"For the Mantra! For the Lord of Joy!"
Amid the shrill howls, the heretics moved in unison within the bombing zone. As many as they were destroyed by artillery fire, more followed.
On the highest spire of the castle, with the help of the gun scope, Alex saw the undulating silhouettes in the explosion through the gunfire - the slender humanoid shadows were torn into pieces and turned into nothingness.
It was obvious that they were not cultists but something else.
For a few seconds it seemed to him that these abominations were the victims of foolishness, and that their attempts to cross the wall of fire would only bring death to themselves.
The next moment, he realized he was wrong.
Those forms may be destroyed, but they are still not destroyed.
They fell over and lost their shape, but the resulting liquid still flowed together.
"Emperor...what the hell is this!"
Alec almost screamed.
The potholed roads were filled with sticky white, pink, and putrid blue fluids that flowed toward the river, breaking down the east bank's parapet and then slowly flowing into the water like melted candles.
Those foams hit the water, and the pollution quickly spread to the river.
Yarrick watched these hissing, oily, sickly colors streak across the water, drifting south and north.
The river looked like the skin on a human chest had been stretched so tight that it was tearing apart, and the water surged like a wounded beast.
Soon the ground turned into loose gravel and the water turned into cold flesh.
The water level of the entire river began to drop and its water began to evaporate.
In the end, the river that had protected them for several days turned into a rotting corpse of a giant. It could even be said that the entire river disappeared, leaving only the river bed with disappearing hills piled on it.
As the water evaporated, the heretics emerged, howling and rushing forward.
More and more cultists poured out of the artillery fire. When the artillery fire failed to kill all the heretics trying to break through, gaps in the defense line began to appear.
Behind the cultists, more mutated horrors emerged from the smoke and fire.
There are scarlet flesh that is integrated with machinery, there are also countless nightmare creations with broken limbs and broken arms, and there are even blasphemous beasts with hooves and horns.
Groups of monsters swarmed from the embankment. They rushed across the river bed with their songs, and even the air began to be filled with the aroma of luxury.
In just a few seconds, the situation of the war changed dramatically.
The heretics advanced for several miles, and Yarek massed his troops on the other side of the river. Infantry and armor formed a solid defensive node along the river.
But in a very short time, all the fortifications will be surrounded by the tide of death.
If changes are not made, those troops will be doomed.
"All troops retreat!"
When the Chimera on the defense line turned around and began to retreat with the panicked infantry, Yaric punched the rock fence in front of him with his fist.
"Ours will establish new positions on the castle walls, and we'll wait for them there!"
The fortifications of the castle were less than three miles in circumference, and he had the strength to protect it, and he had tens of thousands of soldiers.
"All artillery!"
Yarrick shouted instructions through the communicator.
"Shorten the range and concentrate all artillery fire on the riverbed! Other troops obey my orders and retreat to the artillery position! When the enemy attacks again, we will annihilate them."
The troops on the river bank quickly retreated, and the defense line was filled with smoke and the roar of artillery shells - heavy bolters and rapid-fire cannon deployed on the walls began to cover fire.
Due to the timely retreat, the infantry kept pace with the armored forces.
This time, Yarrick saved more of his troops—he swore that this retreat would not be a second defeat.
At the same time he ordered a minefield to be laid in the narrow strip of land between the castle and the river bank. He must rely on this road to complete his reluctant retreat and make these abominations pay for every yard they advanced.
Continuous barrage swept in from the east, and the heretics climbed up the wall of the West Embankment regardless of the bombardment.
They charged along the road, chasing the retreating Astra Militarum.
A string of bolts flew over the soldiers' heads, and the bolt hit a heretic.
In the next second, this heretic fell apart like a patchwork of insects, but it was not over yet. A terrifying shape that seemed to be a woman burst out from the blurred flesh.
It spreads its arms, eager to embrace its first victim in its pincers.
The slowest runner fell victim, and it quickly bit the heads of two with its pincers. Then it wrapped its arms around the third and lifted him high.
The soldier's screams were horribly muffled, and Yarrick ordered snipers to fire on the monster, freeing the poor victim and saving his soul.
Thick smoke covered the river bank, preventing him from seeing the specific scene, but Yarick could still hear it in the rumbling sound of artillery fire, the rumbling engine, the noisy march, and the fierce gunfire. In the middle, he heard the whistling sound of the song of temptation.
It gripped his soul, tried to seduce him, but only fueled his rage.
"Hit them hard! Molotov cocktails! Hit them all out!"
Three minutes later, a series of bombardments set off a sea of fire from the river bank to the castle, and the incendiary bombs projected by the basilisk covered most of the area.
The heretics danced and howled wildly in the sea of fire. In addition to pain, there was also some incredible joy.
And those terrifying forms were also reduced to ashes in the flames.
As it grew dark, the remaining troops quickly retreated into the castle.
They were safe, once again.
But it's only temporary.
At this time, a heavy rain suddenly fell from the sky.
This was an unexplained heavy rain, and it was also the heaviest rain that Alex had ever experienced. He looked at the darkening sky and felt a sense of sadness in his heart.
His luck seemed to be coming to an end.
The heavy rain did not extinguish the flames, but it greatly reduced its power. More heretics and monsters began to pour towards the castle regardless of casualties.
"Everyone! Get to the combat position immediately!"
With no time to breathe, the soldiers who had just escaped death were immediately driven into the rain.
They crouched behind the rock barrier, staring at the surging enemy tide ahead, trying to grasp the wet laser rifles in their hands. Everyone's face was pale, and there was almost no fighting spirit.
In just two minutes, seven or eight gunshots rang out from the defense line. This was when the officers had to shoot the soldiers who had suffered a mental breakdown.
No one wants to do this, but now is a life-or-death situation. Allowing those lunatics to talk nonsense will only cause the already low morale to quickly collapse.
"Soldiers, I am your political commissar, Sebastian Yarrick."
At the critical moment, Yarick used a makeshift broadcast speaker to start his battle propaganda.
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