The First Order

On the huge stage of Ghent City, there weren't any stunning stage effects, yet everything that played out couldn't be more realistic.

Tonight, ever since Ren Xiaosu fought his way out of Rose Avenue, the lone monastery standing at the end of the street became the starting point of everything. It was where the bloodshed began, kicking off the show that followed.

Chen Jiu witnessed almost the entirety of the battle tonight.

From the beginning, the situation was so one-sided no one thought Ren Xiaosu could win. At that time, the Sanctuary was still wondering if they should take action and save him.

But in the blink of an eye, the sorcerer clans had become the disadvantaged group on this stage.

This was something no one had expected. Even the Norman family's patriarch had been tragically killed in action.

He had personally witnessed Ren Xiaosu escaping from the pursuit of tens of thousands of people. He had witnessed a leopard gecko arriving at the battle site. He even witnessed how the entire situation became a little different after the other party brought out a large corroded metal door and opened it.

The observation deck under Chen Jiu's feet slowly lowered. He felt that there was no need for him to continue watching anymore.

"Father, where are you going?" Chen An'an gazed at Chen Jiu's back as he moved away from the battlefield. "Aren't you going to save him? Has he been killed?"

Chen An'an and the others could not see the battle. Although they heard the sound of gunfire, they couldn't determine what was going on.

They did not know the 6th Field Division had already arrived on the battlefield. Therefore, they thought Ren Xiaosu might have been overwhelmed by the sea of pursuers.

However, things were completely different from what they had imagined. Chen Jiu turned to them and said, "He doesn't need us to save him. I'll return to the underground now and see if I can seize this last opportunity. Wait for me here. I'll be back soon."

The 20-odd members of the Sanctuary looked at one another, unable to figure out what this last opportunity meant.

Chen Jiu returned to the underground. He walked through a long and dim passageway and headed towards the depths of the underground.

The further he walked, the darker it became. It was so dark Chen Jiu could barely make out the graffiti on the walls, yet it seemed like everything was getting brighter and brighter. It was as though they had spent hundreds of years walking through a dark tunnel, and now, there was finally a glimmer of light ahead. That light was the exit, and this tunnel was finally coming to an end.

If there were a better choice, the Sanctuary would definitely not choose to have everyone hide in the obscure underground.

The underground might look interesting, but who would understand the suffering of not getting any sunlight for a long time?

Without sunlight, the human body would experience calcium deficiency. Therefore, everyone had to go to some places known as light wells in the underground to get some sun every once in a while so their bodies could continue growing normally.

However, there was an extremely limited amount of light in the underground. Therefore, not everyone had a chance to bask in the sunlight. As such, a lot of people suffering from hunchback disease started appearing in the underground.

Chen Jiu remembered very clearly that when he brought the four-year-old An'an and Chen Cheng to a light well, An'an had used her young tender hands to shield herself from the sunlight. She only dared to let the sunlight shine through the gaps of her fingers onto her face. It was both a happy and frightening experience.

The underground residents liked to use minerals to draw graffiti on the walls, and among the minerals that could be used for drawing, the underground residents liked the red-orange ones the most. Everyone said it was the color that left the deepest impression on them. It was the color they saw when the sun shone through the capillaries of their closed eyelids.

This was everyone's desire for sunlight.

The Sanctuary served as a leadership role for the underground people while the Chen family had always led the Sanctuary throughout the generations.

Chen Jiu had been told since he was young that if an opportunity arose, he must lead the underground residents back to the surface to live.

But for a matter like that… it was easy to treat it as an ideal, but it was very difficult to realize.

This gloomy underground made people feel like they were stuck living in an endless night.

When he first received news from Zhang Haoyun that Ren He's descendant might have appeared, Chen Jiu was both excited and nervous.

He was excited because his ancestors always said the descendants of the Rider would definitely come to the Kingdom of Sorcerers and take over the Sanctuary to lead everyone out of the darkness.

That was how the leaders of the Sanctuary comforted themselves over the years.

Chen Jiu was nervous because he knew Ren Xiaosu had come here alone. It was only him… so how was he going to topple the entire Kingdom of Sorcerers?

If someone like that suddenly arrived, would they somehow lead the already weak Sanctuary into an abyss? Was such a person qualified to take over as leader of the Sanctuary?

But tonight, Chen Jiu understood the other party did not seem to be interested in leading the Sanctuary.

Chen Jiu had seen with his own eyes how Ren Xiaosu had snatched away the black Eye of True Sight that symbolized the authority of the Norman family's patriarch. At that moment, it was as though the authority of the old aristocracy was about to fade away.

Ren Xiaosu was surrounded by friends and comrades who had risked their lives with him, and behind him was the entire Northwest Army of Fortress 178.

That young man had come to reign over the Kingdom of Sorcerers.

Chen Jiu finally arrived at the deepest part of the underground. It was a huge underground cave that resembled a palace. Countless torches were burning in the cave, and a black subterranean river was flowing rapidly through it.

Countless people from the underground were curled up here. When everyone received news of the battle on the surface, they hid here for fear of getting implicated.

The moment Chen Jiu appeared, everyone looked over at him silently. There was a sense of anticipation, fear, unease, and repressed anger for their fate.

Chen Jiu said calmly, "Everyone, please stand."

The underground residents looked at one another and started chattering nonstop. However, the commotion quickly subsided.

After the first person stood up, the second, third, and then all 10,000 of them rose. They turned to the Sanctuary leader standing in front of them.

Among them were the elderly, women carrying babies, and many young people holding garden hoes.

Chen Jiu said, "It's been more than a 100 years. We've been hiding in the underground for more than a 100 years. Every year, people ask me when we can return to the surface again. I believe that my father and grandfather faced this same issue as well. But every time someone asked, we could only remain silent because we didn't have an answer at the time either.

"We are born of darkness, but our hearts are with the light. But it seemed that the world had never been fair to us. The light we knew has always existed only in the light wells. When I brought Chen An'an to the light well, I tried my best to raise her higher as though it would help her be closer to the light.

"I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of all the times I've stayed silent when facing your questions."

The underground residents' breathing started getting heavier. The young men's grip on their garden hoes gradually tightened.

Chen Jiu's gaze swept across everyone's faces. "But if you all ask me today when we can return to the surface again, I will tell you that it is now."

He called over a guardian whose face was covered in tattoos and had him bring over a pot of vermillion dye.

Chen Jiu dipped his right thumb into the dye and smeared it between his brows. "Those of you who still have courage, come with me. If you have weapons, bring your weapons. Those without weapons, bring your hoes. Those without hoes, pick up a stone. I'll take you all home. Let's go and meet the new leader."

The torches underground illuminated everyone's faces. The underground residents followed behind Chen Jiu and smeared the vermillion dye between their brows before converging like a torrent and heading out to the surface.

…

It was quiet at the House of Norman's manor. The mistress of the manor was sitting solemnly in the main hall of the luxurious residence that spanned thousands of square meters. Meanwhile, the young generation of the entire House of Norman had gathered around her.

These young people were not qualified to go into battle yet, and the reason why the mistress was overseeing the manor was to restrain them during this special period.

The mistress was already in her seventies, but her skin was maintained like that of a 40-year-old noblewoman. She was dressed in dignified and elegant jewelry and had a graceful bearing.

Before the war started, the Norman family's Knights of Radiance had already deployed a group of troops to guard various parts of the manor.

At this moment, the security in the Norman Manor was so tight not even a fly could get in.

In the main hall, the young people did not seem to be nervous about the impending war. Instead, most of them looked cynical. None of them felt that the war would shake the foundation of the House of Norman.

The Norman and the Tudor families had ruled the Kingdom of Sorcerers for nearly 200 years. During this period, other clans had tried to challenge their authority, but all of their attempts ended in failure.

These young people had been told since they were young that no one would ever be able to defeat the Norman family.

Even this late at night, there was a steady stream of servants bringing food into the main hall. The freshly roasted beef and venison were served on silver platters, and the scarlet wine swirled freely in crystal glasses.

They used silverware because the people in the Kingdom of Sorcerers firmly believed that silver could detect all poisons. In this way, they could test if anyone had poisoned their food.

If it weren't for this reason, the House of Norman would probably be using gold for all their cutlery.

No one relayed the battle situation back to them. Everyone thought that tonight was just like the day Donnelly had died. That incident was a one-sided massacre of the enemy by the House of Norman.

In the three kitchens of the manor, there were hundreds of chefs who were busy preparing for this impromptu banquet.

The servants cleared the tables like a flowing river while the chefs immediately prepared new dishes to be served.

A chef put down the kitchen knife in his hand and said to his assistant next to him, "Go to the cold storage and bring out the beef tongue."

The dark-haired assistant with black eyes nodded and walked towards the cold storage room.

A cold storage room in the Kingdom of Sorcerers did not use an electrically cooled system. Instead, servants would fetch ice from the cellar every day and place them in the cold storage.

After the assistant entered the cold storage alone, he did not retrieve the beef tongue. Instead, he went straight to where the wine was stored and opened a wooden crate at the bottom.

It was very difficult to secretly transport things into the Norman Manor. When the war broke out today, the Northwest's intelligence agents finally found an opportunity to transport the crate in together with the ice and red wine during a shift change for the guards.

If not for this war, they would probably not find such a good opportunity even in another two years.

This was a secret plan P5092 had instructed the Great Hoodwinker to carry out. P5092 said that fighting a head-on battle was one issue, but a sneak attack from the side was another.

Before the real war began, they should seize every opportunity that they got, opportunities that appeared when the opponent slipped up.

The more chaotic the lead-up to the war was, the easier it would be for the opponent to make mistakes.

When the box was opened, it was not filled with wine but an exquisite "pentazolate anion" bomb.

The Northwest's intelligence agents had infiltrated the Kingdom of Sorcerers and brought radio sets and firearms from the Central Plains. At the same time, a minority of them were also separately carrying the most powerful explosive in the world.

Before The Cataclysm, there were actually metallic hydrogen bombs that were more powerful than pentazolate anion bombs. However, the development of metallic hydrogen bombs was too difficult and had already been lost to the ocean of history.

The pentazolate anion bomb was the brand new pride of the Orient in the history of explosives. Meanwhile, the research data for this technology was recovered by Fortress 178's exploration team.

Fortress 178 was located in the northwest, and this place happened to be near the blast test site for the pentazolate anion bomb from before The Cataclysm.

Pentazolate anion decomposed at a temperature of 116.8 °C and had shown very good thermal stability.

But most importantly, it was once hailed as an "ultra high energy-containing material" that was closest to the nuclear bomb and second only to metallic hydrogen bombs.

In the past, a material the size of a salt grain had leaked out during an experiment and destroyed an entire laboratory.

For example, five kilograms of TNT could only blow up a small, single-story house, but this small and refined pentazolate anion bomb in front of the kitchen assistant could blow up the entire Norman Manor.

The kitchen assistant pressed the countdown button on the detonator and left the cold storage like nothing had happened.

He did not retrieve the beef tongue for the chef and instead went straight down the dirty sewer pipes behind the kitchen that was used for pouring away dirty slop water. He left through it without batting an eyelid.

His expression was so calm it was as though the stench did not affect him. He had an extremely determined will.

…

In the well behind the Rose Monastery, Melgor was sitting uneasily on a wooden box in the tiny secret chamber. "Why haven't you ever mentioned your background to me?"

Summer said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, but too many people are involved in this matter. I can't let them bear the risk for me."

"I'm not blaming you." Mel quickly said, "What I mean is, if you had told me, I could've helped in some way. When I heard your conversation in the underground, I felt quite useless that I wasn't able to help much. I couldn't even understand what you guys were talking about."

Summer stepped forward and held Mel's hand. "Don't say that. Why would you be useless? It's all thanks to you this time."

Mel's eyes lit up. "Why do you say that?"

Summer explained, "It's all thanks to you for bringing that Rider's descendant to the Kingdom of Sorcerers."

"… Oh, is that it?"

He felt like he had been stabbed 10,000 times in the heart and nearly cried.

"I was just teasing you," Summer said with a laugh. She sat side by side with Mel on the box and said, "I found out about my family history when I was 12 years old. From that day onwards, I was no longer able to lead a carefree life like other people my age. At that time, I was very envious of you, but later, it wasn't about envy anymore. Instead, I wanted to protect all of which was beautiful for you. Actually, it was my intention for you to be posted to the border for reconnaissance work. Do you blame me? I only hoped to get you away from Ghent City before the conflict erupted."

Not only that, but Summer's engagement to the House of Tudor was also something that made Mel want to give up. Of course, Summer made this decision mainly for the opportunity to get close to the House of Tudor.

Summer did not really want to marry that person from the House of Tudor. Her plan was to poison the Tudors on the wedding day while they hosted the banquet.

There would definitely be many sorcerers attending the wedding that day, and the core figures of the House of Tudor would definitely be there as well.

"It's not your fault." Melgor shook his head. "Those two years of hardship made me understand a lot of things. I looked up at the starry sky alone and sang to myself. Initially, it was really quite unbearable, but later, I realized loneliness can really strengthen one's mind."

Melgor suddenly thought of something. If Ren Xiaosu were still here in the secret chamber, he would probably say to him, "What's the use of just having a strong mind? You have to become more powerful too."

Thinking of this, Mel even found it a little funny. That young man from the Central Plains seemed to look down on him from the beginning, yet he kept helping him along the way.

Summer looked at Mel's silly smile and thought to herself, 'Perhaps fortune favors the foolish.'

However, Mel gradually turned silent. He thought for a long time and then said, "Actually, I know I'm quite useless. If I were really useful, I wouldn't have made everyone subconsciously want to protect me, right? But regardless of whether I'm useful or not, I really want to leave this well instead of hiding here like a coward. Ren Xiaosu is my friend. He's already done so much for me. To help take the attention off us, he even ran out alone to face tens of thousands of troops."

Summer listened quietly. Mel mustered up his courage and said, "He doesn't have any close acquaintances since he came to the Kingdom of Sorcerers alone. Since he considers me his friend, I should also treat him as one. I don't know if he's still alive or not, nor do I know if it's too late, or if there's even any point for me to save him now. But if I don't go, I'll regret it for sure."

Summer, in her calm composure, gradually broke into a smile. "You've really changed a lot."

"Is that so?" Mel said a little embarrassedly, "Sometimes, I also want to live like Ren Xiaosu and not have anything to fear. I would also like to be able to sound like I'm bragging about myself even though I'm speaking the truth…."

"You don't have to explain." Summer smiled and said, "Let's go."

"No, you can't go." Mel shook his head. "You still have your mission. If something happens to you, what will those people supporting you do?"

"Who cares about the mission? I just wanna be with you," Summer said firmly.

But at this moment, two loud explosions boomed in Ghent City in quick succession.

The explosions were even louder than the roar of thunder on summer nights. It was as though The Cataclysm had descended again, destroying the world.

In that instant, it felt like the sky was falling, and the lands were being engulfed. It was like the mountains were crumbling into the sea, and meteorites were striking the earth.

The entirety of Ghent City was shaking from the explosion, and even the water level of the well outside the secret chamber suddenly dropped by a notch.

However, Melgor rushed out of the secret chamber like a madman and climbed up the well with the rope.

Summer led him to the top of the Rose Monastery. The two of them stood on the circular roof and quietly watched as the Norman Manor and the Tudor Manor started burning in the east and west, respectively.

The blasted debris and smoke that shot into the sky looked like dark storm clouds rolling towards the horizon.

Amid the black smoke and dust, red sparks were still flashing. It was as though there was lightning behind the storm clouds.

At some point, the thought that her ancestor, Russell, might not even be that powerful crossed Summer's mind.

The Norman Manor and the Tudor Manor were gone. The most glorious symbols in the Kingdom of Sorcerers had suddenly turned into specks of dust that once existed in history. It seemed that the Houses of Norman and Tudor had also become a thing of the past.

