“What was that sound?”
A Saxon soldier, who was reloading his rifle with a stripper clip, looked confusedly in the direction of the sound.
The night was too dark, and combined with the smoke and dust lingering in the streets, he couldn’t see anything.
In the sky, the circling Armored Airship No. L29 also noticed the anomaly on the ground.
A massive searchlight beam descended from the sky, piercing through the darkness and landing behind the undead army.
When the scene within the light beam clearly appeared before everyone’s eyes, both the airships in the sky and the soldiers on the ground gasped in unison.
Amidst the dense mass of skeletons and ghouls, several colossal figures, standing four meters tall, were prominently visible.
They resembled monsters haphazardly pieced together from countless mutilated corpses and flesh, their bodies covered in grotesque gashes and bones piercing through their skin.
Some had three arms, while others dragged a spinal bone resembling a scorpion’s tail.
These flesh constructs exuded an aura of evil a hundred times more potent than that of ghouls.
Archbishop Maurice gazed at the monstrous creatures, which appeared even more hideous under the searchlight, his aged face etched with solemnity.
He knew that the real trouble had arrived.
“God, this enemy is worth fighting!”
“Priests, follow me! We must stop them!”
Archbishop Maurice roared, brandished his massive crozier, and was the first to charge out of the defense line, heading towards the colossal flesh beasts.
Several of the most elite Armed Priests followed closely, forming a wedge formation, attempting to pierce through the undead’s ranks.
However, when they finally managed to reach one of the flesh constructs, they realized how terribly wrong they had been.
A burly deacon, nearly two meters tall, swung a heavy flail, striking the monster’s leg with full force.
“Thwack!”
A dull thud echoed, and the deacon felt a tremendous force transmit through the flail, sending him stumbling backward, his tiger’s mouth torn open.
On the leg of the flesh construct, only a mangled wound remained.
The monster lowered its head, its numerous eyes of varying sizes glinting with cruelty. It raised a composite arm as thick as a tree trunk and swatted the deacon away with a single blow.
The half-plate armor on the deacon’s body instantly caved in, and he spewed large mouthfuls of blood, arcing through the air before crashing heavily to the ground, his fate unknown.
“Michel!”
Maurice’s eyes were bloodshot; he recognized him as the priest usually in charge of combat training.
Manpower is no match!
This thought simultaneously appeared in the minds of all the clergy.
“Artillery! Artillery! Blast those big guys for me!”
Morin, at the rear position, also saw the tragic scene through his binoculars. He immediately contacted the artillery detachment in the next block via the temporarily connected wired telephone.
Soon, two 77mm field guns deployed on the back streets adjusted their muzzles.
Due to the close proximity, the gunners could even aim directly.
“High-explosive rounds loaded! Direct fire!”
“Fire!”
“Boom! Boom!”
Two shells shrieked through the air, accurately hitting the chest of one of the flesh constructs.
The violent explosion instantly blew the monster’s upper body into a bloody mess, tearing open a massive gash.
However, the monster merely let out a painful roar, its massive body swayed, but instead of falling, it took a step and continued to charge towards the defense line.
Even more horrifying, the massive wound on its chest was wriggling and healing at a visible rate.
The surrounding ghouls and corpse demons even actively pounced on it, merging their flesh and blood into the monster’s body, accelerating its recovery.
“Damn it! This thing can’t be killed!”
Just at this critical moment, a heavy metallic footsteps sounded, approaching from afar.
Several Teutonic Knights, piloting ‘Siegfried Type 1’ Armored Knights, wielding giant swords the size of doors, burst out from a nearby street, directly crashing into the injured flesh construct.
“Boom!”
The collision of steel and flesh produced a dull, thunderous sound.
The Armored Knight, relying on its immense mass and kinetic energy, forcefully knocked the flesh construct back repeatedly.
The monster evidently hadn’t expected to encounter such a tough opponent. It roared, swinging its three thick arms, aiming to smash the Armored Knight’s cockpit.
But the Teutonic Knight reacted incredibly fast, manipulating the mechanical arm to block with the greatsword in its hand.
“Swish!”
A cutting sound, incredibly pleasant at this moment, rang out as the enchanted greatsword collided with the monster’s claws, effortlessly severing them.
However, the Armored Knight also experienced a noticeable ‘attack cooldown’ after this strike.
Seizing this opportunity, the surrounding ghouls surged forward like a tide, frantically climbing up the Armored Knight’s legs, attempting to attack the relatively vulnerable parts like the cockpit and joints.
“Everyone, clear out the small fry!”
The Armored Knight’s pilot’s voice boomed through the loudspeaker.
Another Armored Knight, which had been responsible for clearing skeletons, immediately changed direction, sweeping out its gigantic warhammer to smash the ghouls climbing onto its companion’s body into a pulp, like swatting flies.
