"Oh, look at him go!" The man who had assumed the identity of Du Tao, a Vice-General of the Blue Army of the Eagle Kingdom slightly whistled while motioning for his far less passionate companions to look at the center of the battlefield.
"I just don't understand what do you find interesting in observing weaker cultivators. Granted this one seems a bit better, but he isn't even on the level to be considered an officer, and yet he is a commander" The woman seemingly shrugged, but the baggy coat that prevented her figure from being seen hid the motion as well.
"..." The other man did not even say anything.
"And what if I told you that he is hardly 15 years old?"
"What?!" This time both of them exclaimed in unison.
"Yes, now that he is fighting, not even the rune cloak can keep me from fully analyzing him. He is a 3rd level soul realm cultivator, but with the aura of a 5th level! He's also a few months younger than 15" These two pieces of information were enough to, this time for sure attract his companions' attention.
"A shame he was born in the wrong place then" The woman allowed herself a half-sigh. Geniuses were hard to come everywhere, so it was always painful to know that one was born in some other place other than the kingdom.
"Mmm, but for now, let's just keep watching a good show" This time Du Tao was the one to shrug. It wasn't like deep inside he felt anything else than slightly bemused while watching how weaker cultivators fought. Especially when the result of the fight would not mean anything for him... And he was bored enough to welcome such an interesting distraction.
________________________________________________________________________
Wu Guang had been in the center of the battlefield for only a few moments, and yet his blade had claimed the lives of 5 men already.
Five to be unlucky enough to be standing near the spot he appeared on, and unlucky enough to be weak enough to be slashed by the simple slash Wu Guang threw around himself to open space.
"No one stronger than the 7th level of the Spirit realm, huh?" Wu Guang scanned the nearby enemies and after choosing the direction, one that would lead him near Kuang Jing, the one in the worst condition, slightly lowered himself before starting to run.
Even though Wu Guang had appeared in the middle of the enemies, the fact that at least half of them had not even seen him before, and that they were concentrated on the three pockets of resistance in front, made his first kills go unnoticed.
"ENEMY! ENEMY! HERE! TURN AROUND!" It was only at the moment that Wu Guang's blade claimed another life that someone from the enemies to the sides reacted and began shouting. Not that it did help him much.
"Imperial Blade!" Wu Guang ignored everything else and after aligning himself along a line consisting of pure enemies let out his skill fly.
"K..." And the man, one that tried to advise the others happened to be the first one of that imaginary line that Wu Guang had set for his skill to follow...
***
Kuang Jing, feeling that he was on his last reserves, continued to hold three or four enemies back. He had not received any new serious wound, but he knew that every time he blocked, dodged, or parried an attack, he was being sloppier and sloppier. The last blade passed just a hair of his neck and slightly scrapped his already wounded arm, with him reacting too late to this sudden slash from his side.
"It's only a matter of time now" He found the strength to calmly understand the fact, and even managed to wryly smile while accepting it.
*SWOOSH*
...
....
*SPLATTER* *THUD* *THUD* *THUD*
A blade of enormous strength, one that he had never seen flew just a few feet in front of him. It went through the three enemies he had in front, as well a few others further to the side without almost any sound... And if not for the blood that suddenly took the airs, or the bodies, extremities, innards that suddenly began to fall... No one would have believed that it was someone's attack! One directed at the enemies!
"Begin to move back, the reserves and the free cultivators from the relief forces are arriving and forming a thousand feet behind. Reach them!" As Kuang Jing stood there dazed, a voice, a very familiar voice entered his ear.
"Wu Guang?!" He immediately turned to the side from which the voice came, only to see a quickly receding cloak moving between the enemies, and with each step the cloaked made, there was at least one man or woman less on the attacker's side.
"You three, quickly retreat! We... We are saved" And Kuang Jing truly believed what he said to the remaining guards, after all, if Wu Guang was here, then everything will be fine, will it not?
***
Wei received the impact of the enormous ax that a veritable giant, over two heads taller than him had just launched from behind.
He had managed to sense something and somehow reactivated his 'Wind Armor', spending his last qi. And thanks to this, he survived the attack.
Still, the man behind the attack was simply too strong, and even as the latter's ax shattered against the qi armor, Wei felt his feet leaving the ground
*CRASH*
And crashed into the two enemies he was, until now, holding at a distance with wild swings of his hammer.
*Spit*
He managed to regain balance after crashing into the two, now dead because of the wind blades that surrounded him, even so, he felt that some of the force behind the hit had gotten through. He spat blood and found out that he could not move his right arm.
It did take a moment for the pain to appear and allow him to feel that his clavicle had been shattered.
*SLAM*
His hammer fell from his now disabled hand...
And at this moment, he received another impact, one that he did not even know from where it came...
*SHATTER*
Being the proverbial drop to overfill the bucket, Wei's 'Wind Armor' shattered, and he fell to the ground, unable to even find a measure of qi to continue holding his body upright.
"He's down, kill him!!!" With his consciousness fading in and out from a mixture of pain and tiredness, Wei overheard someone's crazed shout and simply closed his eyes. "It was a good fight, and for a good reason, wasn't it, Master Chen?"
***
Wu Guang sensed how Wei's presence was on the verge of disappearing, and ignoring the enemies that had again surrounded him roared
"FLAMING INCARNATE!!!"
