The last rays of the setting sun vanished beyond the edge of the grassland. A scream pierced the air as chaos erupted beneath the sky—soldiers fell one after another, their bodies trampled mercilessly by charging horses.
Flames burned fiercely, quickly igniting the withered wild grass.
"Don’t panic! Pick up your weapons and fight back!"
A voice shouted above the chaos, but the general’s eyes widened in terror as if he’d seen a monster. A short spear pierced his throat and was swiftly withdrawn.
Hot blood splattered across Yuna Grant’s cheek. She grinned wickedly, cracked her whip, and charged forward, cutting down fleeing enemies. The chaos deepened as the wind whipped the flames higher, setting the grassland ablaze.
Caught off guard by the sudden assault, the enemy was thrown into disarray. Yuna Grant darted through the crowd, her spear thrusting through one enemy after another.
It was as if her rage burned for all the years the Wynn Domain and Sage Domain had tormented the Grant Family—there was no need to endure it any longer. Yuna Grant wore a savage smile, her body stained with blood, her spirit surging, unstoppable.
Suddenly, Yuna Grant’s warhorse shrieked as it was tripped by the enemy’s ropes. She squeezed her legs tightly around the horse, and as spears jabbed toward her, she leaned back, using her short spear to deflect a blow, then rolled gracefully to the side as the horse collapsed.
Two swift arrows whistled past—two enemies beside Yuna Grant fell to the ground. She glanced behind her and saw Lona Long atop her horse, bow raised.
"Yuna, don’t rush so far ahead!"
Yuna Grant smiled faintly, dodged a sword strike on horseback, and drove her short spear into the enemy’s throat. She retreated a few steps as foes surged toward her from all sides.
Terry Mao and Sebastian Zhao charged in on horseback, leaping down and swiftly dispatching several enemies. They fought alongside Yuna Grant, leaving a trail of howling, fallen foes in their wake.
Joseph Qiao and Lucille Xing led their cavalry units to split the battlefield. Amidst the chaos, Joseph spotted Yuna Grant in the distance—unstoppable.
Fending off an approaching enemy, Joseph Qiao drove his spear into the man’s chest. The battle was now one-sided; the enemy began to scatter and flee.
The sky turned gray as wild winds howled. Bella Liang stood at the edge of the forest, rubbing her itchy eyes. Less than a week on the grassland had already made her uncomfortable.
Prolonged exposure to such fierce winds easily left eyes dry and irritated.
"We can't afford to delay much longer, or this will become a real problem."
Soldiers packed up their gear, the main force planning to set out at dawn. All three divisions began to move, preparing for the final assault on the Grant Domain.
"Something isn’t right."
At that moment, Si Chen approached, pointing to the distant sky where black smoke began to rise. Bella Liang glanced over, her relaxed expression fading. She’d been thinking only about the wind and sand, not noticing the thickening smoke.
"Order the cavalry to assemble."
Bella Liang shouted at once, realizing something was wrong. Columns of cavalry raced toward the billowing smoke.
Though the smoke was visible, reaching the forward outpost would take until the moon hung high in the sky.
Night deepened. Bella Liang rode for hours, spotting figures ahead. She ordered a halt; mounted soldiers raised their bows. As the figures drew closer, their numbers grew—it was their own troops.
"What happened?"
The terrified soldiers stopped, torches flaring and casting light. Si Chen stood nearby, gazing anxiously into the distance.
"Commander, it was the enemy. At dusk, they launched a sudden attack on us."
After learning what had happened, Bella Liang looked around the grassland in anguish. More and more fleeing soldiers appeared—the enemy must have launched a massive assault.
"We thought the enemy would give up and wait for death! Clearly, things aren’t going our way."
Si Chen muttered under his breath. Along the way, Bella Liang kept questioning the soldiers about who led the enemy. The answer was always the same—a girl of fifteen or sixteen.
Puzzled, Bella Liang continued leading the cavalry forward, slowing as they advanced. Corpses littered the grassland, and small fires burned everywhere.
Wherever they went, there were bodies.
"Commander Liang, come look at this."
Si Chen called out from afar. Bella Liang rode over and, upon seeing the pile of corpses, her eyes widened with fury.
