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The frontlines between the Kingdom of Barak and the vassal kingdoms of the Heaven Dou Empire, Caster City.
It was the middle of the night, and the moon was bright while the stars were sparse.
Outside Caster City, a black city wall several hundred meters long and eighty meters high rose from the ground. The protruding bastions of the wall reflected patches of silver moonlight. Those scattered glimmers of silver would occasionally shift slightly; looking closer, one could see the weary eyes beneath the silver-light helmets.
"Ahhh... haaa..." Behind the crenelated parapet, an armored soldier stared into the vast, dark night and couldn't help but yawn deeply. This triggered a chain reaction of yawning among those nearby.
"Sigh, when will this darkness finally come to an end?" asked a slightly younger-looking soldier beside him.
"Silence!" An exquisitely equipped squad leader paced back and forth behind the wall. However, even his eyelids felt as though they had been injected with lead.
The squad leader paused for a moment and then roared, "The previous squad fought for thirty-six grueling hours on this wall against the enemy! We have only been on duty for a dozen! At no time can we allow ourselves even a moment of slackness!"
"Yes! For the Empire!" The dozen-man squad immediately braced themselves and scanned the pitch-black abyss below once more.
Suddenly, flashes of dim light flickered within that darkness. The soldiers in front immediately roared, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The squad leader rushed to the wall and peered toward the distant forest. Seeing the unmistakable movement within the trees, his face paled as he bellowed, "Light the beacons! Prepare for defense!"
As the beacons behind the bastions were lit, the hundreds of meters of city wall were rapidly illuminated, starting from the first fire and spreading outward to both sides. The once pitch-black wall was instantly as bright as day.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The rhythmic thunder of war drums pulled the exhausted guards from their drowsiness and back into the cruel reality of the battlefield.
On the wall, the first to mobilize was the stone-throwing unit. Two men from the preparation team hauled massive black boulders, while four members of the tensioning team worked the handles of a gargantuan circular wheel set.
Creeeak—clack! Creeeak—clack!
The tensioning ropes were pulled taut until they were at their limit. With a shout of "Fire!", hundreds of massive stones were instantly hurled hundreds of meters away. These boulders varied in size, but they flew from the high walls in wave after relentless wave.
Those hundreds of black stones looked like world-ending meteors as they crashed heavily into the dark, charging armored ranks below. Some stones missed their targets, smashing into the ground and creating deep craters, spraying endless soil against the black armor with a harsh, abrasive sound.
However, as most of the boulders were about to strike the flesh and blood beneath the black armor, the dark charging army erupted with countless flashes of spirit light. Numerous beastly shadows flickered into existence. They raised massive, heavy black shields at a forty-five-degree angle to withstand the continuous rain of falling rocks.
Stronger Spirit Masters held their ground, deflecting the boulders launched by the trebuchets and helping their squads advance. The weaker ones, however, were smashed into a bloody pulp by the flying stones. Their black armor buckled and embedded itself into their flesh, drawing out agonized screams.
One ultra-giant boulder proved unstoppable as it crashed into the heart of the advancing black tide. A burly Douluo warrior in black armor erupted with dark light, and two long bull horns sprouted from his forehead. He immediately raised his hundred-catty black shield, bracing it against the giant stone.
BANG!
The black-armored warrior and his heavy shield were sent flying together. While the giant stone was successfully halted, the warrior was bleeding from all seven orifices. He was breathing more out than in; clearly, he didn't have long to live.
"Xiao Feng! Xiao Feng! Hold on!" A nearby charging warrior saw this and quickly slammed his twin-handed heavy shield into the mud to block incoming stray arrows. He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a black medicinal pill, and propped the man up. Feeding the pill into his mouth, he urged, "Xiao Feng! Swallow it quickly!"
As Xiao Feng swallowed the pill, his complexion improved slightly. He groaned in pain, "Captain... don't worry about me!"
The captain looked at Xiao Feng's shattered arms, where white bone peeked through the blood. He gritted his teeth and said, "Hang in there. As long as we get back to Soto City, the healing from the Holy Begonia Knights can save your hands!"
"Mobile unit! Mobile unit!"
From within the chaotic crowd, a Douluo warrior dressed in hard leather armor and carrying a small black shield darted through the steadily advancing heavy armor ranks. He reached Xiao Feng's side, assessed the injuries, and without a word, swung him onto his back. He sprinted away, running in the opposite direction of the advancing army.
These heavy-armored elite troops were not comparable to civilian armies; every single one was a precious asset of the Heaven Dou Empire and Spirit Hall. If one of these heavy-shield soldiers died, the pension paid by Spirit Hall would be astronomical. Generally, the martial souls of these shield-bearers were heavy beasts—rhinos, elephants, or wild bulls.
