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"
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."