Merit Shared Equally (Part 2)

Haoyue paced beside the bed for a while before lying down nearby. Beneath its closed eyelids, all three heads and six eyes emitted a faint purple glow. Yet all spiritual energy fluctuations were completely contained within its body; only Long Haochen could vaguely sense that it was also cultivating.

Magical beasts capable of directly circulating spiritual energy to cultivate were quite rare. The vast majority evolved naturally on their own. However, Long Haochen had not studied this subject, so he did not find it strange.

Not long after Long Haochen entered meditation, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside, followed by loud banging on the door. "Is Long Haochen here? By order of military headquarters, report immediately." The booming voice startled everyone who had just entered meditation awake.

Long Haochen frowned slightly, jumped down from the bed, and put on his uniform. Everyone else turned to look at him. Long Haochen gestured for them not to worry, then walked over and opened the barracks door.

A soldier clad head to toe in chainmail stood outside. He appeared to be in his twenties, with a stern expression.

"Hello, I'm Long Haochen."

The armored soldier was slightly taken aback upon seeing the youth before him. Long Haochen's handsome appearance was particularly striking. He gave Long Haochen a military salute. "Please come with me. Military headquarters has ordered you to report immediately."

"Alright." Though Long Haochen had no idea what this was about, he returned the salute.

"I'll go with you." At some point, Cai'er had already come to Long Haochen's side.

Long Haochen smiled faintly. "It's fine. Go get some rest. I'll probably be back soon." With that, he turned and left with the soldier.

Cai'er stood there with a slight frown, only closing the barracks door after Long Haochen's footsteps had completely faded away.

Sima Xian sat on his bunk and muttered, "Calling someone from military headquarters this late at night—they really have no humanity."

Lin Xin laughed. "Maybe they're going to commend us for what we did today."

Led by the soldier, Long Haochen once again climbed onto the city wall. A thick, grim killing intent mixed with the stench of blood rushed at him. Clearly, during the time they had withdrawn, the fighting atop the walls had become even more intense.

The soldier did not lead him toward the front line on the wall. After climbing the wall, they entered a doorway roughly three meters high from the rear and followed the stairs upward, reaching the second level of the gate tower.

Before even reaching the top of the tower, Long Haochen could clearly sense immense magical elements surging in a frenzy. These magical elements encompassed every attribute, yet every one of them was violently unstable.

The moment he entered the gate tower, Long Haochen saw a shocking sight. The first thing he noticed was over a thousand mages. Spell after spell was continuously unleashed from the foremost ranks, followed by the mages behind them. Ten groups of mages cycled through their spells without pause. There were also large numbers of priests and Guardian Knights at the front. Looking into the distance, he could see that a massive golden barrier had somehow enveloped the walls of Demon Expelling Pass. No enemies could climb the walls any longer. Yet the demon army outside swept in like an overwhelming tide, and even the sky was dark with enemies.

Thunderous explosions rang out continuously as enormous golden balls of light blasted wildly from beneath the gate tower, repeatedly tearing huge gaps open amid the demon army.

It was too shocking. For a moment, Long Haochen could not find the words to speak. Whether demon or human, how insignificant was an individual on a battlefield like this?

The soldier led Long Haochen all the way to the center at the front of the gate tower. At a glance, Long Haochen spotted Sheng Lingxin standing there, issuing order after order.

Sheng Lingxin's expression was solemn, cold light flashing in his eyes. Even from over ten meters away, Long Haochen could sense the overwhelming killing intent emanating from him.

At least several dozen commanding officers stood beside him, each radiating an immensely powerful aura. They were far beyond what a Fifth Rank Long Haochen could compare to.

"Reporting! Long Haochen has arrived!" The soldier who had brought Long Haochen almost shouted those few simple words. The roaring here was simply too loud; otherwise, even he would have struggled to hear himself.

Sheng Lingxin tilted his eyes toward Long Haochen, glanced at him, and pointed to his side. Yet the orders he was issuing did not pause in the slightest.

Long Haochen walked over and stood beside him, giving Sheng Lingxin a military salute.

Sheng Lingxin did not even look at him, continuing to direct the defensive battle.

"Have the Sky Knight Legion withdraw and rest. Have the summoners collectively summon flying magical beasts to hold them off for now."

"Report, Commander! The Radiant Angel Knight Legion is ready."

"Report! Dark Night Assassins are ready."

Sheng Lingxin's eyes lit up. He said in a deep voice to one of the officers beside him, "Take over my position and provide cover. Unless we deal these demon bastards a devastating blow, they won't give up."

"You're going personally, Commander?" The officer stared at Sheng Lingxin in shock.

