The Holy Territory served as the collective designation for the demi-human domains forged through the union of mortal humanity and the sacred races.
The so-called sacred races represented ancient lineages directly tethered to the divine pantheons.
By emulating those divine exemplars, early humanity mastered the fundamental mechanics of divine power, giving rise to the modern coalition of human alliances.
Indeed, the Sacred Territory stood as one of the most monumental contributors to the early, courageous expansion of mankind.
Elves, orcs, aquatics, draconians, giants, dwarves, angels, demons...
Through union with these diverse races, the inherited bloodline traits bestowed distinct racial capabilities upon their descendants.
Among them, the orcs constituted the largest demographic pillar within the Sacred Territory.
Upon establishing a domain, an orc lord naturally attracted specialized populations unique to their tribal lineage.
Such populations could be systematically drilled into specialized vocations and exclusive elite military arms.
The bloodline of the Elephant Man lord represented a fusion of human and pachyderm ancestry, with his signature tactical unit being the heavily armed Elephant Soldier.
Through advanced structural upgrades, these units evolved into Giant Elephant Soldiers, colossal entities resembling humanoid bio-mechs, functioning as absolute battlefield executioners.
Deploying across the active sector at that moment stood a hundred elite elephant soldiers alongside three hundred heavy-layer shock infantry.
Throughout previous military campaigns, their thunderous charges had proven utterly unstoppable.
Across the Southern District, the devastating power of the Holy Spirit Alliance’s Giant Elephant Charge enjoyed a legendary reputation!
Yet tonight, upon their home turf and within their sovereign territory, they had finally encountered their absolute match.
Chen Wei spat out a mouthful of warm blood as he peered through the cracked aperture of his battered helmet at the bewildered Elephant Man lord.
The core driving force behind the elephant charge was none other than the Elephant Man lord standing directly before him.
To halt a giant elephant charge, one had to first shatter the lord commanding them.
To achieve that objective, Chen Wei had paid a staggering price: compound fractures across both arms, multiple ruptured internal organs, and his health bar plunged to the absolute critical red zone.
Yet at that moment, a wide grin spread across his face.
He was smiling with radiant satisfaction.
"Just that? That is your vaunted elephant charge? Brothers! Tell them! Who are we?!"
"Black Turtle Bastion!"
"We are!"
"Black Turtle Bastion!"
Roar!
Prepare for the counter-strike!
Though Chen Wei could no longer raise his shattered arms, he threw his weight forward, marching straight ahead.
The operational principle of the Black Turtle Bastion dictated that by absorbing the kinetic energy of an incoming impact, the defensive grid stored that immense force before discharging it in a catastrophic shockwave once a specific threshold was reached.
Channeling that explosive discharge of accumulated kinetic energy, Chen Wei launched himself directly toward the Elephant Man lord Roku!
"That bastard Li Xu managed to claim a lord’s head, so I am certainly not leaving empty-handed!"
Chen Wei’s visage twisted into a ferocious grin; under the lingering spatial buffs previously cast by Toji Hisami, his physical stature now towered noticeably over Roku’s.
Charging forward at a dead sprint, he drove his massive helmet straight ahead.
Boom!
A visible, concussive ring of shockwaves erupted outward the instant Chen Wei’s skull connected squarely with Roku’s head.
The Elephant Man lord’s massive head snapped violently backward, and nearby soldiers clearly caught the sickening crunch of fractured cervical vertebrae.
The counter-attack prepared by the Black Turtle guards proved unimaginably ferocious, sending the remaining elephant troops tumbling backward and instantly blowing wide an avenue of retreat.
The newly rescued allied lords experienced an ecstatic surge of relief upon witnessing the breakthrough, they finally saw a tangible pathway to survival!
"Quickly, coordinate medical evacuations!"
"The elephant formation has fractured! Fall back immediately!"
They bellowed instructions across the ranks while initiating their tactical withdrawal.
