the formation's power for us. We can't disappoint them!"
The entire time, the Star Hunters within the formation were completely unaware of the trap that was laid for them. They kept charging in like madmen, the gear-saws on their ships tearing apart the flames of the formation. More and more ships actually made it through the Flameyellow Guard Formation, finally making their way into the new world Tianming had created.
"How could a new world have so much land?" Quite a few Star Hunters shared that sentiment, not that it would affect how they would rule the place.
"The bosses said that we should goad the residents out and take them hostage, first. There might be family or friends of the formation controller among them, or even Lin Xiaodao's subordinates. Capturing them might even help us against Lin Xiaodao!"
"Don't hold back and treat this like Greenglow!"
The Star Hunters howled like a pack of wolves among a flock of sheep, surrounded by endless delicacies. More and more holes opened in the formation above, looking like fresh, bloody wounds. Most of the sanctuary-class ships and below couldn't be stopped as they reached the surface of the sun, wildly flying across land and sea. While they hadn't seen the residents of the world, yet, they were still incredibly excited. They believed that they had won after breaching the formation itself. No doubt, their excitement would boil over once they found the Sky Palace Formation and the large number of people within. That would surely be the place where they would swarm.
More and more divine astralships passed through the formation, marking the gradual success of Tianming and the rest's plan. They weren't the slightest bit anxious about the way things were going as the plan was still in the early stages. It would only be unfolded step-by-step, each step being another piece of irresistible bait that the enemy simply couldn't ignore. Tianming and Wudi had three grand moves, and they had only played one of them.
"We'll have all their ships apart from the ether-class ones come inside." The ether-class ships would be held back as much as possible. With ten-thousand-plus flameyellow fiends, that was something that could be achieved. But given time, they would be able to break through nonetheless as they would soon see that there wasn't much they could do in the Sun without their ether-class ships.
After some six hours, Wudi used his first move: he appeared before the ether-class ships with the Flameyellow Coffin, ramming them with it like a raving madman. As he slammed into the ships, he cursed them nonstop! It was utterly bizarre that a single man with a cosmic artifact would show up in a battle between an astralguard formation and divine astralships. The eyes of the people in the ships brightened when they discovered what was happening.
"That guy's definitely the administrator of this star!"
"That's right! He's the one commanding the monsters to attack us."
"Have we heard of him before?"
The three bosses knew better than anyone that he was no normal man. Their target had come to them without them having to even go through the astralguard formation.
"The cosmic artifact he's wielding must be top class! It might be infinitum class! That's the core of the astralguard formation!" said the white-haired man. His colorful eyes seemed completely fixated on the Flameyellow Coffin.
"If we take him down, we won't even have to go in!" It was clear that Wudi's move would keep the enemy in place for a long time. They would definitely waste at least one or two days of their time.
Everything was still under control.
Half a day later, the Star Hunters finally located the Sky Palace Formation. It took longer than expected, thanks to the sun's unbelievable size. Once they discovered the billions of people within the formation, the Star Hunters knew that they had found the motherlode. The bosses up in the formation were feeling rather annoyed at playing hide-and-seek with Wudi and gave their troops a brand new objective: gather all the ships at the Sky Palace Formation and launch an assault on it.
So far, only the Reaper had appeared, which was within the enemy's expectations. It had been off their radar for quite a while, and finally showed up to start taking down enemy ships. Tianming and Wudi had wasted an entire day of the Star Hunters' time just like that. During that time, the Star Hunters hadn’t suffered too many losses.
The seven ether-class ships weren't able to capture Wudi, despite taking out many flameyellow fiends. While there was still a day before the Gladean Ruins would return, the enemy was clearly feeling the pressure. Yet all they had to do was win on one front, as in either capture Wudi or take down the Sky Palace Formation, to fulfill their strategic objectives. The closer they were to achieving either goal, the harder it became for them to retreat!
Tianming, knowing the extent of their greed, had them dancing at his fingertips. To further give them an incentive to stay, he played his trump card: appearing before them himself. He started attacking the enemy ships from the rear with the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb! Tianming worked with Moran to start the onslaught on the Star Hunters.
There weren't that many Star Hunters that recognized the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb; it was a mere sanctuary-class ship that didn't have the reputation of the Reaper, after all. Thus, Tianming had to throw them some bait to get them to realize his value.
"It's Lin Feng of the Swordgod Lin Clan!" It caused quite a commotion when word of that spread to the three bosses.
"That kid’s the most wanted person by the ebons! Not only is he an unparalleled genius, superior even to the likes of Yi Daiyan, but he also holds countless other profound secrets! Some say that he alone is worth more than a sanctuary-class world!"
"Could this be his original homeworld?"
"He must have some kind of relationship with the administrator of this star!"
The Star Hunters had finally pieced together his origins. Tianming's bait would cause them to risk things even more. They were on the cusp of success, after all, and nothing could cause them to pull back now. Wudi also made sure to feign some mistakes, giving the enemy even more hope. It was all part of a mind game.
Once Tianming's identity had been exposed, the number of ships that were on his tail exceeded that of the ones that remained at the Sky Palace Formation. They knew more than anyone that his value as a hostage far exceeded that of the people within. They pursued him with lunatic fervor. "Capture him!"
Tianming made sure to not reveal his full might to his pursuers, at least not until the arrival of the Gladean Ruins. Even so, he still wiped out five hundred skypiercer-class ships with the Reaper's help. Almost a hundred thousand enemies had been killed by that alone.
Eventually, there was only half a day remaining. The Star Hunters were more and more aware of the Gladean Ruins' looming threat. Tianming could tell from the chaotic movements of the ships that they were growing ever more nervous. "Eventually, they'll choose to retreat no matter how many temptations we throw their way. That’s when we'll stop them from leaving with full force."
The Star Hunters were no doubt fighting among themselves over what to do now; Tianming was almost certain that the time for the counterattack was nigh.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel