Chapter 1177: Desperate Struggle
Chapter 1177: Desperate Struggle
Throughout the entire battle, Dark Flame and its forty thousand mercenaries, as well as the thousand-some soldiers from the Zhao clan’s private army, had almost been wiped out entirely. Only a couple hundred of them remained alive.
Evernight left a hundred thousand corpses in this small piece of land, over half of them elites. Countless high-ranking officers and titled experts perished in battle. The number of marquises alone was in the two digits. The Evernight Council’s cream-of-the-crop, Black Sun, also saw all of its high-ranking sword-bearers wiped out in Whitetown.
This little stone city was a meat-grinder through and through.
The war on the void continent was like a storm, and the eye of this tempest was Whitetown.
The eye of the storm had calmed down at this point, but the maelstrom around it was still raging on. It was like a roaring ancient beast, seeking to tear everything up in its wake.
On the edge of the void continent closest to the Qin Empire, there was a supply base. The structure could barely be considered a fortress as it was normally used as a transit and distribution center for logistics.
The place had become more or less idle after the war began since most of the resources had been shipped to the various fortresses. Only small airships would pass through to transmit information and unimportant goods.
That was why the dark race army had never targeted this location. Naturally, since the entire continent was engulfed in the flames of war, this place had also experienced a number of short but intense battles. The dark races never expected that there would be a divine champion overseeing this place, so they were forced to retreat in low spirits.
There were all kinds of people from the Empire passing through these building complexes. Among them, there was a grey silhouette walking swiftly with its head lowered. This person was covered in a cloak that reached down to their ankles, and only the boots were identifiable as an Imperial product. The strange thing was that no one stopped this person or interrogated them the entire way.
The grey figure went up to the war-preparation room on the third floor of the fortress and pushed open the door.
The Minister of the Right looked up from a table full of documents, his eyes wide. “You!”
The guest didn’t wait for him to finish before a cold flash shot out from under the cloak and slashed the Minister of the Right. The battle ended very quickly—by the time the generals heard the commotion and rushed in, the Minister of the Right was no longer breathing.
The assailant had long since removed his hood, revealing a head of dusky grey hair. It was almost as though he had collected a lot of dust on the journey. He stood before the sand-table and moved some of the pieces with great familiarity. He would fish out some papers from the documents on the table and read them quickly before returning to the sand-table again.
The generals lowered their weapons after seeing the man’s face, their expressions gaping and speechless.
At this moment, another person charged into the room. It was one of the minister’s strategists. Unlike the hesitant generals, he immediately stepped forward and pointed his finger at the guest. “You…”
Lin Xitang flicked his finger lightly, and an invisible blade slashed the strategist’s throat. A lifeless corpse soon fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
Only the sound of heavy breathing could be heard in the room.
Lin Xitang looked up after he had finished adjusting the symbols on the sand-table and observed the generals at the scene. “The court has been reorganized, and the Imperial military is now under the cabinet’s control. As the Imperial Steward, I lead the cabinet and thus have full authority of command.
“Regarding the execution that I just carried out, you may report the truth.
“The strategy on the sand-table has changed. Record it and deliver the message to all relevant units.”
Lin Xitang left after issuing the commands. As he passed by the group of stunned generals, a brigadier general suddenly called out to him, “Marshal Lin! The situation on the front line is dire! We have no idea how the dark bastards transferred so many soldiers here!”
Lin Xitang nodded. “I know, I’m heading there now.” With that, he left without ever looking back.
The generals exchanged glances. Suddenly filled with fighting spirit and energy, they rushed over to the sand-table to do their job, completely ignoring the two corpses on the chair and floor. Now that Marshal Lin had appeared on the battlefield, there was yet hope of a victory.
The Imperial eastern army had clashed countless times with the enemy. Among those who were ganging up on Princess Haimi, they were already one short, and half of the others were injured.
Princess Haimi’s fingers had split open, and half her body was drenched in blood. Blood was seeping out of the slow-healing wounds, so much so that even the transparent bow in her hands seemed to have taken on some color. Yet, she stood ramrod straight in the air, graceful and poised. Only that overly pale face of her looked a tad fatigued.
The Evernight experts attacked again, but they hadn’t even charged a hundred meters when they heard a crisp gunshot echo through the air. A spinning bullet appeared in the vision of every expert, making straight for their foreheads.
Shocked out of their wits, they had to stop the assault and take protective measures. Only at this point did most of them realize that the bullet flying toward them was just an illusion. Before they could recompose themselves, they heard a miserable scream as one of their comrades fell out of the air. Turns out, that bullet was the real one!
Haimi turned to look at the eastern void when she heard the gunshot, but there was nothing under the hazy grey sky. A sickly red flush appeared on her pale face. Her standing posture that had never wavered against all those enemy experts was actually rattled.
One of the Evernight experts cried out in alarm, “Illusion Corridor! It’s Lin Xitang!” This person’s next action was to turn around and flee, completely ignoring his other comrades.
“Illusion Corridor” was a divine skill characteristic of Lin Xitang, one of the Empire’s twin paragons. Apparently, this expert had fought Lin Xitang before and was beaten until he was afraid.
