"Soldiers, raise the spears in your hands and point them at your enemies!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~!!!!
Within the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry's ranks, spear after sharp spear instantly rose into the air.
"Kill!!!"
A furious roar that shook the heavens rang out across the world, perfectly in unison, as though a single person were roaring.
Clop, clop, clop, clop~!!!!
The iron hooves thundered against the ground, and the howling wind swept through the air.
Clang, clang, clang~!!!!
The Great Snow Dragon Cavalry charged with overwhelming force, splitting the battlefield apart and devouring the Heaven Dou Allied Forces bit by bit.
At the heart of the Heaven Dou Allied Forces.
Just as he was about to take Gulei City, wipe out the remaining Dragon Armor Army, and behead Xu Yi, the Great Ming Empire's foremost general, Xue Yi had never imagined that a moment ago his army had been on the verge of crushing the enemy, taking the city, and claiming a great victory.
Then, in the very next moment, his forces had fallen into disarray, and a silver-armored, white-robed army had charged straight through his ranks.
Xu Yi and the remaining Dragon Armor Army were right before his eyes, yet... why did he always fail at the crucial moment?
In an instant, Xue Yi's eyes turned bloodshot.
"What... what's going on?!"
"What in the world is happening?!"
Xue Yi's furious roar rang out among the Heaven Dou Allied Forces.
Before long, a scout came hurrying over to report.
"Something's wrong, General! Gulei City is now completely surrounded by the Ming Army!"
Whoosh~
At the news, Xue Yi's gaze sharpened.
He immediately turned toward the silver-armored, white-robed army.
Among those vast ranks, he caught sight of standard-bearers carrying the Sun and Moon Great Ming Flag.
The scout was right. These were Great Ming's troops.
And the force that had arrived this time far outnumbered his Heaven Dou Allied Forces.
"Damn it! Those bastards! Shouldn't the Ming Army be fighting on the Star Luo Empire's battlefield right now?"
"How could they... be here?!"
Hearing that these were Ming troops—and seeing how many there were—Xue Yi realized they were clearly Great Ming's main force. He was badly shaken.
He glanced deeply at Xu Yi, who was still surrounded and under attack in the distance, then decisively gave the order.
"Retreat!!!"
"Sound the retreat!!!"
Now that Great Ming's main force had returned, there was no point in continuing the battle.
No matter how they fought, they would never win.
The imperial palace of the Heaven Dou Empire!
It was not until the third day after Star Luo City was surrounded by the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry that the Star Luo Empire announced its defeat and revealed that it had signed a treaty of surrender.
The news reached the Balak Kingdom a day later. The kingdom could have passed it on to the Heaven Dou Empire that very day, but the kingdom lying between them was no longer on the same side.
The Balak Kingdom had no choice but to send someone the long way around to deliver the news to the Heaven Dou Empire. Another day passed along the way.
In other words, the Heaven Dou Empire did not receive the news until five days later.
When the news finally arrived, the entire Heaven Dou Empire was stunned.
The Star Luo Empire had lost? Less than a month after the war began, its eight-hundred-thousand-strong army had been defeated?
After learning the news, Emperor Xue Ye immediately summoned the ministers of the Heaven Dou Empire.
The officials gathered to discuss what they should do next.
Under normal circumstances, the Star Luo Empire was stronger than the Heaven Dou Empire.
If even the Star Luo Empire was no match for the Great Ming Empire, then the Heaven Dou Empire stood even less of a chance.
What was more, the Star Luo Empire's defeat had come without the slightest warning.
The terms of the surrender treaty were even more alarming to the Heaven Dou Empire.
One billion Gold Soul Coins was bad enough, but the treaty also imposed all kinds of military restrictions.
Normally, any ruler with a sound mind would refuse to sign such a treaty.
This also ruled out the possibility that Great Ming and the Star Luo Empire had secretly joined forces and signed some hidden agreement.
