Chapter 488 Hobert's Tactics
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Before Hobert revealed his tactics, what troubled Bishop Simpson the most was figuring out where the enemy was lying in ambush?
Only by knowing the enemy's ambush location could they formulate an effective plan and make the most correct choices.
However, Hobert's tactics directly skipped over the most troublesome aspect for their side, turning it into a headache for the enemy instead.
Additionally, before departing, Hobert had instructed Bishop Simpson that if burning the tree didn't work, they should go to the town and smash the Devil statues, destroying the symbols of the Devils.
In short, they were not to pay attention to the enemy's small-scale ambushes, and even if they still couldn't lure out the "Devils," they could simply burn the tree, smash the statues, and then return by boat.
Originally, Simpson was somewhat disgruntled about having to follow Hobert's command and also disliked being in the first wave, as it greatly implied that he would become bait.
But after hearing Hobert's plan, Bishop Simpson realized that extraordinary combat could actually be fought this way!
They had habitually used the thinking of official Beyonders to consider problems, and the thinking of official Beyonders was simple and crude: concentrate forces, surround, and annihilate.
Moreover, Hobert had also placed his wife in the first echelon, which indicated that he would never abandon the people in the first echelon, so Bishop Simpson agreed to be the commander of the first echelon.
Simpson watched the "Devils" rushing towards them, and the first step of the plan had already been achieved.
However, those "Devils" stopped halfway because they realized their strength was insufficient to defeat Bishop Simpson and his men, and they couldn't extinguish the increasingly large fire, so they ultimately chose to wait for reinforcements from afar.
The tree in front of them was indeed important to them, but no matter how important it was, their rationality would not allow them to risk their lives for a tree.
This was the nature of "criminals"; regardless of what problems they faced, they could maintain calmness and rationality.
On Simpson's side, some members were a little impatient, and Angus also said, "Bishop, should we take advantage of the enemy's main force not arriving yet and eliminate this group of enemies first?"
"No!" Simpson raised his voice and said, "This battle is different from the battles you've encountered before. Have you forgotten what Hobert said before departure? This is a team battle, relying on discipline and tactics!
"Now that our tactics have achieved initial success, whoever attacks first at this time will lose the advantage."
The members were reassured again and seriously confronted the dozen or so Devils.
Bishop Simpson sighed: Why are the words of that donkey Hobert so persuasive? I'm unknowingly quoting his words!
Then he comforted himself: Maybe this is the effect of Hobert's Beyonder characteristics. When he was Sequence 9 "Lawyer," Beyonders of this pathway were eloquent. After several Sequences of accumulation, some of Hobert's unintentional words might become extremely persuasive. I have to be careful when dealing with Hobert in the future and carefully examine whether it's my true thoughts or whether I've been "persuaded" by Hobert.
At this time, many enemies rushed over from the surroundings, which made Simpson sneer in his heart: Fortunately, I didn't listen to that idiot Angus just now, otherwise we would definitely be held back by the enemy's small forces and gradually lose our advantage.
The Beyonders in Jeffrey's territory included multiple pathways. Some Beyonders of the "Door" pathway were not suitable to be at the forefront at all, but their tripping techniques, electric shocks, and so on were much more useful than curses, making them very suitable for launching sneak attacks from behind.
If they were entangled by the enemy's small forces bit by bit, there would be no way to construct protection for the Beyonders of the "Door" pathway, and they would definitely be eliminated by the enemy first.
As more and more enemies gathered, everyone felt psychological pressure again, because the number of enemies had obviously exceeded their own, reaching about 50 people.
When Yarling, with a wicked smile, appeared, three "Desire Apostles"—the dull Sandy and the handsome Weitz—had already gathered on the outskirts of the town.
"The Archbishop ordered us to kill this group of people who are destroying the Holy Tree!" Yarling said with a sneer as he began to "Devilize" himself. Of course, they knew that Hobert had not yet appeared. They could all feel the threat from the enemy, which proved that Hobert still had a backup plan, but they had not used their full strength either.
The Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 individuals laughed "hehe" and transformed into a "Demonized" state one after another.
With Yarling's roar, the Devils launched their charge, rushing towards the square formation that Bishop Simpson had simply arranged.
Yarling and the other three Sequence 5 individuals charged at the forefront, intending to completely break the enemy's formation, and then the three "Desire Apostles" would join forces to capture Simpson.
Yes, they only intended to capture Simpson. As for the enemies wearing the robes of the Earth Mother Church, they would try to make them lose their combat power.
It wouldn't matter if a few members of the "Druid" team died, but if Simpson and his men all died here, it would definitely invite a counterattack from the Earth Mother Church.
These Devils had become accustomed to living a life of flaunting their power here. If they were to hide in the shadows again, they would really be unaccustomed to it. Therefore, their plan was to leave enough room for reconciliation with the Earth Mother Church. As for Beyonders of other pathways, they would all be killed!
However, Hobert's wife had to be kept alive to humiliate Hobert.
Simpson held his sword and came to the outermost perimeter of the team. He raised his head and roared angrily, and his body suddenly grew larger, tearing his clothes, transforming into a giant bear covered in brown fur, more than two meters tall.
His hands were different from bear paws, similar to human hands, and he could still hold the sword in his hand.
The two sides, one defending and one attacking, quickly closed the distance, finally reaching the range for using ranged skills. Simpson stomped his foot, and the weeds on the roadside grew at an extremely fast speed, turning into ink-green vines with barbs.
These vines, like tentacles, went to entangle the enemies who were charging over.
The "Demonized" individuals rushing at the front summoned fireballs to burn the vines.
A batch of vines was immediately burned by the blue flames, but another batch entangled several Devils and some Beyonders of other Sequences.
The barbs on these vines were poisonous. The entangled "Devils" were only limited in their movements because they could create poisonous mist in their "Demonized" state, and they also had some resistance to poison.
However, the entangled lower-Sequence Beyonders, such as "Unwinged Angels," immediately showed symptoms of poisoning, such as fatigue and vomiting.
As the distance between the two sides closed further, extraordinary skills began to fly. The "Devils" used curses and sulfur fireballs, the "Interrogators" used "Mental Whips," the "Judges" used "Exile," the "Biologists" used poison attacks, the "Demonesses of Pleasure" used frost attacks, the Astrologers used "Tumble," and so on, dazzling the eyes.
When the "Devils" approached and the two sides began melee combat, the battlefield completely fell into chaos.
Yarling wielded a "Magma Greatsword" like a war blade and clashed with Simpson. The "Planter" pathway also had excellent strength, and Simpson, who was also in a transformed state, was not inferior to Yarling in terms of strength.
The others also found their respective opponents and began to fight. They didn't have much experience in team battles, and Simpson didn't have experience in commanding team battles, so in the end, they still had to start one-on-one fights.
The first to notice something was wrong was the dull Sandy, who realized that the opponent's Sequence 6 seemed too powerful.
Sandy's opponent was Angus, who had used "Exile" to exile a "Devil" who had rushed close back into the thorny vines.
Logically speaking, he was a Beyonder of the "Arbiter" pathway, but when Sandy used the ability of "Corruption" to sneak attack Angus, Angus became like a phantom, dodging Sandy's attack.
At the same time, Angus opened his mouth and let out a sharp scream, which had a certain impact on Sandy's spiritual body, who had no defense against it.
Then Angus used "Psychic Pierce!"
The Sequence 6-level "Psychic Pierce" immediately made Sandy's face full of pain, as if someone was hammering his brain.
After Angus succeeded with one strike, he immediately launched a series of offensives: "Death!"
He delivered a punch that Sandy could not dodge, knocking Sandy away, fracturing his skull.
Taking advantage of this gap, Angus immediately said, "Devilization is forbidden here!"
