“No! Absolutely not!” Upon hearing Constantine’s order, the female shaman Yin Ji ignored the strange sensations still lingering in her body and hurriedly tried to stop him. “This is Lan Ling’s scheme. He’s deliberately trying to provoke you. He wants your entire army to charge out!”
Although she served as a shaman priestess, she had always regarded herself largely as Alfonso’s strategist.
“Shut up!” Constantine roared, pointing coldly at Yin Ji. “Shut up! Shut your mouth!”
During this period, Constantine had always treated the female shaman Yin Ji with exceptional kindness, even better than Alfonso had in some ways. His sudden change in attitude caught everyone completely off guard.
Moreover, his eyes were filled with distrust.
For all these years, Yin Ji had kept herself completely covered in order to conceal her identity as a human. Now that Lan Ling had exposed her publicly before everyone, she immediately found herself surrounded by countless suspicious and rejecting stares.
Alfonso had always known she was human.
However, because of a special twist of fate between them, he had continued to trust Yin Ji. Even so, he had insisted she keep her human identity hidden, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The Southern Wilderness already despised the Near Human races.
As for actual humans, they were considered absolute enemies.
The only reason humans could exist in Rakshasa City was because of smuggling and trade. They provided luxurious goods and services for the highest ranking Rakshasa nobles.
Even then, those humans never dared leave the Heaven Pavilion.
Compared with the relative tolerance of Rakshasa City, the barbarian tribes below were incredibly primitive and narrow minded.
Alfonso asked, “Weren’t you the one who supported launching a full scale attack before? Why have you suddenly changed your mind?”
His voice had grown cold.
There was also a strange anger burning in his eyes.
Yin Ji replied, “Before, I believed Lan Ling would never sacrifice his own woman just to stage a deception. That convinced me the energy barrier would definitely disappear. But now, it seems Lan Ling has gone to every possible length to provoke Chief Constantine. There must be a trap behind all this!”
Alfonso replied coldly, “Could it be you’ve fallen for Lan Ling, and now have other intentions?”
The moment those words were spoken, Yin Ji’s whole body turned cold.
She had absolutely no disloyal thoughts towards Alfonso.
Although Lan Ling’s forceful kiss had left her heart racing and her body reacting strangely…
Her only response to Lan Ling’s invitation had been the same thought.
Go to hell!
Yet Alfonso’s reaction now was not suspicion alone.
It was jealousy.
Anger.
Even the humiliation of feeling as though he had been cuckolded.
How could this happen?
She had always regarded Alfonso as her adoptive father.
How could he possibly think such a thing?
A shiver ran through Yin Ji.
Then she said solemnly,
“Foster Father, you may choose not to trust me. But as the Ankara Tribe’s shaman priestess, and as your strategist, I must still speak my mind. We absolutely cannot gamble everything by attacking the Flame Demon Tribe. That would certainly play straight into Lan Ling’s trap. What we should do now is continue the siege.”
“Continue the siege?” Alfonso said coldly. “So Lan Ling can continue flying over our heads every day, killing our men, humiliating us, and showing off?”
…
No one could stop Constantine now.
His burning rage, overwhelming hatred, and wounded pride as a man had completely consumed him, driving him towards a desperate fight with Lan Ling.
Standing on high ground, he roared,
“Brothers of both tribes, can you tolerate a lowly Near Human standing above us noble Rakshasa, showing off over our heads and humiliating us?”
“No!” the Chimera Tribe soldiers roared in reply.
Absolutely not.
The foreign tribes had always been treated like dogs.
Now they had actually established a tribe of their own.
Why should they be allowed to?
Constantine continued shouting,
“Do you still remember the hundreds of thousands of gold coins that Lan Ling carried out from the Ghost Domain?”
How could they forget?
The glittering piles of gold had been stacked into small mountains, causing the Chimera and Ankara Tribes to fight one another for no reason, each suffering two or three thousand casualties.
But that had also been the most profitable battle many of them had ever experienced.
Every soldier had grabbed four or five gold coins.
Some had seized more than ten.
It had made them rich overnight.
Ordinarily, tribal warriors rarely even touched gold coins.
Only after earning military merit during war could they exchange for gold, and even then they usually received only one or two coins after several years.
Constantine shouted,
“And now, inside that fake Flame Demon Tribe, hidden inside the cave behind those walls, there are one million gold coins!”
One million gold coins?
Everyone’s eyes immediately turned green with greed.
No one truly understood just how much that amount was.
But someone had already calculated it.
If divided equally, every person could receive forty gold coins.
The entire army erupted.
Forty gold coins?
That was enough wealth to last a lifetime.
They could eat whatever they wanted every day.
Wear different clothes every day.
Live however they pleased.
Instantly, the nearly thirty thousand warriors of the two tribes became wildly excited, beating their weapons against their chests while roaring.
