Chapter 438: Breaking Formation [V5C145 – A Distance Within Reach]
Luther was shocked and overcome by an ineffable dejection. This wasn’t the first time Song Zining had found him from among the tens of thousands of soldiers. This was proof that the Song Seventh Young Master on the wall was a level higher than him in terms of commanding troops.
Additionally, Luther clearly understood what Song Zining was planning.
Song Zing was sitting quite casually atop the gate tower, but the grasp on his spear tightened subconsciously. Although he was quite decisive in leading troops, there was still some hesitation at this moment because he wasn’t entirely confident. The outcome would be unimaginable should he fail.
It was at this time that a pair of gentle and beautiful hands covered the back of Song Zining’s hand. A young girl standing beside him said in a gentle voice, “Young Master, taking the enemy general’s head amidst tens of thousands of soldiers is something only a brute would do. Why should you take this risk? You only need to stand firm, and these people before you will no longer be your match after a couple of years.”
Song Zining said slowly, “You’re right, but it’s so infuriating!”
The young girl chuckled. “How can everything go as one wishes? Young Master’s fame will surely shake the world after this battle and fill those filthy lowlifes with regret. Isn’t that enough?”
Song Zining exhaled deeply as the killing intent in his eyes receded. The hand on his spear also relaxed gradually.
“Those lowlifes, heh, heh.” Song Zining chuckled twice before becoming completely silent. His serene gaze focused toward the depths of the Iron Curtain. It had been fourteen days since the siege, but there was no news of Qianye at all.
Luther was immediately disappointed after seeing no action atop the walls, but he was also somewhat relieved. From all these days of fighting, he knew Song Zining rarely made a move but was like a thunderous tempest once he took action. Moreover, it seemed the other party wished to charge into the army and fight it out with him. Judging from how Song Zining had led his troops, it was clear that he wasn’t a reckless person. This also meant that the man was at least five to six parts certain of killing him—this thought made Luther fairly uncomfortable.
The battle situation at this moment was like riding on the proverbial tiger and impossible to stop. The truth had proven that the information Luther had received before the battle was inaccurate; this Song Seventh Young Master was a veteran at leading troops and definitely not a hedonist who knew nothing about martial arts. But it was impossible to retreat since they had mobilized on all fronts, and he would have to wait until the battle was over before settling things with those who had tipped him off. It was just that, as a cautious person, he couldn’t help but hesitate while making various decisions.
It was during Luther’s moment of internal strife that a frosty intent washed over him from the top of his head and traveled deep into his heart. His entire body went ice cold during that moment as a frigid killing intent locked firmly onto him!
Luther turned back abruptly and found a figure charging straight toward him with the speed of a specter—the warriors he passed by were completely unresponsive. Only the occasional officer would notice something wrong, but they couldn’t catch up to him at all.
Judging from his intentions, this person was launching a solitary suicide attack!
Luther was immediately overwhelmed by the perilous situation. He simply had no idea how this person had found him. Song Zining had traced him from the subtle clues of his troop movements, but Luther refused to believe there were two god-like strategists in a small place like Blackflow.
On the other hand, Luther’s main army wasn’t empty despite eight parts of his forces besieging the city. He had hundreds of personal guards, thousands of cannon fodder, and Luther himself was a first-rank viscount. Counts couldn’t take action under the Iron Curtain, either. This person actually dared to charge into his central army alone—was he looking to hasten his own demise?
As a veteran commander, Luther quickly calmed down and pointed at Qianye. “Surround and kill him!”
The great army moved his response to his command. The cannon fodder charged out in front, while the elites moved out diagonally to flank him. Half of Luther’s personal guards also mobilized, and they quickly split into three small groups, seeking to deliver a fatal blow.
Each stratum of the dark race army moved in an orderly fashion in response to Luther’s command. An elite strategist would notice how capable this demonkin viscount was in his troop management. It was just that Luther’s aides were somewhat puzzled as to why the whole army had been mobilized for a single assailant as though they were dealing with an entire commando unit.
Qianye had only charged halfway when bullets fell toward him like rain. He lowered his body, raised a heavy shield, and charged on amidst the barrage. A series of sparks flew off from the heavy shield, sending shrapnel and pieces of the shield’s alloy flying off in all directions. However, Qianye’s speed didn’t slow down in the slightest.
Hundreds of meters passed by in a flash, and Qianye had already crashed into Luther’s central army.
Muffled thuds rang out continuously as cannon fodder were sent flying in his wake. Qianye soon flung out the badly damaged shield—the piece of metal flew out with an extremely sharp whistle, producing a scene of carnage for dozens of meters before falling to the ground. Even the two blood esquires who wanted to intercept it with their swords were forced away.
An incisive scar immediately appeared within the neat dark race formation.
Next, Qianye slashed out horizontally with East Peak and rent the ten-odd cannon fodder in front of him into two halves. As the sword winds blew past, a ten-meter-long passage lined by corpses appeared before him.
Qianye strode forward ten meters at a time and crashed through the group of cannon fodder once again. East Peak transformed into a soaring serpent—it swung wide and far, accompanied by myriad phenomena. Blood would spill wherever this blade fell.
Qianye was like an incomparably sharp wedge. No matter how dense Luther’s troops were, they couldn’t stop him from nailing all the way in.
He had pierced through all the cannon fodder in the blink of an eye. Luther’s countenance was ashen, and his hand was already on the hilt of his sword. However, he endured the urge and only raised his right hand to form a fist, then pointed at Qianye.
This was the order for the regular army to charge.
