Chapter 156: Chu Xiao Unleashes Aerial Power!

After Hades retreated, Irwin arranged for warriors skilled in alchemy to refine healing potions for the others. It had to be said that Irwin certainly knew how to command troops, understanding how to utilize the strengths of his warriors and push those strengths to their absolute limits.

Over on Ou Qiang's side, Dell and his men had already arrived. The robots stationed here by Hades were practically useless; the genetically modified fighters handled them effortlessly without needing reinforcements, fighting them to a complete standstill!

The robots Hades placed here were simply meant to stall Ou Qiang and prevent them from sending troops to reinforce America, whereas the North Sand territory was in a remote location—if it could be conquered, all the better, so the enemy troop concentration there was much higher!

Because Ou Qiang's location was relatively close to Kyushu, no high expectations were placed here; the goal was merely to pin them down and prevent them from providing reinforcements. Seeing that their men were not struggling too much against the robots, Dell did not rush to assist, wanting them to absorb more spiritual energy instead. Thus, he and his men watched from a hillside. Seeing that the battle remained evenly matched, Dell grew a bit restless. Leading his troops, he charged down the hillside and had just killed a few robots when Hades gave the order to retreat and abandoned the attack. Dell felt somewhat disappointed, expecting to level up this time, only for Hades to withdraw his forces so abruptly!

America.

Seeing that Hades's robots were about to breach the protective shield and that the warriors had mostly recovered their stamina, Chu Xiao told everyone to get up and prepare to head out for a decisive battle against Hades!

Chu Xiao arranged the warriors with defensive skills in the front and those with offensive skills in the back, while leaving the alchemy-skilled warriors in place. In this way, the distinct strengths of every warrior could be fully utilized!

Soon, Hades's robots smashed through the protective shield, but Chu Xiao and his team had been prepared for a long time. The instant the shield shattered, all the warriors unleashed waves of energy at the robots!

In a flash, the robots at the very front were knocked down, and beams of light flew into the warriors' bodies. The robots also hurled countless energy waves toward Chu Xiao and the others, but these were all intercepted by the defensive warriors stationed in the front.

However, the volume of energy waves thrown by the robots was simply too massive. The frontline warriors could no longer hold them off; although their lives were not in danger, they were forced back several steps and sustained minor injuries!

Chu Xiao had anticipated this and had the alchemy-skilled warriors prepare healing potions beforehand. After consuming them, the fighters were able to resume combat immediately. In that exact moment, the warriors launched another wave of attacks against Hades's soldiers!

Many more robots were knocked down. At this point, although Hades's robots had suffered heavy losses, half of them remained completely intact—more than capable of crushing Chu Xiao and his group by sheer force.

The remaining robots and the warriors unleashed energy waves simultaneously. The opposing energies clashed in mid-air, but the energy wave from Chu Xiao's side was visibly weaker than that of the robots.

It inched closer and closer toward Chu Xiao's formation. Just as it was about to reach them, the defensive warriors intercepted the enemy's energy wave, causing Chu Xiao's energy wave to surge forward toward the robots instantly.

However, the defensive warriors on Chu Xiao's side completely lost their combat capability as a result. With the healing potions already used up, Chu Xiao ordered people to carry them back to safety, while the rest continued the battle against Hades!

There was no longer any formation to speak of; Chu Xiao ordered all warriors to scatter to avoid friendly fire, and everyone fought desperately against the robots. Chu Xiao himself took down one robot with every strike.

Before he knew it, Chu Xiao leveled up, and a new offensive skill appeared above him: [Primary Aerial Power]. Curious, Chu Xiao tapped on the skill details to see what it did!

Primary Aerial Power: Once this skill is activated, countless flying swords formed from spiritual intent fall from the sky. Ten flying swords can be summoned per activation, and each sword carries formidable energy. However, this skill can only be released three times a day, or else the user will suffer a severe backlash!

Chu Xiao immediately selected this skill. After mastering it, he pressed his palms together to gather energy and then pushed upward toward the sky. Ten swords instantly appeared in the air, each hurtling toward Hades's robots.

Yet a single sword could not destroy a robot outright; it could only paralyze their mobility, but a second sword would immediately follow up, with every sword independently selecting its target.

With no manual target selection possible, this single skill alone eliminated five robots. Afterward, Chu Xiao wanted to unleash a second wave, but no matter what he tried, nothing happened. Only after glancing at the skill details did he realize that there was a five-minute cooldown required between each release!

Left with no choice, Chu Xiao could only resume attacking the robots with energy waves. By this time, the other warriors were struggling to withstand the fierce assault of the robots, and casualties had already exceeded half!

Yuan Rui also felt his stamina plummeting rapidly, realizing he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. He quickly took out the stamina recovery pill, swallowed it, and within moments felt his energy completely restored!

He resumed his assault against Hades's forces. Chu Xiao also felt his stamina depleting fast, though he could still push through a little longer. Now that the five-minute cooldown had passed, Chu Xiao released Aerial Power once again.

Another five robots collapsed to the ground, and streams of light flew into Chu Xiao's body. Raising his wrist to check the level table, he saw that killing over twenty robots had only increased his experience by a tiny fraction.

Chu Xiao understood now: the higher the level, the more spiritual energy was required. After using Aerial Power, Chu Xiao reverted to using energy waves. After firing a few more rounds, he began to feel physically drained as well.

He took out a stamina recovery pill, swallowed it to restore his strength, and continued fighting. At that moment, Yuan Rui ran out of stamina once again, collapsing limply to the ground and losing practically all combat capability—yet he was surrounded entirely by robots!

The slightest carelessness would result in him being killed by the robots. Chu Xiao rushed over to protect Yuan Rui, hauled him up from the ground, told him to retreat back into the city, and escorted him all the way back inside!

By this time, the warriors could no longer hold their ground and were retreating into the city in succession. Seeing Hades's robots about to force their way into the city as well, Dell arrived with his troops to provide reinforcements, which allowed Chu Xiao to breathe a sigh of relief!

Seeing that Dell had arrived, Chu Xiao led his men back out of the city to meet the enemy. The five-minute cooldown had just expired—this time, those five minutes had felt longer than a month. Chu Xiao pressed his palms together once more, preparing to unleash his final Aerial Power!

In the span of a moment, another five robots fell. Fearing that the forces from North Sand might also arrive to reinforce them—which would leave him with zero chance of victory—Hades dispatched a detachment of robots to intercept Irwin. Just as Hades had anticipated, his robots soon clashed with Irwin's forces in an unexpected encounter.

By now, Chu Xiao was completely exhausted, his body barely able to support his weight as he panted heavily several times in succession!

Before long, he collapsed limply to the ground just like Yuan Rui. Seeing that Chu Xiao no longer had the strength to fight, Dell assigned men to escort him safely back to the city while Dell continued fighting the robots.

On Irwin's end, he had perceived Hades's intentions and had no intention of entangling himself with Hades for long. Leaving behind a small fraction of his forces to stall Hades's robots, Irwin led the rest of his troops pressing forward toward America, commanding his vanguard to run at full speed to rapidly reinforce Chu Xiao!