Starting to Eat Clone Soft Rice from Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 36

Staring at this scene like a nightmare descending, the soldiers on the city wall had long since had their legs trembling; just standing there at all was no small feat.

"Lord, what do we do now?"

Facing the inquiry from the subordinate beside him, the lord's dull eyes shifted slightly, barely regaining a trace of vitality.

But he offered no answer to his subordinate's question.

What to do? He wanted to know that too, but faced with several hundred Wendigos, what could he possibly do?

Three Wendigos could destroy a small city, so the question was—could the walls of his territory, neither small nor truly large, hold against an assault of several hundred Wendigos?

No need to ponder, because the Wendigos below soon gave him the answer.

"ROAR—!!!"

The lead Wendigo pulled a massive spear from its back, wound up with full force, aimed at the wall, and hurled it with a furious bellow.

The rest of the Wendigos followed suit; hundreds of spears flickering with crimson lightning rained down upon the wall.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The seemingly sturdy wall crumbled under the spears thrown by the Wendigos, countless soldiers on the wall wailing as they collapsed along with the masonry.

It was only a single volley of spears, yet the effect was no less devastating than a bombing run. When the dust cleared, the once-intact wall was now riddled with holes and cracks.

"Lord!"

Because he had been positioned farther back, the lord, lucky enough to survive that first volley, scrambled to his feet, covered in dust. Ignoring his subordinate's shouts, he turned and fled headlong into the territory.

Yes, he was preparing to run.

After just one volley of spears, the wall was already on the verge of collapse. The enemy Wendigo army's stats were so absurd they seemed pulled from thin air—what point was there in resisting against this? Anyone who could hold back from running for even a second was practically a saint.

Seeing this, the remaining soldiers exchanged glances, then scattered in all directions—some fleeing, some surrendering.

This scene played out not just in this territory. Everywhere the Wendigo Army passed, nearly all territories surrendered at the mere sight of them. The few that chose to resist were forcibly breached after a single volley from the Wendigo Army, and every resisting soldier was trampled to death like stray dogs on the roadside.

Keep in mind, each of these Cloned Wendigos possessed combat power equal to an Inner Guard. An army of two thousand Wendigos was equivalent to two thousand Inner Guards—what kind of city could withstand the ravages of two thousand Inner Guards?

Perhaps some could, but certainly not those Ursus nobles, a bunch of gluttonous, wine-soaked incompetents who spent their days indulging in pleasure.

Thus, when they caught sight of that terrifying army composed entirely of Wendigos from afar, running away or kneeling like dogs no longer seemed unacceptable to these once-arrogant Ursus nobles.

And so it went: the Wendigo Legion charged ahead, breaking through city after city, while the Third Army Group and the Infected Legion, expanded from The Reunion, followed behind to take over each city and handle the cleanup. In just a few days, this army, marching under Talulah's name, had reached the gates of Holy Steed Castle.

The speed was so swift that even the onlookers had no time to react.

Faced with the final target so close at hand, the Wendigo Legion, acting as the vanguard, unusually refrained from directly assaulting the city. Instead, they waited a day to rendezvous with the Third Army Group arriving from the rear.

And arriving at the front lines along with the army were An Xiu, Talulah, and their group.

As for Mobius, she did not attend. She felt that rather than participating in a war whose outcome was already decided, it was better to spend her time researching new ideas and cooking up fresh surprises for the land of Terra.

After all, with An Xiu's current strength, combined with the mobility of his lightning form and the system's traversal function, he was in no real danger. There was no longer any need for a clone to guard him closely like before.

"Should we begin the final assault?"

Sticking to the principle that delays breed complications, after arriving at the front and letting the soldiers rest briefly, Talulah quietly asked An Xiu beside her.

"No rush. Drink this first."

Without immediately ordering Talulah to command the assault, An Xiu, standing beside her, pulled out a tube of golden liquid from his person and handed it to the white-haired dragon girl.

"What is this?"

"A Limit Break Potion. It enhances strength and boosts potential—a good thing. Drink it now."

"Alright."

Hearing An Xiu's words, Talulah showed no hesitation or doubt. She downed the golden liquid in one gulp.

Instantly, blazing flames erupted, swirling around Talulah. The aura emanating from her began to climb step by step, just as it had back in the snowfield village long ago.

If Talulah's strength had previously been equivalent to four Inner Guards, now it slightly exceeded that of Patriot after he took the Improved Monster Cell—roughly the power of six to seven Inner Guards.

Such strength, aside from a few beings like the Beasts, was virtually unmatched in the current Arknights World.

"Not bad."

Seeing Talulah's improvement, An Xiu nodded in satisfaction.

"Hah... So then, can I order the army to begin the siege now?"

