335 Juggernaut
"Second line, back them up!" Brad's voice echoed through the battlefield as he ordered another thirty Immortals to switch with those shielding the Immortals overhead.
Boom! CRaaaCK! Boom, boom, BOOM! Crack! BOOM! Crack, crack, CRACK!
"No matter how strong you are, a single cultivator can change the tide of battle!" Evalyn shouted, raining daggers on the Immortals. "Life's not fair, so show no mercy, soldiers!" Her troops responded in unison.
One of the Lainwright soldiers yelled, "COMBUSTION!" and waved her hand, warping the air inside the phalanx.
"Shit, Wind Gust!" Rein dropped her shield to block the attack, opening the shell and allowing ice blades to shoot inside and tear into the Immortals.
"Can't we use techniques on Evalyn?" Steve cried, seeing daggers sticking out of Immortals. "This is hardly an equalization!"
"Right!?" Whitney yelled. "Does this mean the Emperor—"
"Fuck. That!" Larkin roared. "We're Immortal elites! We don't need the Emperor solvin' our shit! Now give me a fuckin' haroooh!"
"Haroooh!" the soldiers yelled.
"That was some bitch shit!" the jester shouted. "Give me a real haroooh!"
"HAROOOH!" they roared.
Kaze watched from a distance, studying General Skye from under a cloak of invisibility. "What are you thinking, General Skye?" he muttered, his eyes narrowed. "You must know your sacrifice could backfire."
Evalyn flew above the battlefield, calculating her moves carefully as if waiting for Kaze to make a move. "If you fall, you will shatter the image of invincibility you represent," he asserted. "Or is that the message? You're gambling on me standing back and letting it happen?"
Meanwhile, Evalyn summoned a massive ice hammer and called out to her soldiers to ready their arrows. The Immortals maintained their phalanx formation as the Ice General jumped from the ice platform, hammer in hand, swinging in a deadly strike. "If there's a shell — break it!"
"BETA — ATTACK!" Brad yelled right before the impact.
BOOOOOOOOOM! CReeeaccccccckk!
While the Immortals avoided Evalyn's hammer, the impact sent them flying and froze the ground simultaneously.
"Hoover!" Rein yelled, watching the ice spread across the grass. She and the others jumped off the ground and levitated several feet as the ice spread below them.
"Fire!" Evalyn yelled, surprised but not losing focus. However, before the soldiers could shoot their arrows, a hail of bullets pierced through the air.
BOOM! Boom! Boom, boom, BOOM! Boom, boom!
"Snipers!" Evalyn warned, but the attack was too quick. Waves of bullets slammed into the frontline of archers, cracking their ribs with 50 caliber rounds only stopped by their reinforced clothing. They fell like dominoes, spreading confusion and groaning in pain.
"Charlie!" Brad roared. "Distract the Ice General; Delta, take out the soldiers. In and out!"
The morale of the Lainwright soldiers hit rock bottom when they saw thousands of Immortals jump over the walls. Within seconds, the Lainwright soldiers remembered that the Immortals they were fighting were only a twelfth of the Immortal forces!
VRooOOOOORSH!
Everyone was shocked when the phalanx Immortals used flames to melt the ammonia ice below them. The group realized that the Ice General didn't use techniques to strengthen or booby trap the ice, so it was safe to jump on. A moment later, they lifted their submachine guns.
Ratatatatatatatatat! Ratatatatatatatatat!
"Keep pressure on the general!" Rein yelled as Evalyn threw up an ice wall. "She makes her blades from Qi in the atmosphere, but evocation techniques like this require her inner Qi! If we keep her on the defensive, we'll whittle down her Qi until she's rendered useless!"
Evalyn's eyes widened when she heard her secret exposed but smiled wryly a moment later. "lt would be stupid not to teach people that," she chuckled. "If Kaze doesn't come, this will create irreparable damage. Let's test your mental fortitude — that's what's most important."
Firmly decided, she waved her hand at the ice wall, and massive ice pikes shot out of the wall.
"HOLD!" Brad yelled as the pikes shot into the shields.
CRAaaaACK! CRACK! Crack, CRAaaCK!
The Immortals screamed as the pikes shattered dozens of shields, piercing through the Immortals and impaling dozens. A wave of trauma shot through the injured when they looked down and saw a massive pike in their stomachs, threatening to kill them.
"Wheeeeeeeew!" Larkin grinned. "Evalyn's not playing around! You hear that, boys!? We're strong enough for Evalyn the Ice General fuckin' Skye to take seriously! HAROOOH!"
