In what seemed like only a brief moment, nearly a hundred soldiers from the first wave attacking the Flame Demon Tribe had already been shot dead by Lan Ling.
“Formation, formation!” a Chimera Tribe officer roared.
The remaining tribal warriors immediately picked up the shields scattered across the ground and once again formed a massive shield formation, doing everything they could to cover everyone inside.
For this battle, Constantine had truly spared no expense.
Every shield stood two metres tall and one metre wide, with an outer layer of iron plating. Each one probably weighed several hundred kilograms.
Protected by the shield formation, the three thousand troops of the first assault advanced slowly.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Lan Ling continued his frenzied and astonishing performance.
His arrows were still impossible to defend against.
His thirty rapid fire arrows poured out like a torrential downpour, tracing perfect arcs through the air before slipping cunningly into the gaps between the shields.
Each arrow claimed another life.
It had to be said that most tribes in the Barbarian World were born for battle.
Even under the threat of death, this army continued advancing with unwavering determination.
Whenever one warrior fell and his shield dropped, another immediately picked it up and carried on.
Fortunately for the human kingdoms, the Barbarian World was hopelessly divided. Otherwise, judging purely by combat ability, the soldiers here far surpassed those of the human nations.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Lan Ling’s relentless rain of arrows continued.
The casualties among the Chimera Tribe’s first assault force kept mounting.
Four hundred metres from the Flame Demon Tribe’s city wall!
Advancing that single hundred metres had cost them two to three hundred casualties.
Even beneath the shadow of Lan Ling, the Grim Reaper, the army still gritted its teeth and pushed forward.
Three hundred metres from the city wall.
Another two to three hundred casualties.
Two hundred metres from the city wall.
By now, Constantine’s first assault force had been reduced to just over two thousand seven hundred men.
Suo Mo looked at the vast sea of shields and gave no order to fire arrows.
Against such a turtle shell of a shield formation, only a monster like Lan Ling could hit his targets. Ordinary Flame Demon Tribe soldiers could not inflict any meaningful casualties.
“Release the rolling logs!”
With a roar from Suo Mo, the logs that had been secured atop the city wall came crashing down.
Each log had been cut directly from an entire tree and weighed well over one or two tonnes.
Combined with the fact that Lan Ling had built the Flame Demon Tribe on a mountainside with a steep slope, the kinetic force generated over those two hundred metres was terrifying.
When they saw the rolling logs charging down from the wall…
The Chimera Tribe’s warrior commander shouted, “Hold your ground, lock arms, formation!”
They actually intended to withstand the rolling logs head on.
The remaining two thousand plus Chimera Tribe soldiers immediately dropped into deep stances, linking their arms together.
The strongest warriors gripped their shields with all their strength.
In an instant, those two thousand men became like a single body, firmly rooted to the ground.
Even more astonishingly, the warriors in the front row crouched lower and tilted their shields, creating a gentle slope across the front of the entire shield formation.
The roaring logs drew closer and closer.
“Bang, bang, bang, bang…”
A series of deafening crashes echoed out as the massive logs, each weighing over one or two tonnes, slammed violently into the enemy shield formation.
“Crack…”
Many shields split apart immediately.
Yet an astonishing sight unfolded.
The enemy shield formation actually held against the terrifying barrage of rolling logs. It neither collapsed nor moved an inch.
Even Lan Ling clicked his tongue in amazement.
Whatever Constantine might be like as a person, the soldiers of the Chimera Tribe were undeniably formidable.
Their morale, discipline, and combat effectiveness were all extraordinary.
Moreover, because the shield formation had been arranged into a relatively smooth slope, the rolling logs simply rolled across the flat surface formed by the shields, absorbing most of the impact.
Remarkable.
These Chimera Tribe officers were truly outstanding.
The people of the Flame Demon Tribe were equally shocked.
The rolling logs were practically their ultimate trump card, yet even this had failed against the Chimera Tribe. It dealt a heavy blow to their morale.
Lan Ling turned to Suo Mo.
“Uncle, keep releasing the logs.”
“Yes!” Suo Mo roared. “Second wave of rolling logs, release!”
