Guarding the main road leading to the temple, the middle-aged priest raised his hand.
Around him, fifty warriors formed a five-layer shield wall, their spears braced at the top.
Before them, monsters surged like a tidal wave.
The middle-aged priest remained calm and lifted his sword high.
"Inanna, the goddess who protects Uruk, please grant us the power of Venus!"
A golden light, which had been shining beyond Uruk's southern wall, suddenly split into a beam and descended upon the Uruk warriors. Their weapons and armor were bathed in this golden light, and their resolve surged.
Ignoring the voices of protest that seemed to accompany the golden light—"Who stole my power?"—the middle-aged priest sheathed his sword, allowing the remaining golden light to swirl around it.
"Ha!"
With a powerful shout, he brought the sword down with tremendous force!
Boom!
The slash imbued with Venus's power cleaved through the first wave of attacking monsters, obliterating them in an instant!
The aftermath blasted apart Uruk's buildings, causing the middle-aged priest to frown. He quickly shouted again.
"Prepare!"
Countless monsters emerged from the ensuing smoke and dust, plunging directly into the formation!
Both Warcraft and these monsters had a common issue: they didn't need to assault the shield wall directly. With their formidable jumping abilities, they could leap into the formation from above.
On the front lines, Uruk had enough troops to manage this, but this small group of fifty was being overwhelmed from above. Ordinary soldiers would have collapsed instantly.
Worse still, while some monsters jumped into the formation, others climbed nearby buildings to bypass it. Some pressed forward, while others leaped directly into the fray!
Fortunately, these were elite soldiers.
Under the middle-aged priest's command, the shield wall quickly transformed into a defensive hedgehog formation, resisting attacks from all directions.
Yet, the attempt to stop the monsters with the shield wall alone proved inadequate.
The middle-aged priest watched coolly as some monsters were pushed back.
In the next moment, countless beams of golden light, slightly weaker than before, cut through the sky, erasing all the monsters caught in the light.
Several priests leaped from the back, landing in front of the formation and using their swords to clear the remaining monsters.
With the warrior's combat prowess and the priests' sword energy, the monsters were relentlessly cut down.
Still, many monsters managed to evade and invade the temple.
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At the temple's main entrance, eight temple guards stood ready.
Though they didn't understand why the promised one hundred reinforcements had deserted them, their sense of duty kept them committed to defending the temple.
They sensed a powerful presence approaching—something foreign to Uruk and the temple.
The spears of the eight temple guards glowed with golden light, resonating with the magic patterns etched into the temple.
Suddenly, countless monsters surged from the road in front of the square. Almost simultaneously, eight thick beams of light fired from the tips of the guards' spears, annihilating the first wave of monsters in the blink of an eye.
The monsters, seemingly devoid of fear, continued to charge forward despite the devastating blow.
Facing an overwhelming number of monsters, the temple guards showed no fear.
Trained rigorously and empowered by divine power, these eight guards alone could challenge an elite team under Ophis, not counting their captain.
The captain unleashed the Holy Spear three more times. When he could no longer recharge, the guards gathered together, preparing for close combat.
Then, something extraordinary happened.
The massive Ouroboros formation in the sky shimmered again, and the magic patterns on the temple behind the guards flared with a strong red light in response!
In the next instant, a giant object fell from the sky, crushing the monsters in front into black sludge.
Less than half a second later, several more colossal objects descended, causing repeated tremors.
The temple guards exchanged surprised glances.
The giants were the golden armors Ophis had deployed throughout Uruk months ago!
An even greater quake shook the ground beneath their feet.
The ground in various parts of the square began to crack, and identical suits of armor emerged from the earth.
These armors, about three meters high and highly defensive, withstood shallow scratches from monsters. Each suit wielded an axe gun of the same material as the armor.
Then, in an orderly fashion, two rows of these armors filed out of the temple. The temple guards remembered that the temple had the largest number of these armors.
Though the armor's attack speed was slow, each swing of the axe knocked back multiple monsters into the black sludge. Combined with their powerful defense, these armors became nearly unstoppable.
The temple guards looked at each other, their expressions shifting from grim determination to hopeful relief.
Uruk was saved!
Similar scenes were unfolding throughout Uruk.
The middle-aged priest cleaved through the monster before him, reducing it to black sludge, then sheathed his sword with a dramatic flair and walked between the two armors that followed, leaving the armored army to continue their assault.
The troops behind him and other priests had already retreated under the armored army's protection. He was the last one left.
At the end of Uruk's line, the young priest sighed in relief as the addition of the armored troops significantly reduced the pressure on the fifty sword-wielding warriors who had been struggling.
Once the armored troops were fully mobilized, the Ouroboros formation in the sky gathered an enigmatic purple mist, from which thunder continuously struck, clearing out large numbers of monsters each time. Numerous spells appeared on various walls throughout Uruk, emitting beams of magical power to eliminate enemies. Hundreds of magic cannon formations emerged on the southern city walls, easing the burden on Ishtar and others.
This was the true power of Uruk, the fortress city designed by Ophis!