Chapter 170: ‘Night Battle’ in the Mountain Pass (III)
Having said so, she slowly turned around, tightly drawing herself towards Haochen. Her delicate face rested on his bosom; her body was at that moment trembling violently.
Long Haochen held her tightly, feeling extreme pain too. Ever since he learned about Cai’er’s past, he cherished her even more deeply.
Dang… Dang… Dang… Dang… Dang… Dang… Continuous ear-piercing metallic sounds were heard from outside. Immediately, even louder sounds came in, producing tremors of noise.
Han Yu exclaimed, “It’s an army gathering!”
Everyone couldn’t help but look at Long Haochen and Sima Xian suggested, “Captain, vice-captain Cai’er looks like she is a bit unstable. How about you two don’t go?”
“That won’t do!” Long Haochen had a serious look, “I promised commander Zhang that I would obey any order. We are now soldiers; how can we not participate to a march. I will protect Cai’er, let’s go.”
Cai’er also stood straight, grabbing her cane. Her face seemed to regain its calmness after a short time, “I am all right. Let’s go. Go.”
Long Haochen looked down, once again grabbing her hand before lightly putting his hand on her forehand, saying in a low voice, “No matter what and when, you will have me. Even if it is only for my sake, you have to live properly. All I hope for is to see my Cai’er joyful and happy.”
“Yeah.” Cai’er nodded lightly, taking the initiative to grab Long Haochen’s hand.
“Let’s leave.” Long Haochen called out for his comrades before quickly rushing out, still holding Cai’er’s hand.
Outside of the living quarters, a group of soldiers were rushing at high pace, these officers occasionally shouting out.
Standing in a space in front of the living quarters, Zhang Hairong was stationed in front of the living quarters. At this time, he was already clad in martial attire, wearing heavy plate armor over it, and each of his hands holding a battle-ax. With this awe-inspiring appearance, he was looking at these soldiers rushing to him.
Long Haochen hastily led his comrades, running towards Zhang Hairong’s direction, and performing an army salute before him, “Battalion commander, our group of seven soldiers is reporting to you.”
In a situation of war, the current Zhang Hairong didn’t have his previous modest attitude, and said coldly, “Stand in formation behind me, and follow me in attacking the enemy.”
“Yes.” Long Haochen gave his reply, taking his comrades to stand behind Zhang Hairong.
Among the seven of them, some were tall, some were shorter, and above all, three of them were girls who all looked so young, immediately attracting the soldiers’ attention. In particular, the group of soldiers standing ahead of them occasionally cast some curious looks.
Newly formed Demon Hunt Squads coming to Exorcist City to carry out their duty and undergo test was a highly classified secret, not something these low level soldiers could possibly be qualified to know.
Quickly, all soldiers were gathered; although the sky was already dark, the battle formation was still quite neat, done without any rush.
The warriors’ weapons looked plain and simple, all worn out from having been used for a long time. And in addition to their military uniform, they also had leather armor. The officers were all wearing the same generic armor; only Zhang Hairong had a plate armor.
A moment later, the soldiers finished assembling, and Zhang Hairong declared, “Brothers, these days, the attacks of these minor demon soldiers are especially fierce; thus, we’ll have to head to the battlefield today, though it is earlier than expected. This uncle will not say much more, only that if some of you don’t face this reality, the honor of this battalion will fall because of it. In that case, don’t blame my pair of axes for being unable to tell people apart. Now, we shall depart.”
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” The group of soldier lifted up their weapons, shouting these three words under the astonished look of Long Haochen’s group of seven before immediately departing, heading hurriedly to the border.
Zhang Hairong didn’t say much, but from this scene, it could be clearly seen that he had complete control of these troops. These soldiers were clearly not going to the battlefield for the first time. The majority of them had external spiritual energies of warriors between the first and the second step, but their frantic fighting spirit could immediately be sensed by Long Haochen’s group of seven, accompanied by a bloody aura.
Zhang Hairong led them in the front, carrying a pair of axes, followed by Long Haochen’s group of seven. By now, everyone in the squad remembered the formation perfectly. Long Haochen was at the front, Wang Yuanyuan and Sima Xian on the left and the right side respectively, Han Yu was in the rear. In the center were Cai’er, Chen Ying’er and Lin Xin in his capacity as a mage.
Although Chen Ying’er and Lin Xin were respectively a summoner and a mage, their bodies were enhanced by their spiritual energy, making them no weaker than average warriors between the first and the second step. Thus, no one had any problem keeping up with the others.
Soon, they arrived at the border of Exorcist City under Zhang Hairong’s lead, where they could see this imposing wall up close. Having come to this Exorcist Mountain Range for the first time and seeing these tremendous defenses, Long Haochen inwardly felt astonished; the walls were just too high. And although he couldn’t see from there that these walls were more than a hundred meters thick, just looking at them, he already had a distinct feeling of thickness.
Ear-splitting shouts, screams, collisions and metallic sounds rang continuously around them. Having finally gotten to the battlefield for the first time, Long Haochen felt a great deal of excitement in the middle of his nervousness.
Quickly, Zhang Hairong had led them in the border of the city.
Carrying his two battle-axes in his left hand, Zhang Hairong asked a soldier they met on their way, “Where is your battalion commander?”
The soldier replied in a loud voice, “He is at the border, resisting the enemy.”