Sheng Lingxin nodded. "If a commander does not lead from the front, how can he inspire the army's morale? Don't worry, I know my limits." "Lan Yanyu!" Sheng Lingxin shouted.

"Present." Lan Yanyu, dressed in an azure mage robe, strode over from nearby. At the sight of her, Long Haochen could not help but feel a jolt in his heart. This was Cai'er's mother. However, remembering that Lan Yanyu had seen him and Cai'er on the bed, Long Haochen felt somewhat awkward. He bowed slightly and saluted her. Yet Lan Yanyu did not look at Long Haochen at all, merely gazing at Sheng Lingxin with some concern.

Sheng Lingxin said in a deep voice, "Shortly, I will lead the Radiant Angels and Dark Night Assassins in a charge. Once we break out, have the mage corps stop conserving magic power and cover our flanks. Have the Magic Guided Cannons cover the skies. At the same time, send someone to invite Brother Gao and the others. Have them prepare to receive us at any moment."

"Yes." Lan Yanyu tapped her staff against the ground, bowed slightly, and gave a mage's salute.

Sheng Lingxin turned back and glanced at Long Haochen. "Come with me." His voice was chilling, yet exceptionally clear. It sounded like suddenly swallowing a piece of ice in summer—cold, yet capable of rousing one's fighting spirit and making the mind exceptionally clear.

After saying only that, Sheng Lingxin turned and strode away. Not a single soldier followed him.

Although Long Haochen did not know why Sheng Lingxin had suddenly summoned him, Sheng Lingxin was the highest military commander of Demon Expelling Pass. How could Long Haochen disobey his orders? He hurried after him.

Previously, Long Haochen had always climbed onto the walls from one side of Demon Expelling Pass. But now, Sheng Lingxin led him down toward the center of the pass.

Below was a vast open area specially used to assemble troops.

It was already deep into the night. There was no moon tonight, and only the occasional flashes of magic in the sky brought a little light to the city.

By that faint light, Long Haochen could vaguely see a broad expanse of metallic gleam shining in the open space below.

Sheng Lingxin did not appear to be moving quickly, yet Long Haochen had to run just to keep pace at his side. He noticed that each of Sheng Lingxin's strides covered a great distance, as though he were gliding along the ground.

After descending from the gate tower, Long Haochen concentrated spiritual energy into his eyes and immediately sucked in a breath of cold air.

Stimulated by spiritual energy, his eyes felt slightly cool, and his vision became exceptionally clear. Only then did he see what the metallic gleam reflecting the magical light had been.

Mighty, towering warhorses were clad in heavy black armor that nearly covered their entire bodies. These horses were astonishingly robust. They stood nearly ten feet tall and measured more than fifteen feet long. It was Long Haochen's first time seeing warhorses so massive. The knights mounted upon them were equally burly. By rough estimate, every one of them stood over two meters tall. They too wore heavy black armor, and the armor around their legs appeared connected to the horses' armor, making rider and mount seem as one.

Most peculiar of all, two enormous wings rose toward the sky from the backs of these towering knights. Each wing was roughly three meters long. They appeared to be forged entirely of metal, attached to the armor on the knights' backs and pointing skyward like two heavy blades aimed at the heavens.

Each knight held a heavy saber nearly ten feet long. The hilt alone accounted for a third of the weapon's length, while the blade was a full foot wide. Extending forward, it bore three spindle-shaped blood grooves on each side. A faint red glow shone from its smooth, waterlike edge.

At this moment, large numbers of infantrymen were carrying ladders away from beside the towering warhorses. Clearly, equipping knights like these required the combined efforts of a great many logistical personnel.

The night was deep. Long Haochen could not make out how many knights there were, but he vaguely saw that on each tall horse, behind the burly knight, there seemed to be another person seated. Compared to the knights, however, they were much smaller in build, almost completely hidden behind the knights' powerful bodies.

Sheng Lingxin led Long Haochen to the very front of the formation and stopped. Raising his right hand, he sent a beam of golden light soaring into the sky, bringing a sliver of brightness to the darkness.

At once, the cavalrymen, who had still been making faint sounds, quickly fell silent. The tall horses stood in neat formation. With his view blocked from the ground, Long Haochen still could not see how many people there were in total.

"Warriors of the Radiant Angels and Dark Night Assassins. Those vicious demon brats are attacking our Demon Expelling Pass. For thousands of years, we have never allowed our homeland to fall into enemy hands. I will serve as your vanguard, carving a bloody path straight to the enemy commander."

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three metallic booms rang out at the same time. Not a single knight spoke. Instead, they struck their heavy blades against their solid, thick breastplates.