Chapter 2066 - 553: Battle of Burial Peak

On the other side, at the southern foot of the Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain Range, lies Burial Peak under the control of the Shrek Warlord.

The so-called "Burial Peak" is not an isolated summit but a perilous mountain range composed of five undulating, staggered peaks.

From an aerial view, the trajectory of these five peaks is unpredictable, resembling a giant corpse lying across the earth.

The exposed gray-white rocks are like the giant's bones, and the twisted vegetation covering them is like decayed flesh... Hence the name "Burial Peak."

At this moment, this "corpse" is amidst clamoring chaos.

The Ratmen army commanded by the Shrek Warlord wriggled densely like maggots on every inch of the slope, parasitizing the corpse.

With sharp voices, they cursed the damned human beings while waving primitive tools, frantically digging defensive works.

It must be admitted that these rats, though filthy, possess excellent learning ability.

They stole the dwarves' mining techniques and innovatively modified them, digging a series of chaotically organized yet intricately complex trenches along the mountain crest's edge.

These trenches are like scars on the corpse of the giant.

The Ratmen mounted stolen Rune Crossbows behind mounds, wielding various lengths of spears, rusty iron swords, and even agricultural grass forks.

Moreover, there are Magic Stone Guns taken from the Hell Dwarves and Magic Scrolls and Devices "discarded" in the Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain Range by Magic Apprentices.

Looking around, one cannot find any neatly uniform team in this army of tens of thousands, nor two identical pieces of equipment.

Yet, even so, the combat power of this force should not be underestimated.

Because although the equipment quantity is limited, the number of Ratmen is endless, and the dwarves in the Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain Range have repeatedly underestimated the Ratmen's fighting capability to their own detriment.

They are not as easy to deal with as imagined.

Of course, it also depends on who's confronting them.

"Everyone, stay spirited! Those hairless monkeys are coming up!"

"We must not let the human wretches charge up!"

"Let them see the might of Lord Gerro!"

"Die! Die!"

The noisy clamor rose and fell.

The unified shout of the rats indeed dispersed the fear lingering on the battlefield, allowing them a brief respite from the pain of being beaten by the Earth Cave Spiders a few days ago.

However, while the Shrek Warlord's foolish ones may forget past beatings, Ratmen Ten Thousand Captain Split Tooth Gagar, the front-line Commander, is an astute rat.

At this moment, he stands on a protruding rock, his cloudy little eyes anxiously scanning around, especially focusing on the rear, with unease churning in his heart.

The cunning Shrek Warlord hasn't shown up for several days.

Although he publicly claimed to be retreating for cultivation of secret techniques taught by Lord Gerro, the rats below were whispering that the boss had already fled through a hidden passage with his treasures and female rats.

To stabilize morale, Gagar was forced to hang a dozen rumor-mongers, displaying their corpses on flagpoles to set an example.

Nevertheless, while the morale is stabilized and the Rats' arrogance restored, Gagar's own mood remains unsettled.

According to the intelligence riskily returned by the front-line Scouts, the human troops gathered at the mountain's foot are astonishingly numerous, and not only humans but also masses of heavily armored dwarves, and that group of Lizardmen from the Southern Swamp, rumored to treat rats as snacks.

Lord Gerro above...

Gagar couldn't suppress a groan; who did their leader Mork manage to offend?!

A few days ago, they had repelled the terrifying Earth Cave Spiders, expecting to finally catch their breath, only for another even more formidable group to emerge suddenly.

Poor Gagar didn't know it wasn't they who fended off the Earth Cave Spiders; they were merely spared by Alakdo.

The vanguard of the Demon King Army had already accomplished the first phase of their war objectives—weakening Burial Peak's defense forces, controlling it before the experimental facility's relocation, muddying the waters before the regular army's arrival, and concealing the "spoils" as a feat and fame.

Although Alakdo is merely the Demon King's pet, he handled the matters efficiently, missing none of the four strategic goals.

As for now—

It is the second phase.

Just as Gagar was daydreaming, a peculiar sound suddenly emanated from the distant sky.

"Woo—!"

It was a shrill, piercing sound, dense and harrowing, like thousands upon thousands of killer bees roaring in!

Gagar was slightly taken aback, his two ragged ears twitched, and before he could react, the shrill sound was above him.

"Boom, boom, boom—!"

The frontline position a kilometer ahead was instantly swallowed by countless clusters of orange-red fireballs, turning into a boiling sea of fire!

The intense explosions were deafening; the waves of energy mixed with debris and dismembered Ratmen soared into the sky. The Ratmen crouched in the trenches had no chance to see the enemy before more than half were wiped out by incoming rocket shells.

The Ratmen huddled in the rear trenches were all numb with shock from this unexpected blow.

Terrified, they stared at the destructive rain descending from the heavens, their faces showing sheer terror, just as the rats outside Twilight City did when faced with Angel Descent.