"The left path has been broken through! I repeat! The left path has been broken through! We need reinforcements!!"
"Archers! Aim for the gaps between the helmet and the joints! Fire at will!"
"Medics! Where are the medics!?!"
Dawn Mountain, located some hundred kilometres from the Plains of Trigo, had descended into utter chaos. Soldiers dressed in armours of blue and white scrambled about as they waged a desperate defence against the deluge of crawling darkness that sought to swallow the mountain.
Naturally, these soldiers wearing blue and white armours belonged to the Mu Household and they played the role of 'defenders' in this game of life and death. The deluge of blackness that sought to sink these warriors were the bio-enhanced warriors of the Scarlet Demon Army's 14th Division; they were the 'offenders.'
After the nightly raid by the Hielanders, which resulted in a great fire and explosion, the Mu Household faction's army was crippled beyond repair. Most of their locally enlisted serfs had either died or deserted, leaving behind an army that was only fifty thousand (50,000) strong. However, this remaining army was made up of soldiers who belonged to and were imported from the Mu Household's main forces, the Blue Sky Army!
In other words, this fifty-thousand-strong army consisted of the Mu Household's direct servants and staunchest loyalists; a force that was utterly foreign to the South Aislan Continent.
Weary, beaten, and in dire need of reorganization, Mu Yuelong, Chief Commander of these troops, led the remaining army to camp at Dawn Mountain, a natural fortress. He also sent a few messengers to inform their ally, the Heavenly Spirit Empire, to return and aid their troops.
Like this, the army spent two days in peace, resting and recuperating from their devastating loss. However, far beyond their wildest imaginations, on the dawn of the third day, the forward scouts of the army noticed a storm of black figures rushing towards them.
Seeing that sight from his viewpoint, Yuelong immediately understood; war was upon them once again.
Starting from noon on the third day, the Mu Household army was engaged in a war of attrition against the Scarlet Demon Army's 14th Division. It was a battle that left Yuelong feeling more despondent with each passing hour.
To recall, the Scarlet Demon Army's numbers were small. However, each of the Scarlet Demons was a hulking figure of immense mass and strength. Their bodies were also heavily armoured and their fighting skills put them at the top of any forces in the current world.
Yuelong and his forces outnumbered the opponents two to one. Moreover, they also occupied the advantageous battlefield and even possessed the high ground to boot! Even so, Yuelong and his top officers knew that defeat was only a matter of time.
Why? It was because the Scarlet Demons weren't mere humans. They were precisely engineered 'Machines of War!' And against such war machines, all advantages merely extended the time of their eventual defeat.
Today was the evening of the fifth day, i.e., fifty or so hours had passed since the start of the battle with the Scarlet Demons. During this period, the Scarlet Demons hadn't stopped their assault even once.
In other words, the defenders had been desperately defending against the enemy's assault without rest for more than fifty hours; their stamina and spirit were utterly exhausted. And yet, the offenders seemed spirited enough to continue such an assault for another fifty hours.
Hulking figures, enhanced strengths, and dramatically increased stamina and endurance were simply some of the key features of the Scarlet Demons. To call them 'Machines of War,' was no exaggeration.
---
Inside one of the hastily pitched leather tents sat Yuelong, face pale and stained with filth and blood. His armour was beaten and fractured, innumerable white scratches marring its deep blue colour.
Yuelong sat in a meditative posture; he was currently recovering his Internal Energy which had been thoroughly exhausted after multiple, intense battles. A perpetual frown warped his roguishly handsome face.
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His every breath was deep and vast, akin to the boundless blue ocean. With every breath, a dense cluster of World Energy crowded around his body and a trace of it was drawn into his Core.
For a practitioner, their internal energy was another resource that required management much like their stamina. Similar to how one required rest and sleep to replenish their stamina, a practitioner required rest and meditation to replenish their internal energy.
The speed at which one replenishes their internal energy varies from person to person. It depended on many factors such as the cultivator's physique, the grade of their Core, their natural attunement to the world, the intensity and depth of their meditation, the technique or scripture that they followed, etc.
