Chapter 1049- Growth
Fresh blood dyed the maple trees and caused the leaves that were already originally red to become even redder.
The horse hoof sounds were really rushed. A bunch of people was like injured deers in the forest as they tried to flee. Their armor was torn and tattered and many of them even lost an arm or were covered in arrows. The flags in their hands had disappeared and the only thing they could do now was to try to flee.
"Surround them!"
Han Yuan gave an order and the Royal Army troops started to gather. Very quickly, these 3000+ troops were surrounded in a shield formation. Even if they tried to break out, they couldn"t so they just gave up on fighting. All of them were filled with despair. In the crowd, one person"s eyes were filled with rage, "Kill us if you want, end us quick!"
Lin Qiong walked forwards with his sword and asked, "Who are you, you really are asking for death!"
This losing general had a Major"s emblem on his shoulder and his face had several sword wounds. However, he was still arrogant, "I am Dragonling Army"s Major Liu Jun, kill me if you want!"
"Liu Jun?"
I was shocked. I walked forwards and looked at him calmly, "Liu Jun, do you recognise me?"
Liu Jun was astonished, "Li... Commander in chief Li..."
Lin Qiong laughed, "Now he is not only the Commander in chief, but he is also the Marshal!"
Liu Jun knelt down and begged, "Marshal... Since I was once a Royal Army Lieutenant please let me live. I had no choice!"
Han Yuan raged, "You betrayed the general and led Luo Xun"s army to attack the Royal Army. Did you have no choice?"
Autumn Leaf pulled out his blade, "There is nothing to say to such a traitor, let me end him with one sword!"
I shook my head, "Stop, don"t kill him!"
Autumn Leaf was shocked, "General, why?"
I squinted my eyes and smiled, "I have my reasons."
I looked towards the army behind Liu Jun and said, "Liu Jun, you have gone through many battles and you are a rare general. As a soldier, you are not afraid of death. Since you were once loyal to the empire, I will let you off this once. I will also give you face and not kill the rest. Bring them back to Waterfront City!"
Liu Jun kowtowed, "Thank you Marshal Li, thank you Marshal Li..."
I looked at Tan Taiyu, "General Tan, gather the defeated troops and let Liu Jun bring them back. We have killed enough so we don"t have to go overboard."
Tan Taiyu cupped his fists, "Yes, Marshal Li!"
...
In less than 10 minutes, a total of 7000+ Waterfront City troops were gathered and given horses. Liu Jun led them out of a path we left for them to head towards Three Blade Mountain.
Li Mu didn"t understand, "Xiao Yao, why did you release this Liu Jun? Did a mule kick your head? How can you release such a sc.u.m?"
I laughed, "Such a person can become a treasure! You saw that he is a Major and out of these 7000, he has the highest rank. The other two Majors have been killed by Han Yuan so this bunch will now be Waterfront City"s main force. Based on the system rules, Liu Jun will become the top general. With such a timid person that has no strategy as the main commander, how can Clear Black Eyes and Drunk Maple depend on the NPC army?"
Li Mu laughed,
he pointed his middle finger, "This is so despicable, in terms of being an a.s.shole, I can"t compare to you..."
I, "..."
Unfortunate news spread from the distance. Half of Liu Jun"s troops were killed by Q-Sword as they tried to flee. Fortunately, Liu Jun was able to get out with his remaining man. Q-Sword nearly spoiled my plan.
Next would be to retreat. Tian Ling City"s NPC army retreated. The 20 million player army covered the NPC troops. In the distance, Nine Heavens City players who got the ancient imperial city, Demon Mountain, Purple Wind Flute, 7K etc looked on as we fought.
We were finally safe when we retreated back to War G.o.d River. Royal Army and Heaven Barrier Army set up our Dragon Crystal Cannons and Flame Dragon Cannons by the river to defend. The Indian Players naturally stopped attacking as they weren"t fools and weren"t going to run to their deaths.
This was a huge victory. We wiped out close to 500 thousand Waterfront City NPC troops while losing less than 100 thousand. We didn"t even lose 10%. More importantly, Waterfront City wouldn"t sp.a.w.n new troops in the next few days. Even if Drunk Maple and Clear Black Eyes tried to recruit more, 100 thousand was the maximum. This number wasn"t a threat to us. Without an NPC army and Dragon Crystal Cannons, Clear Black Eyes would be unable to defend and attack during the next country war. She will have to depend on players alone and that wouldn"t be able to achieve much!
...
After arranging the various NPC armies, I heaved a sigh of relief. I returned to Tian Ling City at 4 pm and two prisoner carriages moved slowly on the streets. In it were Floating Clouds and Xing Huo. Floating Clouds"s armor was removed and only clothes were left. She looked like someone who had been raped. Xing Huo wasn"t that arrogant anymore and he looked disheveled. His body was covered in wounds and he even had arrows stuck in his back. I wanted someone to heal him but thinking about how he was about to die, there was no need to.
