This Battle Was Exceptionally Brutal

Taiqing had long since grown accustomed to everything here, so leaving seemed entirely unnecessary.

Besides, he had clearly heard the sounds outside and understood that the military was fighting monsters this time.

Taiqing was clearly quite adept at commanding a team.

Taiqing was skilled and bold, but this time, his parents hesitated because their business had been relocated here.

They were unwilling to give up everything here, but in the end, they still chose to stay.

"Yuan, you should leave first! Staying alive matters more than anything.

"We’ll remain here for now."

His mother tried to persuade him. Though they were reluctant to part with their business, they were even more worried about Taiqing’s safety.

Taiqing reassured them, "Don’t worry. They’ll definitely be able to hold them off.

"Trust the country!"

After calming his parents, he returned to his room and shut the door.

The number of monsters kept increasing. No one knew where they had come from, and they charged forward without fear of death.

"Forget it. I’m going to take a look." Taiqing could no longer restrain himself and wanted to see what was going on.

He noticed that these monsters seemed somewhat unusual.

"Could they be here to cause trouble? The Tentacle Monster must have quite a high status!"

As he drew closer to the battlefield, the monsters became even more frenzied.

This confirmed Taiqing’s guess. These monsters had indeed come for him.

Taiqing let out a cold laugh, utterly fearless.

Although there were enormous numbers of monsters, they were weak. Even the strongest among them were only comparable to the Tentacle Monster from before, roughly five times stronger than an ordinary person.

Though the monsters were countless and packed together in a dense mass, they still failed to break through humanity’s defensive line.

Card Masters became their greatest nemesis.

Through the efforts of countless Card Masters, a batch of Special Cards designed specifically for combat was created.

With these new cards, humanity held a sure advantage. Even without Taiqing joining the battle, they still had a high chance of winning.

However, Taiqing still came, because he knew these monsters had yet to reveal their true trump card. He was also certain that a special force was hidden behind them.

There was no doubt about the strength of that force. Otherwise, they would not have dared challenge Taiqing so rashly.

Having already infiltrated the battlefield, Taiqing carefully observed the monsters around him.

He discovered that these monsters had originally been other creatures from this planet, but they had undergone some sort of mutation.

From a certain perspective, this mutation was also a beneficial evolution. It made them stronger, faster, and exceptionally capable hunters.

Unfortunately, they were not facing soldiers from that era.

Today’s well-equipped soldiers left these monsters completely helpless.

Massive toads and swift panthers with three-meter-long wings could not withstand humanity’s fierce firepower for long.

However, just as victory seemed assured, an enormous tentacled creature suddenly appeared before everyone.

It had no humanoid form. Its entire body was made of tentacles, with its only distinctive feature being a giant eye at its center.

Compared with the mutated creatures they had encountered before, this monster was clearly far more terrifying.

Although the Tentacle Monster floated in the air, everyone present except the Card Masters and Taiqing fell into a state of madness.

The soldiers turned their guns around and began attacking their comrades.

They were now completely controlled by the Tentacle Monster. Foolish smiles covered their faces, while drool dripped from the corners of their mouths.

Their weapons were no longer tools of defense, but companions in slaughter.

Most Card Masters were instantly killed without any preparation.

Thirty thousand soldiers had merely glanced at the giant Tentacle Monster before becoming its puppets.

Taiqing sensed that this Tentacle Monster’s mental power was more than fifty times that of an ordinary person.

If ordinary people were unprepared and possessed weak mental power, they would immediately be influenced by it and go mad.

In truth, Card Masters should have been able to hold out longer.

Many Card Masters focused on offense but lacked defensive abilities, ultimately suffering heavy casualties when the situation suddenly reversed.

Most Card Masters who specialized in attack could not escape disaster. Only higher-level Card Masters survived.

"Blackrock Giant Wolf, appear!"

"Transformation Card, Lava Giant!"

"Legion Card, Heavenly Guard!"

"Special Card, Dimensional Exile!"

"Elemental Card, Frost Ice Star!"

"Elemental Card, Flame Dragon Art!"

"Special Card, Indestructible Golden Body!"

"Special Card, Nine Yang Divine Skill!"

Numerous Card Masters unleashed powerful cards, and all kinds of mysterious powers appeared one after another.

The towering Lava Giant, the well-equipped Heavenly Guard, and powerful Dimensional Cards entered the battlefield in succession.

However, against the Tentacle Monster that stretched more than six hundred meters long, these attacks seemed completely useless.

The green dimensional divine light released by the Tentacle Monster easily shattered every attack. Even Dimensional Exile could not banish it.

Whether spells or attacks from summoned creatures, all were as powerless as scratching an itch through a boot.

In this battle, neither direct attacks nor indirect methods could inflict any damage on the giant Tentacle Monster.

Its counterattack made its opponents pay a heavy price.

In just a few seconds, several tentacles pierced through the bodies of eight warriors, including several apprentice-level Card Masters.

Their lives ended there.

In this era, the strongest people were merely Level One or Level Two Card Masters, while Card Masters above the apprentice rank had already become vital pillars of the nation.