The Flame Demon Tribe soldiers gave the mechanisms another heavy shove, sending over a hundred more logs roaring down the slope.
Seeing this, the Chimera Tribe soldiers shouted, “Lower yourselves another three inches!”
Still linking arms, every soldier crouched another three inches lower. This made the shield formation blend even more smoothly with the slope of the terrain, allowing the logs to roll over more easily.
The entire shield formation remained firmly planted, as immovable as solid rock.
Lan Ling took a deep breath and drew his bow.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Thirty rapid fire arrows shot out like a torrential storm.
The arrows traced perfect arcs through the air before once again slipping into the gaps in the shield formation.
This time, Lan Ling aimed every shot at the warriors in the very front row.
These were the men whose positioning had created the gentle slope that neutralised the rolling logs’ momentum.
“Thud, thud, thud, thud…”
More than twenty front line warriors were killed instantly, their shields falling to the ground.
The front rank of the shield formation collapsed at once.
“Replace them, move up, move up!” the Chimera Tribe commander shouted desperately.
But it was already too late.
Lan Ling’s second wave of arrows had already arrived.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
The unstoppable arrows claimed more than twenty additional lives.
The front of the shield formation completely fell apart.
Without the sloping surface, there was no longer any buffer and no protection.
At that moment, the roaring logs arrived with overwhelming momentum.
“No… No…”
The Chimera Tribe commander let out a desperate roar.
Then dozens upon dozens of rolling logs crushed through them.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Bones shattered.
Countless soldiers were killed or wounded.
The entire shield formation was utterly destroyed.
Moreover, because over two thousand men had been packed tightly together inside the formation…
The rolling logs carved a bloody path straight through the crowd.
Every shield was scattered across the ground.
At that very moment, Suo Mo gave the order.
“Fire!”
The thousand soldiers atop the city wall unleashed a storm of arrows.
Not to mention Lan Ling, that heaven defying monster, whose thirty rapid fire arrows poured down like a torrential rain.
“Thud, thud, thud, thud…”
The surviving Chimera Tribe soldiers fell one after another.
The casualties soared.
At a distance of only two hundred metres, with such a tightly packed crowd, they were simply perfect targets.
Leading this first assault was Constantine’s cousin, Wu Mu Tuo, a Great Demon Warrior and one of the tribe’s elders.
Watching the soldiers around him fall one after another, with corpses covering the battlefield, more than half his force had already become casualties.
Had this been a human kingdom, such losses would have caused the army to collapse long ago.
Yet the Chimera Tribe soldiers still gritted their teeth, picked up the fallen shields, and continued advancing.
Wu Mu Tuo clenched his teeth so hard they almost shattered, his eyes bloodshot.
At only two hundred metres from the city wall, even if these fewer than two thousand men reached it, how many would still survive?
Any assault on the wall would be meaningless.
He made his decision instantly.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
He then led the surviving thousand plus soldiers in a desperate sprint back towards their main force.
Lan Ling mounted a griffin and pursued them through the sky, firing arrows relentlessly.
They fled for several thousand metres, and Lan Ling chased them for every one of those metres.
Even while flying, his arrows almost never missed.
During the retreat alone, several hundred more Chimera Tribe soldiers fell to his arrows.
Finally, riding his golden griffin, Lan Ling flew beyond the boundaries of Mirror Mountain and headed directly towards Constantine’s allied army.
…
Seeing Lan Ling approaching alone through the sky…
Every soldier from the Chimera Tribe and the Ankara Tribe was completely stunned.
This… This Lan Ling was unbelievably arrogant!
One man.
He actually dared to come alone.
How utterly contemptuous.
How unbelievably fearless.
Meanwhile, the people of the Flame Demon Tribe exploded with excitement as they watched their Chief Lan Ling charge alone towards an enemy army of nearly thirty thousand.
“Our Chief is incredible.”
“He is unstoppable.”
Only Duo Ning silently cursed.
“Damn you, Lan Ling. You actually took my griffin just to show off.”
Meanwhile, Constantine’s wife, Gou Li, felt her heart tremble.
