Chapter 744: Embers in the Cold
As the magical artifact shattered, a breath of energy emerged from that squad leader’s hand, spreading with extreme speed throughout the surrounding cliffs.
The corpses of the fallen human soldiers—some lying on the ground, some impaled on the spears of demon soldiers, some clamped in the jaws of bloodthirsty aberrant wolves—began to emit a similar, albeit weaker, breath of energy as this aura arrived. It was as if an invisible flame had ignited a long-hidden spark.
The demon soldiers vaguely sensed something. A flicker of terror appeared in their emerald-green eyes. They shrieked sharply, swinging their iron spears to hurl the human corpses far away, while yanking at the leather leashes around the necks of the bloodthirsty aberrant wolves, preparing to turn and flee.
But it was too late.
The bloodthirsty aberrant wolves, with their low intelligence, had no idea what was happening. Some were reluctant to drop the human corpses from their mouths. Just then, a bright yellow light mass seeped out from the human corpses, and simultaneously, more bright yellow light masses flared up all across the cliffs.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Terrifying explosions thundered through the chaotic mountains, as if a volley of lightning had struck. Then flames erupted, turning the area into a sea of fire in an instant.
Hard rocks were blasted into fragments, then melted directly into magma by the scorching heat, raining down onto the demon soldiers.
The bloodthirsty aberrant wolves fared even worse. Half their skulls were blown apart, their flesh and blood a mangled mess, with no trace of their original form left.
Screams of agony rang out continuously among the chaotic mountains, but they could not pierce through the terrifying sea of fire and surging waves of heat. Soon, they vanished without a trace.
The demon soldiers and bloodthirsty aberrant wolves were thus killed.
The surging waves of heat pushed the cliffs into a flat, sloping expanse, then dissipated into the heavens and earth.
Only the terrifying sea of fire persisted for a long time before the flames slowly began to subside.
The squad leader released the charred-black small shield strapped to his forearm and crawled painfully backward.
His right arm had been completely shattered by the force of the magical artifact’s explosion. His chest and abdomen were a bloody mess, with white bone faintly visible. He was grievously wounded, but he had not yet died.
Before he died, there was one thing he absolutely had to do: kill that formation master.
He held great respect for this young formation master. If the young man could survive, he would undoubtedly have a brilliant future. Such an outstanding human should not be left to freeze or starve to death. Moreover… when he had gone to the battlefield the day before yesterday, he had received a military order: under no circumstances was this young formation master to fall into demon hands. If necessary, he was to kill this man.
With difficulty, he crawled to the stretcher, panting wearily a couple of times. He looked at the young formation master’s brows and eyes on the stretcher, his emotions complex and tinged with sorrow.
The magical artifact he had used to kill those five demon soldiers was, of course, no ordinary artifact. It was an extremely bizarre one, more akin to a formation. Such artifacts, combining the power of a formation, were exceedingly rare and precious, and their method of use was too cruel. The Great Zhou military had basically never employed them.
This set of artifacts was said to have come from the Tang Clan of Wenshui. The reason he possessed such an artifact was that he was a trusted subordinate of the general, and also because the Songshan Military Prefecture squad he led often carried out very important missions—such as protecting or killing this young formation master.
The soldiers under his command had never known, even until their deaths, that these artifacts had long been implanted inside their bodies.
Thinking of the general’s orders before they had gone to the battlefield, his expression grew dazed.
For this man, the high-ranking figures of Songshan Military Prefecture had clearly made many arrangements in advance, even preparing to sacrifice the entire squad.
“Who exactly are you?” he murmured, gazing at the unconscious young formation master on the stretcher.
Before killing this man, he very much wanted to know the other’s name and background. Perhaps doing so would bring him some small comfort.
Regrettably, this man had suffered severe backlash on the battlefield, sustaining grievous injuries. There was no possibility of him waking up to answer the question.
With difficulty, he drew a short sword, aimed it at the young formation master’s throat, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pressed down hard.
But the next moment, he did not hear the sound of throat bones breaking, nor did he feel the short sword sink into flesh.
He opened his eyes and was shocked to see the short sword caught between two fingers, unable to descend any further.
What truly startled him was that those two fingers belonged to the young formation master.
The young formation master had somehow awakened. His eyes were open, staring at him calmly.
His gaze was extremely cold, devoid of any emotion, like the lingering snow and ice in the chaotic mountains—except faint traces of blood lurked beneath the ice, emitting a faint, fishy scent.
The squad leader snapped back to reality and felt an inexplicable fear looking into the young formation master’s eyes.
The young formation master moved his fingers slightly, taking the short sword, but did nothing further.
The squad leader quickly explained what had just happened.
The young formation master seemed lost in thought.
The squad leader, utterly exhausted, sat down on the ground and said with relief, “You’re still alive. Our brothers’ deaths weren’t in vain.”
The young formation master’s voice was exceptionally cold: “Do you really think a bunch of trash like you could decide my life or death? I simply didn’t feel like acting.”
“What?” The squad leader was stunned, unable to believe what he had heard.
What did that mean? After a moment of shock and bewilderment, he grew furious. Pointing at the charred corpses scattered across the cliffs, he wanted to rebuke the young man.
The young formation master gave him no chance. A terrifying aura surged from his cold, cruel eyes, directly shaking the squad leader to death, turning him into a blood-soaked corpse. Then the corpse began to burn in the residual flames of the magical artifacts among the cliffs, emitting a foul stench.
“Whether out of goodwill or to carry out a military order, just now you tried to kill me.”
The young formation master looked indifferently at the burning corpse. “So you have to die.”
The cold wind howled, gradually extinguishing the remaining flames among the cliffs and dispersing the complex, foul odors.
The demon soldiers and bloodthirsty aberrant wolves had borne the brunt of over a dozen magical artifacts’ concentrated assault, then been scorched by formation fire. Now only their rough outlines were discernible, their features impossible to distinguish. The dozen or so human soldiers were not much better off. In short, the scene was bleak, the environment brutal.
But the young formation master did not leave. He lay back down on the stretcher.
He closed his eyes, as if he could not see the hellish cliffs, could not smell the burnt stench, could not feel the biting cold wind. And so he fell into a deep sleep.
……
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(This chapter is 1,900 words, partially making up for the earlier mistaken update.)