Drums of War

by Tinalynge

  The One-Horned Jasmine Eagle was in a bad mood because she felt that she was forced to retreat, something she had never done before. But thinking it over, she also knew that Hui Yue was right. This was not her usual life, this was war, and in war, the Grand Marshall needed all the information he could get.

  Sighing deeply, the woman flew past the city walls. As she arrived on the other side, she saw thirty-nine experts waiting patiently for her return. A smirk appeared on her face as she looked behind her, but she quickly saw that the experts who were following her were now nowhere to be seen. She could not help but feel disappointed about this face.

  Seeing that things did not go according to her wishes, Wan Qiao could do nothing but fly towards Hui Yue and give him the news she managed to obtain from her swift visit to the Imperial Capital.

  Chapter 80 – Overwhelming Strength

  Flying towards Hui Yue, the bird transformed into her human body. As she landed on the ground, she picked up a robe from a storage stone she had around her neck and wrapped it around herself as the feathers vanished one by one.

  Hui Yue waited patiently for the woman to finish shedding her feathers, and as she did, she turned towards him. “You were right,” She started with admiration in her voice. “They have blocked the city gate with a massive stone.”

  “How big is the stone?” Hui Yue asked curiously, while making an image within his mind of what it looked like. “It’s around ten meters tall and ten meters wide,” Wan Qiao said after a short pause as she reimagined what she saw earlier. The answer caused Hui Yue to nod his head in satisfaction. Hui Yue looked into the distance, but as soon as his eyes landed on the city wall, his satisfying expression turned dark.

  “Lords!” He called out instantly as all the lords looked to him. “Kick that motherf*cker’s a** away from our soldiers!” He yelled loudly as he saw something he had not expected on the city wall. One person was single-handedly plowing his way through the beasts who were on the walls above.

  Hearing the anger in Hui Yue’s voice, the Saints waited no longer as they rushed towards the city walls. Hui Yue slowly rubbed the back of his nose as he took a moment to calm himself. The enemy had only shown one Saint. As for whether they were baiting in the other Saints was a question, but Hui Yue could not stand back and watch as his beasts were slaughtered right in front of him.

  “Kill that son of a b*tch!” Hui Yue said as he observed what was happening. Although it was just one Saint, he was all alone against thousands upon thousands of beasts who gave him a few wounds as he took care of them one at a time. The sheer power that the beasts controlled was clearly something he had not expected.

  Though, something he expected even less was when all the Saints descended upon him. Forty Saints landed on the city wall, and all the humans that were in the way were killed instantly, much like how he had been killing beasts; unfortunately, he was all alone against the forty of them. One could expect how many humans died compared to beasts. It did not take long before the human Saint understood that he was all alone against a whole group of Saints. Even if he was as strong as Wan Qiao, it was unlikely that he could defeat all forty by himself.

  Seeing the Saints surround him, he made a quick and sudden retreat. He jumped off from the city wall and landing on the ground below. He stood there, completely still, waiting for the Saints to follow him, but was incredibly disappointed when he saw that none of them followed. Instead, turned against the humans on the wall and slowly executed their revenge on them.

  ….

  “Why on earth would they not follow?!” The Grand Marshall fumed with anger as he saw how the tall Saint, Peng Yong, was standing not far away taunting the beasts. No matter what he did, none of the beasts pursued him. All of them stayed on top of the city wall. Some who had their anger overflowing turned to the humans to release it.

  “They are beasts for goodness sakes! They should not be capable of resisting such a taunt; they should jump straight down and get taken care of by our saints one after another. Has that Grand Marshall truly tamed those vile and thoughtless beasts?!” The man was spitting out saliva with each word, his face was as red as a beetroot, and his eyes bulged outwards showing his hate and disbelief. Although one could argue that Hui Yue and the beasts’ side had sent the first Saint into battle, that Saint did nothing but reconnaissance. She did not participate in the battles and even escaped the moment another Saints appeared in front of her.

  Seeing that their answer was to start butchering multiple beasts, Hui Yue had no other option than to send in his Saints. Unlike the humans, he sent a total of forty Saints to fight. This caused a smile to appear on Hui Yue’s face. He was proud of his job as Grand Marshall of the beasts as he saw how he had succeeded in putting some sense into their thick skulls. To make them ignore the temptation of revenge was something that the humans could not believe was happening.

  “We cannot back down now,” The Grand Marshall sighed to himself. He was left alone within the house with only servants to keep him company; however, servants were nothing more than simple creatures who could not be considered humans in the eyes of a noble like himself. He kept mumbling and rubbing his forehead slowly as to lessen the headache he felt coming. Finally he sat up straight in his chair and his eyes were no longer uncertain and filled with rage, instead they were calm and calculating. As calm as the weather before a storm.

  “Get me pen and paper,” The Grand Marshall ordered and moments after pen and paper was placed in front of him.

  “Bring this to Li Xiaopeng.” He said as he folded the paper and sealed it with some wax before he placed his ring on it leaving behind his emblem.

  ….

