The new world’s sun was always hovering in the sky. The wind contained a faint trace of killing intent, constantly seeking to break down everything in its path.
The Imperial soldiers in the valley took advantage of this lapse to rest—there was no telling when the alarm for battle would ring once again. Many of the troops simply wrapped themselves in a blanket and lay on the ground. No matter how hard the soil was, it was definitely better than sleeping in the airships. The intense vibrations and the deafening roar of the engine would drive anyone insane.
The new airship models made for this world contained little in terms of passenger comfort, but there were too many places on the battlefield that were much more difficult. This much was nothing for the veteran elites following the Zhao-Song duo.
Song Zining picked up the tokens and scattered them again.
“How is it?”
“There’s an opportunity in that direction.”
“Good.” Zhao Jundu got up to prepare for battle.
Song Zining called him back. “There’s no rush. They won’t take the bait unless we go back and forth for a while. Go and invite Prince Greensun in the meantime.”
“Won’t the Profundity Monarch do?”
“Prince Greensun is the safer bet.”
“Very well.” Zhao Jundu left.
In the days that followed, Song Zining latched onto an allied army of vampires and arachne. The commander of this squad, however, was extremely crafty. They avoided fighting head-on against Song Zining at all costs, always pulling back after a brief skirmish. They also maintained an orderly formation at all times, making use of temporary fortifications to contend with Song Zining. They neither left nor headed into a decisive battle.
Song Zining really seemed helpless against such an opponent. Both sides sustained a fair bit of damage over several days of combat. Evernight lost three marquises, while the Empire saw two rank seventeen generals perish.
This stalemate was disadvantageous to the Empire. Just as before, Song Zining relied on mysterious maneuvers that made it impossible for the other side to grasp his movements. He would avoid calamity and seek openings with his powerful divination arts, occasionally dealing heavy blows to the enemy divination experts. Every time he attacked, the target would either die or suffer grave injuries.
If it wasn’t for a number of powerful characters putting pressure on them, no divination expert would be willing to enter the new world. Those who did come would put in the bare minimum to get things done. They would never go all out for fear of Song Zining targeting them.
A showdown in divination was different from other battles in that the two sides were fighting remotely. Distance was not a problem as they could kill one another even across continents.
Unlike the divination units of Evernight with dozens of experts specialized in their specific roles, Song Zining was a one-man-army. He shouldered many roles such as prediction, scrying, and attacking, yet he was lacking in neither of those fields. There was simply no weakness to make use of.
This kind of enemy filled them with despair. The last expert like that was Lin Xitang. Who would’ve thought Song Zining would walk in his shoes?
Hence, the dark races could only use the clumsiest method. They would do their best to keep him pinned down but wouldn’t chase if he were to break free. Furthermore, the commander of this squad never made an appearance, only sending out generals proficient in combat to do battle.
Just as everyone was thinking that he was going to retreat again with his tails between his legs, Song Zining made a sudden turn and charged into the heart of the central region.
Within a certain fortress, an ordinary-looking demonkin was gazing at Song Zining’s army moving away. He said with a gloomy expression, “Is he trying to lure us?”
A young demonkin walked over from the side; it was actually Anwen. He said helplessly, “My divination is not for this purpose.”
“This matter involves the entire race.”
“Fine, fine, enough about that. I’ll do the divination, but I must warn you that I have no confidence about the results.”
The other demonkin’s expression softened. “Just do your best.”
“There won’t be any troubles left if trying one’s best is helpful.” Mumbling complaints, Anwen waved his hands. Demonic energy sprayed out to form a large swathe of numbers which began to move rapidly, transforming into shifting formulas that dazzled the beholder.
The other demonkin stared for a good while but finally gave up. Toward the end, he couldn’t even understand what each simple rune stood for.
He nodded in praise, saying, “Your divination arts have reached a different realm!”
“This power should be used to explore the void and break through our cage, not for creatures trapped within the cage to kill one another,” Anwen said without looking up.
The other demonkin sighed. “You might think that way, but those humans sure don’t. Look at how many of our kin have fallen to their blades recently. You saw it with your own eyes.”
“Humans are a weak race, to begin with. They would’ve been wiped out already if they weren’t fierce enough in battle.” At this point, the transforming numbers had finally concluded and formed a complicated three-dimensional diagram.
Anwen was fairly surprised at the outcome. He stared at the image for a long while before reaching out to erase it.
The demonkin nearby said calmly, “It’s no use, the people up there are watching everything.”
Anwen’s expression shifted several times as he pulled his hand back.
“What does this diagram mean?”
