"Everyone, hold the line!"
Dai Hao roared hoarsely, his voice nearly breaking with the madness of a man trapped in a desperate corner. "Anyone who dares take one step back, I'll cut them down where they stand!"
The remnants of his army, on the verge of collapse, were held steady for a moment by the sheer force of his fierce courage.
But only for a moment.
On the high ground east of the valley, Ju Zi stood motionless in the wind.
Her orange-red hair streamed behind her. She held a command flag, and her eyes shone with excitement—the excitement of finally avenging a great wrong.
She glanced at Dai Hao below, fighting desperately with his back to the wall, then at her own army, unscathed and as steady as a boulder. Excitement colored her voice.
"Open fire!"
The command flag swept down.
Three hundred Level 7 Soul Guidance Cannons roared at once. Countless high-energy beams tore through the smoke-choked sky, precisely blanketing every gap and escape route in the remnants' formation.
The instant the beams struck the ground, violent explosions thundered. Shattered rock and dust burst everywhere, and rolling clouds of smoke engulfed the valley.
The remnants' already precarious formation was torn to pieces by this salvo, leaving them with not the slightest strength to resist.
Dai Hao bore the brunt of it. The blast's shock waves split his Dark Gold Armor in several places. Blood drenched him from head to toe, and his left arm hung limp at his side. He was clearly gravely wounded.
Yet he still stood firm in the center of the battlefield, refusing to retreat a single step.
Behind him, the last of his troops were in full retreat, scattering in every direction. Before him, the Sun Moon Iron Army advanced step by step, their