Chapter 575

Chapter 575: Sawtooth Sword

Since that night when they were ambushed by a small contingent of the enemy, the combined forces of Frost Union had encountered several more attacks.

Sometimes they would appear in the dead of night, and other times they would surge out just as the camp was being set up. Though their numbers were not many, their acts of indiscriminate killing and setting fires could not be ignored. This went on for days, leaving the soldiers exhausted, sometimes even falling asleep while marching.

“This won’t do,” Jenkins said, then turned to the mage accompanying him.

“Didn’t the airships detect where they were coming from?”

“We expanded our search radius, but due to the dense jungle around us and poor visibility, we didn’t gather any valuable information,” the mage representative explained.

“It would be great if we had an elf scout with us. But that’s just wishful thinking,” Jenkins added casually.

Within the Cangcui Empire, the elves remained prosperous. They had left a significant impression during the Battle of Broken Bows, particularly through their forest patrol units which crossed over from the Sighing Mountains, causing considerable trouble for the supply lines of the Snowflower Seven Kingdoms. It nearly led to the Tianqi Fortress running out of supplies. Later, it was the Winged Folk of the Falcon Kingdom who helped track down these enemies and secure the supply lines.

Another day approached, nearing nightfall, and the main force began to set up camp, close to the Yellow Nan County.

Inside the large tent, Jenkins sat at the head, with several officers below him reporting the situation.

“Tomorrow, we’ll be able to leave this jungle region and enter the wilderness beside Hope Lane,” reported an officer in a pitch-black uniform, with no reflective parts, even his short sword and hand crossbow were matte finished.

“The closer we get to the end, the more careful we must be. I already have a general idea of their strategy,” Jenkins said.

He moved the chess pieces representing the trade caravans on the map, several of which were close to the edge of the green area. Ahead lay an open plain, and behind this vast land, marked on the map, was a city nestled between mountains and sea—Hope Lane.

“They are trying to tire our forces with small-scale incursions, then wait for us in the plains, engaging us in prolonged skirmishes and pursuit battles, striking us when we show weakness.”

“Not a bad idea, but rather naive,” said a stocky legion commander with a scornful look.

“Under the cover of the Golem Legion, let’s see how they plan to break our formation with just those weak mercenaries and half-hearted cavalry. The Western Wind Cavalry has long since declined, unable to even withstand a peasant uprising.”

“So, why don’t we take two days to rest here and then advance to attack Hope Lane?” one of the officers suggested.

“No,” Jenkins shook his head.

“The reinforcements from Clancia are on their way, and they are moving fast. We need to capture Hope Lane before them, or it will become a problem later.”

“Rest well tonight and strengthen our defenses.”

Outside the tent, the lights were bright. This time, the scouts had expanded their search radius, and several airships hovered above, keeping a close watch.

Surveying the pitch-black大地.

Compared to before, perhaps the enemy also knew that the camp was heavily guarded tonight. The first half of the night was very quiet, and the soldiers inside the main camp fell into a deep sleep.

A soldier sitting on a watchtower held his long spear, leaning his body against a wooden post nearby. His head kept drooping, like a fishing rod, sometimes falling and waking up, lifting his head again, only to droop once more due to drowsiness, repeating this cycle over and over.

Occasional chirps of insects could be heard from the surrounding丛林. Compared to summer, the chirping now was much sparser, as the weather had become cooler.

The月亮 slowly rose and then set, and time gradually approached three o’clock in the morning, the deepest point of sleep for most people.

At this moment, a deep red comet suddenly appeared at one corner of the sky. Soon after, several similar deep red comets also rose.

These giant comets made up of countless flames streaked across the night sky with long fiery tails, distorting the atmosphere with high temperatures and emitting a whooshing sound. As they drew closer, the bright flames illuminated the sky as if it were daytime, and the approaching surging魔力 and heat created a suffocating pressure.

The first to react were the mages aboard the飞艇. Several rays of ghostly blue light shot out from the飞艇, accurately striking these giant meteoric fires flying from the horizon, tracing long parabolic arcs.

The deep blue light flashed and disappeared, leaving behind several barrier-like traces in the vision. Unfortunately, such hasty attacks were unable to disperse the flames imbued with scorching魔力.

Boom—

When these giant fireballs landed, they exploded directly, spreading flames and scorching air in all directions. With just one bombardment, nearly a thousand people were instantly killed.