Zhang Hairong laughed out loudly, “Truly courageous! Go and tell your battalion commander that our 1st batallion has arrived to switch with you. Let your brothers have a little rest, and let us handle the lives of these demon soldiers. Brothers of my 1st battalion, follow me!” Saying so, this intrepid man charged with big strides to the front.
In their capacity as soldiers, Long Haochen’s group of seven didn’t dare slack off, following Zhang Hairong forward at his pace. At this time, they were stepping on the battlefield for the first time, but didn’t have the time to observe the surroundings. At the same time, a stunning scene unfolded; the blood within their bodies was boiling crazily.
Outside of the over hundred meter thick walls, a great amount of supplies were stacked up. Accompanying the unceasing yells, blood continuously flowed out at the forefront of the battlefield, and the number of killing shouts increased accordingly.
Zhang Hairong was rushing ahead, when suddenly, a roughly 1.5 meter tall Zelin Dual Bladed Demon arrived, brandishing its two sharp bladed limbs toward one of the soldier defending the city.
Zhang Hairong howled furiously and with thundering sounds, shot up forward using his left foot as support, his pair of axes slashing forward. With a pu sound, that Zelin Dual Bladed Demon broke into pieces.
That soldier who was just saved by him had been soaked in blood since long ago. Turning around to look at Zhang Hairong, he directed a thumbs up to him before swaying his body, sitting on the ground.
“You may go to rest, brothers from the 6th battalion, let us handle the rest of the defense.”, said Zhang Hairong before shouting out loudly, his pair of huge axes in full swing, rushing forward like a meat grinder, jumping up at the approaching demons, swinging while aiming at their heads.
The soldiers of the 1st battalion rapidly headed before the important locations of the city walls, a part of them resisting the enemies, while another part was assisting the 6th battalion in evacuating the wounded. The whole process was performed in a neat and organized fashion.
With specialized medical personnel helping the injured, the front relief took less than twenty breaths to be done.
Zhang Hairong suddenly felt his whole body heating up, his fighting spirit rising and the spiritual energy in his body becoming even fiercer. Bowing his head, he discovered that a white light was rippling on his whole body.
Long Haochen arrived at his side, clad in his entire Holy Spirit Set, his body distributing this white radiance.
It wasn’t only him; all the members of the 1st Demon Hunt Squad had made their preparations for battle.
Standing at Zhang Hairong’s side, Long Haochen looked at the outside of the city. He could see that demons were omnipresent, surrounding it from all sides. And the main part of the enemy forces was made up of Zelin Dual Bladed Demons. A great number of Dual Bladed Demons were unceasingly trying to climb up above the walls, relying on their sharp arms. The nearby soldiers relied on rocks and flames to do their utmost to defend it.
These demon armies were impossible to count with a single glance; even when a great amount of Dual Bladed Demons were smashed down, these demons still kept attacking. As long as their cores weren’t crushed, they would stand up and keep attacking almost immediately. An intense war was being waged in the outside of the city.
Chopping a Dual Bladed Demon’s head off, Zhang Hairong asked Long Haochen, “You’re a Guardian Knight?”
Long Haochen nodded in confirmation.
Zhang Hairong said, “Regardless of your vocation, follow me in killing the enemy. The more we kill the better it is.”
“Yes.”
Long Haochen turned around to look at his teammates, “Wang Yuanyuan, protect Ying’er. Sima Xian, protect Lin Xin. Han Yu, take care of healing and harmonizing. We have to battle side by side.”
Protecting the city wasn’t all about rushing forward: naturally, they weren’t in position to do that. It was a battle between their troops and the enemy’s.
A smooth golden mist was produced, undulating around Long Haochen. Eight golden symbols were rapidly spread around, enveloping an approximately 20 meter diameter.
Immediately, the golden mist surrounded everyone’s body; it looked a bit like when a knight was using the ability ‘Storing Power’.
This was the first of the Guardian Knight abilities Long Haochen had chosen back in the Alliance’s Treasure Vault, Spiritual Gathering Halo. It consumed his own spiritual energy to increase the recovery rate of his mates’ spiritual energy by 30%.
At this moment, Long Haochen was displaying his formidable support capabilities. Spiritual Gathering Halo plus Holy Spirit Halo, in addition to Guardian’s Favor, were unleashed. These three halo-type abilities instantly strengthened the whole team.
At the same time, he pointed the Holy Spirit Sword forward, tracing ten lines of white light, and the nearby Dual Bladed Demons were instantly shaken, and they fell down.
Having gotten Long Haochen’s assist, Sima Xian shouted out loudly, “KILL–” The staff on his hand was waved just like a dark coiling dragon, and without making use of any ability, his formidable physical power erupted. With each chop of his staff, the head of a Dual Bladed Demon was blown up and turned into mincemeat.
Wang Yuanyuan’s valor was even greater than Sima Xian’s. This girl directly jumped up on the city walls, and waving her Divine Soul Shield, she swept it all around. Rapidly, no other Dual Bladed Demon was left in their direction.
Having just relieved the 6th battalion, Zhang Hairong was still enjoying himself with his two battle-axes. But after the time of a few breaths, he discovered that there was already no more pressure. That although two or three little kittens were occasionally approaching from the front, the enemies on the left and the right had already all been taken care of by Long Haochen’s group. After a little more than twenty seconds, this area was already completely clean.