Chapter 475 - 475 – Steam
The beasts all charged into the water violently. As soon as they had arrived, stealth was already thrown out of the window. The enemy would notice them anyway since they were land beasts and couldn’t simply act like sea beasts. Therefore, there was no sense in trying to sneak in.
Every human would think that such a frontal assault would be reckless and stupid, but that was only true for human standards. Beasts didn’t have things like Formation Arrays and walls. All they had was some advantageous natural terrain and their bodies. All in all, it didn’t make much difference to beasts if they were the ones attacking or defending.
Gravis was in the middle of the group while the level five Lords were at the front. The first thing they would do is find their opponents and fight, while Gravis would take out one level five Lord after the next.
After some minutes of charging, they already saw several enemies. These sea beasts had different levels, but most of them were only level one or level two Lords. One had to remember that this territory also had some weaker beasts living here.
These weak Lords were annihilated by the level five Lords even before they could react properly. The level five Lords simply threw some casual elemental attacks at these weak beasts, which was more than enough to completely decimate them. They didn’t even care about leaving the corpses intact. After all, no beast in their army would care about such weak food.
In no time at all, the army approached the Abyss. Just like the Abyss that the River Tribe had had, this one was a deep hole in the ocean that worked as a kind of defensive barrier and headquarters for the sea beasts.
Gravis hadn’t seen a single level three Lord or stronger on his way here, but that was to be expected. This was contested territory. A chokepoint like the Abyss served as the best defensive line for sea beasts.
Sure enough, as soon as Gravis saw the Abyss, he noticed an incredible number of Lords. Luckily for them, the enemy’s numbers and power were identical to the intelligence they had received from the cheetah.
The enemy had noticed them, and they built a wall of beasts a little behind the entrance of the Abyss. Without killing these beasts, they couldn’t proceed. Surprisingly, the whole wall was only made out of level four Lords. Gravis couldn’t see any stronger or weaker Lords present.
Gravis’ eyes narrowed as he realized the reason for that. ’With enough level four Lords, even a level five Lord might die. The fight between the Kings is what will decide which side will win the battle, but the fight between the level five Lords will decide which army will survive.’
Gravis looked at his own army for some seconds. ’The survival of our level four and level three Lords lays on the shoulders of our level five Lords and me. I would hate to be in their shoes right now, unable to have the power to decide my own destiny.’
Gravis sighed and shook his head a little. ’What am I saying? Isn’t the fact that I need to rely on Heaven’s generosity the entire reason why I’m even here?’ Gravis thought with frustration.
"Level four Lords, attack!" the cheetah transmitted to everyone. She could send in the level five Lords to kill a huge amount of level four Lords, but that might exhaust the level five Lords. If the enemy level five Lords appeared, they might lose because of such a decision.
"RAAAAH!" the beasts shouted in unison and charged forward. The level five Lords and level three Lords kept themselves back to intervene when necessary. According to what Gravis had seen with his Spirit Sense, the level three Lords of the enemy kept themselves completely hidden behind the defensive line.
’Guess our level three Lords are lucky,’ Gravis thought. If the enemy’s level three Lords attacked, the land beasts’ level three Lords would need to counterattack. During that time, they would be fighting inside a massive battle between more powerful beasts. Their survival chances would sink dramatically.
Since the enemy’s level three Lords kept themselves back, their own level three Lords could wait until the main battle was over. This would allow them to fight without any outsider interfering.
The two walls clashed, and Gravis felt like a small apocalypse had arrived. Whenever the beasts clashed, the water around them would become vaporized in an instant. The Energy output that such powerful beasts could produce could make incredible amounts of water boil in a split-second.
Soon after, elements of all kinds kept being shot around. Space shook as Gravis’ Spirit Sense, and the Beasts’ senses stopped working. When so much power clashed, it became nearly impossible to discern anything. As soon as the battle erupted, everyone could only rely on their feeling, instinct, and sight.
