Qianye halted his steps as the sensation of being followed suddenly vanished. Qianye broke into an upset frown. “How come they’re so impatient?”
It was common for the hunter to spend days following the prey on the battlefield. Qianye had revealed several openings in this game of cat and mouse, but the other party didn’t take the bait. Apparently, they were also master-level hunters. Qianye was worried that there might be other hidden experts in addition to the duo. If it was just the two, however, Qianye could erupt with full power and use East Peak to prove that knight’s Unbreakable Bulwark was little more than a bluff.
Regardless, being free of the hunters was a liberating sensation. Things had dragged out this long because Qianye had been looking for a good opportunity to kill them. This was, after all, a battle of mercenaries—Qianye didn’t want to take big risks or get injured unless it was necessary.
The war had just begun, but his accomplishment in recent days was already worth a Dreameater Bug, at least. He hadn’t let down Su Dingqian at all.
For the entire day that followed, Qianye didn’t run into any proper squad, nor did he find any lone experts. The battlefield was oddly quiet, almost as though there was never any life here.
Any old veteran who had been on the battlefield would know that this wasn’t a good thing. Qianye stopped roaming around and, instead, found a location with good visual range in which to hide and observe the changes.
The changes came at dawn.
Qianye, who was sitting in peaceful meditation, was woken up by vibrations from the ground. As a qualified hunter, he determined that the source of these small but rhythmic tremors were dozens of kilometers away. Something that could shake the ground from so far away—this caused Qianye to become serious.
The vibrations slowly intensified, proof that the source was moving closer. Qianye made no movement and withdrew his aura to the extreme. Enemy experts would soon appear on the battlefield at this time, and perhaps there were truly powerful characters scanning the battlefield. The outcome of being discovered under such circumstances wouldn’t be all that great.
As the tremors intensified, a row of dark shadows charged through the distant, misty night to appear in Qianye’s vision.
It was a group of heavily armored warriors advancing toward Port City in an orderly formation. At three meters each, these soldiers were exceptionally large and tall. Their upper body was in human form, while their lower parts resembled fat bugs. They seemed somewhat similar to the arachne, but they had four thick elephant-like legs instead.
The warriors were all carrying heavy weapons that looked like some sort of machinery and continued moving at a constant speed.
Row after row of them appeared. In the blink of an eye, thousands of them had appeared before Qianye’s eyes and there was an endless stream of them still emerging from the mist.
Qianye even suspected whether they were creatures or machines. Even mechanical puppets couldn’t be that orderly.
“Ang…” A long cry arrived from the distance and echoed throughout the wilderness. A gigantic beast, several dozen meters in height, appeared over the horizon, and it was also moving toward Port City step by step. Its steps looked fairly slow, but in truth, every stride covered over ten meters of ground.
The creature’s back was armored and there was a small fort installed upon it. It was actually a tamed warbeast.
The giant warbeast wasn’t alone. Behind them, two more of such creatures emerged from the morning mist.
A dense array of soldiers emerged from behind the beasts. Every step taken by the latter shook the earth and jolted the heavy trucks accompanying them. Yet, these tenacious transport vehicles maintained their advance. There were also a number of soldiers who had decided to walk beside the trucks, likely because they couldn’t stand the bumpy ride.
Qianye looked up at the sky and, as expected, saw numerous giant airships. These aerial vessels weren’t cutting-edge warships. Judging from their bloated forms, they could only be cargo vessels. However, that was what made it even more terrifying because only cargo airships could move a large number of soldiers and supplies.
The ground and sky were filled with tides of both flesh and iron, rolling toward Port City. This army moved through the night and never stopped to rest; it would reach the city in a day at most. Perhaps, at this point, Port City was still unaware of this impending calamity.
Qianye’s expression was unsightly. He had considered many scenarios, but even in the worst one, he had not imagined the appearance of such a giant army.
In the blink of an eye, a thought emerged in Qianye’s mind. Port City was about to fall.
He wasn’t that concerned about whether or not the city could hold out. After all, he only needed to put in enough effort to match the reward he had received. However, Nighteye and Zhuji were still in the city. Once the city had fallen, anything could happen in the chaos. Qianye stopped watching the army and silently made his way toward Port City.
One day of preparation would give Port City a better chance. At the very least, Su Dingqian could bring his main army outside of the city and slowly contend with the enemy, using space to exchange for time. In the neutral lands, there was no shortage of territory for those possessing experts and armies.
As for the civilians in the city, it was the same for them whoever the lord was. The only difference would be the quality of their lives.
