"Thousands? Then crush them!" Oliver said with an indifferent expression.
As he flattened the surrounding houses, he realized the monsters here were pitifully weak.
Even the strongest one was only at the level of a Controller, and the weakest kind at that.
Lucas looked ahead and shouted, "Enemies approaching ahead, numbering in the thousands. All squads, prepare for battle!"
The two squads at the front, hearing this, immediately stopped destroying the houses and gathered to ready themselves.
"Finally, it's my turn!" a blond, afro‑haired youth exclaimed with an excited grin.
He carried a bucket‑sized alloy container of a source artifact, within which crimson magma swirled.
The afro‑haired youth sprinted to a point fifty meters ahead of the squad, pouring the alloy container onto the ground.
Gurgle! Gurgle! Gurgle!
The scorching magma seemed to pour from the container onto the ground, as if the small bucket held an endless supply.
In a moment, the road ahead was paved with magma, spreading outward.
In less than half a minute, under the constraint of a special force, the magma spread more than thirty meters outward from the youth's feet, a meter high.
"Klan, your ability is perfect for defensive battles!" a girl laughed lightly from behind, watching Klan pour the magma.
After finishing, Klan grinned and said to the girl, "Quinna, you know my ability. Watching everyone struggle while I carried the bucket was exhausting."
"Alright, hide behind me. When the monsters come, I'll protect you," Quinna said, waving at him.
After the initial wave of monsters was cleared, they felt this battle would pose no difficulty or danger.
Even if there were, Oliver the Dominator would stand at the forefront.
"Watch how my magma protects you!" Klan said, but honestly ran to stand behind the girl, watching ahead.
At this moment, not only Klan was preparing; a snowstorm began to howl above their heads.
In the center of the blizzard stood a tall, aristocratic woman with a cold demeanor.
In this Holy Soldier Squad, each sub‑unit has a Controller as squad leader, totaling six Controllers under Lucas.
The woman in the middle was the squad leader of the ready‑to‑fight sub‑unit.
Rumble! As the Eternal Church's members waited, the ground began to tremble and distant booms echoed.
Within seconds, the roar grew louder, and a massive swarm of monsters appeared in their sight.
At the front were hundreds of black, one‑horned Centaurs, three meters tall, eyes pitch‑black, wielding spears, snarling toward the Eternal Church.
Lucas stepped forward, his expression unmoved as he stared at the dense horde.
When the Centaurs approached seven or eight hundred meters, he raised both hands, aimed his revolver at the herd and shouted, "Long‑range Source-Artifact Users, fire!"
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots rang out, Lucas's revolver firing first.
Red beams instantly crossed the seven‑eight hundred meters, striking the Centaur mass.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The front‑most Centaurs had no time to react; their bodies were torn apart by terrifying kinetic force, turning to ash in mid‑air.
Hundreds of Centaurs were annihilated by the two shots, revealing a few seven‑eight‑meter‑tall Spider Monsters behind them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The next second, the Spider Monsters erupted with massive pits, and dense metallic storms burst from the Holy Soldier Squad.
"Aaaah!"
Remote Source‑Artifact Soldiers, brandishing various firearms, roared, their guns continuously spitting fire snakes.
Bullets infused with extraordinary power pulverized the Spider Monsters in a second, reducing them to ash.
Behind them, six clawed monsters were easily mowed down by residual bullets.
Rumble! Buildings along the distant street were riddled with several‑meter‑wide holes from the gunfire, eventually collapsing under the dust that covered the monster tide.
Harold watched the Holy Soldier Squad suppress the monster tide from eight hundred meters away, envy in his eyes.
Seeing this, Oliver smiled faintly and said, "The Holy Soldier Squad is the Eternal Church's strongest military arm; we rarely fall behind other forces, especially against these trash monsters."
"Roar!" At that moment, a deafening roar echoed from the dusty distance.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Heavy footsteps followed.
A ten‑meter‑tall, bald, gray humanoid monster wielding a massive axe, clad in heavy rusted armor, charged toward the squad.
It let out a ferocious scream.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Bullets from ahead struck its armor, sparking, but were deflected by the metal.
The remote Source‑Artifact Soldiers firing at it turned pale.
Lucas narrowed his eyes, lifted his revolver, and aimed at the massive creature about three hundred meters away: "Finally, a heavyweight monster. Is this your last desperate move?"
Lucas stared at the giant, assuming it was the city's final 'Source-Artifact User' resistance.
Bang! A shot rang out, the red line streaked through the air and hit the monster's armor.
The armor on its chest exploded, splattering black blood and flesh.
But the shot only paused the monster briefly; it kept charging toward the Holy Soldiers.
Lucas calmly raised his revolver again, aiming at its head: "I wonder if this will finally end your swagger."
Bang! The gunfire hit, and the giant's head exploded.
Boom! Its massive body toppled forward from the impact.
Lucas showed no relief; another huge monster fell, and two more identical giants appeared behind it.
Bang! Bang!
Lucas could only keep firing at their heads.
One after another, the giants fell; among the survivors, only he could reach them with his longest‑range weapon.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The relentless gunfire continued; when the giants were cleared, the remaining monster horde closed to sixty‑seventy meters.
But in front of them lay a one‑meter‑high, twenty‑plus‑meter‑long pool of magma.
All Holy Soldiers sheathed their weapons, watching the monsters plunge into the magma, burning and collapsing after a few meters.
Under the monsters' relentless assault, the twenty‑meter magma pool finally broke.
The once‑dense tide of monsters was reduced to just a hundred or so.
Huff! Huff! Huff!
Before they could approach, the swirling snowstorm above them suddenly swept over the monsters.
Crack! Crack!
Ice crystals formed all over the monsters' bodies, freezing them into ice statues within steps.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The ice statues exploded, scattering shards of ice across the ground.