This was a fragment of the Demon King’s memory that was related to Lin Xitang.
That smiling man—one of such indifference that he seemed devoid of emotions—ultimately failed to live out his sixty years.
Habsburg calmed himself and looked down at his ancestral territory. His gaze scanned everything from nearby to a fair distance; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Yet, he still couldn’t forget that moment of abnormality from just now.
Habsburg sank his consciousness into the River of Blood. The waters were as calm and quiet as a mirror’s surface. The Azure King’s message had long since vanished without a trace. He stretched his perception toward the source of the river and the twenty half-floating seals gradually appeared.
The seal belonging to the Azure King wasn’t the brightest since he wasn’t in his usual active phase. Habsburg observed the seals for a while, but he couldn’t figure out which one was abnormal. After some thought, he decided to head over to where the Azure King was.
By the time Habsburg arrived at the secret realm, the Azure King’s ancient castle was in ruins, and the valley had been entirely deformed. There were strong traces of daybreak origin power everywhere, so much so that even Habsburg couldn’t find any clues.
There was only a single wisp of violet blood energy pointing in a certain direction. That was a mark Medanzo had left behind.
Habsburg frowned as he glanced at the rubble. He looked thoughtfully in the direction of the Lightless Monarch’s marking, but ultimately, he turned back to Twilight Continent instead of following it.
…
The Blacksun Valley was no longer flooded in the flames of war. The Empire and Evernight were now building fortresses on either side of the valley. They might not be far, but neither side interfered with the other’s construction work. The patrols also kept their distance from one another, so there was little chance of a misfire.
Judging from the scale of the strongholds, however, this peace was merely temporary.
The Evernight stronghold was a colossal structure being built upon the original foundations. Following the suppression of the Imperial Guard fleet, the dark races reflected on their pain and began adding defensive firepower to the fortress. One cannon turret after another rose up in the fortress, almost like a stone forest. Even the strongest fleet would feel their scalp grow numb at the sight of it.
The Empire wasn’t willing to be outdone, either. Although their fortress was newly constructed, the number of defensive turrets wasn’t too far behind the enemy stronghold. Most of the turrets were ground-target weapons and homing ballistae for targeting experts.
Just like that, the two factions engaged in a construction race while targeting the other’s weakness.
Song Zining was the idlest one in the fortress. Every day, he had nothing else to do but read through some battle reports. He could see the black pillar of fire from his window, growing weaker by the day. It might disappear completely in a matter of days.
According to the agreement between those behind the curtain, a new round of battles would begin after the flames completely disappeared.
It was at this moment that a knock came from the door, quite urgent from the sound of it.
Song Zining was startled as he opened the door. “General Zhang Zhao, what brings you here?”
The man was indeed Zhang Zhao. He looked rather worn with sunken eyes that spoke of his nonstop journey. The man fell to his knees immediately, crying, “Marshal Song, please save me!”
Song Zining helped him up quickly. “Stand up first, what’s so urgent?”
“You’re injured?” Song Zining realized this as he was helping the man up.
Zhang Zhao said, “Just a minor wound, not a big deal. I came here because I had no other choice. Please give me some advice.”
“Get up first and we’ll talk.” Song Zining helped the man to a seat and returned to his own, waiting for the continuation.
Zhang Zhao said, “The prince dispatched a thousand elites and dozens of experts to Fort Continent to secretly await your arrival. Who would’ve thought we would run into an ambush immediately after our arrival. There were enemies everywhere! In the end, only a couple of comrades and I managed to break free. The others have all…”
Song Zining said, “They’re the prince’s elites?”
“Most of them used to be the prince’s followers, people who had received instruction from the monarch himself. The unit was made up of three thousand men, but we lost two-thirds in a single fight.”
“If the unit is made up of elites, why did so few make it out alive?”
Zhang Zhao had calmed down at this point. “Things happened all of a sudden, we were surrounded as soon as we landed. There were simply too many of them, spanning all across the wilderness and mountains. There’s also a duke among them! Commander Yang was injured soon after the battle began and had no choice but to flee. We still don’t know his fate.”
Song Zining nodded. “Looks like there was a leak. What do you want with me now?”
Zhang Zhao said, “The only method left is for you to go personally and take back the Martyr’s Palace. I received news that the palace has returned to Cerulean Wave City and is right outside the city.”
Song Zining stood up and patted Zhang Zhao on the shoulder. “General Zhang, looks like you’re confused. This marshal is in charge of Blacksun Valley, how important do you think this place is? How can I leave just like that? As for how you’ll explain your blunder to the prince, that’s none of my concern. I wouldn’t care about a divine champion, let alone a small general like you.”
Zhang Zhao was stunned. “Marshal Song, what do you mean?”
“What you should know is that you escaped not because of your own ability, but because I told them to let you go. You didn’t dare face the prince, so you came to me instead. Well, since you’re here, you should get some good rest. Your wounds are about to act up anyway, you won’t live long.”
Zhang Zhao was shaken at the sudden realization. “It’s you!”
He hadn’t finished speaking when he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed. Only then did he recall that Song Zining had patted him on the shoulder just now, but that realization came too late.
Song Zining opened the door and shouted, “Men! General Zhang’s wounds have acted up, give him emergency treatment!”
Some aides rushed over and carried Zhang Zhao away.
Moments later, one of them hurried back to report, “Sire, we were incapable. General Zhang’s injuries were too severe, he sacrificed himself for the country.”
Song Zining said with a frown, “What did he say before his death?”
“General Zhang was delirious. He kept repeating ‘Werewolves! So many werewolves!’ Nothing else.”
Song Zining said, “General Zhang traveled ten thousand miles to get here. Unfortunately, he left before he could say a word. This matter is of utmost importance, you’ll be in charge of reporting everything to the military. Don’t hide anything, understand?”
The aide left to perform his duties.
Song Zining heaved a sigh afterward, knowing that he had resolved one worry. Next up was to read the detailed battle report from Fort Continent and wait for the military’s response.
Zhang Zhao was truly useless, and even as a lobbyist, his words were full of loopholes. Song Zining couldn’t be bothered to leave him running around. He hoped the next one would be more intelligent.
Heavenly Monarchs would only oversee the battle and not lead troops after breaking through. If those elite troops had indeed fought alongside the Profundity Monarch, they would have to be seventy years old at the very least. It was doubtful whether or not they could still hold a sword. A different possibility was that they were honor guards assigned to the heavenly monarch at a later date. Ignoring whether or not the monarch would have the spare time to instruct these soldiers, the maximum number of honor guards was one thousand and five hundred men.
Even someone like Prince Greensun who had just retired from an elite army corps only had two thousand honor guards, men reformed from his old unit. If Zhang Zhao’s troops were indeed old honor guards called back to duty, losing well over a thousand of them would no doubt cause quite the ruckus.
Song Zining was in no rush to figure out the truth. Waiting patiently for the enemy to exhaust themselves was a great strategy. It would save him the trouble of figuring things out. It would seem the upper echelons of the werewolf race were also seeing some change. He decided to borrow the heavenly monarch’s name for a bit, whether it was real or not.