The explosion had blown the youth foundations of the Norman and the Tudor families into dust. It was as though it were washing away their criminal past.

The Norman and the Tudor families' foundations had been severed. No one had expected Fortress 178 to be so ruthless.

Summer and Mel stood hand in hand at the top of the circular roof. They looked at the Knights of Tudor, Knights of Radiance, and the Central Plains warriors who came from lands unknown and felt like this was all a fucking dream!

So Ren Xiaosu really did not need him to save. Mel could only sigh.

So that was the source of his confidence!

…

By this moment, the hundreds of assault columns of the 6th Field Division had cleared the way forward.

They cleared out the enemies hiding in the streets, alleys, and roofs. This way, the main forces that had just come through the enchanted doorway could officially launch an even more intense, all-out attack after just some slight reorganization.

P5092, who was overseeing the battle from the rear, had an indifferent expression. It was as though nothing else in the world mattered other than war.

When the Norman and Tudor manors were blown up, Zhang Xiaoman was so shocked he nearly lost his balance and fell off the observation platform. Even Black Fox was stunned.

The warhorses went completely crazy. They no longer cared about the knights on their backs and started fleeing madly. They did not even care that they would trample each other.

The neighing of the horses, mixed with screams and roars, made the defenders sound exceptionally powerless.

The knights stared blankly at the flames that shot up into the sky. Then, caught off guard, the heavily armored knights were thrown off their horses one by one. Due to their heavy armor, they could not properly regain their footing amid the stampede of humans and horses.

The knights who were able to remain calm wanted to keep their warhorses under control and put all their effort into showcasing their riding skills. They knew full well that if they were to fall off their mounts under such circumstances, it would be over for them.

Everything was in chaos. What could have caused an orderly formation to suddenly turn so messy? All it needed was a loud explosion.

On this completely chaotic battlefield, only P5092's expression did not change. It was as though he had expected it. The calm expression on P5092's face was a stark contrast to the world that had turned topsy-turvy.

P5092 was silent. The electromagnetic pulse triggered by the explosion would affect the proper functioning of the radio communications system, so he was waiting for it to subside before retaking command of the troops.

All he could hear was the sound of static. However, to P5092, this static was more like the quiet that followed an extreme clamor. In this short half a minute, he could finally catch a breather.

P5092 immediately sank deep into his own thoughts. He was a stone that had fallen into the sea and sunk all the way to the dark bottom.

There was no sense of suffocation from drowning. There was only tranquility.

A moment later, the communications system was back to normal. The commander of an assault column on the front lines reported over the radio, "We've broken through into Zone C31. I repeat, the 131st Assault Column has successfully broken through into Zone C31. We're setting up a heavy machine gun position!"

In an instant, P5092 seemed to have been pulled out from the bottom of the sea by this voice. It only took him a short two milliseconds to turn back into the war machine everyone was familiar with. "I've neglected something. 131st Assault Column, don't rashly enter the battlefield for now. Go find high ground and cover Zone D19 with your firepower. Future Commander will be passing through there in five minutes. Before that, you all must open up a path for him!"

Orders were transmitted out from the command center one after another. "97th Assault Column, secure Zone C21. Don't let the enemies there pose a threat to Future Commander.

"81st and 82nd Assault Columns, stay where you are to receive the main forces at the rear to lead them into battle!

"Black Fox, after you lead the main forces onto the battlefield, make sure you carve out a path. I don't want Future Commander to have anything to worry about!"

As the saying went, one captured the bandits by first capturing the ringleader. Currently, Ren Xiaosu was leading more than 20 people to overcome tens of thousands of troops to carry out the decapitation strike plan, so P5092 wanted to ensure that Ren Xiaosu would not have any more obstacles around him to deal with.

Zhou Yingxue stood beside P5092 and controlled her vines while asking, "You said you neglected something? What is it?"

P5092 replied, "Now that we've uprooted the foundation of their younger generation and even destroyed their manors, it'll make them despair. So we have to prevent the Norman and the Tudor families from gathering newfound strength in their despair."

In war, an outstanding commander would not only have to consider how to precisely attack the enemy step by step and weaken their combat strength, reinforcements, and supply lines. They also had to consider human nature.

Although the sorcerers led a comfortable life, they also had their pride.

No one could be sure if a nation with an ancient and mysterious inheritance like sorcery would erupt with unimaginable power during desperate times.

Zhou Yingxue frowned. "What should we do then?"

P5092 said calmly, "They can still unleash their strength in despair if they have a glimmer of hope. As long as Future Commander can strike down the enemy quickly enough and destroy all their hope before that strength erupts, it'll be fine."

The engineer in charge of maintaining the equipment for P5092 thought that ever since P5092 joined the Northwest, he had been talking more and more ruthlessly.

…

Ren Xiaosu calmly observed the ongoings on the battlefield. For some reason, the more dangerous the situation, the calmer he felt.

It was the same in the Jing Mountains, Luoyang City, and the Pyro Company's Sacred Mountains. He felt even more so standing among the tens of thousands of troops at this moment.

Just a moment ago, Zhang Xiaoman had pointed out the direction of the Tudor family's patriarch's retreat to him. But before he could confirm it with Zhang Xiaoman, the electromagnetic pulse that erupted from the explosions at the Norman Manor and the Tudor Manor caused radio interference.

