Chapter 289 Too Late
Dyon’s plan was simple. In a situation where the numbers had them at the severe disadvantage, that was also the situation where their most powerful members would have the greatest effect.
However, at the same time, it was also when weaker members could completely destroy the morale of their allies, something that was already a scarcity in a situation like this.
Therefore, the answer was to maximise the use of your most powerful members while also minimizing the casualties suffered among your weakest members. And with that idea, the idea for this formation was conceived.
Using a combination of defensive and concealment arrays, the much smaller Lotus alliance could hide within them.
The arrays formed a complex maze with their defensive formations. This maze was then immediately covered up with concealment arrays, increasing the difficulty of breaching the formation.
However, the best part of the formation were the pockets of enemies the opposing army would find inside. Even as Ri charged forward with the demon generals, a determined looking steeling her features, the members of the Elvin Kingdom and Niveus sect were organizing themselves within the mazed formation, completely prepared for any enemy breaches.
And that was exactly the point. The most powerful members of the Lotus Alliance would fight freely, sowing discord and anarchy within the armies of the opponents, not allowing them time to form a cohesive plan for approaching the formation. Or, better yet, not allowing them too much time to analyze the formation at all.
However, maybe the most important part of this formation was the teleportation arrays Dyon drew for the vanguard. It was impossible to expect the demon generals to fight without fatigue or injury. Thus, at the center of the maze was a teleportation array connected to the hundreds of array plates Dyon spread among the demon generals and Ri.
The idea of drawing enough teleportation arrays with only a week was an impossible feat. Therefore, Dyon came up with a short cut. He drew two master level teleportation stations, then connected much simpler teleportation arrays to it. That way, the simpler teleportation arrays could use the much more robust teleportation station to support their instant teleportation to it. Therefore, whenever the vanguard tired, they could instantly retreat to the center of the maze to recover by crushing the array plate.
And thus, the Gorilla’s Den formation was born. The epitome of guerrilla warfare matched with the fierceness of a gorilla. It was the perfect combination of tactics and power. One that was only meant to be used when their backs were truly against the wall…
Would they win? Ri had no idea. But, she also knew that she would give it her all. Dyon had for all intents and purposes sacrificed himself for the sake of them. She would be damned if she couldn’t do at least that much.
With that last thought, Ri burst into the disarrayed beast army. Their bestial cries sounding off as her tails whipped them away and sliced through their scales.
Ri knew her soul couldn’t sustain the Tree of Life and Death for long because she hadn’t learned devour like Dyon. In fact, even if Dyon gave her the technique, Ri had no idea how long it would take her to learn because her soul wasn’t as talented as Dyon’s. It would most likely take at least half a year for her to grasp the first stage of the first act of the technique. Therefore, there was no time now. She could only reserve the Acacia family technique as a final resort. As a final burst of power to help their survival.
But, Ri put thoughts of such a situation to the back of her mind, instead focusing on hacking apart her enemies as her essence energy flowed to replenish her depleting strength.
The beast army itself seemed to be mostly made of meridian formation warriors. This made sense, after all, the most powerful members of Earth were at Rod and Looming tower, why would they invest their essence gathering experts at a seemingly weak tower? They had planned for three faith seeds. Caedlum’s, Vidar’s and Thor’s. Ri was a complete anomaly, who would think that another faith seed was hiding within the Elvin Kingdom?
However, despite having witnessed Ri’s faith seed manifest itself at Earth Tower, Alidor still followed through with this plan.
For one, Ri wasn’t anywhere near as proficient with her faith seed. If she was, how would Bas ever think his bloodline could compare? In fact, how could the scaled elephants even think of attacking her? The bloodline suppression they’d experience would be akin to an ant facing the queen of all beasts. Secondly, Ri was much younger and had weaker cultivation than the other three. Although Caedlum was around her and Dyon’s age, he had also been aware of his faith seed for much longer. So, Alidor decided to use numbers against Ri, focusing his essence gathering experts elsewhere.
All of these thoughts ran through Ri’s head as she forged deeper and deeper into the beast army. ‘I’ll have to thank you for underestimating me. Just this once.’
Bas and Liska watched this scene leisurely. Although their auroras weren’t powerful enough to see through Dyon’s concealment, they still had the numbers on their side. Ri was much too powerful for them to attack head on, so, they’d just wait for her to tire out. Wasn’t that the easiest way? Too bad they weren’t aware that if Ri ever felt overwhelmed she would pull out…
But, the problem was Ri herself…. Despite her serene and murderously focused aura as she sliced her way through the subordinates of the Basilisks, her heart was shattering. Her every strike held her everything, she had no concept of biding time, she wasn’t fighting smartly, and her stamina was being drained much quicker than she was aware…
All she could think of was whether or not she’d ever see Dyon again. Was he stuck hundreds of years in the past? Was he even able to get out of the spatial traps? What if Dyon’s death was in the future and thus didn’t affect his celestial will in the past? What if he was already dead then?…
Maybe by the time Ri realized her body was too fatigued to continue, it would be too late…