Chapter 321: It Must Be Done
Durandal and the vanguard fought for four straight hours.
When she saw that over half of her hundred-thousand elite soldiers had fallen, and the rest were clearly reaching their limits, she finally gave the order to withdraw.
The reserve artillery covered their retreat. Blood-soaked and exhausted soldiers dragged the wounded and carried whatever corpses they could recover as they pulled back, step by grueling step, across the now crimson lakebed.
Durandal passed by Kiana, her left arm sealed by acupuncture to halt the bleeding, disfigured beyond recognition. In her right hand, her sword still gleamed with battle intent.
"Hold it until dawn," she ordered calmly.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Kiana raised her hand in a modern military salute, a confident grin lighting up her face.
At that moment, the central army's elite fighters began to appear, emerging from every direction—slipping past the bloodied, retreating vanguard troops.
These central warriors were proud. Most were famed martial artists or wandering heroes—men and women who normally stood aloof, each boasting unique and formidable skills. Their pride was understandable.
But as they passed the battered soldiers—some dragging broken swords, others hauling wounded comrades or carrying the dead on their backs—the proud ones felt an unspoken, weighty silence settle over them.
A reverent awe.
"Grunts are just cannon fodder."
"No real man joins the army."
—Those were the old sayings.
Perhaps they were wrong.
Or maybe… the times had changed.
With a subtle shift in atmosphere, Kiana raised one hand high.
"Stick to the original plan. Ten men form a unit, ten units make a squad. Split clearly between frontline and reserve. If you can fight, fight. If you're hurt or exhausted, pull back. Rotate in and out."
"And remember—you're not here to die. Just keep that thing trapped. Don't let it heal. Don't let it escape. That's enough!"
Even before anyone in the central army could respond, Kiana had already dashed down the slope the moment the artillery fire ceased.
The beast, Huodou, was riddled with wounds—but many were already slowly regenerating.
It was impossible to say how much blood it had lost by now.
Its life force seemed endless.
Still brimming with fury, it roared and spewed fire, charging directly at the girl hurtling toward it.
BOOM!!
Kiana was sent flying nearly a hundred meters.
Her boots carved a long trench in the ground as she skidded to a halt, blood dripping from the corner of her lips—but her eyes still burned with wild energy.
"General, are you all right?!"
"I'm fine. Picked up a few tricks from an old sage—not much, but turns out they're pretty useful!"
She grinned, spitting a bit of blood to the side.
"Let's go. That thing's still got plenty of fight in it!"
The fight between the central army and Huodou was a completely different scene from the vanguard's earlier engagement.
The vanguard had been disciplined, united, and deadly. They attacked in waves, rotating formations seamlessly, maintaining pressure on the beast for four straight hours without pause.
The central army, on the other hand, was mostly made up of free warriors and adventurers. Their individual strength was higher, but they lacked coordination. Trying to coordinate dozens of proud martial artists in close-quarters melee without them interfering with each other—or worse, landing friendly hits—was nearly impossible.
As a result, the formation was loose. The frequency and intensity of attacks on Huodou naturally declined.
Meanwhile, Durandal sat at the edge of the lakebed, quietly observing the battlefield below.
A mud-streaked female army medic knelt beside her, flustered, trying to treat the general's many wounds—especially her left arm, which looked like it might need amputation.
"Don't panic. Prioritize anything that'll stop me from continuing to fight. As for the arm, bandaging won't help right now. And amputating it will only make me weaker—so leave it."
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
Durandal's hoarse but gentle voice calmed the medic, who hastily wiped the tears and snot from her face and focused again on tending to the ruined body before her.
Durandal gave a small smile, then turned her gaze back to the field. Her expression grew solemn.
'The vanguard can't be sent in again. Their bodies and minds are already at their limits. Forcing them further will break them permanently…'
'The central army can't be relied on to exhaust Huodou either. They aren't soldiers. They can't be pushed to die for this.'
'Our hope lies with the rear army—their quality is lower, but we have the numbers. Still… how many more brothers will die for this?'
'Huodou is far stronger than the last two beasts.'
'Good thing it appeared now… and not during the late emperor's time.'
'But the biggest problem is…'
A deputy general came sprinting from afar, handing Durandal a long-distance voice transmission talisman.
"Kongming, this is Durandal."
"I hear you. Need my help? If necessary, I can strike it again—regardless of the cost!"
"No. If you do that, we'll lose the suppression field over Huodou—and that is the true key to defeating it. Kongming, how much longer can your side maintain the suppression?"
On the other end, silence fell.
Durandal furrowed her brows, waiting quietly. A few moments later, she finally heard a long sigh from the Zhuge Kongming.
"Huodou's power… it far surpasses the previous two beasts. Maintaining the energy array is draining us much faster than I expected. Out of the three thousand spellcasters, some have already collapsed from exhaustion. The pressure on us will only grow. As for how long we can hold… I honestly can't say."
"Understood. The rear army must make their final preparations. We launch the all-out assault at dawn. Kongming—please, hold the suppression for just one more day. Can you do that?"
"Of course I can!"
Durandal's voice was steady and unwavering—so Kongming responded with an equally resolute promise.
Defeating a beast like Huodou required one tactic: attrition.
Thousands upon thousands of soldiers would swarm it. Even if it took three or five dying just to land a single blow, as long as the tide of men never stopped, and the elites continued to harry the beast in the chaos, Huodou's seemingly infinite vitality would eventually be worn down.
But this would take time. A lot of time.
And seeing how Huodou still showed no sign of weakening, Durandal wasn't confident they could kill it in a single day.
Likewise, for every spellcaster that collapsed, the burden on the remaining ones increased. The pace of their losses would only accelerate. To guarantee that the Great Lunar Array—which kept Huodou's sun-aspected energy suppressed—held for a full day was asking the impossible.
Yet both Durandal and the Zhuge Kongming knew:
They had to make it happen.
Even if it cost them their lives.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"The twelve-legion force we pulled from the far front has already begun marching. That's one hundred and twenty thousand troops. The emergency conscription didn't just bring in martial artists—some reclusive Daoist masters also answered the call. With them, we might be able to extend the suppression field a little longer…"
Rita stood over the ever-shifting sand table, both hands braced against its edge as her bloodshot eyes scanned every inch of the terrain model, verifying reports and routes.
Eventually, she licked her dry lips, her whole body leaning heavily on her arms as she finally dropped her head in exhaustion.
A cup of water was silently extended in front of her.
"Drink. You need to keep your strength up."
Sigurd's voice was gentle, even carrying a rare note of comfort.
"Thank… you, Your Majesty."
Rita accepted the cup, tilting her head back and drinking deeply. A faint sweetness touched her tongue—and though only slightly, her body felt just a bit more at ease.
<+>
Tn: If you want to see more chapter of this story, please go to my Patreon[1], just for $5 each month, you can read till the latest chapter.
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 364: The Invisible Power[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/140631608[3]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/140631608
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/140631608
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=condensed