"Everyone, charge with me!"
On the battlefield at the heart of the Trial Star, Liang Ji's Half-Dragonfolk force had been reduced to just over three hundred, with nearly half its ranks dead or wounded.
But after Liang Ji gave the order to attack, Chi the Sixth didn't hesitate for a moment. He led the remaining Half-Dragonfolk charging toward the enemy.
After Hu Dayong got in touch with Yun Lai and the two sides agreed to join forces against the Fifth High School's troops, battle erupted in an instant.
Across the field, the allied force of Zhang Liangpu, Xia Yuanqiu, Li Qian, Lan Yingying, and the others also spotted the two enemy forces closing in on them.
After a brief hesitation, they made their tactical arrangements. Rather than dig in and defend against the attack from both sides, they chose to strike first.
Although Liang Ji's allied force and Yun Lai's allied force had agreed to attack together, they were approaching from two different directions, and each was at a different distance from the Fifth High School's troops.
They had done their best to coordinate and support each other as they launched their pincer attack, but neither force had trained together. On top of that, both sides knew little about the other's Vassals.
As a result, the pincer attack had already begun to falter on both sides from the very start.
Zhang Liangpu's Qianji Serpentfolk seized the opportunity, leading the allied force in a direct assault on Yun Lai's side, which was closer, along with the combined force of the three students from Tenth High School.
Xia Yuanqiu, Li Qian, and Wu Motong all had Crimson Serpentfolk for Vassals, and their forces had already been organized together. Now they drew their bows as one and unleashed three successive volleys of arrows, raining down on the Vassal forces of Yun Lai, Zhu Xiaoxiao, and the others.
Even after suffering many casualties during the trial and in battle, the three Crimson Serpentfolk forces still numbered more than two thousand combined. Each volley sent over two thousand sharp arrows flying, all etched with fire-poison runes. The damage they inflicted was immense.
Yun Lai, Zhu Xiaoxiao, Teng Jun, and Shu Lianqiu had all equipped their Vassals with plenty of expensive gear and skills. Their forces immediately loosed even more Rune Arrows to intercept the volley and strike back.
But their Vassals' Rune Arrows, equipment, and skills were mostly wind- or wood-type, making them especially vulnerable to the Crimson Serpentfolk's fire-poison arrows.
The volleys collided in midair. Even though Yun Lai's side fired more arrows, they were still overwhelmed by the incoming fire-poison arrows. A torrent of them pierced the Vassals' ranks, killing many on the spot.
The charge that Yun Lai and Zhu Xiaoxiao's four forces had just managed to organize was thrown into disarray.
Meanwhile, the other Vassals of the Fifth High School—including Lan Yingying's Tidal Serpentfolk—charged in under the Qianji Serpentfolk's lead. The Black Iron Serpentfolk's powerful defenses let them smash into the ranks of Yun Lai, Zhu Xiaoxiao, and the others, splitting apart and throwing into chaos the forces that were already beginning to falter.
The Qianji Serpentfolk followed close behind, raising slender curved blades, each etched with runes and glimmering with deadly green poison. They were clearly Rune Artifacts made by Rune Masters.
They excelled at killing. Their slender curved blades always struck through an enemy's openings and weak points, rapidly cutting down the Cloud Lightning Serpentfolk, Green Bamboo Serpentfolk, Wood Vine Serpentfolk, and others.
Behind the Qianji Serpentfolk came a large force of ordinary Spotted Serpentfolk led by the Tidal Serpentfolk. Most carried ordinary weapons, but by sheer force of numbers, they pressed forward and surrounded the already disorganized forces of Yun Lai, Zhu Xiaoxiao, and the others. This drove the battle toward a one-sided slaughter.
At the same time, Liang Ji's allied force finally arrived from the other side. But Xia Yuanqiu's Crimson Serpentfolk, formed from the forces of three students, engaged them directly and held them back.
Before the two sides had even clashed, volleys of fire-poison arrows and ice arrows had already collided several times in the air.
The Crimson Serpentfolk outnumbered Peng Yue's Ice Soul Serpentfolk by more than two to one. Their volleys of fire-poison arrows far outstripped the Ice Soul Serpentfolk's volleys of ice arrows, and in this exchange, the Ice Soul Serpentfolk were thoroughly suppressed.
Fortunately, this time Liang Ji's Half-Dragonfolk didn't have to stand at the front in ordinary shields and armor to block the arrows. Tie Muxiong's Black Iron Serpentfolk were there to defend them.
The Black Iron Serpentfolk were the strongest defenders to begin with. Tie Muxiong's Vassals wore Rune Armor and carried rune shields. They couldn't claim to be immune to the Crimson Serpentfolk's fire-poison Rune Arrows, but they could at least push forward through the volleys and open a path.
Soon, the two forces crashed into each other and began fighting tooth and nail.
Liang Ji's Half-Dragonfolk clashed with another force of Crimson Serpentfolk.
He had no idea whether this was the same Crimson Serpentfolk force he had fought before—the one belonging to Xia Yuanqiu.
Xia Yuanqiu, Li Qian, and Wu Motong all had no shortage of resources or Spirit Stones, so their Crimson Serpentfolk had similar equipment and skills.
As Liang Ji's Half-Dragonfolk fought them, the situation was much the same as before: their advantages and disadvantages were both glaring.
Their brute strength far surpassed that of the Half-Serpentfolk, allowing them to kill Crimson Serpentfolk protected by Rune Armor. But their lack of equipment and skills also meant that their casualties kept mounting under the Crimson Serpentfolk's attacks.
Fortunately, the Half-Dragonfolk weren't fighting alone. The Black Iron Serpentfolk charged and shielded them at their side; the Ice Soul Serpentfolk supported them with volleys of arrows from behind; and Shadow Serpentfolk appeared and disappeared among the enemy ranks, striking from the shadows.
The Crimson Serpentfolk were strong, but their forces were still limited in both variety and numbers. Before long, Liang Ji's allied force had pushed them onto the back foot.
But they didn't retreat or scatter. These Star Vassals wouldn't rout or flee, even if their entire force was wiped out, unless their Star Lord ordered them to.
They continued to stubbornly hold Liang Ji's forces at bay, buying time for Zhang Liangpu's force on the other side to defeat and destroy Yun Lai's allied force.
Under the two forces' pincer attack, this was undoubtedly the best tactic.
From then on, victory would go to whichever side could destroy the enemy before them first, then rush to support its allies.
Crack! Boom! Rumble...
But just as the battle raged at its fiercest and bloodiest, a roar rang out. On the Trial Star, the highest mountain in the Feathered Serpentfolk's territory suddenly began to collapse.
The earth shook violently. The mountain crumbled, and countless boulders came crashing down into the battlefield below.
The Vassal forces fighting on all sides suffered heavy casualties amid the quaking earth and the crashing boulders.
Hiss... Roar!
The next moment, a tremendous hiss and roar echoed from within the collapsing mountain. Billowing black mist poured out, and a huge, grotesque figure slowly emerged.
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