Chapter 268 - 159: Flying Sword
On the front lines of the Northern Expedition Legion, more and more soldiers were crossing the death line.
The Northern Expedition Legion sensed the high-level ranged units pinning them down were starting to falter. The Shield Soldiers in the rear immediately surged forward, one after another, trying to carve out a larger safe zone for their army.
A lord beside Mei Yuan said with a fawning smile, "Hahaha, Boss Ah Pu, your strategy is brilliant! The Sniper Corps is about to break."
"Of course! I’ve even secretly read a War Command Book from a lord’s private collection."
"I call this ’overwhelming the enemy with sheer force.’ It forces them into a corner: either fight us head-on or retreat."
"We have more troops and a higher total energy reserve. Their individual units are stronger, so if we fought them in smaller skirmishes, we’d be picked apart piece by piece. But in a massive group battle like this, we have the advantage. As long as we keep this up, we’re guaranteed to win."
The conviction in Mei Yuan’s voice made the surrounding lords even more fervent.
"My lord, I heard the Sniper Corps has a Legendary Hero. Now that they’re on the verge of collapse, I’m afraid that Legendary Hero is about to make a move," a lord said with concern.
Mei Yuan, however, was unconcerned. His tone was dismissive. "Make a move? So what if he’s a Legendary Hero? A Legendary Hero is only strong at high levels. We’re just in the second stage—how high can his level possibly be?"
"But... that’s a Legendary Hero we’re talking about. A being capable of influencing an entire continent!" The speaking lord was obviously terrified of Legendary Heroes; the Eye Demon controlling him had likely witnessed the horror of a high-level one firsthand.
"A low-level Legendary Hero isn’t that scary. What are our millions of troops for? Even if we just stood there and let him kill us, he’d die of exhaustion. Besides, it’s not like we’re actually going to stand there and let him kill us without fighting back!"
...
The Sword Immortal who had been standing behind Li Hua the whole time walked out of the Sniper Corps’ main camp and arrived at the front of the stockade.
He drew his sword and caressed it gently. All this time, Li Hua had kept them—the Sword Immortals—hidden.
’Back in September, we finally had a rare chance to display our skills and use our Swordsmanship freely.’
’But then, a scouting lord’s spy recorded us, exposing us to all the other lords. Overnight, Lord Li Hua was pressured by countless others into selling off his territory.’
’After that, we had to hold back during invasions. Every time, we’d just destroy the Beastman’s Lord’s Mansion to get the reward and then immediately withdraw, never getting entangled with the Beastmen themselves.’
’Our lord’s decision to join this Sniper Corps was also part of the plan to keep our true strength hidden.’
’I don’t know what our lord is thinking, letting us make a move now. Even though it’s just a defensive action to buy our allies time and we can’t go all out, it’s still been a long time since I’ve felt this excitement.’
The sword in his hand vibrated softly, as if cheering for the slaughter to come.
"SHING~"
With a soft ring, the sword shot straight toward the Northern Expedition Legion soldiers who had crossed the death line.
The sword flew through the air, splitting from one into two, then two into four...
In the blink of an eye, countless swords had flown to the front of the Northern Expedition Legion’s formation. Their edges glinted, and the air around them turned frigid.
"DEFENSE~~" An officer in the Northern Expedition Legion saw the danger and roared the command.
Countless lights instantly flared up over the legion. They were the defensive skills of all the soldiers, along with the shields and BUFFs cast by the support units in the rear.
However, these seemingly grand and powerful defensive skills had no effect whatsoever on the flying swords.
The flying swords pierced through shield after shield with ease. They left only a tiny puncture where they passed, leaving the rest of the barrier completely intact. The shields’ overall defensive mechanisms were utterly useless against them.
After piercing the defenses, the flying swords grazed the bodies of the soldiers below, as gentle as a lover’s caress. In the next moment, all their health was gone.
After this swath of soldiers had all died, the countless swords flew back into the sky and converged. A single, unadorned sword appeared in the air. It swayed gently, happily tracing unknown symbols in the sky.
On the ground, all the glowing lights vanished. Countless soldiers lay collapsed, with blood gushing out from beneath them, staining the grass red.
The soldiers of the Northern Expedition Legion abruptly halted their charge, too terrified to advance.
Within the Northern Expedition Legion’s camp, a lord came stumbling in from outside, shouting, "My lord, my lord! He’s made his move! The Sniper Corps’ Legendary Hero has made his move!!!"
Mei Yuan’s expression did not change upon hearing this. He stood up and started walking outside, his voice deep. "Everyone, follow me. Let’s go see for ourselves. It’s not every day you get to see a Legendary Hero."
Influenced by Mei Yuan’s confident tone, the initial panic everyone felt upon hearing the news quickly subsided. They followed Mei Yuan out of the tent. However, no one noticed that Mei Yuan’s pace was much faster than usual.
Stepping outside the tent, Mei Yuan immediately saw that a huge chunk of his formation was missing. It was incredibly obvious, like a neatly cut cake that someone had stolen a bite from.
Gazing at the field of corpses in the gap and the sword weaving through the sky, Mei Yuan frowned deeply.
"What caused that?"
"My lord, it was done in a single strike by that sword in the air."
"One strike? Are you sure?"
"Yes, my lord. Everyone can testify to it."
"Why haven’t we resumed the advance?"
"My lord, the soldiers are too afraid to advance."
"Relay my orders. Everyone is to continue the charge. Don’t be so densely packed. Spread out."
"Yes, sir!"
After receiving the order, the soldiers sheltering in the safe zone steeled themselves and charged out. They kept their eyes on the sword weaving through the air above as they unleashed their skills. According to their previous strategy, some began to establish a new safe zone, while the remaining soldiers continued the charge.