The Cock Crows to Welcome the Dawn

"How could it be so fierce?"

The one who cried out was Erguotou. Though he wasn't in the army, he understood the ways of occult arts. Caught off guard by what he saw, he was utterly astonished.

Seeing Sweet Potato Shochu flee Fierce Tiger Pass without even looking back, he first went to meet the sister who had just accomplished a great feat. When he turned around, he saw the Pagoda Army marching out of the pass.

Man and horse were clad in armor from head to toe. Blood sprayed beneath their hooves, as though they were trampling across a sea of blood. At their center, blood seeped from the God-Bestowed King's armor, trickling through its seams from time to time.

It was as if his blood connected the entire Pagoda Army, with him at its heart.

The army charged across that sea of blood toward the shadowy masses. When they reached the two five-hundred-man vanguard units flanking the three allied armies, those units were swallowed up in an instant. They vanished without so much as a scream.

Erguotou was frantic. He waved out several altar banners to stop the ghostly army, but they had no effect at all. The army kept pressing forward.

"What the hell..."

The sudden turn of events stunned him. He hurriedly recalled one of the altar banners to inspect it, only to find that its precious radiance had vanished. All that remained was a thick stench of blood.

It looked as if the magic on it had been broken.

He looked up in alarm and saw the Pagoda Army's vanguard meet a force of tall riders clad in purple armor. They immediately fell into battle.

They were none other than the ten thousand elite Grain Protection Army, tempered in the Imperial Capital City. Neither side