Sighing, Anwen looked up at the sky and at the several gazes that had cast their sight here. “A calamity, one that is sufficient to destroy our race lies hidden in the depths of the new world. Is that what you people are looking for?”
The other demonkin asked, “Did the humans leave because of that?”
“Song Zining is much better than I in divination. There’s no way he can’t divine something that even I can. Leaving all of a sudden means that he’s headed there to look for clues.”
The other demonkin’s expression shifted from hesitation to resolution. “I understand now, this is a trap. The humans are forcing us to leave the fortress and intercept them.”
Anwen was puzzled. “Why?”
The demonkin beside him said, “You’re still young, so there are a lot of things you don’t know. Whatever is hiding in the new world is not just a calamity but also an opportunity, a chance for us to eliminate a long-standing trouble. We cannot lose such an opportunity, so we have to stop them even though we know it’s a trap.”
With that, he gazed at the direction of the Imperial forces. “This Song Zining is indeed very skilled, he already knows that I’m the commander of this allied force. Since that’s the case, I’ll have no choice but to oblige.”
Anwen noticed that something was wrong. “Why do they want us to leave the fortress?”
The demonkin patted Anwen’s shoulder. “You have no idea who’s waiting for me there. Well, someone has to face them in one way or another. My potential and progress have come to a dead-end, but the same can’t be said for you. You’re the future of our race, but the only problem is that you’re too soft to be a leader. If one day you’re having a hard time making a decision, think about me and those who have sacrificed themselves for the clan.”
With that, the demonkin flew after the Imperial army without bringing any soldiers.
Anwen remained stunned until the man’s figure vanished over the horizon. Only then did he mutter to himself, “What kind of trap can put you in peril? Unless it’s the human race’s… Prince Greensun!”
Waking up all of a sudden, he rushed down the main building and grabbed a high-ranking officer along the way. “Take me to the basement now or I’ll kill you!”
The arachne officer recognized Anwen. Not daring to resist, he brought the latter to the underground area. Once inside, Anwen sensed a familiar origin power aura behind a tightly-locked door. He kicked down the door without the slightest hesitation and charged right in.
As expected, there was a giant origin array hidden under the fortress. Its functions were to bolster defense and tear space for teleportation.
Anwen immediately realized what was going on. This was an escape path that had been prepared for the demonkin commander, the fruit of their experience from previous losses.
Anwen charged out of the building and flew up into the sky, shouting, “What are you all doing? Are you going to watch just like that?”
The sky was empty, and those gazes from before were nowhere to be seen.
A marquis appeared behind Anwen and whispered, “Young Master, the lords have left.”
Anwen turned back. “Why?!”
That marquis apparently knew quite a few secrets. “The human heavenly monarchs can attack twice before they thoroughly anger the new world. Our clan has to take up one quota.”
“Two quotas… two quotas…” Anwen murmured to himself. He didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or to cry, but before he knew it, his face was full of tears.
All rules would collapse at the climax of a war. A compromise from those high up would end up as despair for those below.
Several days later, the latest battle report spread throughout the Empire—a grand duke of the Dark Abyss, Jaero the Unfellable Dark Moon, had been killed in the new world.
Jaero was a legendary character among the demonkin who had fought Lin Xitang to a draw at his peak military strength. He had salvaged a losing war with his power and protected the dark race lands on the Western Continent.
He always led his troops steadily, not to mention he himself was also extremely powerful. Even Lin Xitang once sighed in admiration, saying that Jaero was an opponent with no openings. All he could do was rely on troop advantage and divination arts to seek victory.
As a famed demonkin general, he had tipped the scales in many stormy battles and proved himself a great danger to the human race. Who would’ve thought the Unfellable Dark Moon would fall in the central region this day?
Only when the battle reports came in did everyone understand that Jaero had run into Prince Greensun and fought for half a day before meeting his end. Considering Zhang Boqian’s ferocious combat style, the man’s death could be considered honorable even in defeat. No one had expected him to hold out for that long. This proved one thing—he might not be able to reach the great dark monarch rank, but there was a good possibility that he could become a prince.
However, this defeat meant death, and whatever potential he had would never be realized.
All these years, Jaero had stood tall against the other three races in civil conflict and against the Twin Paragons of the Empire in external battles. This outcome wasn’t because Song Zining’s ability in strategy was better than Lin Xitang but rather due to the time and situation. The bigger picture demanded his sacrifice.
The Unfellable Moon wasn’t without his weaknesses. His Achilles’ heel was his clan and race.
Following this battle, the humans finally understood that there were also valiant warriors who did not fear death among the long-lived races.