Gravis stood behind the battle together with the cheetah and the level five Lords. Right now, in front of them, everyone could see a violent steam-tornado, which made it nearly impossible to discern anything.
The steam tornado had a width of over 100 kilometers. This massive size made the steam tornado appear like a wall instead of a storm. It was simply too wide to comprehend its true form with their eyes alone.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Shockwaves parted the tornado at many places, revealing some openings in the steam tornado. Water beams split the tornado apart as they flew into the distance. Icicles shot out of the tornado and flew into random directions. Sometimes, one could even see a ball of steam leaving the tornado. These were fireballs that were obscured by the steam, which continually surrounded them.
Any level four Lord or weaker would be terrified of this violent storm since any of these attacks could prove deadly to them. It was obvious that this battle had no tactic or order. The beasts inside the steam-tornado had already lost their rationality and simply attacked anything that looked like an enemy.
Gravis scratched his chin as he looked at the tornado. ’If they were human, such a violent battle would do wonders for their Will-Auras,’ Gravis thought. ’Everyone participating in the battle obviously feels terrified. After all, any random attack from the side might kill them.’
As the violent battle continued at the front, Gravis turned to the cheetah. "How will you know when the level five Lords get involved?" he asked with a voice transmission.
The cheetah continued watching the battle intently. "The senses of a King are superior to the senses of a Lord. You might not be able to keep watch over the battle, but I can. As soon as the level five Lords make a move, I will inform you," she transmitted to him.
"Want me to get involved?" Gravis asked.
"No," the cheetah answered immediately. "You need to be in top condition for your fight against the level five Lords."
"As long as I can kill my enemies, I have unlimited stamina," Gravis answered, making the cheetah open her eyes wide. "If I kill a level four Lord, I regain 20% of my total power, and I don’t need more than 10% to kill a level four Lord. I can kill thousands without a break."
The cheetah was shocked when she heard that and remained silent for some seconds.
"If the battle were not in our favor, I would accept that offer," the cheetah answered, "but, right now, we are slightly ahead. If you interfere, you might be able to save the lives of many beasts, but instead, you will take away their tempering. Let them temper themselves for now."
Gravis shrugged. If the cheetah knew that the battle was currently going in their favor, the enemy’s King probably also knew that. This probably meant that the level five Lords would get involved soon anyway. To Gravis, it made no big difference since he would get his fair share of food sooner or later.
Gravis continued watching for a couple more minutes until he noticed that the cheetah started smiling.
"Why are you smiling?" Gravis asked.
Normally, the commander wouldn’t talk with their soldiers while a battle was ongoing, but Gravis’ power won the cheetah’s respect. "One of our soldiers has just comprehended a Law."
"Oh? That’s nice," Gravis said. "What Law is it?"
The cheetah laughed a bit. "Fittingly, it’s a Law related to steam. It seems like she is able to control the steam around her somewhat. There is too much power in the steam right now, which makes it impossible for her to control all of it. Yet, that Law is still incredibly useful in this battle."
"Could you elaborate?" Gravis asked.
The cheetah didn’t mind. "She can use the steam as a medium for her sense. Like this, she is basically the only beast inside the battle that can keep watch over their surroundings. Additionally, she can control the steam to restrict some movements of the enemies and to blind them."
"This is not a Law about attack. This Law is all about defense, utility, and evasion. I would say that such a mixed Law is pretty weak when compared to other Laws, but in this circumstance, it’s the best one she could have comprehended," the cheetah explained.
Gravis nodded.
"Attack immediately!" the cheetah suddenly shouted at every beast as she herself charged forward with her full speed. "The King has gotten involved. I will deal with him! Level five Lords, go through the steam tornado and kill the enemy’s level five Lords below it!"
"RAAAAH!" the level five Lords shouted. Then, they all charged violently into the Steam Tornado.
Gravis narrowed his eyes.
’Finally!’
Then, he also charged into the steam tornado, right behind the other level five Lords.