Ten li outside the walls of New Ostia, there was a swarm of terrifying creatures that would make anyone’s scalp crawl just by looking at them. When the garrison soldiers on the ramparts spotted the horde through their telescopes, the less stout-hearted immediately collapsed. They had seen magical beasts before; they had even seen dragons. But!

Dinosaurs—a massive herd of them, some walking the ground, others soaring through the sky, densely packed, numbering in the thousands. The largest stretched nearly a hundred meters long, and even the smallest were over a dozen meters. Furthermore, there were many other ancient creatures long extinct, seen only in textbooks… The entire situation shattered their understanding of the known world.

“Don’t panic! Everyone calm down first. Our heroes are holding the line against the strong enemy; we must trust in their ability. However, we cannot just stand by. The warship fleet is ready, and the long-range magical sniping units within the city are all in position. Once the enemy approaches within five li of Ostia, open fire with everything you have!”

Only two senators remained of the Elder Council. Currently, the most powerful figure in Ostia, perhaps in all of Mecalo, was Kurt. He was busy marshaling the city’s forces to enact a series of defensive measures.

In truth, he had begun preparations ever since Lin Luo and his group went to deal with the Ghost-God Soldiers, but since the Ghost-God Soldiers were easily dispatched by them, there had been no visible action. However, even Kurt had not anticipated such a terrifying legion of beasts appearing now.

Creatures extinct for over a thousand years reappearing in the world—truly, this was the work only a Creator could accomplish!

With the combined might of the Joint Academy Head, the Three Empresses’ Daughter, Seras, and Richard, Kurt rapidly organized Ostia’s military, bringing all deployable units to the city walls. Simultaneously, fifty warships were already activated, ready to enter the fray ahead.

Originally, Ostia possessed far more warships, but due to the Elder Council’s plan—or rather, the Creator’s conspiracy—all two hundred ships had been destroyed by Lakhan. Gathering a larger fleet would require at least a full day of preparation.

“Grandpa, will Father, Teacher, and Xiao Sha be alright?” On a section of the rampart, Mokona gazed toward the distant battlefield, her eyes filled with worry. Although she desperately wanted to join the fight, her insufficient ability kept her confined here.

“Don’t worry, they will surely be victorious,” the Academy Head said with a comforting smile, though his own heart was churning. In truth, having one more strong unit now would significantly increase their chances of victory. With his own power, he could certainly handle those colossal beasts. But the Creator’s methods were endless; who knew if some puppet might try to assassinate them inside the city later? Therefore, Ostia needed high-level experts remaining on guard. Currently, only he and Kurt could bear this heavy responsibility.

Even Chacha-Maru, Chacha-Zero, and Xiao Ber had been kept behind as a last resort.

In the preceding days, at Chacha-Maru’s request, Superbell refined her body through a series of modifications, turning her into what was essentially a mobile armory. As Evangelin’s first puppet, Chacha-Zero possessed immense experience and skill from centuries of fighting formidable foes. Coupled with Evangelin’s magical support, even Setsuna activating her Avian form would find it very difficult to defeat her.

As for Xiao Ber, while she lacked direct combat power, her supreme aerial dominance was equivalent to a high-level Divine Priest. She might not be much help to Lin Luo’s group, but deployed among the city guards, she could boost their fighting capacity several times over.

“We observe for five minutes. If the situation is optimistic, we remain here on standby. If the fighting proves difficult, we deploy after those five minutes,” Chacha-Zero stated while observing the distant scene. By status, she was Chacha-Maru’s “elder sister,” and by combat strength, she was the strongest. Thus, it was natural for her to take command among the three—though Xiao Ber was extremely displeased, pouting with an expression of disdain.

...

Meanwhile, ten li away on the battlefield, everyone had already plunged into their respective duels.

Since the Magic Birds were the fastest, Evangelin struck first. Magic proving useless, she had no choice but to engage them with martial arts. In reality, with magical reinforcement, in a one-on-one match, Evangelin’s close combat skills were by no means inferior to her magic; it was just that her ingrained combat habits made her prefer acting as artillery.