Within the palace, Lochlan arranged for a meeting after he received the news.
Han Yuan and Long Xing were personally sending Floating Clouds and Xing Huo as they walked behind me and into the hall. The generals and officials were lined up on opposite sides and I stood at the front with Lin Wan Er. She was the Flaming Cloud Infanta and controlled a main city. Her power in Tian Ling Empire should only be lower than mine.
Lochlan was delighted, "News came from the battlefield. Lochlan thanks Master Li for solving a huge problem for Tian Ling City. Flame Lion Army, Azure Ocean Army and Dragonling Army really deserve it!"
I said, "Floating Clouds and Xing Huo has been captured, Your Majesty please decide what to do to them!"
Lochlan nodded and locked towards Xing Huo, "Xing Huo, I wrote to you and ordered you to bow to the empire. I also promoted you to a general and gave you control of Flame Lion Army. However, you stole Waterfront City and took over control. Do you accept your sins?"
Xing Huo looked at Lochlan and laughed, "What a joke. What is the point in saying so much, just kill me then. I am a man and I am not afraid of death."
"Okay."
Lochlan laughed coldly, "I will grant you death then!"
After saying that, he actually jumped off the throne and pulled out his sword. Deity G.o.dly Strength wrapped around his blade and Xing Huo was actually beheaded. At this moment, Lochlan actually showed Deity Tier strength. This kid was really cultivating quickly!
Among the generals, Tan Taiyu, Qu Hu, Ouyang Di etc were shocked. Their strength was lower than Deity Tier and they were all shocked that the emperor was so strong! Among the generals, only Lin Qiong was calm. He was a two star G.o.d Tier Boss and his strength was two ranks higher than Deity Tier. Naturally, he wouldn"t fear Lochlan"s strength. This was the reason why I sent him to intercept Xing Huo. Xing Huo was only a Deity Tier Boss and only Lin Qiong out of all the empire"s generals could suppress him.
...
Xing Huo"s neck continued to spurt out blood. I reached out, "Men, drag his corpse down."
Zhu Hai said, "Are we going to let him off so easily?"
I smiled and asked, "What does Ocean Duke want?"
Zhu Hai said, "Men, drag his corpse down to feed the dogs. Stab his skull with a spear and hang it on the city walls. Let"s see who else dares to rebel!"
I frowned and didn"t say anything.
Lochlan asked, "Master Li, you don"t agree with Ocean Duke"s words right?"
"Although Xing Huo sinned badly but once one dies, all the good and bad he has done is written off. I think we should just bury him with a full body!"
Zhu Hai laughed coldly, "Master Li is The Executor and also the general of the Royal Army, you are actually so merciful like a woman?"
I laughed coldly too, "Wars I start are so as to unify the world and not purely killing. If Tian Ling City wants to unite the world, we need to make people look up to us and not solely rely on being cruel."
Zhu Hai wanted to say something but Lochlan gave the order, "Drag Xing Huo"s corpse down and bury him."
"Yes!" Two soldiers dragged the corpse and another carried his head.
Next was Floating Clouds.
She looked at Lochlan and her eyes teared up. She really was a beauty.
Lochlan looked at Floating Clouds, "Sister Yun, did you regret anything?"
Floating Clouds looked at Xing Huo"s blood and melancholy flashed in her eyes, "Regret? What is there to regret? I chose all this. Once your father died, I lost the guy I loved the most. I want revenge. I want to kill the guy that rules Tian Ling City!"
She looked at me with hate and her eyes were filled with rage, "Li Xiao Yao, even if I am a ghost, I won"t let you off!"
I looked at her and said, "I am not afraid of you when you are alive so what can you even do to me when you are dead?"
Lin Qiong and Han Yuan laughed at the same time.
Lochlan"s body shivered, "Drag her down and behead her. Bury her corpse into the royal tomb, beside father"s tomb..."
Zhu Hai said, "Floating Clouds is a s.l.u.t, how can she enter the royal tomb?"
I frowned, "Zhu Hai, His Majesty is kind so how can you keep forcing him to do things he doesn"t want to? Are you the ruler or is he?"
Zhu Hai was shocked and knelt down, "Your Majesty, I am not being rude!"
Lochlan smiled and looked at me with grat.i.tude, "Okay, let"s scatter... We shall reward everyone on another occasion!"
...
Floating Clouds was beheaded and I wasn"t interested in looking especially since a beauty was being killed.
Next was time for the country war.
Lochlan was growing step by step and he was looking more like a king. He had killed his last relative and this was him growing. For the world, for the throne.
An emperor was destined to be lonely!