The Unrivaled Tang Sect Volume 31, Chapter 397.2

The defense of the city was now entrusted to some ordinary soldiers. Who knew when the next beast tide would come? The soul beast army only needed to make some minor adjustments. Perhaps they would return after they had consumed the carca.s.ses of the fallen.

The Tang Sect's delivery was completed. There were twenty-one Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons in storage, but these were not the custom-made heavy Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons on the city walls. While they were slightly weaker, these Cla.s.s 5 Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons were much more agile.

During the six hours of battle just now, five of the thirty-two Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons on the city walls had been put out of action due to overheating. Right now, Hallmaster Xuan Ziwen of the Tang Sect's Soul Tool Hall, who had rushed over just in time, was repairing them.

Bei Bei and the rest had solemn expressions on their faces. Yuhao was safe, which was excellent news for them. However, what could they do about the beast tide at the gates? No one knew how long Shrek City could resist this beast tide. While they had not incurred many casualties in the battle just now, many of them were exhausted. Hundreds of Sealed Milk Bottles were being used to replenish their soul power. In this situation, even if they wanted to replenish their soul power, they could not recover all their soul power before the next beast tide. As for the shock bombs, which could only be used once, it was even harder to replenish them.

Other than the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons, the Tang Sect had also provided more than a hundred and ten other soul tools of different types. More importantly, the Tang Sect had also provided two thousand one hundred and fifty-two stationary soul cannon sh.e.l.ls. When the elders of the Sea G.o.d's Pavilion saw this figure, they were all shocked. One had to know that this amount of stationary soul cannon sh.e.l.ls would cost an astronomical figure! Where did the Tang Sect get its money from?

Helpless, Bei Bei could only tell them about how Huo Yuhao and the others robbed the Sun Moon Empire's underground storage facility. The elders of Sea G.o.d's Pavilion already knew of how w.a.n.g Qiu'er sacrificed herself for Huo Yuhao.

The elders did not say anything at first. The Tang Sect, with its actions, proved their total support for Shrek City. Furthermore, just when Huo Yuhao was on the brink of death, an Emperor Beast had sacrificed herself for him. Could he be blamed for it? While he seemed to be the cause of the beast tide, the elders were reasonable people. None of them blamed him for it.

However, this made the Tang Sect, led by Bei Bei, even more determined to fight to the death for Shrek City. For the Tang Sect, for Huo Yuhao, and for Shrek! They were Shrek's Seven Monsters! Despite lacking two, there were still five of them! They would defend the honor that rightfully belonged to Shrek!

------

The second a.s.sault came a bit later than expected. The soul beasts looked tired, too. They had rested for four entire hours. The sky was turning dark, and the sun was setting in the west. Only then did the defenders hear the roars of the beasts as innumerable beasts appeared on the other edge of the plain.

The soul beasts were not dumb. The more powerful ones were as intelligent as humans. Fighting at night was more disadvantageous for the humans than fighting during the day, as humans were normally not nocturnal beings. In the day, they would be much more focused. Furthermore, the vision of most humans was lower at night than in the day. 

On the other hand, many soul beasts were nocturnal creatures. Fighting at night was more advantageous for them!

After a round of discussion among the Savage Beasts of the Great Star Dou Forest, they decided to launch their second attack under cover of darkness.

An endless beast tide surged forth once more toward Shrek City, which was akin to a solitary island in the sea. This time, the soul beasts were even more ferocious!

The Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons boomed once more. Elder Song flew high up in the sky. By relying on her interference, the auxiliary abilities of the Emerald Swan Bi Ji diminished greatly, and the soul tools in Shrek City were able to do what they did best. The clash between the two sides was turning red-hot.

The soul masters fought bravely against the soul beasts who were charging toward them crazily. The outside of Shrek City was akin to a meat grinder, continually devouring the lives of soul beasts.

However, the attack of the soul beasts showed signs of improvement. Soul beasts which specialized in long-range attacks were split apart from those who specialized in short-range attacks. The latter charged at the front, and the former supported them from behind as they charged toward the city walls. The soul masters in charge of releasing the protective soul barriers were under immense pressure, as their soul power was rapidly depleting.

However, even so, with the support of many Sealed Milk Bottles, they were still able to hold their ground. On the city walls, the number of injured auxiliary soldiers increased, too. Under heavily-concentrated attacks, the protective soul barriers would falter at times. When an attack landed on the city, one could hear cries of agony, indicating that there were either casualties or fatalities.

