Chapter 2402: The Decisive Battle (X)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Three years!
A whole three years!
Using the designs and instruments left by Wang Chong, Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun had worked night and day in the Arabian Empire to extract and stockpile large amounts of kerosene. This was a massive amount of kerosene that Mutasim III found impossible to imagine.
Enough kerosene for seventy or eighty large-scale wars had been provided for this war.
At that moment, the entire sky was lit up.
The rain of fire blotted out the sky, and even time seemed to stop, the world falling silent for a moment.
As they saw the brilliant fires in the sky, Essence Supreme, Grand Supreme, and Radiance Supreme grimaced. They instinctively reached out their hands, spacetime pulses spreading out to stop it all, but they were too late.
As they moved to take action, an enormous spacetime seal emerged like a solid fortress, instantly stopping them from using their techniques.
The spatial sealing formation!
Only now did the three of them realize something, their faces turning into nasty scowls.
“A trap!” Radiance Supreme blurted out.
Only now did the three of them understand why the human army had been retreating in the middle of this intense battle.
It was all bait!
Boomboomboom!
The fireballs howled from the air and exploded amongst the tens of thousands of Celestial Army soldiers. The kerosene splashed everywhere, swiftly turning the region into a sea of fire.
One hundred thousand tons of kerosene?
One million tons of kerosene?
More than that!
No one even knew!
They only knew that when the kerosene smashed down, the front line was drenched with kerosene, and thick plumes of smoke boiled into the air as the steppe began to burn.
The world was turned scarlet!
“Ah!”
Screams reverberated over the battlefield. A Celestial Army soldier yelled in agony within the flames, his Stellar Energy being rapidly burned away, thick kerosene seeping through the chinks in his armor.
It took only a few moments for that soldier to drop to the ground, devoid of life.
While the Celestial Army soldiers were powerful, they were fundamentally ordinary soldiers. Their level of strength had yet to reach the Saint Martial realm.
They were much stronger than ordinary humans, but they were still living beings.
Kerosene could threaten all types of soldiers on this battlefield, even the Celestial Army.
The only difference was that Celestial Army soldiers were stronger than ordinary soldiers and had more formidable defenses, so they were able to last longer.
Alas, they had no chance!
Boomboomboom!
Right after the first volley of fireballs suppressed them, the second wave of kerosene descended, and with loud explosions, the raging flames rose to a height of more than five hundred feet.
Even the massive Archaic Celestial Army soldiers were affected by the flames and raised their hands to protect themselves.
And things were only just getting started.
“Continue!”
Orders were shouted from the rear of the human army, and a third, fourth, and fifth wave followed… The speed of the kerosene barrage was so fast that not even the men in black could dodge.
Thudthudthud!
Without any armor to protect them, these men who were clothed only in black robes were the first to break, collapsing to the ground in swaths.
“Run!”
The men in black looked up in fear. They wanted to run, but on this crowded battlefield, there was nowhere to hide. They could only watch as the rain of fire descended.
In normal circumstances, a kerosene bomb shouldn’t have been able to threaten them, but when there were several dozen, several hundred, several thousand… even they could do nothing to stop them.
Following them, tens of thousands of Celestial Army soldiers dropped to the ground.
Thick smoke blotted out the sky!
The battlefield had become a living hell.
Countless Celestial Army soldiers rolled on the ground!
This was the first heavy blow the Celestial Army had received since it had been established.
In a flash, two hundred thousand Celestial Army soldiers had collapsed into the flames.
As more kerosene exploded and burned, the losses climbed to three hundred thousand, four hundred thousand, five hundred thousand…
Shock!
Endless shock!
To the north, behind the massive altar, the Fallen stared at the roaring sea of fire in shock.
All of the Fallen had been summoned in haste, and they did not understand much about this world or this dynasty. In their view, even if the Great Tang had gathered millions of soldiers, it was not much different from the other dynasties that the Celestial God Organization had destroyed.
No matter how many soldiers it had, it would still be a disorganized mob.
None of them had expected this human dynasty’s army to be so powerful!
The Celestial Army had instantly suffered losses of five hundred thousand. While it still had one million, five hundred thousand men, this was an enormous wound. Moreover, the losses were continuing to climb.
And not only that…
The human army seized this opportunity.
Creee!