At only a couple hundred kilometers of distance, Port City came into Qianye’s view before long. The city, at this moment, was in chaos. People were pouring out of the gates with their luggage in tow and scattering in every direction.
Qianye realized, to his relief, that the city lord had already received word of the great army descending upon them. A batch of civilians had already left a while ago, the current exodus a clear indication that everyone knew the enemy was upon them.
Many people had fled the city, but those who stayed behind were even greater in number. Most residents had confidence in Su Dingqian since, after all, he had protected this city for so many years. A divine champion was a god-like existence in the neutral lands.
Qianye entered the gates and went back home first.
The little courtyard was as peaceful and tranquil as a spring day, a stark contrast to the disorderly situation outside. Zhuji was asleep in the room while Nighteye was reading a book in the yard. It was just that the book, “A Brief History of the Empire” was now “Geography and Scenery of the Neutral Lands”.
Qianye was dazzled for a moment upon seeing Nighteye. It seemed as though some part of her had changed, but the feeling vanished in the blink of an eye. Upon careful observation, she was still the Nighteye he knew. Even though the mask could disguise her appearance, there was no way to change her body structure and charm.
“Dazed?” Nighteye chuckled.
“It’s nothing.” Qianye swept the abnormality to the back of his head. “There’s bad news. The enemy forces are too strong for Port City to defend against. I need to pass this intelligence to the City Guard and have them make preparations. You pack up our things and prepare to leave with Zhuji.”
“How about you?”
“I’ll stay behind since I promised to help Su Dingqian defend the city. Don’t worry about me, I’ll definitely escape if things go south. You should leave first with Zhuji and find a good place to hide. I’ll come looking for you.”
Nighteye smiled. “Safe place? There’s no safe place in the neutral lands.”
Qianye said after some contemplation, “Why not head to the Spider Emperor’s territory. It’s relatively peaceful, and there are a lot of humans living there.”
Nighteye shook her head, saying, “No, I’ll remain here. If we work together, we can escape even from a divine champion.”
Qianye gave it some thought. “That’s fine, but stay in the courtyard as long as you can. Don’t participate in the battles.”
Hiding Nighteye—someone who possessed nearly the same combat strength as Qianye—was more or less keeping an ace card up their sleeve. She was a professional both in terms of frontal assault and concealed sniping. She could easily give the ignorant enemy a big surprise.
Qianye left for the city guard headquarters in a hurry. In truth, the reason he had decided to stay behind and defend the city was because of the remaining two Dreameater Bugs the city lord had promised him.
After Qianye’s departure, Nighteye’s lips curled up into an ineffable smile.
In the war room, Su Dingqian was ashen-faced, standing with his hands clasped behind him. Liu Daoming, Su Yueyuan, and a number of other defending generals were present with worried countenances.
“Anyone have any suggestions on what we should do now?” Su Dingqian inquired.
The people below glanced at one another awkwardly. In the end, it was Liu Daoming who braced himself to reply, “Sire, under the present circumstances, abandoning the city is the best option.”
“Abandon? Since I arrived in this land, I have never left it before!” Su Dingqian’s voice was thunderous.
However, Liu Daoming shared a deep relationship with him and was thus allowed to keep on talking. “Sire, the only thing valuable in Port City is the Earth Dragon. What else in the city is worth anything? They’re nothing but cumbersome things. As long as you remain, we remain, we can definitely take back the city.”
Su Dingqian frowned in silence. At this time, Su Yueyuan said, “Father, an army of such scale means that the three forces have already formed an alliance. There’s simply no way for us to fight them head-on. Let them have this place first, they might even start fighting amongst themselves when they no longer have a common target.”
Su Dingqian roared, “Frivolous! Right now, we don’t know if they’ve formed an alliance or not. How do you know if there’ll be infighting after they take Port City?”
Su Dingqian’s eyes flickered as he struggled internally. Liu Daoming knew the city lord was hesitating whether or not to initiate an all-out battle. Although Su Dingqian’s cultivation among the divine champions was mediocre, he was fairly well known for his powerful combat strength. The man was confident in fleeing even after facing a large army in battle. The problem was that such a battle would wipe out their entire force except for Liu Daoming and a handful of high-ranking experts.
Someone like Su Dingqian would only calculate the gains and losses, paying very little heed to the casualties. There was never a lack of experts willing to attach themselves to a king.
A worried Liu Daoming said after some contemplation, “Sire, perhaps the enemy is here for the Earth Dragon.”
“Earth Dragon!” Su Dingqian was enlightened. He had been in Port City all this time but never had any designs on the dragon. That was why he had never considered things in that direction. Now that Liu Daoming had reminded him, he said with a cold smile, “They’re really quite ambitious!”