Then, the spreading flames ignited within the camp, billowing smoke rising alongside tents, grain, debris, dry branches, and fallen leaves. The camp erupted into shouts and chaos.

“Put out the fire!”

“It’s so hot.”

“Help me, I’m going to burn to death, ah—”

One ‘fireman’ after another waved their arms, running around frantically searching for water. Unfortunately, there were no lakes nearby, and the sea was quite far away. The flames on their bodies only grew stronger as they ran.

“Damn it!” A mage stood on the飞艇, looking down at the scene and cursing, his robe being lifted and dropped by the heat wave below.

The previously idle golems activated one by one, and under the adjustment of some mages, several beams of ice light shot out, covering patches of land and starting to isolate and extinguish the flames.

Jenkins also stepped out of the大营, surrounded and protected by bodyguards and several golems. His brows furrowed as he issued urgent orders, and the camp began to bustle with activity.

“Not good, they’re coming from the east!” A scout ran up to Jenkins, his body still stained with blood and dirt.

“East? How is that possible? Isn’t that our rear?” an officer asked incredulously.

“I don’t know, but this time they have a large number of troops,” the scout panted heavily.

As if to confirm his statement, a chorus of battle cries erupted from the rear, and a group of soldiers dressed in various armors and cloaks charged toward the camp from the back. They wielded weapons and torches, setting fires and hacking away.

As they moved, large swaths of the丛林 caught fire,

It was already the season of clear autumn skies, and the flames spread rapidly.

Seeing this scene, Jenkins’ side was on the verge of panic, and they had no choice but to dispatch a large number of personnel to stop the other party from continuing to set fires.

Inside the camp, chaos reigned as various personnel shouted and ran around. Meanwhile, from the west, the sound of urgent hoofbeats echoed from within the jungle. Taking advantage of the airships and golems extinguishing the fires, a group of cavalry crossed the open wilderness under the cover of night, directly approaching the edge of the camp near the jungle.

As they approached the forest, they dismounted directly and, like the attacking forces behind them, raised their weapons, lit torches, and burned and drove away the frightened soldiers.

Under the double assault, the Frost Rose camp became even more chaotic. Many soldiers were experiencing their first battle, and their psychological resilience was poor. As a result, many began to drop their weapons and flee toward the jungles to the north and south.

The golem legion and airships that were originally relied upon also failed to exert their power due to the need to put out fires, poor visibility, and the general confusion at the scene. They could only watch helplessly as over 100,000 troops inside the camp trampled and fled in fear and panic.

On the Frost Coalition side, the weakness of having soldiers with weak wills and poor discipline was exposed during this night raid. Although the 10,000 veteran soldiers around the old general Jenkins could barely maintain order, they still could not change the dire situation sliding toward disaster.

From above the night sky, the long, narrow camp stretching for miles on the dark earth was engulfed in flames. The forest fire continued to spread, with thick smoke弥漫在丛林之间。

Just when most of the generals were nearly despairing, a clear and resounding voice suddenly echoed through the camp.

“Silence!”

“Those who shout in chaos and those who flee will be killed without mercy!”

As the words fell, a jagged crimson arc swept across, slicing several panicked soldiers into pieces, spraying blood onto the surrounding people, causing them to shudder in terror.

Many soldiers around were immediately shocked into silence and stopped in their tracks.

Then, the red-haired figure brandished a deep crimson sword with blood grooves, quickly moving through the camp, cutting down the shouting and fleeing soldiers. It seemed as if they had received an order; the personal guards of the generals, originally stationed in the center, also drew their swords and swiftly moved through the camp in formation, cutting down the chaotic soldiers.

These personal guards, dressed in dark blue cloaks, each possessed strength above Sequence 3, making it easy for them to kill these fleeing soldiers. Under such ruthless military orders, the camp finally began to gradually regain order. High-ranking officers started commanding their troops to defend and counterattack.

This night would still be one of unrest.

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Special thanks to book friend Aglietti, whose hard work has resulted in the creation of a map of the Western Continent in the Ivar World (this one is much more detailed than my hand-drawn version and has refined some previous elements). Please feel free to check it out in the book friend circle.

Thank you to 彡云淡灬风轻, ~xy~, tdgg, book friend 20190823173726697, burkeott, book friend 150709110728535, Spring and Autumn Holy Emperor, Qian Tan and the World, Hua Su Xu i, Lonely Traveler, Amysha, Shadow Following Form, and other book friends for your support.

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(End of Chapter)