Chapter 8: The Dark Hand Unveiled (2)
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“Enemy reconnaissance squad?”
Lin Nan received the report faster than you can say “instant noodle.”
She’d long suspected that Divine Punishment wasn’t just some fancy term for a tsunami of viral proportions. If all their enemies had drowned, the Divine Realm wouldn’t bother sending someone to investigate. Clearly, they had some means to detect the not-so-dead creatures hiding underground, prompting them to send out scouts to uncover their secrets of survival.
No surprise there! The Three Races had already made it clear they were on the opposite side of the Divine Realm, defying d*ath itself.
Thus, it was a matter of immortal combat: either they would crush the heavens, or the heavens would crush them.
“Wipe them out!” Lin Nan commanded.
This operation was personally led by the Great King of the Split Land, who was bringing along the forty-two masters of the Monster Race’s seventy-two caves. For safety’s sake, only the elite troops were deployed.
The Harpist team and the Mage Legion stayed back, consistently buffing the Monster army. For Lin Nan, it became clear that the Mage Legion was a much better fit for support since their powers complemented the Harpist team splendidly. They even invented some nifty auxiliary skills that made everyone on the receiving end feel like they were sunbathing in winter—totally cozy and relaxed.
Just as the Divine Realm’s scouting team spotted a gigantic shadow beneath the ice cap…
The Great King of the Split Land charged in like a whirlwind, his axe smashing into the shoulder of the closest Celestial Soldier with irresistible force.
The soldier let out a yelp that could rival a banshee’s wail and plummeted into the murky waters below.
The scouts stood there, jaws dropped.
They never expected these seemingly insignificant mortals to dare fight back, let alone take out a Celestial Soldier!
To them, this was utterly humiliating.
“You puny bugs! Do you have any idea what happens when you defy the divine!?”
Niu Gan Dang sneered, “Isn’t it just d*ath? Today, I’m curious to see if your celestial trash can handle my axe!”
“Brothers of the seventy-two caves, the honor of the first strike goes to us, so we can’t let the Monster Race down!”
“k*ll! k*ll! k*ll!”
The seventy-two great demons erupted into a cacophony of battle cries that startled the Celestial Soldiers and Generals. Every time they descended to the mortal realm, the beings they encountered were always terrified of them, their fear of Divine powers palpable.
So, they’d traditionally looked down on those in the mortal realm, thinking a mere finger twitch would send them pissing their pants and begging for mercy.
But now, here were these bizarre-looking monsters, as brave as lions, having just taken down a Celestial Soldier and completely ignoring their threats!
“What the heck! This is anarchy! This is downright anarchy!”
The leading Celestial General swung his celestial halberd and shouted, “Let them feel the power of the Divine Realm!”
The Celestial Soldiers weren’t intimidated; they clustered around their general like kids around a candy store, weapons gleaming and ready to clash with the approaching seventy-two cave masters.
“Clang! Clang!”
Within moments, the superiority of their weapons was apparent.
The celestial weapons easily shattered the Monster Race’s obviously inferior armaments, and a couple of unlucky cave masters were sliced in half, weapons and all, before they could even blink.
The Great King of the Split Land’s heart sank.
The cave masters were already at a disadvantage compared to the Celestial Soldiers, and now they were down one weapon…
They had hoped to hide in the shadows a bit longer, but it looked like if they didn’t act soon, the losses would be catastrophic.
“Change weapons!” the Great King yelled.
The Celestial Soldiers froze; they’d never heard such a command before.
The General smirked, “Wipe them out! These clever little ants don’t even deserve to be our opponents!”
The Celestial troops surged forward, ready to slaughter the disarmed enemies without mercy.
But at that moment, they all pulled out iron lumps the size of a palm from their pockets.
The General glanced at them and, although clueless about what those were, an intense feeling of dread surged through him. He shouted, “Scatter!”
Alas, it was too late…
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Gunfire erupted from all directions, ringing out sharply.
Surrounded, the Celestial Soldiers had nowhere to run. Their golden armor had decent protection, but after a barrage of bullets, several cave masters whipped out grenades.
Despite being airborne, their training had prepared them to account for fuse burn times.
As over seventy grenades rained down upon the hapless Celestial Soldiers, most detonated right near them, causing utter chaos.
A few quick-thinking Celestial Soldiers managed to evade the explosions right before they went off, but nearly half of them were reduced to bits and pieces by the blast, raining body parts across the battlefield.
With the remaining Celestial troops shaken to their core, they didn’t dare to face the seventy-two cave masters anymore. They tucked their tails and fled faster than you could say “oops!”
Some cave masters were keen to chase them down, but Niu Gan Dang held up a hand to stop them.
“No chasing the cornered rats!”
When the Great King and his crew returned to the fortress, they were greeted with long-suppressed cheers and joy.
Originally, the thought of Celestial beings in their midst was terrifying, but who would’ve guessed?
The elite of the Monster Race, while lacking the superior weaponry of the Celestial forces, brought the boom-booms of guns and grenades to the playground. In the end, they sent those high and mighty Celestial Soldiers packing in shame.
Now, that was satisfying!
Watching all of this unfold, Lin Nan wore a grim expression, entirely unmoved by the celebration around her.
At her side was Trissa, who was now playing the role of the harpist trainer for the Demon ladies—essentially taking up Janet’s mantle.
Trissa had come to report to Lin Nan about the increasing number of harpists showing up.
“Your Majesty, we’ve won, yet you don’t seem the least bit excited!”
Lin Nan replied, “Trissa, don’t you find this a bit odd? You’ve been to the modern Small World, and you know their technology is way ahead of us. Those Small Worlds undoubtedly belong to the Asking Dao Continent.
Logically, these Celestial beings should be well aware of the technological prowess from those worlds…
So why, when faced with guns and explosives, do they act as though they’ve never seen such things before, panicking and confused?”
Trissa scratched her head. “Uh… I can’t figure it out.”
Lin Nan gazed out at the shimmering ice reflecting the light, lost in thought.
