Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The battle of Sin Island did not persist for that long. Within less than two days, the great battle had ended!
Lei Banxian, Lei Gu, and company had all perished; not a single Demigod had escaped. A majority of the formidable martial artists of the Sin Island’s Thirteen Clans also rested forever near Sky Thunder Island; a minority had managed to escape and was hiding within Sin Island. They intended to use the topography of the island to assassinate anyone that came close, to try and kill as many troops from the alliance army as possible.
A majority of Sin Island’s close to fifty million martial artists had died; only a few million had managed to escape. The losses on the East Imperial alliance army’s side were heavy as well. As the Sin Island martial artists had been fighting with a death wish, they had risked everything and attacked with everything they had. Many of them had ended up rushing forward and self-imploding together with the enemy.
The alliance army had almost ten million dead and wounded; more than thirty Demigods had fallen as well. Although this number could not be comparable to Sin Island’s losses, it was significant due to the difference in firepower. The alliance army’s firepower was a few times that of Sin Island’s. It was akin to a pack of lions fighting with a pack of wolves with the former suffering heavy losses; this far exceeded the estimations of the Battle Thearch, North Thearch, and others. The East Imperial alliance army’s greatest enemy was the Endless Deep Sea; Sin Island had only been an appetizer, and yet they had lost so many already. That attested to the ferocity and deadliness of the Sin Island’s forces.
Situ Ao and Situ Nu had died as well!
When the Nine Dragons’ God-Extinguishing Array had broken—after Ao Lu and the Black Deity had left, their fates were long sealed. However, that so many of the East Imperial alliance army had died and were injured could be attributed to the Situ Clan. The Universal Transference art had allowed the Situ Clan’s formidable martial artists to transform into ghosts that could appear anywhere and everywhere.
Situ Ao’s strategy and intention were also apparent; they did not fight the North Thearch and others head-on but targeted soft targets; wherever there weren’t any Demigods, that was where they appeared. The North Thearch, Battle Thearch, Beast Thearch, and company had to keep flying about to put out fires. This strategy had almost destroyed the battle formations of the alliance army.
More than fifty million people were forever to rest in the sea region near the Sky Thunder Island; there were also countless corpses and broken limbs on the surface of the sea. Fresh blood had also dyed a five-thousand-kilometer radius of the sea region a dark red. A stench had risen up into the skies from every direction, with the stench of blood emanating forth in all directions. Even the winds carried this stench as it blew.
The surrounding area had become a hell on earth. Ling Shiya and a group of stubborn young mistresses that had insisted on coming along were vomiting incessantly. They had long entered their Heaven Fate Ships and didn’t dare to appear again. There were also many injured members of Sin Island below, with some not even having half their bodies left. They were struggling in the sea, moaning and crying out as they held on firmly to their weapons.
“What should we do with the wounded?”
Some generals had come to ask the Battle Thearch and North Thearch for their orders regarding the Sin Island’s wounded. The Battle Thearch swept a glance at the mountain loads of dead bodies and seemed to couldn’t endure any more of it. He said, “Let’s detain them.”
“What is the point of detaining them?” The Evil Thearch’s eyes gleaned violently as he coldly shouted, “Kill all of them!”
The Beast Thearch’s body was covered with blood. Towards the end of the battle, he did not even bother activating his divine shield but had relied on his half-dragonman body’s defensive ability to fight. Hence, he was covered in blood. He took a look at the enemy wounded and said, “Yes, let’s kill them all!”
The Tang Clan Head—Tang Shenji—also was slightly reluctant as he sighed deeply and said, “Too many people have died today. Do we still want to continue killing? There should be at least a million among the wounded and maimed, right? If we kill too wantonly, we might anger the Heavens.”
The Sword Thearch was just about to agree with the Tang Clan Head when the North Thearch waved a hand and said, “Look at their expressions and the enmity they have for us; these people are traitors from Sin Island. They have nothing but hatred for the East Imperial Continent. If we leave them alive, we will only bring trouble for ourselves in the future. If we do not get rid of them now, they will rise up again. If these people managed to flee, their future generations might even kill civilians on the East Imperial Continent and exact revenge. Who will bear this responsibility if that happened?”
Tang Shenji and company became silent. The North Thearch was right; after this battle, the Sin Island’s martial artists’ enmity towards the East Imperial Continent would only deepen. If they managed to slip onto the continent and start killing civilians, the consequences would be dire.
