Qianye stood with his hands behind his back, watching the generals clean up the battlefield. The old general Liu Chengyun walked over and said, “Sire, shall we move our base? The ones who ran away will be back with reinforcements soon.”
“Build defensive structures here, we’ll discuss after we finish off the reinforcements.”
Qianye’s prestige was at its height at the moment, so a single order sent the entire army into action. The soldiers immediately built simple defensive structures and made ready to defend the area. The captives were placed under watch in a sealed cave. Should they try to escape, the cave entrance could be blasted to bury everyone alive.
Not long after the defenses had been set up, clouds of dust appeared over the distant horizon as three dark-races armies appeared from different directions. These three units contained around thirty thousand soldiers each, double the Empire’s forces in combined strength. Their overall fighting power was likely even higher since the dark races had assigned twice the number of experts for Blacksun Valley.
The dark race army hadn’t even arrived when a terrifying aura rushed into everyone’s faces.
Liu Chengyun’s expression shifted slightly. “That’s a duke! Sire, we might still make it… if we retreat now.”
Duke Minghai and Yuanwen were both alarmed, but they didn’t voice their opinion, only waiting for Qianye to make the decision.
Evernight dukes were all famous characters qualified to run for office at the Evernight Council. Qianye’s three assistants were all early divine champions who had exhausted their potential, lacking in both ability and equipment. They were fine for dealing with ordinary experts, but against duke-rank enemies, they could hardly even run away.
This duke leading the enemy forces seemed to be in the prime of his life, not an old man at the end of his lifespan. It was only natural to fear such an enemy. Before his rebirth in flames, even Zhao Jundu had to use everything in his arsenal to avoid being defeated.
Qianye stood motionlessly. “What, are you guys afraid?”
Liu Chengyu and Duke Minghai didn’t reply, but Duke Wenyuan still had a bit of sharpness in him. “Not me. If you’re really sure, I just need to pay with this life if need be. But as the commander of the entire army, you must be cautious and not let emotions affect your decision. A single order from you will decide the fate of tens of thousands of warriors.”
Qianye replied, “Makes sense. Makes things easier if you’re not afraid.”
With that, he pointed in the direction of the duke’s aura. “The enemy’s central command is surely in that direction. I plan to fight my way in there and fight against the enemy commander. Who has the courage to follow me on the charge?”
Liu Chengyun’s expression shifted somewhat. Duke Minghai remained in silent thought, not daring to meet Qianye’s eyes.
Qianye understood what was going on, that the old feared death. They might be here to fight one last war for the family’s future, but of course, it was best if they could survive as well.
Only Duke Wenyuan Chen Tongqi said, “If you charge, I will of course follow! I’m just waiting to die anyway. Falling in battle is better than in the gallows.”
“As long as you’re willing.” Qianye nodded. He then shifted his gaze onto Duke Minghai and Liu Chengyun. “The edict states very clearly that I have full authority on the front lines! What I said just now is not a negotiation, but an order! Do you think I won’t execute you if you keep playing coward? There’s no need for two divine champions like you.”
Liu Chengyun’s countenance collapsed. “Young Man, why the rush to say such big words? No one knows where you were when Duke Minghai and I became divine champion! Back in the year, I also served as an assistant to a sceptered marshal. Stop thinking so highly of your scepter.”
Qianye wasn’t angered by this. “That means you want me to invoke military law?”
Liu Chengyun threw caution to the wind. “Threatening to execute a general on the eve of battle, are you sure you’re serving the Empire? Do you think we won’t resist such a random order?”
Qianye said calmly, “Fight or flee, do whatever you want. If you dare take action, your family will have to collect your corpse within three moves.”
Seeing that the atmosphere was growing tense, Duke Minghai said, “Why fight amongst ourselves when the enemy is here? Sire Qianye, General Liu’s temper is a bit straightforward since he’s been a soldier all his life, please excuse him. We’re already here on the front lines, so why would we fear death? If you charge, we’ll just put our lives in your hands. If we have to die, we should die under the enemy’s blade.”
Following a couple of rough pokes Liu Chengyun said unwillingly, “Since you want it so much, this old life is yours.”
Qianye nodded. “Very well then. Issue the order! Have the soldiers prepare to attack and gather all the generals for a meeting!”
Moments later, everyone was present for the meeting.
Qianye scanned all the generals, then picked several out from the crowd. “You, you, you, and you, step out and gather here.”
