Free Web NovelChapter 320: Confrontation of the South [2]
A Supreme General appeared to be weak for Lucas. He was able to flick Levitate and disable the source of power Demon Sword had. It seemed that he was omnipotent and, to the defeating morale of the soldiers, without their generals, they were nothing. Even if they tried to fight, the 11 Elders were also strong and could easily handle them, even if they were tens of thousands. Lucas seemed to have also switched the effects of Levitate’s array formation to their disadvantage.
Lucas earned Fiona’s deepest respect. Her stern eyes landed on him, and an indefinable feeling throbbed in her heart. She was just silently observing Lucas and had assessed him to know his intention, and within that month of their preparation for the invasion of the Northern Continent, what she only saw was a true leader, a definition of a ruler.
Array formation, mystical arts, martial arts, deception... what else was Lucas unable to do? He was omnipotent to her as well.
Fiona sighed and shook her head. She had been preoccupied with thinking about Lucas, and seeing that he was trustworthy, a person who held onto his promise. Should he be complacent, nonchalant before him, and accept him deeply?
"Fiona, I might melt if you continue to stare at me like that."
Fiona’s eyebrows furrowed. "Don’t assume that I am staring at you."
"Well, whatever?" Lucas scoffed.
’Should I trust you and leave everything to you? If it’s you, I could perhaps find the answers to my question...’ Fiona changed back to her human form and went to immobilize Levitate.
"This is the end for you, and your mainland is our next target..."
Levitate didn’t meet her eyes. He looked in different directions, but he was preoccupied with something. He didn’t want to waste this opportunity and at least find an answer to her absurd curiosity. Moreover, he had already stopped thinking of continuing the invasion.
"Please be honest... How did you hide the people of the Southern Continent? I know that my skills in array formation are not perfect, but I am confident that I won’t miss any small flaws in stealth technique. Don’t tell me the stealth techniques of the Southern Continent became this profound for me not to be able to sense them."
Fiona shook her head and smiled. "We didn’t hide them. And for you to be bugged more, we didn’t hide them, instead, we moved them into some safer place."
***
The border between the captured three provinces and the remaining four provinces of the Northern Continent disappeared at the same time half of the Northern Continent force attacked the Southern Continent. The Crown Prince had already expected this as well. Knowing that the legacy was the driving force for this war, surely, the people who captured their lands silently were connected with the legacy.
"But how did the Eastern Continent become affiliated with the Southern Continent?"
"What do you mean, Crown Prince? Do you think the invaders of our land were friends with the Southern Continent?" Bavo Luo asked.
"It is reasonable to think that the Eastern Continent knows when we will attack the Southern Continent and will remove their grand array formation on the same day when our total force is halved. Surely they had some eyes on our surface. And clearly, the Southern Continent won’t be able to orchestrate this since they are already deteriorating. Hence, with the remaining strength, the Eastern Continent has, they surely have taken control of the Southern Continent as well."
***
An average soldier named Bin Cao stood with the rest of the average soldiers that the Crown Prince held. He stood among the soldiers that were lining up, preparing for a possible war that could break. And as the Crown Prince acted as their strategist, everyone’s morale was high. Their confidence was soaring, standing before the walls they had created.
The terrain was slightly irregular. There were bumps of rocks and dried land, but there were dead trees as well, creating a dense cover for everyone. There were uphills, slopes up and down, and what was more, there were huge skulls of monsters that deteriorated in this desert-like environment. This place was the "Land of the Dead," the third province that Lucas captured, and next to it was the province where the Crown Prince prepared everything to fight against the invaders.
’The Crown Prince was really smart. For sure, our enemies don’t know that we sent our platoons to the front as bait to ignite the war and that the real deal was the battalion at the sides, preparing for the right moment. Hiding behind the uphill from a kilometer away, the enemies will surely be caught off guard.’
The average soldier seemed to be confident, even though he was standing in the platoon that was prepared as bait. But for him, it was already an honor to be part of the force the Crown Prince organized. There was no great honor to be part of the next Emperor of the Northern Continent.
They took a gulp, then lifted their gears with their limbs as they started moving, advancing to the lines of the enemies; stomps from their feet created dust in the terrain. And as they were approaching the enemy lines, they saw a trench prepared with the archers inside. freewebnovёl.ƈom
"Rain! Rain! Rain!" The shield-bearers of the platoon started moving forward, creating a formation and slowing their movement as they defended themselves from the rain of arrows. It lasted for a few seconds and stopped, giving them the confidence to continue their advance.
"Arrows! Refill!"
The platoon could hear the shouts from their enemy, making them delighted as they felt their enemies were trying to equalize the force they had brought. And just as they were about to reach the trenches, just fifty meters away, swordsmen came out of the trench, forming a platoon much larger than them. They clashed with the forces of the Crown Prince, killed each other, and retreated.
The enemy lines saw this opportunity and chased them. Another platoon joined the enemy line that was chasing the retreating men from the Crown Prince’s force, and just as their number continued to rise, it didn’t stop. Another hundred joined, and another hundred, until they formed a force of 2 thousand men to chase the retreating men.
The bait... It was to provoke their force and make them bite at them in retaliation. Of course, the number of the platoons was meant to be sacrificed, but killing the enemy soldiers was also part of their sacrifice as soldiers. And just as they succeeded in baiting them, almost calling out a chunk of the enemy lines’ total force, from a kilometer away, from the east, a rushing battalion could be seen.
They were wearing the same gear, but the condition was different. They were so refreshed and strong that when they clashed with the chasing battalion from the enemy lines, they were able to put up a good fight.
The clash continued, and the Crown Prince just watched from a distance. He had predicted this would happen. While they were busy chasing them down, thinking of advancing as well, there would be a battalion ready to slash them down, catching them off guard against their sides.
While the east weakened the enemies that advanced, another platoon joined the enemy lines to reinforce the force they lost. It was almost up to 3,000 soldiers in total and the battalion, in total strength, was just 1,000, with another 2,000 waiting to reinforce them.
Reinforce and reinforce. Each side reinforced its forces until the enemy line seemed to have no reinforcement anymore. They were being pushed back, and now in the trenches, the archers were preparing to make sure of the retreating comrades’ safety. But, contrary to the enemies’ expectations, additional battalions from the west joined the Crown Prince’s force. The arrows were not enough to kill 7,000 soldiers, and just as the force of the Crown Prince arrived at the trenches, the grins on their faces were obvious.
"Now... we are not about to retake a piece of land. Just a fort from the enemies..." The Crown Prince mumbled in excitement as he watched from his seat the victory that was just in his hands. And as the forces reached the trenches, something extraordinary happened. The soldiers that were protecting the trenches disappeared, just like a bubble, as if in the first place they were not even there.
This scene made the Crown Prince stand violently from his seat. His eyes looked and darted at the trenches, and all he could see were the confused faces of his soldiers.
"What happened?" He sounded disappointed, but deep inside, he was baffled. What just happened was something he couldn’t explain. Surely, the enemies were just there, and even if they practiced movement techniques like shadow movement techniques, there should be traces and actions that they used a movement technique. But now, they vanished.
"W-What..."
The Crown Prince directed that the remaining 10,000 soldiers be prepared. They would go to the battlefield and finish it immediately. He was well aware that he should not be fixated on the enemies’ disappearance. However, just as he was about to leave his seat, the land shook. A bright light appeared to his north, and a crumbling sound reached his ears. Again, he was baffled, but now, the reason was because of an explosion that killed 7,000 of his soldiers that were around the trench.
