Chapter 129: Chapter 123 Rat-Type Abomination
The monsters were four-headed, each reaching a height of five meters, their bodies covered in pitch-black mane, with ferocious, barrel-sized rat heads, blood-red eyes, and an extremely brutal demeanor.
These Rat-Type Abominations differed from the usual rat monsters. They didn't crawl on the ground but stood upright in a ratman form, their bodies bloated, with thick, pillar-like arms. On their massive bodies, twisted limbs and fierce, small rat mouths... were twisted onto their bodies.
Even more bizarre was their lower half, which had two rows totaling six legs, all resembling rat claws, looking very strange.
As soon as the Rat-Type Abominations appeared, their blood-red gaze immediately turned to the people on the slope, and with a flash of their brutal light, they let out a deafening howl.
The rat monster horde immediately sprang into action, fearlessly charging at the flaming trench and then engaging in combat with the Angel Envoys on the other side.
"Bang bang bang"
The Angel Envoys were engaged in close combat, with Giant Macrophage Dogs and flesh corpses among them, controlled by the Contractors, starting to fight with the rat monsters that had crossed the firewall.
In terms of pure combat strength, the rat monsters were undeniably weaker, getting furiously torn apart when grabbed by flesh corpses.
But the rat monsters were numerous, with each Angel Envoy facing several rat monsters, making the fight extremely brutal.
Fortunately, the Contractors wielding weapons continuously cooperated with their own Angel Envoys to kill rat monsters, and the number of slain rat monsters kept rising.
Moreover, First Order Upper Grade and First-level Intermediate Angel Envoys were breaking through points, sweeping the rat monsters in these areas, aiding the surrounding Angel Envoys in jointly exterminating the rat monsters.
Among all the battling Angel Envoys, Su Han's team was the most striking, with Zhu Xiong, Bai Qilan, and the others yet to make a move.
But the Angel Envoys in iron armor wielding cleavers were fierce enough; like an iron wall, they blocked all the rat monsters trying to break through, their blades rising and falling to chop off their rat heads.
This was an army of iron-skinned monsters. Even creatures like the Giant Macrophage Dog were clad in iron armor, with spiked iron collars around their necks.
Even when besieged by rat monsters, they were not easily injured.
Although Su Han's combatants weren't wielding rifles, the crossbow arrows in their hands were still powerful. While controlling the Angel Envoys, they shot at the rat monsters, and in just a moment, there were already two to three hundred rat monster corpses on the ground.
"Roar!"
Failing to advance, the four Rat-Type Abominations became even more ferocious, charging forward with large strides, followed by thousands of rat monsters.
Yan Tiejun and Guo Wutao's expressions darkened slightly. These four monsters were clearly of Second Order strength, two more than what the scouting had revealed.
The defensive line couldn't possibly stop them; if they managed to break through, the current battle against the rat monsters would undoubtedly be disrupted.
"Yaqian, Duan Jie, have your Angel Envoys take action," they said.
"Yes!"
Army against army, general against general, facing the rat tide like a wave, the two had stayed put to conserve strength and focus for potentially enormous monsters.
"Roar"
A low roar resounded, and the Shadow Armor Monster and Shadow Armor Tyrant instantly appeared on the battlefield. The Tyrant was Zhao Yaqian's second Angel Envoy; just ten days prior, it had been just First Order Upper Grade.
But now, with heavy resource investment and the injections given to the Shadow Armor Monster, it had finally undergone Metamorphosis and become a Second Order Inferior Apostle.
The Shadow Armor Tyrant, like the Shadow Armor Monster, stood at about five meters tall, even more colossal in figure, with one hand being a huge fist covered in pitch-black thick armor, while the other arm was like a blade, sharp to the extreme.
"Thump thump thump"
As soon as the two Angel Envoys entered the battlefield, they charged in, crossing the first earth ridge and plunging into the mass of rat monsters, attacking relentlessly, crushing any rat monster that blocked their path.