Only Alfonso looked at Constantine with contempt.
One million gold coins?
What a ridiculous exaggeration.
In his desperation, Constantine really would say anything.
In truth, Constantine was bluffing.
Yet by sheer coincidence, he had guessed correctly.
“One million gold coins, all of them will be yours!” Constantine roared.
“As long as you storm into the fake Flame Demon Tribe, everything belongs to you!”
“Lan Ling’s gold belongs to you.”
“Lan Ling’s women belong to you.”
“You can do whatever you want…”
“Charge in! Kill them all! Burn everything! Take everything!”
With Constantine’s roar, the combined force of twenty five thousand warriors surged towards the Flame Demon Tribe on the mountainside like a tidal wave.
…
Had it not been for the Mirror Demon King’s scheme, Constantine’s strategy would actually have been correct.
The Flame Demon Tribe’s fortress stood halfway up the mountain, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Combined with Lan Ling’s heaven defying archery…
Sending only three thousand men at a time was simply feeding them to the enemy.
The only effective strategy was to overwhelm them through sheer numbers.
Even twenty or thirty thousand men were unnecessary.
Ten thousand would have been enough.
As long as ten thousand soldiers reached the city wall together, victory would be assured.
No matter how extraordinary Lan Ling’s archery was, how many could he kill?
One thousand?
Two thousand?
Three thousand?
His spiritual power was astonishing.
But it was not limitless.
He might unleash thirty rapid fire volleys.
Perhaps fifty.
But a hundred?
Eventually, even if only three or four thousand men reached the walls and began climbing them, forcing close combat…
The Flame Demon Tribe would certainly fall.
The warriors of the Flame Demon Tribe were courageous.
They feared no death.
Their morale was high.
But individually, they were weaker than the warriors of the two tribes.
Holding the walls while fighting two enemies each was already an incredible achievement.
Without Lan Ling’s scheme…
Without the Mirror Demon King’s conspiracy…
The Flame Demon Tribe would undoubtedly have been destroyed by Constantine’s overwhelming numbers.
Even ten thousand soldiers would have been enough to capture it.
But…
There was no such possibility.
Constantine was exactly that kind of man.
Either absurdly cautious…
Or absurdly reckless.
There seemed to be no middle ground.
Completely consumed by rage, he had stepped directly into Lan Ling’s deadly trap.
…
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…”
The moment twenty five thousand soldiers entered the Ghost Domain, the mountains became covered with a sea of black figures.
Like swarming ants.
Like a tidal wave.
They charged towards the Flame Demon Tribe halfway up the mountain.
The warriors behind the city wall could not help gasping.
“The Chief has gone too far this time…”
“How are we supposed to fight this?”
Gou Li sneered.
“Lan Ling, you’re truly courting death.”
Even Duo Ning was frightened by the sight.
Her body trembled.
“Madman… That madman… All he cared about was showing off. Now he’s doomed the entire tribe.”
Meanwhile, Constantine and Alfonso had secretly been worried that the energy barrier might suddenly reappear once they entered the Ghost Domain.
Instead…
Nearly thirty thousand soldiers entered without any obstruction and continued charging towards the Flame Demon Tribe.
Both men breathed a sigh of relief.
With almost thirty thousand soldiers committed to the attack, only about three thousand warriors remained beside Alfonso and Constantine.
These were their personal guards.
Regardless of the circumstances, they could never leave their chiefs’ side.
Their sole duty was protecting their leaders.
At that moment, however, the guards watched the attacking soldiers with burning envy.
Those men were about to become rich.
They could kill, burn, loot, and enjoy all the rewards of victory.
Meanwhile, they had to remain behind protecting their chiefs.
It was deeply frustrating.
Watching twenty five thousand soldiers surge forward like an unstoppable flood that seemed ready to swallow the tiny Flame Demon Tribe fortress…
Alfonso said,
“Lan Ling is finished. That short lived Flame Demon Tribe is finished too.”
Constantine replied,
“I’ll tear him into pieces, and torture his women to death.”
Then Constantine glanced coldly at Yin Ji behind him.
“Alfonso, those who are not of our race can never truly share our hearts.”
Alfonso’s face twitched.
“Yes.”
…
“It’s really over. It’s really over…”
Duo Duo descended from the sky and came to his daughter’s side.
“Xiao Ning, when the enemy breaks in later, mount the griffin and fly away. Go as far as you possibly can.”
Duo Ning’s expression stiffened.
Looking at the countless enemies charging uphill…
Twenty to thirty thousand of them.
More than twenty times the size of the Flame Demon Tribe.
No one could win this battle.
Not even an immortal could save the Flame Demon Tribe.
Duo Ning felt her nose sting and her eyes grow hot.
They had finally enjoyed a few peaceful months.
