Victory in War

Wooo, aaaoooh!!!

Wien's pincer tactic was crude, but its effect was clear. Since the encirclement began, their side had lost noticeably fewer Gillians than the enemy, and as the battle heated up, the enemy Gillians had begun to collapse in large numbers. If their leader failed to adjust his tactics, the war would soon be over.

At last, after their Gillians had worn the enemy down in successive waves, the enemy Pseudo-Adjuchas could no longer sit still. Dozens of strangely shaped Gillians suddenly sprang from the enemy's rear ranks. Ceros of different colors swept toward the Gillians on Wien's side. The front rank was instantly blasted apart, their wounds charred black. There was no blood to be seen, only the smell of scorched meat, and they were left unable to fight.

Seeing this, the Sandworm Menos Grande raised his head and gathered power to fire a Bala, but Wien stopped him.

"My lord, wait a little longer," Wien urged. "Let them expend another round of energy."

"Why? Our Gillians are being attacked," the Sandworm Menos Grande asked, puzzled. Even with his tactical talent, he found it hard to make the right response at once. He had only seen their Gillians taking losses and intended to launch the next stage of the plan.

"They're just cannon fodder. We don't need to worry too much about them," Wien said calmly, shaking his head. "As the art of war says, the first burst is the strongest, the second weaker, and the third exhausted. Let the enemy Pseudo-Adjuchas expend their Spiritual Pressure a few times, then use Negación to strike at their morale. Attack while they're stunned and catch them off guard. Only then will the effect be significant."

"I don't understand any of that, but you're saying we should just wait a little longer, right?" The Sandworm Menos Grande scratched his worm head with the tip of his tail in a humanlike gesture.

"Yes, my lord. Send our Gillians forward again. At this point, we can afford the losses, and we can also see the range of the enemy's attacks. That way, our sixty-plus Negación can be used where they'll count," Wien said with a nod.

"Fine, we'll do as you say." The Sandworm Menos Grande did not object, because he could see for himself that the encirclement just now had worked. It was the first time he had seen such an overwhelming advantage in his many holy wars. As a result, his trust in Wien grew a little stronger.

The battlefield changed in an instant, and the Pseudo-Adjuchas attacks took only a few breaths. Soon, after three rounds of Ceros, the front-rank Gillians had been almost entirely wiped out, and only the Gillians in the middle were still pushing forward. The Gillians who fell had also fired Ceros before dying, causing the enemy Pseudo-Adjuchas considerable trouble.

"Big worm of the Northern Forest. You've got some tricks!" A rough roar suddenly rang out across the battlefield.

After the three rounds of Ceros, the enemy leader also appeared at the front of the battlefield. He was a Mutant Hollow whose form defied description. His enormous body stood about twenty-five or twenty-six meters tall, but his head was only the size of a washbasin. Tentacles surrounded his body, and beneath it were six legs like mine spikes.

"I don't know how you suddenly got the sense to have your Gillians attack in a formation like this. But don't underestimate the strength of my Southern Forest!"

"Hmph, ugly freak, you're still talking tough at a time like this? Surrender and hand your resources over to me. Then I might consider sparing your life. Otherwise, I'll make sure there's nothing left of your corpse today!"

"Big words for a worm. It's still too soon to say who'll win. Just wait and see me blast every last one of your lackeys to pieces!"

With that, the lord of the Southern Forest roared at the sky, and all the Pseudo-Adjuchas and Gillians under his command began raising their Spiritual Pressure, preparing to unleash a massive volley of Ceros.

Wien looked closely and saw that most of those around the lord of the Southern Forest were also Mutant Hollows. This answered a question Wien had been wondering about: it seemed that there really was opposition between races in the Forest of Menos. At the very least, differences in compatibility did exist. Were all the Hollow beasts in the Central Forest humanoid?

For now, though, he only thought about it. He then turned to the Sandworm Menos Grande beside him and told him not to give the enemy a chance to catch their breath, but to send the Gillians to keep harassing them immediately. At the same time, their Pseudo-Adjuchas were to prepare to release Negación.

The Sandworm Menos Grande let out an angry roar. Dozens of Gillians spat red light from their mouths, blasting it toward the enemy Pseudo-Adjuchas. When the enemy Pseudo-Adjuchas sensed the Spiritual Pressure fluctuations of the Ceros coming from the Sandworm Menos Grande's direction, they stopped gathering power and fired their own Ceros back. For a moment, Ceros of every color mingled with the dark red ones, giving half the battlefield a different hue.

