Looking at the dark, oppressive army in the distance.
These army group soldiers, baptized by war, were nothing like the Infected Pickets.
The sky above seemed to be faintly dyed blood-red by the enduring aura of slaughter.
Oppression... despair...
All this pressure made the scalps of the remaining Infected in the Reunion Movement tingle. Some had already fallen to their knees in despair, at a complete loss, endlessly chanting Lucas Reeve's name. The Reunion Movement was not entirely filled with ungrateful people; there were many who were grateful for Lucas Reeve's kindness, even regarding him as a deity.
Annihilation, is it...
Huff~
Huff~~
Talulah took deep breaths, trying to suppress the turmoil and anger surging in her heart. With the whispering voice of the Black Serpent in her ear, the hostility emanating from Talulah grew stronger. The Originium Arts within her body roiled restlessly. The snow on the ground melted, and even the small patch of ground beneath her feet cracked and splintered, forming a spiderweb of fissures. Beneath the cracks, it seemed as if scorching magma was churning.
The Shieldguards took deep breaths.
They formed a line, using their bodies as a steel wall to shield the Reunion Movement from all crises.
"Comrades... run..."
Talulah dragged her heavy greatsword and walked forward, her voice echoing in the quiet settlement.
"These damn army groups are after me... You all escape quickly... Staying here is a dead end, but if you run, there might still be a sliver of hope..."
However.
The expected scattering did not happen.
Even though the remaining Infected were terrified, some of the braver ones still picked up iron pipes and other weapons, cursing.
"Dammit, these *Ursus Profanity* army groups!! Talulah, you took us in, you were kind to us, and we swore to be part of the Reunion Movement from the beginning!! How could we run at a time like this!! Although... I really do want to run..."
Some of the able-bodied Infected grabbed their various weapons and stood one by one behind Talulah and the Shieldguards.
"I'm not like those ungrateful bastards from before, who curse you after you've fed them. Theirs! If the Shieldguards hadn't stopped me before, I would have beaten those traitors to a pulp!!"
"Screw the damn army group!!"
"Emperor!! I'll ****** you!!"
On the precipice of life and death.
Some of the Infected had finally had enough. All sorts of foul language spewed from their mouths, cursing the eighteen generations of the Ursus Emperor's ancestors a hundred times over. Although the current Ursus Emperor was just catching a stray bullet, the common people didn't know that.
Huff....
Talulah took a deep breath.
The current real fighting force of the Reunion Movement was only the Shieldguards and the Yeti Squadron.
Excluding the dozens of Infected comrades who had run away, there were about a hundred or so left. Many of these hundred-plus people were being trained as scouts and special operators and had little combat capability.
And there were a hundred or so Shieldguards.
And several dozen in the Yeti Squadron.
The total combat strength of the Reunion Movement was now just over two hundred.
And on the other side...
An overwhelming black mass.
From Patriot's perspective, there were at least two thousand soldiers, roughly a regiment...
Hmph...
To annihilate an Infected organization with a combat force of just over two hundred, they actually dispatched a full regiment of regular army troops. If these two thousand were just ordinary soldiers with cold weapons, they might be able to handle it. But these two thousand were regular army, and all their weapons were of the latest model.
And within this force of two thousand, all sorts of troop types were present.
Shieldguards... Imperial Vanguard Elites, Assault Troopers, Army Casters, Assault Crossbowmen, Ursus Hounds, and artillery units, even artillery casters. And who knows how many drones were flying in the sky...
Certain defeat...
There was no hope of survival.
No matter how strong Patriot was, he was still flesh and blood, and even the mightiest flesh and blood couldn't withstand a few artillery strikes.
This is why it's said that individual strength can hardly match an army.
At this moment.
Talulah also felt a bit fortunate.
At least Alina and the others had already left for Chernobog. In a situation like this, Talulah didn't think there was any chance of victory. Even with Lucas Reeve, the odds wouldn't be much better. As long as Alina could survive... that was enough for Talulah. She could at least die without regrets.
Just then.
A voice that Talulah never expected sounded from behind her.
"Talu!!"
That voice!!
Alina!!
The hostility in Talulah's chest instantly vanished upon hearing this voice, and her mind, which had been gradually descending into a frenzy under the Black Serpent's influence, was instantly pulled back. Everyone quickly turned around, looking in disbelief at Alina, FrostNova, and the others running towards them from behind.
"A... Alina!! Weren't you!!"
Talulah couldn't believe it; she suspected she was seeing things.
Alina!
Weren't they in Chernobog?
She had just crushed the small crystal Lucas Reeve left behind, so why were they here so fast!!
It was over a hundred kilometers from Chernobog to here. Even by plane, it would take half an hour. How did they...
"You idiot!!"
The happiness on Talulah's face vanished, replaced only by blame.
"Who told you to come back, Alina!!!"
"Because, I could feel that Talu needs me right now..."
Alina smiled.
In truth, even without asking, they already understood the situation. The Ursus army groups had already closed in...
"Mr. Patriot, Mr. Lucas Reeve is entrusting you."
Alina didn't say much more to Talulah. She took the necklace off her neck and handed it to Patriot. In the past, perhaps Alina and FrostNova would have also felt that there was no hope.
But...
Now is different.
With Lucas Reeve here.