The most elite among them belonged to the "Defense Clan," featuring the "Iron-Plate Giant Rhino," and the "Black Tortoise Knight Family" with their "Black Tortoise." These elites were all anchored at the very front.
The mobile units, meanwhile, were mostly Agility-Attack Spirit Masters with cat, leopard, or fox martial souls. In a siege, their primary responsibility was to carry away the wounded and disabled.
At the army's supply points further back, there were various medicinal pills, food-type recovery items, and rare Healing Spirit Masters. If an injury was too severe, the soldier would be transferred to Soto City to be handled by the two great healers of the current era: the Begonia Douluo and the Holy Begonia Knight.
"Hold on! Hold on! We're almost at the camp!" The warrior in brown leather armor sprinted through the forest with Xiao Feng on his back. They soon arrived at a camp where he handed the wounded man to the medical team. Without pausing for breath, the mobile warrior turned and raced back toward the frontlines.
Outside the walls of Caster City, the dark mass of heavy armor continued its steady advance. As time passed, they drew closer and closer to the walls. At this point, they were no longer facing just trebuchet fire. They were met with a barrage of stones, arrows, fireballs, water jets, wind blades, and light beams—a kaleidoscope of spirit power attacks.
Facing this onslaught, the "Iron-Plate Rhinos," "Black Tortoises," and "Vajra Bull Demons" of the defense system took the lead. Behind the heavy black shields, the Power-Attack Spirit Masters—slimmer than their defensive counterparts—launched their own spirit power attacks toward the top of the wall to suppress the defenders.
Some well-equipped Douluo warriors continuously unleashed spirit skills toward the ramparts, shouting words of encouragement: "Brothers! One last push! Our spirit power is far greater than theirs! Full attack! Full attack!"
Against the storm-like offensive of the Heaven Dou Empire's army, the silver-armored defenders of Caster City were beginning to struggle. Though they held the advantage of the terrain, they were simply too exhausted. Moreover, the stores of stones and arrows on the wall were running low, forcing them to dip into their dwindling reserves of spirit power.
The reason for their low spirit power reserves was that the Heaven Dou Empire had employed the most inescapable tactic: the "Boiling the Eagle" strategy (attrition through sleeplessness). Because the Heaven Dou armored Spirit Master army outnumbered the Myriad Beast Empire's forces several times over, they maintained high-pressure charges. Every hour, a new wave would charge, solely to deplete the defenders' stones, arrows, and energy.
None of Heaven Dou's individual charges were meant to win the battle in one go; they were designed to grind down the defenders' spirit. The Caster defenders could only manage a two-shift rotation, whereas the Heaven Dou attackers were on a six-shift rotation. After a month of continuous charging, the entire Myriad Beast defense force had fallen into a state of extreme fatigue. And it was in this state of exhaustion that they had to face wave after wave of night assaults.
"Brother Di, give it up. With our Heaven Dou Empire's strategy, even if your Myriad Beast Empire is fully prepared for a siege, you cannot outlast us. Even Spirit Masters need rest; otherwise, both their physical strength and spirit power will eventually run dry," Qian Daolu said, floating in mid-air as he stared down the black-haired man in the gold-eyed, black-gold dragon robe.
Di Tian did not immediately respond to Qian Daolu. He remained in deep thought before finally speaking. "You only need to uphold our agreement. Even if the Caster City defenders are defeated, I will not take action against the Heaven Dou army."
Qian Daolu glanced at the somber Di Tian and said, "I will naturally keep the agreement. But is this meaningless attrition really necessary?" He looked down at the flickering spirit skills below and sighed inwardly. If only Golden Crocodile and the others could act, this siege would have ended long ago.
The problem was that Di Tian's spatial mastery was too profound. If Qian Daolu didn't use "Angel Descent," he simply couldn't constrain Di Tian's actions. But "Angel Descent" was tied to Xiao Xue's Godhood Trials; he couldn't gamble her future on a meaningless struggle with Di Tian, especially since he had to consume divine power while Di Tian did not. Furthermore, even "Angel Descent" might not stop Di Tian from using spatial leaps to destroy other Heaven Dou cities.
Thus, although Heaven Dou held a vast advantage in the number of Titled Douluos, under the threat of Di Tian's spatial abilities, a "gentleman's agreement" had been struck: Titled Douluo-level combatants would not participate in this specific battle.
In Qian Daolu's view, the national power of the Heaven Dou Empire now almost completely overwhelmed the Myriad Beast Empire. Whether it was the civilian army, the Spirit Master army, equipment, morale, or logistics, the Myriad Beast Empire was inferior. The Caster City line had only held for a month because this was a war of reclamation for Heaven Dou's vassal kingdoms. The defenders relied on the terrain and the walls, plus convenient supply points within the city, to maintain the stalemate.
