Chapter 487: To War (Four)
On the second day, a large group of people were gathered together in an inn, deciding how they should deal with the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom. The ones that were the most outspoken were Ming Dong, Jian Chen, and the king. Qin Ji would sometimes interject with a word or two, and the ten Imperial Advisors and three generals from the Qinhuang Kingdom remained silent throughout the entire ordeal. Their mission was to provide the power to deal with the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom, so they would leave the strategic thinking to Jian Chen.
At this moment, one of the soldiers from the Eastern Deity Sword came in and knelt on the ground, “A report for the generals. All 500,000 soldiers of the Eastern Deity Swords have been fully assembled.”
“The soldiers have assembled faster than I had anticipated by a large margin.” Qin Ji smiled and laughed.
Qin Wuming looked to Jian Chen, “Imperial Protector, what shall our next course of action be?”
Jian Chen stood straight away, “We leave now!”
Afterward, a large group on mounted magical beasts left Lore City. This time, the three generals, ten Imperial Advisors, Qin Ji, Changyang Ba, Jian Chen, princess You Yue, Ming Dong, Dugu Feng, and the newly arrived Yun Zheng and Senior An were going to accompany the troops.
Even the king of the Gesun Kingdom was leading the army with two of the strongest individuals of the Gesun Kingdom with him — the head of Kargath Academy, Khafir, and the guardian of the imperial palace, Ye Ming.
As the group left Lore City, they could see a large group of people in the distance with an awe-inspiring amount of presence that shot forth into the sky. Even from far away, everyone could feel the distinct pressure radiating from them to the point where even Lore City could feel the effects. As a result, the mercenaries and merchants within the city couldn’t help but cast their eyes about them in surprise. Constant chatter could be heard, but very few dared to wander near them.
With Jian Chen as the leader of the magical beast mounted group, they arrived in front of the 500,000 strong army. Each soldier stood in neat and tidy order; their eyes radiated a biting cold frost, and by their sides were three-meter-long giant, azure wolves.
The Qinhuang Kingdom had a specialty for cultivating magical beasts for battle. The most elite division of soldiers, the soldiers of the Eastern Deity Swords, were given a magical beast who had followed behind them through the Space Gate.
Faced with such a sight, Jian Chen couldn’t help but feel absolutely astonished. He hadn’t thought that in the short time where 500,000 soldiers came through the Space Gate, they would have enough time to bring so many magical beasts. What was even more startling was the fact that the Qinhuang Kingdom had been able to domesticate one of the most ruthless magical beasts into an obedient warbeast. This could only lead to admiration for the Qinhuang Kingdom’s way of life.
The general of the Eastern Deity Swords, Qin Wuming arrived at the front of the troops. “At attention, soldiers! Saddle up and move out!”
Not a single soldier spoke a single word. All 500,000 soldiers silently leaped onto the magical beast next to them without a word or wasted effort. Following Jian Chen’s orders, the entire division swiftly traveled away from the Gesun Kingdom.
A large group of people had already congregated by the gates of Lore City by this point. Each and every single one of them stared curiously at the silver-armored soldiers and began to talk to each other in curious wonder.
“Who are these people? With such an intense presence, my heart’s already feeling quite terrified!”
“This can’t possibly be some sort of large-scale mercenary group activity can it?”
“How could that be? Don’t tell me the Gesun Kingdom has such a massive mercenary group. Even the neighboring kingdoms don’t have any mercenary groups with as many people as this. Take a look at this procession, there’s several hundred thousand people here.”
“They must be the army then. Since when did the Gesun Kingdom have such a valiant division of soldiers? Even the light from their eyes is almost giving me a heart attack. It’s like they’re a dangerous magical beast, how terrifying these soldiers are.”
“I don’t believe the Gesun Kingdom has soldiers of such high calibre as these. Take a look at their banner — that’s not the symbol of the Gesun Kingdom. Rather, it has the character “Qin” on it. I’ve heard that an Imperial Advisor from the Qinhuang Kingdom came by recently; do you think that these soldiers are possibly from the Qinhuang Kingdom?”
“Haven’t you seen the magical beasts at their sides? Those are Class 2 and Class 3 Magical Beasts. I even saw several Class 4 Magical Beasts. Good heavens, those magical beasts alone are already a force to be reckoned with.”
“Take a look at the people in front of the soldiers. That white-robed man — isn’t he our king? With his Majesty leading the troops, do you think that he is off to fight against the four kingdoms?”
“A few days ago several individuals from the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom laid ruin to the imperial palace. I believe that his Majesty is leading the army to deal with them!”
The army of 500,000 had caused everyone nearby to stop where they stood due to their might, blockading the gates to Lore City. Over a thousand people stood and watched the Eastern Deity Swords from far away and could only mutter their thoughts.