Duan Jie also summoned his Angel Envoys simultaneously, and two tall humanoid Tyrants immediately appeared on the battlefield. Though called Tyrants, their appearance had dramatically changed.
One was a Bullhead Tyrant with a pitch-black bull's head, overlapping sharp teeth resembling a demon, standing nearly seven meters tall, and covered in pitch-black bull hair, with robust legs.
In its hands was a terrifyingly huge axe, sweeping away the rat monsters in front of it as soon as it appeared, then charging at the Rat-Type Abominations.
The other had a twisted spine, a bent body, and a triangular head like that of a mantis, with grinding jaws like blades and curved arms like scythes, the horny substance and bones forming sharp blades.
As soon as the Blade Mantis Tyrant appeared, with a leap, it surpassed the Bullhead Tyrant, landing amid the rat monster horde.
The rat monsters squealed in panic, attempting to cling to it and bite at its flesh, to kill this monster.
But then, a flash of blade light, the sharp scythe-like arms swept horizontally, cutting all rat monsters within two meters in front of it in half.
The momentum of the rat monster horde was directly disrupted, and the four Rat-Type Abominations, too, noticed the appearance of formidable enemies, roaring as they went forward to erupt in a fierce battle.
The four Angel Envoys were comparable in size to the four Rat-Type Abominations. In a struggle against each other, they quickly crushed the surrounding rat monsters, exchanging blows and accumulating more wounds on their bodies.
The rat monsters were still assisting, especially the First Order Upper Grade rat monsters as large as oxen, drawing near to besiege the four Angel Envoys.
Guo Wutao's expression shifted slightly, knowing that relying solely on their power, even if they defeated the four Rat-Type Abominations, they would likely be injured.
"Su Han, we might need you to make a move first," they said.
It wasn't yet time for the granary, and Su Han joining the fray would also mean a consumption of resources, but they had no other choice.
But Su Han merely smiled and said, "Don't worry, we have many people."
Guo Wutao and Yan Tiejun were taken aback, but in the next instant, the Book of Blood Spirit on Zhu Xiong's arm lit up, and both the Devourer and the Bone Armor Giant Pig appeared on the battlefield.
Bai Qilan and Yan Meiyu also summoned their Angel Envoys—Demon Eye Spider Woman, Alien Thorn Worm, and Yan Meiyu's Rotpoison Ratman.
Suddenly, with five additional Second Order Inferior Apostles, both Yan Tiejun and Guo Wutao were stunned.
'Truly concealed abilities.'
Guo Wutao's heart was shocked. Although he had previously seen Zhu Xiong and Bai Qilan make brief moves against the Hundred-Eyed Monster, they were not dual Second-Rank Apostles at that time.
Not to mention, that young woman who seemed to be the head steward was also a Second-order Contractor.
As soon as the three people's Apostles appeared, they immediately rushed to aid the battlefield.
When Bai Qilan's Demon Eye Spider Woman broke into the battlefield, a flash of red light from its Demon Eye instantly impacted the minds of most of the rat creatures in front of her, causing them to stiffen and convulse.
The Alien Thorn Worm continuously launched stabs, its sharp claws slicing through the bodies of the rat creatures, shredding them and carving out a bloody path.
Zhu Xiong was even more direct—the Devourer's right arm elongated, sweeping across like a whip, and its gaping mouth devoured one rat creature after another, slaughtering them at an alarming speed.
The nearby Bone Armor Giant Pig used its skill, Bone Armor, and, clad in its armor, it charged and rammed with full force, shattering any rat creature that stood in its way.
Yan Meiyu's Apostle was undoubtedly "gentle," with Shadow Strike enveloping its body. The Rotpoison Ratman, like an assassin beneath a black robe, sliced its sharp claws across the bodies of the rat creatures.
Even a slight superficial wound would quickly bring the rat creatures down, where they would succumb to poison and perish, the black blood they spat out even causing nearby rat creatures to fall in a drowsy death.
With each rat creature slain, several more around them would die.
