There was a major difference between humanity's war against the Great Spike civilization and ordinary human conflicts, and it was also one of the key reasons humans felt despair about the future.
On a certain level, the war relied far too heavily on powerful individuals. The degree of that necessity was almost akin to the single '1' standing before countless zeros.
Beyond a certain disparity in rank, sheer numbers could never compensate for the predicament caused by the absence of a supreme combatant.
Naturally, this applied primarily to humanity's side.
Take the Daie before them: if mankind lacked an individual capable of at least barely contending with it, throwing any number of people into the fray seemed powerless to change anything.
As long as it evaded the entanglements of those seven top super combatants—or quickly routed them first—this Daie could hold the pass alone, confronting over two hundred thousand Azure elites by itself. Provided its source energy remained sufficient, it could stand guard there indefinitely, slaughtering without end.
Conversely, from the Great Spikes' perspective, humanity's powerful individuals were still in a state where their defensive capabilities severely lagged behind. Once subjected to large-scale siege, they faced tremendous danger just the same.
At the same time, the killing efficiency of human powerhouses against mid- and low-tier Great Spikes had never been high enough.
"Swell up, Peg! Lose your mind, Mont!"
"Get completely carried away!"
Amid the earthshaking tumult and the tragic solemnity of the scene, Makarov kept his finger on the trigger, praying incessantly in his heart.
He knew Pegmont had always been the type to show off for an audience and get carried away with smug complacency. Under circumstances like these, perhaps he could completely forget who he was, even envisioning himself as the Savior and God Himself.
For anyone else, that would likely be a disaster, but for Pegmont, it was how he summoned godhood.
Boom! Daie's column sword finally came slashing down.
At this moment, the seven top super combatants were positioned in a poised, makeshift cage formation, while in the sky, that flash of pink was hurtling into position.
Clang! The deafening clash shattered the eardrums.
The immense disparity in source energy surges allowed the column sword to pierce through the converging source energy fields, smashing directly against the war blade.
Crack... Lieutenant General Anton, the strongest man of Xiongzhanli, had his entire body driven instantly into the ice up to his chest, the sound of splintering bones continually bursting from him.
Blood sprayed from his seven facial orifices and even through his skin.
Yet his hands remained raised upward, holding high the already fractured blade.
He had taken this blow head-on. He shouldn't have; he didn't need to. Lieutenant General Anton had only one purpose in doing so: to let Daie's strike land cleanly, fully expelling the source energy surge and exhausting the momentum of the strike.
After that, no matter how fast combatants moved in clashes within the source energy realm, recovering to strike again required a brief transition.
It was this fleeting instant.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Two top Azure super combatants unleashed a death-defying burst, their blades sweeping horizontally toward Daie's head, anticipating and barring it from leaping into the air.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Another two super combatants threw themselves forward to slash at its waist, preventing it from wheeling around to retreat straight back.
From behind, God Lü, the super combat powerhouse of Huaxia, stood tall, his own life-or-death slash already descending.
Clang!
Shhk!
Daie's colossal frame vaulted into the air after all. It seemed to have underestimated these human super combatants: enduring two deep gashes across its legs, Daie surged straight upward, brandishing its column sword to cleave away the two blades above.
Boom! In midair, the paired blades collided solidly with the column sword.
The two human super combatants were blasted back.
At the same time, Daie's upward momentum was halted.
In that exact split second—whoosh—Marshal Hua, clad in his custom white combat suit, surged from below. His right foot kicked against Daie's abdomen, accelerating his ascent into the air while leaning slightly backward of his own accord.
Gripping his blade with both hands, he swung.
Slash!
Targeting its wrist.
In truth, there had been an even better opening a moment ago; Marshal Hua could have slashed Daie's abdomen. But the gap between them was too vast. Doing so would not kill it, nor would it inflict a critical wound or materially impair its subsequent mobility.
Thus, cutting the right wrist that held the column sword was the best choice available, whether for damage or for suppression.
The image at that moment resembled a white-clad youth soaring point-blank before a monster vastly larger than himself, rising to the level of its head to wage battle with his blade.
