Chapter 1176: The Battle of Whitetown Ends
Zhao Jundu put Heartgrave back in Qianye’s hands. Patting the latter’s shoulder, he said, “Qianye, remember to avenge me when you grow up. No one in our Zhao clan is stupid, everyone remembers their enmity. Okay, I’m tired, I need to rest for a bit.”
With that, he walked over to a broken wall and sat down with his back against it. A beam of sunlight showered down on his body like a waterfall. There was a faint smile on Zhao Jundu’s lips as he sat down with his eyes closed, almost as though he were enjoying the sunlight.
Qianye took a step forward, but he ultimately withdrew the step. Zhao Jundu’s chest was moving weakly at this moment, and Qianye was afraid that the slightest shock would disperse that last shred of vitality.
Song Zining and Bai Aotu arrived and stood quietly to the side. The latter turned her head slightly to the side, hoping to hear Zhao Jundu’s breathing and heartbeat. The mercenaries and Zhao clan soldiers came back into Whitetown in succession. There were only a couple hundred men left in the entire city—all of them were wounded, and almost half of them had to be supported by their comrades to remain standing.
The Evernight soldiers in the periphery had fled, shaken by the battle. Those standing in place were all t.i.tled experts, but they were all dispirited and had stopped fighting. They all glanced at a single direction without prior arrangement, where Zhao Jundu sat as though he were sleeping. Just a moment ago, this man was a demon to every enemy. Yet, now that he was asleep, they simply couldn’t put in the effort to break that tranquility.
“Qianye…”
Pointing at Zhao Jundu, Qianye gestured at Song Zining to keep quiet. The latter sighed, and no longer tried to persuade him.
Zhao Jundu was still breathing, and his heart was still beating, but everyone knew that he was destined to wither.
Glancing at himself and then at the surroundings, Song Zining threw down his warped spear with a wry smile. Yet somehow, the weapon suddenly landed back in his hands. Song Zining was startled for a moment until he realized that Qianye had caught the spear and stuffed it back into his hands.
“This battle... isn’t over yet,” Qianye said word-by-word.
The dark race soldiers who had been in the battle just now were either dead or fleeing, all of them shaken to the core and no longer fit for battle. However, there was still a reserve army to the rear, as well as a vice-duke overseeing the formation. Additionally, a council expert of even higher rank had to be here to lead all those Black Sun sword-bearers.
“You’re…” Song Zining saw a thick black book appear in Qianye’s hands. He couldn’t tell which era this simple old book was from, only that it was extremely ancient.
The Book of Darkness opened up on its own, each formed page burning itself into oblivion. With each burned page, the vast amounts of blood energy would flow through the giant gemstone on the cover. The power converged into a pillar that surged into Qianye’s body where it was thoroughly absorbed.
A ma.s.s of dark golden blood energy converged atop Qianye’s head and shot into the sky. Countless golden specks pulsed amidst the radiance, almost like a dreamy illusion.
With the appearance of this blood energy, Qianye’s aura rose continuously—deep, mysterious, vast, and terrifying. In the blink of an eye, the terrifying aura of a duke covered the entire battlefield like a vast ocean.
Song Zining’s expression went from bewilderment to shock. He shouted, “What are you doing? You’ll die if you break the balance!”
The Song Clan Ancient Scroll was founded upon a balance between Daybreak and Evernight. If one side grew too strong, the balance would be toppled irreversibly and devour the other side. This would go on until the body could no longer withstand the strain and break down.
Qianye was very calm. “Before that happens, I can bring you guys out alive.”
“Qianye!”
Qianye interrupted him, “There will be no reinforcements.” Song Zining had no response to those words. Even if reinforcements did arrive, they would still be picked off since there was no cover left in Whitetown. Even if Evernight didn’t invest as many troops to fight the other Imperial army routes, the pressure they were facing surely wasn’t small.
The experts who had remained on the battlefield were intimidated by Qianye’s aura. The trembling men edged back for a good distance before turning around to flee.
Digger was filled with worry and trepidation. The odd behavior of those t.i.tled experts was clearly due to Qianye’s blood energy.
The Evernight army’s morale had collapsed entirely after Doer fled and the sword-bearers were killed. Most of the werewolf tribes in the allied army had already run away, and the remaining vampires were defenseless against Qianye’s unprecedented blood energy. Even Digger himself was trembling in fear, let alone those soldiers on the front line.
“Dammit! What is that senior council member doing? Why isn’t he here yet?” Digger gazed anxiously at the sky.
There had to be true experts overseeing these sword-bearers, and a senior council member was the lowest rank for this role. Yet, none had appeared even as Zhao Jundu killed off all the sword-bearers.
In truth, Digger had already realized that the situation had taken a turn for the worse. Whether they lost or won the battle here, Evernight’s losses were far beyond the benefits. No one could afford to bear the responsibility if Qianye and Song Zining were to charge out and escape.
