"You guys in purple, some of you should recognize me, right?" Ember walked out of the stirred-up dust and looked at the Shogunate Army on one side of the battlefield, who were staring in shock and uncertainty.
Among these panicked faces, many were familiar to Ember—they had once been new recruits at the Tenryou Commission training grounds, and now they were finally able to test the results of their training on the battlefield.
However, judging by their trembling eyes and blood-stained bodies, it was clear that their training had not included psychological conditioning.
"This… this guy is the one who tore down the Tenryou Commission headquarters!"
"Didn't the Shogun strike him down with divine punishment? Why is he still standing here perfectly fine?!"
"He… he withstood the divine punishment!"
…A flurry of discussions erupted, and Ember's appearance made many on the Shogunate side reconsider their resolve.
These people had personally experienced Ember's strength before, and seeing him again on the battlefield, their hearts were filled not only with surprise but also a growing fear.
A person of such strength was enough to turn the tide of the battle!
"Mr. Ember, this is…"
While the Shogunate Army was still in disarray due to Ember's appearance, a figure emerged from the resistance on the other side. It was Gorou, the General of Watatsumi Island.
"I was going to ask you, what are you all doing?"
Ember turned to look at Gorou, and the dark peeking slit made Gorou shiver involuntarily.
"The Shogunate started this trouble; it has nothing to do with Watatsumi Island!" Gorou's throat bobbed a few times, and he quickly explained to Ember.
This conflict was entirely instigated by the Shogunate; it had nothing to do with their Watatsumi Island.
Ember nodded at this, then he raised his head and shouted loudly at the Shogunate crowd in the distance: "Where is the Shogunate? Kujou, you two brats, come out!"
"Heh heh, Kujou-dono is unwell and cannot meet."
"Besides, we have nothing to say!"
"All units! Charge!"
A cold snort came from the purple crowd in the distance. Unlike the resistance, the Shogunate's leader didn't even come out to meet Ember and directly ordered a continued attack.
"Oh? A change of command?" Ember felt a sense of understanding upon hearing such an unfamiliar voice.
No wonder the Shogunate's way of doing things had changed so much; it turned out the commander had been replaced. In that case, everything made sense.
"Watatsumi Island forces, prepare to engage the enemy!"
Hearing the battle cry ring out again, Gorou's fur instinctively stood on end.
He narrowed his pupils, bared his teeth, and quickly waved his hand at the Sergeant behind him, directing them to change formation.
"Kill!!!"
Military orders were absolute. Even though they knew the terrifying strength of Ember lay ahead, the Shogunate's soldiers still charged forward.
"So noisy!" Hearing the continuous shouts of killing, Ember picked at his ears. He looked down at the crimson blood at his feet and kicked it away in disgust.
"The mess you've made, you clean it up yourselves!"
Red light flickered in Ember's hand, and as his palm moved, the blood flowing on the ground seemed to gain a life of its own, moving along with him.
Thorns of Punishment—the heretical magic of the banished Sinners. The most detested magic of the Academy.
It could use sinful thorns to DMG oneself, summoning blood thorns that crawled across the ground, springing up from the enemy's feet to attack. It could be cast continuously.
The Sinners, with eyes pierced by thorns, found stars of blood in their eternal darkness.
Bloodflame magic should have used one's own blood as a catalyst, but such a minor matter didn't warrant Ember using his own blood.
So he used the blood flowing on the battlefield.
The crimson spread across the entire battlefield, and it began to move. Like vines, they swiftly climbed up the legs of every Shogunate Army soldier.
Climbing, intertwining, sprouting thorns—these three actions were completed almost instantly, so fast that even the charging Sergeants didn't react.
When stinging pain erupted all over their bodies and their vision was filled with crimson, they realized with a start that they had somehow been completely enveloped by a cage of blood-colored thorns.
Blood flowed from the sharp thorns, then transformed into part of the thorn cage, further growing the cage.
The more violently people struggled, the more blood flowed out, and the faster the cage grew.
Upon realizing this, even the most frenzied soldiers calmed down.
In an instant, crimson climbed up from the ground, growing into a dense thicket of thorns across the battlefield.
The clamor in the battlefield suddenly ceased, which left the resistance, who had finished preparations and formed ranks to engage the enemy, completely taken aback.
"What? You want to try it too?" Hearing the heavy breathing and clanking of armor behind him, Ember turned his head and asked.
"N-no, we wouldn't dare!" Meeting Ember's gaze, Gorou immediately shivered. After stiffly bowing with clasped fists to Ember, he shouted to the Sergeants behind him:
"Watatsumi Island forces, retreat three li and set up camp!"
"Retreat three li, set up camp!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
No sooner had Gorou's words fallen than the rhythmic drumbeats, mixed with the sounds of the retreating crowd, echoed across the entire battlefield.
"That's not bad at all." Seeing the red tide recede behind him, Ember nodded in satisfaction.
"Of course. If the Shogunate hadn't mobilized its army, we wouldn't have made such a grand display," Gorou quickly nodded.
"Alright, you should go manage your people below, lest they cause more trouble."
Ember glanced at the retreating resistance; the number of troublesome individuals among them was no less than in the Shogunate Army.
"I'm going to see those two brats from the Kujou Clan and figure out what's happened. Until then, I hope nothing major happens here."
After a brief instruction, Ember disappeared from the battlefield without waiting for Gorou's agreement.
"I… I understand!" Watching Ember vanish instantly, Gorou slowly uttered three words after a long while… Flying from the battlefield towards the Kujou Encampment, the most noticeable change along the way was the many new camps and military flags on the ground.
Military flags fluttered, and the camps were solemn.
The atmosphere of Kannazuka made one involuntarily cautious.
However, Ember not only felt no tension, but on the contrary, he even felt like laughing.
This wasn't because he looked down on the Shogunate, but because the purple glow soaring from Tatarasuna was much weaker than before.
Seeing that the about-to-explode furnace core had its fire vented, Ember's mood finally improved a bit.
It seemed this wasn't entirely bad news after all!
The purple glow still spread, but now Ember didn't need to worry about it. After passing Tatarasuna, he arrived at the Kujou Encampment.
As the Shogunate Army's frontline base camp, even with a full-scale deployment, a considerable portion of Sergeants still remained stationed within the camp.
There was nothing strange about this; it was normal to keep reserves. Otherwise, if the enemy launched a surprise counterattack and pierced through the base camp, it would be quite laughable.
What truly caught Ember's attention was the illogical distribution of forces.
Logically, the remaining Sergeants should be used for vigilance and patrols. But the forces in the Kujou Encampment were mostly gathered around a large tent, which looked very peculiar.
"This…"
"There couldn't be some kind of superweapon in there, could there?" Ember's eyes darted around, making internal conjectures.
A place within a military camp that required heavy guard must be hiding something good from the Shogunate Army.
Thinking this, Ember eagerly concealed his figure and stealthily snuck in.
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