Chapter 20: Does Your Conscience Ache
On the battlefield, Su Xiao stood atop a war chariot, surveying the scene below. Around him were several hundred of his own soldiers.
The pupils of these soldiers were bloodshot, their armor stained with blood. Their sharp eyes scanned the surroundings, wary of any sneak attacks by the enemy's Holy Soulists.
On the battlefield below, after nearly annihilating the Stormhammer Legion, Su Xiao's forces had suffered nearly 8,000 casualties. Stormhammer was a tough nut to crack. Though it had only 20,000 troops, their crossbows were too powerful. With each volley, large swaths of Su Xiao's soldiers fell.
Compared to the Stormhammer Legion, the Peru Third Legion they were now facing was much easier to handle. The Third Legion wouldn't hold out for long.
Su Xiao had previously thought the War Lord's attribute and morale boosts were the strongest. Now he realized that wasn't the case. The Bloody Battle effect triggered when morale reached 100 points was the true strongest ability of this four-star title.
After triggering the Bloody Battle effect, casualties among his soldiers in melee combat dropped significantly. When killing enemies, soldiers had a decent chance of absorbing the enemy's life force through their weapons, thereby healing themselves.
The healing effect wasn't exaggerated, but don't forget, Bubu Wang was near Su Xiao. It could provide an aura to allied forces within a 700-meter range. On the battlefield, that wasn't a large area, with an effective range of only 350 meters.
Bubu Wang couldn't enter the battlefield directly. If various war weapons were fired down, Bubu Wang might be instantly killed by bad luck.
Bubu was right beside Su Xiao. The 350-meter aura allowed allied soldiers on the rear lines to gradually recover their combat effectiveness.
The Bloody Battle effect ensured Su Xiao's soldiers wouldn't die on the battlefield, while Bubu Wang's aura allowed heavily wounded soldiers to regain combat capability.
Bubu Wang could maintain its aura for about two hours each day, but with so many soldiers benefiting from it simultaneously, any ability couldn't work for free. The aura ability was no exception, though its consumption was low. Normally, providing the aura for Su Xiao, Amu, and Baha was no strain on Bubu Wang.
But now, supplying the aura to so many soldiers at once, Bubu could only activate it for a while, then rest. It was so exhausted it collapsed weakly by Su Xiao's leg, looking drained, as if its body had been hollowed out.
Clang!
A short dagger stopped a few meters from Su Xiao. Its owner was a slender dwarf woman, her eyes filled with hatred as she stared at Su Xiao, wanting to devour him alive.
Thump, thump, thump...
Crossbows were triggered, and bolts forced the dwarf girl back. She extended her slender index finger, pointing at Su Xiao from a distance.
Just then, one of Su Xiao's soldiers lunged to his side. The soldier's body stiffened, and the light in his eyes quickly dimmed.
A dozen seconds later, this Holy Soulist was pinned to the ground and soon died. From start to finish, she never got within three meters of Su Xiao. Su Xiao posthumously appointed the fallen soldier as a Thousand-Man Commander, with 1,000 gold coins in compensation to be sent to the soldier's hometown in eight days for his family.
"Commander, the Peru Third Legion has been driven back."
A Thousand-Man Commander knelt on one knee before Su Xiao, holding the head of a dwarf officer.
"You are..."
Su Xiao didn't remember who this Thousand-Man Commander was. He had too many under his command.
"Sir, I am Uratai."
"Ura~"
Baha swooped down from above, landing on Su Xiao's shoulder.
"Uratai, you are now a Division Commander."
"Huh?"
Uratai was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, "Thank you, sir." These officers who fought their way up didn't know how to speak prettily.
The Peru Third Legion was driven back by Su Xiao's forces, meaning he had torn a gap in Peru's encirclement, breaking their advantage of surrounding him.
Su Xiao ordered Vice Commander Oss to lead troops in a horizontal charge across the battlefield, continuously widening the breach in Peru's lines.
When the sun hung low on the horizon, the battle near Rongsha Fortress ended. It was Spring Iron Sheep who ordered the retreat.
Under the blood-red sunset, Rongsha Fortress was in ruins, surrounded by the bodies of both armies.
Su Xiao didn't order his soldiers to enter the city. He sent 10,000 troops to clean the battlefield and 20,000 to gather the scattered Flame Sand soldiers, along with Grand Commander Niboso.
