At present, they were too far away for me to shoot them down. Honestly, I could hit them from this range, but the rest will scatter and use the buildings for cover. There was little point in attacking now and causing them to break up and flee, which would make them more difficult to hunt down later.
But yeah, by using my glasses, I could see the disposition of their forces. They were bringing Blood Boars to bear, the warthog like spirit beast possessing bloated bodies the size of tanks. Cruel tusks sliced through the air, and their snouts blazed with crimson qi. They must be what trampled upon and ripped apart the vehicles on the highway.
Accompanying the entourage of Blood Boars was long procession of demonic cultivators. from what I could sense, they were mostly Yellow ranked or Mystic ranked, but it was hard to tell. As I said, before, I didn't have a sense for these things. Moreover, it was entirely possible that they concealed their true strength, choosing to emanate only a small amount of qi instead of broadcasting publicly their actual cultivation realms.
In other words, I should proceed with caution.
"The enemy?" Myria asked, staying close to my side and squinting. Without my glasses, she couldn't see anything, but she vaguely made out tiny shapes in the distance and read my expression. I nodded and proceeded at a hastier pacing.
"That's right. There's quite a few of them."
Clenching my fists, I glanced around for cover. Leading Myria to the densely clustered trees that were on other side of the highway, I made use of the shade they offered to conceal our movements until we set foot into a more urban environment. Once we were surrounded by buildings, I relaxed a little, more used to the familiar gray concrete than greenery. That said, I still couldn't let my guard down.
"Over here."
Ducking behind walls, we weaved through the deserted streets and toward the road where I saw the demonic procession. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait for long. While we navigated through the burning ruins of stores and demolished houses, I heard the noise of battle as two groups clashed violently against each other.
Orthodox cultivators versus demonic cultivators and their beastly allies.
Poking my head out, I saw a regiment of orthodox cultivators fighting against the demons and Blood Boars, unleashing elemental techniques and setting the road aflame or in ice. Lightning struck from above, scorching the road and nearby buildings while forcing the demons to scatter. A couple of Blood Boars toppled, twitching from the lethal electricity. Wind buffeted the other demons and spirit beasts, sharp gales that sliced apart flesh and muscle.
Still, the demons weren't without attacks of their own. Poison corroded the surroundings, causing cultivators to retreat in panic. A few victims were already gasping for their air as they clutched at their throats, foaming at the mouth. Destructive qi rampaged across clearings, disintegrating vehicles and lampposts. Skeletal blades and bones impaled a few fleeing orthodox cultivators, causing them to slump against the spears.
"Don't falter!" The commander shouted, swinging his sword and cleaving apart a poisonous fog. "We must hold them here! Otherwise, the demons will break through and attack the civilians! For our families! For Xia Hai City!"
"Yeah!" His subordinates yelled in determination, reforging their lines and bracing themselves, even as the Blood Boars charged at them.
Taking a deep breath, I swung myself up the stairs and leaped toward the roof of a nearby building. Dropping below a ledge, I positioned myself and took aim with my new bow. Obsidian Drake glowed before turning into an azure bow that shimmered as I infused it with my qi. Then I opened fire. Hundreds of azure arrows streaked toward the horde of Blood Boars and hammered into them with meteoric force. Dozens of them went down in seconds, and their brethren skidded to a stop in vain before colliding against the carcasses with bone crunching impact.
The demons yelped and fought to reorganize their collapsing lines, but I took them out with accurate sniper fire, singling out the higher-ranked commanders and nailing their heads with an arrow. A few survived, but even they would be dazed from such a shot, their brains rattling in their skulls as they struggled to recover.
That was enough for the orthodox cultivators to turn the tide. They swept over the stunned demons and stuck spirit beasts, hacking, slashing, burning, freezing, electrocuting or doing whatever it took to slay them. The demons were no pushover, and they resisted fiercely, but it was only a matter of time before they were crushed, especially when I was providing support.
Granted, it wasn't as if I singlehandedly won the battle for them. We were still heavily outnumbered, and the demons weren't going to just fold over. In fact, several of them had realized where I was sniping them from and turned around to counterattack.
"Over there! That brat was shooting us from up there!"
"Get him!"
The demons weren't alone. A few of them grabbed the Blood Boars in the rear and whipped them into a frenzy, steering them toward the building I was in. Since the front was all squashed up and jammed, the Blood Boars didn't hesitate. They had nowhere else to go, after all, and were more than happy to raze the building in front of them. I cursed and leaped away just as the Blood Boars bulldozed into the place, demolishing the pillars and bringing the entire structure down.
"Jun Wen! Here!"
A water whip seized me in midair before yanking me to the side. Myria had found a more strategic location and gently set me down beside her. She had her sword out and she smiled at me before turning around to face the horde of Blood Boars and demons.
"Last stand here?"
"Last stand?" I snorted. "Don't worry, these guys won't be able to kill us."
