Gazing into the distant sky, focusing on a seemingly empty patch of air, William muttered to himself:

  "Invisible, huh? Divine-tech stealth? This is so damn unscientific. With the swarm's current visual systems, we still couldn’t spot a thing."

  In the area his gaze swept over, the floating thunder mines that had suddenly appeared earlier had already vanished once again, merging seamlessly with the sky.

  Controlling the swarm to remain well outside the range of the Monoc-Eyed's defenses, William gently tugged on the threads of faith. Instantly, hundreds of thousands of Thunder Drakes separated from the main swarm.

  "Increase altitude. Target the area above their defense line and fire a full volley of lightning strikes at maximum range!"

  Following William’s command, a massive barrage of blue energy beams blanketed the marked area.

  In an instant, countless floating thunder mines revealed themselves in the sky once more. But these divine mechanical constructs weren’t destroyed by the lightning attacks.

  In William’s vision, the energy beams formed of pure lightning elements were being distorted and redirected as they approached the floating mines.

  Some beams were even fully absorbed by these divine-tech creations, engraved all over with divine runes.

  William was completely dumbfounded.

  “What the hell? We’re both using lightning—how come Thunder Drakes are so weak? This feels like a tech gap crushing us.”

  “Looks like this divine battlefield still holds some advanced divine-tech weapons that haven’t been cleaned up.”

  “I knew that referee couldn’t be trusted.”

  With the lightning barrage proving ineffective, William considered another of the swarm’s ranged units.

  Unfortunately, the Mutated Drakes didn’t have the range to engage, leaving William momentarily stuck.

  “Ugh, we need air superiority. Guess we’ll have to clear the mines the hard way.”

  With another order, millions of Flying Jumpers, hundreds of thousands of Suicide Jumpers, and an equal number of Thunder Drakes broke off from the main swarm, forming a mixed assault group.

  Once detached, the formation rapidly climbed to maximum altitude and began moving toward the floating minefield.

  When they reached a certain proximity, the most numerous unit—the Flying Jumpers—quickly formed into a dense cloud, like a massive semi-circular shield leading the front.

  They completely protected the Suicide Jumpers trailing behind them.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Then the entire formation accelerated, diving toward the marked zone at high speed.

  Meanwhile, the Thunder Drakes spread out into a dispersed formation, following from the rear.

  At the same time...

  At the frontlines of this massive industrial city, Jacke, a Monoc-Eyed militia captain drafted at the last minute, was resting against the trench wall, a cigarette in his mouth, smoking leisurely.

  Suddenly, the sharp wail of the air raid siren went off again. Beside him, a young militia member went pale with fear, immediately dropping prone and curling into a ball, trembling.

  Jacke shot him a look of disdain.

  These evil god spawn had already launched a massive assault of tens of millions once before.

  And what happened? Against this fortress-like fortified line?

  They didn’t even scratch the surface—they were annihilated before they even got close.

  This made Jacke deeply confident in the city’s defensive strength.

  Seeing his comrade freak out, he couldn’t help but scold:

  “What are you panicking for?”

  “These evil god cultists are brainless. Took a loss and still didn’t learn. With the firepower of this line, they won’t get anywhere near us.”

  He exhaled a ring of smoke and kicked the guy lightly to snap him out of it.

  As if to prove his point, the city's anti-air batteries roared back to life.

  The thunderous sound of gunfire echoed along the entire front line.

  A deadly net of flak tore through the sky, shattering the approaching swarm and raining down a mist of blood.

  Countless severed limbs and insect parts, soaked in gore, rained from the sky.

  This time, the divine energy barrier was already activated in advance, instantly enveloping the entire forward outpost.

  Falling insect corpses hit the shimmering shield and rippled across its surface like drops of water on a pond.

  “Praise the divine for their protection!”

  The frightened Monoc-Eyed soldier began to pray fervently.

  “Heh,” Jacke sneered.

  God?

  God abandoned us a long time ago. There are no gods left in this world.

  As a lapsed believer, Jacke only trusted the weapon in his hands.

  He caressed the large-caliber rifle resting on his knees—one of the few divine-tech weapons that could only be wielded by those with sufficient mental strength.

  Far more powerful than conventional firearms, its range was greater, and it held more than five times the ammunition.

  Feeling the cold metal under his fingers gave him a sense of comfort.

  Just as he was about to lecture his comrade further, the light around him suddenly dimmed.

  Confused, Jacke looked up—and his eyes widened in shock.

  A dark cloud of insects had broken through the anti-air defenses and now loomed overhead like a stormfront.

  Zzzzzzz...

  The divine energy towers mounted on the mobile fortresses began charging, ready to re-ignite the floating minefield at a moment’s notice.

  But before they could fire—

  From high above, the Thunder Drakes cloaked in blue lightning unleashed another wave of long-range attacks.

  Blue beams of energy streaked across the sky, striking the minefield in a massive barrage.

  Countless floating thunder mines flickered back into visibility, greedily absorbing the incoming energy.

  At the same time, the thick swarm cloud up close suddenly dispersed—like a pancake being stretched thin.

  Black shadows tore through the gaps, diving straight down.

  They accelerated with such intensity it defied what any normal lifeform could endure.

  BOOM BOOM BOOM...

  A string of explosions ripped through the air.

  One after another, the Suicide Jumpers detonated midair, blooming like deadly fireworks.

  Each explosion formed a large area-of-effect fireblast centered on the jumper.

  With so many overlapping in space and time, the blasts fused into a rolling inferno.

  In the areas engulfed by flame, burning debris and insect carcasses rained from the sky, smashing into the divine barrier.

  The command frequency burst into a cacophony of desperate shouting.

  “All units, take cover now!”

  “Dammit! The divine-enhanced mine shrapnel is interfering with our energy shields!”

  Jacke barely had time to process it all when a piercing screech and violent tearing sounds echoed from above...