Without paying much attention to her own power boost, Talulah, after taking the Limit Break Potion and briefly acclimating to her new strength, asked An Xiu again.

Now, she only wanted to overthrow the Emperor of Ursus's rule as quickly as possible and establish a new nation where Infected and ordinary people could coexist peacefully. She was only one step away from achieving her goal, yet stuck here unable to move—a feeling that made the impatient Talulah experience something akin to being edged.

And the release switch was in An Xiu's hands. Without his permission, no matter how urgent she felt, she could only hold it in.

"Sieging the city is certainly fine, but if we just have the soldiers attack in an ordinary way, it lacks a certain sense of impact."

Hearing Talulah's words, a smile curled at the corner of An Xiu's mouth. He raised a hand and pointed at the distant city wall.

"So, to maximize the effect of intimidating any would-be troublemakers and to spread your fame across all of Terra—see that city wall over there?"

"Talulah, it's up to you now. Use your awe-inspiring power to blast it completely apart."

Chapter 76: With Such Power, What on This Land Can Stand in the Way!

"Talulah, do you see that city wall before you? Use your world-shaking power to blast it to pieces."

"Ah, me?"

Talulah pointed at herself in bewilderment, repeatedly confirming with An Xiu.

To be honest, she didn't have a clear grasp of her own strength now—only that she was far stronger than before, to the point where even multiple Ursus Inner Guards were no match for her.

But aside from the Inner Guards, Talulah's current experience left her with no better reference point. So where her power stood on this land, she was actually quite hazy about.

Could she really shatter a city wall?

Clearly, she lacked confidence in that, but An Xiu was brimming with certainty.

"Relax. It's not just you—I'll also lend a hand in secret, to achieve the most stunning effect. A mere wall can't stop our combined strike."

Hearing An Xiu's words, Talulah finally found ample confidence and nodded at once.

"Good, then let's join forces and shatter the obstacle before us!"

A black Western-style longsword in hand, the white-haired Dragonewt took a deep breath, slowly drew the blade, and stepped to the front lines.

At the same time, the Wendigo Legion at the vanguard parted to both sides, clearing a path, and withdrew behind Talulah in unison.

"Lord Talulah, what is she about to do?"

Nearby Reunion Soldiers looked on in confusion, but soon their eyes widened in shock.

Endless flames converged on the blade, and the temperature across the entire battlefield spiked sharply.

The earth melted into lava, soldiers' protective suits grew scorching hot, and even the bricks on the distant wall spontaneously caught fire.

Towering flames surged like a torrential flood, and Talulah, wielding this power, opened her eyes and swung the strike—gathering all her strength—toward the walls of Holy Steed Castle.

Boom—!!!

Fire enough to scorch the earth erupted like an endless tide, hammering into the wall. At the same time, thick thunderbolts descended from the suddenly overcast sky, merging with the flames below.

The raging flames and lightning, two distinct forces, reacted with each other, ultimately unleashing a deafening explosion that shook the entire battlefield!

Though far from the wall, aside from the Wendigo Legion behind Talulah, many ordinary soldiers were nearly flung away by the shockwave's aftermath, clinging desperately to their comrades to avoid being injured—not by the enemy, but by witnessing Talulah's terrifying power on display.

Long after, when the aftermath faded, the soldiers on the battlefield looked up. Beneath the slowly dissipating smoke, there was no trace left of Holy Steed Castle's tall, thick walls—only scorched earth and still-burning ruins.

With a single strike, absolute force had shattered the final defensive line of a nation's capital—one that had stood for who knows how many years. Such overwhelming power drove countless Reunion members and Third Army Group soldiers, witnessing their leader's true strength for the first time, into fervent cheers.

"Th-this is Lord Talulah's power?!"

"Unbelievable, what kind of power is this?!"

"We've won! This war is Lord Talulah's victory!"

"So awesome! With strength like this, even if Lord Talulah were alone, she could easily storm the palace and humiliate the Emperor of Ursus!"

"This power—what the hell on this land can stop it!!!"

"Long live Her Majesty Talulah, invincible!!!"

"Long live Her Majesty Talulah!!!"

Listening to the cheers of her soldiers on the battlefield, Talulah stared blankly at the scene her full-force strike had created. After a long moment, she took a deep breath, then pointed her sword at the now-open Holy Steed Castle and gave the order to advance.

Though the wall had been breached, she knew the battle wasn't over.

The Inner Guards—the most terrifying military force in the Emperor of Ursus's hands—had only tried to attack her once before, back in Koschei's Domain, and had yet to show themselves again.

Moreover, the Third Army Group, tasked with surrounding the imperial capital, was nowhere to be seen outside the city—likely lying in ambush within the walls. That meant, if nothing unexpected happened, a tough fight still lay ahead.

