There wasn’t much of a difference in their actions but the air about them had definitely changed.

Though the soldiers were still smiling in relief, something had turned sharper.

Vouno slowly lifted a hand in the air. His fingers touched invisible strands of energy.

It was subtle, but his Chaos Sea constitution is clearly warning him that something unnatural was mixed in the air.

He breathed deeply, then activated his cultivation method.

The energies twitched slightly when caressed by his fingers, then as though by command they were pulled into him.

And then, the world broke.

The peaceful snowfall that they see was wiped away like a torn veil and replaced by a blizzard that threatens to cover everyone in white.

Vouno’s expression turned pale at once and immediately a yellowed talisman paper appeared in his hand. It flickered into flames as a powerful blast of Ki shot out like a cannon towards the front of the army.

Not even a split second later, the same talisman appeared in several people’s hands and more Ki attacks were shot out.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM*

The air trembled as loud explosions deafened everyone.

The veteran soldiers were ready and they braced themselves despite the chaos. They pulled out their weapons awaiting the next command. Their visions remained poor in the curtain of white falling snow, but it was enough for them to make out a gigantic wave crashing towards them.

It was a tall wall of snow that raised up to the heavens, an avalanche of staggering proportions despite they were on flat ground.

Facing such a thing wasn’t something easy to do. Even if they were ordered to be prepared, it is simply too ridiculous for them to stay calm in face of such a thing.

Moreover, the army had just climbed out of the dangerous ravine. If they are struck now, the results will be devastating.

Not counting those who would be crushed to death by the weight, many will be swept back into the ravine.

The enemy had timed their ambush well.

If there was panic and no orders were given, very likely, these professionals will die without moving an inch. Losing a-third of their forces will be considerably fortunate.

Unfortunately for the Frosthrals, the existence of a Chaos Sea constitution is beyond their understanding.

In the middle of this impending doom, uncountable holes were opened up by blasts after blasts of activated Ki Burst talismans.

Vouno’s sensitivity to the strange energies in the air meant that the others could react a split second quicker, and this short moment of time was all that is needed.

The waves crashed down upon the army, but it fell down in the shape of a horse shoe and avoided most of them.

*SPLASH*

The thinner ice of the ravine broke apart revealing a violent and swift river stream.

Just thinking of what will happen if they had been pushed back by the wall of ice into this river caused them to shudder.

They didn’t have time to think as arrows started flying at them.

Thousands surround their army in this blizzard and they were shooting at them in the safety of steel bunkers.

The illusion had concealed more than the snow. The Saint Empire frontlines had walked right into the middle of a killing zone.

Everyone flew into action at the same time.

Tommy jumped onto the back of his Armoured Giant with his hands filled with yellowed talismans. In an instant he became a cannon tower.

Next to him, the archer Edward appeared. Those that were looking could only see a fleeting shadow before his figure materialised. In his hands, his trusty bow, already aimed at the direction their enemies attacked from.

The giant scooped up Von and Lorelai, holding each person in a separate palm, becoming their cannon platforms.

The four of them opened fire at once.

Mobile and high up in the air, they had a good vantage point and could avoid any retaliation.

Tommy, Von, and Lorelai destroyed the arrows that threatened them, while Edward aimed at the bunkers with a savage expression.

A single arrow flew through the air amidst the countless projectiles, long-ranged Ki attacks, and other arrows.

But this single arrow stole everyone’s attention.

It glowed beautifully in 8 different colours.

Fire.

Earth.

Metal.

Water.

Wood.

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Wind.

Lightning.

Frost.

Each colour represent an element.

*CLANK*

A laser-like attack pierced through the bunker turning the entire structure fragmented even though it still stood. The reinforced building was made to withstand repeated blasts from both physical and Ki attacks. It had layers over layers of protection talismans and runic symbols to prevent it from being destroyed. Yet, a single shot by Edward drilled a hole right into it.

The archer smiled brightly, “Chantless Secret Art.”

It is the fastest version of his Secret Art so far while retaining the ability to pierce through almost everything.

However, the expenditure to his Ki is increased ten-fold and compared to the full-incantation version, it lacked both explosiveness and power.

Right now, Edward has the most versions of Secret Art in his team.

However, the bunker did not crumble. As a structure made for war, it isn’t so easily taken down.

The building had multiple repair runes on it. As long as it wasn’t completely destroyed, it will slowly restore itself using the ambient Heavenly Energies.

Edward did not bother with sending a second arrow over and moved on to the next bunker. As long as he could create weak spots for his team, his task is complete.

Esley roared, “Keep your eyes on the horizon! CHARGE!”

With the supreme commander’s words, the Great Generals took command.

Avgust: “Willow Vanguards! Shields up and forward!”

Diao Ling: “Assault Bear, conquer our enemies! Forward!”

Lorelai: “Flame Cloud units, decimate them all! We will not be providing support today. We will be wiping them out before the rest got a chance to fight, do you understand me?”

“YES MADAM!” A large group with over fifty thousand soldiers responded.

They stood silently at the back until they were called.

But before they leapt into action, Kairos shouted aloud with a single hand in the air, “Immolation Rain!”

Numerous invisible Ki pockets shot out from his palm and started raining down on the ambushers.

A trump card was used right at the start and that isn’t the end of it.

At the exact same time, Esley and Sihala had the same idea as Kairos.