"My lord, now!" Seeing that the time had come, Wien hurriedly alerted the Lord of the Forest North. The Lord of the Forest North reacted just as quickly, raising his head and firing a Bala.

Bang!

The dark red Bala shot straight into the sky. The next second, more than sixty Negación descended in unison upon the Gillians standing before Wien. Like a thick wall of yellow light, they blocked the various Ceros fired from the other side.

"Negación!?" The King of the Southern Forest stared in shock. He had never imagined that the opponent he had faced for decades would suddenly abandon his conventional fighting methods and use a variety of tactics. It distracted him for a brief moment on the battlefield. But in that brief moment, the Lord of the Forest North gave the order, and the king was met with more than sixty Pseudo-Adjuchas Ceros and over a hundred dark red Ceros. That spectacular volley pushed the Spiritual Pressure on the battlefield almost to its peak.

Catch the enemy off guard and strike at their weak point. This was one of Wien's favored tactics: launch a devastating attack when the enemy's previous strength was spent and their new strength had yet to build. Of course, the enemy could also use Negación to defend and render Wien's tactic ineffective. But Negación could only be used on allies, not on oneself. And how many Pseudo-Adjuchas on the other side could truly be called allies?

Besides, amid the panic of a battlefield that changed from one moment to the next, they barely had time to protect themselves, much less concern themselves with whether anyone else lived or died.

Thus, the Mutant Hollows led by the King of the Southern Forest were blasted to death. The Spiritual Pressure of the others who survived had also fallen to a certain level. The only ones who had preserved their strength were the King of the Southern Forest and a few of his capable subordinates. In an instant, victory was almost assured for Wien's side.

"Kill!"

A savage look appeared in the eyes beneath the Lord of the Forest North's mask. Without even hearing the rest of Wien's plan, he gave the order and led his forces in a charge. After the Ceros came close combat between the two sides. Unlike before, however, the Northern Forest held an absolute advantage in this war. The scales of victory tipped toward Wien's side, just as expected.

More than a hundred Pseudo-Adjuchas Menos Grande from the two sides began rampaging across the battlefield. Wien took the opportunity to retreat several steps and began concealing his Spiritual Pressure and form. As the one who had set the escalation of the battle in motion, Wien had no desire to join the Pseudo-Adjuchas' fight. It was far beyond what he could withstand.

If he had reached the late Gillian stage, he might have been able to take a hit or two, but he had only evolved recently and had not even reached the middle Gillian stage. How could he hope to resist? Although he had greater Spiritual Pressure than an ordinary Gillian, that little bit was nothing in the face of such a vast difference in level. As he was now, even a glancing hit from a Pseudo-Adjuchas' Cero could cost him a few body parts. What was more, Pseudo-Adjuchas possessed their own Spiritual Power Skills. If Wien were hit by a move like that, he might die on the spot.

Wien quickly withdrew from the fighting and began watching the close combat. When the Spiritual Power Skills possessed by Adjuchas-level Menos Grande were strengthened, not only did their power increase, but they could also incorporate the distinctive traits of their users' abilities to produce unique attacks.

Of course, some of those abilities were similar, as though a single ability had been divided into a greater and a lesser form, one strong and one weak. For example, among flame abilities, magma-level flames were more powerful than ordinary flames. The same was true of ice abilities: subzero temperatures could never compare with absolute zero. There was an undeniable hierarchy between them.

These subdivisions were practically endless, so they could only be summarized under broad categories. Intelligence had therefore become a very important strategic objective. What Wien needed to do now was to observe the abilities of the Pseudo-Adjuchas on the battlefield as clearly as possible, for his future plans.

The Sandworm Menos Grande's ability seemed to be corrosion. His enormous mouthparts sprayed out clouds of dark green corrosive acid, and whenever it landed on a Gillian, the Gillian melted like snow within seconds. Even Pseudo-Adjuchas would be left with an indelible scar. The only one who could withstand it to any extent was the King of the Southern Forest, that strange-looking Mutant Hollow.

That Mutant Hollow's ability seemed to be parasitism. There were countless parasitic spores on his strange body. Whenever one landed on a Hollow, it would devour its host and explode after feeding its fill of Reishi, inflicting damage on the enemy in two ways.

