Chapter 1145: Ambushing Reinforcements (1/2)

The top floor of the ruined structure was covered in countless sanguine threads as pale Evernight experts collapsed one after the other.

Roaring thunderously, the werewolf count struggled with all his might, but that only served to attract more of the bloody threads. He had already jumped halfway up when he was bound to the ground once more. This time, the collapsed count no longer had the strength to jump, and his roars slowly faded away.

The demonkin marquis let out a shrill scream as his body erupted into demonic flames. Then, he tore through the sanguine threads with brute force and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Qianye didn’t go after the man. He merely drew East Peak and swung it a couple of times, drowning the struggling dark race experts in violent waves of oceanic power.

Chasing after an injured marquis involved too many variables, so he decided to consolidate his victory instead. These titled experts made up the foundation of the dark races—killing them all in one go was still a huge blow to the enemy army, and it would also serve to reduce the risk they posed while sweeping the battlefield.

With the leaders killed, the retreating dark race soldiers fell into chaos and began to scatter randomly.

Dark Flame had the entire place surrounded, but they had intentionally left small openings for the fleeing soldiers. They would then attack from the side and rear, inflicting great damage to the enemy forces. This was a minor tactic frequently employed by mercenaries—it might not be effective in a head-on battle, but it was highly useful in chaotic situations like this.

After leaving the neutral lands, Dark Flame’s mercenaries were able to put their ferocity on full display. Their individual fighting prowess was far above that of ordinary Evernight and Empire soldiers. They used to be limited by inferior equipment and tactical command, but now, they were able to bare their fangs after Qianye and Song Zining had supplemented their deficiencies.

The battle ended as quickly as it had begun. Although some dark race soldiers managed to escape, most of them fell during their outward charge. The mercenaries of the neutral lands brought out their ferocity and craftiness without restraint, causing shocking damage during the final phase of the battle. Any commanding officer would’ve opted against breaking out, had they known what would happen. They would much rather have defended their post until reinforcements arrived.

Compared to the accomplishments of the battle, Dark Flame’s losses were unbelievably low. That was also because the top-experts of the defending force were wiped out by Qianye.

After observing the layout of the city and integrating the information with earlier geographical surveys, Song Zining set up several defensive lines outside of the city to prevent a dark race counterattack. Then, he began dividing the city into districts and made plans to construct a new defense system.

The place was called Whitetown. The buildings here, built using stones from the nearby mountains, were all white, and hence the name.

The town was originally built as a landing point for the dark races, so the initial layout was similar to a fortress. As the dark races gained an increasing advantage on the continent, the role of their rear logistics gradually diminished and civilian structures popped up eventually.

That was why Whitetown possessed a complete defensive system that could be utilized with minimal modifications. That saved Song Zining quite a bit of trouble.

Qianye had it much easier. Instructing his aides not to disturb him, he sat down in a quiet spot and began recovering.

The dark races reacted swiftly—Song Zining had just finished setting up the outer defensive perimeter when the counterattack force arrived. However, these forces were dispatched in a hurry and without an aerial advantage. They were badly beaten and had no choice but to retreat with great casualties.

After gaining the advantage, Song Zining stopped the troops from chasing the enemy. Instead, he ordered them to complete the defensive structures the enemy had left behind. The seventh young master didn’t hold back at all with the construction work. It seemed as though he intended to fill every corner and building with death traps.

The sky gradually darkened with the arrival of dusk.

Qianye opened his eyes, ending a phase of his cultivation. A good part of the essence blood in his body had been converted, allowing for more space to use Life Plunder.

There was no light in the building after dark. All energy had been routed to power the city defenses. Illumination was limited in the barracks as well, and even the officers were only given candles. The candle flame could barely light up a corner of the room, making everything quite blurry and eerie.

Qianye had no complaints about Song Zining’s extreme habits in resource management. This brightness didn’t quite affect his vision, either.

As Qianye walked out of the building, a rich meaty fragrance filled his nostrils. A young mercenary nearby passed him a tray with two bowls of stewed meat. The stimulating fragrance told him that this was stewed beast meat, something reserved for officers above the champion level. The meat could provide a large amount of energy, so ordinary soldiers simply didn’t dare to eat it. Without sufficient cultivation, the meat would turn into poison.

These two bowls contained five times the amount available to a high-ranking officer, but Qianye was only half full after eating it. He called for three more bowls of meat before feeling satisfied.

Their landing was a success, and it was also time for the other attack routes to make their move. Soon, the Empire would face fierce retaliation from half a continent’s worth of enemy forces. This might actually be the last peaceful meal available to them.

Qianye placed the bowls onto the tray and ordered the young mercenary to return them to the kitchen. He himself headed onto the roof to observe the situation throughout the town.

The young mercenary suddenly lost his footing as he walked out of the door, dropping all the bowls to the ground.

The entire town quaked, then a deafening rumble arrived from afar. For a moment, nothing else could be heard except for the explosion.

Qianye rushed out to check the surroundings and saw a cloud of dust, from which half a building had been flung out. He could even see human silhouettes dropping out from the windows from time to time.

This shocking explosion had blasted half a building dozens of meters into the air and tilted all the structures nearby.