The "arrowhead formation" that was originally aimed at the Mu Continent rapidly changed direction.
With the [Frozen Chariot Beasts] at their core, a large number of Frozen Knight-class Honkai Beasts also began to swiftly turn their spearheads towards the human fleet.
At the same time.
Under the protection of the Frozen Assault-class Honkai Beasts, the Drifter-class beasts, interspersed throughout the legion, began a large-scale ascent. They would assist the Temple-class from the flanks, reciprocating any greetings from human air forces that might arrive from the sea.
"Death."
Plague Temple's shell was incomparably pale; even the crystals at its Honkai energy nodes were as pristine as a sheet of white paper, utterly unblemished.
"The humans on land have begun to move."
Plague Temple's color was not its original appearance but a product of its augmented mental authority. Among the four Honkai Beast legions, the 'Frozen' Legion was not as swift in action as the 'Crimson Cherry' Legion, nor did it possess [Super Perception] or mental reconnaissance capabilities. Therefore, the Emperor had specifically granted a portion of its mental authority to Plague Temple, enabling it to detect human movements in a timely manner.
However.
Plague Temple's use of this authority was far less simple than Cheche's; it was generally kept inactive unless absolutely necessary.
"It doesn't matter."
The army's movements did not exceed Death Temple's expectations.
"Let the humans gather as they please."
"The [Frozen Chariot Beasts] on the coastline will remain stationary, fortifying their position with [Frozen Barrier] and [Physical Reflection] to deploy defenses."
Death Temple's voice still sounded slow and unhurried.
"Plague."
"You take four [Frozen Emperors] over there to intercept the human air force and their ultra-long-range strikes."
"Though it's unlikely… we still need to guard against individual infiltration by Fusion Warriors or high-tier armed automatons. These will be your responsibility to deal with."
"Understood."
The pale figure slowly faded into the void.
Unlike the [Teleport] of ordinary Temple-class beasts, Plague Temple's spatial movement was far more enigmatic and unpredictable. Neither mental perception nor spatial fluctuations would leave the slightest detectable trace.
Among the Emperor's Four War Temples.
In terms of combat power, War was naturally the strongest.
But when it came to tactics and strategy, Death was far ahead—this was also why Lu Xing had confidently entrusted the 'Frozen' Legion, the main force, to its command.
"Emperor."
Gazing at the legion re-forming its ranks and the human warships in the distance preparing for a synchronized barrage, Death Temple slowly drew its dim, grey long spear.
"I sing your name."
"Grant your strength unto my being!"
Unlike the other three Temples, Death Temple's process of borrowing the Emperor's authority was more "ritualistic," or rather, more inclined towards human theology.
Swoosh!
Powers of cyan and blue surged forth from the void.
Death Temple's greyish-white body was instantly wreathed in intertwining wind-flowers and frost.
Correct.
Death Temple had borrowed the Emperor's "Wind" and "Ice" authorities. With these as its foundation, it would offer a婉转而凄美 (graceful yet mournful) dirge to the human fleets in the north.
"Ahhh— ~"
A scepter-like shadow flickered across the surface of the long spear and vanished.
A cyan-blue cold wave began to rage. Upon the already frigid ice surface, the temperature plummeted by several tens of degrees more—accompanied by a soaring "song," an extremely cold wind, with Death Temple at its center, swept towards the distant combined fleet!
Wooooo~!
As if…
The whisper of the Grim Reaper.
————
"Fire!"
BOOM!!!
The roar of cannons thundered across the sea surface.
The impact, however, was far from what was imagined. The combined fleet, formed by three navies, was naturally considerable in scale, but the firepower of their equipped armaments… was adequate against an ordinary medium-sized Honkai Beast legion, but somewhat stretched when confronting the 'Frozen' Legion.
Offensive firepower aside.
The lack of weapons on the level of the [Yaoguang] or [Proton Impact Cannon] wasn't critical, as there were no large Emperor-class Honkai Beasts in the legion requiring such calibers to deal with.
Clusters of ordinary Honkai Beasts could still be slowly chipped away by battleship main cannons exceeding 400mm in caliber.
But when it came to the most crucial aspect, defense…
Neither Great Britain nor the Soviet Union had accumulated technology in energy shields. On Shenzhou's side, all their sky ships had been prioritized for the already annihilated "Xuanwu" and "Zhuque" fleets; the "White Tiger" fleet, far to the west, had not received enhancements.
In other words.
When it came to countering the Honkai Beasts' "superweapons," the combined fleet could only rely on "structural integrity" to withstand them—fortunately, the 'Frozen' Legion didn't seem to have deployed any Emperor-class Honkai Beasts with similar abilities, so…
BOOM!!!
Countless explosions.
Were all blocked by the [Frozen Chariot Beasts] standing at the very front of the legion!
"Powder-blue" solid ice, condensed from Honkai energy, formed into [Frozen Barriers], creating an impregnable wall before the massive [Frozen Chariot Beasts]. Neither Great Britain's 406mm cannons nor Shenzhou's electromagnetic 356mm cannons could do more than chip away at this steel-like ice wall layer by layer… but their rate of destruction couldn't keep up with the ice wall's regeneration speed.
The most effective strikes came from the Black Sea Fleet flagship's 510mm cannons.
Each bombardment from this weapon could directly shatter a [Frozen Barrier]. During the fourth salvo, two shells struck at such an acute angle that they directly pierced through a [Frozen Chariot Beast]!
This was, since the beginning of the battle.
The first casualty suffered by the 'Frozen' Legion.
In non-encounter situations, the engagement range of battleship main cannons far exceeded that of ordinary lower-tier Honkai Beasts.
However.
As the combined fleet continued to press forward—the closer the distance, the greater the power of the main cannons—the humans' safe distance was about to vanish.
The combined fleet had not yet used missiles.
The presence of the Honkai Emperors was extremely conspicuous. Although their anti-aircraft capabilities were inferior to those of the Quillspike-class, once their numbers exceeded double digits, few supersonic weapons could breach the Honkai Emperors' blockade.
And compared to ship-launched missiles, the cost of main cannon shells was practically negligible.
Death Temple also didn't have the Honkai Emperors waste Honkai energy intercepting these worthless pieces of scrap.
Until…
At a distance of 12 nautical miles from the 'Frozen' Legion, the combined fleet halted its advance. After suffering nearly ninety percent losses, the small drone reconnaissance units, flying at ultra-low altitudes, finally completed their scan of the 'Frozen' Legion: they found no trace of any high-tier Honkai Beasts.
In other words.
The long-range strike capability of this Honkai Beast legion would not exceed 6 nautical miles—this was the effective kill range of the [Annihilation Light], a ranged attack skill used by Honkai Emperors. Considering the special nature of the enemy forces, the combined fleet commander had doubled this warning distance.
Normally.
Such a decision would definitely be considered conservative.
Unfortunately…
Wooooo~!