Su Xingyu had originally thought that once Ye Zhan and the others returned and rested for a few days, they could launch an immediate assault on the Dark Valley. Unexpectedly, it took a full half month before the Night Tribe finally mobilized its forces.
Ten thousand cavalry and forty thousand infantry—fifty thousand elite soldiers in total—were dispatched. The Night Tribe had practically emptied its coffers.
And that wasn't all.
Wangdong City had already mobilized its own troops, just waiting for the signal to march and join the Night Tribe's main forces.
This was the final campaign to unify the Black Soil Plains. The entire Night Tribe treated it with utmost importance. It wasn't enough to win—they had to crush the Gnoll Tribe completely and make a statement to the entire region.
To ensure success, Su Xingyu didn't assign Ye Zhan to lead the troops this time. He took command personally.
Three days later, the three factions—Evernight City, Wangdong City, and the Half-Metal Giant Tribe—rendezvoused at the predetermined location. The combined army was nearly one hundred thousand strong.
They advanced toward the Dark Valley, home of the gnolls, in an open march. There was no attempt to conceal their movements. It was a declaration to the entire land: they were the rightful rulers now.
As one of the original three overlords of the plains, the Gnolls had long occupied the Dark Valley. Though they rarely ventured beyond their territory, their control over the surrounding regions was significant—far more so than the Half-Metal Giants, who barely reacted even when threats appeared on their doorstep.
By now, over a hundred thousand gnolls had assembled just outside the valley.
The Gnoll Tribe, driven by the law of the jungle, rarely allowed the weak to survive. Except for a few revered priests, there were almost no elderly gnolls to be seen.
It was a brutal society, but this cruelty had forged them into survivors. Without this unrelenting competition, they wouldn't have produced so many powerful warriors—or endured for so long in this savage land.
Their numbers hovered around two hundred thousand. And now, more than half had been mobilized to fight. Aside from the young and the infirm, nearly every gnoll stood ready for battle.
They had put everything on the line.
When the two armies met, there were no parley or grand speeches. The Night Tribe offered no explanations for their invasion, and the gnolls demanded none. On this harsh land, weakness was the only sin.
The strong needed no justification to dominate the weak.
With a single command, the battle began.
The frontlines of the gnoll army charged, weapons raised high and howling war cries.
Then came the sound of wind slicing through the air.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
A storm of arrows blackened the sky and rained down on the charging gnolls.
Three volleys were fired in rapid succession. The center of the gnoll formation was shredded, leaving hundreds of warriors writhing or lifeless on the blood-soaked earth.
"Sword and shield units, advance."
At the front, an elite Night Tribe warrior clad in black armor and gripping a longsword began to march forward in unison with his comrades.
The battlefield erupted into chaos.
"Raaah!""Kill them!"
The gnolls, bloodlust ignited, threw themselves at the human soldiers like rabid beasts. One lunged with reckless abandon, ignoring the glint of steel poised to cut him down.
Clang!
The gnoll's blade slammed against the shield of a Night Tribe warrior, sending a shockwave through his arm.
"What power," the warrior thought, feeling the numbness creep into his hand. But he held firm.
"I'm not weak either."
He twisted his arm, knocking the gnoll's weapon aside, and countered with a swift strike.
Swish.
A deep gash appeared across the gnoll's neck. Blood sprayed in an arc as the creature staggered, then collapsed with a thud. The human soldier didn't even flinch. Shield in one hand, blade in the other, he pressed forward, emotionless amid the carnage.
The gnolls were formidable. Their raw strength and combat instincts surpassed that of ordinary humans.
But the warriors of the Night Tribe had been honed by relentless battles. In close combat, they had the edge—and it showed.
"Why are these humans so strong? How can they fight us head-on and win?" growled Harvey, the gnoll leader, his confusion growing with each fallen comrade.
Gnolls were orcs by blood—stronger and fiercer than humans by nature. Yet here, they were being pushed back. Outmatched. Outarmed.
And the humans' equipment—where had it come from?
Harvey knew the Black Soil Plains lacked the smithing capability to produce such refined gear, let alone on this scale. Even his own tribe, which possessed ancestral knowledge and traded with the Dark Cave, couldn't afford to arm every warrior so luxuriously.
But here, every single soldier in the Night Tribe seemed to be outfitted like an elite.
Harvey clenched his fists.
"Akas! Take your legion and flank their front lines. Smash through it!"
A towering gnoll beside him stepped forward. "As you command, Patriarch."
With a deafening howl, Akas charged, leading five thousand heavily armored gnolls into the fray. They towered over the average warrior, their bodies rippling with muscle, their eyes gleaming with killing intent. These were the elite—born and bred for war.
"Dashan, go. Stop them." Su Xingyu's tone was calm but firm.
"Understood."
Ye Dashan, a massive warrior himself, nodded and led his own elite unit into battle.
Soon, two forces of titans clashed.
"You think you can block our elite warriors? In your dreams!" Akas sneered, his presence radiating savagery.
He let out a roar, and his body began to transform. His muscles bulged, his eyes turned crimson, and his size grew. The gnolls behind him did the same, one by one succumbing to the frenzy.
This was their bloodline ability—Frenzy. By burning their qi and blood, they could gain temporary explosive power.
Ye Dashan didn't flinch. He looked at the charging Akas and said coldly, "This path is closed."
"We'll see about that!"
Akas roared again and swung his machete with all his strength. The blade came down like an avalanche.
Ye Dashan raised his shield and caught the blow. The sound of the clash echoed like thunder—but Dashan didn't budge.
"That's it?" he growled.
With a subtle shift of his weight, he twisted his arm and knocked Akas off balance. Then, in a flash, his blade arced toward the gnoll leader.
Akas barely dodged in time, sparks flying as the blade scraped across his armor, leaving a deep white scar.
Before he could recover, Ye Dashan's shield slammed into his chest like a battering ram.
Crash!
Akas flew backward, landing hard and coughing up blood. The frenzy that clouded his mind faded slightly, his thoughts sharpening as he realized—this was no ordinary human.
This was a wall.
And his legion had just crashed into it.