"Hold the line! Form up and defend!"
Xuanyuan shouted loudly, swinging Chixiao and unleashing brilliant sword qi in an attempt to disperse some of the fog, but its range was limited.
Seeing this, Guangchengzi frowned slightly. He could not directly cast large-scale destructive spells upon a mortal army; that was a great taboo of Karma.
He could only raise the Yuqing Immortal Light to shield the core area of the central army against the corrosive witchcraft of Earl of Wind and Earl of Rain. At the same time, he repeatedly cast the Heart-Cleansing Incantation, trying to dispel some of the fog and steady part of the army's morale.
Yet local efforts could not reverse the overall decline. With their individual strength, weapons, equipment, timing, and terrain—all of which had been manipulated by witchcraft—at a complete disadvantage, the Central Plains allied army began to collapse.
The soldiers retreated in terror, while the generals desperately tried to restrain them to no avail.
A bloody battle raged from daylight until dusk. When the fog gradually dispersed, the rain had been dyed red with blood, and countless Central Plains allied soldiers lay dead across the Plains of Zhuolu.
Tattered banners lay fallen in the mud, and broken weapons littered the ground. Xuanyuan had no choice but to order the surviving troops gathered and retreat to the high ground by Zhuolu, where they barely managed to construct a defensive line using the terrain to their advantage.
Their first battle had ended in a crushing defeat!
After retreating to the main camp, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was suffocating.
The cries of the wounded rang out without end, while the generals wore expressions of shame and grief.
Xuanyuan sat alone in the commander's tent, gazing at the flickering lamplight. His face was stained with blood