Chapter 316: Tidal Onslaught

“Cease fire!”

“Form up and meet the enemy!”

Orders rang out non-stop.

On the battlefield, now silent from artillery fire, a barrage of commands and bursts of Spirit Energy signaled the onset of this deadly clash.

At the center of the defensive line, two position commanders assumed Yenir’s responsibilities, tasked with holding the line.

At that moment, both men grew pale, instinctively exchanging anxious glances.

“The tide is coming,”

and whether they could hold the line rested on the battle that would soon unfold.

Though called a tide, it was in fact a surge of Sea Beasts—a monstrous wave of flesh.

These creatures, laden with seawater, converged into a wall of water, surging forward in unison.

Beneath the pitch-dark sky, the waves illuminated by searchlights resembled moving black walls, within which several hulking Sea Beasts could just be made out.

The entire army lined up, ready for battle.

Facing the charge of various Sea Beasts, artillery barrages were useless, only risking casualties among the lower-tier units.

Thus, after halting the cannon fire, orders were given to arrange all High-Level Awakeners into the classic inverted triangle formation.

The front was manned by those with brute strength and transformation abilities, flanked by agile fighters on the sides to support as mobile spearheads, while long-range specialists held the rear, providing control and skill coverage.

This tried-and-true tactical setup maximized each awakener’s combat potential.

To stop the Sea Beasts from landing, they had to break their charging momentum.

“General Zhang? Aren’t we doing as Yenir instructed? He meant to forgo intercepting directly and instead lure the Sea Beasts ashore in phases.”

At the decisive moment, a Staff Officer couldn’t help but question Zhang Tao, who had taken over Yenir’s command.

He recalled every word Yenir had uttered before departing.

(If you can’t hold them, disperse immediately!)

Faced with the officer’s skepticism, Zhang Tao’s expression darkened:

“Disperse for interception?! No! That would result in disastrous losses! Splitting up to draw the Sea Beasts would leave too many low-tier fighters unprotected!”

“First, hold the line against the initial assault! Once they hit shore, we’ll engage in positional warfare—only disperse if absolutely necessary!”

As his words faded, Zhang Tao fixed his gaze on the advancing tide, mentally calculating the distance.

In his eyes, Yenir’s proposal was simply unacceptable.

With years of combat experience, he knew that dispersing when facing monsters was a cardinal sin—only a last resort, and by then, defeat was all but guaranteed.

Although Yenir’s precise warning about the Sea Beast assault had struck him deeply,

in command, his instincts still insisted his own plan was best! Especially since Yenir had abandoned his post, as if admitting his own ineptitude in command and choosing to evacuate the survivors!

Glancing back at the vast numbers of the Awakener Legion behind him, Zhang Tao felt a slight easing of the tension in his heart.

With so many troops, a total halt was impossible—but they should be able to hold out for at least two hours!

He mentally rehearsed the upcoming battle repeatedly, even preparing himself to join the fight as a commander if needed!

Yet, things were unfolding entirely differently from what they had imagined.

A sudden, dense cacophony, like eggs being crushed, filled the air.

In an instant, a large group of Awakeners at the forefront were brutally slammed down by Sea Beasts leaping high from the ocean.

It all happened too quickly.

These monsters, normally confined to the deep sea, seemed to instinctively treat humans as mere food. One would expect them to fall from the rolling tide and then swarm the shore.

But no one anticipated that this colossal wave would, defying all logic, surge past the coastline without a hint of slowing.

There was no time to issue further orders.

Three commanders, surveying the battlefield from above, watched in horror as their pupils constricted.

“Hurry! They’re too fast!”

By all accounts, it was clear that once these Sea Beasts landed, the casualties would be immense—but it was too late to regroup! The massive army, unlike a nimble squad, couldn’t reposition on a moment’s notice.

“Hold the line!”

A roar barely escaped their lips before…

In the Spirit Energy-controlled seawater, three enormous Sea Beasts, the largest of the lot, plummeted down carrying torrents of water.

They slammed down with crushing force, their immense bodies descending like catastrophic boulders from the sky.

“Boom!”

“Boom! Boom!”

The coast trembled as their massive, ship-like bodies cast endless shadows.

At the very front of the line, a mid-level peak awakener, transformed into a beastly, wolf-like figure, stood his ground.

At nearly four meters tall, he had once been capable of matching most mutants. Yet now, as he led the charge, a chill surged through him.

Like the other commanders, he had expected the Sea Beasts to bombard the shoreline and charge head-on. But he never imagined they would literally ‘ride’ the waves to cover the final distance and drop directly from above!

