CHAPTER 657: CHAPTER 539: THE FINAL BATTLE BEGINS (PART 2)

As Eve gazed into the distance, Li Mu couldn’t help but ask,

"What are you looking at?"

"I am observing the movements of the Half-Beasts."

Eve replied.

Observing the movements of the Half-Beasts?

Li Mu was taken aback.

He followed her gaze and found that apart from barely glimpsing the pointed Sandstorm Tower, he couldn’t see much else.

Even when he used the skill [Eagle Eye], he could only barely make out the blurry outlines of the city walls.

This made Li Mu have to marvel, *the boss is really the boss, her eyesight is just too good.*

However, he quickly slapped his own forehead again.

*I’ve been playing the game too long... I’m considering things in the "Elf Kingdom" with a real-world mindset.*

*This game is so addictive, when you play it long enough, it really feels like another world!*

Eve didn’t mind Li Mu’s small movements but continued to gaze toward Sandstorm City.

It was twenty kilometers away from the player’s camp, with almost no obstacles in between.

Thus, as a True God, Eve could clearly see the activities of the Half-Beasts on the city walls, especially on the high Sandstorm Tower.

Of course, this also meant that the other side could clearly see the movements of the players.

Without obstacles, the visible range at one hundred meters high was about 35 kilometers. Although the Half-Beasts’ eyesight was certainly not as good as a True God’s, standing on the Sandstorm Tower, they could still see the general dynamics of the player camp.

So... the Half-Beasts surely already noticed the gathering of the elves.

Interestingly, Eve observed that after detecting the players’ actions, the Half-Beasts in Sandstorm City, although initially panicked, quickly calmed down.

*To know that when the players first appeared twenty kilometers away, Sandstorm City was in complete chaos, and the city walls were even more of a mess, it took a long time for things to settle down...*

*The players’ previous attacks were too ruthless.*

*The merciless slaughter and plunder, along with the forced abandonment of faith, have left deep psychological scars on the Half-Beasts of the Death Desert.*

*They never imagined that one day these seemingly harmless elves would become a presence they feared...*

Under such circumstances, it was a bit unexpected for Eve that this large-scale action by the players did not throw Sandstorm City into chaos.

They had clearly suffered a defeat two days ago when their morale was at its lowest!

*This was unusual.*

"Interesting..."

Eve murmured to herself.

*In her heart, she already had some vague suspicions...*

Twenty kilometers was not too far and not too close.

However, for a True God, it was just a moment away.

Within this distance, a True God could even sense large energy fluctuations nearby!

Since the players got close to Sandstorm City, Eve had been monitoring the energy fluctuations in that direction, also gathering intelligence about the city through various player channels...

When it involved the activities of a True God, the momentum was generally not small.

Even if Uller tried his best to conceal it, there would still be some traces left.

Eve’s goal was to find these traces and thereby spy on Uller’s actions.

However, during these days, except for detecting a weak wave of Divine Power, Eve hadn’t sensed any other energy changes...

And the only time there was a Divine Power fluctuation, based on her own experience, Eve suspected it was probably Uller’s oracle.

Coupled with the prior defeat of the Half-Beasts...

This indicated that the Half-Beasts had not yet summoned a stronger presence in Sandstorm City.

Actually, that’s reasonable, as the Segis World was not yet fully open. At the current time, summoning an incarnation and Demigod Apostles required the continuous consumption of Divine Power to withstand the world’s rejection.

This consumption was not small.

In the short term, it was manageable, but if the power arrived too early, Uller would surely be overwhelmed...

*After all, she was only a weak Divine Power True God and had sealed the nearby time and space, her own consumption was already terrifying.*

Therefore, Eve’s judgment was that only after the players formally attacked would the Half-Beasts pray for a summons.

But now seeing the change in the Half-Beasts, her thought changed.

She indeed hadn’t sensed any large energy changes before.

Except for yesterday.

The Death Desert had been affected by the pollution of magic power, and under extreme weather, the whole desert’s magic power would become chaotic.

Like a sandstorm.

And since this was not under Eve’s control, once the magic power became chaotic, Uller could cover up the energy changes to some extent.

Magic power chaos would affect summoning, possibly leading to a failed ritual, but one place was an exception.

That was the temple.

Coincidentally... Sandstorm City had the largest temple in the Death Desert.

This all led Eve to have some conjectures:

The Half-Beasts... most likely took advantage of yesterday’s sandstorm to perform the final summoning!

It was likely that the power at the Demigod Level already existed in Sandstorm City now.

As if to confirm Eve’s suspicions, at the next moment, she saw the Half-Beasts move.

The Half-Beast camp under Sandstorm City also began to assemble!

However, it was not for defense.

Because Eve saw the Half-Beasts in Sandstorm City mustered a grand army and left the city.

This stirred something in Eve.

Assembling an army required time.

The Half-Beasts’ actions were not simply due to the players’ dynamic changes, but they had planned to gather their troops today anyway.

Here, there was no longer any suspense.

Only with strong reinforcements would the Half-Beasts have the courage to gather their troops and launch another attack!

With this thought, Eve sighed softly,

"The showdown... is about to begin."

Then, she turned around and said to Li Mu,

"Inform the other Chosen Ones to prepare for battle. The Half-Beasts are also starting to assemble their army. Perhaps... we shall fight them in the desert."

"They must have received support from the True God."

Support from the True God...

Li Mu’s expression turned serious.

He thought for a moment and then respectfully asked,

"So... do we need to retreat to the camp and defend?"

Eve only asked back,

"What do you think?"

Li Mu was momentarily taken aback.

But soon, he smiled,

"Then... of course, we should fight them in the open!"

*No kidding, the defense battle earlier felt unsatisfying for everyone, and now that the Half-Beasts are all out, isn’t it the perfect opportunity?!*

*Perhaps the casualty ratio would be lower with a defensive battle, but the players now longed for an invigorating fight where everyone could join the fray!*

*Not to mention, they had confidence in their own strength!*

*As for support from the True God...*

*Didn’t they also have the power of the Goddess?*

Thinking of this, Li Mu couldn’t help but glance at Eve, who seemed to have read his mind. She drew a Life Scepter symbol on her chest and then said devoutly,

"The Goddess will protect everyone."

Li Mu nodded.

He bowed to Eve once more, then took his leave.

Twenty minutes passed quickly.

The hundred thousand troops were fully gathered.

The battlefield channel was reopened.

The familiar BGM played, and the players felt either solemn or eager with excitement.

The intelligence exchanged from Divine Favored Zero had already been published by Li Mu on the battlefield channel.

There was no rallying conference or pre-battle speeches.

All players realized that the showdown for the Death Desert main storyline was about to start.

"March, target—the Half-Beast army!"

With Li Mu’s command echoing throughout the battlefield channel, a hundred thousand troops marched in a roughly organized phalanx towards Sandstorm City...

The BGM abruptly changed.

The rousing march song played in the players’ ears, boosting the morale of every participant.

Meanwhile, in the direction of Sandstorm City, the Half-Beast army, clearly already prepared, also positioned themselves in formation and assembled.

Amid the blaring of horns, over two hundred thousand Half-Beast troops, flanked by sixty Bimongs, also began their march northward...

The two sides seemed to be in agreement, like two ferocious war beasts, slowly advancing towards each other.

Twenty kilometers, moving towards each other, with flat terrain...

The showdown was about to begin.