But the good news was that half of the knights around them who had never experienced "advanced explosives" before were totally stunned by the blasts.

In this backward nation, the sorcerers called themselves gods, while the soldiers of the sorcerer clans referred to themselves as knights of the divine kingdom. But at this moment, this group of devout disciples had encountered something that was not explainable even with theology.

"11 o'clock!" Ren Xiaosu roared on the battlefield, "Seize the opportunity and break through their defenses!"

In that instant, the "war chariot" led by Old Xu instantly turned around. Wherever the black saber pointed, a river of blood would flow.

Amid the chaos, the 22 T5 combatants on both flanks mercilessly crushed the enemy like the wheels of the war chariot.

Fighting against tens of thousands of soldiers, bullets would get expended, and grenades would run out. Therefore, when the battle reached its climax, the T5 combatants realized their fists and bodies were still the most dependable in the end.

In the Pyro Company, the T5 combatants were known as the Chosen Ones.

Just as P5092 had said, not everyone was qualified to become a T5 combatant. The results that the genetic serum could help you achieve were predetermined by your genes the moment you were born.

Therefore, every T5 combatant in the Pyro Company was a treasure. Every one of them was created based on the principles of war, and they were all true blue killing machines.

After they became the war chariot's wheels, and after they ran out of ammunition, these crazy powerful "machines" started plundering the enemy's weapons.

The T5 combatants snatched the enemy's swords with a strength they could not resist at all. Then they stabbed the enemy's swords through the gaps in their armor.

The knights of the Houses of Tudor and Norman were equipped with the best gear in the Kingdom of Sorcerers. Their armor was thick and tough, so it would be unrealistic to use swords to stab them.

If normal soldiers were to use melee weapons against them, they would probably have to expend a great deal of effort just to kill them.

However, the T5 combatants were much more agile and domineering than expected. Their control over their bodies had reached a level that transcended the mundane.

Of course, with the T5 combatants' strength, they could totally kill a mounted knight through their armor. However, these T5s were true war machines. When faced with countless enemies, they would use the least amount of energy to achieve the greatest damage.

They did not know if "victory" or "death" would come for them first in war, so they had to conserve their energy to deal with all threats.

Wherever the "war chariot" passed by, a T5 combatant would casually stab his sword and plunge it through the gap between the enemies' helmets and heavy armor and into their neck, nailing them to the ground.

This attack was as precise as performing cardiac surgery. The thin sword was inserted through a 0.3 mm gap in the armor like a fisherman skillfully shucking an oyster with a dagger on the beach.

Right after, the T5 combatant would draw the fallen knight's sword from his hip and continue searching for the next target.

This series of actions was executed smoothly all at once.

Occasionally, the T5 combatants would look at each other during the battle. They could all see the fanaticism in each other's eyes.

They had never experienced such a carefree battle before when they were fighting against the expeditionary army back in the Pyro Company's territory. Their memories of fleeing like defeated dogs seemed to have dissipated into thin air. It was as though they were dusty swords that had been polished and regained their shine!

However, the stamina of the T5 combatants was not unlimited. They had already been running around with Ren Xiaosu for nearly 40 minutes. During this time, they ensured the combat troops at the rear could pass through the enchanted doorway without any interference. However, their breathing was starting to become irregular.

Gradually, everyone's movements became less precise, and they would even make mistakes occasionally.

But at this moment, Ren Xiaosu and Old Xu, who were at the front of the formation, suddenly stopped. Just as the T5 combatants were feeling confused, they heard Ren Xiaosu say, "Take a five-minute break right here. Pay attention to the rhythm of your breathing and move your hands and feet about. Don't let the lactic acid accumulate in your muscles, and don't let your heart rate drop too much!"

Then Ren Xiaosu stood in place and started regulating his breathing. His breathing was constantly maintained in a fixed pattern. The T5 combatants had all undergone similar training before, so they understood that maintaining their heart rate was to allow the secretion of hormones in their bodies to continue. In this way, their combat strength would not decrease even after they recuperated.

Breathing was key in battle.

However, the T5 combatants were still feeling a little uncertain. With tens of thousands of enemies surrounding them, was it really alright to just stand still among the enemy troops and take a rest?

However, when the T5 combatants looked around, none of the enemies dared to make use of this window of opportunity to approach them.

These knights who had just calmed their horses down and surrounded Ren Xiaosu seemed to be a little flustered. They did not know why these war machines had suddenly stopped moving. Were they already at their limits, or were they just gathering more strength?

These knights did not even dare to step forward to probe them!

The T5 combatants looked silently at Ren Xiaosu's back. That young man who stood calmly in the middle of the battlefield to regulate his breathing was like a god!

There were no enemies within ten steps of him. It was like a vacuum had formed around him.

They finally understood why Commander P5092 had followed a young man like him to the Northwest. They finally understood why their comrades from the 6th Combat Brigade respected the individual so much.

Unknowingly, the T5 combatants' eyes turned even more fanatical. It was as though they had gained a new faith.

At this moment, Zhang Xiaoman's voice crackled again in Ren Xiaosu's earpiece. "Future Commander, the Tudor family's patriarch looks like he's waking up. He's about 700 meters in front of you!"

Ren Xiaosu turned around and smiled at the T5 combatants. "Done resting yet? Can y'all still fight? Charge forward with me again!"

The T5 combatants replied with smiles. "As you wish, Future Commander!"