  “The Lord sent you with this?” Li Xiaopeng asked curiously as he looked at the servant in front of him. The servant kneeled so deep that his head rested on the ground, his entire body was sprawled on the floor. Laying in this odd position, the servant still managed to nod his head something which caused Li Xiaopeng’s forehead to wrinkle with a frown.

  Li Xiaopeng was not very tall. He seemed as though he was a few years younger than Hui Yue. His hair was long, black and tied at the back of his head. His eyes were dark, so dark that they were like the endless seas. The young-looking man accepted the letter and broke the seal then read what it said.

  While reading it his frown deepened, and his eyes sharpened. Turning around, completely ignoring the servant, Li Xiaopeng left with rapid steps. He moved towards a house a few meters behind him.

  “Attend me!” He called as he moved and slowly one expert after another appeared at his side. As he entered the room, a hundred and one Crusaders were seated within. Looking at them, Li Xiaopeng could not help but feel somewhat uncomfortable, but he knew just how strong these experts were. Although all of them were either Kings or Emperors, they felt no fear nor any pain. They would keep battling until their bodies were destroyed, no longer able to move.

  “Crusaders, enter the city walls and get rid of the beasts!” He ordered and moments after the cloaked went straight past him, causing a shiver to run through the older man.

  “Although I’m stronger, those freaks still makes me feel terrible,” Li Xiaopeng mumbled as he turned around and left the room. Looking at the city walls, he saw the many cloaked figures moving up the stairs towards the battle at the top. With a glance at the beasts’ Saints, he whistled a sound which resounded throughout the entire city. Moments after experts started to appear behind him.

  “You summoned us, Master.” One said, “What can we do for you?” Another asked. Everyone showed great respect to the young looking man. “We need to get rid of these Saints. Press them backwards if possible and exterminate as many as you possibly can.” Was the order he gave before he stomped the ground and took to the skies heading for the city walls.

  ….

  “F*ck!” Hui Yue swore as he saw the cloaked men arriving at the upper levels of the city walls, his swearing turning even worse as he saw the Saints arriving afterwards. There were at le
ast forty Saints, likely even more. “Hopefully, the beasts are stronger,” Hui Yue prayed as he summoned his Wu Wei wings and flew to the city walls ready to assist the army.

  “So they think that Crusaders will beat the beasts?” Hui Yue asked himself as blue threads appeared on his hands as he created one net after another. Flying above the Crusaders, Hui Yue threw the first net, and it landed on top of one Crusader. It made him stop in his tracks and become easy to kill by the beasts near him. Determined, Hui Yue made another net which he threw on another Crusader. After five nets, Hui Yue felt he was running out of energy. He had constantly been using Wu Wei to fly, and the strange blue energy was also about to be fully used up. Thinking about it, Hui Yue descended onto the city wall and transformed his body slowly into that of a wolf-man. With a loud, resounding howl he threw himself into the battle heading straight for the Crusaders, knowing that they would bring the most trouble of all the enemies.

  While Hui Yue was rushing towards the beasts, he suddenly felt a shockwave which knocked him and a large group of humans and beasts backwards. Some unfortunate souls were knocked off the city wall and crashed to the ground, breaking limbs or even dying from the fall. Looking up, Hui Yue saw a young man who seemed a few years younger than him clashing with Wan Qiao, the Queen of Shenyuan.

  After exchanging a blow both Li Xiaopeng and Wan Qiao retreated a few steps, both of them surprised that the other had taken their attack with seemingly no wounds something which caused them both to be overly vigilant.

  Looking around, Hui Yue found that not only was Wan Qiao busy fighting; all the forty Saints were battling other Saints, and he quickly made a decision. Forcing the rest of his Wu Wei to create wings on his back, Hui Yue picked up a horn from his storage stone and blew it as hard as he could. He blew the sound for retreat.

  Although he and the lower ranked beasts could continue to fight near the enemies’ Saints, it was not his preferred choice. The Saints had overwhelming strength, so much so that even if they stayed to do battle none of the lower ranked beasts would be capable making a difference. Because Hui Yue wished for as many beasts as possible to survive, he did not want them to get caught by the shockwaves of the real battle.

  As soon as the horn sounded one after another the beasts rushed back to their camp, leaving the place so the Saints could fight. The Saints had overwhelming strength, so much so that even Hui Yue felt useless and knew that he could only rely on his Saints for this first real battle of the Siban Empire.

  “You better not lose,” Hui Yue mumbled as he stood as far forward as he could. His eyes were fortified by Qi while watching the ongoing battle in front of him, ensuring to catch every single move made by the experts. The air was torn by their attacks causing the wind to howl. Their speed was so swift that even with fortified eyes, Hui Yue had problems catching up. Looking at them all, Hui Yue finally understood what overwhelming strength was.

  Chapter 81 – Real Battle

  The lower ranked beasts had all retreated a kilometer away from the city, and the human soldiers descended from their position on the wall. Each side backed away to ensure that the shockwaves from the battles between the Saints would not kill them. After retreating, they noticed the fights picked up, and could see different colored flashes of light from many abilities the Saints employed. Hui Yue removed his wings and was now standing on the ground. In front of all the beasts, his eyes never once moving away from the battle that was raging in front of him. This battle would help determine who would win the war. This was the first real clash of the armies, the first real battle that truly mattered.

