The capital dimension of the Oropon Duchy was shaped like a gourd. It was about 1,000 km in length, with a width of 500 km at its widest and 300 km at its narrowest.
The demons and magic beasts left one side empty and concentrated on the other, blocking the Apocalid landing.
The dark elves disguised themselves as demons, and Gratis disguised themselves as magic beasts.
They covered the Mana Ballistas and Pajijik Cannons with camouflage to look like Hell Cannons, or cast illusion magic.
‘So you’re telling me to land in the empty spot and break through the defense line?’
On the side where Duke Oropon had set up camp, Hell Cannons were densely installed, and several Devil Cannons were also set up.
They were reserve cannons from Bluestone Fortress, hastily installed because Choi Kangjoong was coming.
Could they dismantle all of that while dealing with Silvius’s fleet with just bombardment? No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed impossible.
“Let’s land.”
The Light Titan went ahead to secure the area. Even though the Wave Radar knew the exact locations of all living things, there might be a way for Silvius to deceive it.
After confirming there were no enemies, Ku-eong and Dark Eater approached the dimension.
The two positioned themselves 200 km away and lowered Biotubes into the dimension. The Biotubes met the dimension, and Dimensional Erosion began.
The dimension became an environment favorable to the Apocalid, and as the atmosphere was sucked up, a massive storm raged.
‘Now the dimensional erosion speed is doubled.’
The Titans attached themselves to the Dimensional Boundary, and the ground Apocalid landed on the dimension.
Meanwhile, Arrowheads were pestering them, so they sent Fighter Giants. The dark elves on the Arrowheads, trusting their speed, fired arrows, but were startled by the Fighter Giant’s Rapid Mobility and widened the distance.
Thump! Thump!
The characteristic sound of the Chitin Cannon rang out, and Chitin Spikes embedded into the Arrowheads.
The Arrowheads shattered from the impact, and the Parasites on the Chitin Spikes, each the size of a person, leaped onto the dark elves.
“Disgusting things!”
“Kyaaah!”
“Get this off me!”
The dark elves fell in agony from the Parasites. Chitin Spikes fired by the Fighter Warriors mercilessly pierced their bodies.
Thus, all the Arrowheads crashed, and all the dark elves headed straight to the Soil Pit.
“Let’s move.”
The ground Apocalid advanced along multiple paths.
The Stealth Scouts and Air Scouts went ahead and dealt with the hidden dark elves.
The dark elves, confident they were perfectly hidden, were caught off guard as Scythe Claws emerged from the darkness behind them, unable to even put up a fight.
After moving for 5 hours, they arrived at a location 50 km from the defense line formed by Duke Oropon. It was a distance that even the Mana Ballista could not reach, let alone the Hell Cannons and Pajijik Cannons.
Cannon Giants grouped in squads of 20 and fired Scythe Claws into the ground.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
The shells, leaving the barrels with fierce momentum, flew a distance of 50 km and exploded.
The bodies of demons that had been carelessly wandering outside, thinking the enemy was far away, were torn apart by the blast pressure.
For the magic beasts that had been sleeping soundly, that became their last sleep.
‘As expected of Species Evolution Stage 8.’
Thanks to the effects of Species Evolution, the range and muzzle velocity of the Mana Cannon had increased significantly compared to the past, dealing damage to both demons and magic beasts.
On the other hand, the Hell Cannons and Pajijik Cannons could not respond at this range.
The Hell Cannon’s range was much shorter, and the Pajijik Cannon fired in a nearly direct line, making it difficult to expect high accuracy at 50 km.
As the bombardment continued, the demons had to choose: hunker down or charge.
“Take cover! There’s nothing you can do even if you go out now!”
Following Duke Oropon’s orders, the demons hid in the bunkers. Due to lack of space, the magic beasts were sent far to the rear. It was safe below the bunkers. Only the ceiling shook occasionally. There was enough food to last a year.
Of course, an impatient demon could not stay inside a bunker for a whole year. After just a few days, they would lose patience and burst out.
Waiting until then was also an option, but Choi Kangjoong stepped up the attack. He couldn’t just wait, not knowing when Silvius would do something.
The Central Bomber Giants rose up. Behind them were Bomber Giants loaded with bombs produced on M2721, carrying Bunker Busters in their feet.
The Bomber Giants, which had flown 50 km at high altitude, released their feet. A heavy 15-ton bomb precisely pierced through the top of the bunker and entered. Since the Skyeye Giants were watching in their stead, the Bomber Giants didn’t need to verify the targets themselves.
The ground shook, flames erupted from the bunker entrance, and smoke poured out. Demons with arms or legs torn off or bodies ablaze burst out.
The Demons of Chaos fired magic upward, but the Bomber Giants dodged left and right while continuing their bombing.
“Since we’ve already given a welcome greeting, there’s no need to hide anymore.” Silvius said.
Arrowheads poured out from the dimensional ships in the Dimensional Sea.
The Arrowheads advanced forward and then plummeted vertically above the group of Bomber Giants. The dark elves leisurely nocked arrows and held them.
They had caught large flying monsters as easily as eating a meal.
Moreover, even a 5-year-old dark elf knew that having the height advantage in an aerial battle was beneficial.
‘I wonder what that meat tastes like.’
The dark elves drew their bowstrings and aimed at the Bomber Giants.
The dark elf in charge of the Mana Ballista looked through the scope.
‘What’s that?’
Something squirmed on the back of the Bomber Giant. A dark elf with good instincts immediately ducked.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Chitin Spikes from the Rifle Scouts embedded into the outside of the Arrowhead. Some came inside and pierced the heads or chests of dark elves with poor instincts.
