Chapter 471: 436 A smokescreen shield
When dealing with the Lv.6 floor master Udaeus on the 37th level, the tactic used by Loki’s clan involved several Lv.5 officers leading the charge, while the remaining members below Lv.5 were responsible for guerrilla warfare and support. The main attackers were generally the rear-guard Magicians, not the officers at the front.
Deploying dozens of individuals as a unit in such group battles to conquer the 37th-floor master could indeed secure victory, but it could not prevent injuries or resource depletion.
Unless the three Lv.6 clan leaders of Loki’s clan intervened, Udaeus, the 37th-floor master, was undoubtedly a formidable opponent for Loki’s clan.
If it had not been the case, Ais’s solo encounter with Udaeus wouldn’t have resulted in such a devastating defeat, nearly leading to her demise.
In contrast, the collective strength of the knights from the Meipros family surpassed that of Loki’s clan.
The members of Loki’s clan numbered around a hundred, seemingly comparable to the number of Meipros family knights present here. However, not all members of Loki’s clan were Lv.4; many were only Lv.3 or even Lv.2, showing a disparity in their abilities.
This time, the knights from the Meipros family were all elite Lv.4s, hence their collective combat strength definitely surpassed that of Loki’s clan.
Of course, Loki’s clan also had three Lv.6 leaders and four Lv.5 officers, along with these seven top-tier adventurers. With them, Loki’s clan’s strength could exceed that of the Meipros family knights. However, the Meipros side also had Kazi, equivalent to a Lv.6, and Axel and Diego, equivalent to Lv.5s. Adding these three brothers would significantly narrow the gap between the two.
If the three Lv.6 leaders weren’t counted, then the combat power of Loki’s clan would probably still fall short compared to the Meipros family knights.
In such circumstances, without their three leaders in battle, Loki’s clan facing a Lv.6 floor master like Udaeus would require great effort. Even considering the strength of the three brothers on the Meipros side, confronting a giant guardian would definitely also be a strenuous effort.
The giant guardians, especially the two guarding the city gates, were no less formidable than Udaeus, and even Revin, a Sword Saint, might not easily overcome them.
And when there are about sixty such enemies, even including Revin and Nipede, they would absolutely be unable to cope.
Not to mention them, even Reiger, upon thinking of himself alone facing sixty giant guardians, each superior in strength and durability to him, felt excitement... ah, no, rather, he found it to be a formidable challenge.
Thus, it’s no wonder Revin expressed that they were "hard to handle."
"Do we need to call for more knights from Besalray?"
Kazi asked this.
"No, that won’t do," Revin quickly rejected the idea, "Someone must remain in Besalray to hold the fort while we are away."
Now that Revin, the Border Guardian Sword Saint, along with Kazi, Axel, and Diego, the three young lords of the Meipros family, were not in Besalray, what would happen if an incident occurred there at this time?
Besalray is located at the forefront of the entire Ginas Kingdom, closest to the battlefield, and must be sufficiently manned to guard against any contingencies.
Therefore, Revin was hesitant to call too many knights over.
"We need to devise a way to conquer this Ancient City with only the combat strength we currently have," Revin declared.
"Then we must place the strongest fighters at the forefront and defeat the giant guardians individually," Nipede insightfully suggested.
"Exactly," Revin responded somberly, "It’s only with the three of us leading the charge that we can swiftly and with minimal depletion handle those giant guardians."
Clearly, Revin counted both Reiger and Nipede in this strategy.
Reiger didn’t oppose this plan.
While he did feel an urge to rush in alone, considering the possibility of magical constructs and their puppeteers lurking in secret, Reiger thought it best not to be forced into exerting his full strength, displaying his capabilities to the enemy.
He hadn’t forgotten that their current location was inside the body of the subterranean magical beast, Yarakulon.
This beast, to some extent, was linked to those puppeteers behind the scenes, coordinating with their actions.
This made Reiger suspicious that there might be traps specifically targeting him in this Ancient City or something else of the sort.
If that were the case, Reiger didn’t wish to stand out alone, making it easier for the enemy to target him.
Before unraveling some unresolved mysteries, it was better to conserve some strength and keep some aces up his sleeve. This was Reiger’s thinking.
Thus, moving together with the people from the Meipros family might be a good strategy to confuse the enemy.
Unfortunately, the current situation was very clear; it was a setup by those who controlled the magical constructs from the shadows, aiming at him. Reiger had to stay cautious.
However, Reiger was not planning to be overly cautious.
"I can take on one alone," Reiger looked at Revin and said, "Together with Lord Jialan, you should be able to quickly handle another one, right?"
This statement made everyone turn their eyes toward Reiger.
