Chapter 287 - 167: The Pursuit Arrives
"What? A miasma has appeared in the forest? It stretches for kilometers with no end in sight? And no one can pass through?"
Another piece of bad news reached Ah Pu, making him wonder if he was born under an unlucky star. It felt like nothing at all was going right tonight.
He had clearly parasitized all the lords who remained in the main camp and even had the upper hand against the Sniper Corps. But with the arrival of the ice fog, everything had been turned upside down.
’The main road is blocked, and there’s a death miasma in the forests on both sides. What am I supposed to do?’
Ah Pu stood on the hill, lost in thought, completely at a loss.
Just then, another commotion broke out at the rear of the Northern Expedition Legion.
Ah Pu looked closely and realized that the pursuing Sniper Corps had caught up to them.
"Stop them! Don’t let them break our formation."
The newly arrived soldiers from the Sniper Corps were all Cavalry, and there weren’t many of them. Ah Pu felt he could still hold on, hoping they were just scouts and that the main force was still far behind.
Following his command, the soldiers in the rear half of the Northern Expedition Legion immediately regrouped under their respective commanders. They formed up into battle formations and began to counter the pursuing Sniper Corps.
The charging Cavalry were quickly beaten back, but the Northern Expedition Legion’s soldiers didn’t have long to celebrate. The Sniper Corps’ infantry divisions soon caught up, and a fierce battle erupted the moment they made contact.
The narrow terrain restricted both sides. Because only a limited number of soldiers could engage at one time, it was difficult for the Northern Expedition Legion to leverage its numerical advantage and quickly eliminate the pursuing troops, who were separated from their main army.
Moreover, as time went on, more and more soldiers from the Sniper Corps arrived, and the Northern Expedition Legion’s numerical advantage gradually disappeared.
However, the same narrow terrain also prevented the Sniper Corps from quickly finishing off the resisting soldiers of the Northern Expedition Legion.
The two sides engaged in a bloody battle in the cramped space, once again creating a meat-grinder of a battlefield.
...
"Sir, what do we do now?"
Blocked from the front, pursued from the rear, and flanked by dense death miasma in the forests, Ah Pu felt like the filling in a Human Race dumpling.
The situation had become extremely unfavorable. They couldn’t win a fight, and they couldn’t escape.
Ah Pu’s mind raced, searching for a sliver of hope in this deathtrap. At least this spot was relatively safe; as long as they didn’t provoke the wild boars or venture into the forest, they wouldn’t be attacked.
THUD~
BANG BANG BANG~~
Suddenly, a large watermelon landed beside Ah Pu and instantly exploded. The bursting pulp splattered onto the surrounding lords and heroes.
Ah Pu rubbed his stinging arm where he’d been hit and blurted out, "What is this now?"
The heroes quickly raised their defenses. Ah Pu glanced around and realized that this place was no longer safe either.
The exploding watermelon falling from the sky was only the beginning. More watermelons rained down, including ice watermelons, Fire Watermelons, spike watermelons... along with various types of corn and Guiding Needles with different properties.
There were also many peas and cactus spines with varying properties being shot out from the distant forest.
For a moment, the soldiers of the Vanguard Army were pinned down by the rain of ranged attacks, unable to even lift their heads.
Under the protection of the heroes, the core (parasitized) lords all looked to Ah Pu, waiting for him to make a decision.
Ah Pu’s expression remained calm. He waved his hand, telling everyone to wait; he needed to think.
But inwardly, he was already panicking. ’We’re getting hit from the front and rear. The entire legion can’t hold out for long.’
Even though he knew the attacks were coming from the forest, he didn’t dare send soldiers in. The attacks were originating from behind the death miasma, and so far, no soldier had made it out of the miasma unscathed.
They had already sent men to test the death miasma in the forest. No matter what protections they used, anyone who stayed inside for even a short while would fall gravely ill, suffering from total organ failure. Even the parasitic Eye Demons would be affected.
After long deliberation, he concluded that the entire Northern Expedition Legion had no path of retreat. Their only option was to hold their ground and endure, to see if they could last until the day’s time limit was up. If they could, at least the lives of the parasitized lords and heroes would be saved.
He truly felt as if each passing day was a year. Forget the more than twenty hours left until the day was over; even the few short minutes he’d spent thinking felt like a century had passed.
"Ah Pu, it looks like you all won’t make it to the end," a voice spoke up beside him, sounding rather pleased by their predicament.
Ah Pu looked over angrily and saw that the speaker was the Invisible Sentinel—Bess.
"Lord Bess! You’ve returned? What’s the situation?" When things had started to look dire, Ah Pu had requested that Bess go and scout the area.
"Which side are you asking about?"
Hearing Bess’s question, Ah Pu felt a surge of hope. Was there a path to break through? "Which side looks better?"
"They’re both terrible!"
"The entire Sniper Corps is on the move behind us. They’re all crammed into that bottleneck now."
"The forest up ahead is full of miasma, so I couldn’t see the specifics, and I didn’t dare go in. But you’ve seen it yourself—the ranged attacks are coming from hiding spots in that forest. No idea what kind of troops they are. Their attack methods are bizarre."
Ah Pu was disappointed. "So there’s no way out?"
"Nope. But don’t worry, I’ll take a report on you all back with me. I’ll let everyone know how hard you tried, to console your souls." As Bess spoke, they began to fly up into the sky, preparing to hide until the phase ended and they were teleported back to the Eye Demon territory.