Violent fits of coughing and wheezing echoed. Stanley Tang clutched his nose, tears streaming from his eyes. His health had worsened over the years, and coming to this prairie had only made things worse.
Nearly one hundred thousand soldiers from the northern tribes had stopped by a small creek on the prairie. This place was close to the woods, with scattered rocks that provided shelter from the wind and sand.
“What kind of damned weather is this?”
Stanley Tang couldn't help but complain. He hid behind a large boulder and had built a makeshift shelter, but the wind was blowing directly into it. Rubbing his eyes, he felt utterly miserable.
Many soldiers in the tribe were suffering the same way, but the Wynn Domain and Sage Domain demanded they reach the enemy stronghold within five days to begin the assault. Stanley Tang had no desire to waste his troops.
“Stanley, you should go inside and rest.”
Leonard Tang bent over and stepped out of the shelter. He squinted, his face tinged with a purplish-black hue, looking somewhat frightening. The tribe was astonished—Leonard Tang had lived for many years, over fifty, yet he could still travel this far with the army.
“Uncle, do we really need to rush over so quickly? The Grant Family is doomed anyway.”
Leonard Tang glanced at the distant prairie and nodded.
“This is a crucial moment. If we don't show some strength now, once the war is over, our position will be in serious jeopardy.”
Stanley Tang clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as he stared into the distance. He looked back at the soldiers behind him—his tribe had nearly twenty thousand troops, and beyond them, near the edge of the woods, were people from other tribes. Outwardly, they obeyed Stanley, but secretly, they hung back, unwilling to contribute.
“Uncle, I heard early this morning that the Wynn Domain's vanguard was utterly defeated, wiped out by the Grant Family's army.”
“A cornered dog will leap over a wall—they're making their last desperate counterattack. It won't change the outcome of the war. Stanley, go inside and let your wives tend to you. Our tribe has no successors, after all.”
Stanley Tang grinned and then walked into the shelter.
Leonard Tang gazed at the shelter, deeply troubled and helpless. Stanley had three daughters but no sons, which worried Leonard to the point of restlessness. The Dark Essence above Stanley's head had almost covered his entire forehead, showing no sign of fading.
From the rocks behind the shelter, a pair of piercing eyes stared down. Leonard Tang looked up—Wraithshade sat cross-legged above, silently watching him.
It had taken great effort for Leonard Tang to climb to the top of the rock. He was gasping for breath, clutching his chest and coughing uncontrollably. Thick, black, viscous matter spewed from his mouth with each cough.
Wraithshade extended his hand, and wriggling black worms crawled out from his sleeve. Leonard Tang grabbed a handful and swallowed them. After a long while, his spirits revived.
“What should I do? Stanley's death may be near.”
“Don't worry. I'll be here day and night. If anything happens, I'll find a way.”
Leonard Tang lifted his hand, gazing at fingers cracked like dead branches, devoid of any trace of blood.
“I don't want to die. No matter what, I refuse to die. Didn't you consult Deathcurse? What did he say?”
Wraithshade shook his head.
“I've already cast a curse on your nephew. I developed it on my way back, and it's been tested on humans. By maximizing the curse's power and using the law of extremes, its energy stabilizes and will gradually devour the Death Miasma.”
“Will it work?”
Leonard Tang asked, and Wraithshade's eyes glinted with amusement.
“If the curse hadn't worked, Stanley Tang would already be shrouded in Death Miasma. His body would have started to collapse even without outside intervention.”
Dust swirled across the vast prairie. Countless soldiers marched slowly, and at the far edge, the enemy stronghold was already visible.
The army halted, setting up camp and searching for rocky ground. Bella Liang stood at the front of the column, quietly watching the distant stronghold.
“Send a thousand cavalry with me.”
Bella Liang gave the order immediately. In no time, the cavalry was ready, and she galloped ahead on horseback.
The sun had set, and the sky was shrouded in gray. Days of wind and sand made her extremely uncomfortable, so she wrapped her head in animal hide to keep her eyes from watering.
Gradually, Bella Liang slowed down, and the cavalry behind her stopped. Ahead, a row of towering wooden walls guarded the stronghold, covered in a grayish layer.
“Looks like a fire attack isn't practical.”
Cyrus Sage muttered from the side. Bella Liang nodded; once flaming arrows hit the outer layer of mud, they couldn't penetrate and wouldn't ignite.
“This is much harder than we imagined.”