  Wan Qiao was fighting Li Xiaopeng while Lord Pan was fighting the tall Peng Yong. The other Saints were fighting unknown experts. The majority of the battles were fought one on one, yet a few were two against one. The Siban Empire seemed to possess more experts than what Hui Yue expected, but the young Grand Marshall did not appear to regret the decision he had made. Although some of the experts were fighting two Saints at once, they were not being pushed back. As such, the entire battle was very even.

  Wan Qiao and Lord Pan were without a doubt the strongest of the Saints on Hui Yue’s side, and these two were the ones he kept observing. The opponents they were up against were no ordinary experts, and just as the battle was about to begin, Wan Qiao released a screech and sprouted feathers. Her arms grew into massive wings, and her face turned into a sharp beak. A horn protruded from her forehead, and her eyes turned completely black shining like two massive black pearls. Seeing this, Hui Yue understood just how powerful the opponent was for him to force her into her original shape. Golden lights continuously flashed between Wan Qiao and Li Xiaopeng; one attacked while the other defended then one defended while the other attacked. The fight went back forth, and the attacks became increasingly desperate growing stronger and stronger.

  Wan Qiao roared as she flew into the sky above. She positioned herself right next to the sun so that she blinded Li Xiaopeng then she released a flurry of golden feathers which showered downwards, every feather was as sharp as a razor blade. This attack was as golden as the sunshine itself and as swift as the wind. Hui Yue, having seen Wan Qiao fight before, had never once seen this attack. As he looked at Li Xiaopeng, he saw the human guard himself with his arms. His clothing got shredded by the sharp feathers and his arms finally got cut slightly causing blood to drip from his arms to the ground. As the blood started to flow, Hui Yue shuddered as he saw the young man suddenly look at the blood.

  The blood then started to slowly swirl around the him creating a golden dragon from the red swirling blood. The golden dragon coiled itself around Li Xiaopeng, and effectively shielded him from the feathers which were raining down upon him. The moment Wan Qiao saw this, she instantly stopped wasting her energy on the feathers and instead her black eyes were set on the dragon. “So you think a little worm is enough to stop me?” She laughed out loud, “I am a eagle. Worms are what I eat for breakfast!” As she called out she instantly dove towards the dragon, a reaction which caused Li Xiaopeng to be shocked. Despite his shock he quickly regained his composure. Pointing a finger towards Wan Qiao, the dragon made a soundless roar which caused the entire city wall and ground to tremble before it flew towards Wan Qiao. Bird and dragon moved towards each other, and as they collided, golden light shone brightly, so bright in fact that the entire area was bathed in the light. Everyone was blinded for a few moments before they once more focused on the battles they were participating in.

  The wind picked up as the two, bird and dragon got ready to collide again in the air. As they did, a shockwave stronger than anything Hui Yue had felt before swept across the entire battlefield. The strength of this shockwave almost sent Hui Yue tumbling backwards. Even the houses in the city started to tremble, and a few of the smaller shacks directly collapsed from the shock wave that appeared from these two saints.

  Hui Yue gritted his teeth as he saw how the city walls were taking a toll from the many Saint’s battles. Holes appeared within the walls and crumbled stone constantly fell from the walls. Seeing this, one could tell just how strong these two Saints were just by looking at damage done by their shockwaves. Many of the experts were solely watching Wan Qiao and Li Xiaopeng’s fight. Most of the lower ranked experts even forget about the other thirty-nine Saints who were fighting for their lives nearby.

  Forcing himself to wrest his eyes from Wan Qiao’s battle, he looked at the other Saints and saw with satisfaction that the beasts were not being pushed back. Not even the ones who were fighting two against one. The beasts were simply too strong when they held nothing back; they had the advantage of having a savage nature, stronger bodies, a natural affinity for an element, and their attacks which could not be easily stopped by the humans.

  Nodding with satisfaction, Hui Yue’s eyes instantly returned to Wan Qiao and Li Xiaopeng. Although the other Saints were battling to the best of their ability, their shockwaves were nothing compared to ones that appeared from the strongest pair.

  ‘I
wish I could participate,’ Lan Feng commented. The phoenix had been very quiet during the time where they were at war. He had been seated in the lower dantian cave and spent all his time refining Wu Wei. Hui Yue could feel that although Lan Feng was not supposed to be a strong Saint after he had used his energy to deal with the reincarnation, but he steadily grew stronger and stronger the more he meditated. Hui Yue had a feeling that Lan Feng was not as simple as he seemed any longer.

  ‘I promise you, one day we will fight Saints like this. One day, not too soon, we will once more wreak havoc. If not before, then when we are in a tight spot in the war.’ Hui Yue smiled. Lan Feng was his secret weapon. The bird was strong and combining his strength with the abilities he had gained from the red wolf and the monk, he believed that he would be able to, if not kill, then at least defeat an opponent of a rank lower than Wan Qiao and Li Xiaopeng. As for whether or not he could deal with someone at their level, Hui Yue truly had no idea. He hoped that Wan Qiao could deal with the short, young-looking Li Xiaopeng.