Jerry snapped to Chris. He knew what was going to happen.

“We can’t win this fight…”

He never finished as Chris stood up and drew his sword. His eyes were red as blood. Endless rage burned in his gaze.

“Charge!” He screamed. His face was a mixture of extreme rage and pain. “Kill them all! Everyone, charge!”

Jerry reached for Chris, trying to hold him back, but it was too late. Chris pushed him away. He would’ve fallen if Nicole didn't catch him.

“No one moves!” Having no time to thank Nicole, Jerry turned to the others and yelled as well. This was a fight they couldn’t win.

A few hesitated, but most teens obeyed Chris’s orders. Their men did as well. Jerry’s worst fear has come true. The alliance was launching a war on an enemy they couldn’t beat, and things were completely out of his hands now.

Militias followed the previously made plan. Men who were positioned behind rocks and logs proceeded to push them down the cliff. On the other side, Patel and Sophia’s men did a similar thing. Personally, Patel considered retreating, but Chris has already gone for it, and he couldn’t abandon half the alliance.

“Incoming!”

“Take cover!”

“Stand your ground!”

“It’s an ambush!”

As hundreds of projectiles rowed down the cliff, the Sullivans in the canyon quickly realized they were under attack. Immediately, they were plunged into a period of confusion. Most men wanted to stand their ground, but some saw giant rocks and logs coming toward them and tried to get out of the way. Unfortunately, they were blocked on all sides by their comrades. Before they could do something, the logs have already reached them.

“Ahh!”

“Shields! Where are the shields?”

“Move out of my way...ah!”

“Help…rrrrr”

Hundreds of projectiles hit the Sullivans. As soon as the rocks hit, the first line of Sullivans collapsed. The amount of velocity the rocks gained on their way down made them absolutely deadly. Some soldiers tried to raise their shields and block the attacks, but they were knocked back along with their shields as the rocks continued to smash down and crush them.

Even worse, some of the logs continued to roll forward after crushing the first line of troops. The second line of men faltered as well. Since the militias came from both sides, all four columns of Sullivans were under attack.

When the first wave of attack ended, several parts of the Sullivan lines were in ruins. Countless men, along with their weapons and armors, were buried under giant stones. Wounded soldiers screamed as their arms or legs were crushed under logs and rocks. Some of those screams were from pain, but most were from fear. They knew very well they were dead men breathing. Even if they had medical treatment, they would be maimed for life. Plus, the Sullivans would never give precious medical attention to maimed soldiers who could no longer contribute to the empire.

Countless more were lightly injured. Blood dripped off from helmet-covered heads. Concussion was widespread.

And that was just the first step.

“Charge!” Chris was the first to leap out of cover. His followers were right behind him. Hundreds of militias charged down at the canyon with their spears ready.

“Attack!” On the other side, Patel gave the order as well. But just as he was about to leap into the field, he remembered what Jerry told him. A commander should never be in the front. He hesitated for a few seconds before sitting back down. Behind him, Sophia stepped forward, but Raymond grabbed onto her arm and shook his head.

Sophia pulled her arm away and continued to go forward. Raymond wanted to stay back and keep himself safe. Fine. She respected his choice, but she wouldn’t do the same thing. She expected Raymond to respect her choice as well.

Raymond sighed and ordered eighty of his militias to follow Sophia into battle. He kept fifty for himself. Patel glanced at him, eyeing for him to send the remaining troops forward, but he simply ignored it. There was no way he would stay by himself.

Jerry cursed before drawing his weapon. What’s done is done. Since the battle has already began and it was too late to stop it, he might just try to do maximum damage to the Sullivans. This would make the eventual retreat easier. He led Nicole and Alex and their militias and charged down the slope.

Chris ran faster than he has ever ran before. He got to the bottom of the canyon in less than a minute. A Sullivan soldier with a bloody nose raised his sword when he saw Chris, but Chris was faster. His fury made him ignore his fear. With a quick move, he pushed aside the soldier’s sword and sent his own into the soldier’s chest.

Warm blood splattered on his face barely eased his anger.

Isabella and Kirsten moved around Chris. They worked together and stabbed and slashed down on anyone that got too close. Their cooperation on the battlefield was no weaker than their cooperation on the bed. Behind them, militias overwhelmed the confused columns of Sullivans. The men in red were no match for those in white. Screams became a constant factor on the battlefield as militias sent their spears into the chest of confused Sullivan soldiers.

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Sophia held onto her spear with one hand and drew her sword with the other. Several Sullivans had their back facing her as they were paying more attention to Chris’s side than to hers. Immediately, Sophia went into action.

She stabbed one of the men in the back and watched as he screamed and tried to turn around, but Sophia ended that attempt by pulling the spear out. As soon as the spear came out, so did blood. The man’s knees buckled as he collapsed, bleeding to death.

Another man turned around. Just as his head was half a second away from facing Sophia, the girl slashed her sword across his neck. The strike nearly took off his head. For a second, the soldier just remained there with just a piece of skin connecting his head and the rest of his body.

A third man managed to face Sophia alive. He glanced at his two comrades and realized he could get no help from them. He subconsciously took a step back, as if he wanted to flee, but Sophia was aggressive. Fear fueled her anger, and adrenaline raced through her body, demanding her to take action. The girl charged forward and pushed her spear toward the soldier.