With that in mind, Talulah directed the Reunion Soldiers and the Third Army Group to pour into Holy Steed Castle and begin taking control of the city's districts.

Yet, surprisingly, until they reached the palace gates, the Third Army Group and the Reunion members encountered no significant resistance.

No ambush from the Central Army Group, no attack from the Inner Guards. Even the palace gates stood wide open, as if welcoming Talulah and her forces.

"What's going on?"

Frowning at this abnormal scene, Talulah decided to send someone into the palace to find out.

Soon, an answer that left everyone unsure how to react surfaced.

"You're saying that the day before the army arrived—the very night the Wendigo Legion reached the walls of Holy Steed Castle—the Emperor of Ursus, Fyodor, announced his abdication and vanished?"

Yes, the Emperor of Ursus had fled. A full day before Talulah reached Holy Steed Castle, Fyodor, upon seeing the Wendigo Legion of two thousand Wendigos, hadn't hesitated for a moment—he simply ran.

At first, Fyodor had considered mobilizing the Central Army Group to resist, but after seeing the Wendigo Legion outside Holy Steed Castle—especially learning from the Inner Guards that every single Wendigo possessed strength comparable to their own—he abandoned even the slightest thought of fighting.

Laughable. Two thousand Wendigos, each on par with an Inner Guard—even a giant beast would be doomed to be torn apart. Anyone who could resist running was this? Rather than stay and die, it was better to bow out gracefully.

Fyodor fled cleanly and discreetly. It wasn't until the next morning that anyone realized the emperor had vanished overnight, leaving behind only an abdication decree, a crown, and a scepter—his whereabouts unknown.

It was at that moment that Talulah began her assault, so the palace officials couldn't even open the gates to surrender in time, leading to this situation.

"So, Grand Duke Talulah, the imperial throne is now vacant. We believe no one is more worthy of this noble seat than you. Will you be crowned in Holy Steed Castle?"

Some officials in the palace asked tremblingly, and a few even brought out the emperor's coronation robes.

Chapter 77: Wei Yanwu: I Only See Hard Work and Sweat in Talulah

Holy Steed Castle had fallen.

Because a certain emperor decided to abandon his post without a word, Talulah's soldiers occupied Ursus's control center with zero effort, and even absorbed the Central Army Group into their ranks. Throughout the entire process, they suffered no losses whatsoever, and their army's size actually doubled.

By this point, less than ten days had passed since Talulah had formally issued the order to march.

Such an exaggerated feat caused Talulah's fearsome reputation to spread across all of Ursus in a short time, and it was even beginning to spread beyond Ursus's borders.

Meanwhile, after spending a week stabilizing the situation, a piece of news was also issued from Holy Steed Castle.

The current Ursus Duke, commander of the Third Army Group and the Central Army Group, Talulah, would be crowned in Holy Steed Castle half a month from now, formally assuming the position of Emperor of Ursus, and would hold a Military Parade in Holy Steed Castle.

As soon as this news was released, it swept like the wind across the vast majority of nations on Terra.

(With the exception of a very few countries that weren't connected to the network.)

Unlike Talulah's earlier rebellion, for Ursus at that time, a duke rebelling against the emperor was a scandal that could shake the nation and even destabilize its foundations, so naturally, they wouldn't spread the word everywhere.

Thus, up until now, aside from the cities along the route from Koschei's Domain to Holy Steed Castle, even many ordinary Ursus citizens had no idea such a major event had occurred in their own country, let alone the citizens of other nations.

But now, news of Talulah's coronation was being disseminated through official channels from Holy Steed Castle and many Ursus cities, so naturally, it spread extremely quickly.

For a time, basically everyone in Ursus knew that Talulah was about to be crowned, and they were all buzzing with discussion about this empress who would ascend the throne in half a month.

As for the countries bordering Ursus, mobile cities like Lungmen in Great Yan, which had highly developed information distribution channels, were already seeing related news.

"That child Talulah... she actually succeeded..."

Inside the office of Lungmen's Governor, Wei Yanwu took a deep drag from the pipe in his hand. Only after a long while did he let out a long breath, speaking as if with a sigh.

Nowadays, most ordinary people only knew that Talulah was about to be crowned Emperor of Ursus, but they had no idea about the specific details of the whole affair, let alone the dangers involved.

Only someone like him, who held a high position, had access to more information channels, and had known the full picture from the very beginning, could truly appreciate how unbelievable it was that Talulah had gone from first mobilizing her troops to conquering Holy Steed Castle in less than ten days, and then to stabilizing the situation and publicly announcing her impending coronation.

From the little girl he could only watch being taken away back then, to now, on the verge of being crowned Emperor of Ursus—even without having witnessed it firsthand, Wei Yanwu could see the effort and sweat Talulah had poured in behind the scenes.

"Lord Wei."