"Cough cough … cough …" Amidst the billowing dust, Jodel coughed as he slowly climbed up from the ground. Debris was still falling from the ceiling, and only a small part of the building that had been standing tall a moment ago was now left with only a small part of the bottom. Fortunately, the collapsed beams and the foundation of the wall formed a narrow shelter for him, and he was able to survive.
"Is there anyone alive?" he shouted with great effort, but the dust quickly blocked his mouth.
Clearly, it was unlikely that his teammates had heard him.
Jodel had no choice but to crawl through the cracks between the beams and the stones towards the light above.
With the help of the dim light, he could see a few broken pieces of wood stuck in his arms and thighs. Blood seeped out and dyed his military uniform red. The Delaying Agent had undoubtedly played a key role again. If it hadn't blocked the pain, he didn't know how long it would have taken for him to recover from the fall.
With great difficulty, he crawled out of the ruins. Jodel suddenly realized that several demons were less than ten meters away from him — they were clearly the troops that had charged straight for the clock tower. If the Spider Demons' attack had come a little later, it would have only been a matter of time before they were wiped out. But now, the situation had been reversed.
The purpose of the enemy's encirclement was self-evident. They were planning to eliminate any survivors who might have escaped.
Jodel didn't hesitate too much.
He knew that his chances of leaving alive were slim. The bolt rifle could only fire one bullet at a time, and with the Mad Demons' skills, they were enough to tear him to pieces in the time it took for him to pull the bolt.
Even so, he still decisively raised his gun.
To the Sand Nation, death wasn't scary. What was scary was not being able to see hope.
His death could be exchanged for the continuation of his clan, so that his wife and children could eat their fill. That was enough.
The moment he fired, Jodel couldn't help but think of the moment when he had resolutely submitted to the great chief while bearing the heavy pressure of the Iron Sand City's large clans — that night, he had also charged towards the Wildwave and Cut Bone clans with the determination to die.
One of the Mad Demons fell to the ground with the sound of the gunshot, and the other three quickly pounced towards him.
At this distance, sharp claws were more effective than throwing spears.
In the blink of an eye, a large open hand stretched out in front of him — if it had grabbed him, half of his face would have been crushed!
It was also at this moment that Jodel suddenly felt that his body was no longer under his control.
His body leaned backwards, dodging this fatal attack at an unbelievable angle. Then, using the gun handle as a fulcrum, he suddenly leaped backwards, borrowing the momentum of falling backwards to soar into the air, completing a beautiful backward roll.
By the time he landed on the ground, the second bullet had already been pushed into the barrel!
What was going on?
Jodel was completely stunned!
Was it the side effect of the Delaying Agent? But not only did he not feel the pain from the superimposed pain, his movements were even more agile — except that none of this was out of his will.
Even though he was in a daze, his body showed no signs of stopping.
The demon roared as it charged forward. The Sand Nation's hands held the gun steadily. The moment the gun was fired, the muzzle was already pressed against the demon's head!
"Bang —"
The enemy's head exploded.
The second Mad Demon was already in front of him. As if it had learned its lesson, it didn't pounce on Jodel immediately. Instead, it pulled out its bone spear and swung it horizontally. The only thing the latter could reach was the gun in his hand, and that was exactly what his body did — the result was that due to the huge difference in strength, the gun was directly sent flying and landed in the ruins with a clatter.
Just when Jodel thought that everything was over, his body once again did something unexpected. He straightened his body and directly crashed into the Mad Demon's chest. His right hand pulled out the bayonet at his waist.
This time, the bayonet went from bottom to top, piercing through the enemy's helmet from the chin.
Red mist instantly gushed out!
By the time the enemy wrapped its arms around him and wanted to take him down with it, Jodel had already slipped out of the enemy's grasp like a loach.
The Mad Demon staggered two steps, and finally knelt on the ground.
Defeating a demon whose physical strength far surpassed a human's in close combat was something Jodel had never imagined. But now, not only did he do it, he even killed two of them in one go?
The last remaining Mad Demon finally raised its bone spear.
But its target wasn't Jodel, but a broken wall in the ruins of the clock tower!
The spear pierced through the wooden window on the wall like lightning. A short figure cried out in surprise and fell out from behind the broken wall.
It was Farry!
The Mad Demon completely ignored its withered arm and ran towards him. Jodel also couldn't help but change his direction and charge straight towards the enemy. The two of them reached Farry at almost the same time. The moment the Mad Demon attacked, Jodel's military knife also pierced through the enemy's throat from behind.
Red mist splashed out from the wound and sprayed onto Farry's raised arm.
His companion let out a shrill scream, and Jodel suddenly realized that he had regained control of his body.
"Don't tell me you're —
Looking at his opponent's rapidly rotting arm, he suddenly understood.
"Why … are you here?"
Unlike the churches in the North, the Mojins didn't see witches as symbols of evil. Instead, they saw witches as goddesses with extraordinary power. Because they were few in number, clans that had goddesses were usually potential replacements in charge of Iron Sand City.
Jodel had once heard of a tribe called the Sandstone Clan. Under the leadership of their goddess, they followed the Queen of Clearwater on an expedition to the distant North, never to return. And that goddess was called Kabala, and her ability allowed her to command others to work for her.
But they didn't receive the rewards they deserved. The departure of a large number of young adults caused the Sandstone Clan to collapse, and the women and children who remained in the Southernmost Region were swallowed up by other clans. It wasn't until the great chief reestablished the laws and regulations of the desert that the name of this clan was preserved.
Superb combat skills, an uncontrollable body, and Mojin background … After witnessing this unbelievable scene, he couldn't think of any other reasonable explanation other than the Sandstone Goddess.
But now was clearly not the time to think about it. He took out a roll of bandages from his waist pouch and bound Farry's arm tightly. Then, he used a knife to scrape off the festering skin, then carried Farry on his shoulder and ran in the direction of the permanent fortifications.
"Don't … tell anyone about this …" His teammate's soft murmur came from behind.
"But —"
"I beg you," Farry interrupted weakly.
Jodel hesitated for a while, then nodded slightly. "Alright, I won't say anything."
The sounds of gunfire continued to come from all around them, but the frequency had decreased by a lot.
He saw that the Spider Demon that had charged into the city had half its body blown away by a field cannon, and was now completely paralyzed.
After entering the inner city, someone would jump out from hiding every few steps, taking turns to cover their retreat to a safe area. When Sky Knight's figure appeared in the sky, Jodel knew that they had finally blocked another round of attacks from the demons.
Perhaps the next clash would be the garrison's last defense, but at least for now, victory still belonged to them.
But to Jodel's surprise, half an hour later, all the troops received new orders to abandon Gust Castle and retreat towards the western exit of the Cage Mountain.
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