Although those three months had been difficult…
Training every day.
Working every day.
They had been happy.
Now the dream was about to shatter.
They would once again become refugees, wandering without a home.
“It’s all Lan Ling’s fault!” Duo Ning said bitterly. “If he hadn’t deliberately provoked Constantine by showing off, none of this would have happened!”
Duo Duo sighed.
“What’s the point of saying that now? He’s a madman. You already knew that.”
Then he remembered the wager he had made with Lan Ling.
Duo Duo had believed this battle was impossible to win.
Lan Ling had insisted victory was certain.
They had agreed that if Duo Duo won, the Flame Demon Tribe would be destroyed, making the wager meaningless.
But if Lan Ling won, Duo Duo would lead the hundred or so remaining members of the Wild Horse Tribe into the Flame Demon Tribe.
Looking at the situation now…
The wager seemed destined to become a joke.
…
As the sea of enemies drew nearer and nearer…
Shouting,
“Burn everything!”
“Kill everyone!”
“Take everything!”
The earth itself trembled beneath their footsteps.
The faces of the warriors atop the city wall turned pale.
Even breathing became difficult.
“What are we afraid of?” one warrior shouted. “We’ve already enjoyed three months that felt like heaven. Isn’t that enough?”
“That’s right. Even if I only lived for these three months, it was worth it!”
“Being a master for three months is better than spending a lifetime as a slave!”
“So what if our heads are cut off? It’s just another scar! Brothers, kill one and we’ve broken even. Kill two and we’ve profited!”
“That’s right! Kill!”
The thousand plus Flame Demon Tribe warriors behind the walls were filled with determination and passion.
But they were not afraid.
If death came…
Then so be it.
What was there to fear?
Watching his twenty five thousand soldiers draw closer and closer to the Flame Demon Tribe…
Constantine’s expression grew increasingly savage.
At last…
Would his revenge finally come?
Would Lan Ling and all his worthless followers finally be exterminated?
As for his wife Gou Li, who was still on the city wall and might be killed by the Flame Demon Tribe…
He did not care.
In fact, it would be better if she died.
She had already become a stain upon his honour.
However…
At that very moment…
Suddenly…
A beautiful melody seemed to echo through the sky.
A marvellous illusion flashed briefly across the heavens.
Then…
The twenty five thousand soldiers charging madly forward suddenly stopped.
Every single one of them.
All twenty five thousand stood completely still.
Their eyes became vacant.
Some struggled briefly.
But soon they too became dazed.
Then…
Like puppets…
They began arranging themselves into perfectly neat ranks.
These barbarian armies were famous for their combat strength.
But asking them to form neat ranks was normally almost impossible.
Yet now…
Without anyone commanding them…
The twenty five thousand men quickly assembled into flawless formations, straighter than if measured with a ruler.
After forming up…
The entire formation turned east and began marching neatly in that direction.
“Thump… Thump… Thump…”
Even every footstep landed in perfect unison.
The twenty five thousand soldiers truly resembled puppets.
Or rats enchanted by a magical flute.
They marched in flawless order towards a single destination.
Seeing this, Constantine was horrified beyond words.
“No! What are you doing? What are you doing?”
He immediately shouted to the warriors beside him,
“Go! Bring them back! Make them attack the Flame Demon Tribe!”
At once, dozens of cavalrymen galloped into the Ghost Domain, attempting to awaken the puppet like army.
However…
The moment they entered the Ghost Domain…
They too seemed to hear the enchanted flute.
They immediately lost their minds.
Even their warhorses moved with elegant, almost ceremonial steps as they marched towards the very same destination.
Furthermore…
The entire Mirror Mountain appeared to have no energy barrier at all.
But who had ever said the barrier had to be visible?
Could it not simply be completely transparent?
And so…
The twenty five thousand soldiers continued walking towards the enormous pit several hundred metres away.
The pit was filled with water.
Its surface was covered with branches, making it appear perfectly ordinary.
Lan Ling shouted from the sky,
“Too slow! Start running!”
Immediately…
The twenty five thousand soldiers broke into a perfectly synchronised run.
“Thump! Thump! Thump!”
Even while running, every movement remained flawlessly coordinated.
The distance of barely one thousand metres was covered in moments.
Then…
An astonishing sight unfolded.
A bizarre sight.
A scene that resembled a miracle.
The soldiers at the very front suddenly disappeared as the ground beneath them collapsed.
They plunged directly into the enormous pit.
Splash.
Splash.
Countless people sank into the water below.
Yet even then…
The soldiers behind them showed no fear whatsoever.
They continued charging forward without hesitation.
One after another.
Row after row.
They threw themselves into the pit of death.
Twenty five thousand people…
Marching willingly towards their own destruction.
It was a horrifying miracle.
A spectacle so eerie that it stole everyone’s breath away.