Ren Xiaosu's black saber kept leading the way. "Luo Lan, get the martyred spirits to open up a path for me with their heavy machine guns!"

Luo Lan, who had been hiding in the center of the "war chariot" with his martyred spirits, laughed out loud. "Alright! It felt so stifling when you guys kept me from making any moves just now!"

During the previous charge, Ren Xiaosu did not allow the martyred spirits to take action. He had made them conserve their ammunition in case they could not break through the encirclement.

But from the look of things, there was probably no need to break through the encirclement anymore. Ren Xiaosu was planning to directly kill the enemy on the battlefield!

As the knights surrounded them warily, they saw the young man and White Mask at the front of the "war chariot" suddenly stepping aside. Meanwhile, the golden silhouettes picked up their heavy machine guns and started shooting crazily.

The gunfire from the heavy machine guns in the dark of the night was extremely terrifying. It directly penetrated through the knights' wall of encirclement in front of them.

In the blink of an eye, the wall was reduced to smoke and dust!

…

The Tudor family's patriarch slowly sat up in his palanquin. He felt confused and muddled like he had just experienced an extended dream.

In his dream, he was walking on vast plains. Under the lush green grass, there was even an earthy smell of the soil after the rain.

Walking and stopping along the way, he finally came to where a river lay. At this moment, a muscular river god emerged from the river and stared at him. "Honorable man, was the hat you dropped in the river gold or silver in color?"

Feeling confused, the Tudor family's patriarch said in his dream, "But I don't have a hat."

The river god's kind face suddenly turned vicious. "Liar, you clearly had a green hat <anno data-annotation-id="727d9516-73bd-4169-b6c2-9eaafc582245">on!"</anno>

The Tudor family's patriarch was confused.

He was immediately jolted awake from his dream. Before he could figure out why he had that dream, he felt something unusual in his inner spiritual world.

The symbols created by the bloodline spell were constantly flickering, and each of the flickering symbols represented that a son of his had died.

All of a sudden, the Tudor family's patriarch could feel the dozens of symbols tearing apart. In just the short moment he had fallen unconscious, so many of his sons had died!

Hundreds of his biological children had died, while more of those who were not his own blood could also be dead!

The Tudor family's patriarch said angrily, "What happened?!"

The knight commander said in panic, "Patriarch, the manor has been destroyed. The Norman family's patriarch is dead. We're close to being defeated!"

"Defeated?" The Tudor family's patriarch said angrily, "I won't be defeated!"

He held his black Eye of True Sight tightly in his hand. In an instant, his bloodline spell activated.

The Tudor family's bloodline spell finally revealed its originally intended ferocity!

…

The 81st Assault Column was preparing to receive the main forces at the rear. They used the bricks of the collapsed buildings around them to build a sturdy low wall to provide cover while they constructed other simple defensive fortifications.

Having such temporary defensive fortifications was like having a small forward operating base on the battlefield. They had to ensure the wounded could catch a breather after retreating here, as well as ensure that the main forces would not get attacked when they passed through here.

But as they were building the defensive fortifications, the blood flowing from a corpse next to them suddenly formed into a magic circle. The Tudor family's patriarch, who had just regained consciousness, used his bloodline spell to detonate the corpses scattered on the battlefield one by one.

A frosty aura gradually erupted from the bloodline spell. When the commander in charge of building the temporary defensive fortifications saw this, he got a bad feeling.

The main forces at the rear were quickly approaching, but it was already too late for the commander to get away. He shouted at the main forces behind him, "Stay away for now! Retreat!"

The main forces of the 6th Field Division who were approaching gradually stopped in their tracks. Everyone could only watch helplessly as the white frost spread out from the ground and froze their comrades in the 81st Assault Column into ice statues.

That turbulent aura of frost was a full-blown attack. Some people tried to jump into the air to avoid coming into contact with the cold air, but it was everywhere, so they couldn't get out of its way.

With hundreds of their comrades suddenly killed, nobody had the time to gather their emotions or bid farewell to them.

Such scenes were also happening elsewhere.

War was cruel, and its cruelty lay in the fact you couldn't react in time when tragedy struck.

At the rear of the battlefield, P5092 said calmly to Zhou Yingxue, "Focus on covering the assault columns. Help them conserve their strength."

Zhou Yingxue frowned and said, "I still have to cover for my master."

It took time for the vines to grow. Even the creeper vine at Stronghold 61 took more than ten days to completely engulf the city back then. Although Zhou Yingxue was stronger now, she still couldn't instantly cover the entire battlefield with the vines. There was also a limit to how much power she could channel into them. Therefore, if she wanted to provide cover for Ren Xiaosu, it would be best for her to concentrate on filling the area around him with vines first.

However, as the field commander, P5092 had his own opinion. "Disregard Future Commander for now."

Zhou Yingxue's immediately raised her eyebrows. "Am I to listen to you just because you told me to disregard him? That's my master you're talking about, your future commander! If he dies, you won't be able to make up for it even if you have ten lives!"

Zhou Yingxue was just such a petty woman. In a crisis like this, she wasn't going to care about Fortress 178 or the war. All she wanted was for her master to survive!

Therefore, she could not understand why an emotionless war machine like P5092, even if it was fighting a war, would tell her to give up on the future commander. Was this how it was to command in the most optimal way?

P5092 looked calmly at Zhou Yingxue. "I'm not giving up on Future Commander, but I have absolute confidence in him. He will not die even if everyone in Ghent City is dead."

