Chapter 1337: The Cruel Truth
William brought Qianye into his office.
Returning to his human form inside, he placed a stack of doc.u.ments in front of Qianye. “Take a look yourself.”
Qianye went through the papers one by one, his expression turning serious as he did so.
Moments later, he looked up. “Why did you not tell me that she became the frontline commander? Don’t tell me you don’t know about our relations.h.i.+p.”
The many things that had happened between Qianye and Nighteye were no longer a secret, and the information only spread further as they rose in status and power. Currently, Qianye held a powerful position on Fort Continent while Nighteye had become the commander of the Evernight alliance in one go. Not only that, she even managed to repel the Profundity Monarch’s attack. Qianye killing his way out of the Empire for her thus became a legend throughout both factions.
The surprising thing was that many young girls became fans of Qianye, be they humans or dark race members.
William sighed. “You’re no longer related to her, are you?”
“That’s our business.”
William shrugged. “She kills whoever dares mention her past. After a dozen or so loud-mouthed fellows lost their lives, everyone came to understand that she doesn’t want to hear about it. At least no one dares to mention it to her face.”
Qianye listened quietly.
Wiliam said, “You know that the werewolves were left out during the early phases of the new world’s opening. We still have no idea how they opened the first doors, or what the true door is. There’s no way we’ll know why she was picked as the commander, nor can we interfere in the choice. And I also felt that you wouldn’t want to know.”
Qianye sighed as he flipped through the doc.u.ments. “Are these casualty numbers real?”
“Of course. Why would they bring the werewolves into this if it wasn’t for the fact that they can’t hold out any longer? It’s just that the Evernight Council’s conscription methods were simply unacceptable, or I wouldn’t have fled here. Our werewolf race alone lost over five hundred thousand soldiers in the first week. Heh! Song Zining and Zhao Jundu are really merciless!”
Qianye didn’t know how to continue. He sighed in a distracted manner. “These contributions…”
William glanced at the doc.u.ment. “The contributions are naturally true as well, all the credit went to her. Speaking of which, she’s really awesome. She repelled the Profundity Monarch and tipped the scales of battle all on her own, pus.h.i.+ng the humans back to their fortress…”
He stopped halfway after noticing Qianye’s expression.
The latter rubbed his temples, saying, “That means at least a hundred thousand Imperial soldiers were killed in her hands?”
“That’s not entirely the case, they died to the allied army. She’s just the commander. How many can she kill personally?” William defended Nighteye. “Of course, she was the one who killed that duke whatever. The other two managed to escape, but they’ll probably be crippled for a good while. Human names are so annoying, I just can’t remember.”
Qianye put down the reports after a moment of silence, muttering to himself, “How… can she be so ruthless?”
William patted Qianye’s shoulder. “That’s where you’re wrong. Our factions have been at war for a thousand years. Considering all the acc.u.mulated hatred, there’s really no room to discuss mercy or ruthlessness. She also has family and friends who died in the fight, what do we say about that? Truth be told, things between us won’t be as friendly if not for your darkness origin power and status as the Son of Darkness. We’d probably be fighting to the death, wouldn’t we? We might be able to let things slide in private, but on the battlefield, mercy for the enemy is cruelty to your kin.”
Qianye said, “I understand that logic, but… I still find it hard to accept. You don’t understand, she loved nothing more than peace and quiet back when we were together. Even when we arrived in the neutral lands after that incident, she never thought about revenge. Sigh, now everything has changed.”
“If you’re referring to those dukes, I say they were courting death. They just couldn’t stay put in their fortress and wanted to get in on the action. Who else would be slaughtered if not them?”
William’s consolation didn’t have much of an effect. Qianye smiled bitterly. “I don’t know what to do now.”
William sighed. “I understand. I can’t help much, but I can join you if you need to drink.”
“Okay.”
William had his men bring in crates of good werewolf wine and began drinking in the office. Qianye was feeling depressed, so he didn’t refuse the offer. In the blink of an eye, the duo was surrounded by empty bottles.”
“Qianye, did you know? When I first met you…”
“Drink!”
“Qianye, don’t think too much, we’re not great dark monarchs after all. We’ll still be bullied all the same, even if we are.”
“Bottoms up!”
Whatever William said, Qianye only responded by offering more wine.
Moments later, Qianye staggered out of the office and flickered out of existence. William was left lying amidst a heap of empty wine bottles, snoring like there was no tomorrow.
Qianye was entirely sober by the time he returned to the great duke residence. He immediately summoned his forces and boarded a wars.h.i.+p into the new world.
