1080 Losing Troops Part 2 (1/2)

The magic cannons fired in sequence. Hundreds of cavalry units were burned to ash by the shots. The cavalry's formations were not as tight as the infantry's. A weapon like the magic cannon, which were only able to attack in straight lines, wracked up fairly limited kills with the cavalry.

A magic cannon was only able to fire once at a time, and one shot only killed about 40 cavalry soldiers. Seeing there was little to gain by staying, Saleen ordered the demons to retreat.

The three cannons at the front shot accurately. That particular punisher's shoulder finally gave, a crippling wound where the hits landed. Saleen saw white light spilling from the wound instead of blood. The wound began to close in a twisted manner.

If the being hit by the cannons was a living being, the wound would never heal.

Saleen threw out three scrolls that he had readied. An area about a hundred meters from the Crystal City turned to quicksand. The first punisher that stepped into it staggered and fell, sinking into the quicksand.

However, the punisher sank for merely two meters before it sprung up again, struggling to stand still. It spewed a ball of light like the magic cannon. It was directed at the sand instead of the Crystal City. The quicksand crystallized, turning very hard and boiling hot.

A metal spike shot out with a whoosh. A hole was punched in the walls of the Crystal City, with half the spike lodged within.

Boom! Bang!

The quicksand did not stop the punishers. The Crystal City, which was about 20 meters wide, was simply too narrow for the punishers.

There were only two that rammed the Crystal City, yet the impact far exceeded Saleen's expectations: a huge crack formed from just one hit.

Another few hits would send the walls tumbling down, but the two punishers simply jumped and reached the top of the Crystal City. They were simply testing the strength of the walls.

The other 30 punishers circled around the blockade of the Crystal City, before charging at the scattered demons.

Seeing how the monsters were capable of charging fast and turn nimbly, Saleen was finally able to determine that they were not some brutes without brains; they were weapons of war employed by the Tribunal, just like the figures of the astrologers.

Sika hurried her pony and came to the edge of the Crystal City, lifted her staff and whacked one of the punishers' legs. A loud, crisp crack was heard for miles. The punisher lost its balance tumbling forward. Sika brought her staff down from above, going right for its jaw.

The speed of her attack looked anything but fast, but Jola and the rest were able to see clearly. Sika calculated where the enemy would fall, and leapt into the air during the attack, before landing on horseback again. She was so fast that afterimages were unable to form.

The 18 meter-long punisher was sent flying with a loud boom. Sika's staff crushed its jaw completely, almost sending it inside its mouth. The punisher was sent flying backwards, drawing an arc in the air, before dropping in the quicksand.

Another punisher leapt into the air at her and Sika frowned. The monster that Sika had just sent flying did not die; it turned around in the quicksand and struggled, trying to wiggle its jaw back out.

”Saleen, I can't kill it!” Sika was frustrated. She leapt for her pony to evade the attack, before landing her staff on the punisher's nose. The nose caved in, and its body tumbled down hard on the ground, losing its balance.

”There is nothing that can't be killed!” The Winged Skull leapt into the air. Their flight capabilities were unaffected; they just had to use their bone wings.

The Winged Skull swiped the Reaper Scythe across the punisher's neck. A whooshing sound was heard as the neck of the punisher was chopped in half.

”It's not dead!” Sika saw the punisher try to attack the Winged Skull with its tail. Her pony rushed forward and she held her staff high, sending the huge severed head flying.

”The heart is the weakness!” Lightning runes shone in Saleen's eyes as he saw past the punisher's disguise. It was shown in his Eye of Lightning that there was a mangled heart in the monster's body, a soul struggling within.

The punisher's heart was small, about a foot in diameter, which when compared to its massive size, made it a very difficult target to hit.

There were two other punishers coming from the flanks. Gusion did not retreat alongside the demons; he chose to stay behind.

He saw metal spikes flying at Saleen, and with a wave of the Dragon Slaughtering War Flag in his end, wrapped all the spikes within. Gusion shook the flag once and the metal spikes all fell onto the ground, but his arms felt numb.

Seeing how easily Sika had sent the punishers flying, he thought the huge beasts were nothing. He found that the force of just the spikes they shot rivaled the javelins thrown by golden grand swordmasters.

If his Dragon Slaughtering War Flag had not been a powerful piece of equipment, the flag would have been easily torn apart, and he would not have stood a chance against spikes shot with such force.

The punishers from both sides got increasingly close. The one that was sent flying by Sika climbed out of the quicksand, leaping onto the Crystal City. The punisher that lost its head had all its spikes and its tail chopped by the Winged Skull, resulting in it losing any combat capacity.

The wound created by the Reaper Scythe was incapable of healing. Seeing that she was incapable of fighting the monsters, Sika called her pony back and summoned her huge beast.