The Sequence 6-level "Prohibition" can only be used once and cannot accumulate effects. Moreover, the "Prohibition" below the demigod level, after prohibiting a certain ability or creating a certain order that is beneficial to oneself, does not mean that this ability cannot be used or that this order cannot be broken.
Just like Angus prohibiting "Devilization," the enemy who is "Devilizing" will feel a certain burden and will be weakened to a certain extent, while Angus's power will become stronger because the opponent has violated Angus's "Law."
At the Sequence 5 level, the degree of this weakening and strengthening will increase, and for enemies who violate the "Law," the "Disciplinary Knight's" strikes can more effectively damage the enemy. Facing such attacks, the enemy cannot dodge or avoid them, they can only withstand them. This is the so-called "Retribution" process.
Therefore, Hobert, who has become a "Mentor of Disorder," no longer cares much about the "Judge's" "Prohibition," but he still has to take the "Disciplinary Knight's" "Prohibition" seriously.
At this time, Angus in the battle is increasing in all aspects of power.
A fractured skull is not fatal to an "Desire Apostle." Sandy got up from the ground and summoned the "Magma Sword" again.
At the same time, another "Judge" of Sequence 6 in the first team replaced Angus and launched a further attack: "Imprisonment!"
One of the most difficult aspects of Beyonders of the "Arbiter" pathway and the "Lawyer" pathway is that many of their abilities cannot be avoided.
Sandy, as an "Desire Apostle," still could not avoid the "Judge's" "Imprisonment," but before being "Imprisoned," Sandy used a very evil tone to form a word: "Die!"
This was his ability of "Filth Language." At the same time as he was "Imprisoned," the "Judge" felt as if his heart was being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, and blue flames were burning in his chest.
The "Judge" fell to the ground, clutching his heart in pain. Fortunately, the "Judge" remembered the Sealed Artifact on his body during his death throes.
When he injected his spirituality into the Sealed Artifact, the blue flames were quickly covered by white frost, and the "Judge's" heart struggled to resume beating.
This was the ability of the "Zombie" to control frost and make his body strong, making his body as hard as steel.
The frost extinguished the blue flames, and the strong body restored vitality to the heart.
In addition, the "Judge" at this time was already a "Zombie," already wandering on the edge of death, so Sandy's "Filth Language" was resolved.
Whether it was the Sealed Artifact on this "Judge" or the Sealed Artifact on Angus, they were very restrained against the abilities of the "Desire Apostles," because Sandy did not feel much emotional fluctuation from the enemy, which would greatly limit the "Desire Apostle's" ability to manipulate desire.
In essence, both "Wraiths" and "Zombies" do not have much emotional fluctuation, but because the Sealed Artifacts were seized from the "Rose School," they all have negative effects such as the amplification of desire.
However, after being sealed by the "Nation of Disorder," these negative effects will only appear after being used for a period of time. At that time, the Sealed Artifacts must be replaced or put away quickly.
Sandy had already broken free from the "Imprisonment" state, and Angus had already taken his place, continuing to fight Sandy. Sandy did not expect that in such a crucial battle, he would be suppressed by two Sequence 6 individuals.
As the Sequence 6 "Judge" rejoined the battle, Angus's eyes suddenly turned completely white. With him as the center, the surrounding ground suddenly turned black, and thorny vines with teeth and eyes grew out of it.
These vines greedily devoured the spirituality of the surrounding enemies, and they were like phantoms, making it difficult for Sandy's fireballs to cause damage to them.
"Slow!" Sandy used "Filth Language" again to slow down the vines that were entangling him.
Not far away, a Sequence 7 "Serial Killer" was unfortunately entangled by the vines, and the teeth immediately gnawed at his spiritual body. In the "Serial Killer's" painful screams, his spirituality was being rapidly drained.
If no one saved him, his spiritual body would be directly sucked dry, turning into a corpse.
This was just a corner of the battlefield, and Sandy's situation was not an exception.