The only way for him to forget his troubles somewhat was to deal with the holy trees and the beast army. William was right about one thing—Qianye would not be able to resolve the hatred between the two factions even if he were a great dark monarch. He had no power to solve this dilemma in front of him.
Fort Continent’s current state of paradise was an exception, something that would not have existed if it weren’t for the precise time, place, and person. This peace would very quickly turn into a storm of chaos if something were to happen to him.
He could only hang onto a faint wisp of hope that Nighteye, Song Zining, and Zhao Jundu would hold back against each other and not push the other party into a corner.
That being said, Qianye couldn’t lie to himself. The dreary casualty numbers and the once-famous names on the doc.u.ment proved that the battle had reached an irreconcilable moment. There was no more room.
Whoever was defeated—be it Nighteye, Song Zining, or Zhao Jundu—Qianye had no idea how he should face the survivor. He also had no idea how he should face the dead.
All he could do was escape.
…
The map in the command room of the Empire’s central fortress was full of markings. There were now dozens of symbols representing steel fortresses around the main stronghold. These fortresses seemed to have popped up from the ground overnight, and they were only growing in number as the war raged on.
Standing in front of the map, Song Zining’s eyes were sunken, and even his divine champion cultivation couldn’t hide his exhaustion. Rubbing his face to wake himself up, he picked up some new fortress markers and began thinking about where to place them. Every marker meant that a new fortress would be constructed there in a matter of days.
After some field testing, the Empire’s forces could now a.s.semble these mobile fortresses in a single night.
The echoes of gunfire arrived from outside the window. These sounds had been ringing day and night, so much so that everyone had gotten used to it.
At this point, there was a knock on the door as Zhao Jundu walked in.
Song Zining looked delighted upon seeing him. “You’re back, looks like the fight went well.”
“Not bad, only a quarter of our forces were lost today.”
“This can be considered good news.”
Zhao Jundu said, “I came to you to discuss something important. You must know what it is.”
Song Zining was dazed, but he nodded after a while. “It is time to discuss.”
Zhao Jundu said, “We’ll be facing her on the battlefield very soon. My plan is to not launch a lethal strike immediately. I’ll observe how she reacts before making a decision.”
Song Zining said after a while, “You’re playing with your life.”
“She’s Lil’ Five’s woman when all’s said and done, I can’t do it. If she attacks with lethal force, then I can fight without holding back,” Zhao Jundu said calmly.
Song Zining said, “Considering her current strength, you… might not be able to take it if she goes all out.”
Zhao Jundu said indifferently, “It doesn’t matter. Tell Qianye that he’s not allowed to seek revenge if I die in battle.”
“You…”
“I’m only telling you my plan, not asking for your permission.”
Song Zining laughed wryly. “Do you think she’ll remember the friends.h.i.+p from back then?”
“She will, if there’s no one scheming in the shadows, that is.”
“Very well…”
The gunfire outside grew louder all of a sudden. One of the central fortress’ cannon towers began to rumble, firing glowing sh.e.l.ls toward a wars.h.i.+p in the distance.”
An aide ran in, calling out before he had even entered the room, “Sire, the dark race army has arrived!”
Song Zining frowned. “What’s with the panic?! Didn’t they arrive a long time ago? Who do you think we’ve been fighting all these days?”
The staff officer calmed himself. “It’s different this time, their main force is here. They have at least two, no, three hundred thousand troops of all races!”
Zhao Jundu glanced at Song Zining. “They’re finally here. A thunderous move from the get-go, as expected of Lil’ Five’s woman.”
Song Zining looked worried. “Won’t you reconsider?”
Zhao Jundu said, “My judgment can’t be wrong.” He said after a brief pause, “And I’ll take sole responsibility if I am.”
Song Zining’s brows were almost knitted together as he watched Zhao Jundu leave. Finally, he let out a long sigh.
The dark race soldiers covered the entire Blacksun Valley as they surged toward the Imperial fortress.
Countless airs.h.i.+ps were shuttling back and forth through the air, s.h.i.+pping soldiers and equipment to the front lines. Their desire to win a decisive victory was evident from how they had mobilized all these airs.h.i.+ps.
The four major races were all present on the ground, their four armies poised to slash at the Imperial fortresses like four giant swords. Additionally, the numerous figures standing in the air were all celebrated characters.
On the deck of an airs.h.i.+p above the demonkin army, Anwen was gazing at the distant fortresses as countless numbers flickered in and out of existence around him. Every movement of the army below him would be displayed as a number in front of him.
There were vast amounts of data flowing through his eyes as well. He was clearly serious about this battle, and the worried expression on his countenance only grew deeper and deeper.
“Are you sure you can command the army like this?” The Demoness’ voice echoed in Anwen’s ears.