Chapter 66: Brutal Night Battle
After Lu Yuan’s single charge, fewer than half of the Iron Kites remained standing.
Now, both he and his men had seen their strength soar. It was a massive upgrade, and their coordination in battle grew increasingly seamless.
With the added boost of the Military Array, they naturally unleashed an unprecedented level of combat power.
After the charge, the unit regrouped, wheeled around, and charged back into the fray, giving the enemy no quarter.
The leader of the Northern Barbarian unit saw the power of this array. He knew that to stop their charge, the only way was to intercept and defeat Lu Yuan.
His cultivation was also at the Organ Refining realm—specifically, Refining the Liver. He was an unquestionably fierce soldier, so after encountering this situation, he quickly calmed himself.
A sharp whistle escaped his lips.
His troops converged, and they too began to form a Military Array.
He also took out an Elixir and consumed it.
Gradually, the nascent form of the Military Array appeared.
It was a golden hawk.
It too had a beak of steel and wings like blades.
They had been careless at the start of the battle, not expecting the Dayong scouts’ Military Array to be so formidable. That was why they had attacked directly, without forming their own array to defend.
The main reason, however, was that activating their Hawk Array required consuming a special Elixir. This Elixir was extremely precious, and no one was willing to use it unless absolutely necessary.
Now that things had come to this, they could no longer afford such reservations.
As the hawk appeared, the aura of all the Iron Kites shifted.
Lu Yuan’s brow twitched as he felt the surge in the Iron Kites’ strength.
’Worthy of the name Golden-armed Iron Kites. They really do have some hidden depth,’ Lu Yuan thought.
"SCREECH!"
Then, with a cry, the crane clashed with the golden hawk.
As the two collided, a spray of blood erupted.
Lu Yuan could feel it—the array the Iron Kites had mastered was also a First-Grade Military Array, the same tier as his own Cloud-Rushing Crane Wing Array.
However, the Northern Barbarian leader’s control over his array had likely only reached the level of Minor Achievement.
It was a far cry from his own level of Entering the Stance.
The moment the Array Patterns materialized in the sky above his army, the outcome of the battle was all but decided.
Lu Yuan brought his battle saber down viciously on the Iron Kite leader’s head. The man raised his own blade to block.
"CLANG!"
Both wielded Heavy Weapons, and the impact produced a deafening roar, sending a shower of sparks into the air.
The Northern Barbarian commander’s weapon was knocked from his grasp. The skin between his thumb and forefinger split open, drenching his palm in blood.
He looked up at Lu Yuan in terror.
Lu Yuan’s eyes were cold and hard as he spurred his warhorse past the man. A thin red line appeared on the Golden-armed Iron Kite leader’s neck before his head flew high into the air.
Lu Yuan caught it with one hand and tossed it into a sack on the side of his warhorse.
In that instant, the Northern Barbarian Military Array shattered. Dozens more men were cut down, and the few remaining Iron Kites fled in a flash, disappearing into the darkness.
On the field, ownerless warhorses stood beside their fallen masters, looking around in confusion.
Occasionally, they would lower their heads to nibble on the tender grass.
"Sir, we have three dead and five lightly wounded," Zhou He reported in a low voice.
"Take the bodies of our fallen brothers, collect the enemy heads, and then we leave immediately," Lu Yuan ordered, his voice grim.
"Yes, sir!"
After receiving the order, the men deftly dismounted and began harvesting heads. These would count as military merits back at camp; no one was willing to leave them behind.
In less than a quarter of an hour, once all the heads were packed away, the unit pressed onward.
Just as Lu Yuan and his men finished off their first opponent, the battles involving the other scout units from the Dayong camp were also drawing to a close.
The Silent Riders were completely wiped out. Their severed heads were piled into a skull pyramid not far from the camp.
The Red Armor Cavalry met a similarly miserable end. After being killed, their bodies were dragged by the Northern Barbarian Iron Kites and dumped ten li from the Dayong camp.