Another "Desire Apostle," Weitz, was also entangled by a Sequence 6 and a Sequence 7 from the "Druid" team.
The sword in Bishop Simpson's hand was a magical item of the "Hunter" pathway, with excellent armor-breaking ability, and Yarling had already been injured.
This made their previous three-on-one tactics completely ineffective.
The battles at the Sequence 6 level were similar to the situations encountered by the three "Desire Apostles," being entangled or besieged by "Mid Sequence" Beyonders wielding Sealed Artifacts.
Yarling, who was in the first wave of attack as a "Devil," was also strange. Where did the enemy get so many Sealed Artifacts?
This was one aspect of Hobert's wealth. In the previous battle in the Southern Continent, he directly obtained 13 Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts, and the three mercenary teams also "transported" 4 Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts to him.
However, Hobert auctioned off one of them earlier in order to gather popularity.
Also, when he helped Rafter recover the Beyonder characteristics of the Pond family, he obtained 4 Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts.
A few days ago, Hobert also inherited 1 Grade 2 Sealed Artifact, and Christian gave him 3 Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts.
These Sealed Artifacts were all ones that he did not often use or carry with him.
There were also some Sealed Artifacts he didn't use much anymore, such as the "Teleportation Statue." Hobert gave the statue to Fors along with the pistol.
Adding everything up, Hobert now had more than 20 Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts, which is why he was so generous in equipping each 'Mid-Sequence' Beyonder in the Special Operations Division with one Grade 2 Sealed Artifact. He also generously lent Simpson three.
Equipping over a dozen Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts significantly boosted the combat power of the official Beyonders.
Without these Sealed Artifacts, Yarling's side, with three Sequence 5s and several Sequence 6s, would have been enough to control the situation, but now they were locked in a bitter struggle.
Additionally, for Beyonders of the 'Abyss' pathway, the first qualitative change only occurred at Sequence 6, 'Devil.' Before that, 'Criminal,' 'Unwinged Angel,' and 'Serial Killer' had decent fighting abilities but lacked sufficient offensive power.
Therefore, the combat at the 'Low-Sequence' level wasn't showing much progress either, and Yarling felt that his side's advantage had been completely lost.
At this moment, a shrill scream caught Yarling's attention. A 'Devil' had somehow broken through the crude defense set up by Bishop Simpson and entered the rear of the opponent's formation.
However, he was immediately swarmed, shot at close range by Fors, and his condition became very strange. Helen's ice spear also pierced the 'Devil's' chest, covering it with frost.
Logically, these attacks shouldn't have been too serious for a 'Demonized' Devil, but his movements became very slow, and he couldn't dodge the attacks of the surrounding Beyonders' cold weapons.
The scream just now was the 'Devil' realizing that his life was about to end, and it was also a warning to his companions.
Yarling also noticed that there were already seven or eight corpses lying on the ground, most of them 'Serial Killers.'
Even more surprisingly, Yarling saw two of his subordinates actually helping the enemy attack the slow-moving 'Devil.'
This 'Devil' was, of course, moved to the rear by Fors using the 'Teleportation Statue.' Previously, she and Helen had tried to cooperate and had already killed several 'Serial Killers,' saving their companions from perilous situations multiple times.
After everyone was prepared, Fors simply 'moved' a 'Devil' over. Under Archibald's control with spiritual threads, the 'Devil' was quickly killed by the surrounding people.
As for the two subordinates who were 'helping' the enemy, they were two 'Serial Killers' who had been turned into puppets by Archibald.
Archibald wasn't very satisfied with these two puppets because they only had some killing skills and the ability to hide their tracks, as well as the ability to become cold-blooded and hide all emotions and auras for a certain period.
They needed to go through some rituals to obtain some Beyonder abilities from 'High-Level Devils.' They themselves only possessed the Beyonder power of 'Poison Fire' and severely lacked extraordinary offensive capabilities.
As for the ability to interfere with divination, Archibald certainly didn't need it.