Albeit it was a technique and not a skill, Wu Guang's mastery and the addition of the 'Ghostflame' made it comparable to one. And for his current objective, the combination of the flames that could burn and even kill anyone who got too close to him, as well the ability to shrug off most of the incoming attacks was imperative.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
And by resorting to 'Flaming Impulse' as a movement technique, not only Wu Guang would reach an incredible speed, but he would also streak across the enemies like a flame-covered blade.
________________________________________________________________________
Kuang Xiaolan's senses were not so good as to discern everything that was happening around her, and even if they were, she had no strength or drive to use them. She was acting mechanically, blocking attacks and sending slashes of her own. Even so, she noticed that the intensity of enemies that were pressing on her was decreasing, and this brought her out of her detached state.
It wasn't that they were fewer around her, as no matter how many she cut or pushed back, there would be always a pair of them to the front and a few trying to flank or circle her. By now she could not even tell one apart from another.
With one of her two guards downed and she standing back to back with the remaining one, the number of enemies she faced was five all the time. Still, if before the ones in front of her were pushed towards her by their backline, now it appeared like there was nothing of the sort.
*Slash*
"Huh? Why there are only three now?" Her tired mind asked.
While she tried to find the reason for such sudden change, a figure made of white flames and a hellish visage with eyes made of blue flame suddenly appeared near her...
"DEMON!" She was an experienced cultivator, and she was fighting a battle that would lead to death, most probably hers, but even so, she shrieked.
And slashed at the figure right away
*Grab*
Only to see her sword getting caught by the demon's hand, and then yanked out of her grasp.
"Do you even try to sense who is in front of you? Or you just slash at everyone, allies included?" A calm, slightly amused voice entered her ear. "Wait, I know that voice," She thought while trying to remember who's one it was...
"Wu Guang!" She at last said a few breaths later.
"Indeed, and now that we have that solved, I think I may return this to you" Wu Guang allowed the sword to fall, and she caught it immediately.
"..." Tired as she may be, and whatever condition she was in just a few moments ago, Kuang Xiaolan still blushed at the thought that she had attacked someone who had, most probably come to help her.
"There are only a few stragglers left here, so start retreating. Your brother is safe and Wei is being carried out as well"
She nodded in response, feeling grateful that he had not forgotten about her brother - checking or even helping him before coming here.
________________________________________________________________________
Wu Guang had truly gone overboard this time, but the result was in plain view. From the slightly over a hundred enemies that comprised the center of the battle, only an odd ten remained. And even they were incapacitated or trying to escape.
His qi had decreased tremendously, and to maintain his state he had already hiddenly taken a few restoration pills. His qi was initially far over the one that a normal cultivator had, even so, he had been spending it without truly resting since the first boat had been seen. Not to mention he had been maintaining his senses extended, covering the battlefield, which only added another strain to the already strained reserves of his.
The right-wing was stabilized, with the guards beginning to retreat under the protection of the wounded and tired, but still fighting five soul realm cultivators he had left there. There did not manage to fully overturn the situation, but at least about two dozens of guards would safely reach the new defense line. One that had already formed but had not been targetted by the enemy yet.
"And possibly will not if we manage to create a one on one" Wu Guang murmured and checked on the Soul realm fight, as well giving a glance to the left-wing, the one that he was now closer to.
The latter had started with a slight advantage, as for some reason the biggest part of the enemies had chosen either the center or the opposite wing. A bit later, some enemies noticed it and tried to run around the wing, with Xiao Feng being sent by his father to block them.
Now the situation had changed again, with a chaotic all-around battle but even so, the left-wing was holding. With Xiao Feng taking overall command and his team formed with the best men his father could spare, they did not disperse and formed a small square that was biting back. Granted, it was now comprised of only 30 men, but they had downed at least 4 men for each of theirs before and continued to do so now. And seemingly Xiao Feng or one of the older guards noticed the changes happening on the battlefield, as these 30 men were now fighting while retreating, and would probably reach the new defense line even without Wu Guang's help.
The Soul realm cultivators battle was also looking stable. With the addition of Xiao Kang, Lord Xiao did not need to continue defending his companions, and so fully concentrated on his three adversaries.
"At this rate, he will neither win nor lose" Wu Guang acknowledged that Lord Xiao was fighting wisely. He did not attempt to use risky opportunities, but neither gave any chance for the enemies to do so. Maybe during a duel, this would be a bad strategy, but for now? The more he stalled for time, the better chances the allied side had.
More or less the same mindset was shared by his two lieutenants and Tian Ning until now, but with the addition of Xiao Kang, it seemed that the four were about to start mounting a counter-attack on their six opponents.
On the left, now having moved almost an entire mile from the Spirit realm troops, Ren Ah, Liang Chin, and Lan Yanzhi was fighting with an opposite mindset. What the latter lacked in Soul realm cultivation experience, she compensated in sheer fierceness. Her long knife moved around in a perpetual dance, while every chance she had, she called for Wu Guang's 'Earth Spiked Shield' variations to unbalance her opponent. Ren Ah and Liang Chin had already downed one of their opponents, now fighting only three, and seemed to even the numbers shortly.
"It seems that they will not need my help... And what do this three are waiting for?" Wu Guang faintly smiled before turning his attention to the only predicament he could neither solve, nor truly avoid.
________________________________________________________________________
*Don*
A faint sound that somewhat resembled a distant gong was heard from below Du Tao's cloak.
The sound could mean only one thing, as every orb apart of one had been activated before.
"It's time. Enforce your commands over the puppets and make them run forward"
"Yes" Both the man and the woman acknowledged the order and each took out something that resembled a crudely made copper scepter...