Chapter 780 - Battle at the Sea of No Return
Outside of Tian Ling City, the brush was trampled flat by the people. There was a sea of players rushing out of the city towards the Sea of No Return. I could see insignias of the great Tian Ling City armies on all of the player’s shoulders. The only insignia that was absent was the Royal Army. For some reason, the Royal Army wasn’t a part of the system and didn’t allow players to enter. Although, this wasn’t bad in itself. At least it would help maintain absolute obedience from the soldiers. I, for one, did not have confidence that I’d be able to maintain absolute command over the players. After all, current society is very individualistic and nobody is willing to completely follow another’s commands.
……
The first row of the Royal Army was made up of eight thousand knights who were all humans. The middle section was made up of foot soldiers, while the back section was all barbarians. There were around five thousand of them. The five thousand that Long Xing and Xia Ye had brought with them had been separated by me into the different sections so that they learn to be agreeable with the other soldiers. I had Xiao Lie and Han Yuan take command. In the beginning, there was disagreement, but it had decreased by quite a bit. At the very least, they listen to commands. Otherwise, there would be no way for us to maintain our battle power.
“General!”
Han Yuan quickened his step and caught up with me, “Whose commands will we be following? And who will be leading this battle against the Hybrid Demons?”
I shook my head, “Not sure, we probably won’t know until the Sea of No Return. Princess Pearl won’t ignore us, don’t worry. She still has high hopes for us!”
Han Yuan smiled cheerfully, “Sir, how long do you think that this battle will last?”
I grunted, “Not sure, probably at least three days?”
“Why?”
I shook my head without an answer. How could I explain to an NPC that the event is restricted to 72 hours? Han Yuan wouldn’t necessarily understand so there was no reason for me to explain.
……
In the [Zhan Long] guild chat, Wan Er and Qing Qian, the two vice guild masters, were instructing everyone to head to the Sea of No Return. Most of the Zhan Long camp was camped at Dragon City, and more likely than not, Frost would also bring the Dragon City Knights to reinforce us. Besides, the Dragon City Army had proven its strength and Frost herself was one of the only people who could stand against a Hybrid Demon King.
After an hour, around thirty thousand players from the Royal Army had arrived at the southern map of the Sea of No Return. When our soldiers made it out of the forest, we could see the endless sea before us. There was still around 2.5 km between us and the shore. The land before us was going to be our battlefield against the Hybrid Demons. Even now, I could see countless monsters riding on ships that covered the horizon.
Not far from us, I saw an officer raise a crimson flag and shout, “Commander of the Royal Army, Li Xiao Yao, prepare for orders!”
I nodded, “Here!”
He said, “I ask that the commander of the Royal Army begin setting up a formation here. The Flame Dragon Army will be beside you. His Majesty hopes that you will provide reinforcements to the Flame Dragon Army so that center won’t be without support.”
I smiled, “Understood.”
The messenger glanced back at me and said, “General Li, follow me to the General’s camp!”
“Alright….”
……
I tried to imagine what this tent would be like. It’d probably be a bunch of old fogies gathered around a flag, all of them fighting to be the first to battle. Although, those would probably be the first to get killed. Yup, who knows if that’s what would happen?
I turned around to look at everyone and said, “General Han Yuan, General Xiao Lie, General Long Xing, General Xia Ye, I will leave for a moment. Immediately begin setting up our defenses and bring out the battle weapons. Let us expel them from our shores before a single one lands!”
Xia Ye laughed, “Understood. General, please don’t worry!”
“Good.”
I reigned in my horse and followed behind the messenger. I saw hundreds of people along the way. There were both players and NPCs. The Flame Dragon Army and the Xia Yu Army camps were set up along both sides, as though they were there to protect the king. My Royal Army and the Flame Dragon Army, on the other hand, were on the side, somewhat further from the rest. But for us, it wasn’t bad. At least we weren’t set up five km away like some of the slag armies. That was truly a tragedy.
A crimson royal flag fluttered in the wind hanging on a high pole around ten meters tall. Who knew how they managed to raise such a high flag...
“My lord?”
The messenger looked back at me and saw that I was wandering around. Impatiently, he said, “My lord, please hasten yourself. His majesty has important matters to discuss!”
I nodded and quickened my pace. I put away my Flying Scythe Horse and entered the king’s tent with my Dragon Reservoir Sword. Golden light flashed everywhere from the treasure that filled the room. Even the fur rug that covered the ground was lined with golden embroidery. I couldn’t help but feel a little sour in my heart. So this is what the blood and sweat of the common people was being used for. If this was the state of an impromptu war tent, just imagine how the Tian Ling City king normally lived.