His once-proud, giant frame now seemed as insignificant as an ant beneath the falling monsters.

“No!”

“Help me…!”

Before he could finish his plea,

the shadow fell over him.

Under an overwhelming weight, the few Third-Stage Transformation fighters at the front couldn’t even scream before being ruthlessly crushed into the ground.

Even though only the three Sea Beasts ahead were Third-Stage Advanced, the sheer force of the first wave had overwhelmed countless Third-Stage units stationed directly in front!

Like bursting tomatoes, bright red blood spurted from beneath one whale-like Sea Beast.

Moreover, amidst the wake of the largest Sea Beast’s wave, dark shadows whizzed across the frontline like rapid-fire cannonballs.

The interception had failed.

The officers in command felt an icy dread. A glance revealed that the frontline melee Awakeners had been decimated in the initial onslaught.

Had it not been for the persistent tremors and bursts of Spirit Energy beneath the largest Sea Beast—hinting at survivors—everyone was sunk in despair.

These Sea Beasts were unlike any they had encountered before!

Screams of agony began to echo.

Observing the multitude of crab-like Sea Beasts crashing onto the line, the battlefield commander hastily revised his orders:

“Fall back!”

“All frontline units, retreat immediately!”

“Rally and re-form the line!”

“Support from the rear! Take down those three whale-like beasts first!”

“Buzz…”

From atop a makeshift wall at the very rear of the line,

dense bursts of Spirit Energy briefly lit up the night. Under the searchlights, the East Sea’s lower-tier awakener group resembled human-guided rocket launchers, each fighter straining to harness their inner Spirit Energy and unleash a barrage of skills at the charging Sea Beasts.

Red flame arrows, blue frost impacts, green acid jets…

With the first line’s interception in shambles, saving the trapped melee fighters became imperative!

Yet, despite enduring up to 120,000 skill strikes, the three Sea Beasts smothered in a pincer formation began to emanate a ghostly blue glow.

A ring of Spirit Shield-like energy suddenly enveloped each of the three monsters.

“Boom, boom! Boom!”

A massive downpour of Spirit Energy crashed onto the shields, erupting in a searing, sun-like blaze.

Spirit Energy neutralized the assault, annihilating the skills.

In the face of tens of thousands of coordinated attacks, even the rare breakthroughs were reduced to mere sparks against metal-like hide.

Yet, seconds later, the Sea Beasts—despite being swarmed by focused fire—appeared utterly unscathed, their roars echoing defiantly as they reared up.

Their attacks, as if dispersed like water into the sea, left no trace behind.

How could their assaults cause so little damage? What kind of ability was this?!

None had ever seen Sea Beasts with such powers. Squad Captains across the ranks stared in disbelief, panic rising in their hearts.

Remember, these were coordinated strikes from three entire armies. Even Third-Stage peak mutants should have been gravely wounded by such relentless focus!

Of course, the peak mutants on land weren’t so easily targeted by a concentrated fire.

Their hyper-speed maneuvers made it a miracle if one in a thousand attacks connected.

But regardless, under the barrage of numerous First- and Second-Stage attacks, even the weakest skills were amplified by Spirit Energy!

Morale plummeted.

In those brief seconds of confrontation during the failed first assault, everyone’s fighting spirit seemed to be doused by a wave of cold despair.

“General Zhang! That appears to be a defensive stance! Those monsters are dispersing their attacks!”

“They have an overflow of Spirit Energy—by several times more than even a Third-Stage peak!”

Alarmed voices rang out as several Awakener scouts with detection skills shouted.

In their eyes, these three beings—though merely high-level Sea Beasts—radiated an inner Spirit Energy reserve that surpassed even that of Third-Stage peak fighters! Each attack seemed to disintegrate upon impact, fully absorbed by their massive forms.

Worse yet, thanks to their sheer defensive might, the focused firepower could not consolidate enough force to breach their exteriors!

These Sea Beasts were far beyond mere Third-Stage Advanced!

“Then retreat!”

“All units, shift fire to other targets!”

“High-level Awakeners on standby, move in and entangle those three!”

Suppressing the shock in his heart,

Commander Zhang Tao quickly adjusted his strategy.

Since the key three couldn’t be taken down immediately, he decided to target the others first. Strangely, in that moment he recalled Yenir’s plan before departing.

Was the idea to disperse and pull the Sea Beasts apart, forsaking coordinated action?!

At first he thought it unnecessary, but now it seemed Yenir had foreseen that they couldn’t hold the beasts head-on!