On the desolate Gobi Plateau, gravel whipped up by fierce winds battered the cliffs, howling like a hundred ghosts. Mingled with the wind came the ringing beats of drums.
Beneath a massive cliff somewhere on the plateau, tens of thousands of troops from the Aizhuomaer Empire had gathered and were fighting a bloody battle.
The "enemy" they surrounded was a gigantic beast in front of the cliff.
It was a monster with a lion's body and a human face, dozens of meters tall, with a snakelike mane and skin like iron scales. A pair of bat wings grew from its back, and its tail ended in a scorpion's hooked Poison Needle, gleaming coldly.
The Scorpion Tail Lion, a mythical monster said to dwell deep in the desert year-round, now stood before the Aizhuomaer army in the flesh.
Battle cries shook the battlefield, while the magical beast's furious roars thundered across the sky. As a mythical creature, the manticore was no less imposing or powerful even when facing an army of a hundred thousand alone. The only reason it remained surrounded was that it had to defend its territory-the cliff behind it!
Halfway up the cliff face behind the manticore gaped a circular cave entrance dozens of meters across.
That was the manticore's lair, but its entrance was now covered by a barrier directly linked to the manticore's life. Until its Health fell below 50%, the barrier would remain invincible.
That was why the hundred-thousand-strong army led by Evans had no choice but to fight the manticore head-on first.
"Right flank!"
"Archers, ready... loose!"
"Mage Squad, mire formation!"
At the center of the army, one of Evans's deputy officers held a military banner and issued orders methodically.
Under his practiced command, this well-trained force was able to unleash its full