She had to admit, the sight was truly awe inspiring.
A single man charging straight towards an army of tens of thousands.
Constantine, meanwhile, felt as though his heart were bleeding.
He had sent over three thousand men in the first assault against the Flame Demon Tribe.
After only an hour and a half, they had fled back in defeat.
Fewer than twelve hundred remained.
More than two thousand had been killed or wounded, most of them Chimera Tribe soldiers.
Now…
Lan Ling was actually flying towards them alone.
Constantine was momentarily stunned.
This… This was simply too arrogant.
Too utterly dismissive of everyone.
Although Lan Ling had stolen five griffins, the Chimera Tribe and Ankara Tribe still possessed more than forty griffins between them.
“Lan Ling, you little bastard. Since you want to die, I’ll grant your wish!” Constantine growled through clenched teeth.
“Griffin riders, attack! Surround and kill Lan Ling!”
Immediately, ten Chimera Tribe griffin riders soared into the sky, personally led by their commander, Qiu Ju.
The Ankara Tribe Chief Alfonso looked up at Lan Ling in the sky and sneered.
“He really is arrogant.”
“Father, let me handle him personally,” the female shaman Yin Ji said.
Alfonso glanced at his adopted daughter.
She possessed immense martial strength as well as powerful spiritual force.
Her spiritual attacks might very well become an unexpected trump card.
“Go,” Alfonso nodded. “As long as you capture Lan Ling alive in the sky, or kill the bastard there, this battle will be over. Lan Ling is the soul of the Flame Demon Tribe. No matter how strong Suo Mo is, he is merely an old watchdog who excels at holding the line.”
There was no insult in calling him an old watchdog.
Instead, it was filled with admiration.
Every chief dreamed of having someone like Suo Mo.
He was the perfect commander.
“Screech!”
With a sharp cry, Yin Ji led ten griffins into the sky.
Twenty griffins spread their wings and surrounded Lan Ling in mid air.
An extraordinary aerial battle was about to begin.
…
Everyone from the Flame Demon Tribe, the Chimera Tribe, and the Ankara Tribe looked up at the sky, watching this unprecedented aerial battle.
Qiu Ju and Yin Ji led twenty griffin riders in an attack against Lan Ling alone.
As they flew, the twenty two griffins continuously shifted formation, attempting to encircle him.
Lan Ling guided his golden griffin higher and higher while the twenty griffins below pursued him relentlessly.
The griffin Lan Ling rode was a golden griffin, faster than ordinary griffins and capable of flying even higher.
However, both Qiu Ju and Yin Ji were also riding golden griffins.
They climbed to an altitude of four thousand metres.
By then, the twenty pursuing griffins had closed to within less than a thousand metres.
“Jin Zi, dive!” Lan Ling ordered.
Immediately, the golden griffin turned sharply, folded its wings, and plunged downward like an arrow released from a bow.
The twenty pursuing griffin riders were stunned.
Just moments ago he had been climbing desperately.
Now he was diving straight at them.
Was he planning to collide head on with everyone?
At that exact moment, Lan Ling drew his bow.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Once again, it was his astonishing rapid fire arrows.
This time, the shots were slightly slower.
Instead of forming a single graceful arc, the arrows scattered through the air like heavenly flowers drifting in the wind.
Everyone who saw the arrows froze.
Everything had happened far too suddenly.
Only moments earlier he had been climbing to widen the distance.
Now he had suddenly dived while drawing his bow.
It was completely unexpected.
“Dodge! Dodge!” Qiu Ju and Yin Ji shouted at the same time.
But it was already too late.
When griffins were climbing, their flight paths were the most predictable, and their speed was relatively slow.
Because of their upward momentum, changing direction to evade became especially difficult.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Wave after wave of Lan Ling’s arrows poured out.
Thirty rapid fire arrows.
Thirty rapid fire arrows.
Thirty rapid fire arrows.
The Chimera and Ankara griffin riders desperately tried to evade.
But it was too late.
“Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…”
Without exception, Lan Ling’s arrows pierced their throats, chests, heads, and eyes.
