Book 6 Chapter 10.5 - World as the Enemy
Boom! A thunderous sound erupted. The steel armor plate immediately warped, almost snapping ninety degrees! It flow out together with Pantival behind it, collapsing several dozen meters out. The four ability users with seven levels of power flew in all directions, directly smashing into the surrounding walls before slowly sliding down. Then, they sightly knelt on the ground, no longer able to stand up again.
A formless wave spread out with Murray's fist at the center, rippling out in a ring shape. Everything it passed through, the weapon racks, target dummies, and all types of staff members collapsed or flew out!
Murray maintained his stance. The tip of his fist slowly split open, blood continuously pouring out, even the bones of his fingers visible from the cracks! Murray's finger bones were unexpectedly golden.
He gave the steel armor plate and Pantival's flight distance a look, and then a smile finally appeared on his thick lips. Even though he was injured, this fist sent Pantival and four seventh level ability users flying at the same time, the distance five meters greater than last month. This left Murray extremely satisfied, quite a bit of the discontent that had accumulated over the past few days unwittingly disappearing.
The moment Murray revealed a smile, he suddenly heard a faint explosion sound in the distance! His eyebrows shot up straight, the extremely faint wave immediately differentiated.
This was the sound of a rocket exploding, and from the vibrations of the ground, it should be one of Maca City's sentry towers outside the city that collapsed. Maca City didn't have walls, only having a dozen of meter tall border sentry posts every so often to watch for enemies. The reason why Maca City didn't have walls was extremely simple, this was where the empire's northern border viceroy was stationed. In the empire's history, the viceroys who have successively held the northern border post, when commanding the fifty bodyguards and five hundred close guard troops, had never lost to an enemy numbering under five thousand. There was only one instance when eleven of the northern borders' suzerains allied together to rebel, amassing a massive army of over twenty thousand, ambushing the northern border who ended up fighting alone due to underestimating the enemy. That battle lasted a day and a night, fighting from the foothills to the forest, the viceroy and his three hundred guards in the end unable to last until reinforcements arrived.
When the viceroy and his household division chief collapsed, surrounding them were over six thousand enemy corpses.
This battle calmed the northern border for two whole decades.
Murray's expression immediately fell. He clenched his fist that was still dripping with blood, walking out from the pyramid with large steps. When he passed a maid that was to accompany him, Murray grabbed her neck, raising her to his face, almost sticking to the young lady's face as he roared, "Where are my guards? Go and bring that group of damn pigs over! Pantival! Get the fuck up, stop playing dead! Bring ten people and come with me. I want to see just who it is that has such guts, daring to blow up my sentry tower!"
Pantival obviously wasn't playing dead. After suffering Murray's full force attack, even if there were four underlings to help him bear the burden, his injuries still weren't light. These were injuries that could keep him in bed for an entire week. However, he could feel the viceroy's overflowing rage, and even more so understood the source of the viceroy's anger. Murray was proud and arrogant. If it wasn't because of his skin color, with his abilities, he wouldn't have been dispatched to the northern border. Among the empire's eleven viceroys, everyone knew that the northern border was the poorest region. Comparatively, the northern border was also the most peaceful region, no major rebellions happening in two decades, leaving Murray with nowhere to make use of his skills. In the empire that valued individual strength, this also meant that there was no way of displaying himself. However, the current attack led Murray's thoughts towards another direction.
The attack didn't come too early, didn't come too late, just so happened to be during Murray's post. Could it be that this fella thought Murray was easy to bully?
While standing on the public square in front of the pyramid, Murray had his hands around his back as he stared into the distance. His face was as dark as the clouds of radiation in the sky. The sentry tower that was blown up was four kilometers away, the surroundings an expanse of flat land, faint gunshots still audible. From this place, one could see the attackers split into two trucks, currently retreating into the distant forest. There were also more than ten native soldiers following behind the trucks. The sentry tower was still burning, seven or eight corpses in the surroundings. The few lucky surviving soldiers were currently hiding behind the ruins, continuously shooting at the retreating enemies. However, no one knew how accurate the AK rifles were beyond five hundred meters. Unless one had eight levels or higher luck, there was no way these fellas could pose any threat. Their actions were partly to display that they still had fighting spirit, partly wasting ammunition.
An ear-splitting alarm sound already sounded in Maca City's skies, soldiers rushing out group after group from the barracks, gathering in their designated locations. However, they didn't know what to do afterwards. There were some who stayed on standby, some who drove out from Maca City together in search of enemy traces. Two decades of peaceful living made Maca City's officers forget how to fight a battle. As for the native tribe battles, that was more like hunting.
The viceroy's fully armed household troops were currently making their way out from several of the pyramid's exits, lining up in the public square, while the close guards immediately appeared behind Murray. They were all large and tall, muscles so sturdy they looked like twisted steel wires, yet they weren't cumbersome, all of these individuals black. From their outer appearances, these soldiers looked just like Murray's clones. They never showed any expression, nor would they show fear or rebel. The fifty bodyguards' equipment was extremely simple, only wearing alloy armor that covered the most important parts. Their weapons consisted of a dagger, machete, and three hatchets, simple and primitive like gladiators of the ancient times. However, not even Pantival dared look down on them. He understood clearly what kind of destructive force these monsters possessed in the rainforest, night, and mountainous environments.
Pantival narrowed his eyes. Even though he didn't have strengthened sight, when one's abilities increased, one's fundamental qualities would also improve. Seeing the scene several kilometers away wasn't too difficult of a task. After giving those two trucks that weren't moving all that quickly a look, he managed to squeeze out a thought from his head packed with muscle.
"Baiting the enemy?"
These words provoked Murray's increasingly large fist! This fist sent Pantival flying more than ten meters out before Murray roared, "You don't say! Of course I know it's a bait! If even an idiot who is all muscle can tell, how could I not?! Those fellas, using this type of obvious tactic, aren't trying to bait, but instead provoke us, provoke! Do you know what provocation is, know how to spell it? They are saying that with our level of intelligence, we can only see this type of stratagem! I raised a bunch of idiots!"
Murray's furious roar almost resounded through the entire pyramid. Pantival crawled up from the ground, shook his dizzy head, and then walked back while rocking back and forth. This fist that could snap an elephant's neck, on his body, only made him feel a bit dizzy.
However, Murray seemed to have forgotten something, which was that he couldn't spell the word provocation either.