Fortunately, this was only the Rotpoison Ratman's Advanced Rotpoison, not an unattenuated spreading plague; otherwise, not just thousands but tens of thousands of rat creatures would not be able to withstand the toxin.
As the Second Order Inferior Apostles charged into the battlefield, they killed no less than a thousand rat creatures along the way, and such an assault also impeded the rat creatures' movements, slowing their offensive momentum.
The Rat-Type Abomination sensed the appearance of more powerful opponents and suddenly became frantic. Its fighting noises grew even more berserk as it exchanged blows for wounds in an attempt to deal with Zhao Yaqian and Duan Jie's Apostles.
Seeing the situation gradually stabilizing, Yan Tiejun and Guo Wutao were reassured, while the Southern City Guards were dumbstruck, having not expected the people of this camp to be so fierce, boasting as many as three Second-order Contractors.
No, not just three.
Many cast surreptitious glances at Su Han, wondering what kind of monster he could be, commanding Second-order Contractors as subordinates and speaking to people like Guo Wutao and Yan Tiejun.
The battle continued. The first Rat-Type Abomination was sought out by Zhu Xiong's two Apostles.
At that time, the Shadow Armor Monster was entangling with it, its sharp hand blades continuously slicing through the Rat-Type Abomination's body, but each time it did so, the thick skin would slowly heal.
The Rat-Type Abomination didn't have many flashy skills, but its strength lay in its Regenerative Ability and sheer power.
Although it was no match for the Shadow Armor Monster, it had no problem dragging out the fight.
And with the aid of rat creatures, dragging out the fight would put the Shadow Armor Monster at a disadvantage instead.
But as soon as Zhu Xiong's Apostles burst onto the scene, the Bone Armor Giant Pig mercilessly rammed into it.
Like a heavy-duty truck, it sent the Rat-Type Abomination flying with a thud, crashing down onto a swath of rat creatures.
The Devourer cooperated seamlessly, leaping up and immediately stepping on the Rat-Type Abomination.
Its twisted limbs and mouth tried to attack the Devourer, but the Devourer was far more brutal than it had imagined. Its right arm split open, and it bit off one of the Rat-Type Abomination's small, twisted rat heads in one go, blood splattering and the crunching noise coming from the maw was chilling.
Without the slightest mercy, the mouth pounded down on the Rat-Type Abomination again and again, tearing at flesh with each bite, and after digging through the chest muscles, it suddenly burrowed in, soon ripping out a beating heart.
The Rat-Type Abomination was dead!
With one slain, the scales of the battle naturally tipped more rapidly.
Bai Qilan's Demon Eye Spider Woman and Alien Thorn Worm worked together, targeting the Rat-Type Abomination's mind with Mental Shock, driving it into madness, followed by continuous stabs to the head.
The stabs pierced the skull, blood splattering out. The Rat-Type Abomination grew even more violent, completely losing its guard.
And in that moment, the Alien Thorn Worm and the Shadow Armor Tyrant, one attacking the head and the other slicing its sharp blade across the body, chopped it into three pieces.
Su Han watched the battlefield. After Bai Qilan and Zhu Xiong took care of the Rat-Type Abominations, they turned to slaughter the remaining rat creatures.
At this time, the rat creatures were still flowing in endlessly, far beyond a mere few thousand or ten thousand.
The slain count had already surpassed 5,000, but the masses remained densely packed.
Su Han felt something was amiss. The Blood Spirit Book in his hand flashed red, and the tall Ancient Worm Tree appeared at his side, starting its protective duties.
At the same time, following his mental command, the Ancient Worm Tree's vines and roots immediately burrowed into the ground, extending towards the distance. As the roots spread, they began absorbing the bodies of the rat creatures, fusing and enhancing the Essence of Flesh.
The Lamp Tree's light illuminated more areas of the battlefield, and as the fog slightly dissipated, heavier footsteps could suddenly be heard.
Looking towards the distance, Su Han saw the ground swell, the noise thunderous, and he warned, "Something big is coming."