Bella Liang spoke as both of them looked at the deep trench dug around the stronghold, at least five meters wide.
“Crossing this trench won't be easy.”
The wind howled, whipping up sand and dust. In such fierce weather, it was hard for attacking soldiers to shoot arrows into the stronghold. The enemy's defensive wall stood four meters tall, looming overhead—if the troops got close, casualties would be severe.
“Why don't we surround this stronghold first, then split off some troops to attack the two strongholds behind it? What do you think?”
Cyrus Sage made the suggestion, but Bella Liang shook her head.
“The enemy won't just sit and wait for us to do that. Once they sense our intentions, they'll come out of the stronghold.”
Cyrus Sage sighed.
“We'll have to attack head-on.”
Everything had to start over. They had thought the enemy's will was broken, that some might even consider surrendering. But recent events showed the enemy was ready for a fight to the death.
Inside the stronghold, Joseph Qiao was constantly giving orders to the soldiers, telling them to climb the scaffolding. Below, others brought in hay and furs for sleeping. The enemy might attack at dawn, so he had to hold out for at least five days, waiting for Yuna Ji and her forces to wipe out the northern tribes.
For those scattered northern tribes, Joseph Qiao knew that if they could break through in one push, annihilation was possible. Even with a hundred thousand troops, the northern tribes had their own agendas. Though not a major threat, their numbers still mattered.
Soldiers began hauling bundles of arrows up. Joseph Qiao climbed the watchtower, gazing at the mass of enemies in the distance and at the enemy cavalry stationed hundreds of meters outside the stronghold.
“This time, I won't let you win so easily.”
On such a vast prairie, if the enemy was defeated, they'd have no cover. Pursuing them after a sortie from the stronghold would yield great results.
Yuna Ji had been leading the cavalry for two days; by dawn tomorrow, she should reach the current location of the northern tribes.
Night was falling, but Bella Liang hadn't left yet. He was still pondering tactics. The enemy had wiped out every scouting party he'd sent in recent days. What he most urgently needed to know was the whereabouts of the Stampede Battalion—a charge by thousands of stampeding bulls would devastate the infantry.
Even if the enemy could be annihilated, the cost would be far too great.
“Pass the order: let the soldiers rest for a day. The attack begins the morning after tomorrow.”
Bella Liang turned his horse to head back to camp, but he paused, staring at the northwest—where the northern tribes' forces were.
“Could the enemy possibly...”
But Bella Liang immediately dismissed the thought. With the main army pressing in, the enemy should be busy defending this stronghold and the two behind it.
Sebastian Zhao led a hundred cavalry back to the main force. He and Lona Long had been responsible for leading attacks and eliminating enemy scouts along the way.
After nearly a day of travel, he hadn't seen any more enemy scouts.
"What's the situation?"
Yuna Ji sat beneath a rock, watching Sebastian Zhao and Lona Long approach.
"Yuna, it looks like the northern tribes haven't sent out any scouts."
Yuna Ji sneered and then stood up.
"Rest for a while, then get moving. I want to begin the attack at dawn tomorrow."
Sebastian Zhao nodded and found a place to sit. Some soldiers began pinning large flags to themselves, ready to move out at any moment. The flags bore the character for 'Victory,' visible from a hundred meters away.
This was a tactic devised to lure the enemy, and it was Phoenix Yu who came up with it.
When the moon hung high, Yuna Ji set out with her soldiers. More than a dozen flags marked with 'Victory' were pinned to the front-line troops.
In the darkness, Yuna Ji's smile looked almost eerie—she was exhilarated.
"Don't worry, I'll stick with Yuna. Of all of us, I'm the best fighter—so relax. Lucille Xing, you just focus on the flank assault and splitting the enemy."
Sebastian Zhao said this, and Lucille Xing nodded.
As dawn approached, Wraithshade opened his eyes. The wind howled, and the temperature was low. He stood up and looked around—the soldiers seemed listless. Today, they were supposed to move out, but many appeared lazy, chatting and packing their things.
Just then, a horn sounded. The soldiers, busy packing, grew alert and stared out at the prairie, where a large cavalry force was charging toward them.
Wraithshade focused his gaze—it was the Sage Domain's army. But he immediately sensed something was off; the cavalry was moving unusually fast.
"Enemy attack!"
When the cavalry was only forty or fifty meters away, the soldiers finally realized something was wrong. The whole camp erupted in chaos.
Wraithshade's eyes widened. At the front of the cavalry, a streak of green appeared.
"Yuna Ji."