Commander’s Headquarters.
For days on end, Raymond Lei hadn’t gone home to rest. To prepare for this war, he was either buried in paperwork at his office or out in the camps, inspecting troops and boosting morale.
Across the Blood River, a staggering two million Strongarm Bull Devil troops were massed, while inside Blood River City, human forces numbered just over 1.5 million. Reinforcements from all directions kept streaming toward the Blood River Battlefield, but reaching two million would still take time.
Early the next morning.
Raymond Lei had barely nodded off in his office when a scout burst in with urgent news: the two million-strong Devil army across the Blood River was breaking camp and marching straight toward them.
Raymond Lei’s expression instantly turned grave. Without hesitation, he barked orders for all generals to assemble immediately.
Soon, all fifteen field generals arrived at the Commander’s Headquarters, including Fiona Li and Marcus Meng.
“Hey, Brother Li, did your cultivation break through?”
A field general glanced at Fiona Li, then suddenly looked surprised and spoke with envy.
“Haha, I just broke through, that’s all. My foundation isn’t too stable yet!”
Fiona Li replied modestly, but her face was full of pride. Ever since she got that supreme-grade spirit crystal, she’d gone into seclusion to cultivate. Her cultivation was already at the peak of early-stage Martial Saint, and after a few brutal battles, with the help of the spirit crystal, she actually broke through the barrier and reached mid-stage Martial Saint.
The other field generals all turned to look, sensing that Fiona Li really had reached mid-stage Martial Saint. Their eyes burned with envy.
Most of the fifteen field generals were still at early-stage Martial Saint; only Zhou Lin was mid-stage. Seeing Fiona Li break through as well, he couldn’t help feeling a bit sour.
Meanwhile, Marcus Meng glanced at Fiona Li, who was showing off, and couldn’t help feeling a little disdainful. If the commander hadn’t given her that supreme-grade spirit crystal, she’d probably have had to wait years to break through.
As for him, after cultivating with the supreme-grade spirit crystal, he hadn’t broken through to mid-stage Martial Saint yet, but he was close. He had a feeling that in ten days at most, he’d break through too.
"Commander has arrived!"
A voice rang out, and the meeting room instantly fell silent.
With Raymond Lei’s command, the war machine inside Blood River City roared to life. Fiona Li wasted no time, rallying the patrol troops outside the city and surging toward the riverbank.
By the time Fiona Li arrived at the Blood River bank with her hundred thousand patrol soldiers, a vast tide of 2.4 million Strongarm Bull Devils was already surging across the water.
In an instant, the Blood River was churning with a dense mass of bull heads—so many that the sight made everyone’s skin crawl.
“Please, everyone, take a seat.” Raymond Lei pressed his palm down. Suddenly, his gaze landed on Fiona Li, and he nodded approvingly. “Mid-stage Martial Saint—not bad.”
Half an hour later, the Devil vanguard was less than a kilometer from shore. The patrol archers drew their bows to full, muscles taut, waiting to unleash a storm of arrows as soon as the Devils closed in.
“Alright!” Raymond Lei waved his hand, his face turning serious. “You’ve all received word that the Strongarm Bull Devil army is advancing this way, haven’t you?”
Everyone nodded.
Raymond Lei continued, “As you all know, the Devil army outnumbers us by nine hundred thousand, and their soldiers are generally stronger than ours. How should we fight this battle? Speak freely!”
Silence. Absolute silence.
The gap in strength was just too big. No one present felt confident about victory, so naturally, nobody dared to speak up.
Seeing the awkward silence, Raymond Lei frowned and looked at Fiona Li. “Fiona, what’s your take?”
Fiona Li pulled a bitter face. “I think we should focus on defense and wait for reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements?”
Raymond Lei sneered. Even if all reinforcements arrived, they’d only have two million troops—still less than the Devil army. Besides, if they just hunkered down in Blood River City, the Devils would simply bypass them and attack the cities in the rear.
“No other suggestions?”
Raymond Lei’s gaze swept over the other field generals.
Still, no one spoke up.
“Since that’s the case!” Raymond Lei slammed his palm on the table. “Here’s what I think: no matter what, we can’t let the Devils bypass Blood River City. We have to block them right at our doorstep!”
Everyone felt a chill in their hearts. If they had to go head-to-head with the Devils, these 1.5 million human soldiers would suffer heavy casualties.
“Fiona Li.”
“At your command!”
“You are to order the patrol army to head to the Blood River bank and kill as many Devils crossing as possible!”
“Yes, sir!”
Fiona Li responded loudly.
Raymond Lei’s gaze quickly swept over three others.
“Marcus Meng, Gavin Jiang, Leon Lau.”
“At your command!”
The three answered in unison.
“Each of you will lead your armies to the Blood River bank as well. Kill every Devil that lands!”
“Yes, sir!”
With Raymond Lei’s orders, the armies inside Blood River City sprang into action. Fiona Li quickly gathered the patrol troops outside the city and moved them to the river bank.
When Fiona Li led her hundred thousand patrol troops to the Blood River bank, 2.4 million Strongarm Bull Devils had already started crossing.
For a moment, the Blood River was packed full of bull heads, making everyone’s scalp tingle.
Fiona Li glanced at her hundred thousand patrol soldiers, all standing ready, and felt a heavy weight in her heart. After this battle, who knew how many would be left?
Half an hour later, the Devil vanguard was less than a kilometer from shore. The patrol army drew their bows to full, ready to unleash arrows as soon as the Devils got closer.
Five hundred meters!
Effective range!
“Fire!”
At Fiona Li’s order, all hundred thousand patrol soldiers loosed their arrows at once.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Arrows filled the sky, raining down in a dense storm.
But even with this round of arrows, less than a thousand Devils were killed. The moment the arrows flew, the Devils raised shields over their heads and ducked into the river.
The Blood River was a strange river—aside from the Devils, even wooden boats would sink in it.
So, arrows that hit the water lost over ninety percent of their power. The fact that ten thousand arrows killed a thousand Strongarm Bull Devils was already pure luck.
A thousand Devils was nothing compared to an army of 2.4 million.
Fiona Li’s heart sank again.
“Keep firing!”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Another round of a hundred thousand arrows shot into the river, but this time even fewer Devils died—barely five or six hundred.
After ten volleys, fewer than ten thousand Devils had been killed.
And now the Devil vanguard had reached the shore, leaping onto land and launching savage attacks on the patrol army.
The slaughter began.
At first, the patrol army managed to hold the Devils at the shore, but as wave after wave crashed onto land, the casualties among the patrol troops soared. Thankfully, Ian Song’s battle arrays—now drilled into every patrol squad—meant fewer men fell than would have otherwise.
Two hours later.
Thanks to three battle arrays, the patrol army killed over a hundred thousand Devils, but lost more than half their own troops. Fiona Li’s heart ached at the sight.
Finally, as tens of thousands more Devils stormed ashore, the patrol army’s line buckled—they could only fight as they fell back, blood and grit marking every step.
Seeing this, Marcus Meng, Gavin Jiang, and Leon Lau, stationed a few kilometers away, led their armies—a combined three hundred thousand—charging toward the river bank.
By dusk, the Strongarm Bull Devil army had completed its landing. Including the patrol forces, a total of 400,000 human soldiers threw themselves into the fray, sacrificing 320,000 lives to bring down 500,000 Strongarm Bull Devils.