Tempest of the Battlefield

Hua Li shouted a battle cry and unsheathed his blade. He had been a level twenty-one warrior before he joined Patroclus. He was convinced that Wang Tong would be spent after unleashing such a deadly coup de grace, and therefore, would not be able to defend his level twenty-one attack.

He was right in thinking that the soul essence attack was draining. However, he had no idea just how much power there was in Wang Tong’s system; he would never be able to comprehend that.

“Too slow! Is that what you got for giving up your soul?” Wang Tong flicked a finger and sent a pack of energy at Hua Li from the tip of his finger.

Bang!

Hua Li’s blade shivered into hundred pieces. He looked down at a giant hole in his chest as old memories flooded his mind. The monster inside his chest plopped out of the hole and slumped on the ground in its death. Hua Li didn’t die right away; he struggled to stand still, but failed. Looking around him, none of the immortals seemed to care about his demise. Was this what he had become?

“General Xie Su, we need to join the forces. Otherwise, we will both die here!”

“Very well! Move!”

Xie Su snarled and charged at Wang Tong while brandishing his long bone blade. He was taken aback by Wang Tong’s power; it was at least level twenty-four. He regretted not charging with the golden dark ones when he still had the chance. Now, all his elite dark ones were reduced into ashes, and he had no other option but to work with immortals.

Harmon uttered a command, and the rest of the immortals charged. Some of them were after Wang Tong, and some were after Yin Tianzong.

Xie Su charged up his soul energy, tapping deeper into the energy crystal for power. Overloaded, the crystal shone with a bright purple cover. Wang Tong remained calm and unflinching. Before he was about to attack, he closed his eyes, opening them at the very last moment.

KOM!

The immortals and the dark ones heard a deep boom, and then they saw Wang Tong’s attack coming at them.

Wang Tong attacked his enemy with the Layered Fist of Tong at full force. This was a battlefield, not a sparring stage; therefore, he wouldn’t waste time on frivolous move sets. Every attack should make his enemy hurt.

KOM!

The blow landed on Xie Su, who had never felt so much pain in his life before. The blow was tearing his body apart, sinew by sinew. He felt his life ebbing away as he caught a glimpse of Wang Tong.

The immortals attacked Wang Tong with abandon. Although their aim was right, their blow wasn’t able to reach him as they were blocked by a mastery shield.

It finally occurred to the immortals that Wang Tong was not only a METAL warrior but also a mastery caster. The mastery shield eventually crumbled. But, its protection had given Wang Tong enough time to gather himself and strike back.

Wang Tong was determined to achieve a decisive victory in this battle. He would make himself an exemplar of valor, and use his actions to encourage the human soldiers fighting at the front line. He didn’t come here for the city of Kashan; he was here for Xie Su. Killing Xie Su would be another loud and clear message to the world: humans would win the war in the end!

The dark ones had overlooked one important fact about themselves. They were no longer the simple and primitive Zergs; they had a full range of feelings and emotions like a human did. Just like in the human society, once the leader of the pack was gone, the rest would disband and give up the fight easily.

The Zerg society was still undergoing drastic changes to catch up with their human counterparts. It had taken humans thousands of years to transform from a slavery society to a modern one, and Zergs would have to achieve that in a matter of a couple of years. The Zergs’ backward social system had given the humans a chance.

They had to kill Xie Su, for once he was gone, the people of the northern front would finally be liberated.

Wang Tong didn’t attack the immortals, instead hurling the fist toward Xie Su. Fear flickered in Xie Su’s eyes as death claimed him.

Any intelligent creature who was capable of feeling would fear for their lives in danger; it was their instinct. Ever since human soldiers discovered that the dark ones’ innermost feelings were not that much different from theirs, they were no longer afraid of them. As the soldiers grew bolder, the dark ones started to fear the humans.

Once Xie Su was killed, the knee-jerk reaction of those immortals was to run away. They didn’t want to get involved in this fight from the outset. They joined the fight thinking they held a decisive advantage in numbers. However, Wang Tong’s level twenty-five—or above—power was way beyond their pay-scale. So, they decided to turn on their heels and bolt.

However, their realization came too late; Yin Tianzong had already blocked their only escape route.

Wang Tong twisted Xie Su’s head off his shoulder and threw it to Yin Tianzong. Yin Tianzong took the ugly head and rode toward Battle Wolf.

Meanwhile, Battle Wolf shocked their enemies’ formation constantly using their direwolves. Once they charged their beast into the thicket of Zergs, they would pull back out, regroup, and charge again. They were most vulnerable when they were pulling out of the Zergs’ formation, and a few soldiers were already injured.

When Yin Tianzong arrived on the battlefield, Battle Wolf was about to start their fourth charge. Yin Tianzong rode to the front of the charging formation, looking down at the Zergs. He lifted Xie Su’s head and shouted, “This is what’s left of their commander, KILL!”

The hideous head gave the soldiers a second wind, but the sight rendered the dark ones panicked. Already, a few dark ones had forsaken their teammate and bolted toward the safety behind the city wall.

Without any hesitation, Battle Wolf charged down at the Zergs.

Meanwhile, Vorenus and Xiao Libie were mired in the fight with the fleeting immortals. They conceded that their transformation had improved their physical condition by leaps and bounds. They could only deal any real damage to them if they landed a blow on their weak spots.

However, when Wang Tong joined the fight, he finished the immortals with one flat side slash.

“The leader of the pack has gotten away.” Vorenus said as he scanned his surroundings using his soul energy, but the leader of the immortal was nowhere to be found. Wang Tong didn’t answer right away; instead, he gathered the soul energy back into his sea of consciousness and then smiled.

“Well, I said we would leave them memorabilia…Haha.” Wang Tong could have killed Harmon with ease, but he reckoned that he was better left alive as a permanent reminder to Patroclus who he was dealing with.

“Let’s go and see how everyone is doing.”

“Leave the rest to us! Haha.” The thought of plowing through the Zergs with his direwolf made Vorenus excited.

The development left Xiao Libie in awe again. Never had he thought that so many incredibly powerful soldiers could have served under one banner. What made this retinue even deadlier was Wang Tong’s sharp mind and astute strategies.

Wang Tong’s power was way beyond level twenty-five, but he had held back his power and used only what was necessary to lower the guard of his real enemy: Moye.

When Vorenus and Xiao Libie arrived at the main battleground, the battle had already turned into a slaughter. The warriors chased after the fleeing Zergs, picking them off one after another before they reached the wall.

Deep Blue was already munching on the dead Zergs. These dark ones were more nutritious than the primitive Zergs. Some dark ones who dared to look back caught a glimpse of the horrific scene: a beast eating their own kind, armors and all. There was nothing that could bring more joy to the hearts of the human soldiers than the fear and panic in the eyes of a dark one.

This was payback time!

Not everyone had partaken in the merciless slaughter. Xiao Yuyu upheld her duty as she ran industriously from one wounded soldier to another, patching them up and casting healing spells. All the while, she lamented how reckless these soldiers were on the battlefield; some had kept on fighting despite the serious wounds that covered their bodies.

When the soldiers entered the city, they dismounted and let their direwolves loose to pick off any Zergs in hiding. Meanwhile, the human soldiers marched on foot to the queen.

When they arrive their destination, Deep Blue and the other direwolves had already dragged the queen out of her burrows. The soldiers cheered while the naked queen shivered in fear.

Wang Tong waved a hand at Deep Blue. The beast uttered a command to its pack, and they dragged the queen to a bush to feast on it.

“We have hit a jackpot! Look at this!” Tan Bu shouted, carrying two bottles of fine liquor.

“This is your favorite rice wine, boss!”