"Immediately halt all military operations against Great Ming."
"Withdraw to the Mingdou border."
After a long while, a new order was issued from the Heaven Dou State Council.
Clearly, Great Ming had now revealed power far beyond that of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Otherwise, the Heaven Dou Empire's five-hundred-thousand-strong army would not have been wiped out in Mingdou Canyon.
The Heaven Dou Empire needed time. They wanted to confirm what had really happened on the Star Luo Empire's side.
To stop fighting just like that? What a joke. Wouldn't that amount to selling out the Heaven Dou Empire?
Unfortunately, Xu Nian'an would not give them that chance.
Gulei City
"We... lost!"
Xue Yi watched helplessly as the guards around him fell one by one, and the Heaven Dou Allied Forces were split apart and surrounded. Some of the soldiers tried to surrender.
But the Ming Army acted as if they had not heard a thing. Their eyes held only one word: kill.
In a contest of speed against the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, the Heaven Dou Allied Forces had clearly lost.
One hundred thousand men had been captured, along with their commander-in-chief.
"No... you can't kill me! I... I'm the commander-in-chief of the Heaven Dou Allied Forces, a member of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, the youngest commander-in-chief, the youngest general! You can't kill me!"
"I surrender! Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me! I can bring you plenty of money!"
Looking at the corpses strewn across the ground and the men beside him begging for mercy, Xue Yi watched as the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry beheaded them without hesitation, drawing their long sabers.
Their cold, merciless expressions made it seem as though they were slaughtering livestock.
At last, he was afraid too.
But when they dragged him before a luxurious carriage beneath a giant Great Ming Flag, his composure finally crumbled.
He couldn't die. He was the youngest commander-in-chief in the Heaven Dou Empire, its youngest general. He had a bright future ahead of him. He was also a member of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. He couldn't die here on this godforsaken battlefield like those common soldiers.
"Look up."
The calm voice rang out. Xue Yi shuddered, his body going rigid.
"I said, look up!!!"
The next instant, a furious shout thundered out.
Whoosh!
Xue Yi immediately raised his head.
Beneath the dazzling glow of the setting sun, the Sun and Moon Flag swayed, almost blinding him. Slowly, a tall, imposing figure came into view.
So this was... the emperor of Great Ming... What a terrifying pressure.
Forced onto his knees, Xue Yi looked up at the man before him in terror.
"Who gave you permission to cross Great Ming's border?!"
"Who gave you the nerve to attack my Dragon Guard?"
"Who? Tell me!!!"
Xu Nian'an had received a total of two hundred thousand Dragon Guard when he first signed in.
Those two hundred thousand could easily stand in for five hundred thousand.
Because the Star Luo Empire had started a war, Xu Nian'an had been forced to split them up. He left one hundred thousand at the Mingdou border to defend Great Ming and personally led the other hundred thousand in an invasion of the Star Luo Empire.
No one could wage war without losing men. Xu Nian'an had been prepared for casualties and had braced himself for them.
But he had never imagined the losses would be this severe.
Of the one hundred thousand Dragon Guard, the Ming Allied Forces had cut their numbers down to just three thousand. Those three thousand had fought to the death to protect Xu Yi, holding on until the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry arrived.
That was why Xu Nian'an was so furious.
The Dragon Guard had been a reward from the system. They were one hundred percent loyal to him, the strongest infantry—the strongest land force—and even had the potential to awaken Martial Souls. In the future, those one hundred thousand men could have brought him no less than a million elite troops' worth of energy.
Now they had all been lost here. Xu Nian'an's heart ached.
On the Star Luo battlefield, to prevent losses among the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, Xu Nian'an had even launched a nuclear bomb, heedless of the lives of seven hundred thousand people.
"You... you can't... waah—"
Clang!!!
Before Xue Yi could finish speaking, a sharp sword appeared in Xu Nian'an's hand, and he easily cut off the man's head.
"March north against Tiandou!!!!!!"