The Sullivan raised his sword horizontally and barely deflected the spear, but before he could take a breath of relief, Sophia’s sword has already gone into his chest.

As the man’s vision turned black, the last thing he saw was Sophia pulling the sword back out and walking by his corpse.

The Sullivans weren’t in their best condition. The rocks and logs cut the entire battalion to multiple pieces. The shock of being ambushed lowered their morale. The basic foot soldiers didn't know how many enemies there were or if they were winning. All the screams and cries of their comrades wasn’t good for morale either. Their retaliation against the militias was relatively weak. Militias were falling as well, but all the Sullivans knew was that their casualties were much higher.

When Jerry reached the Sullivan lines, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was being too careful. The Sullivan lines were in pieces. Their soldiers were ready to flee. Perhaps they could totally win this fight.

Alex and Nicole were having fun. Arrow after arrow came from Nicole’s bow and flew into the body of Sullivan soldiers. Alex bravely took on a large Sullivan captain. Daggers in hand, she landed several cuts on him before being knocked off her foot. Just as Jerry was about to help, two of Nicole’s militias pushed their spears into the captain’s legs. As the captain collapsed, Alex got back up and pushed her dagger into his neck.

This was a battle, not a boxing match. Survival was more likely if you’re stronger and faster, but nothing was for sure.

Now feeling slightly ashamed of his own caution, Jerry turned and saw Chris was making his way down the columns toward the part of the Sullivan lines where Karl’s head was mounted. Jerry looked to the surrounding and realized the pole was surrounded by dozens of horsemen with large lances and heavy armors. Even when all the Sullivan foot soldiers were looking around in fear and doubt, these riders didn't budge an inch.

“Follow Chris! Push forward! We can’t give them time to regroup!” Despite the initial victory, Jerry knew there were simply too many Sullivans. If they were given the time to recover from the initial shock and confusion and regroup, they could still be a deadly force. Logically speaking, elite horsemen and military trophies should be kept around the army’s commander. In other words, if the alliance could take over that location, they could either capture or kill the commander of this army. Without a leader, the Sullivans would lose the will to fight.

Militias from both sides combined into a single force. Chris and Sophia led the charge. Chris, with a single sword and a mind blinded by fury, was nearly unstoppable. Honestly, in another situation, a single shield wall made by half a dozen soldiers could keep him back. If they could isolate Chris, they could even put him down. Unfortunately, the Sullivans were in complete disarray. Most of those killed by Chris weren’t even facing him when they died. The random pieces of rocks and logs around the battlefield didn't help with uniting a group of soldiers either.

Sophia wasn’t any less of a fighter. Dual-wielding, she fought with much more skill than her male counterpart. If Chris was a berserker, then she was a skilled swordsman. Her training with the militias was proven to be incredibly effective, at least against these confused, average Sullivan soldiers. Even if a Sullivan could survive the initial few hits, he would lose his calmness when he saw the sea of white behind Sophia and try to flee. A fighter looking for a way out wasn’t a good fighter. In those cases, Sophia could easily mow her victim down.

With the man and the woman as the spearhead, the militias kept on going. Nicole continued firing until her arrows ran out. Then, wrapping her arrow around her body, she grabbed onto the sword of a fallen Sullivan and proceeded to fight the Sullivans in melee. Even without her bow, she wasn’t any less of a fighter.

Jerry dodged the strike of a Sullivan soldier and took a step back and watched as his militias dismembered the soldier. What would have made him vomit a couple days ago still made his heart beat faster, but he realized he could stare at the corpses and not flinch. People really do have the potential to adapt to an environment quickly.

Men continued to scream and fell. The alliance pushed quickly, but they weren’t quick enough. There was just too many buffer between them and the Sullivan general.

“Form a wall! Spears and shields! Victory will be ours!” Jerry frowned when he heard a wave of loud cries. In the front line, Sullivan soldiers who heard the order complied while they themselves repeated the order as loudly as possible so others could hear it as well. In just moments, when Sophia and Chris cut down the last of the scattered soldiers, they found themselves facing a wall of shields.

The shield wall wasn’t perfect. In fact, there were multiple openings due to the rugged environment, but it put a stop to the alliance’s push. At the same time, it also symbolized the initial period of shock was over, and the Sullivans were ready to stand and fight like the soldiers they were trained to be.

“Shield wall, forward!” A new order was issued. The entire shield wall took a step forward in unison.

“Break the wall!” A sense of logic returned to Chris’s mind, but it was immediately overwhelmed by his anger. He looked at the red armor of the Sullivan soldiers and just wanted to make them even redder with the blood of their owners. Immediately, a line of his militias charged forward.

But this time, instead of just breaking through, the militias realized most of their spears were deflected by the shields. The Sullivan soldiers, now with their backs protected by fellow soldiers, moved forward safely. The shield wall meant they could only be attacked from the front, and their shields were more than enough to take care of the attacks from the front. In a fair fight, the Sullivan soldiers demonstrated the skills of professional soldiers. An entire line of militias fell when only two Sullivans died.

Screams intensified from the entrance that led the canyon to the way of the camp. The problem was those screams were gradually turned to war cries, and the noise didn't feel like it was dying down anytime soon. In order words, the Sullivans have stabilized at that entrance as well.

Which means the alliance was practically trapped in the canyon, surrounded by hostiles on both sides.