The Double-tailed Emperor Scorpion's tail struck out like a whip cracking through the air, and the Shadow Claw Monster blocked it with lightning speed, its claws clanging loudly against the scorpion's tail armor.
The Shadow Claw Monster slid backwards, barely able to keep its footing.
"Zhao Yaqian, you!"
Wang Hu looked at Zhao Yaqian, wanting to persuade her again, but he was cut off by her resolute gaze, and he bellowed angrily, "Retreat, the mission has failed!"
Reluctant as they were, now was not the time to act rashly. The Double-tailed Emperor Scorpion was too powerful; only Zhao Yaqian's Shadow Claw Monster could withstand it to some extent.
Without her intervention, none of them could escape, and now, the Double-tailed Scorpions were closing in again, gradually advancing towards them.
The armed team moved swiftly back, their armored vehicle was not far away, the very one they had arrived in. However, the ground suddenly heaved, and a colossal pink figure burst through the cement, flipping the armored vehicle over and blocking their path.
It was a blood-colored worm, ten meters long with a girth akin to a water tank, its split-mouth gaping wide, emitting a piercing roar. Its vicious tongue shot out rapidly, with barb-like tentacles suddenly wrapping around a guard, sweeping him towards its jagged maw.
"Zhao Yang!"
The team leader's eyes were filled with rage, and he continuously fired his gun at the split-mouth mother worm's tongue, but the bullets merely left white marks without causing any damage.
"Roar"
At that moment, other team members and their Angel Envoys pounced to rescue their comrade, but with a single sweep, the mother worm sent them all flying.
Split-mouth worms emerged one after another from the soil on both sides, encircling them.
Worms in front, venomous scorpions behind, they were trapped.
Wang Hu made a resolute decision, "Guan Yi, take the lead in holding off the Double-tailed Scorpions, let Zhao Yaqian go!"
If the whole team couldn't escape, then the strongest among them must. Zhao Yaqian had the Shadow Claw Monster, and with her First Order Upper Grade strength, she still had a chance to break through.
"Yes!"
Just as Guan Yi was about to turn around, suddenly a dark figure darted forth, clashing with a metallic sound, its sharp claws slicing through the split-mouth mother worm's tongue. In a flash of its blade, the tongue was severed, and the guard, who was nearly pulled into its mouth, fell to the ground, narrowly escaping death.
Wang Hu's eyes widened, not knowing when a monster clad in iron armor had positioned itself between them and the worms.
Vines surged from the ground, seizing the worms one by one, as the Radiance of the Lamp Tree illuminated the area; the mist dispersed, revealing Su Han and his companions who were previously hidden from Wang Hu and his team.
"Reinforcements!"
Wang Hu felt a surge of relief and immediately shouted, "Brothers, be careful, these two monsters are together!"
Su Han, clad in Black Armor, wielding Pu knives, cut down several worms with the Human-faced Tree clearing the way, opening a path through.
"Bring your people over!"
The vines entwined
Beneath the ground, the battle erupted immediately. The gigantic size and the massive worm-like body with no fixed pivot made it challenging for the vines to restrain the worm.
But likewise, under the meticulous underground network woven by the vines, a surprise attack on Su Han and the others from below was impossible.
The colossal form of the Double-tailed Emperor Scorpion rushed towards Su Han and his companions, seeking to disrupt the Human-faced Tree's movements and coordinate with the Split-mouth Mother Worm.
But by this time, the Black Armor warrior had already stepped forward, and the Floating Pagoda Black Armor slashed out two winged blades aiming directly at the scorpion.
The scorpion tails of the Double-tailed Emperor Scorpion, swift as whips, clashed with the flying blades, creating a clashing sound that held its own.
The Double-tailed Scorpion swarm and the Split-mouth Worms were restless, having already surrounded them. Wang Hu and his group glared fiercely and immediately commanded, "Fire cover, hold back those smaller ones!"
The remaining thirty-two members of the team immediately took up arms and shot at the encroaching monsters, subtly protecting Su Han within their midst. Zhao Yaqian was even more aggressive, controlling her Shadow Claw Monster to charge into the mob, continuously slaying any Split-mouth Worms and Double-tailed Scorpions that attempted to get close.
Bai Qilan's winch crossbow fired steadily from her hands, each shot taking down a monster, and her Contractor's Four-armed Corpse was summoned with a towering height of over three meters, covered in tough fish scales of a pale aqua color, its particularly robust dual arms and webbed claws marking it unmistakably as a First Order Upper Grade, no weaker than Zhu Xiong.
Once her Contractor joined the fray, it fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the Shadow Claw Monster, killing the encroaching creatures one by one.
"Boom"
Just as the fierce battle raged, a thunderous roar erupted, and the entire section of the wall was breached as the trucks burst into the battlefield, crushing the encroaching worms and scorpions as they passed.
"Front-line warriors with armor up front, crossbowmen on top of the trucks, snipe them one by one, don't let them disturb Su Han."
Zhu Xiong shouted commands as the four trucks that burst into the battlefield instantly separated the masses of Split-mouth Worms and Double-tailed Scorpions.
Su Han's people immediately entered the fight, with the iron-clad corpses and the Giant Macrophage Dogs taking the lead, their Pu knives and axes falling upon the monsters.
The Contractors with their winch crossbows targeted the creatures, coordinating with their own Angel Envoys to kill the Double-tailed Scorpions and Split-mouth Worms.
The sudden arrival of reinforcements left Wang Hu and his companions dumbfounded. They had expected a fierce battle given the hundreds of monsters charging at them, but now the situation had reversed.
A glint flashed in Zhao Yaqian's eyes as she caught a critical name: Su Han?
Captain Cheng Zhenyong had mentioned this name before, but shouldn't the Contractor in his possession be the Four-armed Corpse? Why did it look like this one?
As the battle intensified, Zhao Yaqian had no time to ponder further. Her Shadow Claw Monsters, Bai Qilan's Corpse, and Zhu Xiong's Hammer-wielding Corpse, all First Order Upper Grade, cooperated with each other, forming three gateways beyond the line of trucks.
Regular monsters had no chance of breaching their combined defenses. Coupled with the hordes of iron-clad corpses holding the line, more and more Split-mouth Worms and Double-tailed Scorpions were slain outside the defenses.
"Roar"
The Double-tailed Emperor Scorpion seemed desperate, and unlike the common rabid creatures, the cunning glint in its red eyes flickered, and suddenly, at its jaw, blood gathered and a blood-like projectile violently shot out, striking the Black Armor warrior directly.
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