Chapter 2181: Ice Bridge!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Only now did the Xi Queen realize that when she was seeing the blur, the arrow that had created the blur had already struck her.
Dismay, shock, panic… countless emotions flitted through the Xi Queen’s eyes.
Bang!
A moment later, a terrifying energy erupted from the arrow in her chest.
“Aaaah!” The Xi Queen screamed out as she trembled, and she was carried away more than two hundred feet by the power of the arrow and slammed into the ground.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
The Xi Queen bounced off the ground and got to her knees.
Her black hair was in disarray as she raised her head and glared at the fortress.
The lunge the Xi Queen had instinctively made out of fear had saved her life. The arrow that should have shot through her heart had missed by several inches and failed to take her life.
Now that she had survived, her savage Xi nature erupted.
“Since you dare to treat me this way, don’t blame me!”
There was a fierce gleam in the Xi Queen’s eyes. A moment later, she pressed her arms against the ground and grabbed.
Kaclack!
A wave of cold energy seemed to be drawn out of the earth, and as soldiers from both her side and the enemy side watched in shock, the Xi Queen began to exert an enormous pull, drawing in all the snow and cold air around the area of the alliance army and coalescing it into crystalline ice drills that shot out of the ground.
These ice drills rapidly expanded to lengths of three to four hundred feet.
As these ice drills crazily grew, they began to coil around each other as if they were alive. In short order, they had combined into a magnificent and broad ‘ice bridge’ that seemed straight out of a dream.
Everyone was struck dumb by this.
“Ice Element ability! I did not expect the Xi Queen to have such frightening Ice Element cultivation!”
Beneath the six banners, An Lushan’s eyes flew open in surprise, his lips trembling.
When it came to cultivating the Five Elements, they were easy to start but difficult to master.
The ability the Xi Queen had displayed marked her as not merely an Ice Element cultivator, but one who had reached the very apex and could be considered one of the strongest such experts in the world. This was a surprising harvest for An Lushan!
He had never envisioned this when first recruiting the Xi Queen.
Even the Khitan King was flabbergasted.
He had known the Xi Queen for a long time, but he had never seen her use her full abilities or unleash such frightening strength.
The arrow that w.a.n.g Chong had ordered to be loosed against her had apparently completely provoked her ire.
The sight of the crazed Xi Queen caused the Khitan King to s.h.i.+ver.
Cold air surged as the Stellar Energy in the Xi Queen’s body was rapidly consumed. But at this moment, she no longer cared. Although the war had yet to reach its most intense moment, she had been thoroughly enraged by Chuluohou’s arrow.
Kaclack!
The ice bridge extended with astonis.h.i.+ng speed, and with a crisp crack, an ice bridge that was around six meters wide and one meter thick connected to the walls, followed by a second, a third, a fourth… In just a few short moments, a series of large ice bridges leading straight to the walls had appeared.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I’d like to see how you deal with this!”
The Xi Queen gnashed her teeth in hatred.
But despite her words, after creating the ice bridges, the Xi Queen immediately began to flee.
Her powers had been greatly reduced by this ma.s.sive consumption of Stellar Energy, and she no longer had the ability to contend against a Great General.
Staying any longer meant certain death.
“What are you looking around for? Go!” the Xi Queen rebuked as she ran past a group of soldiers.
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, hurry up and receive me!”
Hearing this, several nearby generals began to ride toward the Xi Queen, and even the distant Khitan King yelled and began to ride over.
Bang!
In a flash of light, another heaven-shaking arrow blasted toward the Xi Queen.
But this time, with a thunderous crack, someone blocked Chuluohou’s arrow. It was none other than Great General Tiechi Bileli.
Tiechi Bileli was the Eastern Turkic Khaganate’s elite Great General, and even Zhang Shougui had had a hard time with him. He was more than capable of blocking this arrow.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
The Xi Queen, though she had escaped this calamity, had turned ghastly white from fear, and she continued to flee like a frightened bird.
“Woman, it seems you’re quite nimble!”
Within the steel fortress, on the roof of a prominent metal building, Chuluohou slowly put down the Demon G.o.d Bow, a sharp light in his eyes.