When they were discovered, their corpses had been almost entirely devoured by wild beasts.
The other scout units had fared little better; their bodies were also discovered not far from the camp.
Now, the only ones yet to be heard from were Lu Yuan’s unit, the Profound Armor Cavalry from the Wang Family’s General’s Mansion in the Capital City, and the Huang Family’s Death Warrior Camp.
Inside the main tent, the Marquis of Jiuse’s expression was grim. Ten units had been dispatched, and in a single night, seven had been lost.
The fate of the remaining three was likely just as grim.
THUMP! THUMP!
Just then, the sound of urgent footsteps approached from outside the tent.
"Report!"
A messenger ran in, and all the generals fixed their gazes on him.
"Speak. What did you find?" the Marquis of Jiuse asked coldly.
If the scouts couldn’t even make it out of the camp’s immediate vicinity, there was only one option left: advance the main army. But that would be incredibly dangerous.
If there was an ambush ahead, they risked the complete annihilation of the army.
The messenger immediately reported, "Marquis, we’ve just discovered the bodies of the Profound Armor Cavalry. They were just dumped ten li from camp."
Dense patrols covered the area within ten li of the Dayong camp.
No Northern Barbarian scouts had managed to infiltrate the perimeter.
The mouth of a scion from one of the Imperial City’s General’s Mansions twitched.
His name was Wang Lin, and he was one of the most outstanding members of his family’s younger generation. He had gained experience on the Xirong border in his youth, where the Black Armor Cavalry had earned many merits under his command.
He never imagined they would meet their end on the Northern Border.
The others bowed their heads in silence, while worry filled the eyes of the Huang Family’s general.
The same was true for Zhou Hongling.
Now, only the scouts from their two families remained unaccounted for.
However, no one else in the tent believed the remaining two units had any chance of returning.
It was only a matter of their bodies not having been found yet.
After a moment of contemplation, the Marquis of Jiuse asked flatly, "Everyone, are there any other options?"
"Marquis," Zhao Yu stepped forward to say, "the only elite unit I had was wiped out. Sending out scouts is no longer a viable option. I say we should just advance with the main army."
"Advancing the main army is a last resort," the Marquis of Jiuse said coldly. "We don’t know what lies ahead. One misstep, and we could walk right into a Northern Barbarian trap. If our entire right flank is wiped out, who will take responsibility?"
This silenced Zhao Yu.
Zhou Hongling, however, rose and said, "Marquis, the elites have only been out for one night. The plan was for them to return after two days. Two units are still unaccounted for. There may yet be a change in our fortunes. I think we should wait. It’s truly the only option we have right now."
Zhao Yu didn’t dare refute the Marquis of Jiuse, but he had no such qualms with Zhou Hongling. He said coldly, "And what? You think your people can actually make it back?
Even if they’re still alive, with no other scouts to divert the Iron Kites’ attention, the pressure on them will be dozens of times greater. Their deaths are only a matter of time."
This time, before Zhou Hongling could speak, Huang Yan of the Huang Family’s General’s Mansion cut in coldly, "Zhao Yu, what is the meaning of this? Are you wishing for our people to die?
My Huang Family’s Death Warrior Camp has fought against the Great Yu Border Army. Every one of them is a battle-hardened elite. Just because your men couldn’t do it doesn’t mean ours can’t."
His voice rang out, filled with repressed anger.
Zhao Yu didn’t dare look down on Huang Yan, as they both hailed from General’s Mansions in the Imperial City. He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing more.
The Marquis of Jiuse then said in a heavy tone, "We will wait two more days."
After he spoke, he waved a hand, dismissing them.
Meanwhile, after a long night of riding and finishing off another squad of Iron Kites, Lu Yuan led his unit to a relatively safe place to rest.
He watched as his men, save for the Warriors on sentry duty, began to eat.
He walked off to one side, opened his system interface, and prepared to check his cultivation progress.