Those armored Evernight soldiers were equipped with premium gear that was highly resistant to ordinary gunpowder weapons. They could only be shattered with origin bullets. However, even high-ranking officers had a limit to how many origin bullets they could use.
Overall, these heavy-armored soldiers possessed shocking fighting power, and a group of ten was capable of contending with an Imperial champion. Be it individually or in formation, they were not inferior to elite corps like Red Scorpion and Broken-Winged Angels.
No wonder Zhao Jundu and Song Zining had to move personally. Qianye’s consumption from sniping titled experts wasn’t low, either.
The Evernight army’s true experts hadn’t made a move yet.
Once Qianye, Zhao Jundu, and Song Zining took to the field themselves, the Evernight Council’s forces began to take heavy losses.
Digger couldn’t endure it any longer. “Lord Doer, these are the Evernight Council’s direct subordinate soldiers. You might have trouble explaining things if you let them die off like this.”
Doer replied calmly, “How I explain it is my business, Lord Digger doesn’t need to worry.”
“Fine.” Digger stopped talking.
Doer stood quietly, watching the fight in Whitetown. This lasted for an hour.
Even the werewolves and vampires who were known for their strong physique would be hard-pressed to fight for an entire hour. It was a mystery how those human mercenaries and Zhao clan soldiers were able to keep up.
Doer asked, “How many men do they have left?”
A werewolf elder said, “From my observations, there should only be a thousand or so ordinary soldiers left in the city.”
Doer nodded slowly. “Is that so? That means the Empire’s so-called twin rising stars must be drained of origin power by now. Rest and reorganize, we continue the attack in half a day’s time.”
Doer didn’t have to wait too long before the second batch of airships arrived. The werewolf duke canceled his order to rest for half a day, integrating his soldiers into the newly arrived squads and ordering them to attack again. This time, Doer ordered count-rank experts to take the field for the first time and assigned a werewolf marquis to oversee the formation.
Additionally, he and Digger moved their command center forward to a point less than a thousand meters from the battlefield. This distance was within the highest theoretical range of a high-ranking sniper. The sharpshooter would only need to sneak toward them a short distance to pose a threat.
The attacks began again less than an hour after their retreat just now.
The fights reached a climax from the get-go. The addition of fresh troops and powerful experts elevated this fight greatly. In the blink of an eye, several attack routes had rushed into the city center and weaved into a cruel, bloody street battle.
The large number of viscounts and counts allowed their forces to massacre all the ordinary mercenaries in their way. This time, they forced Zhao Jundu and Song Zining’s hand almost immediately. Qianye, however, continued to roam the battlefield, sniping off titled experts from time to time.
The werewolf marquis who was in charge of overseeing the formation lost his patience and charged at Zhao Jundu with a long howl. Zhao Jundu’s expression never changed as he met the enemy with his sword in hand. A faint green light flowed along his blade, leaving fragments of splendor in the air as it danced about. The sword in the fourth young master’s hand used no special moves, only simple slashes and stabs. Yet the werewolf Marquis couldn’t evade them and saw numerous flowers of blood blossom all over his body.
As a marquis, the werewolf was extremely fierce. He moved with lightning speed, and his attacks were as heavy as the mountains. Most of the ruined buildings in Whitetown only had their foundations left at this point. These structures made of hard rock would be pulverized upon contact with his claws, producing large holes in the ground after each fight.
Werewolves were known for their speed and inherent talent in close-quarter combat. Even the arachne, with their extraordinary strength, fell short in technique compared to their wolverine counterparts. Yet, Zhao Jundu only shuttled about within a couple meters in radius, easily evading the marquis’ tempestuous assault.
Sometimes, he would only dodge the most powerful part of the marquis’ attacks, allowing the shockwaves to land on his body. A violet glow would flicker at that point and dissolve most of the force. In the end, the attack would only leave a couple of scratches on Zhao Jundu’s armor.