The battlefield looked even more brilliant at night. Soul skills of many different colors illuminated the dark sky as they flashed and exploded. If one looked down from the heavens, one could see what was akin to an eye-catching fireworks display. Every single burst of light and color meant that lives had been lost, each display of fireworks ultimately leading to blood.

War was cruel. This was the case for war between humans, as well as war between humans and soul beasts!

To resist the ferocious beast tide, the students of the inner courtyard and t.i.tled Douluo from Shrek Academy took turns to attack. Only with them contributing could the soul beasts be suppressed. 

b.a.l.l.s of intense light appeared on top of the city walls non-stop. Every single student of the inner courtyard guarded his or her post tightly as they did their part in the defense of the city.

------

The intensity of this battle was more than double that of the first. When the beast tide finally receded, dawn broke. The battle had lasted the entire night.

It was no longer quiet on the city walls. Moans and cries of pain could be heard everywhere. More than five hundred men had been injured or killed. While many of them were just injured, there were at least a hundred dead soldiers.

Shrek City's city defense army only had around ten thousand men! While this was a casualty figure that was totally acceptable to the soul beasts, Shrek City could not afford so many casualties.

Of course, the night of fighting did no good for the soul beasts of the Great Star Dou Forest either. They lost more than twenty thousand soul beasts, with many ten-thousand-year soul beasts falling in battle. At night, the light from countless soul rings could be seen very clearly. Together, they formed a peculiar sight, akin to wails of grief from the spirits of the many slain soul beasts. 

The damage to the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons was severe, too. Fourteen of them had overheated and could not be used anymore, three of them had blown up, and six of them were destroyed by long-range attacks from the soul beasts. 

These were Cla.s.s 6 soul tools! Every single of them cost a great deal of money. The soul beasts hated them deeply, and so they had focus-targeted the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons.

More than half of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons were damaged. The Cla.s.s 5 Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons supplied by the Tang Sect had to be used.

The stationary soul cannon sh.e.l.ls played a huge part in the battle at night. Using their long-range attacks, they split up their attacks and helped greatly in suppressing the soul beasts. However, there were now fewer than two thousand stationary soul cannon sh.e.l.ls left, and they could not be replenished instantly. Every single one cost a great deal of money! The look on Xuan Ziwen's face as they were used said it all.

And this was just the first day of the beast tide. The loss of soul tools were not as important as the fatigue experienced by the combatants.

While they rested for a few hours in between, no one knew when the next beast tide would come. This short rest was not enough to replenish everyone's strength. After that night of fighting, no matter how well-trained Shrek City's city defense army was, every single of them collapsed to the ground, taking in ma.s.sive breaths of air the moment the battle ended. They all wanted to fill their lungs with air.

They were drained, both in terms of soul power and physical strength. Many of them were completely exhausted.

All of the Sealed Milk Bottles were depleted after last night's battle, and had to be recharged before they could be used once more. While they had helped many of the three thousand soul masters maintain at least half of their soul power, the Sealed Milk Bottles could do nothing for their physical and mental fatigue.

All soul masters with six rings or more were taking turns to rest. No matter how intense last night's battle was, the t.i.tled Douluo did not really partic.i.p.ate in it. They knew that once they joined the battle and exhausted their soul power to a certain extent, the true powerhouses of the Great Star Dou Forest would appear. They could only hold out longer against the beast tide if the t.i.tled Douluo remained at peak strength.

When would reinforcements come?

Right now, Shrek City was completely cut off. While the pride of the soul beasts forced them to continue their attacks against the south gate, the soul beast army had in fact surrounded the entire city. The other three walls had all come under attacks of differing intensity. News from the outside world could not enter Shrek City, as only the Sun Moon Empire had long-range communication soul tools. Shrek Academy was still researching them.

A solitary city could only fight to the death!

The civilians and merchants of Shrek City started to play their part too, delivering food and water. The moment the fighting stopped, various types of food were sent to the top of the city walls.  

Shrek City was extremely rich, and there was more than enough food stored in the city. A few important merchants led everyone in providing free and highly nutritious food to the soldiers on the city walls. Many merchants also sent their caravan guards to the city walls. All soul masters in the city were currently under Shrek City's overall command. 

They did not do so because they were generous, but for their own survival. A fight between humans and soul beasts was different from a fight between humans and other humans!

If the enemy was human, civilians and merchants still had a good chance of survival even if the enemy breached the city walls. However, their enemies were soul beasts! Once the soul beasts breached the city walls, the only possible outcome was a bloodbath and ma.s.sacre! 

At this moment, no amount of wealth could rival one's life in importance. The merchants showed no stinginess. As long as their items were helpful, they brought them out and sent them to the city walls.