Once the soldiers were gathered and reorganized, Grand Commander Niboso would have to swallow his words. If Su Xiao hadn't come to reinforce him, Niboso's forces would have suffered heavy casualties. When Peru's reinforcements arrived, they might have annihilated or captured Niboso's entire army.
Kaisa and Oss were responsible for gathering the routed troops, while Su Xiao led the remaining soldiers toward Rongsha Fortress.
Just as he reached the city gate, Su Xiao saw a squad of soldiers in gleaming armor rush out of the fortress. Surrounded by these soldiers, a man with a black velvet cloak and a gaunt face with a hooked nose approached.
"Kukulin, I'll remember this favor."
Niboso walked over with a smile, though he was conflicted. This fellow Grand Commander, Kukulin Bai Ye, had saved him, but he had also lured away many of his soldiers and was now continuing to gather nearby routed troops.
"We're both Flame Sand forces. No need to be polite over such a small matter."
Su Xiao also smiled as he spoke. Without Unno, he felt he could cooperate with this Grand Commander.
Su Xiao didn't continue speaking. He had come to see Niboso mainly to buy time. His soldiers had been reduced to just over 36,000. This battle had been brutal. Not only had they annihilated the Stormhammer Legion, but they had also fought fiercely with the Third Legion. Just as it was ending, Su Xiao's forces were ambushed by Peru's Elite Ram Legion.
Su Xiao realized that even with the boost from [War Lord], his soldiers' individual strength couldn't match the Elite Ram Legion. That was Peru's most elite force. Their soldiers' individual combat ability, coordination, weapons, armor, and war equipment were far superior to his current troops. The worst part was that the Elite Ram Legion was cavalry.
If he engaged the Elite Ram Legion head-on, all the resources Su Xiao had accumulated would be exhausted. There were only two ways to deal with the Elite Ram Legion: upgrade the War Lord title to five stars, or amass over 150,000 soldiers. Accomplishing either would allow him to fight the Elite Ram Legion.
Su Xiao leaned more toward upgrading the War Lord title. After leaving this world, no matter how many soldiers he had, he couldn't take them with him. The title would always belong to him.
In the tense silence, a vein bulged on Niboso's forehead.
"Kukulin, that's enough."
Niboso meant that Su Xiao shouldn't gather too many routed troops. As a Grand Commander, he still had his pride to maintain.
"What?"
Su Xiao acted as if he didn't understand, but he was actually contacting Kaisa, telling him to speed up.
"This is a token of thanks!"
Niboso gritted his teeth and ordered large wooden chests to be brought out, filled with gold coins. Conservatively, there were at least 10 million coins.
"I have other matters. I'll take my leave."
Su Xiao had his soldiers carry the chests and headed toward the previous camp.
When Su Xiao returned to the camp, it was in chaos. A Military Commander was standing on a high platform, roaring. Below the Grand Commander was the Military Commander, so this one under Niboso just glanced at Su Xiao and continued shouting.
Seeing this, Su Xiao spoke:
"Oss."
"Here."
"Arrest him. The charge is..."
Su Xiao couldn't think of a charge for a moment.
"Attempted mutiny?"
"Yes, that'll do."
Su Xiao looked Oss up and down. The man's behavior was a bit hard to read.
"Understood."
Oss rushed forward. Though he was short and stout, his presence was imposing. He kicked the Military Commander off the platform.
"Men, take him away! Throw him in the cesspit to cool off."
"I am... ugh~ ugh~"
The Military Commander was carried off with his mouth covered, his kicking legs his last act of defiance.
A wind sound came from the sky. A Giant Rock Dragon was flying over. This massive creature circled in the air for a while before landing. What Su Xiao had been waiting for had arrived. He didn't have war weapons, so he would make one himself.
Su Xiao turned and walked into his tent. As soon as he entered, he felt something was off.
Space rippled. A crimson droplet condensed, expanded, and formed a vortex. A frog crawled out of the vortex and spat out a note.
Su Xiao picked up the note and opened it. It read:
'I set a coordinate on your follower. I apologize. I am a Battle Angel from Apocalypse Paradise, Molei. Get out of this world quickly. Feishi is coming. She is the strongest Violator of the seventh rank. Like you, she's from Reincarnation Paradise.'
Su Xiao flipped the note over. There was writing on the back:
'I've told you this much. If you have even a shred of conscience, come save me. Otherwise, when you think of me in the future, your conscience will ache. Save me, and there will be a heavy reward.'