"H-Haroooh...." the Immortals stammered.
"WEAK SHIT, GIVE ME A HAROOOH!" the jester yelled.
"HAROOOOOH!"
"Now create a barrier, because that badass ain't done!" Larkin grinned. "As for me, I'll be melting these bad boys all day, every day!"
"Follow me!" Rein ordered, creating a wall out front while the jester assumed a crab stance. "Hold the line during the healing!"
"HAROOOH!" the Immortals yelled, following her.
"Feel Carcinus' fury!" Larkin roared, creating flame clamps. "YEEHAW!" Like a fool, he clamped his hands, shooting flames at the ice skewers, melting through them.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The Ice Wall shattered not a moment later, hitting the shields with ice shrapnel and exposing archers with arrows at the ready.
"FIRE!" Riley roared, waving her hand.
Thud, thud, THUD! Crack, crack, CRAaaaCK!
The sound of arrows hitting shields echoed through the battlefield as Rein yelled, "Hold the line!" Her shield was hit, creating massive cracks. "Second shift!"
"HAROOOH!" The second wave of Immortals ran up to replace the front line, shocking the Lainwright soldiers with their orderly exchange.
Brad stood before the injured Immortals, his expression stern. "We knew they'd be shooting Guided Arrows!" he asserted, seeing the soldiers shaking in disbelief. "This is war! Now use the skills we've been honing to help one another!"
A wounded Immortal radiated a red light as two others hovered over them, working together to close the wound shut.
"See that!?" a blonde-haired athlete shouted. "We're gods on Earth! While mortals would die, getting impaled means a bit of pain before a full recovery!"
A flame of pride and hope kindled in the shocked soldiers, building them up as they healed. Their morale only increased as a hailstorm of bullets crashed through the airwaves as the Immortals arrived on the scene.
Bang! Bang-bang-bang! Ratat! Bang, bang, BANG! Ratatatat! Bang!
"I don't have a choice." Evalyn gritted her teeth as the Immortals spread out, making it impossible to hit multiple targets simultaneously. Four waves of Immortals advanced with snipers in the back, followed by rifles, pistols, and SMGs to create a support system. All bullets hit their mark.
The Ice General developed a transparent cocoon around herself and threw her hand to the sky, developing a thousand blades. "You'd run at a juggernaut!?"
she taunted. "Die!"
WhoooOOOOOOOSH!
Thousands of blades weaved through the battlefield, cutting down five Immortals a second, leaving them screaming on the ground and in disarray. It was a brutal attack, wiping out a hundred Immortals in less than thirty seconds.
"This is bullshit!" Immortals roared as they shot at her with various guns. "Even 50 cals can't scratch that shelll What's the point of a competition where someone is invincible!"
Their complaints went unanswered as she cut down a thousand Immortals, leaving 500 healing and the rest in disarray. However, they weren't finished.
"STORM CHAMBER!" Steve's voice echoed through the chaos as he created a wind chamber around the Ice General's cocoon, cracking her shell with increasing pressure.
"SEE THAT!?" Larkin cheered triumphantly. "Even General Skye can't keep us down! We still have a third of our troops uninjured, and that's more than enough to beat these puny soldiers without her help!"
"HAROOOH! HAROOOH!" The Immortals roared in unison, trampling another four hundred Lainwright soldiers, leaving only a thousand. Meanwhile, General Skye tried to escape the storm chamber, but her attempts were futile. She gritted her teeth and created a deadly javelin.
"We're not losing unless Kaze intervenes!" Evalyn roared, throwing the spear through the cyclone like Achilles hurdling a boulder across the Trojan battlefield.
"Shit!" Steve exclaimed, seeing the icy meteorite and jumping out of the way. "I didn't sign up for this! MOVE!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
With a thunderous BOOM, the spear hit the ground, causing an earthquake that shook the battlefield. The Ice General flew high into the open for all to see. "This battle is over!" she declared. "l suggest you shield and pray! Razor Flurry!"
A massive blizzard of razor-sharp ice crashed down from the heavens, spelling the end of the battle. However, a wall of blue flames crashed into it, blocking the sides with a wall of steam.
"I-Is it over?" Brad murmured, feeling his pulse racing.
"In battle, the only end is victory!" a booming voice called from inside the mist, sending shivers down everyone's spine. Everyone was excited — and fearful — that their emperor was joining the fight.
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com