Yet at that exact juncture, Lyra’s crisp, commanding voice rang out across the zone once more.
"All units, attention! About-face! Execute the final strike wave! Primary target: the half-dragon phalanx!"
"Hoo-rah!"
The combined soldiers of the Jiuzhou Territory and the elven domain roared their agreement in absolute unison.
They had just completed a defensive pivot and counter-charge to pulverize the alliance’s main assault wave.
Then they had turned right back around to shatter the elephant charge and force open an escape vector.
Yet the battle plan did not stop there!
They were executing another immediate about-face to strike once more!
The designated target for this third wave was none other than the newly arrived half-dragon units!
Several elven lords and the surviving Blood Spirit leader stared in utter disbelief, their expressions mirroring those of men gazing upon ghosts.
We are already battered to this degree, and you intend to charge back in for a third round?
Do you understand the basic principles of tactical momentum? A wise commander retreats when a window closes; launching consecutive, relentless counter-attacks against a numerically superior foe without pause is sheer suicide!
Yet those observers had conveniently forgotten who had driven the battlefield into chaos earlier, and whose territories had been systematically reduced to ash.
They failed to comprehend how a force operating at a profound numerical disadvantage could systematically dismantle an encircling army through sheer, unadulterated application of kinetic power.
Musa desperately sought the total eradication of Toji Hisami and Elara’s vanguard.
To achieve that, he had meticulously orchestrated three distinct, sequential waves of offensive pressure.
Yet he had never factored in Toji Hisami’s uncanny ability to exploit temporal differentials, repeatedly punishing his formations back-to-back!
At that moment, Musa’s eyes burned a furious, blood-red.
This systemic failure represented an unmitigated humiliation, equivalent to receiving two resounding, public slaps across his face.
His prior dissatisfaction with Ai Lan had reached its boiling point, convincing him she was a liability who failed at every turn.
Consequently, he had assumed direct personal command of the vanguard, only to suffer an equally catastrophic blow!
This present half-dragon assault constituted his final, absolute card to play.
"Roar!!!"
Musa emitted a ferocious, guttural dragon roar that visibly expanded the physical stature of every half-dragon soldier present.
A dense, suffocating veil of black malice manifested across their armor, causing nearby allied combatants to recoil in terror, incapable of maintaining direct eye contact.
Dragon Might!
The personal lord talent of the half-dragon Musa!
It permanently amplified the physical strength and offensive output of all allied half-dragon units by 100%, while projecting an innate draconian suppression field.
Within the radius of the dragon’s deterrence, enemy attributes were dynamically degraded by 20% to 80%, scaled inversely against the willpower and strength parameters of the targets.
The half-dragon phalanx stood as the absolute crown jewel of the Holy Spirit Alliance!
They constituted the undisputed elite ace legion of the coalition!
Even though a mere three hundred operatives were deployed across this sector, the activation of Musa’s innate talent instantly elevated them into a peerless combat echelon.
If any informal ranking of elite military units existed within the current trial session, the half-dragon legion would indisputably secure a position within the global top ten.
They possessed absolute confidence in that standing!
As the phalanx accelerated into its charge, a towering, amorphous shadow shaped like a black dragon materialized overhead, enveloping the entire half-dragon line.
Yet Musa soon registered a terrifying anomaly: the Jiuzhou soldiers arrayed directly opposite them displayed zero signs of suppression.
Within the Jiuzhou ranks, Lin Yifei and Marta had each pushed their respective disciplines into states of supreme, blazing manifestation.
Elara’s elven troops exhibited absolute fearlessness, meeting the oncoming threat with unblinking resolve.
Musa’s signature Dragon Might effect had produced precisely zero mechanical impact upon them!
This immunity stemmed from the fact that their operational parameters had been permanently locked and elevated by Toji Hisami’s prior systemic buffs.