The regular soldiers following behind the cannon fodder began to charge and attack Qianye. Under the sudden pressure, Qianye let out a long whistle—East Peak’s momentum became even more incisive, and its might increased by half. Every swing of his sword was accompanied by a fierce ambiance akin to a tsunami or a landslide.
The regular warriors were massacred without even managing to slow down the person’s steps. Luther was overwhelmed with shock and heartache. He couldn’t help but want to draw his sword and charge forth, but he managed to hold himself back forcibly. Qianye’s strategy was fulfilling but also involved an extreme amount of consumption; he would be completely exhausted after a while.
Luther was secretly amazed at Qianye’s sword techniques and power. He wasn’t willing to take the brunt of the attack while the other party was at the peak of his momentum. He had always been a genius commander, but he wasn’t a peerless expert. It was the role of a famed general to use his subordinates to deplete the enemy’s origin power, then move forth to end his life.
Upon the tower, Song Zining shot up from his seat with eyes full of joy. However, the delight was soon replaced by a strong sense of worry. He grabbed his spear without a second thought and leapt off the tower, transforming into a silver streak of light which whistled toward the enemy’s main army.
“Young Master!” The young girl failed to stop Song Zining in time and could only stomp her feet on the spot. She then drew a pair of daggers and jumped down the tower to chase after Song Zining.
Atop the city wall, Song Hu was shocked out of his wits. He turned around and hurriedly shouted out commands, “Stronghold cannons, prepare to fire at positions three and seven! Reserve squad, prepare to descend the walls! All defensive structures, cover the Young Master!”
Song Zining flew dozens of meters before landing on the ground and was duly surrounded by numerous enemies. A shake of his spear kicked up whistling winds akin to the disorderly arrival of powerful cavalry—dozens of flames embellished with flickering silvery light shot out in every direction. The soldiers around him fell like collapsed wheat amidst a sea of blood, and no one was left standing within a radius of several meters.
The Song Seventh Young Master ignored the myriad soldiers around him as he charged toward Luther’s main army amidst a display of fireworks.
A petite figure was following Song Zining from behind. It leapt here and there, felling several enemies with every blow.
The large commotion naturally alarmed Luther who glanced back and immediately cried out in distress. This Song Seventh Young Master had to choose this very moment to kill his way over and play the solitary horseman breaking the army. But then again, how could Song Zining have endured his siege for so long with a much weaker army if he couldn’t even grasp such an opportunity?
Despite Song Zining charging over with the momentum of a rainbow, Luther only pointed toward Qianye after weighing the pros and cons. His personal guards finally launched their attacks and increased the pressure on Qianye.
A muffled thud akin to the sound of a war drum reverberated throughout the battlefield. Even the blood in Luther’s body was stirred by this sound, and just as he was overcome by astonishment, he heard a second beat of the drum.
Luther suddenly realized that it was actually the sound of a vampire’s pulsating blood core. But such a resonance could hardly be seen even on a high-ranking count.
Just who was this person?!
A layer of bloody radiance emerged around Qianye’s body as he vanished in a flash. It was during that split second that an indescribable chill of desolation and austerity washed over a wide area.
This was the dignity of a superior entity looking down on the mundane existences, a ruler’s indifference toward plebians—vampires, werewolves, arachne, and even Luther himself became distracted for a moment. The vampires were affected the most. Wherever the aura passed, all vampires trembled, and some even collapsed to the ground.
Qianye retracted his blood energy immediately after releasing it. East Peak rose and cut down several of Luther’s personal guards in a flash, leaving no room for resistance. By the time the dark race warriors came to, Qianye’s blood energy had reappeared to petrify all enemies within a ten-meter radius around him.
“Bloodline suppression?” Luther was suddenly dumbstruck.
This surprised him more than Qianye slaughtering his men with the strength of a count or even a marquis. Luther’s bloodline belonged to an ancient inheritance. The vampire bloodlines capable of affecting even him could be calculated on one hand.
Suspicions arose in Luther’s heart as he shouted, “Who are you?!”
Qianye only shot him a glance full of enmity and killing intent, but had no intention of speaking. It was during this moment that more personal guards fell under East Peak.
The vertical eye on Luther’s forehead finally opened. However, he immediately felt as though he were hallucinating—the heavy sword of carnage was actually driven by daybreak origin power! But then what was that intense dark golden blood energy on his body?
While Luther’s thoughts were wandering, Qianye had passed through most of the central army and wasn’t far from where the former was standing. More than half of his elites had fallen, and a third of his personal guards had suffered casualties. Cannon fodder wasn’t worth much money, but these elites and personal guards were solid losses. This made Luther feel incomparably distressed.
Heartaches aside, Luther saw that Qianye’s reserves of blood energy and origin power were mostly drained. Gritting his teeth, he ordered his last ten guards to charge and kill Qianye on the spot! A wisp of black mist appeared on Luther’s body and transformed into a giant two-headed python. He then proceeded to watch Qianye coldly.
Whether the other party really possessed a superior bloodline or a secret technique, Luther wasn’t willing to battle him rashly even if his combat strength was above Qianye. He would wait for Qianye to weaken himself after charging through his personal guards then deliver the fatal blow.
Seeing the personal guards surround him like a pack of wolves, Qianye’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. A dark golden hue emerged in the depths of his eyes as hundreds of sanguineous threads shot out from his body and pierced through all the enemies!
The vicinity was immediately emptied and Luther was right in front of him. There was no longer any obstruction between the two. Meanwhile, Qianye’s exhausted blood energy and origin power rose gradually, recovering half his reserves in the blink of an eye.
Life Plunder!
Only on the battlefield could one truly bring out the terrifying powers of this innate ability.