Whenever Zhao Jundu chose to take on the werewolf’s attacks forcibly, the blade in his hand would leave an injury on the enemy’s body.
These wounds were sometimes deep and sometimes shallow, but it remained a fact that the werewolf’s high-grade armor couldn’t stop Zhao Jundu’s blade. There was no need to even consider the werewolf’s hide for protection. The only thing that could stop the sword from going deeper into his body was the defensive barrier formed from darkness origin power.
The two fought back and forth for several dozen rounds, but it took mere moments in reality. The werewolf marquis had taken over ten wounds, big and small. Each of these injuries had cut through his defenses in one blow. They weren’t particularly serious, but the pain infuriated him and caused him to attack with greater frenzy.
Ordinary titled experts had no place in the fight between the werewolf marquis and Zhao Jundu. The insightful viscounts stood in the periphery to guard against a surprise attack by other human experts. Only a single count remained in the inner circle, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Zhao Jundu, who had been fighting slow and steady, suddenly erupted in a loud roar. Four pillars of violet light spread out in each direction—Omniscient Seal!
The frantic marquis was startled as all experts within the domain turned sluggish. Just as he was about to help, Zhao Jundu pulled back abruptly and the sword in his hand erupted with blinding brilliance!
The werewolf count who had been looking for opportunities to strike let out a loud scream as one of his arms flew into the air! Almost immediately, he leaped back several dozen meters away from the fight.
The werewolf viscounts stood gazing at the long streak of blood showering down from the escaping count. What kind of injury would draw so much blood?
Gradually slowing down, the werewolf count looked down to find another wound on his chest. This was only an ordinary sword wound at first, but his heart had burst open due to his all-out effort to escape, and the small wound was now as big as a bowl.
But when did he receive a stab to the chest? He himself had no idea.
Without even looking at the werewolf count, Zhao Jundu turned to the marquis and said, “Again.”
His domain had been retracted at this point. He was once again that young man who had no other outstanding features but his good looks.
The marquis’ fighting spirit had been largely extinguished at this point. The two had been fighting with great ferocity, so much so that the werewolf was almost in a berserk state, yet Zhao Jundu had killed a count right before his eyes, and with such ease no less. Only when the Omniscient Seal appeared did this marquis realize that Zhao Jundu had never gone all out against him.
Doer and Digger were observing the battle not so far away. The pride embedded deep in the werewolf bloodline ignited the marquis’ fighting spirit once more. Not only did he not retreat, but he pounced toward Zhao Jundu again.
With a brief flicker of the latter’s blade, yet another wound was opened up on the werewolf Marquis’ arm.
The trend was evident. At this rate, the marquis would be whittled to death sooner or later, and it wouldn’t even cost Zhao Jundu much origin power.
Only at this moment did Digger speak, “Lord Doer, your reliable subordinate is going to die here if you don’t take action.”
Doer opened his eyes and said, “We’ve been watching for some time now, and we’ve seen how capable they are. I’ll leave Zhao Jundu to you and head over to deal with Song Zining. How about it?”
Digger smiled. “Deal!”
His words were still in the air when Digger’s figure flickered several times and arrived inside Whitetown. The vice-duke’s overflowing momentum erupted as the sword in his grasp stabbed down toward Zhao Jundu’s head.
Doer was one step slower to set out, but they arrived at the same time since he was stronger than Digger. With cold eyes, he looked down at Song Zining from above.
The latter trembled all over and his hair danced about around him. He slowly looked up after clearing the area with a swing of his spear.
Doer hadn’t begun his assault, but Digger had already unleashed his domain on the other side of the city. A ten-meter radius around him was filled with sanguine mist, which then condensed into a blurry silhouette that charged at Zhao Jundu as well. From the looks of it, Digger wanted to kill or heavily injure Zhao Jundu before Doer could finish his battle. That was his way of establishing might.
Doer looked rather leisurely, indifferent even, and paid no heed to Digger’s side. He only glanced at Song Zining as a giant axe appeared in his hand.