"Ignorant reptile," Daie's loudspeaker-like voice rumbled once more.
Its right hand holding the column sword pulled back.
Simultaneously, its empty left hand straightened flat, the arm thrusting abruptly outward like a massive greatsword, piercing straight toward Marshal Hua's chest.
A collective gasp rose, and then the clamor both on the battlefield and far away fell dead silent as sorrow swept outward.
Because everyone could foresee the outcome.
That slash would land, and regardless of how much damage it dealt, it would definitely impede Daie.
However, Marshal Hua would die, his chest impaled by Daie's left arm.
And then?
Then perhaps Pegmont's downward diagonal slash from high behind could cleave Daie to death? Or at least grievously wound it.
...
"Strike!" Suspended in midair with his head tilted slightly up and a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips, Marshal Hua's eyes told Pegmont: Strike!
"Strike!" In this moment, countless Azure councilors and generals watched with reddened eyes, awaiting the outcome, waiting for Antarctica to be saved.
"Marshal Hua." In this moment, countless Huaxian soldiers, ordinary citizens, and non-Huaxians alike whispered his name under their breath.
"Marshal Hua," Wen Jifei murmured softly in front of the temporary communications station on the east coast.
Beside him, tears streamed from Captain Milla's eyes.
"Bastard!" In the corps conference room, Xu Xiaohong turned his face away, unable to watch. Far off aboard the airship, Chen Buer was stunned into silence.
From a rational standpoint, this was without question an exceptional opportunity. In the current battlefield situation, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to turn the tide, an opening that could not be squandered.
Yet from an emotional standpoint, there was too much reluctance, too much agony, and too many people torn by heartbreak.
Of course, the emotions or rationality of others were entirely irrelevant right now; at this moment on the battlefield, the choice lay in Pegmont's hands alone.
Boom! A colossal clash finally reverberated through the air.
A tangible shockwave condensed like a dense mist, then violently shattered.
Pegmont's voice rang out, arrogant and triumphant: "Hahahaha! I'm taking you down with me today!"
Then his voice came again, though directed elsewhere, speaking in rough Huaxian: "No need to thank me, eh!"
"Idiot," came Marshal Hua's weak, helpless reply.
The scene in the air finally cleared.
Off in the distance, Marshal Hua's form was already descending. A sizable wound remained on his abdomen, blood gushing forth, yet he had not been impaled, and the cut did not appear excessively deep.
He was heavily injured, but he would likely live.
However, Pegmont... there was a massive puncture wound clean through his chest.
Daie was hardly in better shape: stretching from the right side of its abdomen all the way to the left side of its neck was a colossal laceration, red and blue blood pouring out like a fountain.
Daie's wound was on the front of its body.
So how on earth had Pegmont struck that blow, when he had plunged in from high behind?
At this moment, countless people wondered.
The answer was evident in the eyes of the masters both on the battlefield and watching from afar: an inverted bell.
In that split second, Pegmont had chosen to vault over Daie's head, then dropped headfirst, plunging his entire upper torso downward...
He kicked Marshal Hua away with his legs while somersaulting, sweeping his war blade upward in a reverse slash.
It meant Pegmont had curled into an inverted handspring between Marshal Hua and Daie, executing a midair flip.
"Brain-dead idiot!"
"Useless trash!"
"Criminal!"
"Does he have any idea what he just threw away?!"
"Does he know what the consequences will be?!"
Inside the confidential chamber at Azure Headquarters, one of the old bastards was roaring in fury.
The others remained silent, neither rebutting nor voicing agreement.
"He..." In the Council meeting room, voices faltered, trailing off.
Pegmont had missed an opportunity that might have saved the entire tactical situation. While it might not have decided the entire global war, nor was it guaranteed to be decisive, it was undeniably the single most critical juncture at present.
At this moment, no one could openly and calmly declare whether Pegmont's choice was right or wrong.
Yet he himself seemed never to have wrestled with doubt; after doing it, he felt it was only natural, and was even thoroughly pleased with himself.
Comrades in arms—isn't that what it's all about? Besides, I'm stronger than them.
Chapter 797