The flames of war were still raging out in the void. The Empire and Evernight fleets fought with great ferocity, only taking half a day’s break to reorganize before clas.h.i.+ng again each time. The only thing worth celebrating was that the Evernight side had stopped pouring in more troops. There were almost no more transport fleets charging through into the continent.
A certain region in the void, above where the central and western routes would converge. The atmosphere was tense and austere.
A ma.s.sive Imperial armada was waiting on high alert. Those familiar with the Imperial fleet would know that almost all of the First Imperial Guard Fleet was here.
At this point in the battle, even the Empire’s strongest fleet was no longer at its full capacity. Having to transfer all these airs.h.i.+ps into this formation, it was easy to imagine how much pressure the other warzones would be under.
Yet, the biggest pressure was still before them.
The emerging Evernight fleet wasn’t very big, but it was made up of top-notch Evernight wars.h.i.+ps.
There was a giant wars.h.i.+p in their midst. It was entirely black, and the carvings on its metallic surface were simply magnificent. Each and every one of its folded rams looked amply bloodthirsty and fierce. The entire deck and bridge were sparkling red, and from a distance, one could see the origin arrays glowing like a sea of fire.
This giant s.h.i.+p was unfamiliar to the Imperial Guard, but from its model and size, one could guess that it was a prince-grade vampire wars.h.i.+p! Compared to this colossus, the accompanying duke-grade airs.h.i.+ps to the left and right, as well as the high-speed wars.h.i.+p squadron to the rear, looked almost negligible.
The generals on the Imperial flags.h.i.+p were all gloomy as they waited for that terrifying shadow to arrive in the void-s.p.a.ce. The insignia on the giant hull also came into view—a flaming crown, the crest of the Sperger clan, one of the twelve old vampire clans.
This was the worst news of them all. The enemy was a powerhouse of the Evernight Council, Prince Habsburg himself!
The Imperial captain slammed his fist on the table and roared, “Dispatch a high-speed airs.h.i.+p! We must send back news that Habsburg has taken to the field!” Understanding the gravity of the situation, the aide flew out of the door. The entire void continent was embroiled in combat, both on the ground and in the void. Who knew how many strategic points the messenger could run to? Yet this news had to be brought to the other fleets and ground forces. Otherwise, any unit caught unaware would be utterly annihilated.
Despite knowing that there was no chance of victory, the captain would have to figure out how to stall for as much time as possible and maximize the amount of enemy fighting power they could reduce.
Just as the Imperial fleet was commencing deployments under the tense atmosphere, the captain suddenly looked up. His eyes went wide, and a drop of sweat rolled down into his eyes. The man rubbed his eyes and blinked hard before looking out the window again.
He wasn’t wrong!
The Evernight fleet was turning!
At this moment, the watchtower also relayed the same information. Habsburg’s flags.h.i.+p was slowly turning to the left, and the accompanying duke-grade airs.h.i.+ps were doing the same. After turning about a hundred and twenty degrees, the flags.h.i.+p left with the entire fleet in tow.
This was supposed to be a decisive battle, but the final outcome was simply unimaginable.
On the giant airs.h.i.+p, a vampire duke asked Habsburg with a serious expression, “Your Excellency, there will be no one to rescue the sword-bearers if we leave.”
Habsburg was standing in front of the cabin window with a gla.s.s of wine in his hands, gazing at the boundless void outside as though it was a wonderful scenery. “It goes without saying that I have more important things to do. What? Are you questioning me?”
The duke bowed in terror. “I wouldn’t dare!”
After a moment, Habsburg said, “There are some people whose dying brilliance is more dazzling than the midday sun for countless others.”
Habsburg had his back to everyone else, so no one could see his expression. Neither did they understand why he was saying this out of the blue. They glanced at one another, but no one raised the question.
Those in the room were vampire experts above the marquis rank. Most of them had heard that the prince and Medanzo had gotten into a disagreement, and that the Azure King Renault had to step in to solve the problem. At this moment, no one wanted to run into the muzzle of a prince who was in a sour mood.
Habsburg had no intention of explaining, either. He sank back into his own world, sighing. “There are some people…”
The wine in his gla.s.s was as red as blood, somewhat harsh to the eyes, even.
The sky above Whitetown was silent, almost deathly still. Qianye had already a.s.saulted three directions, and each time, the dark races would flee before his terrifying pressure bore down upon them.
Would Qianye stop at the dark races’ central formation with his next attack? Would he stop there? Would he return?
Digger realized that someone had to make the decision, issue the command, and shoulder the responsibility. Clearly, this role had fallen to him. Bear the burden of defeat or die bravely in battle? The choice wasn’t too hard.
He took a deep breath and said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “Command… all forces, retreat.”
His subordinates ran off with his command. Digger turned to glance at Whitetown. He knew that, with this retreat, they would never return.
The battle of Whitetown had come to an end.