At the same time, Doer removed his long overcoat to reveal a set of swordsman’s garb and an origin handgun strapped to his thigh. Just from the caliber of that weapon, one could tell that it wasn’t there for decoration.
“You’re outstanding and respectable opponents. Unfortunately, I won’t be seeing the day you mature.”
Song Zining asked, “That means, Whitetown was a trap all along?”
Doer said indifferently, “Sharp as expected. As your human race can scheme against us, so can we to you. This place wasn’t a trap at first, but your presence has made it into one.”
Song Zining asked, “Did someone from the Empire leak information to you?”
“Isn’t there always?”
Intelligence battles were a part of war. Some due to carelessness, some intentional, but there were also leaks genuine and false. Add to that the presence of prophets and divination experts influencing the situation, no commander would dare to base their entire strategy based on intel alone—that was unless they had gotten their hands on inside information.
Song Zining said, “Of course, there would always be leaks, but only a handful of people know this information. Besides, would you really dare to trust the information you’re getting?”
Doer smiled. “You’re pretty close to guessing the truth, but sadly, it’s too late.”
Song Zining said, “It’s not too late even if I find out now. As you said a while ago, this wasn’t a trap at first, but it became one after we arrived. If we manage to break out alive, this trap won’t be a trap anymore.”
“Do you think the council will let you escape with your lives after paying such a steep price?”
“Who can say for sure without trying? Just like before, no one would’ve guessed we would hold out for so long, right?”
Doer said indifferently, “Those two are arrogant idiots, there’s no need to discuss them. Now, you need to figure out how to get past me.”
“I’ll repeat the same words. Who can say for sure without trying?” Song Zining was so calm that it didn’t look like he was facing mortal peril.
Doer frowned in apparent puzzlement, unable to figure out where his confidence was coming from.
The duke’s expression turned cold as he drew his handgun and took aim at Song Zining. “My patience has worn out. It’s better to kill you first and seek answers to my question somewhere else.”
Song Zining raised his spear and pointed the tip toward the skies. After assuming a spear stance, he immediately began to give off an imposing aura, comparable to the mountains and lakes. This was his Fueled Fire Spear’s strongest stance—Ember Legacy. It was said that this spear-art would always find an opportunity at survival where there was none. This was the first time Song Zining had brought it out since reaching the great success stage.
Doer frowned briefly, having sensed the extraordinary qualities of this stance. It was at this time that Song Zining’s figure suddenly turned blurry. At first, Doer thought that his vision had blurred, but he knew that was absolutely impossible!
He focused harder and found that Song Zining’s figure was indeed a bit blurry, almost as though he was shrouded in a surreal mist.
Not to mention there was no mist on the battlefield, Doer could see through the rolling smoke and dust all the same.
There was only one explanation for this phenomenon.
Doer said solemnly, “Domain?”
“This is the Three Thousand Flying Leaves art, empowered by Worldly Prosperity. Please evaluate it.”
Unable to see Song Zining’s true figure meant that it would be very difficult to lock onto him. Although the seventh young master was only slightly blurry in Doer’s eyes, this also meant that there was a small chance that he would miss the shot, or maybe miss the vitals. The otherwise sure kill was now tainted with a shred of uncertainty.
What shook him more was that he couldn’t see through Song Zining entirely despite the large cultivation gap. This kind of domain, this kind of talent, was truly terrifying.
Doer’s eyes turned cold, filled with genuine killing intent. He had never underestimated the youngsters of the human race, but only at this point did he truly realize Song Zining’s potential. This young man was only obscured because Zhao Jundu and Qianye were too famous. If he were allowed to mature, the human race would have an extra powerhouse in the future.
Up to this point, Doer hadn’t shown a hint of wild violence as was the norm for werewolves. His expression was calm as thousands of mountain peaks appeared behind him, one of them particularly eye-catching.
This was the sign of the Summit of Peaks!
