46 Chapter 46 (1/2)

The scouts trail-blazed for the army, taking out any hindrances to their march. With the converted Nether Realm residents leading the way, it only took an hour to reach the target. It helped that everyone could fly, bypassing the rough terrain. The army quickly executed their orders and broke off into their different teams once the city was surrounded.

Blackrock City didn't know what hit them. They lived in relative peace, the only danger was from the inhabitants themselves. Even the different Clans and Families would not attack whole cities, preferring to only target opposing factions territory within the city walls. A citywide siege was simply unheard of, and thus very hard to suddenly defend against.

Even though the Nether Realm was always in a perpetual dusk-like state, the time, strangely enough, seemed to be the same as Glory City. Most of Blackrock City's residents were still asleep as it was only 4am, only a few guards on night duty were awake to see the flood of people envelope the city walls.

Shen Yue watched from Blaze's back as the soldiers performed remarkably. He was worried that these new manoeuvres and tactics would take a while for the men to get used too, but there were very few mistakes. After this campaign, he would have to reward them well.

There was chanting of 'surrender or die' being yelled out by the invasion force, and since nearly everyone was asleep, this chant woke them. The message was clear, but there were always fools that thought themselves to be at the top of the food chain. These were brutally slaughtered, even when half of them tried to surrender after attacking.

Jade Seal Family Fort was one of the priority targets as it was one of the top dogs of the city. They were one of the few human Clans that had survived the harsh environment of the underworld and would hopefully be an asset to Shen Yue. As such, they were given a bit more leeway when their compound was assaulted.

The chant they had screamed at them was 'we are human, surrender or die with the traitors'. Since their compound was located in a more central area, they had already witnessed the unmerciful efficiency the defenders were slaughtered. Since the invaders also claimed to be human, the head of the Family gave orders for everyone to surrender. Still, ten or so 'tough guys' had to be brutally subjugated.

Even though they had quite a few Demi-God experts, they were only fighters. Against demon spiritualists, they would always be at a severe disadvantage. The Wugui were not used to this treatment, everyone in the Nether Realm knew of their culture and would react accordingly.

They were a warrior race and only respected the strong. They would fight an opponent even if they were superior to the Wugui, as backing away from a challenge was considered cowardly. Unfortunately for them, once the proud Wugui Family members attacked the Empire's army to prove themselves, they were slaughtered to the last man. Only the women and children were left alive after a quick and ferocious battle.

All over the city, small battles were being fought as it was an instinctual reaction to attack an aggressor. Following along behind the front line were the troops responsible for handling those that surrendered. They were herded out of the city limits to be guarded until the city had been cleared. If there was even a hint of people trying to escape, they were killed and their bodies left there to warn others.

It was a brutal campaign by any standards, but Shen Yue found himself not caring very much. They were given the option to surrender, so his conscience was clear for the thousands dying that tested his men's conviction in following their word. Surrender or die.

The Dark Guild's compound was the main target, as such the heavy hitters made a B-line straight to their front door, bypassing everything else. There was no chanting from these troops, the only target to be kept alive was the Demon Lord, everyone else was marked for death.

From Shen Yue's vantage point high over the city, (for an underground world, there sure was a lot of space) he watched as members of the Dark Guild first attacked with vigour, then begged for mercy as they were literally torn apart. It seemed that the majority of this force were residents of Glory City and held a lot of resentment towards the Guild. For years they had been attacked by these cretins but had no target to retaliate.