CHAPTER 1954 A GREATER CHANCE
"I must say, what you said makes sense, Leader Adrian. From what I can see, the royal family will undoubtedly have a greater chance of winning this time. Hence, we must help Enoch turn the tide of the battle," Rocky said without any hesitation. Of course, his unexpected response caught Adrian by surprise. Text © 2024 .
"What? You actually want Enoch to win this battle? Both of us know that once he wins, the Shura Race will plunge into chaos!" Adrian retorted with an evident frown on his face.
"I know. However, only when the Shura Race is driven into chaos can we have the chance to help Princess Layla ascend the throne. Am I wrong?" Rocky said without flinching.
"Wait. Are you going to...?" Adrian wanted to ask if Rocky was planning on rebelling against the royal family, but he stopped before he could finish his sentence. After all, he had already understood what Rocky meant when he said that he wanted to help Enoch this time.
"I guess you already understand the situation. So, are you going to join us or not, Leader Adrian?" Rocky asked with a faint smile.
"You planned all of this beforehand and set up a trap for me!" Adrian's eyes darkened. He finally realized that Rocky might have already had the idea of resisting the royal family from the very beginning. That was why the young man tried his best and lured him to cooperate. Now that he had fallen into Rocky's ploy, there was no turning back. Although Adrian still had some selfish motives, his precious daughter was head over heels in love with Rocky. Of course, choosing what he should do next put him in a dilemma.
"Well, I will come out clean and admit that I did hide something from you before, Leader Adrian. If it wasn't for the king's willfulness to abolish the royal identity of Princess Layla, things wouldn't have come to this extent. Since my original plan could not proceed anymore, in order not to let all my efforts go in vain, I had no choice but come up with another way," Rocky said honestly.
"That's right. If Princess Layla became the successor of the royal family, then everything would have been fine. But the king was consumed by his pride and selfishness. For the sake of his own son, he let the whole royal family fall into turmoil." Adrian let out a sigh, fully understanding where Rocky was coming from.
"You heard my side. Now, I'm here to confirm whether you are willing to help me or not, Leader Adrian." Rocky went straight to the point.
"Humph! Do I even have a choice? If I refuse to help you, my precious daughter will definitely hate me. But of course, I'm more worried that once Zain becomes the king of the Shura Race, he will surely do away with the fiefs and unify the Shura Race. If that happens, the foundation that we have worked hard to build all these years will be gone in an instant. I won't just sit idly and let this happen before my eyes," Adrian said resolutely. Realizing the weight of the situation, he only had two choices— compromise or resist.
"Well, I am very relieved to hear that. I have already come up with a plan, so you just need to cooperate with my next actions, Leader Adrian," Rocky remarked reassuringly.
"All right then."
After confirming Adrian's resolve, Rocky was able to breathe a sigh of relief. At this point, there were not many people he could trust. If he wanted to take advantage of the battle between Zain and Enoch, there must be someone in the army that he could rely on. Therefore, as long as Adrian was willing to help him, his plans should go rather smoothly.
Meanwhile, the main city of Enoch's territory was heavily guarded. Since the royal family had formally declared war against him, Enoch was worried that the royal family would send peerless masters to assassinate him. He couldn't afford to be careless, so he was always on guard.
At this moment, all seats were occupied in Enoch's palace hall. Knowing that the army of the royal family was already outside the city, he wouldn't sit still and wait for his death. After all, a huge battle might suddenly break out at any time.
"Your Majesty, now that the army of the royal family has gathered outside the city, I assume that they are going to attack us any minute," a minister reported in an anxious tone.
"How many soldiers does the royal army have?" Enoch asked casually as he sat in his throne.
"According to our men who did reconnaissance in the frontier for a few days, they have at least three hundred thousand soldiers, excluding the garrison at the frontier. If the total number is added up, there should be are at least four hundred thousand of them."
"Hmm. It seems that the royal family has gone all out this time and is determined to seize my territory," Enoch sneered.
"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry. All we need to do is defend their attack. First, we will engage the army of the royal family for a period of time. As their forces weaken and their morale diminishes, that's when we will launch a counterattack. I'm sure that if we can take them by surprise, they won't stand a chance!" another minister confidently remarked.
"I beg to differ, Your Majesty. I don't think it's a good idea to just defend without attacking. Even though you've declared yourself as a king and gathered your own army, our morale is not that stable enough. If we just continue to defend, it will be difficult to boost the morale of our people. I think we must take the initiative to fight in this battle. If we can defeat the army of the royal family in a remarkable fashion, the people will soon see who the real king is!" a minister boldly suggested.
"That's being too rash! What if we take the initiative and the army of the royal family has somehow gained the upper hand? We don't have as many soldiers to fight them head-on," the second minister retorted immediately.
"The royal family doesn't know our real strength. If we can successfully show them how powerful we are in the initial strike, they will definitely fear us. Eventually, the difference in number will not be a problem."
Soon enough, the other ministers also shared their opinions and discussed with each other. Evidently, they had their own ideas on how to handle the situation.
"Stop arguing! I heard that Zain is the one leading the army of the royal family this time. My brother has decided that his son will be his successor, so Zain has to prove himself in this battle. Therefore, for him, losing is not an option. However, the more he feels that tremendous pressure, the more anxious he's going to be. Hence, I also think that defending passively won't cut it. We need to expose his weakness on the get-go," Enoch declared, already having his own thoughts about the upcoming battle.
"Your Majesty, so are you deciding that we should take the initiative to attack them?"
"That's right. I agree with some of you. If we don't fight, how can the royal family and the entire Shura Race see how powerful I am? Fighting them head-on is the only way! Besides, I will personally lead the army in this battle. I will show Zain the difference in our power and experience," Enoch said with a sneer.
"But Your Majesty, isn't it too risky for you to lead the army and fight against them?" With Enoch's fearless declaration, the hall immediately burst in an uproar. After all, Enoch leading the army was such a big deal.
"There is nothing to worry. I have been blessed and protected, so no one can possibly hurt me." Enoch just smiled with disdain. Since he came back from the Ghostly Demon Land, he had already obtained a portion of the power of the demonic race. Thus, his strength was enough to make him above the entire Shura Race. This was the sole source of his confidence.
"Now, issue order immediately and gather two hundred thousand soldiers. Follow me, and we shall show the army of the royal family that it's a big mistake on their side to confront us here!"
A few days later, Enoch personally led two hundred thousand soldiers to the Red River Valley, the border of his territory. In fact, in this terrain, Enoch's army could easily gain the advantage when fighting against Zain and his army.
A river was situated between the Red River Valley and the Wind Plain, the only two places that one could access if they wanted to enter Enoch's territory. Therefore, these two areas would definitely become battlefields later on.
However, among the two areas, the Wind Plain was easy to attack but hard to defend. Enoch knew that it was not the ideal spot for his army to fight. Therefore, he would certainly choose the Red River Valley as the place to engage the royal army.
After a short while, the news that Enoch would lead his own army already reached the army of the royal family.
"Ha! My uncle is really brave to be leading his army in person. I should thank him later for handing his head to me in a silver platter!" Zain snorted with arrogance.
"Your Royal Highness, it's obvious that he is going to take advantage of the terrain of the Red River Valley. I think it's better for us to sneak into the Wind Plain and then make a detour to the Red River Valley. We can launch a surprise attack in order to catch them off guard," Israel suggested after perceiving what Enoch might try to do. He was a commander in Zain's army, so he had the authority to express his opinion.