Published: February 10, 2025
With the Holy Maiden's command, the entire posthumous child army began to move.
The most noticeable change was the sudden increase in the speed of the air force from the Sanctuary, which momentarily surpassed the troops on the ground.
The soldiers on the walls of Royal City looked up at the various flying demon creatures that poured in like dark clouds. Many instinctively raised their weapons, only to realize later that there was a Heavenly Shield above them for protection, causing them to lower their weapons again.
However, this action was met with loud reprimands from the surrounding leaders. They knew that the Heavenly Shield could only defend against ranged attacks, and if these flying demon creatures charged down for close combat, the shield would lose its protective effect.
A group of small but incredibly fast demon creatures reached the skies above Royal City. Their basin-sized bodies suddenly halted, then with a shake, feathers like steel needles fell away, transforming into feathered arrows that shot rapidly toward the ground.
In an instant, countless feathered arrows landed on the Heavenly Shield, creating small bursts of light upon impact. Although the brilliance was far from the dazzling display when the Power of the Gods had been blocked a few days prior, this star-like glow still filled everyone's field of vision.
Many instinctively squinted their eyes.
For some reason, Ye Zhongming felt an uneasy feeling upon seeing these lights. He couldn't pinpoint why, but he felt somewhat surprised by how the Temple of Dawn had chosen to start in this manner.
In his view, striking with the Power of the Gods would have been the proper approach.
But he quickly realized why. The points of light exploding upon hitting the Heavenly Shield had not yet dissipated when explosions erupted. Ye Zhongming and other experts squinted through the dazzling light, noticing shadows rapidly descending from the sky, crashing into the Heavenly Shield, which then splattered large pools of liquid.
It was dark, black blood.
But where were the explosions coming from?
At least until now, Ye Zhongming and the others had not found the source.
Ye Zhongming had the best vision among everyone, and he vaguely saw that the falling shadows were those flying demon creatures that had just shot their feathered arrows.
He quickly glanced around, and his heart began to sink.
He noticed a problem: these flying demon creatures could perhaps be explained by the fact that they had lost their feathers and could no longer fly, hence falling. But why were they falling so... uniformly?
Yes, uniformly. As these demon creatures fell, they landed evenly upon the Heavenly Shield.
The area had completely covered the city walls.
In the next moment, the explosion sound came again. This time, Ye Zhongming caught the source of the sound. He turned his head and discovered it was coming from within the army formation of the Temple of Dawn.
He saw some fiery red objects being spewed from the mouths of the demon creatures, which had white-haired bodies. When these objects were expelled, they emitted a sound that resembled an explosion.
Ye Zhongming suddenly looked up at the blood on the Heavenly Shield, and his expression changed.
"Stop those things!"
A roar burst from his mouth as he swung his Purple Gear weapon with all his might, unleashing a long silver moonlight that cleaved through and obliterated the closest groups of flames to the Heavenly Shield.
However, even though Ye Zhongming had identified the problem, not everyone possessed his exceptional vision. Even several king zun could not clearly see what was happening.
Ordinary soldiers saw nothing but the lights.
Though Ye Zhongming reacted in time, it was still a step too late.
The quantity of objects being spewed by the demon creatures was overwhelming. In addition to the first attack, at least hundreds of fiery red balls collided with the Heavenly Shield.
Violent flames suddenly ignited.
Everything happened in an instant, from the rain of feathered arrows from those demon creatures to the fire that blazed, all within a matter of seconds. Apart from Ye Zhongming's response, only some Cloud Summit warriors, accustomed to following his orders, instinctively attacked in his direction.