บท 1457: Chapter 984: High Tower Battle (18)_2
Simply put, it was a kind of poison gas. The demon soldiers completely caught off guard were choked back after an attack. About half of them lost their ability to move. The remaining half could only march in under the defensive shields of the magicians.
Once they came to the upward steps, they were met with rolling rocks. The small-bodied demons couldn't withstand the heavy rocks' impact. Some scrambled out, but a few were squashed into a pulp.
Then, there were ground collapses, spiked traps, falling ceilings, sudden arrow attacks at corners…
If viewed from the demon soldiers' perspective, the whole cave was like a playground designed by Hideaki Miyazaki. There were traps every third step, ambushes every fifth. The demon soldiers didn't even recognize where the attacks were coming from. They exited in screams.
Accomplishing this feat was not possible without the cave of the Miniature Demons. These very small and weak demons had their own ecosystem in the caves, simply called the rat hole.
The main passage was designed for regular mineworkers, but the Miniature Demons had dug their own intricate rat hole systems, apart from the main passageways, for quick movements.
Perhaps a trait common to all species with strong reproductive abilities and social nature, they designed their passages to be extremely complex and interconnected. Almost every crossroad could lead them to their desired destination.
Usually, these passages were hidden all around the main tunnel. Only the small and light Miniature Demons could maneuver through them. This time, these passages became their best assistants in setting up traps.
Even if the Miniature Demons almost never understood the complex ways of setting traps, they still knew how to stand in these passages, using sharp wooden sticks to stab into the gaps in the armor.
One puncture might not count for much, but there were thousands of Miniature Demons in the caves, and they kept reproducing ceaselessly. If these demon soldiers were to write about this experience, they would surely title this chapter "You Won't Understand Until You've Been Stabbed."
Luckily, the demon soldiers possessed self healing powers and were accompanied by supporting mages. Although various traps hindered their progress, they somehow managed to reach the first large cave, where Batman had been working.
All the demon soldiers surrounded the mound in the middle. They couldn't see any enemy, yet they felt threats from all directions. They had to stay alert, defending possible attacks.
The demons didn't need to eat, drink, or sleep, but they still needed rest. The two days and one night of siege warfare had drained everyone's energy. Advancing continuously in the long, dark tunnel, always on guard for traps while their wounds healed and reopened, amounted to psychological torture for any intelligent being.
In the end, the demon leader announced a rest. But during their break, swarms of slave miners suddenly rushed out from the passages in all directions. They threw various weapons or stones at the demon soldiers.
These attacks were not too powerful, but they were extremely offensive. The demons, known for their short tempers, rushed headlong into the tunnels without a thought. The miners, who were familiar with the terrain, vanished in an instant while the invading demons fell into more traps.
The leader ordered not to pursue, but the demon miners stood at the corner of the cave, throwing stuff at them.
Initially, they threw spears and rocks, many of which couldn't break through the demon soldiers' defense. But soon, they began to throw bombs seized from the Insect Bombers, strange sticky materials, and poisonous spore clusters.
Among light soldiers, there were long-range professions like archers, and the Magic Stone also provided long-range attacks. However, these slave miners were fast runners and extremely elusive. They retreated as soon as they finished throwing, leaving no time for the demons to aim their bows or concentrate their magic.
Because of the unfamiliar terrain, the demons could neither catch up nor rest because they were constantly harassed.
In truth, the leader understood that the best current option was to completely retreat, regroup, and then redeploy troops according to the conditions in the mine.
However, they had already come so far. Retreating would mean enduring the traps again and would still be a drain when advancing back in. Moving back and forth would render this batch of soldiers completely useless.
The leader knew of Rotten Heart's temper. If he returned without any results, there would surely be consequences. On the other hand, if he continued to advance, only the soldiers would be dying, not him. If he could capture one or two of the masterminds, it would be his chance to gain merit.
So, the team leader decided to continue pushing forward, and what he faced next was no longer a mild attack.
The subsequent traps no longer focused on causing serious injury, but rather aimed at diverting them. For instance, they scattered poisonous smoke in the middle of the team causing some to run forward and others to retreat. Then a trap sprung suddenly, pulling in a demon soldier and making him disappear.
The corridor was not spacious to begin with, leaving no room for forming a battle array. They could only advance in a single-file formation, a typical save-the-grandfather formation reminiscent of Chinese folklore heroes, which resulted in the rear not being able to protect the front, and vice versa. Soon, this "snake" was chopped into small pieces, with two or three soldiers forming a group, and losing contact with the majority.
After this, they experienced what could truly be called hell. Batman had devised ample plans for the battle inside this mine.
First, he had all miners hide, never to face the enemy head-on, and then exhaust the enemy's endurance and energy through various methods of harassment. Once the enemy began to tire, they would divide the main forces into smaller groups to take them down one by one.
Once they lost their numerical advantage, two or three demon soldiers could not withstand a punch from each slave miner. Once they tried to flee, they would be caught up by miners who were very familiar with the landscape. In other words, they were trapped with no way out.
Yes, Batman's answer could be summed up in one sentence: Retreat when the enemy advances, harass when the enemy resides, strike when the enemy tires, and pursue when the enemy retreats.
When the battle subsided slightly, Batman, reflecting on his strategy alone, looked up. In the darkness of the mine, he saw the old black and white movie still playing, the clanging sounds of the wheels grinding against the rails quickening, the horn cutting through the smoke echoing over the ancient land.
One figure after another crossed mountains, rivers, and lakes, walking towards the vast wilderness. Their silhouettes resembled the winds that have been blowing in this land, never to return, for thousands of years.
Standing in the same abandoned mine were Shiller and Alfred, who smelled gunpowder in the wind from the distance.
"You went to great lengths, handpicking and scheming, even hurting yourself to drag Batman into hell, all to make him fight in a war?" Alfred turned to Shiller and asked.
"Batman has learned a lot, including in Gotham," Shiller sighed gently, looking at the River of Lava flowing in the distance. He said, "But learning to navigate a city is not enough to exploit his extraordinary talent."
"The darkness in Gotham is deep, but it's not vast. Learning about Gotham is just a genius taking his first step out of the cradle."
"Nobody likes war," Shiller was silent for a moment before speaking again. "However, the tempering of iron and blood in war can shape a person's character at the root."
"The persistent chase of gunfire and smoke, the witnessing of sacrifice and death, the extremely grand love and hatred, affection and revenge in the era, can truly change a person."
"The doubts, hesitations, and confusion within a person will eventually be shattered by the waves of war, the vast and grand war epic, then be forged into a soul as rigid as steel."
Shiller lowered his head and said somberly, "Through the endless war haze, he will see the aspirations of far more great people."
"Someday, he will realize that if his goal is just to save Gotham, he will never be on par with the giants standing tall in the long river of human history."
Shiller's sigh, like the wind, dispersed into the ancient and desolate land, disappearing without a trace.
"If he cannot emerge from the chaos of war, he will never understand..."
"Those who once experienced turbulence in turbulent storms, just how amazing their boldness is, to be able to proclaim in an era when everyone feels precarious — 'Dare to alter the sky and the stars for a new day.'"
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