P5092 continued, "Don't waste your power on protecting Future Commander. Cover the assault columns so they can continue advancing. Destroy all of the blood-formed magic circles the enemy is using to cast his bloodline spells."

Zhou Yingxue hesitated for a couple seconds before giving in. "Alright then."

But even so, she still left some vines at Ren Xiaosu's side to let them continue spreading just in case.

…

The Tudor family's patriarch sat in his palanquin with his eyes tightly closed. The violet sigil on the black stone in his hand was pulsating brightly.

This small stone seemed to contain the wisdom of countless generations of sorcerers.

But ever since Russell's spells were lost in time, all the stone represented was corrupted power.

Those who wielded it could treat the common folk as ants and even view themselves as gods.

Just as the Tudor family's patriarch was about to continue detonating the bloodline spells one by one, the bodyguard knights in front of him actually fell down one after another. Their heavy armor was completely unable to withstand firearms forged by modern technology.

The Tudor family's patriarch had no choice but to open his eyes. Just before the heavy machine gun fire reached him, the elderly sorcerer formed a wall of ice in front of himself.

The heavy machine gun bullets shattered the ice walls over and over again. But no matter how many bullets were fired at the walls, they kept growing as though they had never been shattered.

"Help me down from the palanquin and get me out of here." The Tudor family's patriarch said coldly, "Where's the honor of the Knights of Tudor? How dare you let the enemy get so close to your god? Go and stop them! After this battle, I will grant all of you a fief and appoint you all as sorcerers in the name of the Tudor clan. Those with outstanding contributions will earn the hereditary right to pass on your sorcerer's status!"

When he said that, the knights suddenly went crazy. Everyone had dreams of becoming a sorcerer, not to mention this was a position that could be passed down to their children!

After all, even lucky winners like Melgor were not allowed to pass their Eye of True Sight down the generations!

It was just that… dead people could not become sorcerers!

Immediately after, the Tudor family's patriarch said coldly, "Deserters will have their entire families executed!"

The Tudor family had been in power for 200 years, and the Knights of Tudor could not travel into the future to see who would emerge victorious. At this moment, they could only fight to the death for the sake of their own families.

On the other side of the battlefield, Ren Xiaosu frowned. He had just seen the figure of the Tudor family's patriarch, but his line of sight was suddenly blocked by a wall of ice.

Behind the ice wall, the Tudor patriarch's palanquin stood out ostentatiously. Ren Xiaosu tried to activate the Shadow Door and slash the palanquin, but he did not manage to hit anyone in it.

Ren Xiaosu understood the other party was no longer in the palanquin.

The remaining elites of the Knights of Tudor started surrounding him fearlessly. The dense crowd of enemies made Ren Xiaosu's scalp tingle.

As expected, there were huge consequences for letting the Tudor family's patriarch regain consciousness. If he had finished off the Norman family's patriarch a little more quickly, they would not have ended up in this dangerous situation now.

Wherever Ren Xiaosu was active on the battlefield, they continued overwhelming the enemies. Ren Xiaosu crazily pursued the Tudor family's patriarch as he escaped.

Countless cracks appeared in the ice as they spread out in an attempt to slow Ren Xiaosu down. But even though it was quite terrifying, Ren Xiaosu knew very well the other party was no longer at his peak condition after fainting earlier.

He would have to expend his willpower to ignite those corpses with the bloodline spell. Moreover, the Tudor family's patriarch was close to a 100 years old. No matter how profound the other party's sorcery was, he would still have to abide by the natural order of life and death.

There were only two people in the world who were not constrained by this order. One was Ren Xiaosu, and the other was Yan Liuyuan!

In the future, Yang Xiaojin might be another.

When Ren Xiaosu found out he had been in a coma for more than 200 years, he made a decision to transplant his bone marrow to Yang Xiaojin as long as it was medically viable.

But now was not the time to think about that. Facing the mass of the Knights of Tudor that were closing in on him, Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that there was going to be no end to them.

Luo Lan's martyred spirits' heavy machine guns had already run out of ammo. Even though Ren Xiaosu was carrying around an ammunition depot, they would still need some time to reload.

Ren Xiaosu could hear heavy panting coming from the Great Hoodwinker on his right. Meanwhile, the T5 combatants behind him were also gradually starting to feel a little exhausted.

Should he give up? Ren Xiaosu frowned. He tried to use the Shadow Door to throw grenades in multiple directions, but he did not know how the Tudor family's patriarch managed to hide his tracks. Ren Xiaosu did not even manage to hit the target once.

"Zhang Xiaoman, can you locate the Tudor family's patriarch's position?" Ren Xiaosu asked.

Zhang Xiaoman's anxious voice came from his earpiece, "I can't find him, Future Commander. He seems to have suddenly disappeared into the crowd."

It was not that he had really disappeared, but that the other party was no longer letting anyone support him as he fled, nor was he riding the palanquin anymore. This caused Zhang Xiaoman to lose his "reference" when searching for the other party's whereabouts.

There were almost identical-looking knights everywhere on the battlefield, and even their warhorses looked very similar. Unless Wang Yun were here, no one could pick out the Tudor family's patriarch from within the crowd!

The battlefield kept shifting northwards. Although the Central Plains' main forces had arrived on the battlefield in the south, the remaining forces of the Norman family's Knights of Radiance resisted most of the pressure. This would allow the Knights of Tudor to encircle and kill Ren Xiaosu without any pressure.