On the walls, the leaders of the three other clans of Lore City gathered around. Each one of them could only stare in disbelief at the forces gathered in front of them.
At this time, every single person knew the reason why the Gesun Kingdom was able to enlist the help of the Qinhuang Kingdom was all due to the merits of the fourth master of the Changyang clan. With the support of the Qinhuang Kingdom, the Gesun Kingdom would become one of the hegemons in the area.
Each one of the soldiers began to increase their speed; they were all adept at riding their magical beasts at high speeds. As they accelerated, they began to travel along with the wind, leaving behind a large trail of yellow dust that covered the atmosphere. If it were not for the fact that the soldiers of the Eastern Deity Swords were finely trained, then the soldiers wouldn’t have been able to charge on through the dust without fear of striking another, causing mayhem.
This time, Jian Chen and the other fifteen Heaven Saint Masters had forgone their ability to fly and instead rode on their mounts. With Jian Chen at the lead, he lead them all toward the south with the three other generals in a triangular formation behind him.
The Heavenly Eagle Kingdom was to the south of the Gesun Kingdom. Reaching it would require them to head past the southern stronghold toward the Andreas Kingdom and two other kingdoms before finally reaching the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom. It was a far distance that would take a Heaven Saint Master two days of flight to get there. With a large army like this, it would require a dozen days at the very least.
After two days of speedy travel, the army had finally reached the southern stronghold. The general in charge of that stronghold had long since been notified of their arrival, so he had been waiting ten kilometers away from them.
After the army rested at the stronghold for a brief moment, another group of 500,000 soldiers from the Gesun Kingdom had joined in. Combined with the Eastern Deity Swords, the army now had a cumulative force of a million. Separated by banner, one side represented the Qinhuang Kingdom while the other side held the Gesun Kingdom’s symbol.
An action like this had already been discussed between the king of the Gesun Kingdom and Jian Chen. Such an action was the equivalent of declaring to the world that the Qinhuang Kingdom and the Gesun Kingdom had a close relationship with each other. Similarly, it would serve as an intimidation tactic to the surrounding several kingdoms.
As the army of one million drew closer to the Andreas Kingdom, they came across multiple merchant and mercenary groups. Discussion and rumors started from all sides. At the same time, the information networks of every surrounding kingdom quickly transmitted news back to their respective kingdoms.
The king of the Andreas Kingdom was the very first to know that the Gesun Kingdom had amassed a total of a million soldiers and were advancing toward his kingdom. When he heard of the banners of the Qinhuang Kingdom being flown with the army, the king had been scared witless and shook with fright. Straight away, he had called for a conference with all of his chancellors.
Within the imperial palace of the Andreas Kingdom, several chancellors and civil and military officials could be seen gathered within with extremely serious expressions.
“I had no idea that the relationship between the Qinhuang Kingdom and the Gesun Kingdom was even closer than we initially thought. For them to send so many soldiers over to help the Gesun Kingdom, we were only able to learn of this after our emergency reports two days ago. Every single soldier has a strong magical beast aiding them, enforcing their military might. We don’t even know how many Heaven Saint Masters there are. So, in light of this, what measures do you think we should carry out now, everyone?” The king of the Andreas Kingdom spoke quietly with an expression of utmost worry.
“Your Highness, please don’t concern yourself with this. We have long since surrendered to the Gesun Kingdom from the last war and provided a sufficient amount of compensation. There should be absolutely no more problems for the Gesun Kingdom to cause trouble with us for. From what our spies reported to us two days ago, the reason why the Gesun Kingdom has taken such an action is to fight the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom. Our Andreas Kingdom is coincidentally stuck in between the two kingdoms. So I am certain that the Gesun Kingdom will most definitely only pass by our Andreas Kingdom and head toward the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom.” One of the armored generals replied.
“Your Highness, this humble servant agrees with general Mu’s thoughts. Several days ago, some individuals from the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom caused trouble within the Gesun Kingdom and not only laid waste to the imperial palace, but they even tried to kidnap the king of the Gesun Kingdom. An action like this was no doubt a slap to the face of the Gesun Kingdom, so this humble servant believes that the Gesun Kingdom is on their way to deal with them and not with our Andreas Kingdom. We should be rest assured.”
Hearing the two men in front of him speak, the king of the Andreas Kingdom sat upon his throne and thought for a moment before nodding. “Your words have logic in them. With the Gesun Kingdom and Qinhuang Kingdom looking as if they are siblings in relationship, we should not dare try to offend them in any way. If they wish to cross through our Andreas Kingdom to get to the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom, let us open our gates to them, allowing them quick passage through.”
“Yes, your Majesty. Not only should we open our doors for them, we should personally greet them. After all, the people that are coming now are from the Qinhuang Kingdom as well.”