Yet when facing this Tentacle Monster, even these top experts were helpless.

The monster’s tentacles were immensely powerful, and the highest-ranked Card Master present was Old Li.

As a peak Level Four Card Master, his strength could not be underestimated.

But before the Tentacle Monster, his abilities seemed insignificant.

Even after he took out a Legion Card and summoned a hundred Heavenly Guard, it was still meaningless.

The Heavenly Guard were made of mechanized constructs, and every one of them was no weaker than an apprentice-level Card Master.

From Taiqing’s perception, each Heavenly Guard possessed overall attributes more than twenty times greater than those of an ordinary person.

Although they lacked mental attributes, as mechanical creatures, this did not affect their combat strength.

The enemy could not render them unable to fight through mental attacks. To defeat them, they could only be destroyed head-on.

And the Tentacle Monster clearly understood this.

This monster was extraordinarily powerful, with astonishingly high attributes across the board.

Even its lowest attribute, mental power, exceeded fifty, while all its other attributes remained steadily above three hundred!

Even a powerhouse like Taiqing found such a monster troublesome, let alone the other Card Masters.

Taiqing believed that only a Level Six Card Master could probably contend with this monster at present.

A Level Four Card Master was ultimately somewhat powerless against such a creature.

Therefore, most Card Masters had almost no chance of winning against this giant Tentacle Monster.

More than half the summoned creatures were quickly destroyed, while the number of Card Masters also dwindled.

Only two Level Four Card Masters remained in all of Annan City. The rest were lower-ranked, and this was their final force of resistance.

"Damn monster! Die! Pay for my brother’s life!"

Driven by hatred and fear toward the enemy, one Card Master launched his final charge.

He activated Indestructible Golden Body. Golden light radiated from his entire body, and the surrounding monsters tried to stop him, but he carved a bloody path through them.

At that moment, no one could stand against him. He was like a god descending to the world.

Unfortunately, the giant Tentacle Monster was clearly even stronger.

Though Indestructible Golden Body was formidable, it was not truly indestructible.

The giant Tentacle Monster’s tentacle pierced through his body. The golden light instantly dispersed, and Indestructible Golden Body was declared ineffective.

The Card Master, who had already resolved to die, smiled as he released his final card.

"Special Card, Cherry."

A pink cherry appeared. It was not food. It rapidly expanded before exploding.

Accompanied by a deafening blast, the giant Tentacle Monster was injured for the first time, and one of its tentacles broke off.

Although its tentacles could quickly regenerate.

Even so, the giant monster could not endure the intense pain and let out a piercing wail.

Amid that scream, many controlled soldiers began moving again. One Card Master was unfortunately struck by a barrage of bullets fired by his many comrades!

At this moment, including the two Level Four Card Masters, only twelve Card Masters remained.

This battle was exceptionally brutal, and humanity was being steadily driven back.

The betrayed Card Masters were now filled with despair. Even the two Level Four Card Masters clenched their fists tightly.

They had never expected this operation to suffer such devastating losses, nor had they imagined that their once-trusted companions would suddenly turn against them.

There was still too much they had never anticipated.

However, there was no denying that no matter how they thought about it, they seemed to have fallen into a desperate situation. Yet none of them were willing to die so easily.

Even battle-hardened veterans could not remain entirely calm when facing death.

The world had always been like this.

Therefore, in such a situation, in order to fight for even the slightest chance of survival, these Card Masters had no choice but to give everything they had, all to stay alive.

Though they knew full well that doing so was no different from moths flying into a flame, what else could they do?

They had no way back now!

The Card Masters had no other choice.

This was the only path they could take.

At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared before them.

The figure had a refined build and looked underage. He seemed to be an ordinary civilian, at least in the eyes of these Card Masters.

However, he was clearly no ordinary person, because he was Taiqing.

"Whose child are you? Get out of here! It’s dangerous ahead!"

Taiqing had no card slots, causing the Card Masters present to assume he was just an ordinary person.

Old Man Li shouted loudly, trying to get Taiqing away from the dangerous area.

As someone relatively kind-hearted, he could not bear to see others suffer.

However, the others around him did not possess Old Man Li’s kindness.

Some looked at Taiqing with contempt, while others took pleasure in his misfortune. Some even mocked, "Old Li, why bother with him? If he wants to die, let him go. There’s no need for us to get involved."

Opinions within the crowd began to divide. Many people became cold and even twisted because of fear.

This naturally included the Card Master who had just spoken provocatively.

At this moment, they desperately wanted to see others suffer misfortune, because the same calamity would soon befall them.

In this atmosphere, if they could watch someone die before their eyes, they might feel a faint sense of relief and satisfaction.

Although the Card Masters had not been affected at first, the longer they faced the giant Tentacle Monster, the more its terrifying aura eroded them, even though they had survived countless battles.

"H-he!" someone cried out in terror.

"Everyone die! Everyone die!" another person lost control, becoming wildly agitated.

Chaotic and frenzied emotions spread through the crowd.