Khorne, shrouded in smoke, suddenly trembled. A thin, semi-transparent spherical energy shield appeared around its chassis.
The streaking missile cluster, upon reaching the energy shield, had their warheads inexplicably and neatly displaced in the center, as if suddenly pulled by some spatial force. The warhead and its casing were misaligned by several centimeters.
These few centimeters caused all the incoming missiles to lose power and fall in a parabolic arc downwards. Even when they hit the ground, the warheads did not detonate.
Just as the missile cluster was dealt with, the mecha system issued an alert: "Plasma energy battery storage energy down 27%."
It seemed this protective shield consumed a tremendous amount of energy! 27% of the energy was enough for Khorne to fly for ten years!
Gu Ya dared not delay. He piloted Khorne through the smoke from the rear, ascending slowly. The situation ahead reappeared in his view.
Upon seeing this, Gu Ya was stunned.
The enemy mechs hit by the beam cannons did not explode. The struck areas were distorted as if by some powerful force. All armor, components, mechanical structures, assemblies, and cables were twisted into a clump, black and shiny, bearing a sheen formed from intense heat.
Those mechs, after crashing into the lower buildings, tumbled a few times before smashing onto the ground.
"Future technology spatial weaponry?"
After a few seconds of respite, the remaining ten-odd heavy fire output enemy mechs opened all their ammunition bays and fired countless missiles at Khorne.
The dense missile trails even enveloped the enemy mechs behind them, shooting forth like ten thousand arrows.
Gu Ya prepared to deploy the spatial energy beam shield again, but his gaze suddenly caught another function of this mech.
It seemed more suited for defense!
Khorne stretched its limbs in the air. Its arm, leg, and waist armor suddenly popped open with dense, small circular covers, revealing dark gunports.
Before him were countless missiles trailing white smoke, charging from all directions and blind spots. For an ordinary mech, it would be a declaration of death.
Khorne's gun barrels, facing the missile cluster, unleashed a dense barrage of beam rounds.
It was like thousands of machine guns firing simultaneously.
Upon hitting the missiles, the countless beam rounds distorted at the impact points, causing the missiles to lose power and explosive capability, falling away one by one.
On the ground, "boom, boom, boom" sounds erupted as the missile cluster rained down like a torrential downpour.
In less than a minute, the missile cluster, capable of destroying Khorne, was all shot down.
When the beam rounds hit the enemy mechs, their armor also bore countless distorted indentations. However, after all, these were beam rounds with insufficient power to destroy the enemy mechs.
Seeing this scene, the surviving enemy mechs turned their bodies and flew towards the main force behind them.
Gu Ya prepared to pursue with his weapon.
At that moment, the surrounding sky temperature inexplicably rose. A red light appeared, shining down from above. A colossal mech blocked the sun, its massive silhouette the only thing visible.
The giant mech descended rapidly, and the surrounding temperature continued to climb.
Qiao Weiwei piloted the Unfettered Crimson, flying towards them. Gu Ya was surprised; wasn't she supposed to be intercepting the enemy outside the city?
Unfettered Crimson used its high-temperature red-hot field to reduce the enemy mechs' functional capabilities. The escape speed of the enemy mechs slowly decreased.
Khorne seized the opportunity, opening its shoulder magazine protection, unleashing hundreds of missiles, and directly destroying the remaining twenty-odd enemy mechs.
Watching the rain of fire from the sky crash into the city, Gu Ya breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"Gu Ya, you're not good enough. You needed my help to deal with these few weaklings. Humph!" Qiao Weiwei transmitted, laughing arrogantly.
"Why did you come back? Weren't you supposed to be intercepting enemy mechs entering Xianxia City? Have you found the other teammates?" Gu Ya asked.
Qiao Weiwei paused for a few seconds, then sighed gently and said, "Good news and bad news. The good news is that the enemy mechs outside the city have all retreated, and the Xianxia Cauldron battle zone's defenders have broken through the enemy encirclement and are now heading towards Xianxia City."
Gu Ya exclaimed "Great!" excitedly, then asked, "What's the bad news?"
Qiao Weiwei's tone became solemn as she said, "The enemy is preparing to regroup and encircle Xianxia City."
"Ha, I thought it was something bad. As long as the defenders of Xianxia Cauldron are here, they can definitely hold off the enemy. Moreover, Xianxia Cauldron has several top-ranked War Gods leading the defense! No need to panic," Gu Ya said casually. Indeed, this bad news was essentially good news. After all, gathering all the defenders together was better than being consumed by the enemy piecemeal.