Yuelong, as the inheritor of the grand Mu Household, naturally possessed the best of everything. As a result, he only required four to six hours to fully recover his internal energy from a state of complete exhaustion.
To understand how exceptional this was, an average cultivator would require twelve or more hours to accomplish this same feat.
Another important piece of information that most people did not know was that the higher one's cultivation, the longer it took for them to replenish their internal energy from a state of complete exhaustion. To illustrate, a Rank 8 cultivator upon complete exhaustion would require weeks at minimum to fully recover!
Great power did not come cheap.
Such being the case, most cultivators would never battle until the complete exhaustion of their internal energy for once they lose their internal energy, their bodies were no different from ordinary mortals, only that it was slightly more strengthened. Only when one possesses internal energy are they able to ward off blades and arrows.
Yuelong wasn't alone in his meditative recovery. Other tents, similar to the one which he occupied, were filled with similarly exhausted cultivators also engaged in the process of meditative recovery.
Cultivators were strong but they were not all powerful. And while the mark that they left on the battlefield was indelible, it wasn't to the point that their presence would single-handedly turn the tides of victory.
In the end, victory and defeat in a battle between armies boiled down to the common soldiers filling the ranks. And akin to how innumerable droplets made the sea, it was the efforts and struggles of these small and insignificant figures that decided the eventual outcome.
The flaps to Yuelong's tent swayed open and entered a middle-aged man dressed in the officer attire of the Mu Household.
Feeling a disturbance in his surroundings, Yuelong ended his meditation and opened his eyes. Upon seeing this subordinate of his, he quickly said, "Report."
The officer greeted him with a standard salute and replied, "Reporting to Chief Commander, our losses are beginning to mount at the frontlines. Our men are utterly exhausted, holding out only through sheer power of will. We have run out of ammunition for our firearms, and the archers will run out of arrows within the hour."
Hearing that report, the frown on Yuelong's face grew more pronounced. "Any news from our back? Did we find out why our supply lines from Lorden City were cut?"
The officer shook his head and replied, "In our current situation, it is very difficult for us to send or receive information. However, judging from how our supply caravans stopped coming two weeks ago and adding to the utter lack of information from the back, I'm afraid that Lorden City has already fallen."
Without waiting for Yuelong to prompt, the officer continued. "Lorden City is unassailable from three fronts, leaving it only weak at the back. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue because there is nothing to the back of the city. However, with the arrival of the Hielanders, it is clear how the city had fallen."
"Still, to receive no news at all…"
"The advisors believe that the enemy has an exceptional grasp on information and channels. We believe that perhaps some of our information channels have already fallen into the enemy's grasp."
Yuelong inhaled deeply, his heart and mind cooling. If this was true and their opponent had already grasped their information channels then it meant that they had long since been playing in their opponent's hand.
Such deception and schemes… having faced nothing of this sort before, Yuelong felt true fear.
Calming his mind and purging it of his fears, Yuelong recovered his calmness and asked, "What is the consensus amongst the advisors?"
At this question, the officer smiled bitterly and replied, "To surrender would mean disgrace; putting us at the mercy of these demons. Therefore, we have no choice but to keep fighting. We can only pray for the mercy of the heavens and hope that our ally arrives as quickly as possible."
Yuelong sighed. Just as he had expected, this was the case. He felt his internal energy and noticed that his Core was half-full. As such, Yuelong rose to his feet and grabbed his sword that lay resting by his side.
Gripping it tightly, he said, "This time, defeat is certain. However, how and under whom we are defeated is still under our control. I can accept defeat under the hands of this continent's natives for such is their right. However, I cannot under any circumstances accept a defeat under the hands of these sub-humans."
"Let us go, officer. We shall be defeated eventually but not today and certainly, not by the Scarlet Demons!"
A wave of heat rose within the officer's heart and blood. Seeing this youth, who was positively radiating with ethereal power and light, the officer felt impassioned and reinvigorated.
Displaying a crisp salute, he replied, "Yes, my lord!"