The way to counter it was to rely on the Hierro that only Pseudo-Adjuchas possessed to withstand the spores' bites. Of course, if one's Spiritual Pressure level was insufficient, there was still a risk of being eaten. But with the Sandworm Menos Grande keeping the king occupied, their Pseudo-Adjuchas had not yet been caught up in it and were each seeking opponents for their own battles.

Their fighting, however, was also quickly drawing to a close. After all, this was already a war between unequal forces.

After the battle had gone on for a while, the Southern Forest's Pseudo-Adjuchas had been almost completely scattered. Only a small pocket of combat centered on the King of the Southern Forest was still barely holding out. But under the assault led by the Sandworm Menos Grande, it was only a matter of time before they were taken down.

"Hmph, ugly thing, why have you stopped yapping? Go on, yap!" The Sandworm Menos Grande taunted him as he lashed forward with his tail. "King of the Southern Forest? You're nothing but a stray dog!"

"Damn reptile, don't get cocky." The King of the Southern Forest had only just managed to withstand a blow, and he rapidly retreated. Unfortunately, before he had gone more than a few steps, the other Pseudo-Adjuchas Menos Grande cut him off. He had no way to escape. "I don't know what means you used to control Negación like that, but if you think you can keep me here, aren't you dreaming a little too much?"

"I don't know whether I can keep you here, but these subordinates of yours... Hmph!" With a cold snort, the Lord of the Forest North slammed his thick tail against the ground, and his whole body flashed forward.

Sonído, a movement skill that any Adjuchas could use, regardless of size. On the other side, the King of the Southern Forest stiffened his tentacles and met the Lord of the Forest North's attack head-on. For a time, neither could gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, the other Pseudo-Adjuchas Menos Grande began reaping the remaining Pseudo-Adjuchas and clearing out the enemy Gillians. The battle was already nearing its end.

Buzz!

The battle continued. The King of the Southern Forest was driven steadily back, but just as he was about to be overwhelmed, something unexpected happened. A beam of golden light separated the two leader-class Menos Grande. One of the King of the Southern Forest's subordinates had used Negación on him.

"My lord, go!" the Mutant Hollow said urgently. "We can lose, but you must not die! The Southern Forest still needs you!"

"Sadiyen, you..." The King of the Southern Forest was also startled by the sudden Negación. He knew that the Spiritual Pressure in it came from his most faithful servant.

"My lord, go! I'll buy you time! May you be victorious in every battle to come!" With that, the Mutant Hollow named Sadiyen used Sonído to rush in front of the Lord of the Forest North. A Cero containing all his Spiritual Power erupted from him, shooting straight at the Lord of the Forest North.

Unfortunately, the Spiritual Pressure gap between the middle and peak Pseudo-Adjuchas stages was not something that could be bridged outright as it could among lower-level Hollows. Sadiyen's attack caused the Lord of the Forest North only a little trouble.

"Hmph, a firefly dares compete with the bright moon. You don't know your own limits!" The Lord of the Forest North scoffed at such resistance.

"Damn reptile, don't even think of harming my lord!" Knowing that his all-out attack had accomplished nothing, the Pseudo-Adjuchas Menos Grande named Sadiyen began emitting an immensely powerful Spiritual Pressure. His eyes beneath his mask shone with fierce determination.

At that moment, he chose to self-destruct. Only an attack like this could do the other side some harm, and it would be enough to delay the Lord of the Forest North for a while.

Boom!!!

The enormous explosion resounded across the battlefield, and the Lord of the Forest North had no choice but to avoid its force. He was in no hurry, though. Once Sadiyen died, the Negación would naturally disappear. What he had not expected was that the King of the Southern Forest was also decisive. By the time the dust and Negación had cleared, the king had already entered a Garganta. Its opening was only a few meters wide, moments from closing completely, and there was no time to pursue him.

"Damn worm, I'll remember this. Next time, I'll make you pay!" Leaving those harsh words behind, the King of the Southern Forest vanished into the air.

Having lost their leader, the abandoned Pseudo-Adjuchas and Gillians of the Southern Forest fell into chaos. They were soon all reaped by the Pseudo-Adjuchas on the battlefield, and at that moment, the battle finally came to an end.

The Pseudo-Adjuchas all let out excited howls, and the Gillians began lying on the ground and tearing into the fruits of victory. Only Wien gazed silently at the place where the Garganta had just disappeared, his eyes full of questions, no one knowing what he was thinking.