Chapter 23: The Vital Weak Point
Angor City, West District.
150,000 soldiers were stationed here, ready to defend against the Wood Clan's assault. According to scouts from over a dozen kilometers away, the Wood Clan had already begun marching this way, numbering over 200,000.
Angor City was not ideal for defense, but fortunately, there were enough soldiers within the city. By now, a defensive line had been formed around Angor City's perimeter.
The 150,000 soldiers in the West District sounded like just a number, but when Su Xiao arrived there and witnessed it firsthand, he understood what 150,000 soldiers truly meant.
If these soldiers stood in dense formations, 10,000 would be enough to fill a football field. When 150,000 soldiers spread out into a battle line, they nearly completely blocked the western side of Angor City.
Tents made of thick cloth and wooden poles were scattered everywhere. As long as they had enough to eat, the soldiers didn't have high demands for living conditions. With their physical constitutions, sleeping in crude tents didn't make them feel cold.
"Warriors! Just two days ago, those monsters invaded our homeland..."
An officer's voice rang out, giving a pre-battle speech to prevent the soldiers from routing once casualties reached a certain level.
The Wood Clan was expected to arrive in about half an hour. The allied soldiers had already assembled, and the battlefield was set on a plain two kilometers away. The terrain there was open, making it the perfect location for the initial engagement.
The early spring snow had only recently melted, leaving the ground between the tents muddy and trampled. Since it was early morning and the temperature was low, the mud had frozen hard and been flattened by footsteps.
Su Xiao walked between the tents. Ahead of him, the soldiers had already formed ranks. Standing on a high slope and looking out, he couldn't see the end of the formation. These were all soldiers of the Leiman Kingdom, with excellent combat discipline.
As if heralding the coming battle, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and a fierce wind swept through.
"Warriors! Today is our moment of revenge! Kill every last one of those bastards!"
"Kill! Kill!"
A thunderous roar spread out. The 150,000 soldiers, divided into nine columns, began to advance forward.
Meanwhile, ten kilometers away.
Rumble...
The ground trembled. A gray-black tide surged from the distance. Countless Wood Clan members sprinted across the plain, trampling withered grass into the mud. Among them, over a hundred Tree Giants stood out prominently. They were all over ten meters tall, their bodies covered in dry bark, their heads adorned with rusted metal helmets. Wherever they stepped, they left behind massive footprints.
The Wood Clan charged with an unstoppable momentum, but they had no formation—they simply rushed forward in a mindless wave.
The soldiers of Angor City also marched quickly. Cold weapon warfare was nothing new to them. Supernatural steam technology had only emerged a few decades ago, and the development of steam weapons had only happened a few years prior—a unique technology of the Leiman Kingdom. Most soldiers were only just beginning to adapt to steam weapons; they were still more comfortable with cold weapons, since those wouldn't malfunction or suddenly explode.
"Enemy spotted two kilometers ahead! Full speed! After advancing one kilometer, switch to charge formation!"
The soldiers shifted from a brisk march to a jog. Before long, the Wood Clan army appeared ahead.
"Soldiers! Charge with me!!"
At the very front of the formation, an officer raised a broadsword and roared. Adrenaline made bloodshot veins bulge in his eyes and veins stand out on his neck.
"Charge! For our fallen families!"
The soldiers charged with reddened eyes. Armored soldiers wielding various cold weapons rushed past Su Xiao. He drew the long blade at his waist. Now, he only needed to do one thing: kill every Wood Clan member in sight. War was that simple and pure.
The soldiers and the opposing Wood Clan both accelerated their charges. The ground began to shake. From a bird's-eye view, a gray-black tide and a metallic tide rapidly closed in—500 meters, 300 meters, 100 meters, 30 meters, 5 meters.
Thud, thud, thud...
The dense sounds of impacts and screams were unending. Shattered shields flew everywhere. A soldier whose straight sword had been snapped in half, whose armor was heavily dented, lay on the ground wailing, half his skull crushed out of shape.
A Wood Clan member with half its body severed crawled over to that soldier, its sharp claws piercing into the soldier's skull. At the same time, a broken sword stabbed into the Wood Clan member's neck.
Blood soaked the ground. Heavy footsteps stomped down, squelching both corpses into the mud.
Behind them was Angor City. If the front line couldn't hold, the Wood Clan would use this as a breakthrough point, heading straight for Angor City. Even if they couldn't breach the city directly, they could establish a defensive line here and gradually push into the city.
Roars, screams, and the clashing of cold weapons mixed together, reaching Su Xiao's ears. Since entering this world, he had barely fought at all. Now was the time.
A Wood Clan member, covered in the blood of soldiers, charged at Su Xiao from the front. Its speed wasn't fast, but its body looked very tough.