All levels of the Tongluo Tribe venerated the idea of the true man and would not strike women. Though the Xi Queen was a woman, Chuluohou had ultimately been rather hesitant. Otherwise, the Xi Queen might not have been able to escape.
As for the ice bridges, Chuluohou wasn’t concerned. Anyone who thought that they could break through the steel fortress with just these few ice bridges was just dreaming.
The only problem was that the Xi Queen had sealed off the kerosene, truly creating a problem.
“General, how was it?” A voice interrupted Chuluohou’s thoughts, and as he turned to the speaker, he saw a small and thin figure jumping across the rooftops toward him. It was none other than w.a.n.g Chong’s close aide, Zhang Que.
“I have disappointed His Highness. If not for a small error, Chuluohou would have been able to kill the Xi Queen!”
Chuluohou bowed, a hint of shame in his eyes.
Orders were as weighty as mountains, and a subordinate’s most important duty was to carry out orders. w.a.n.g Chong had given him the Demon G.o.d Bow, but he had failed to kill the Xi Queen. Regardless of whether or not Tiechi Bileli intervened, this was a stone-cold fact.
“Haha, General does not need to be concerned. His Highness expected this. A single Xi Queen cannot influence the overall situation. His Highness has planned everything. General should quickly go back and make your report!”
Zhang Que chuckled, seemingly unconcerned.
Chuluohou couldn’t help but be taken aback by this reply.
But Chuluohou quickly understood. The King of Foreign Lands was the War Saint, renowned for his foresight and stratagems. There was little doubt that he had already known what would happen when he gave the Demon G.o.d Bow to Chuluohou to deal with the Xi Queen.
Everything was part of his calculations.
His first priority was to not affect the King of Foreign Lands’ other plans.
“Yes, Chuluohou will go to report!”
Chuluohou quickly jumped down from the building.
……
“Kill!”
In the distance, alliance soldiers cheered at the sight of the wide and resplendent path the Xi Queen had created.
Compared to ropes and siege ladders, this method was much faster. More importantly, with this broad path, even cavalry could charge up the walls.
“Everyone, charge!”
An Eastern Turkic general raised his scimitar and led the charge up the ice bridge. He was cautious at first, worried that the ice bridges would be too fragile, but when his horse trod onto the ice, he found it to be incredibly thick and firm, even giving off a faint metallic echo.
“Wonderful!”
The general was energized and immediately spurred his horse into a charge, shooting toward the walls like an arrow from a bow.
The ice bridges were far st.u.r.dier than antic.i.p.ated, even serving as extra ‘s.h.i.+elds’ that protected the alliance army as it charged up to the walls.
Even the threat of the ballistae were reduced this way!
“Brothers, kill!”
Tens of thousands of cavalry followed the general in charging up the ice bridges.
Seven-thousand-some feet seemed like a vast distance, but for cavalry charging at full speed, it was a matter of only a few seconds.
Behind the cavalry, the earth rumbled as the Goguryeon, Khitan, Xi, and Youzhou soldiers bellowed and charged across the ice bridges.
Clang!
A long and heavy sword flashed as it hacked at the part of the ice bridge connected to the wall. But even when swung with full force, the sword was only able to leave a crack on the ice bridge, and the impact caused the sword to bounce back. The armored Tang soldiers on the walls who had wanted to hack away at the ice bridges instantly paled.
The Xi Queen’s ice bridges were far more frightening than they had antic.i.p.ated.
“Take up formation! Prepare for battle!”
A thunderous roar resounded through the world.
A general on the wall swiftly began to issue orders.
Cavalry moved extremely fast, and cutting down the ice bridges took more time and energy than they had.
Rumble! A few moments later, the alliance army arrived, and the two armies began to fiercely battle on the ice bridges.
Neigh!
With resounding neighs, the cavalry charged onto the walls, and several city defense soldiers were caught off guard and were thrown off the walls by the impact.
Bangbangbang!
As the cavalry entered the battle, the walls instantly fell into turmoil.
“Take up formation!”
With a bellowed order, the Tang army began to s.h.i.+ft back into their formidable formations.
There were six men to each unit, and all of their energies were fused together, making them like a steel plate.
Bang!
Another horseman charged over, but this time, he faced six sharp and heavy swords.