A warm and clear voice replied, “Yes, go back and tell him, I’ve come.”
Yet another shot came, followed by several bullet illusions. This time, all of the Evernight experts scattered like birds and beasts. Someone far off in the distance let out a muffled groan. It would seem an unlucky victim had failed to dodge Lin Xitang’s real bullet. However, the man didn’t receive a lethal injury since he was already running away.
Haimi’s lips moved slightly, but that name ultimately stopped at the tip of her tongue. She didn’t utter it.
She knew not how long she had been standing. It felt like a quarter-hour but also like a hundred years. There was nothing else left in the air but the scent of smoke and gunpowder. That gentle voice, which had seemingly etched itself into her being, never appeared again.
Haimi started to cough violently, throwing up blood as she did so. Eventually, she stood straight and glanced briefly at her injured hand. Then, with her bow tightly in her grasp, the princess headed toward the fiercest corner of the battlefield.
As for the skies above the place, it had finally recovered its vast quietness.
Off in the depths of the void, a gloomy, frowning Habsburg was urging the fleet to speed up. However, the fleet was close to its maximum speed. If they were to keep up their current consumption, the fleet might not have enough fuel to return to Evernight without resupplying. There was no way they would dare to speed up further.
The only way to reach optimal speed was for Habsburg’s flagship to break away from the main fleet and forge ahead. He had the urge to do just that several times, but he ultimately held it back and kept on leading the fleet. He was the only one who knew their current destination.
Even the sailors and captain of the prince’s flagship were at a loss. All they could do was steer the vessel according to Habsburg’s instructions. The other vessels in the fleet were understandably unable to make sense of anything.
After over an hour of flight, they discovered that their fleet was actually expanding. The comrades joining them were mostly main-force types, probably from the mobile units operating in the void. Some warships had probably experienced battles when they were summoned, evident from the shell marks on their bodies.
The captain passed on one of Habsburg's commands, then picked up his own detailed hand-drawn route map. He discovered that they were circling over from the west of the void continent to the east, making two turns before charging toward the middle-continents where the Qin Empire was.
The captain couldn’t help but rub his short beard as he contemplated the matter. This route seemed like they were collecting the other squadrons, but there had to be some other objective. It looked like they were driving something away, or perhaps chasing after it.
Soon afterward, the captain crushed the map into a ball. Sating his curiosity for a bit was fine, but he wasn’t about to provoke a prince whose mood was at its worst.
This full-speed flight lasted an entire half-day before the fleet arrived in a certain part of the void.
They were at a mid-way point between the Empire and the void continent. One wrong step and they would be caught in a pincer attack from both sides. Additionally, the void-space here wasn’t calm. Just a couple dozen kilometers away, there was a revolving void tempest.
Habsburg wasn’t at all concerned about their dangerous position. On the contrary, he issued an order for the airships to take up an interception stance.
Moments later, a small boat appeared up front, drifting through the void tempest.
The boat wasn’t big and could fit eight people at the very most. In terms of airships, this was one of the smallest types in existence. This type of small airship couldn’t withstand bad weather, nor could it fly long distances. It was only usable within the continent. Yet now, it was actually in the void, and it was even gliding through the void tempest in a leisurely manner.
On Habsburg’s flagship, all the vampire experts exchanged uneasy glances. This little boat was too strange. One didn’t even need a brain to know that the owner of the vessel was a true powerhouse.
The wine-glass in Habsburg’s hand shattered with a bang, showering its scarlet contents to the floor. It was as though the floor was covered in blood.
Everyone was astonished because, throughout the years, they had never seen Habsburg lose his composure like so.
Habsburg was already a duke when he first returned to the clan. Compared to the murderous and plundering suppressive might that was characteristic of superior vampires, the impression he gave off was gentle and calm. Almost nothing could produce evident changes in his expression.
But now, he was clearly beside himself and completely ignorant about it.
The dripping sound of wine on the floor finally woke Habsburg up. He frowned as he glanced at the shattered crystal. He wiped his hand boorishly on his jacket, removed his coat, and left for the deck in hunting attire.
He had just taken two steps forward when an inexplicable sensation bore down upon him. That majestic and mysterious aura filled the entire world, causing all vampire experts to tremble instinctively. Some of the lower-ranked experts fell to their knees.
The suppressive might filled the entire void. Experts on the other warships weren’t spared, either, with many of them falling to their knees.
This indefensible terror, this suppressive might arising from the grand origins of darkness, could only come from the Sacred Mountain. It was unknown which supreme had cast his gaze here. Who could the person on the boat be, that he would attract the attention of a supreme?
Habsburg glanced at the void. A complicated expression flickered briefly through his eyes but was soon hidden into the depths of his pupils. The fingers on his right hand moved slightly, but he stopped himself from clutching his chest.
The moment that small boat appeared, that drop of separated origin blood vanished entirely. It wasn’t a block on perception, and neither was the blood hidden—it was simply no longer in existence.
Habsburg calmed himself down as he walked out to the deck in large strides. He then stepped into the void and stood in front of that lone boat.
“This time, you can’t escape anymore.”