Stacked beneath multiple layers of esoteric enhancements, even a true, living dragon descending in the flesh would fail to force them back a single step.
While their psychological fortitude remained insulated against fear, the physical attribute penalties dictated by the aura still applied.
Even so, fewer than half of the Black Turtle guards remained upright; the blades of the elite swordsmen had long since shattered, forcing them to rely entirely on close-quarters combat daggers.
At that critical juncture, Lyra stepped to the absolute vanguard, planting herself before the formation.
Toji Hisami lingered slightly behind, finally unsealing the pages of the Strange Codex.
This midnight hour marked the precise moment he intended to cement his permanent geopolitical dominance across the Southern District.
The outcome of tonight’s engagement would dictate whether he could seamlessly expand his commercial and strategic networks throughout the south, propelling Heaven Drive into universal renown.
The Holy Spirit Alliance served as his ultimate whetstone and stepping stone.
His deliberate choice to allow Elara to draw them deep into the capital’s interior was executed with this exact climax premeditated.
Retreat?
Absurd.
Even should the master of Jiuzhou elect to depart, he would exit through the front gates in broad, open daylight, not because he was driven out by inferior adversaries!
The parchment pages turned smoothly, settling upon a specialized doctrine index of the anomalous traveler.
[Inverted Righteousness]
A complex doctrinal synthesis fusing magic, mysticism, and spiritual mechanics into a singular operational miracle.
Upon active deployment, specified target skills and magical properties underwent a complete, systemic inversion.
Inscribed: The Strange Walker. Active deployment quota: 0/3 remaining.
"The nomenclature aligns rather poetically with the theme of our evening’s proceedings."
"Since you refuse to offer voluntary justice, I shall administer my own brand of justice upon you."
The strange codex emitted a soft, ambient luminescence, instantly draining the remainder of Toji Hisami’s active mana reserves.
It appeared an immutable systemic law: regardless of how many structural levels he attained, the moment he invoked the high-tier doctrinal spells bound within the Strange Book, his entire mana pool was swallowed down to the last drop.
When he sat at Level 30, casting the spell left him with a meager sliver of residual energy.
Now, standing at Level 50, casting the exact same codex mechanics left him with precisely that same meager sliver.
Across the battlefield, an anomalous cluster of light and shadow flickered violently. Amidst the shimmering distortion, a solitary silhouette materialized quietly.
The entity gazed toward the surging half-dragon phalanx advancing from the front, then abruptly inverted its posture, standing completely upside down on its head.
In that microsecond, the half-dragon warriors experienced a terrifying physical sensation: the immense, overflowing vitality and martial energy surging through their veins vanished entirely without a trace.
The oppressive black dragon shadow overhead was shredded and blown away like morning mist under a gale, leaving Musa standing in the distance paralyzed by profound cognitive dissonance.
What had occurred?
Where had his divine talent vanished to?
Snap.
Toji Hisami closed the strange codex with a soft click, while Lyra raised her long spear skyward.
"By sacred oath, we protect!"
"The vow claims the heart!"
"The oath... ruptures all opposition!"
As the final syllable detonated, a blinding column of golden light erupted directly from the combined formations of the Jiuzhou and elven vanguard.
A cataclysmic shockwave surged forward to meet the charging half-dragon phalanx, instantly engulfing the elite troops who had just been stripped of their innate talent blessings.
Observing the devastation from his elevated knoll, Musa let out a choked, tearing cry as a geyser of bright arterial blood erupted from his lips.
The shockwave refused to dissipate, plowing relentlessly onward in Musa’s direction, pulverizing every tree, boulder, and structural obstacle in its path!
Ultimately, it slammed directly into the fortified hill serving as Musa’s command post, generating a deafening, earth-shaking roar.
At that exact second, every trial lord residing both within and beyond the boundaries of the Holy Spirit Alliance caught the thunderous detonation.
Even the solid earth beneath their feet pitched and shuddered violently.