“There’s a bug inside…!”
“Get this out!”
“Aaaah!”
“Help me!”
Due to the Parasites emerging from the Chitin Spikes, the interior of the Arrowhead became a living hell. Blood drained from the dark elves was already pooling on the floor.
The Parasites quickly devoured the dark elves’ internal organs.
They grew in size with that nourishment, then emerged from the hollowed-out corpses and leaped toward other dark elves.
Some dark elves split the Parasites in half with knives, but others allowed them to get close.
The Parasites pierced the skin with sharp teeth, split the muscles, and burrowed inside.
Even if a dark elf tried to pull them out with their hands, the Parasites were coated in mucus and blood, making them difficult to grip.
The dark elves that had been burrowed into writhed on the floor.
“Burn them!”
The dark elves used fire magic to turn the hopeless dark elves and Parasites all to ash. In the process, some Arrowheads caught fire and, unable to be extinguished, crashed in significant numbers.
While the Arrowheads were in chaos and their attacks weakened, the Bomber Giants reached the location of the magic beasts and dropped bombs.
The magic beasts, unprotected from above and even gathered together for management, died by the dozens from a single bomb.
Even Choi Kangjoong, watching through the eyes of the Skyeye Giant, felt relieved.
“If we just stay still, we’ll only be on the receiving end, Duke!”
At his subordinate’s words, Duke Oropon let out a groan.
“What about Silvius’s fleet?”
“It’s not moving.”
“She must be afraid of the Outer Mind’s fleet. Damn woman. She talked as if she could kill them all by herself.”
“She’s probably trying to use us to reduce the Outer Mind’s strength.”
“I know that!”
Duke Oropon threw a fit and then gave the order to advance.
The demons sent the magic beasts ahead first.
They planned to charge once the magic beasts’ rush lowered the bombardment density. But their plan went awry from the start. The ground in the direction the magic beasts were running collapsed with a rumble.
A deep, dark pit suddenly appeared. From there, Battle Titans burst out.
Even the smallest was a massive bio-weapon over 150 m in length. The Battle Titans easily crushed the 50 m magic beasts and tore them apart with their Scythe Claws as they advanced.
The Giants and Warriors that emerged from the pit passed between the Battle Titans’ legs and pounced on the magic beasts.
The Rifle Scouts climbed onto the Battle Titans’ bodies and fired Chitin Spikes. Firing from a high vantage point increased their range and power.
“Already here?”
The startled demons hurriedly stepped in.
The Demons of Ruin, brought in as mercenaries, joined the battlefield with a roar. Magic cast by the Demons of Chaos and Immortal Demons shot forth like arrows.
The entire 300 km long defense line became a fierce battlefield in an instant.
Silvius gestured. A part of her fleet secretly separated. It was a special task force wrapped in layers of stealth and illusion magic to avoid detection by any observation or magic.
They planned to kill the Cannon Giants that were providing fire support without escort forces, dozens of kilometers behind the battlefield.
They thought they were moving without Choi Kangjoong’s knowledge.
But of course, Choi Kangjoong was monitoring everything with the Wave Radar.
‘So only living things are detected like that.’
It was fascinating that living beings could be detected through changes in Apocalyd Waves, yet were invisible to the naked eye or detection magic.
“Ku-eong.”
“You mean respond immediately? No. Let’s pretend we don’t know. Then, when they show a gap, we’ll drive the Scythe Claw straight into their heart.”
Ku-eong agreed. Lutal was asleep and didn’t even know the current situation.
The Dark Elf dimensional ship had already reached the Dimensional Boundary.
It was close to the rear edge of the Cannon Giant formation. The dark elves who disembarked from the dimensional ship approached the Cannon Giants.
Similar to the Stealth Scouts, their colors blended with the surroundings, making them hard to spot.
They also suppressed Mana emission, making them difficult to detect even with the Apocalid’s Mana Sight.
Of course, they were very clearly detected by the Wave Radar.
The dark elves revealed themselves only when attacking the Cannon Giants, and even then only for a brief moment. They knocked down 30 Cannon Giants and quickly fled the scene.
Then, moving in a curved path to make tracking difficult, they arrived at another Cannon Giant position.
The dark elves approaching the Cannon Giants felt a sense of wrongness. It soon turned into an instinct that they had to get out of here.
It was something only achievable through countless battle experiences piling up in the unconscious, beyond logical explanation.
Though they wondered how they had been discovered already, the dark elves moved in a different direction. However, Stealth Scouts were already lying in wait there.
Swish, swish, swish.
The dark elves, their ankles severed, rolled on the ground. Yet, not a single sound was made.
Despite the immense pain, not a single one screamed. Choi Kangjoong could imagine what kind of training they had undergone.
But in the end, once they entered the Soil Pit, they would all become the same nutrients and Evolution Points.
‘They’ll probably give more Evolution Points than other dark elves.’
The dark elves raised their swords.
They were determined to take at least one enemy with them to the end.
Then the Warriors pounced on them. Nothing remained at the spot except bloodstains.
Silvius sent several such special task forces.
They were troops she had nurtured with considerable effort and had always achieved remarkable results, but this time was different.
At best, one of them could kill just one Giant. Often they died without even killing a single Warrior.
“Interesting. How are they blocking us?”
Silvius felt both disappointment and interest.
She was curious how the being called Outer Mind could track and find hidden dark elves so easily.
‘I’ll have to ask directly.’
Silvius’s flagship began to move.