Having witnessed Lucas Reeve's various god-like abilities, even achieving the legendary feat of spatial movement, Alina, FrostNova, and the other Yetis had come to see Lucas Reeve as an omnipotent god. This blind faith meant that as long as he was here, there was hope for everything; nothing was over.
The moment Patriot took the necklace.
Lucas Reeve's soul instantly merged with Patriot's body.
In an instant.
A monstrous pressure from Patriot erupted like a tidal wave, soaring into the sky and covering the vast ice field.
Patriot's eyes also changed, one turning crimson red, the other a deep black. However, within both eyes, there was an added, dazzling divine golden light.
Tsk...
The Black Serpent's scale in the distance felt incredibly annoyed.
He just couldn't figure it out.
How did Lucas Reeve, who was in Chernobog just a second ago, arrive here so quickly? It hadn't even been ten minutes. Even by aircraft, it would be impossible to be this fast.
Why!
Why!!
The Black Serpent's mood was as frantic as if a toy he was about to get was snatched away by another kid he couldn't beat. He kept pulling at the hair of this body, his snake-like eyes now bursting with an intense red glow and a crazed look.
"Charge!! Leave no one alive, except Talulah!!"
This was a full regiment of the regular army, and this regiment was one of the most elite independent regiments in the Third Army Group. Moreover, the greatest strength of an army was not individual combat power, but the overwhelming advantage brought by numbers and equipment. Against this kind of regular army, even a group of Emperor's Blades wouldn't dare to face them head-on. After all, with that level of firepower saturation, even an Emperor's Blade couldn't withstand it.
So what if a single Wendigo was strong...
With overwhelming firepower saturation, how many waves of attacks could you possibly endure...
"Mr. Lucas Reeve, you really didn't need to come back..."
After merging with Lucas Reeve, even Patriot, looking at the dark mass of the army opposite them, felt no chance of victory. A regular army was completely different from individual elites. The strength of a regular army lay in its numbers, unity, discipline, and advanced weaponry.
"I don't want FrostNova to lose her father, I don't want Alina to lose her best friend, and I don't want to lose our comrades..."
Lucas Reeve said with a slight smile.
But this sentence made Patriot pause, his expression a bit strange.
He didn't know why.
It was a very ordinary sentence, but for some reason, the first half of it sounded a bit odd to him...
"Mr. Patriot... if it were just two thousand regular soldiers with cold weapons or even bare-handed, would you be confident in defeating them?"
Lucas Reeve's question made Patriot pause for a moment, then he shook his head, yet nodded again.
"In the past, I might have hesitated, but now, I think I can...."
"Then consider them unarmed!"
"Hmm?"
Just then.
The sound of an aircraft seemed to streak across the sky.
Patriot looked up.
A large drone was crossing the sky at extremely high speed, arriving above the Reunion Movement. Just as it was about to arrive, with a loud rumble, three huge metal containers were dropped from the drone. They fell rapidly, and finally, under the watchful eyes of everyone, landed steadily in front of Patriot, sending snow flying.
On the rectangular metal containers, a huge Raythean Industries logo was printed.
"What is this?!!"
Patriot's eyes widened. Even the approaching army in the distance naturally saw this giant alloy container dropped from the sky. It seemed to hold something incredible inside...
However.
This did not overly concern the Colonel of this independent regiment.
In his view, this battle was an indiscriminate slaughter from the start. So what if the Reunion Movement had over a hundred former Ursus Shieldguards? After so many years, the age of these Shieldguards was not young, and their equipment was severely outdated compared to the current regular army's gear. They were no longer a threat. And so what about that Wendigo... there was only one Wendigo, no matter how strong. It was questionable whether he could even withstand three rounds of artillery fire. And with the passage of time, the power of modern weaponry was far beyond what it was in the past...
Moreover, his independent regiment was one of the most elite in Ursus, with numerous battle honors. Otherwise, he, a regimental commander, would not have been promoted to Colonel. You have to know, an ordinary regimental commander was at most a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel. Although it was only one rank difference, it was a rank that many might never achieve in their lifetime.
Wendigo... times have changed.
If you fall behind the times, no matter how glorious you once were, you can only take a beating.
"Right on time..."
In fact, Lucas Reeve never expected Raythean Industries' logistics to be so formidable.
Just this morning, Jessica had told Lucas Reeve that the armor and weapons custom-made for Patriot had been completed after three months of rush production and were now being transported to the Reunion Movement's settlement north of Ursus. He hadn't expected them to be delivered today and be immediately usable in battle. This luck...
"This is?"
Patriot looked at the three metal containers in front of him with confusion.
"Open it, Mr. Patriot. This is my gift to you...."
"A gift..."
Patriot's crimson right eye seemed to be excited. Even without opening it, his heart was already instinctively thrilled.
Lucas Reeve and Patriot walked over together.
On the surface of the central alloy box, a password was entered.
And then...
When the open button was pressed, with a hiss, the air from the sealed space rushed out, and a large amount of white mist sprayed from the alloy box.
Patriot's and Lucas Reeve's eyes lit up simultaneously.
In the central alloy box lay a massive suit of alloy power armor. The light flowing over the armor was like water. The aesthetic of technology and wildness instantly left Patriot stunned in place.
He slowly reached out his hand.
The moment his finger touched the power armor.
It was as if a switch had been triggered.
The power armor instantly came to life. It disassembled piece by piece, and following Patriot's finger, it climbed up his body. Without even needing to be deliberately assembled, the power armor was directly worn on Patriot's body.