Half of the officers had been picked out, leaving only a dozen or so in place. The ones left out were either wounded, too old, too weak, or had served too long in support roles.
After picking out the men, Qianye said, “Everyone, you’ve done well to last through the many battles. Speaking bluntly, many of you were dumped by the Empire and are simply trying to protect your families by fighting to the bitter end. Some are here because of certain mistakes. Finally, there are loyal and righteous warriors, but who knows how many of them there are.”
The generals exchanged glances, not expecting Qianye to be so blunt. This speech would cause quite a bit of criticism if spread back home, but everyone was just doing their best to get through the day in Blacksun Valley. No one had the extra energy to play such games.
Qianye continued. “Zining is my brother, and so is Jundu. You guys fought many victorious battles under their command.”
The generals became spirited. “Exactly! Back then, we beat up the dark races until they were crying for their lives.”
“The men were tired but also extremely satisfied!”
Qianye waited until the group was quiet. “I came all the way from Fort Continent to lead you into victorious battles, but my way of fighting is a bit different. You need to get used to it.”
“What is your way? Please tell us!”
“Yes, the enemy is at our doors!”
Seeing everyone’s urgency, Qianye said after a brief pause, “My way is to fight head-on and charge at the central command! Those who are not afraid can follow me!”
Qianye dispensed with further verbosity and left straight for the dark race’s central army. The generals felt their blood boiling as they followed suit.
The Imperial soldiers parted to let Qianye pass. Then, they assembled behind him and marched forward to meet the dark race army.
“Insolence!” Within the dark race army, a demonkin duke slapped a small table flying. Even the mountainous body of the servspider below his seat sank a bit.
He turned to a vampire near him and said, “So this person scared you so badly that you abandoned your troops and peed yourself?
This vampire marquis was the commanding officer whom Qianye had scared off.
The merciless reprimand embarrassed him greatly. The vampires and demonkin had always shared conflicted views. He said with an ambiguous tone of voice, “That lord is no ordinary expert. Many experts have fallen to his blade.”
“It’s just Qianye, come on. What lord?” The demonkin duke snorted disdainfully.
The vampire marquis replied, “He was once Her Majesty’s partner. Someone she favors is naturally much stronger than we are. I just hope you won’t run away after we start fighting.”
The duke was furious. “How dare you insult me?! I can kill you right now!”
The marquis wasn’t going to take things lying down. “This is not an insult. And don’t forget that Her Majesty is the commander here! You demonkin are in no position to speak. If you kill me, do you think your tiny family and its two dukes can stop Her Majesty’s wrath?”
The demonkin duke snorted. “When have I, Larga, ever fled from battle? Just wait and see, Lord Margo.”
He stood up and shouted, “All forces, attack! We’ll see if those lowly humans can reach me! Of course, Lord Margo has no need to join the battle. He’s too scared to fight, anyway. Oh, right… do you even have any subordinates left?”
Roaring laughter erupted from the army, most of them demonkin and werewolf. The vampires were all left feeling awkward.
Marquis Margo’s face was ashen. “Lord Larga, I’ll remember this!”
Larga didn’t even try to hide his disdain. “By the time you can challenge me, it’ll be a hundred years from now. You really do need to remember it well!”
Margo snorted heavily but spoke no more.
The fight had already begun by this point. Larga was busy urging the servspiders forward and had no time to bother with Margo.
Qianye had formed a spearhead with the three divine champions and all the other generals. This small unit shot past firing range and pierced into the dark race army in the blink of an eye.
Qianye didn’t go airborne. He simply walked forward at a steady pace, swinging East Peak and clearing out a path with Nirvanic Rend. This was a technique he had developed back in the year, and now, it was performing better than ever. His techniques hadn’t fallen behind after breaking through to become a divine champion.
Every Nirvanic rend mowed down the dark races in droves, almost as though they were grass. Behind Qianye, the three divine champions were doing their best to kill their way through the flanks and widen the opening. The Imperial army was rolling in from the distance, making a beeline for this gap.
Moving forward in large strides, Qianye noticed a bullet whistling toward him. The powerful projectile was coming in from a tricky angle, so Qianye had to stop and slash it open.
Two swords thrust at him from the side, all of them as swift as lightning.
Qianye looked around while calmly evading all the attacks, realizing that he had been completely surrounded. The three divine champions were surrounded at the rear and in no condition to come and help him.
Qianye shook East Peak and said coldly, “Welcome, all those who seek death.”
