After the explosion subsided, the large area affected by the explosion was filled with still bodies on the ground. Jack's combined explosive assault that merged four different elements was enough to take away more than thirty percent of a level 70 rare elite like Garland who was stronger than his equal counterpart. What more of these common soldiers?
All basic and elite orc soldiers were wiped out. All special elite below level 55 shared the same fate. Higher-level special elites were mostly left with critical HP. Rare elites below level 60 mostly lost more than half their HPs. Even Abasi had only half a life remaining.
All players in the vicinity were wiped out except for Four Winds' team. Jack was surprised to find that those five still stood. No, four! The Sentinel named Coca was lying on the ground as well.
Coca had used a very rare non-standard sentinel skill called Final Sacrifice. The skill created a bubble that reduced damage. The bubble was not large, it could hold only around five to six persons. All the damage that passed through this bubble was transferred to the sentinel who used the skill. All allies that hid within the bubble won't receive any damage as long as they were inside the bubble.
Hence, all the damage that Jack's combined assault generated was absorbed by Coca, sparing four Winds and the others from demise.
When the explosion happened, Coca had also activated all his defensive skills. Protection Field, Shield Stance, and Impenetrable Wall. Impenetrable Wall was Sentinel's level 50 standard skill. It created a giant shield image that followed the user around. It blocked damage equal to 300% of Sentinel's maximum HP and reduced all damage by 35%. The Sentinel was also immune to all movement restrictions when the skill was active. This skill lasted five seconds at its first level.
However, even with all the defensive buff, Coca's HP was still depleted from the combined explosion.
Purple Mist could actually use mass teleportation, a spell that she had shown during the world tournament. But Mass teleportation had a shorter range compared to the individual teleportation spell. Four Winds was not certain how wide the blast area was from Jack's attack. He didn't want to take the risk. It would be a disaster if after they teleported, they were still within the blast radius. So, he chose the more certain method of Coca's Final Sacrifice.
The pressure on the human army in the area where the blast happened dropped drastically. The morale of the human army also increased seeing many casualties on the opponent's side. Jack issued the command to charge. They pressed forward.
Paytowin had summoned Mihos then. The golden champion just looked at the situation with a flat expression. He glanced at Paytowin, pulled up his golden greatsword, and uttered a battle cry that gave all allies a buff before charging into the enemy's rank.
'What's the deal with him?' Paytowin wondered. Then an understanding came to him. Mihos was still in grief and fury for losing his faction. He must have lots of pent-up anger to unleash at the moment. This war was the perfect place for him to do it.
Mihos used his super jump assault and sent himself right in the middle of the enemies. He then used a double whirlwind slash, cutting everyone around him, before following up with Swords of the Braves. Eight golden swords struck the stronger enemies nearby him.
Paytowin sighed. Forget about having Mihos protect him. That champion was not in the frame of mind to listen to commands. Paytowin just let him wreak havoc within the enemy's rank. With his Mythical grade, the champion should be all right. Paytowin stayed at the back and used ranged attacks.
The orc army was generally one to two levels higher than the human army, but Jack's War General title helped bridge the gap. Now with the increase in morale, the human army was at an advantage. They continued to push the orc army back.
Jack also followed the charge. He advanced again to where Four Winds and the others were located. These players still hold their ground. Abasi himself had retreated to the back line covered by his trusted lieutenants once he found his HP was down to half. Seeing their general retreat caused the orc army to lose even more fighting spirit.
When Jack was heading to Four Winds, he saw Coca rise. His HP was only 1 point though. Before Jack could react, Purple Mist already used her Full Heal on Coca.
Jack's speedy flight brought him to Four Winds' group before his army arrived. "Sacrificial dummy?" Jack asked.
"Yes, it's a very rare item. We only found two so far, and you have forced us to waste one," Four Winds answered.
"Hehe, do you bring the second one? You are going to have to use that one as well if you all are still stubborn about not retreating. Now, let's see how you deal with the skill that killed you in the world tournament!" Jack uttered. His body broke into multiple shadows.
"Everyone!" Four Winds uttered after seeing the familiar Hundred Shadow Strikes.
When Jack's twenty shadows came, the five took positions that covered all angles. At the same time, an apparition appeared above Four Winds, it was Berserker's level 50 standard skill, Ancestral Possession. This apparition above him clashed with two of Jack's shadows. Disco Rain was by the side with twin daggers, each dagger stabbed and struck one shadow. Violent Blizzard was on the opposite side of Disco Rain. She used Parry. Her large greatsword allowed her to parry another two shadows.