*Clang.*
A flash of blue light passed. The charging Wood Clan member stumbled forward a few steps before stopping. Before its body could fall, its head had already hit the ground.
If he struck a vital point, one slash could kill. Dragon-Slaying Flash was sharp enough. If he hit the waist, one slash wouldn't be enough to kill.
Confirming this, Su Xiao sprinted forward. The wind whistled past his ears. As far as his eyes could see, the battlefield was filled with Wood Clan members and soldiers locked in combat.
His long blade slashed diagonally. A Wood Clan member was cut in two from the chest. A slight resistance traveled from the blade to his hand. The Wood Clan's bodies were tougher than he had imagined.
After Su Xiao killed two Wood Clan members in quick succession, the nearby ones immediately took notice. They let out low growls at each other, as if greeting one another, then all lunged at Su Xiao.
*Clang, clang, clang!*
Three massive slashing arcs were crossed and sent flying by Su Xiao, disappearing into the large group of Wood Clan members ahead.
Blue patterns surged on Dragon-Slaying Flash. Shadow Flame Ignition activated. The stamina consumption of full-body Shadow Flame Ignition was terrifying. Su Xiao always felt that Shadow Flame Ignition was just the initial form of Azure Shadow King. This form was powerful, no doubt, but it had many drawbacks—the stamina drain was too extreme.
More importantly, Su Xiao had tried many methods but could never increase the level of Azure Shadow King. It felt as if raising Azure Shadow King would cause his body to be unable to withstand it.
Su Xiao had no time to dwell on these issues. At some point, he found himself surrounded by Wood Clan members. He had gotten used to killing Ground Walkers in the last world and had forgotten that this time, there were allied soldiers nearby.
'Blade Path Sword: Super Ring Break.'
The long blade hummed. A pale blue ring-shaped slashing arc expanded outward. In an instant, a large number of Wood Clan members fell around Su Xiao. The ones rushing toward him faltered.
Blood splattered on the ground. The smell of blood was pungent. As Su Xiao had guessed, the Wood Clan were living creatures.
Looking around, Su Xiao didn't see a single treasure chest. The drop rate was disheartening.
"Baha, how much time has passed?"
"15 hours and 29 minutes. Miss Beini is a bit slow."
Baha swooped down, its claws tearing open the back of a Wood Clan member's neck before it soared back into the sky.
Su Xiao began calculating the time. Since the plan started, 15 hours had passed. Given Beini's travel speed, she should be about done.
Su Xiao had never forgotten about Gru. He believed that Gru must have spies in Angor City, watching from the shadows.
Finding that spy was too difficult, so he had to put on a show for Gru. Over the past few days, Su Xiao had appeared "exhausted and running around," all to lull Gru into complacency.
Su Xiao's true goal was to locate Gru's position as quickly as possible and eliminate him. Only then could he ensure that Angor City wouldn't fall.
When the four kingdoms were destroyed, who knew how many civilians had been turned into Wood Clan members. Even if the Wood Clan's numbers decreased through mutual devouring, they would still outnumber the soldiers in Angor City.
Su Xiao was only one person. Even if he kept killing nonstop, the number of Wood Clan he could eliminate was limited. Killing Gru was the only way to win.
When would Gru be most relaxed? The answer was when the Wood Clan army attacked Angor City. That meant Angor City could no longer threaten him and had to focus on dealing with the Wood Clan. If Su Xiao himself went to the front lines to fight the Wood Clan, Gru would be both surprised and reassured.
That was exactly the result Su Xiao wanted. Fight a full-scale war with Gru? Defeat Gru on the main battlefield? Impossible. The Wood Clan were utterly loyal to Gru. With such an army, Gru's chances of losing were too slim. In contrast, Angor City had three decision-makers who even argued over how to handle the elderly, women, and children.
Su Xiao's plan was to have Bubu Wang blend into the environment and investigate within Angor City. No matter what, he had to find any traces Gru had left behind in the city.
After that, it was Beini's turn. When she first entered this world, Beini was far from Su Xiao. When she came to meet up with him and was preparing to go treasure hunting on her own, Su Xiao gave her a task: use the tracks and scents Bubu Wang had found to track down Gru. Gru was most likely in the East Ze Kingdom, with a smaller chance of being near some border village.
As soon as Beini found Gru, Su Xiao could appear directly in front of him and eliminate this major threat.
Blade arcs crisscrossed. Su Xiao shredded the Wood Clan members lunging at him. Light red blood splattered onto him. Judging by the feel of his cuts, the Wood Clan were tougher than Ground Walkers.
With a boom, a spatial rift opened behind Su Xiao. Beini had found Gru's location and used the [Sanctuary Gem] to open the spatial rift.