The North Thearch saw that no one had anything else to say and resolutely waved his hand, saying, “Since none of you dare to give this order, I will bear this infamy. Someone, come! Give my order to kill all the enemy wounded and maimed. Also, ask our forces to spread out and attack the Nine Dragon Islands and the Gods Bestow Island, to hunt and kill the remnant enemy forces. Whoever resists this order is to be executed!”
“You can’t!”
Tang Shenji hurriedly cried out, “Wu Shang, we have to discuss this issue further. Once you give this order, Sin Island will be massacred. Many innocent civilians would be killed as well.”
After experiencing such a ferocious battle, everyone was feeling bloodthirsty. If these troops started to pursue and cleanse Sin Island, there would be no one left on Sin Island. Countless civilians would be killed while women would be raped and killed as well. The alliance army had only been formed three months ago. Discipline was still weak and there were many mountain bandits among them. Once someone started to loot and rape, others would follow. The situation would be out of control then.
“Keke!”
Wu Shang laughed coldly as he rebutted, “What should we do then? We are about to attack the Endless Deep Sea. Sin Island would be to our backs. If our rear is not secure with people from Sin Island attacking us at every turn, our troops would be in disarray. We would then all die in the Endless Deep Sea. Which one is better? Us or the traitors on Sin Island dying?”
The North Thearch’s words made sense as well. Sin Island was located in between the East Imperial Continent and the Endless Deep Sea. If it was not stabilized and if the alliance army was attacked from the back, it was possible that everyone would perish in the Endless Deep Sea. One would rather have a friend dying than himself dying.
The Battle Thearch was silent for a moment before he said, “We have to pursue the enemy; we have to keep our morale high. Our army cannot rest idly but cannot kill indiscriminately as well. Let’s do this. The Nine Thearch Clans would choose some men to form ten enforcement troops to keep our forces disciplined and to adhere to army regulations. No one is to kill civilians or to loot or rape!”
The Battle Thearch’s method was more palatable as the rest swiftly nodded in agreement. Orders were sent out for the ten armies to start to spread out and exterminate all the martial artists of Sin Island to ensure that the alliance army’s rear would be secure. All the great family clans also selected disciples to form the enforcement troops to supervise the troops.
Ling Qijian, Jian Wuying, Wu Ni, Tu Long, Ye Ying, and company were all deployed as they became the leaders of the enforcement troops. As all the Demigods on Sin Island had been wiped out, there was no danger left in Sin Island. They were brought along this time to learn and gain experience; they were naturally deployed now for that purpose.
The Battle Thearch and company then led a few million soldiers and headed straight for the Gods Bestow Island.
All the Thearchs were feeling good as they have flattened Sin Island; this was a battle feat that was not erasable. In more than seven hundred thousand years, the Nine Thearch Clans had sent out an uncountable number of formidable martial artists, young clan heads with frightening battle prowess that formulated various great strategies. Not one had managed to conquer Sin Island! Who could annihilate the Sin Island’s Thirteen Clans? Who could erase the humiliation that the Nine Thearch Clans had endured?
Only them!
The Battle Thearch and North Thearch were also thinking that if their forces continued to press on, they could cleanse the Endless Deep Sea of Demon Sovereigns and eliminate the entire demon race. They could then take over the territories north, south, and east of the Endless Deep Sea that were currently under the control of the demon race. After that, they could move the human race to resettle there; that would considerably expand their territory and their accomplishment could rival that of the Mystic Thearch.
Hence, these few days, the North Thearch, the Battle Thearch, the Beast Thearch, and the Sword Thearch were all very happy. They gathered together daily to drink; they had not even noticed the disappearance of the Sonar Thearch and did not even put to heart that some of their soldiers had started to kill and loot.
This time, the soldiers had done a great service. They had fought hard and endured hardships; some were wounded while others had even died!
Now that they had emerged victorious, giving them the chance to vent their frustrations and gain some benefits was not consequential for the Thearchs. Furthermore, now that they have gotten some benefits, wouldn’t they fight even harder in the subsequent battle? Many enforcement troops have reported violations, but the Thearchs had only ordered the violators to be punished; no one was executed.
The few Thearchs’ indulgence resulted in the killing, looting, and raping spreading rampantly. Towards the end, even the enforcement troops had joined in. Everyone was bloodthirsty, and the situation became uncontrollable swiftly!
When Tang Shenji and company received the news and gathered all the generals from the various clans for a meeting and resent new enforcement troops to control the situation, that was already six days later. However, within the six days, hundreds of millions of civilians on Sin Island had been killed while tens of thousands of cities had been destroyed. The entire Sin Island was filled with mountains of bodies as blood flowed freely and became rivers. Sin Island had become Hell Island!
