Chapter 3: Expansion of Power
On the evening of the fifth day of the first month of the 10,010th year of the Yulan calendar, the world was shrouded in a gray haze, with patches of snow still unmelted in the cold places. Yet at this moment, the city of 'Tuer City' was plunged into a terrifying oppression.
On the city walls of Tuer City, the city lord anxiously peered out into the distance. Outside the city, many blurry figures could be seen, though not very clearly.
"How many people has Black Soil City actually sent?" the city lord 'Dele' barked at his subordinates.
"City Lord, the patrol soldiers saw an army approaching and immediately came to report, but they didn't get a clear count of how many there were. However, the burly man leading them seems to be one of the legendary Five War Gods of Black Soil City," a subordinate beside him said nervously.
"Five War Gods?" The city lord grew anxious. "Just because they claim to be ninth-rank warriors, that makes it true? I could say I'm a Saint-level powerhouse too! All of you, be careful and hold the line no matter what."
"Yes, City Lord," the officer subordinate acknowledged.
Facing the enemy's assault, Tuer City dared not engage in open-field combat on the plains, relying solely on the city walls for defense. After all, defending a city was slightly less difficult.
...
Second Brother Anke stared coldly at the distant city. This time, Black Soil City had made a massive move. Of the five high-formation brigades, only one remained behind, while the other four were led by Anke, Black Shark, Boone, and Gates respectively, each attacking one of the four nearest cities.
"Halt!" Anke raised his right hand and shouted loudly.
Instantly, all 1,800 soldiers came to a stop, everyone gazing with reverence at the tallest figure at the front center. The five Barker brothers of Black Soil City trained their soldiers with clear rewards and punishments, and they usually mingled with the troops.
When the soldiers trained, they trained too.
The soldiers ran with weights, but the five Barker brothers trained by lifting boulders weighing hundreds of thousands of jin. Naturally, the soldiers of Black Soil City admired their leaders all the more.
"Dele, listen up!" Anke bellowed angrily.
His voice, infused with undying battle qi, echoed through Tuer City like thunderclaps. The soldiers of Tuer City trembled in fear—just such a loud voice alone crushed their morale. So the legends were true after all. Could they possibly withstand such a formidable opponent?
City Lord 'Dele' was also panicking inside, but he didn't want to abandon his stronghold.
"If you have something to say, say it quickly and stop wasting time," Dele shouted, mustering his courage. But his voice was loud enough only on the city walls; by the time it reached Anke's side, it had faded to a whisper, carrying no intimidation at all.
Anke continued in a voice like thunder: "Dele, if you surrender Tuer City, I'll spare your life. Otherwise... this axe of mine won't show any mercy." As Anke said this, many of Tuer City's soldiers were already wavering in their loyalty.
Because, even before Black Soil City's attack, quite a few people in Tuer City had secretly defected to Black Soil City.
"Oh, you're still going to resist?" Anke's voice reached every soldier in Tuer City.
Black Soil City's 'Dele' gritted his teeth and glared at the distant forces of Black Soil City.
"Kill!" A great shout suddenly rang out across the heavens and earth.
On the city walls of Black Soil City, many soldiers were startled. They heard the countless warriors below roaring, "Kill!" "Kill!"... Each one raised their shields and charged madly toward Tuer City. The thunderous war cries caused many of Tuer City's soldiers to panic.
"Archers! Shoot, shoot them dead!" City Lord 'Dele' shouted furiously, his face turning red.
The many archers on the city walls immediately drew their bows and loosed arrows at the charging enemies in the distance. In the first volley, most arrows struck the shields, a few wounded Black Soil City soldiers, and three unlucky ones were killed.
"Shoot them dead!" Dele roared.
But before the archers could fire a second volley, Anke had already left the rear army over a hundred meters behind and charged alone to the city gate. With a furious roar, he drew the terrifying giant axe from his back and swung it fiercely at the gate.
"Boom!"
The entire city wall shook, and Tuer City's gate was instantly shattered into pieces, debris flying in all directions. Even without transforming, Anke was a ninth-rank warrior; breaking through the gate of a small city like Tuer City was no challenge.
"The gate is broken!"
"That War God has broken in!"
...
Shouts and cries erupted among Tuer City's soldiers. Even City Lord 'Dele' turned pale as a sheet when he learned the gate had been breached.
"Whoosh!" The massive axe swung, and nearby soldiers were instantly cleaved apart, their bodies exploding, blood and flesh flying everywhere. The soldiers of Tuer City, terrified, scrambled backward. Anke, shrouded in undying battle qi, was like a demon god.
Anke brandished the fearsome axe and roared, "Stand in my way, and die!"
The great axe spun like a wheel, but this 'wheel' was a meat grinder. Anyone grazed by it had their body torn apart. At first, Tuer City's soldiers tried to counterattack, but soon no one dared to block this demon god.
In no time, Black Soil City's soldiers also poured in through the gate.
"We surrender, we surrender!"
With the first cry of surrender, more followed in waves. By the time Anke, wielding his bloodstained axe, reached the city walls, the soldiers there had already laid down their weapons. City Lord 'Dele' was curled up on the ground, while several officers nearby waited for Anke.
"Sir, I am Fould," one officer said respectfully.
"Oh, so you're Fould."
Anke knew well that Fould was one of the officers who had surrendered. Before the battle even began, many on the enemy side had secretly defected. With the five Barker brothers on Black Soil City's side, how could this battle not be won?
