Might on the Battlefield

Lei Mo did not have to wait long; that afternoon, the City Lord's Mansion sent notice to assemble at the drill grounds. Lei Mo and a group of Fortress Army generals sat high upon a massive platform, awaiting orders from Marshal Mengba.

The front line was less than a hundred miles from Brest Fortress, which had been established specifically to serve as the vanguard between the two great alliances.

As the core kingdom of the Seti Alliance, the Keaton Kingdom had played a crucial role in every war throughout history.

Brest Fortress was one of over a dozen fortress cities situated at the border between the Seti Alliance and the Lombardy Alliance.

The rest of the border between the two alliances consisted either of natural mountain ranges or desolate deserts. Every strategic pass accessible to humans was tightly locked down by these dozen or so fortresses.

The terrain of Brest was not particularly perilous, consisting entirely of valley plains between two mountains. Precisely because of this, Brest Fortress was the largest in scale among all these strongholds.

The military pressure borne by the Keaton Kingdom was immense. This time, seventy thousand fresh troops from the Keaton Kingdom were setting out, with another two hundred thousand reinforcements from the alliance currently on the way.

Adding in the troops already locked in a standoff at the front, the Seti Alliance and the Lombardy Alliance had reached a stalemate. It would all come down to whether the enemy's Magic Mage Corps or their own Magic Beast Knights could tip the scales of the war.

In terms of impact on the battlefield, the Magic Mage Corps held the advantage, but the Magic Beast Knights had brought seven Rank 9 powerhouses this time, so they were not afraid of a head-on confrontation. When combined with their magic beasts, the lethality was truly terrifying.

The march of Lei Mo's hundreds of thousands of troops was certainly not like his own "depart at dawn, arrive at dusk" style of travel. The sheer number of regulations and logistical matters involved made Lei Mo's scalp tingle.

Fortunately, he did not have to shoulder these burdens. Lei Mo felt a bit of admiration for Marshal Mengba. Come to think of it, Marshal Mengba was nearly seventy years old and only possessed Rank 8 strength, which offered no extension to his lifespan.

Human lifespans generally did not exceed one hundred years. Even if Marshal Mengba remained free of illness and disaster, he only had about thirty years left to live.

What a pity.

"Franklin, do you have any way to bring him into your Soul Space?"

Lei Mo communicated with Franklin through their mental link.

"Master—he would need to observe the runes on those eight pillars and have a modicum of insight and resonance."

Franklin indicated that it had no good solution either, unless its own strength saw a breakthrough.

But when it came to breakthroughs, being anxious was of no use.

"Then we shall speak of it later." Lei Mo felt quite helpless. Even while on the march, he was thinking about how to get Marshal Mengba to work for him after death.

He wondered what Marshal Mengba would think if he knew. Lei Mo relied on these random thoughts to pass the boring time.

The great army moved slowly under the moonlight. Lei Mo rode his Divine Wind Bear, following the central guard unit to protect Marshal Mengba's command banner.

A gust of night wind blew, causing the banner to snap and flutter. For no reason, Lei Mo felt a sudden, uncomfortable palpitation in his heart.

"I couldn't be so unlucky as to have a heart condition, could I? I knew it—being reborn as a Tauren but growing to this height must be abnormal!"

Lei Mo muttered to himself. Suddenly, a deafening "crack" echoed out, and the endless sky turned a vast, blinding white. He had no idea what it was.

"How can I see white clouds at night?" Lei Mo was still muttering when he heard someone in the guard unit scream: "It's bad! It's a Forbidden Spell—Water Curtain Heaven! Quickly, find high ground and cover!"

Lei Mo was still dazed when Bill, that fellow, carried him in a mad dash toward a hill a few miles away.

"As expected of a magic beast, that instinct, that reaction speed!" Lei Mo finally realized what was happening and couldn't help but praise him.

It was no fault of Lei Mo's that he hadn't sensed the elemental fluctuations despite being a Saint-level; the truth was that even if this Water Curtain Heaven smashed down on his head, it wouldn't threaten his life. As for the lives of others, he hadn't cared much—until now. He was still waiting for Mengba to work for him after death! He hadn't found a way yet, so how could Mengba die?

Lei Mo had Franklin release a swarm of Saint-level rune souls to scout with spiritual energy, while his own spiritual energy extended outward as well.

This raiding party from the Magic Mage Corps was positioned just behind the area near Brest Fortress. These mages were truly cunning.

Lei Mo dared not fly. Carrying Franklin, he leaped at high speed, quickly arriving at the location of the Magic Mage Corps.

The leader, holding a magic weapon, appeared to be a Rank 9 Archmage. No wonder he could use a magic array to cast a Forbidden Spell.

Fearing variables, Lei Mo communicated with Franklin and unleashed his full strength. He slammed into the magic array's shield with a ferocious assault, striking out three pillar shadows within a single second!

With the first pillar, the magic array flashed with ripples of cyan light. With the second, cracks appeared on the shield. With the third, the magic array shattered, and the Archmage vomited blood and collapsed.

Lei Mo stepped up and delivered a single strike. The man's head shattered like a watermelon dropped from a bridge, red and white matter splattering in all directions.

His experience from movies told Lei Mo that he couldn't afford to be careless, so finishing off the target was a must!

Then came a flurry of slaughter. Over a hundred mages, all at least Rank 5, were wiped out by Lei Mo, the "butcher."

Yet, not a single drop of blood splashed onto Lei Mo.

Lei Mo quickly cleared the battlefield, noting a ring on the finger of the Rank 9 Archmage and a staff in his hand. As for the others, he looted them casually based on their rank.

Since Lei Mo was alone and couldn't carry much, he picked out the belongings of a few Rank 8 mages and the Archmage before quickly leaving the scene.

Lei Mo didn't want to expose his strength just yet, so he found an earthen hill, blasted a large hole into it, scattered some seeds, and used his power to force them to grow.

Only then did he find the time to check his spoils. He didn't know what the ring amplified, but after a drop of blood fell onto it, a space of about one cubic meter—though somewhat irregular—appeared in his mind!

"Damn, a huge harvest! A spatial ring!" I've always had it so hard; if I had known you were a spatial ring, I would have stripped everything bare.

Lei Mo had already sensed that the world he lived in was quite different from Coiling Dragon. Back in the Bloodhoof Tribe, his experience was limited, but now, having interacted with so many human powerhouses, he had formed many conjectures.

For instance, the current magic system was far too incomplete. Every mage was a scientist researching magic; there was too little experience from predecessors, and most relied on their own exploration.

Lei Mo's faint suspicions were shaken after encountering the spatial ring. Weren't items like spatial rings inventions of the Divine Planes or the Higher Planes?

What was his? Lei Mo stored everything except Franklin and his own pitch-black Totem Pillar into the spatial ring.

"So convenient, I feel so light!" Lei Mo happily stretched his arms.

Holding the spatial ring, Lei Mo observed it carefully and found a strange stone on it. He couldn't describe the color; it had a glazed, glass-like quality, but it certainly wasn't glass.

If the spatial ring was crafted using this stone, perhaps his conjecture was correct!

"Master, a major discovery!" Franklin's voice suddenly rang out!

"I just discovered that my Soul Space has suddenly gained over a hundred souls!"