"Future Commander, just give up." P5092 said, "Even if we can't find him, we'll definitely still win this war."

Ren Xiaosu's expression gradually turned solemn. If they could not find the Tudor family's patriarch, it meant even more people from the 6th Field Division would die here in this foreign land.

But Zhang Xiaoman suddenly shouted, "Future Commander! Future Commander! A strange group of people have suddenly appeared in the north of the battlefield!"

"A strange group?" Ren Xiaosu wondered.

"Yes, all of them are dressed very shabbily. They look like demons that have just crawled out from the underground. Their faces are especially pale, and some of them are even hunchbacked. I'm not sure what's going on with them," Zhang Xiaoman described.

At this moment, dozens of manhole covers on the ground were suddenly lifted up from the inside. Short hooks stretched out from the inside and cut at the legs of the horses. When the horses were suddenly attacked, their legs could no longer support their weight and they fell sidewards.

Countless Knights of Tudor fell off their mounts. Numerous guardians with tattooed faces and a cinnabar mark between their brows emerged from the ground and fought the Knights of Tudor fearlessly.

If they could not defeat the knights in a one-on-one battle, they would drag them down into the sewers where even more underground residents were waiting. Once any of the knights fell into the sewers, they would be attacked by four to five people at the same time.

These people did not have any sense of order and were purely motivated by hate and anger. Behind that boundless hatred and rage, there was even a glimmer of hope that was gradually blooming.

If the world was still willing to give these people who were struggling at death's door a chance to see the sights on the surface, they were willing to give their last bit of courage by exchanging it with their lives.

This was their final show of bravery.

In the north, Chen Jiu held onto his gold Eye of True Sight and recited an incantation, pushing his palm against the ground as hard as he could.

The gray bricks on the ground surged towards the knights like a wave. All of the knights who were hit by this "wave" were thrown into the air by the huge force!

To conceal his identity, Chen Jiu rarely revealed his moves. Therefore, many people had almost forgotten that an elder had once said that Chen Jiu was a once-in-a-lifetime sorcery genius who appeared in the Sanctuary.

Ren Xiaosu watched all of this quietly before suddenly laughing. He turned around and looked at the Great Hoodwinker, Luo Lan, and the T5 combatants. "Are y'all ready?"

Before any of them could respond, Wang Yun's voice rang out in his earpiece. "Future Commander, I'm back."

Ren Xiaosu's eyes lit up. He turned around and saw that Wang Yun had already switched places with Zhang Xiaoman on the observation platform. Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoman went on to coordinate the main forces to attack.

"You must be tired from chasing after Wang Wenyan just now. Why didn't you take a break first?" Ren Xiaosu asked with a smile.

Wang Yun smiled and said. "I'd have to seek out the person Future Commander wants to kill first!"

As he spoke, Wang Yun raised his binoculars and scanned the battlefield countless times. Ren Xiaosu did not rush him because Wang Yun had never disappointed him before.

"Future Commander, 300 meters to your 10 o'clock. The rest is up to you!" Wang Yun shouted.

Ren Xiaosu looked excitedly at the T5 combatants and shouted, "Give me a hand!"

The T5 combatants tacitly crossed their arms and formed a bridge that Ren Xiaosu stepped onto. "Up!"

In that instant, all of the T5 combatants tossed him into the air at the same time.

Ren Xiaosu felt an unprecedented calmness in his heart.

The moment he connected with the T5 combatants' toss and flew into the sky, countless gazes landed on him.

After a tough night of fighting, a flash of white light burst out from behind the clouds in the distance like a spotlight.

On this huge stage, he was the protagonist right from the beginning.

However, none of that mattered to him.

All he needed was… quiet!

Just as Yang Xiaojin had reminded him countless times before, when you needed your body to follow your will and move forward bravely, the only key that could activate this machine was… breathing!

On the ground, the Tudor family's patriarch, who was pretending to be a Tudor knight so he could shift locations, subconsciously turned around and looked up at the sky. He happened to see the young man in the air staring at him with a sneer.

At the last moment before dawn, a steam locomotive suddenly rumbled out of the sky like a train from the Kingdom of Heaven.

But Ren Xiaosu was not intending to use the steam locomotive as a weapon. Instead, he wanted to use it to propel himself through the air!

"City Crusher!"

Ren Xiaosu landed on the front of the steam locomotive and flew towards the Tudor family's patriarch like a precision-guided missile. Meanwhile, the steam locomotive, without any support from its tracks, plummeted straight towards the ground.

There was no time to recite an incantation or beg for mercy. The Tudor family's patriarch could only watch as the young man descended from the sky.

The young man's eyes were crimson as he leaped through space, holding the black saber that was the judgment of wrath, with the white light shining behind him.

From today onwards, after this saber landed, the glory of the Kingdom of Sorcerers would completely be torn apart.

Blood splattered everywhere!

The head of the Tudor family's patriarch dropped to the ground along with his steel helmet. With a clang, the steel helmet rolled even further away. A frightened horse reared high into the air and heavily stomped the decapitated head.

Dawn had broken.

A golden ray of sunlight shone from the east like a tidal swell.

The Knights of Tudor were dumbfounded. Meanwhile, the underground residents were basking in the sunlight that had just shone upon their faces. It was as though they had been reborn.

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