The sky behind the army turned black as giant birds opened their wings and flew toward the front line. With their incredible speed, they quickly crossed over half the battlefield. Upon closer inspection, one could see that each giant bird was carrying a human soldier.
They were wearing full armor and were carrying a sword or halberd. Moreover, each one was carrying numerous kerosene bombs held in nets.
The intention was obvious!
A Giant Bird Army!
Wang Chong had revived that flying army that the Arabian Empire had used and expanded it, even improving their weapons. When paired with the spatial sealing formation, they could be extremely effective on this battlefield.
“It’s about time!”
Wang Zhongsi’s eyes flashed as he gave another order.
The fire was being carried along the wind!
This was the perfect chance to strike!
“Mobilize all the cavalry!”
As Wang Zhongsi gave his order, the ranks of the army quickly began to shift.
“Kill!!”
With heaven-shaking war cries, Bahram’s Aswaran Cataphracts were the first to move out. Countless horsemen shot out like arrows from a bow as they charged forward.
The Celestial Army consisted entirely of infantry. Their strength was difficult for the Great Tang to overcome. Only the charge of cavalry could allow the Tang soldiers to explode with strength far greater than normal.
With the Celestial Army in disarray from the flames, it was the best chance to reap a greater harvest and inflict even more losses.
“Kiiill!”
The human army’s morale soared as the war cries resounded over the battlefield. The Turks’ Celestial Wolf Cavalry, Ü-Tsang’s Mutri Great Cavalry, Arabia’s heavy cavalry, and even Wang Chong’s Wushang Cavalry charged out of the army like furious dragons… The vast human army instantly came alive.
From the sky, it appeared like endless waves were sweeping toward the Celestial Army from multiple directions.
War!
This was the scene everyone had been anticipating!
What did it matter if this was the Celestial Army?
Even if they were gods, if they wanted to destroy this world, they would have to suffer the infinite flames of their fury!
Boomboomboom!
As the human cavalry made impact, the Celestial Army instantly fell into turmoil.
The neighing of horses, the clashing of steel, the cries of battle, the burning of flesh, the thudding of corpses, the thundering of hooves… all of these sounds mixed together into a single din.
Clang!
As a Celestial Army soldier burned, an Aswaran Cataphract charged out, a hoof slamming into his chest. Boom! The Celestial Army soldier was sent flying.
Even though he had unleashed all his Stellar Energy into a golden barrier, he had still been unable to stop it.
Six hundred thousand!
Seven hundred thousand!
As the heavy cavalry arrived on the battlefield, the Celestial Army’s losses rapidly increased.
Soldiers were trained for a thousand days to be used in a single moment!
They had patiently waited for this very moment.
Creee!
A piercing whistle came from above as the dark cloud of giant birds flew past and threw out their kerosene bombs. Boom! Boom! The Celestial Army suffered even more losses.
As Essence Supreme, Grand Supreme, and Radiance Supreme watched, they nastily scowled.
This was not the purging of the world they had anticipated, let alone the ‘Final Purification’.
“Child of Prophecy, this is what you prepared?”
Though his heart was burning with killing intent, Essence Supreme remained calm.
“Very shocking. Even this god did not imagine that Arabian Kerosene could be this useful. But if you think that this is enough to deal with the gods, you are too naive!
“In every war, none of those civilizations at the end of days was willing to be destroyed. You are not the only human faction to have thought about resistance. Alas, all the civilizations underestimated the power of the gods, underestimated the rage of the gods!”
Essence Supreme narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze over the Great Generals in the rear of the human army.
“You’ve used up all your tricks, but the gods still have more cards to play!”
Essence Supreme seemed to be both speaking to himself and so that Wang Zhongsi’s group could hear. He opened his right hand, and a mysterious and complex golden divine character floated up from his palm, pulsing with powerful energy.
“Come out, my pets! It is time for you to gorge yourself.”
Essence Supreme turned his palm over, his face aloof as that divine character turned into a hazy ball of light and vanished into the earth.
A stream of his Psychic Energy also extended into the depths of the earth. There, some extremely special items were being stored.
Rumble!
A few seconds later, as millions of human soldiers charged at the Celestial Army, the earth trembled. It was a small tremor at first, not very noticeable at all, but it took only a few seconds for the entirety of the steppe to begin shuddering.
At the same time, an enormous energy erupted from the depths of the earth and rushed toward the surface.