The magic Evangelin utilized enhanced not just her physical conditioning; her attack speed and power received a qualitative leap. While typical Jujutsu masters only used their art for grappling, hers was sufficient to cleave mountains and shatter stone.

As the Magic Bird charged, she immediately initiated consecutive Void Steps, moving at an even greater speed to intercept it. She unleashed a palm strike directly into the creature’s chest.

Bang!

A powerful shockwave dispersed the air itself. The Magic Bird shrieked, its massive body instantly sent flying backward. But Evangelin clearly had no intention of letting it go. She reopened Void Steps, darting like lightning to the bird’s right flank, delivering a vicious kick with her small, leather-booted foot straight to its head, sending it rocketing away again.

The ensuing scene resembled Evangelin’s solo performance. She flickered around the Magic Bird, her speed defying all logic: straight punches, claw strikes, kicks, elbow jabs… In less than ten seconds, she unleashed dozens of continuous blows, each carrying the force of a thousand oxen, giving the Magic Bird no opportunity to counterattack.

However, even under this intense assault, the Magic Bird seemed to suffer no critical injury beyond pain; it didn't bleed a drop, nor did any visible wounds appear on its body.

Seemingly enraged, just as Evangelin prepared her next assault, it roared fiercely, its entire body transforming into a streak of electric light as it violently charged toward her.

CRASH!

The young woman couldn't evade in time and was slammed backward, leaving a trail of blood hanging in the air—her abdomen had been pierced clean through.

“Tch! That perverted eggplant was spouting nonsense again. That guy’s mind must be flooded; this thing isn't just about magic!” Evangelin snorted coldly, ignoring her wound entirely. She suddenly traced a series of gestures in the air with both hands. The rapidly flying Magic Bird seemed to freeze in place, suspended awkwardly in mid-air, struggling violently.

“It’s useless. Even if you can consume my magic, these threads are physical matter. Their toughness is something you absolutely cannot devour,” Evangelin sneered, binding the Magic Bird tightly in the air. Meanwhile, the wound in her abdomen was rapidly healing at a visible rate.

At that moment, a figure suddenly rushed to Evangelin’s side… It was a creature with the head of a bird and the body of a woman. As she rushed in, she spread her wings wide and tilted her head back, preparing to shriek.

This was a Harpy. Clearly, she intended to use a screech attack on Evangelin. According to Al’s information, a demoness’s scream within ten meters could pose serious trouble even for those at their level.

But Evangelin didn’t spare her a second thought, instead giving her a look of contempt. “Tch, idiot!”

This wasn't because she could ignore the Harpy’s sonic attack, but because… she had a dependable companion!

Just as the Harpy was about to unleash her scream, a grey timer suddenly materialized above her head. This timer, however, was stopped; its second hand refused to move.

A bizarre sight ensued: the Harpy’s eyeballs rotated wildly, her wings flapped rapidly, but her throat seemed physically jammed, utterly unable to produce sound.

“The propagation of sound requires time and space. Do you truly believe you can emit a sound when facing me, one who commands both time and space?” A red figure suddenly appeared beside the Harpy—it was Sakuya, stained crimson by the blood of over four thousand people.

The Harpy’s eyes flicked downward, showing a flicker of rage. A row of sharp spikes erupted from her wings, slamming down toward Sakuya.

But it was an exercise in futility. As soon as the wings struck, Sakuya vanished from her side, replaced by over twenty throwing knives. Blade light swept past, and blood splattered. In just one exchange, the Harpy’s body lacked a single patch of intact skin, and her massive chest was nearly sliced clean off.

The Harpy’s body began to tremble violently, her eyes showing utter agony. She wanted to scream but couldn't; under these conditions, her trembling intensified, and her throat gradually stretched wider.

This fiend! Sakuya’s expression shifted slightly. Although time and space were under her control, the creature’s scream seemed to be on the verge of breaking through, subtly overwhelming her control.

It truly wasn't easy to deal with these ancient beasts… Sakuya knew this Harpy was an equal in terms of power. If she hadn't preemptively used the Moon Chronometer, she might not have subdued her. Without using her full power, eliminating her would likely be difficult. Therefore…

Sakuya flicked her hand, and instantly, over a dozen timers appeared surrounding the Harpy. Some were motionless, while others were rapidly rewinding… Time Stop and Time Reversal.