A gigantic Winged Storm Bear appeared high above them, almost as tall as the towering wall of snow that almost crushed them before.

And, above Esley, the silhouette of four giant creatures.

A kirin, a serpent, a bear, and a great treant.

All of them are his Soul Contracts, with the first two as the Stone Kirin and Fire Spitting Serpent given to him by Kairos.

The bear is a Werebeast, a dark creature that Esley had summoned using the beast portal of the Sun Clan when he was a child. In the wilds, it is a demonic creature that preys on the strong. Its devilish lineage drives it to seek out powerful cultivators and challenge them to a battle. When it wins, it will promptly devour its prey.

It was his first contract beast and a loyal companion.

The treant is a willow tree that had been tainted by strange mana and turned into a violent creature. It tore its roots out from the ground and proceeded to terrorise the nearby towns and villages until Esley managed to tame it.

As anyone could guess, when he first became a commander, he gave the names “Assault Bear” and “Wispy Willow” to his two strongest squads.

Demonic power spread across the battlefield seeping into every bunker that had cracks in it, and a strange black-colour plant sprout from the hard ground.

They grew at unnatural speeds, and in seconds they will become a leafy Werebears that could assault the ambushers.

“It’s the East Wind’s Demon Sprout technique!”

“Get out from the bunkers, away from them!”

This is Esley’s combat technique to fight against a large number of enemies. In the past, he could only use this to entangle up to a thousand foes, but with two new creatures he had enough strength to extend it five times over.

Those that were ensnared will be dismember by the leafy Werebear. Of course, with the new addition of a Stone Kirin and a Fire Spitting Serpent, it wouldn’t be that simple.

The three of them used their widest area attack at one go, however, the ambushers were not sitting ducks either.

After their initial failures, they calmly gathered into a powerful formation. Military stratagems are on a wholly different level than a clan or noble family’s. They focused on a single purpose and achieved it to the utmost.

“Time-space stratagem!” Vouno cried out.

He couldn’t tell what kind of runic symbol the Frosthral barbarians are in, but he could tell faster than most what energies are at work.

Kairos had almost discovered this in an instant and even deciphered the use of this stratagem, but for the first time, he had no counters.

No, given enough time, he will be able to come up with something, but in a battle, an instance makes a life-and-death difference.

And, right now, it is too late to do anything.

The formation glow and split into thing pieces, each landing onto one of the cultivators in the stratagem.

Each touched by a piece of glowing rune, the Frosthral barbarians were covered with strange symbols like body painting.

The Snowdrifts’ barbarians cried out in alarm, “WAR GOD TATTOO!”

Hailing from the same region, they more or less know the stronger techniques rumoured to exist in their country.

The War God Tattoo is a fearsome technique.

“Run away!”

“Flee from them!”

This technique makes the users almost invincible for a short period of time. Afterwards, it extracts a hefty payment for the power, which usually means death.

If they could avoid a fight after the War God Tattoo had been activated, they can easily win the battle.

In other words, their enemies had suddenly turned into suicide bombers.

They never had any intention to retreat after engaging with the Saint Empire forces.

Kairos’ Immolation Rain was the first attack to reach.

Tiny invisible Ki pockets fell down from the sky accurately on their enemies.

However, an old Frosthral Barbarian stepped forward alone.

He wasn’t simply elderly. He was ancient.

There is hardly an inch of skin on him that isn’t wrinkled. He smelled like death, and it wasn’t coming from the lives he had taken but wafted outward from his body.

This man with almost two feet in the coffin raised an arm with surprising agility.

Then, he hurled something forward, swinging his arm like a whip.

A split second ago, there was nothing in his hand, but when his fingers were released, a dozen daggers were casted out into the air.

Those weapons were not released by Ki like how Saint Empire cultivators fight but sliced through the air by pure physical force.

The air whistled as each blade passed through, and every Ki pocket in their path were dispersed.

The Immolation Finger and Immolation Rain that Kairos developed could only target energy bodies or living beings. If the daggers had Ki infusion or runic enhancement, at least there would be energy to be stripped, but against raw speed that threatens to break through the sound barrier, the Ki pockets are quickly destroyed.

The ancient cultivator was astonished that his attacks had not met with any resistance, but he could feel that it wasn’t a pointless act.

In a flash, the man swings out even more dagger with every wave of his hand. And in one second, he casted over three hundred of them zooming off into the sky.

The War God Tattoo does only two things, but it does them exceptionally.

For a short while, it restores a cultivator to his prime. Thirty casts in a second is a terrifying speed, even for high rankers.

Not only so, but the technique also allows a person to maximise their affinity with Time and Space – to the point where they can freely use multiple items in combat without delay.

One must know that even Time-Space rings require a person to mentally search for the item they want in their stash first, before summoning it. And while the summoning process isn’t difficult, it certainly isn’t instantaneous like what had been done here.

At least, one needs to confirm the coordinates of where an object will exit from which makes it impossible for anyone to call forth a dozen daggers in mid-swing that could be propelled forward.

It is a difference between abilities gained by having high affinity and abilities from artefacts.

The other barbarians also stepped forward.

Each hurled their own projectiles into the air. They were a pace slower because the amount of power infused in them are much greater than the reserves of an old man.

Together, a wall of steel dispersed Kairos’ deadly technique and flew towards Sihala’s Winged Storm Bear avatar without slowing down.