"Just you alone?" Nipede questioned, furrowing his brows, "Isn’t that too much of a stretch?"
Reiger didn’t respond but only looked at Revin.
Revin thought for a moment and said, "Are you thinking of taking out the two guards at the gate before those giant guards inside the city come rushing out?"
"Yes." Reiger nodded and said, "I also used magic to briefly observe the inside of the city. If I’m not mistaken, the giant guards inside the city are probably not as strong as those two guarding the gate."
This was not Reiger misleading anyone.
Before this battle meeting was convened, he had indeed used magic to observe the Ancient City.
The spell he used was the ninth-tier intelligence spell — "Eye of God".
This spell had been mentioned before; it creates an invisible ethereal magical eye that can fly to distant places for reconnaissance.
This magical eye not only shares its vision with the spellcaster but can also penetrate walls, and thanks to its invisibility feature, it is undoubtedly the best means for stealth reconnaissance.
Unfortunately, it has a drawback: once attacked, it will backlash against the spellcaster in the form of real damage, and it is easily locked onto or countered by anti-reconnaissance magic or defensive barriers. Therefore, it is not a spell that can be used carelessly under normal circumstances.
Fortunately, the continent of Akasha isn’t like the world of the Overlord, which has many means to counter intelligence spells, so Reiger didn’t hesitate much and immediately used this spell, letting the created magical eye fly into the city for a round of reconnaissance.
Initially, Reiger thought that the invisibility of the magical eye would be detected by the giant guards and it would be attacked, but the giant guards did not do so, allowing the magical eye to successfully fly into and around the city, giving Reiger a good view of the situation inside, including those giant guards.
Therefore, Reiger could say that the giant guards inside the city were not as strong as the two guarding the gate, because most of the giant guards inside were about the same as the first one Reiger and Revin had encountered, approximately five meters in height, and physically no match for the two guarding the gate.
In other words...
"As long as we deal with the two guards at the gate first, even if the rest of the giant guards come rushing out of the city, they won’t be too difficult to handle," Reiger said. "If they come out while we still haven’t taken care of the two outside, their combined forces would make entering the city much more challenging."
"The best scenario would be to quickly take down the two giant guards at the gate and then prepare for the others to rush out," he added.
"Those giant guards are just autonomous ancient weapons, not very intelligent. Once they hear the commotion of battle outside, they are likely to charge out thoughtlessly."
"If they end up coming out one by one due to different distances from the city gate and other reasons, instead of all at once, won’t we be able to defeat them individually?"
That was what Reiger was thinking.
Upon hearing this, Revin and the others exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
"Let’s do it that way," Revin decided firmly. "Nipede, the two of us will join forces and take down one giant guard as quickly as possible. If Thunder Light Sword Saint hasn’t dealt with the other one by then, we’ll join forces to assist him."
"Okay," Nipede thought for a moment and did not object.
However, Kazi, Axel, and Diego among others were looking somewhat peculiarly at Reiger and Revin.
They always felt that the previously intense animosity between these two Sword Saints seemed to have shifted a bit, no longer displaying hostility towards each other as before.
Originally combative, Reiger, for some reason, was no longer targeting Revin, and the normally dominant Revin had also inexplicably softened his tone towards Reiger, allowing them to naturally discuss cooperation like this.
"What happened?"
The three Kazi brothers were a bit puzzled and curious.
They naturally did not know that Reiger firstly wanted to use the Meipros family as a shield and secondly began to suspect whether Revin was unaware of what Ophelitor had done.
Although, as the lord of Meipros territory, logically, Revin shouldn’t be too unaware of what his nephew was like, yet as the saying goes, "You can know someone’s face but not their heart." Given the attitude displayed by the Border Guardian Sword Saint, Reiger had reason to suspect that this lord might be deceived.
Considering this, Reiger had subdued his temper a bit.
As for Revin, he simply recognized Reiger’s strength, acknowledging that he was not to be underestimated. Coupled with the impact of the "Portal," he had unconsciously softened his domineering nature.
Thus, the two naturally reached a cooperation. Otherwise, with their personalities, they might have chosen to go alone.
Now that the matter was settled, everyone immediately began to take action.
"Spread out!"
Kazi had the Knights spread out to surround and blockade the road in front of the city gate.
Swordsmen in the front, Magicians in the back, and Kazi and others in the middle, they set up a basic formation.
Reiger, Liz, Revin, and Nipede, grouped in pairs, walked out from the formation.
Reiger and Liz went towards the giant guard on the left, while Revin and Nipede moved towards the one on the right.
As the group of four approached a certain distance, the giant guards moved.
"Ooooooooh!"
A robust roar erupted, shaking the atmosphere.