Tens of thousands of defenders guarding a city were certainly achievable.
There were classic historical battles where the fewer defeated the many.
But what Qiao Weiwei said next made Gu Ya completely abandon all hope, his mood instantly plummeting to the bottom.
"However, the defenders are less than a thousand. And the enemy is still reinforcing through the border line of the two battle zones," Qiao Weiwei said gravely.
"A thousand?! How is that possible?" Gu Ya couldn't quite believe it. Didn't Xianxia Cauldron have tens of thousands of troops? And the top-ranked War Gods? Even if they failed, they shouldn't have only this small force left!
Qiao Weiwei said solemnly, "That's right. Only a small portion managed to break through the encirclement and retreat under the leadership of the War Gods. The rest were completely wiped out while covering their escape."
"Hei Xing even issued a statement, giving the Xianxia defenders three days to withdraw. After three days, they will launch a full-scale assault on the city."
"I couldn't find Tao Na and the others. Maybe they're already..."
Gu Ya stared, gritting his teeth in disbelief. With tens of thousands of defenders and Xianxia's most powerful War Gods, they still couldn't resist the enemy's attack! Only less than a thousand mechs managed to retreat.
To put it nicely, they retreated. To put it bluntly, they escaped.
And they were being ordered to withdraw by the enemy!
A complete disgrace!
No, Xianxia City cannot fall. It absolutely cannot.
This was the spiritual heart of Xianxia, the hub connecting all battle zones. If Xianxia City were destroyed, the various battle zones would become complete "islands," and the enemy would gnaw away at Xianxia from both inside and out.
"Where are they now?" Gu Ya asked coldly.
Qiao Weiwei sighed and said, "Are you angry? I'm angry too. But if..." Qiao Weiwei's voice trembled with tears, clearly saddened and resentful of the fallen defenders. After a pause, she continued, "But if it weren't for the sacrifice of those comrades, perhaps not even these people would have survived. They truly fought with their lives to protect Xianxia City."
Gu Ya nodded, his expression calm as he said, "Yes, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, we must persevere. As long as the people are here, the city is here."
...
The enemy mechs in Xianxia City all withdrew from the northern part of the city.
In the evening, the remnants of the forces that had retreated from the front lines gradually returned to Xianxia City.
Gu Ya stood on the shoulders of the tall Youyin, controlling hundreds of drones, weaving through the narrow gaps of the ruined walls, finding survivors, and notifying engineering mechs to rush to their rescue.
Qiao Weiwei, piloting a small Unfettered Crimson, used her external speakers to loudly urge people hiding in the shadows to evacuate quickly.
Gu Ya looked up. The golden sunset was low in the west, and the sky was a vast expanse of dark red, as if stained with blood.
Countless billowing black smokes drifted over the city. The smoke dispersed in the air, adding to the bleakness of the dark red sky.
Over a hundred majestic defending mechs slowly glided over Youyin, flew over the ruined buildings, and passed through the dense smoke.
Fierce fires still raged within the city.
The acrid smell of burning, the scent of gunpowder, an indescribable bitterness, and the smell of cement from shattered concrete structures mingled in the air.
Sporadic explosions echoed from afar. The sounds of mecha engines, search and rescue, screams, pleas, crying, and calls for help reverberated in their ears.
Although there were discrepancies from what was seen in the perception machines, those illusions had largely come true.
Xianxia City was truly ruined.
And in three days, it would face even fiercer combat. By then, it would surely be destroyed even more thoroughly.
Gu Ya's mood was at its lowest. He slumped down dejectedly, gazing into the sunset in a daze.
A gentle breeze stirred his hair, which hadn't been cut in months. The sunset reflected on his chiseled face, making him look exceptionally desolate.
At this point, Xianxia City had not been held, and he couldn't even contact his teammates.
"It's all my fault for being too weak!" Gu Ya muttered, "If only I could have been a slaughterhouse."
Although Gu Ya was now powerful, he was still far from the standard he held in his heart.
At this moment, Qiao Weiwei walked over from behind. The dusty breeze stirred her long twin tails, her slender shadow stopping beside Gu Ya's shadow.
She placed one hand on her hip, gazing at the sunset, and said softly, "They're looking for you. They said a War God meeting will be convened."