Coca was behind, he used Shield Stance again and used the large tower shield to block two shadows while the longsword on his right hand parried another shadow. Purple Mist cast Words of Prayer in the area where they were standing. Increasing all their attributes and defense and also increased HP recovery. At the same time, she used her martial art using a staff to parry one shadow.
Four Winds used his Starlight Field martial art to deal with the rests. But even with the compact defense, three shadows seemed unaccountable. These three almost hit Purple Mist when a figure rushed in with crisscrossing sword lights that clashed with the remaining three shadows.
The twenty shadows converged back into Jack. Jack looked at the new figure with amazement. It was a native orc who wielded a long katana blade. The orc was named Muwaje Sharpblade, a level 58 rare elite. But Jack was more amazed by the cooperation between Four Winds and the others. They still lost HP, but their cooperation allowed them to survive attacks that would have otherwise killed them.
"Are you okay?" Muwaje asked Four Winds. "I saw the big explosion and rushed here."
"It's fortunate that you do. Thank you for the save," Four Winds replied.
"Your companion?" Jack hazarded a guess.
"Yeah," Four Winds replied. As he answered, a healing light covered all of them. Jack turned and saw a lesser angel some distance away. He knew one because he had seen one when he was fighting Master. This one must have been summoned by Purple Mist as soon as the explosion was over. He didn't see any other priest-class player nearby.
"I admit we are still not your match," Four Winds uttered. "But I have promised to show you the might of Cipher Flight. You will witness it now."
Four Winds pointed in a direction after finished speaking. A legion appeared from the side of the orc army. This legion hit the human army's right flank. The legion numbered around 10,000 soldiers.
Then another legion came again, close behind the first one. The number in this legion almost matched the first one.
"Your guild has trained twenty thousand soldiers?" Jack asked in astonishment.
"No, that second one is from another guild. The leader is that technocraft whom you killed just now with your explosive attack," Four Winds uttered.
"Well, I will go meet this guild army of yours after finishing you lot here."
"As I said. We might not be your match, but we will win this war."
Jack noticed then Purple Mist was casting a spell. He recognized the spell formation. It was mass teleportation. Jack used Sword of Light. However, a prismatic shield appeared and blocked his attack. It was the protection spell from the lesser angel.
Purple Mist's lesser angel was not as powerful as Master's. Probably due to the intelligence stat modifier. Jack's Sword of Light shattered the prismatic shield and still hit Purple Mist, but the power had been greatly reduced due to the shield. Purple Mist received damage but was not high enough to be alarmed. Her concentration was solid. Jack's interference didn't disrupt her casting.
The spell was cast and all of them disappeared from the place. Jack saw them reappeared behind the orcs soldiers that were advancing.
Since Cipher Flight's team didn't want a direct confrontation with him, he didn't force the issue. He flew away before the sea of humans and orcs refilled the empty field he had created from his combined explosion assault. He left Arlcard, Therras, and Ice Demon Fiend to continue supporting the human army while he flew to the side where the human army was being flanked by the enemy guild armies.
Paytowin rode Brave King and flew behind Jack.
"Those are guild armies from Cipher Flight?" Paytowin asked. They were in the air watching.
"Those are armies from two guilds," Jack informed.
Both of the armies were almost equal in number, but in terms of quality, the first army was much better. Almost all the standard units were upgraded versions. Some units were clearly not standard. There was a company of armored minotaurs wielding giant axes, a battalion of spear-throwing trolls, and a platoon of cat-like warriors carrying flaming sabers.
Not only that, there was a large-horned panther that spearheaded the guild army. The panther had dark blue fur that seemed as rigid as steel. It had two long whiskers that ended with tentacle-like suckers filled with sharp hooks. Its tail was long and ended with a long blade. Its footsteps left behind residues of black smoke.
"That is a Hellion Panther," Peniel informed. "A large-sized rare elite demon."
"I assume that is their guild guardian," Paytowin remarked.
"And the one on top of that panther must be their guild hero," Jack said.
On top of the Hellion Panther was a female orcish archer. She brandished a very large bow. Every shot she fired produced an ice arrow. Ones who were struck by these ice arrows were either slowed or frozen.
"Cipher Flight indeed lives up to its name," Jack remarked.
With additional 20,000 guild soldiers, the right side of the human army was having trouble. If this continued, the advantage Jack had secured would be slowly negated.
"I think it's time they meet Everlasting Heavenly Legends' army," Jack said.