*******
War is a human affair, and the deciding factor is people.
When the gap in strength between two sides is small, strategies and schemes might still be effective. But when the gap is enormous—like Anke alone being able to sweep through Tuer City—there is no room for variables. Victory is a foregone conclusion.
On the fifth day of the first month of the Yulan calendar, Black Soil City launched its war.
But by the sixth day of the first month, Linley's side already controlled five cities. Including the towns and villages under their jurisdiction, the total population under their rule was nearly three million. According to the rules of the Chaos Territory, only by occupying a prefectural city could one qualify to establish a duchy.
Linley's five cities were all small towns, each housing only tens of thousands. A prefectural city, however, could accommodate a population of hundreds of thousands.
...
After this lightning war ended, Linley's side temporarily halted further attacks and began rapidly reorganizing their armies. Black Soil City's original five brigades were designated the 'First Division,' the core division. The four divisions from the other cities also had their pay raised, to about two-thirds of the First Division's level.
Taxes on the populace were reduced, generally by more than half.
Each division consisted of 9,000 men, which was considered a low formation on the Yulan Continent. However, in the Chaos Territory, battles were usually fragmented, so Linley's side opted for low formations, treating five high-formation brigades as one division.
Five divisions were quickly reorganized and trained.
The surrounding cities felt the threat, but knowing the strength of Black Soil City's side, one city actually surrendered voluntarily during the reorganization and training period. The reason? Their former city lord had fled with a huge fortune and his guards.
...
Barker and Sesslar arrived together at Black Crow Mountain, looking up at it.
"Barker," Sesslar suddenly spoke.
Barker turned to look at Sesslar. Sesslar said, "Black Shark also reached the ninth rank on the way to the Chaos Territory. Now, all five of you brothers possess Saint-level strength. I myself am close to breaking through within a year or two. Tell me, with you five brothers leading the conquests and me assisting, and most importantly, with Linley and his two powerful magical beasts at the top, such peak power is enough to build a kingdom—or even an empire!"
"Sesslar, what do you mean?" Barker's eyes lit up.
Sesslar said seriously, "Barker, of the six major powers on the continent today, aside from the O'Brien Empire and the Yulan Empire, the others—the Rohault Empire, the Rhine Empire, the Holy Alliance, and the Dark Alliance—have no Deity-level experts."
Barker nodded in agreement.
"Among them, the Rohault Empire and the Rhine Empire don't even have experts on par with Hodson. But we have Linley and Bebe," Sesslar said confidently. "The most important thing for establishing an empire is top-tier power. With strong top-tier power, building an empire is within reach."
Barker grew excited.
"Sesslar, are you saying we should build an empire together?" Barker looked at Sesslar.
Sesslar smiled. "This is just an idea of mine. Our goal is to eliminate the Radiant Church's influence in the Chaos Territory. The Radiant Church currently controls nearly a third of the Chaos Territory. To destroy them, we need a significant amount of territory ourselves. Once we defeat them and take their land... we'll control most of the Chaos Territory. Then, after dealing with the Dark Church's faction, the entire Chaos Territory will be ours."
Barker felt his heart race.
The Chaos Territory—this region that had always been in chaos—was smaller than the O'Brien Empire in area but comparable to the Rohault Empire or the Rhine Empire.
"Building an empire..." Barker's eyes shone.
"Haha, no rush, step by step. With our strength and everyone working together, taking over a dozen duchies in the Chaos Territory and establishing a kingdom should be quite feasible," Sesslar said confidently.
Barker nodded eagerly.
How many Saint-level experts did the Rohault Empire or the Rhine Empire have? These two empires lacked the deep foundations of the O'Brien Empire or the Yulan Empire, nor could they rely on angel descents like the Radiant Church or the Dark Church.
Take the Rohault Empire, for example—having more than ten Saint-level experts would already be remarkable.
On Linley's side, there were five undead warriors. Especially when Barker and his brothers reached the Saint level in human form, they would be true Saint-level undead warriors. The five of them combined, along with the even more fearsome Linley and Bebe... such strength could even challenge the Radiant Church.
Why not build an empire?
"Taking over the entire Chaos Territory is difficult, given how complicated it is," Sesslar said with a slight smile. "But I'm still confident." He shook his head and looked up at Black Crow Mountain, where Linley was.
Sesslar spoke slowly, "I have a goal in mind. One day, we will build a powerful empire. As for Linley... his role in our empire will be like the War God's in the O'Brien Empire."
"The War God?" Barker was astonished.
Sesslar nodded with a smile.
A vast empire needs top-tier experts who can deter other powers to stand independently. The Rohault Empire and the Rhine Empire, for instance, were actually dependent on the Yulan Empire because they lacked such peak power.
In the empire Sesslar dreamed of, the supreme existence would be Linley.
Just as the War God presided over the O'Brien Empire and the High Priest presided over the Yulan Empire... in the future, Linley would similarly preside over that future empire. Of course, Linley didn't yet possess such astonishing strength.
"Twenty-eight years old, and already at this terrifying level. Can you imagine how far someone like that will go?" Sesslar glanced at Barker with a smile.
Barker nodded.
Linley's power was indeed something the five Barker brothers could only look up to.
"Come on, let's go see Linley," Sesslar said with a laugh.
Sesslar, this old man who had lived over eight hundred years, now harbored such an ambition, and it filled him with renewed passion. Adding another empire to the Yulan Continent—what an exhilarating thought.