Immediately, the Harpy’s throat began to slowly retract. Simultaneously, more than a dozen throwing knives descended from above, lodging directly into the Harpy’s throat, while countless other blades began slicing into her body… It must be said, this was an extremely bloody scene.

“Arhat’s Heavy Fist!”

On the other side, Lakhan’s battle against the Ancient Dragon Tree had also commenced. These two were evenly matched, with nearly identical fighting styles: head-on confrontation, brute force against brute force. Every strike carried earth-shattering might, but a decisive victory seemed unlikely anytime soon.

“Gravity Compression Black…”

Al floated in mid-air, throwing down spheres of intensely compressed black energy one after another. The giant black bear, standing over fifty meters tall, roared skyward. Not only were its advancing paths completely blocked by these black spheres, but its body was also being pushed downward; a good portion of its foot was sinking into the earth.

However, even bearing such immense impacts, its body showed no injuries. Not even the explosive force or crushing weight of the gravity spheres managed to scar it.

“What a hassle. It looks like this side is entering a war of attrition too,” Al sighed, continuing to drop the black orbs.

“Second Tachi… Thousand Changes!”

White sword light crisscrossed intricately, seeming to form a massive net that extinguished the searing flames.

Eien Konoe’s battle was comparatively arduous. In terms of physical resilience, he couldn’t match Lakhan or Eva; in terms of abilities, he didn’t have the suppression power that Sakuya or Al possessed. All he had was his Demon-Slaying Sword, but the Yamata no Orochi wouldn't stand still to be cut; instead, it attacked him even more fiercely.

The flames, capable of reducing him to ash, caused Konoe considerable headache. If he couldn't break through the enemy’s fire defense, his Demon-Slaying Sword would never connect. Fortunately, the sword could also extinguish fire, or he would be utterly helpless. Still, a protracted battle was guaranteed; it depended on who broke first.

On another front, the four young women of the newly engaged “Second Legion” were locked in fierce combat against the numerous prehistoric creatures.

As soon as they were above the dinosaur swarm, Mikoto instantly elementalized herself and raised a hand skyward. Boom! Boom!

Heavenly Thunder descended!

Lightning exceeding one billion volts struck the dinosaurs directly. If these were the ordinary dinosaurs known to Mikoto’s general knowledge, an attack of this magnitude should have pulverized even the fiercest Tyrannosaurus Rex into dust. But damn it, these weren't ordinary dinosaurs; they were magical projections manifested by the Creator...

They possessed not only first-rate magical barriers but also extremely high inherent magical defense. While a billion volts of lightning made them cry out in pain, it caused no significant damage beyond the occasional superficial split in their hide. Especially the thick-skinned Ankylosauruses—they’d just shake off a lightning strike as if nothing happened.

“What the heck! These aren’t dinosaurs, they’re living radar dishes!”

Mikoto was frustrated. Although her attacks were spectacular, comparable in scale to Lakhan’s and Ryuju’s fight, the actual results were far inferior. In this situation, she felt relegated to being a cute distraction...

“Damn it! Then taste this!”

Pop!

Mikoto flicked her fingers, sending twelve coins flying from her hand. These were no ordinary coins, but gemstone coins refined and modified by Superbell, capable of extreme range and possessing an excellent feel.

“Hah!”

As the young woman yelled, more than a dozen orange-red beams shot from her hand. To enhance the destructive power, Mikoto did not disperse her Railgun shots; instead, they chased one another closely, one following the other.

Upon impact, the first Super-Railgun penetrated the magical barrier, the second pierced the thick armor, and the third punched straight through, shattering the armor on the far side.

With the execution of three Railgun shots, the previously unconcerned Ankylosaurus was instantly killed. And the linear bombardment of twelve Super-Railguns achieved a four-fold connection, felling four Ankylosauruses almost simultaneously.

“Hmph! Now, who dares call the Railgun my cute gimmick skill?”

The young woman finished her volley and snorted heavily.