But the soldiers fighting hand-to-hand within the formation refused to retreat, even in the face of death. The heavy cavalry soon lost their advantage of speed, found themselves surrounded, and were dragged from their horses and killed one by one.
A third wave of cavalry charged in. This time, they were light cavalry—horse archers. Instead of charging the formation, they circled outside it, loosing arrow after arrow and inflicting terrible casualties on the soldiers within.
Yet not one soldier retreated. Even when infantry arrived to join the attack and slaughtered the entire formation, not a single soldier fell back or surrendered...
And this was only one insignificant corner of the vast Battlefield!
Beyond the Battlefield stretched an endless range of mountains. A wall ran across their slopes, winding and rising like a long dragon.
The wall, too, was packed with soldiers. Arrows and crossbow bolts flew everywhere, aimed at the great birds swooping through the sky.
It was as though this entire realm was a Battlefield, with war raging everywhere...
Only after crossing the wall and its unending Mountains, then traveling an unknown distance farther, did a patch of light finally come into view.
It was an immense palace complex, stretching for thousands of miles and enclosed by towering walls.
Soldiers whose bodies gave off a faint glow guarded the entire complex.
Just then, great birds like Gray Eagles plunged from the sky, so many they seemed about to blot out all the light.
"What fiends dare trespass upon the Dragon Court?"
At that sharp cry, gleaming arrows streaked upward through the air...
But at that very moment, an anxious voice called from outside the hall: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty..."
The voice roused Emperor Mingde. Only after a long pause did he slowly raise his head. His gaze seemed to