Chapter 354 - Escalation

Chapter 354 - Escalation

At the moment, Rean was right in the middle of the two cutting wheels. However, he wasn't on the ground, but above it instead. Obviously, he mounted Kentucky and was flying there. Even if some ranged attack came in their direction, with Kentucky's overwhelming defense, only cultivators at the Peak Core Formation Realm and above could pose a threat to it. Thanks to that, Rean wasn't afraid of having to spend a few moments in the open air to gather enough Light Element.
Rean didn't use just a single Light Aura Burst either, but two instead. Each of the two Light Spheres flew above the two groups commanded by Calina. There, they burst apart as soon as the enemy units arrived. Just like in the past, the enemies' eyes went blind for a moment while everyone in the Cutting Edge Formation felt their strength swelling!
The Death Unit's group was already used to it. However, Via, Dillo, and the other groups that joined their Unit later were shocked by what happened. They could tell just how stronger and faster they suddenly became. Not only that, but their perception had increased as well. At the moment, all of them could fight at least one stage higher than before. The closest ones got even greater buffs. Rean's Light Aura Burst was really just that good for large scale battles.
"Death Unit, charge!"
*UOHHHH!*
The cutting edge formation was created for pure slaughter. The enemy's unit wouldn't have a chance against it even without Rean's move, let alone now.
*Swish, swish, swish...*
*Puchi, puchi, puchi...*
*Bang, bang, bang...*
Swords, sabers, spears. Several skills came out at the same time in a constant flow while the two wheels revolved. The main point of the cutting edge formation was the cooldown time. All cultivators would have some pauses when switching between skills. Even if they didn't, they wouldn't be able to use many skills in a row.
That being said, when the unit attacked, they had to step back at some point to recover. However, the Cutting Edge Formation got rid of that problem. As the Formation revolved, the cultivators that came at the front would have their skills ready. As soon as they let it out, they would keep following the rotation, soon retreating behind it. Naturally, the next cultivators who came behind that one would have their skills ready too.
When they were running behind the wheels, they could recover and prepare to launch the next one. However, frontal skills were not the only focus of this rotation. After all, there were cultivators specializing in melee combat while others were ranged. While the outer edge was made of melee elites, the center was made of ranged ones. The center's main point was the same as the outer edge, a constant flow of skills. That meant that the ranged cultivators also maintained a rotation to prevent the skills from ever stopping.
Last but not least, there was the area between the two revolving groups. The enemies would naturally try to avoid incoming attacks. However, because of the Left and Right Wings, they couldn't escape to the sides. Unfortunately for them, they could only try to avoid it by moving to the middle.
Too bad, what waited for them there wasn't safety. Instead, they would enter the real slaughtering ground. Without the ability to move back due to the army behind them, they were slowly pulled in between the two rotating wheels. That was the point of the formation where the most dangerous attacks came from. Once they fell inside that area, even peak Core Formation Realm cultivators could only wait to die. There were just too many skills coming out at that point, so protecting oneself was out of the question.
Of course, the higher level cultivators would still use their strength to jump back into their own army. However, the ranged cultivators would also be waiting for it. The moment one of them jumped back, trying to escape, he would be bombarded by the center of the Cutting Edge Formation. It's just that it wasn't always guaranteed that they would kill those guys.
"Fall back, fall back!"
"We can't! There are too many cultivators behind us!"
"It's the two wings of the Jialin Army! They are pushing us tighter and tighter!"
That wasn't all. The two wings couldn't move as fast as the elites inside the Cutting Edge Formation. It was thanks to Calina's cooperation with Welloi and the other four leaders that they were able to keep order. Of course, Rean's constant use of Light Aura Burst made a gigantic difference!
Well, not everything worked as perfectly. Back on Roan's side, he could see how the cutting edge formation worked. The cultivators inside constantly tripped on each other. Their own skills would often partially or totally hit their companions. There was no helping it. These elites simply didn't have enough time to train this Formation, nor the chance of using it before. They had to learn and adapt to it on the spot.
'More than 400 of the cultivators in the wheels died already. From this number, more than 150 died to friendly fire. That is already considering that Rean is healing those he can while using the Light Aura Burst every time it goes out.'
Roan then looked at Calina. The girl kept shouting right and left without stopping, trying to keep the Formation working. It was clear to see how hard it was for her to keep so many details in mind all the time. There were many times where she made mistakes that ended costing the lives of some of the cultivators in the Cutting Edge Formation.
'Still, this is good. Only in a situation like this will Calina's latent talent come out. Commanding an army from behind is totally different from controlling them on the spot. So far, she is doing a pretty decent job.'
Roan then switched his focus to the Right and Left Wings once more.
As for Rean, he didn't have it easy either.
'This is really hard. My Spiritual Energy Pool won't last forever like this.'
Still, Rean looked ahead and smiled.
'Well, I guess I won't need to anyway.'
The Cutting Edge Formation continued to move forward. They were also much faster than the enemies who tried to retreat. The Right and Left Wings kept pressing their sides while packing them even closer. Of course, the wings' cultivators also killed as many enemies as possible while at it.
Soon, the death count began to soar. It was already quite high, with more than 5000 in the first clash when the formation changed. There were also another 3000 or so who died due to the internal conflict. From there, things only escalated.
10000...
13000...
19000...
23000...
Soon, the advantage in numbers that the three allianced countries had disappeared like smoke. The chaos created by Sister Orb and the spies didn't help it either. Many cultivators from Cassen and Tolak were still fighting or acting reserved toward the Roren Country's cultivators.
Gofen, and especially Larael, were gritting their teeth. They kept sending a ton of Spiritual Sense messages, trying to reorganize the army. However, the enemy's strategist seemed to always strike the point where it would break again. They simply reached a point where they didn't know what to do anymore.