With the first 'Devil' killed, there was soon a second. The excellent Sealed Artifact in Fors's hand successfully changed the course of the battle.
In fact, if Archibald used its full power, it would become the key to changing the battle.
But it lacked sufficient motivation and didn't plan to participate too much in this battle.
Hobert also knew this, so he only assigned it the task of protecting Fors.
The reason was simple: Hobert understood the concept of 'vested interests' too well. Simpson and the others all had their own purposes in this battle, so they would fight with all their might.
But Hobert had already divided up the benefits of this battle, and there was no way to give anything more to the Demonic Wolf of Fog. Only giving it cold commands to fight would only result in it slacking off.
This attitude could easily ruin things at a crucial moment.
So Hobert simply didn't count on the Demonic Wolf of Fog.
Until Fors 'moved' the third 'Devil' from the chaotic battle area to the rear, surrounded and killed it, the 'Devil' side, due to the lack of high-level combat power, finally couldn't hold on and began to show signs of collapse!
At this moment, the space behind them became illusory, and Hobert, holding a black knife, stepped out from the spirit world.
Hobert wore a cold smile: "Weaken!"
Several fleeing enemies were immediately 'weakened.' Hobert rushed up and began to massacre almost like chopping vegetables.
Hobert's appearance completely shattered the psychological defenses of Yarling and the others. Even a 'Desire Apostle' wasn't Hobert's opponent, and now Yarling and the others were all entangled and couldn't spare any hands to deal with Hobert.
This allowed Hobert to enter the enemy ranks like a tiger among sheep, causing the enemy's 'Low-Sequence' Beyonders to turn around and run.
The fleeing enemies returned to the battlefield. Their Beyonder abilities allowed them to remain calm, but calmness and reason couldn't overcome the gap brought by power.
Hobert noticed that Angus and his companions, in the most intense part of the battle, were going to pursue Sandy. Hobert quickly shouted, "Maintain formation! The enemy hasn't used their full strength yet!"
Hobert's orders were very effective for the Beyonders of the first and second squads. Angus and the others immediately gave up the idea of pursuing and went to prepare to kill the 'Devil' who was struggling nearby.
Just as Hobert said, the enemy hadn't used their full strength yet!
Sandy withdrew from the battle at Yarling's signal because Yarling had received a reminder from Archbishop Bowen that reinforcements were about to arrive.
And Bowen didn't intend to take action for the time being because he sensed the threat from the enemy's demigod. He was preparing to wait for the other side to strike first, and he had prepared a surprise for the enemy's demigod.
Sandy's retreat was just to lure some of the enemies away from their crude formation so that they could eliminate these pursuing enemies first when reinforcements arrived.
Before long, led by the voluptuous female Devil Gloria and the cold-faced Wordsworth, two 'Desire Apostles,' more than thirty reinforcements arrived on the battlefield.
Not only Simpson, but the Devils were also experiencing this large-scale group battle for the first time.
Hobert had watched this kind of battle several times. Two of them were the hundred-person and two-hundred-person group battles initiated by the Balk family, and one was the ambush of the Feysac Empire's Beyonders by the Loen mercenaries in the Southern Continent.
At that time, Hobert took the opportunity to summarize a lot of experience in Beyonder group battles, and 'maintaining formation' was the most useful and most critical point.
With the addition of the enemy reinforcements, Hobert took out "1-102," the Sealed Artifact that looked like a puppet.
Da da da da~
Before Gloria and the others could rush close, the puppet in Hobert's hand quickly shook its head, and then it raised its first hand.
A puddle of water in a nearby field lost all its color and reflection, turning into an opaque gray.
Behind the gray was another world, the most unknown and terrifying side of the 'World in the Mirror.' Suddenly, a hazy skull appeared in the gray.
Wordsworth, who was closer to the puddle, suddenly collapsed on the ground as if he had lost all his bones.
Before the reinforcements could reach the battlefield, they had already lost a Sequence 5 combatant.
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