"The entire army wiped out? Is the whole army really wiped out? How could this happen?"
William Wang Jinling stared at the results of Serena and Sean's battle, mouth agape for half a day, his gentlemanly image utterly ruined.
Could fighting battles really be hereditary? This must be their first time, right? Why can Serena always catch people off guard?
Actually, as the defenders of Skyvault Palace, there was no real formation to speak of—just timing the activation of mechanisms and traps. But...
The same mechanisms and traps, in different people's hands, can produce completely different levels of lethality.
"Why not? The fact is, Sean was completely wiped out—none of his men reached the gate of Skyvault Palace." Nolan Dongling raised his eyebrows, clearly pleased.
In this battle, both he and Serena were the victors.
"Why did Serena send the guards down the mountain?" William Wang Jinling was perplexed—why hadn't he thought of that?
Knowing full well that relying on those mechanisms and traps couldn't cut everyone down, why not set an ambush along the way instead of foolishly letting Ninth Royal Uncle lead his men straight to Skyvault Palace?
"Why not? This is war. As long as you can win with minimal sacrifice, any method is acceptable." This is the true art of war—not fussing over elaborate tactics or techniques, not caring what means are used, so long as victory comes at the lowest cost.
"Cunning." William Wang Jinling didn't know what else to say.
"Are you talking about me?" Serena happened to walk over, her battle fervor faded; she was cool and calm, lacking the battlefield authority she wore before.
"Ahem, ahem..." William Wang Jinling nearly choked on his own saliva. For a dignified gentleman, that was pretty embarrassing. He quickly composed himself and said seriously, "Serena, how did you think to send the guards down the mountain to ambush them halfway?"
William quickly changed the topic, and Serena sat down and answered, "Well... I figured those mechanisms couldn't completely block Sean's troops; his men would definitely charge up. So I sent people to intercept them halfway. Either way, we'd have to mobilize disciples, so it doesn't matter if it's early or late. Ambushing them on the road saves us from dirtying our own grounds." The last sentence was the key point.
As soon as Serena sat down, Nolan Dongling poured her a glass of water and handed it to her. Serena took it without ceremony, and after speaking, drank it all in one go.
She finished the drink in one gulp, and Nolan refilled her cup, his movements practiced, as if he'd done it a thousand times. Serena saw nothing wrong with this, picked up the cup and drank again, but William was stunned watching them...
Since when did Ninth Royal Uncle start doing servant's chores—and do them so well, so naturally?
Most importantly, there were only two cups on the table, which meant the cup in Serena's hand was the one Nolan had just drunk from.
Bastard!
William shot Nolan a fierce glare, but Nolan just raised his eyebrows indifferently and refilled Serena's cup for the third time, asking, "Why did you come over so fast—aren't you going to clean up the battlefield?"
Serena and Sean weren't just playing at war games—they were fighting with real gunpowder and real combat. The battlefield was a mess, blood and flesh everywhere. Anyone who saw it wouldn't doubt that a major battle had just taken place here.
"That wasn't my battlefield. I was only testing the mechanisms and the power of the gunpowder," Serena said indifferently.
She knew her own abilities well—she couldn't command armies. That last round was just using mechanisms and gunpowder, calculating the best time to attack. When it came to actual battle between two armies, she had no idea how to fight.
"You're too modest—you did great." (Better than William Wang Jinling did.)
Nolan Dongling didn't say the second half out loud, but his look at William made the point clear enough.
William was so annoyed, he wanted to remind Serena that she'd just drunk from the same cup as Nolan, but he held back—saying it would only make Nolan happy, so he kept quiet and let Nolan stew.
"What's so great about it? Those mechanisms and traps weren't my designs—they were someone else's genius. I just had people activate them." Serena turned her head and gave Nolan a dazzling smile. The light in her eyes made Nolan's heart skip a beat; suddenly he felt parched, picked up the teapot to pour himself a drink, but realized he had no cup.
Nolan grumpily set down the teapot. Serena raised an eyebrow in confusion, about to ask what was up, when a young servant in blue rushed over, breathless: "Miss Serena, Miss Serena, something's happened! Master Gongshu wants you to come quickly."
"Something happened? I'll go right away." Serena didn't ask what it was, but from the look of it, she knew it was serious—otherwise those mechanism masters wouldn't have come to call her. After all, when she left just now, none of them tried to stop her.
Serena set down her teacup and gave Nolan and William an apologetic smile: "Sorry, I'll go check it out."
That kind of politeness, that kind of courtesy, left both Nolan and William Wang Jinling feeling frustrated. William drained his cup in one gulp, then took the teapot from Nolan and poured himself another.
Nolan, meanwhile, calmly picked up the cup Serena had just used, drank the tea in one go, and got up to leave...
Time to act!
"You, you, you..." William pointed at Nolan's back, his finger trembling.
Didn't Nolan have a cleanliness obsession? What was going on—was he seeing things?
He rubbed his eyes, double-checked, and saw that the cup was back in front of where Nolan had been sitting. William was sure he hadn't seen wrong.
And so, the gentlemanly image was shattered once again. William had no idea how he left the viewing platform—he only knew that today's events had deeply shaken him.
When did Nolan and Serena get so close? Did something happen between them while I wasn't looking?
William shook his head hard, tossing out that terrifying thought. The real battle was about to begin—he couldn't lose his composure now.
This battle, even though it was just an exercise, was realistic enough. Scouts couldn't get close to Skyvault Palace, so they had to judge the ferocity of the fight by the sounds and the smell of blood left on the field. When they heard that Nolan and William's forces had charged up to Skyvault Palace, some people couldn't hold back any longer.
"General, Eastlyn's troops are clearing the way up ahead—if we follow, we'll suffer fewer casualties." A Westlyn deputy general, hearing the battle news in front, was fired up and eager to join the fight.
"That's right, General. If we wait too long and the enemy finishes setting their traps, it'll be too late." Another deputy stepped forward to advise.
Their logic was sound, but... the general sitting in the middle wasn't moved. No matter how his men urged him, he had no intention of sending troops until the messenger arrived.
"Report... General, Eastlyn and Southlyn have mobilized their armies."
The general jumped to his feet: "Order the men—move out!"
"Yes, sir!" The deputy generals perked up, admiration shining on their faces.
So, the general was waiting for Eastlyn and Southlyn to move together. Makes sense—three sides working together beat fighting alone.
The servant called Serena away because word had come that the allied armies of the three kingdoms were heading for Skyvault Palace...