“The lord Li Xiao Yao of the Royal Army has arrived!” The guard outside the tent announced in a loud voice.
With my sword, I slowly walked in, only to see that all of the officials were staring at me strangely. It was as though I were a weirdo. Some of them were even pointing and murmuring, “That’s Li Xiao Yao, the new general of the Royal Army. He had even scolded the son of the marquis. What a terrifying man. I heard that his Royal Army had managed to kill two thousand Hybrid Demons. How could such a vulgar man be on par with the Hybrid Demons? It has to be a fluke.”
I didn’t say anything in response and continued forward. Princess Pearl greeted me and reached out for my hand and brought me before his majesty. I stood beside her. It was clear that Princess Pearl already thought of me as a close aid. This kind of treatment was something that the other generals couldn’t even dream about. Besides, Pearl was naturally beautiful, and was the only daughter of the king, and thus the only princess of the empire. Who knew how many noble lords wanted to earn the affection of the Princess Pearl? Unfortunately for them, Pearl seemed to put much more care into soldiers who fought for the country, rather than the ones who only said pretty words.
King Rob glanced at me without any emotion, “Seeing as the general of the Royal Army has arrived, then let us begin our discussion. Generals, how should this battle be fought?”
At that moment, a dark faced general walked over and said, “I think that we should urge the navy to attack first, while the Hybrid Demons are still at sea. That way, they won’t be able to reach the shores and the territories of Tian Ling City will remain pure from their ravaging!”
The crown prince Theodore immediately laughed, “General Luke must be joking. There’s only 50,000 people in the Tian Ling City navy, their battle power is limited. Not to mention the fact that it’ll take them half a day to arrive. They can’t possibly make it in time. And, even if they did, our small navy would never be able to stand against the Hybrid Demons. The people who sink to the bottom would be us, not those monsters.”
Luke stiffened. His face was starting to turn crimson, “Your highness must be overestimating those Hybrid demons a bit. I’ve fought against them once, and they are nowhere near as terrifying as the legends say. After all, they are also made up of flesh and blood. In the end, they will go down with the sweep of a blade.”
Theodore coldly laughed, “That is all just prattle.”
“Your highness!” Luke bit back his words.
Right then, Pearl warmly smiled, “How about this. The general with the most experience with the Hybrid Demons currently present is General Li Xiao Yao. How about we let him give some input as to how we proceed?”
Everyone turned their heads towards me. I rested my hand on my hilt and looked to the king, “There are many different types of Hybrid Demon soldiers. One of them is known as a Plunderer, and is a flight type being. They are quick as lightning and their sharp claws can pierce through iron shields. In other words, there’s every possibility that those Plunderers are on the ships. It doesn’t seem very viable for us to attack them from both flanks using our navy.”
King Rob furrowed his brow, “So it was like that. Then there is no need for us to waste time on discussing a battle on the water. Naval Commander, have your troops immediately begin creating Iron Sheeted Boats, so that we may block an attack from the waters.”
A tall and thin general knelt before the king and said, “Yes, your majesty!”
Right then, the prudent second prince posed a question, “Actually, there’s something I don’t understand!”
“Oh, what is it, Owen?” King Rob answered.
Owen continued, “Father, the Sea of No Return is typically controlled by the Sea Demon tribe. They are incredibly cruel and savage, and are superior in underwater combat. Furthermore, they use iron weapons. Just two hundred years ago, when the empire fought against the Hybrid Demons, we sent out 300,000 soldiers to the Sea of No Return, only to have them completely decimated. This was largely due to the hooks and chisels that the Sea Demons used. Ordinarily, these Sea Demons are extremely protective of their territory and would never allow any other tribes to enter. But… this time, the Hybrid Demon armies were actually able to safely cross the ocean. Why is that?”
King Rob was puzzled by the question, “This…”
Theodore narrowed his eyes, “Brother, are you saying… that the Sea Demons of the Sea of No Return have succeeded in an agreement with the Hybrid Demons?”
Owen nodded, “That’s right, that’s the only possible explanation for this. The Sea Demons and the Hybrid Demons have joined hands. It’s highly possible that we will not only be faced against Hybrid Demons, but also the Sea Demon tribe! So, I support Pearl’s input. We cannot enter the Sea of No Return, or else it will be meaningless suicide!”
“What?!”
A large bearded man audibly gasped, “I’ve already ordered my troops to scour the coast and make sure that none of the Hybrid Demons land. This…”
Pearl reacted first, “Oh no, General Smith, immediately call your troops back!”