Freed from the harassment of the small fry, the first Armored Knight regained its balance. Its engine roared, and the hydraulic system let out a piercing screech.
The massive mechanical arm erupted with astonishing power, and the greatsword in its hand traced a sharp arc from bottom to top.
“Pfft!”
The sharp blade directly cleaved the flesh construct in half down the middle.
Foul-smelling internal organs and dark green blood poured out like a waterfall, splattering the street.
With an absolute advantage in size and mass, these flesh monsters, lacking special abilities, were ultimately no match for the steel war gods born for battle in close-quarters combat.
Soon, with the coordinated efforts of several Armored Knights, the several flesh constructs that had appeared on the battlefield were successively cut down.
However, before the soldiers could cheer, more, even larger, flesh monsters emerged from deeper within the sea of undead.
The battle, it seemed, would never end.
Midnight arrived.
The negative energy within Paris reached its peak at this moment.
All undead creatures, from the lowest-level skeletons to the grotesque flesh constructs, became more frenzied in their actions, and their strength significantly increased.
All defense lines of the Saxon First Army Group were under unprecedented immense pressure.
The soldiers had been fighting for several hours continuously, ammunition consumption was huge, and their morale and physical strength were on the verge of collapse.
“Lieutenant! This batch of friendly forces we’re supporting is almost at its limit! Everyone’s nearly out of ammo, haven’t the civilians in this area been evacuated yet?”
A Company Commander from the Instruction Assault Battalion ran up to Manstein, his voice clearly filled with fatigue and numbness.
Manstein glanced at his watch; the time was already half past midnight.
“Hold on a little longer! Command orders a retreat promptly at one o’clock!”
He patted the Company Commander’s shoulder, his eyes also filled with weariness and helplessness.
They had done their best.
In the past few hours, they had braved a hail of bullets, with the assistance of the clergy, escorting the terrified Parisian citizens out of buildings one by one, then transporting them out of the city in batches by truck.
But this was still a drop in the ocean compared to the number of civilians remaining in Paris.
More people had either died in the first wave of skeleton slaughter or were hiding in deeper parts of the city, and they simply didn’t have time to rescue them.
After realizing that engaging in urban warfare with an endless army of undead at night was an extremely foolish decision, the First Army Group Command finally issued the order for a full retreat.
Preserving their forces and waiting for dawn… waiting for the ultimate weapon of decisive battle to be ready, was the wisest choice.
“Whoosh-bang!”
A red signal flare soared from behind Manstein’s position, exploding in the dark night sky, appearing exceptionally conspicuous.
This was the signal for a full-line retreat.
“Everyone! Alternate cover! Retreat to the rear assembly point!” Manstein immediately issued the order.
Almost simultaneously, similar red signal flares were fired from the positions of various Saxon troops within Paris.
The red signal flares illuminated the night sky, also casting a bloody glow over this night of the dead.
Soldiers on various fronts threw their last grenades, then ran towards the rear without looking back.
Armored Knights were responsible for covering the rear, buying precious retreat time for the infantry units.
Countless undead creatures pursued relentlessly, gunshots, explosions, and roars continuously echoing.
The entire city of Paris would also be sleepless tonight…
Meanwhile, on the eastern outskirts of Paris.
The Armored Train ‘Odin’ quietly stood in a wide-open temporary field, brightly lit all around.
Beside the massive train, a large number of combat engineers and Magitech Engineers were busily working.
Colonel Lucas stood atop the command carriage, anxiously looking towards the Paris urban area through his binoculars.
In the night sky, red signal flares continuously bloomed, signaling a full-line retreat within the city.
It also meant that the situation within Paris had deteriorated to an extreme degree.
“Isn’t it ready yet?! How much longer?!” he shouted at a grease-stained Chief Magitech Technician below.
“Almost! Colonel! The last core stabilizer is undergoing final adjustments!”
The Chief Technician wiped sweat from his forehead, responding loudly.
The transformation of ‘Gungnir’ from its first form to its second form was a very complex process.
Mainly because it involved the replacement of core components of the entire weapon system.
Every Magic Circuit, every magic power conduction node, had to be precise, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
Lucas paced back and forth anxiously, constantly cursing under his breath.
Finally, to everyone’s eager anticipation, the Chief Magitech Technician looked up and gave Lucas a ‘completion’ gesture.
“Reporting, Colonel! ‘Gungnir’s’ second attack form is ready!”
Lucas’s spirits lifted. He immediately took a signal gun from his adjutant’s hand.
He loaded a green signal flare into it, then raised it high, pointing it towards the sky.
“Whoosh—bang!”
A beam of green light shot up into the sky.
And Morin, who had just retreated out of the city by truck with the First Company of the Instruction Assault Battalion, also saw that green light.
He immediately ordered the convoy to turn and drive at full speed towards the location of the Armored Train ‘Odin’.