If Qian Daolu didn't care about the casualty rate of the Heaven Dou troops and had ordered a total offensive from day one, the price in blood for both sides would have been far too high. Fortunately, the spirit power, energy, and resources of the Caster City defenders were now bottoming out. The reclamation of the vassal kingdoms was at hand.
Qian Daolu's spiritual sense instantly covered the battlefield. Sensing that the defenders' spirit power was nearly gone, he immediately transmitted his voice: "Fengzhi, signal the total general offensive. Once we take Caster City, the path through the entire Heaven Dou vassal kingdoms will be wide open!"
In the forest, Ning Fengzhi received the command and declared decisively, "Order the entire army: thirty thousand armored Spirit Master units are to launch a total offensive on Caster City. It must be taken tonight!"
"Yes, Marshal!" The attendants received the signal and hurried out of the camp. After coordinating with the signalers, horns blared and red fireworks filled the sky.
The Spirit Master units in the tents were startled awake from their dreams. Under the mobilization of their squad leaders, they quickly donned their armor, shouldered their heavy shields, and assembled. Guided by the "Heaven Dou" marshal flags, they swarmed toward the eighty-meter-high walls with manic intensity.
Dressed in full silver armor, Ning Fengzhi straightened his helmet and stood on the observation tower to oversee the grand offensive. Seeing tens of thousands of heavy armored Spirit Masters surging forward to attack Caster City, he couldn't help but feel a swell of heroic pride. He had been able to bypass numerous Titled Douluos to become the Great Marshal of the Heaven Dou Empire solely because of his military command capabilities and personal prestige.
Cough, cough...
The reality was that after the coup following Emperor Xue Ye's death, the former Heaven Dou Marshal Ge Long had sided with Prince Xue Beng in an attempt to control the empire via military prestige, only to be killed instantly by Bibi Dong. Thus, the position of Great Marshal had remained vacant.
When the Myriad Beast Empire invaded and the Heaven Dou and Spirit Hall armies integrated, Ning Fengzhi took the role, relying on his reputation in the empire and his son-in-law Ye Lan's prestige in Spirit Hall. He finally got to experience the thrill of commanding a massive army.
Actually, the thrill was a bit lacking.
Ning Fengzhi looked at the advancing dark tide of troops and sighed, "My worthy son-in-law Ye, the foundation you laid for the Heaven Dou Empire is simply too deep."
"This war is honestly quite boring. We have the money, the soldiers, the equipment, and the logistics. We have the hearts of the people and the morale of the military."
"Does this siege even need me to command? Isn't it just a matter of gathering the soldiers and shouting the order to attack?"
Below Caster City, the Defense Spirit Masters who had been enduring the spirit skills from the walls felt the pressure on their arms lightening. The skills coming from above were becoming fewer and further between.
"Power-Attack units, attack the walls! Prepare for melee combat on top! Their spirit power is exhausted!" The squad leaders of the heavy shield units shouted.
Power-Attack Spirit Masters began unleashed smaller-scale skills against the ramparts. Along the hundreds of meters of the frontline, red, yellow, and white lights flickered from the armored ranks. Fireballs and light orbs smashed into the walls, exposing the uneven layers of rock.
"Power-Attack units, cease fire!"
"Power-Attack units, cease fire!"
The light show vanished, leaving only scattered spirit skills falling from the wall.
"The total offensive begins!"
"The total offensive begins!"
"All units, scale the walls for white-blade combat!"
"All units, scale the walls for white-blade combat!"
"The first to ascend shall be made a Noble!"
"The first to ascend shall be made a Noble!"
The dark mass of armored troops beneath the wall used the uneven notches in the stone to rapidly scale the heights. The Spirit Masters with stronger spirit power reached the top in just a few steps, while some leaped directly onto the ramparts. The reason these high-level Spirit Masters hadn't climbed sooner was the fear of being focused down by the defenders' concentrated fire; even with high spirit power, they couldn't withstand a siege from a hundred Myriad Beast warriors at once. But now, with the total offensive, the number of Spirit Masters on the wall was surging, and the pressure on individuals was greatly reduced.
Furthermore, these high-level warriors could now defend better from the ground, easing the defensive pressure on the whole squad.
On the wall, the panting silver-armored guards lifted black stones and threw them at the Heaven Dou Spirit Masters who were climbing up.
"For the Empire!"
"For the Empire!"
Encouraged by their squad leaders, the silver guards continued to hurl rocks down. However, against the total offensive of the Heaven Dou army, the high-level black-armored warriors were the first to crest the wall, entering a chaotic melee with the defenders behind the battlements. They bought time for the climbing warriors below, and as more and more black-armored warriors reached the top, the silver guards were forced into a desperate, losing struggle.
In the sky above Caster City, Di Tian saw the black color spreading across the walls while the silver dwindled. A ripple of energy shimmered across his body.