"No weapons. And their deaths were brutal—probably two or three thousand of them."
"This is truly vicious. Who exactly is our enemy this time?"
Bella Liang roared. Every fallen soldier had been shot or stabbed, with no sign of resistance—a one-sided massacre. The enemy hadn’t bothered to take prisoners, executing them on the spot.
Surveying the battlefield, Bella Liang’s anger grew. Faces frozen in terror, skilled soldiers among the dead, most killed by a spear to the throat.
But what shocked Bella Liang most was that same fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl—she’d heard enough now. Brave, ruthless, unstoppable. No one could withstand her attack.
"Yuna Grant!"
Bella Liang spat the name with venom. She could only think of one person—the last of the Grant Family’s younger generation. She’d seen her at the pass in the previous war.
"Issue my command: the entire army is to surround the enemy stronghold at once. End this quickly."
"There are survivors."
A voice shouted. Bella Liang and Si Chen rushed over. Around a dozen shell-shocked soldiers were tied to a boulder, shivering; one kept muttering to himself.
Bella Liang dismounted and approached, crouching beside the soldier.
"What happened?"
"They weren’t human. Those women weren’t human..."
The soldier’s mind was slipping. As Bella Liang noticed the strange looks on the faces of the surrounding troops, she drew her sword and stabbed him. He stared blankly at her.
"Nonsense. Not human? Cowards die."
Bella Liang immediately ordered the execution of the remaining soldiers. Si Chen watched silently, smiling as he joined Bella Liang.
"Even if you kill them, word of this battle will spread. Who knows what they went through before."
The Grant Family has no successors left, no chance for counterattack. Victory is ours—finish this quickly. Bring your Sage Domain troops as soon as possible.
Si Chen nodded, unease prickling at his heart. Such an enemy inspired deep fear. He hoped this massacre was just a momentary outburst from the enemy.
Under the night sky, a column of cavalry moved slowly. Today’s battle was a sweeping victory, but many soldiers glanced uneasily at Yuna Grant at the front, fear in their eyes.
Joseph Qiao watched in silence as Yuna Grant joked with Lucille Xing ahead. It was as if none of it mattered to her, but everything that happened before nightfall made him sense the evil lurking within Yuna.
"Yuna’s way is the right way!"
Sebastian Zhao muttered quietly. Joseph Qiao glared at him, while Terry Mao watched Yuna Grant with a complicated expression.
"To do something like that..."
Joseph Qiao choked up, unable to continue. He hadn’t felt fear or disgust at blood and corpses for a long time.
"The southern captives used for labor have all been freed—almost forty thousand. Now we can’t even muster a hundred thousand soldiers."
Sebastian Zhao said helplessly. When they left the south, they abandoned the captives. After being freed, those captives became new enemy forces, and their thirst for revenge would be worse than any other foe.
"If we’d killed them all then, we’d have fewer enemies now."
Sebastian Zhao sighed. Suddenly, Joseph Qiao looked at Yuna Grant.
After the battle, nearly three thousand prisoners were captured. Yuna Grant ordered them to sit in a circle with their hands raised. At first, Joseph Qiao didn’t understand her intent.
One general tried to speak to Yuna Grant, but she drove her sword into his chest. Then, at her command, archers slaughtered the prisoners. She seemed to enjoy it, killing them like livestock, one by one.
Recalling that inhuman scene, Joseph Qiao felt his skin crawl, sickened. The cries, pleas, and screams still echoed in his mind.
"Yuna, rest for a while. When dawn comes, we’ll head back. The soldiers are exhausted."
Lucille Xing spoke. Yuna Grant stopped, and the soldiers behind her halted too. Fewer than three thousand cavalry had left; just over two thousand returned. Winning this battle seemed impossible to many.
At a cluster of stones, the soldiers dismounted to rest. Yuna Grant climbed onto a boulder and ordered the troops to gather.
"Thank you all for your hard work today. I hope you’ll fight bravely in the future. Remember everything that happened this afternoon, and spread the word: from now on, we accept no surrender. Kill every enemy—kill every enemy..."
Shouts rang out across the grassland. Many soldiers who’d feared Yuna Grant now had a strange light in their eyes.