Every single rider had at least three arrows buried in their body.
A chain of agonised screams rang through the sky.
Blooms of blood exploded in mid air.
Then…
Every griffin rider except Qiu Ju and the female shaman Yin Ji fell from the sky.
Twenty riders dropped simultaneously.
The entire battlefield fell into deathly silence.
Words like astonishing or shocking were no longer enough.
This completely overturned everything people believed.
It shattered their understanding of life, the world, and reality itself.
Twenty two griffin riders had surrounded a single man.
Twenty two against one.
Anyone should have died in such a situation.
Yet Lan Ling had not only won…
He had annihilated them instantly.
All at once.
The battle ended almost in the blink of an eye.
Lan Ling had killed twenty griffin riders in an instant.
Too… Too unbelievable.
Too utterly breathtaking.
Everyone knew Lan Ling’s archery was heaven defying.
But this was in the sky.
They were flying at tremendous speed.
Even the greatest archers found it difficult to hit a single moving target.
Yet Lan Ling had killed twenty at once.
As the twenty griffin riders fell together from the sky, the entire battlefield almost stopped breathing.
Then the Flame Demon Tribe erupted with earth shaking cheers.
“Long live the Chief! Long live Chief Lan Ling! Long live! Long live forever!”
Qiu Ju’s eyes nearly burst from rage.
He gritted his teeth furiously.
Lan Ling had fired no fewer than five arrows at him just now.
He had blocked every one of them.
“Lan Ling, if you’ve got any courage, stop hiding behind your arrows. Face me in a one on one aerial charge to the death. What do you say?” Qiu Ju roared.
An aerial charge to the death was far more terrifying than one on the ground.
The speeds involved were vastly greater.
Even the slightest advantage would be magnified many times over.
Likewise, the smallest disadvantage would become fatal.
Qiu Ju knew that Lan Ling’s cultivation was currently at the Tenth Level Demon Warrior.
His own cultivation was one level below Du Yan’s, a Three Star Great Demon Warrior, with a strength rating of four thousand two hundred jin, three whole levels above Lan Ling, giving him an extra nine hundred jin of strength.
Using both hands to wield his sword and unleashing his bloodline burst would add another three thousand five hundred jin of power.
Combined with the kinetic force generated by a griffin flying at full speed, that advantage would be multiplied several times, becoming a force of over ten thousand jin.
That level of power would be enough to shatter Lan Ling’s bones and send him plummeting from the sky.
If that happened, Qiu Ju would become the greatest hero of the Chimera Tribe.
As commander of the Chimera Tribe’s griffin riders and the nephew of the Chief’s wife, his status within the tribe would rise another level.
What he did not know was that Lan Ling had already advanced to nearly a Five Star Great Demon Warrior.
The strength of his arms had reached four thousand seven hundred jin.
With both hands on his sword, his bloodline burst, and the momentum of his rapidly flying griffin, Lan Ling’s strength exceeded Qiu Ju’s by well over five or six thousand jin.
“A one on one aerial charge to the death? Fine. Come on then!” Lan Ling shouted.
The two men separated until their golden griffins were five thousand metres apart.
Both gripped heavy swords with both hands.
The two golden griffins flew directly towards one another in a perfectly straight line.
Faster and faster.
Faster and faster.
At full speed, a golden griffin could exceed one hundred metres per second.
Such speed was terrifying.
They were as swift as arrows.
A distance of five thousand metres required only about half a minute before the two griffins would collide.
“Whoosh…”
The two golden griffins accelerated continuously.
Faster.
Faster.
Until they reached their absolute limit.
This was the true aerial charge to the death.
The tens of thousands watching below were utterly captivated, as though witnessing a dream.
The decisive moment would last only an instant.
Everyone held their breath.
Three hundred metres.
Two hundred metres.
One hundred metres.
Lan Ling gathered every ounce of his strength and unleashed his bloodline burst.
Qiu Ju did the same.
“Boom!”
The two griffins collided in an instant.
Lan Ling and Qiu Ju swung their heavy swords at the exact same moment.
The aerial charge to the death was decided in a single instant!