Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
The human war machine started turning and quickly reached overdrive. The Martian main force was ready to lash out at the Zerg territory as the defenders fought bravely against the invaders.
The critical skill of any leader was to know the perfect timing to deliver the final blow.
The closer Wang Tong got to Antonio, the more resistance he encountered. As his movement became more evident under the tight scrutiny of the Zerg scouts, the dark ones were able to lay massive forces in his path ahead of time.
More importantly, these Zergs were designed to not only stop Wang Tong’s group, but also kill them. This was a classic human battle tactic that had been used for thousands of years. As an avid strategist, Harmon could pull it off with his eyes closed.
As the news about Wang Tong’s movement became clear, Harmon gained more confidence in his plan. He reported back to Moye and asked for more reinforcements. The number of soldiers he had should be enough to deal with Lie Jian and Michaux; however, he was not confident that they could handle Wang Tong. Harmon estimated that Wang Tong’s power was around level twenty-six, so he requested some of the best warriors in the dark lord’s castle.
Moye responded with unequivocal support and offered Harmon his entire purple guard. The leader of the purple guards was S-Diemu. They stormed toward Antonio to keep the two human warriors in check until the third arrived.
Harmon was relieved after Moye had sent his support. The S class blood kin was the strongest of all dark ones; they represented the ultimate power on Mars. Not even Lie Jintian would be able to save the three human soldiers from their doom.
Meanwhile, inside Antonio, the battle had taken a toll on the human soldiers. Despite their high spirits and resolve, their bodies were failing them. However, under the leadership of Michaux and Lie Jian, as well as their careful management, the casualties were contained to a minimum. After the long and hard day of battle, Lie Jian’s signature sharp smirk had become dull and tired, but his eyes still gleamed with determination and conviction. In the night, the Zergs slowed down the attack like they did the night before.
It suddenly occurred to Lie Jian that although the day and night cycle meant nothing to the primitive Zergs, they were in sync with the dark one’s biological clocks. While they rested at night, they only sent out a meager number of primitive Zergs to harass the humans, the effect of which was laughable.
The assault started again at the daybreak. After a night of rest, the human soldiers were once again brimmed with spirit and vigor.
Michaux and the Mastery casters showered the Zergs with ice bolts; they had decided to save the areal effect spells for the last. Although the group spells were powerful and were able to kill enemies in a large area, they could quickly deplete the soul energy of many casters at once.
Suddenly, riotous clamor came from the casters. The chief medic Enderlis was shot by a bone shard. The bone shard had buried itself in her chest, went through her body, and came out of her back. Life drained from her face immediately as she collapsed to the ground. Although Michaux didn’t care about his own life, the development gripped his heart with pain. Enderlis wrenched away a few medics helping hands, willing to help someone who was still salvageable. Her lips thinned into a smile and then said, “Young master, please live!”
The field medics shared a bond that was stronger than that of sisters. The death of Enderlis was the last straw on their back, as they rushed to Michaux and demanded him to let them go out and fight.
The METAL soldiers quickly joined the medics and asked for permission to fight back. They had been waiting for help for three days to no avail. In the three days, they had suffered enough, and the waiting felt even worse than being killed by Zergs.
Michaux’s face hardened as he was overtaken by grief. If he couldn’t save his followers, what would be the point of finding the divine path?
There and then, Lie Jian was the only person who could still maintain his composure. He did not doubt that Michaux could claim the lives of half of the Zergs out there, but then what? Before nightfall, there would be twice as many Zergs joining the battle.
Even if they were able to break the encirclement and escape, they were still in the Zerg territory. It would only be a matter of time before they were trapped again.
“Calm down, Michaux! Calm down, all of you!” Lie Jian took Michaux by the arm. It was the first time he saw Michaux losing his marble.
Michaux paused and gritted his teeth. The room had fallen pin-drop silent. The human warriors’ thoughts were stifled as the flame of anger scorched their minds. This was the most challenging circumstance they had ever encountered. But, no matter how loud the voice of opposition was, Lie Jian would never change his mind, even if it meant the death of all human soldiers.
After three days, the number of human warriors had dropped below two hundred. Every death meant a gruesome torment, tearing the surviving warriors apart from inside, nerve by nerve. Those who were gravely injured laid on their deathbeds silently. They didn’t want to become dead weight, so might as well let their injury taken them.
Did they feel despair? Absolutely! They had lost their hope a while ago, and the only reason they wanted to be alive was to avenge their friends.
In the darkness, Lie Jian was the only person still awake. He looked out of the window into the darkness of the night and wavered. Tomorrow would be the last day of their resistance. If Wang Tong still didn’t arrive, he would lead the charge out of the building.
As Lie Jian was about to return to his bed, he noticed a flickering blue flame in the distance.
Lie Jian thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, so he narrowed his eyes and looked. After a while, a slow smile broke over his face.
Wang Tong had finally arrived.
In the darkest hour of the night, right before the dawn, a voice boomed, “I am WANG TONG!”
And then, waves of beastly howls came from those blue flames. The terrifying howls made the soldiers’ hair stand on their ends.
The beasts’ howling sent a great burst of energy at the resting dark ones, stunning them in their sleep. Immediately, the beasts charged down the slope, into the dark ones’ camp. Deep inside the dark ones’ command center, a few dark ones accompanied Harmon out of his tent. The immortal looked over at the sea of blue flames and smiled, “That’s him! ”
The couple purple guards were about to rush to the battle, but were stopped by Harmon. “We are in no hurry. Let’s wait until your captain is here.”
Harmon wagered that the rest of the purple guards should arrive at the battlefield before morning. If they acted right now, he might risk scaring Wang Tong away. The fight between the purple guard and Wang Tong would provide a new insight into the strength of both combatants for Harmon.
Having fallen for Wang Tong’s trap during the last battle, Harmon had taken his opponent more seriously and re-examined his strategy. This time, he would not let Wang Tong have his way.
The soldiers inside the building were woken up by the clamor of the war, and when they realized that Wang Tong had arrived, they quickly joined the battle. It wasn’t long before the first icy blue beast showed up at the building. Afterward, Battle Wolf had completely taken over the defense of the building. Although they had been marching round the clock to get here, Battle Wolf was brimming with enthusiasm and didn’t show any sign of fatigue. This was the direwolves’ mealtime, so the beasts attacked the Zergs with extra ferociousness.
The sight of the hellish riders trampling over the dead bodies of Zergs while their beast mounts were feasting on the dark ones was a terrifying sign to behold, particularly for the dark ones. Soldiers from the Sect and House Lie watched the battle with amazement. Any doubts in those claims about the power of Battle wolf were gone.
After some time, Wang Tong finally made it to the building and met with Michaux and Lie Jian.
“Wang Tong, we are counting on you from here on. Don’t lose even one of my men!” Lie Jian announced hotly and then collapsed to the ground due to exhaustion.
“Wang Tong, we need revenge!” Xiao Yuyu’s voice trembled.
Enderlis’ death was a grievous blow to Xiao Yuyu. The two of them were very close, and the latter always saw her as an older sister.
Michaux looked at Wang Tong and piped up, “You shouldn’t have come here, Wang Tong! This is a trap, didn’t you know that? We can’t escape here, none of us!”
Wang Tong cracked a smile and then said, “Escape? Don’t you want to kill them first?”
“Of course I do!”
“Well, we better hurry then…the sun is coming up. Follow me! Yin Tianzong, please look after these warriors.”
“No problem.” Yin Tianzong nodded.
“Hey! Hey! Shut up all of you! Boss needs some quiet time.” Tan Bu shouted at everyone.