Qian Daolu's pupils constricted. He shouted, "Di Tian! What are you doing?!" He flickered into motion, immediately pursuing Di Tian.
In the next instant, a black domain suddenly covered the entire battlefield. Whether it was the attacking black-armored warriors or the silver-armored defenders, the armor on their bodies began to tremble involuntarily, leaving them paralyzed in place. They stopped their movements, their eyes drawn toward the black-gold dragon-robed figure high in the sky.
"Long live the Emperor!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
The morale of the silver guards surged instantly. This was their new Emperor! The number one powerhouse in the Douluo Continent today!
Just then, a golden domain unfolded, drawing a sharp line against the black domain, splitting the wall into gold and black. The pressure on the countless Spirit Masters below was relieved, and they breathed a sigh of relief. If not for the resistance of High Priest Qian, they wouldn't have known how to handle the elusive Di Tian.
"Di Tian, do you intend to violate our agreement?" A golden glint flashed in Qian Daolu's eyes.
At the same time, a loud shout echoed: "Big brother! I've come to help you!"
Nine streaks of light—Golden Crocodile Douluo, Azure Phoenix Douluo, Lion Douluo, Light Feather Douluo, Qianjun Douluo, Jiangmo Douluo, Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo, and Blue Dragon Douluo—flew in from the west simultaneously.
"Di Tian, do not make a mistake! Otherwise, I will show no mercy to the lives of these Myriad Beast Empire warriors!" Lion Douluo declared.
Facing ten Titled Douluos, Di Tian instead laughed wildly. "Hahaha! Do you dare to act?!"
"Brother Di, the defeat of the Myriad Beast Empire is a foregone conclusion. Must we insist on a mutually destructive end?" Qian Daolu asked.
Di Tian looked at Qian Daolu and said, "I can refrain from acting, but these Myriad Beast Empire warriors must be brought back to the Myriad Beast Empire by me. Otherwise, do not blame me for being heartless!"
Below, the silver-armored soldiers looked at the peerlessly dominant Myriad Beast Sovereign and felt their hearts stir. This was the true Emperor of their Myriad Beast Empire!
"Myriad Beast!"
"Myriad Beast!"
Hearing the cheers from below, Qian Daolu frowned, then replied, "Brother Di, I agree."
"Hahahaha! Brother Qian is straightforward!" Di Tian laughed loudly. He then turned to the guards below. "Warriors of the Myriad Beast Empire! We return to the capital to fight another day!"
"Fight another day!"
"Fight another day!"
Golden Crocodile watched the retreating Myriad Beast army and said worriedly, "Big brother, are we letting the tiger return to the mountain? Just now, if we had ignored the losses, we could have definitely annihilated this elite Spirit Master unit!"
Qian Daolu replied, "But we couldn't stop Di Tian. Once he starts a massacre here, our losses would be beyond imagination. As for letting the tiger return to the mountain, don't worry. Our Heaven Dou Empire will only grow stronger. To be honest, I don't see how the Myriad Beast Empire can win. However, Di Tian's actions just now will greatly stabilize the royal status of the Myriad Beast Sect within their empire. I saw true loyalty in the morale of that army just now."
Myriad Beast Empire, Rear Hall:
"My Lord, my apologies. The operation to invade the Heaven Dou Empire failed. Their counterattack was very firm. The Star Luo army alone cannot take them down," Di Tian said, bowing his head.
"It doesn't matter; the primary goal has been achieved. Our position in the Myriad Beast Empire is completely stabilized, and the empire's hatred for Heaven Dou grows by the day. Is the 'Myriad Beast Platform' fully deployed domestically?" Gu Yuena asked.
At the mention of the "Myriad Beast Platform," the two rows of people beneath the dragon throne felt their pupils shrink, their expressions turning grim.
"It has been deployed in every city. The reaction from both civilians and Spirit Masters has been very positive. We also left one in the capital of the Heaven Dou vassal kingdoms," Di Tian reported.
"Very good. Next, it will be time for our counterattack. All of you, introduce yourselves so everyone can get to know one another," Gu Yuena said in a tone that brooked no argument.
Di Tian looked at the humans beside him, wondering if these were the people his Lord had brought back from the Sun-Moon Continent.
He spoke first: "My name is Di Tian, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, equivalent to a human Quasi-God level."
As soon as he spoke, the two rows of humans paled. They hadn't expected a Quasi-God powerhouse to call the woman on the throne "Lord." Then, remembering the silver-haired woman's methods, they could only offer bitter smiles.
"Du Desi. Rank 99 Limit Douluo. Martial Soul: Heart. Title: The Only One," a burly, bald man in a mask sighed helplessly.
The other humans were shaken to their core. That masked man was actually the most mysterious Sect Master of the Body Sect—the "The Only One" Douluo! To think even Du Desi had fallen into the silver-haired woman's hands...
(End of Chapter)