As if on cue, five Guardian Golems materialized, along with Colossal Crabs. The Guardian Golems formed the vanguard, lumbering forward to meet the Blood Boars. Being only Yellow ranked, the Blood Boars were no match for the sturdy Mystic ranked golems and were pulverized by fists. Those that swerved about, outrunning the Guardian Golems and trying to get behind the slow-moving spirit beasts were met by a ring of Colossal Crabs. Without any hesitation, the giant crustaceans hammered them to pulp with their huge pincers, demonstrating all 10,000 horsepower that they were capable of. Blood splattered the surroundings as the poor Blood Boars were pulped, either by fiery stone or gigantic orange pincers.
As for the demons…
"If we kill you, then those spirit beasts will naturally be ours to corrupt!"
One of the demons struck at me from an angle, deploying his cruel demonic illusionary saber. I didn't bother to defend because I didn't need to. Three fireballs slammed into the demonic qi and exploded, the shockwaves buffeting my assailant and sending him crashing.
"What the!?"
Xiao Huo landed gracefully beside me, her three tails arced and pointing. More fireballs seared through the air, detonating against the demon and incinerating him. While she focused on that side, Myria turned to deal with a second demon. Even though she was far away, she swung her sword and extended a long water whip that sliced the poor demon in half.
While Myria and Xiao Huo protected me, I didn't remain idle. I continued to shoot down demons with my azure arrows. One did get past the fireballs and water whip to land right in front of me. Crowing triumphantly, he slashed at my throat with his claws, but I drew Azure Dragon with my right hand and parried them.
"How?! You're an archer! Why do you have a sword?!"
Was he dumb? So what if I was an archer? That didn't mean I couldn't use a sword. Trying not to roll my eyes, I twirled my blade about and amputated him at the elbow. He staggered back, blood spurting from his stump, and slashed with his other arm, but I ducked and then beheaded him with a single swing. His headless corpse twitched for a moment, blood erupting from his neck, before he fell.
Spinning around, I sheathed Azure Dragon before resuming my shooting. Arrows bombarded the demons and Blood Boars, even as my Guardian Golems pummeled them and my Colossal Crabs crushed them. Da Hai took the rear, manifesting just in time to use his shell to fend off an attack from a demon before he smacked the guy with a bubble stream at near pointblank range.
Ice filled the area when Xiao Ke used his freezing beam, the Blood Boars suddenly found their feet stuck to the ground and easy pickings for my arrows. The Guardian Golems no longer had to worry about being too slow and continued to stomp the bellowing Blood Boars to death.
"I'll kill you, brat, even if it's the last thing I do!"
Enraged that I had foiled their plans, one of the demon leaders charged at me, barreling past one of my Guardian Golems and sending his huge bulk toppling to the ground. He swatted away a Colossal Crab who tried to intercept him, and then kicked Da Hai aside, despite the War Totiose withdrawing into his shell. Xiao Huo tried to incinerate him, but he simply extinguished her flames with a swipe of his arm and knocked her aside when she lunged at him.
"There's no one to save you now!"
Both Myria and I braced, preparing our swords to parry his claws, but before the demon leader could reach us, a newcomer arrived, his sword impaling the demon leader from the side with enough force to hurl the enemy to the ground. The demon leader jerked and spat out a cough of blood, his twitching body pinned by the blade.
"You…!"
"Dad?"
I didn't expect to see my father show up here, of all places. Then again, he was a veteran orthodox cultivator who used to lead his own regiment. Of course he would be recalled to help defend Xia Hai City when it was under attack.
"Just in time, eh, Jun Hai?" Dad grinned as he stomped down on the demon leader's chest, shattering the latter's ribcage, and yanked his sword free. Grinding the dying demon to the earth, he finished him off with a kick, and then proceeded to face the remaining foes. Without turning back to me, he continued. "Good job, son. You too, Myria. You eased the pressure off us and allowed us to counterattack and take the demons apart the moment they were stupid enough to split up. You can leave the rest to us."
"Not much to leave to you, though," I joked when I saw what remained of the demons and Blood Boars after my own squadron of spirit beasts were done with them. Dad shrugged.
"True. But we won't rest until we exterminate every one of these foul beings audacious enough to attack our city."
"Agreed." I shot down another fleeing demon, the arrow punching a hole through his back and exiting his chest. "By the way, where's mom and Jun Hai? Are they all right?"
"Yeah. They're in the shelter with the civilians. They'll be fine…and even better once the city is safely secured. We have inevitably sustained casualties in the first hour or so, but the majority of the citizens are holed up in the shelters and waiting for us to win."
"Phew." I exhaled in relief and prepared a few more arrows. Steeling my resolve, I unleashed another volley on the rapidly dwindling horde of demons and cut them down. At my mental direction, my spirit beasts continued to lumber forward, finishing off the ragged pack of Blood Boars. With the demons commanding them in disarray, they had lost all sense of cohesion and were vulnerable to the coordinated strikes of my summoned spirit beasts. Sensing that the end was near, I took another step forward. "Then let's get this done and over with."